[an_and]

Originally Posted by prasanna_indaje

Booked Wagon R VXi (o) AMT and taking delivery on 8th August. This replaces my wife's 2003 Santro Xing AT.
Opted for alloy wheels (set of 5) , seat cover and reverse sensors (without camera) as accessories.

I bought the Wagon R Vxi AMT myself. Got tired waiting for the (o) one. However if I may suggest, go in for the Stingray, at just 24 K more, you get alloys and steering mounted controls for audio.

[prasanna_indaje]

Originally Posted by an_and

I bought the Wagon R Vxi AMT myself. Got tired waiting for the (o) one. However if I may suggest, go in for the Stingray, at just 24 K more, you get alloys and steering mounted controls for audio.

Thanks an_and. Enquired about Stingray while booking and the SA told that it is discontinued and no new bookings are accepted. Not sure if it is true.

Another major issue is convincing the other half on looks of Stingray.

[vivekshukla]

Dears,

I had a 10 year old WagonR which was doing good but I wanted to get an automatic as it's becoming especially tiring to drive in Bangalore. My better half was always complaining because I had an automatic. We casually went to the Maruti (Pratham Motors, HSR Layout, Bangalore) showroom with following conditions that the car should have:

1. Airbags and ABS
2. Alloy wheels
3. Integrated Stereo with Bluetooth
4. Readily available like now.
5. Budget not more than 7 lakhs on road

We were offered a test drive of a Celerio VXi ASG and my wife didn't like the car. We observed a unique issue with the steering. We felt that it requires a nudge to come back to its position after taking a turn. We test drove another Celerio and it was the same. The AMT takes time getting used to as it's not genuine automatic but the jerkiness was not a deal breaker. We then saw an old Stingray Demo car (Manual) which was not maintained. We liked the looks of the car, especially the whole projector lamps kit gives it a unique personality. People find it boxy but we liked it especially as it was devoid of any side body moulding etc.

After checking with sales people we found that there's a Silver Stingray VXi (O) readily available and verified that car to be January 2016. We booked the car, handed over our old WagonR and three days later came out with the car on 6th Feb 2016.

Stingray VXi (O) comes loaded with projector lamps, 4 speakers, integrated stereo, leather wrapped steering wheel with controls for the stereo, MID with DTE, Instantaneous and average fuel economy, alloy wheels, rear wiper wash and spoiler. The only missing element was bluetooth.

In the last 6 months, we haven't faced any issue with the car, no rattles, no squeaks, AMT is okay if you know how to manage it. Sudden flooring the A pedal leaves the car nowhere. So far the car has done 3200 kms and we are getting average FE of 13.5. I have also achieved 18.5 kmpl on a Sunday afternoon with very less traffic.

I have not added any accessories except parking sensors with camera in silver colour. Maruti doesn't offer any colouring and I was able to pick up a Silver coloured sensor kit in Hong Kong.

I have changed the original stereo with Blaupunkt San Diego 530 with NAV. Anybody wanting to change the stereo, my suggestion would be do not go for NAV and trust Google Maps as it's much better. I changed because I didn't research much and got it done in a hurry. Stereo conversion kits are tough to get so I ordered one from Amazon for Rs.350 which fit well without any gaps.

I would upload the photos in a while. I am a happy Stingray customer!

[prasanna_indaje]

Got my Wagon R VXi (O) AMT yesterday. Drove 30 kms and initial impressions are very good.
Compared to TC transmission in the outgoing Santro, AMT unit feels a little slow. But the overall package is far better that the outgoing car (mainly the FE )

[kartikoak]

Originally Posted by prasanna_indaje

Got my Wagon R VXi (O) AMT yesterday. Drove 30 kms and initial impressions are very good.
Compared to TC transmission in the outgoing Santro, AMT unit feels a little slow. But the overall package is far better that the outgoing car (mainly the FE )

Hi,
What was the waiting period for the optional model - booked one here in Pune on the 14th of August but there is no news from Maruti on when they can deliver - I find that a bit odd!

-Kartik

[prasanna_indaje]

Originally Posted by kartikoak

Hi,
What was the waiting period for the optional model - booked one here in Pune on the 14th of August but there is no news from Maruti on when they can deliver - I find that a bit odd!

-Kartik

Hi, It was available off the shelf. Bimal had a few of them in stock.

-Prasanna

[RaghuChn]

Dears,
I have just booked a WagonR VXi AGS in Hyd; taking delivery on 25-Sep. Did not opt for the (O) pack, since this is purely for city driving like daily office commute (27 kms one way). Plus, as this thread points out, VXi (O) AGS wasn't readily available. Reason (as given by one of the dealers here in Hyd - "Most WagonR customers buy it as their 2nd car, and only for city driving. With mostly bumper-2-bumper traffic, Airbags anyways won't deploy given the multiple conditions that need to be met for it to get activated". Cross checked with the online manual (Pg 2-26, click here for a pdf version), and honestly, I don't think the SRS Airbags would ever get deployed IMHO... So, decided on diverting those few thousand spare bucks towards alloys (MGA set of 5 @ Rs. 24,000/-), rear parking sensors & camera with display on IRVM (MGA @ Rs. 12,500/-) and rear top spoiler (MGA @ Rs. ~5000/-).
My Elite i20 CRDi Asta will do the duties for those highway trips & the Waggy should predominantly be used within the city by my better half and I. As of now, the plan looks fine
Also, planning to change the stock head lamp halogens to the Philips Extremevision ones... Thoughts??

[swiftnfurious]

Originally Posted by RaghuChn

... since this is purely for city driving like daily office commute (27 kms one way). With mostly bumper-2-bumper traffic, Airbags anyways won't deploy ....

Waggy should predominantly be used within the city by my better half and I.

...Also, planning to change the stock head lamp halogens to the Philips Extremevision ones... Thoughts??

For bumper to bumper, pure city driving (as you mentioned in your post), why do you need a 100w output bulb?

[RaghuChn]

Originally Posted by swiftnfurious

For bumper to bumper, pure city driving (as you mentioned in your post), why do you need a 100w output bulb?

You do have a point. The reason I wanted to change the bulbs, is I have the same ones in my i20 and they are substantially better than the stock ones. Also, even in city driving conditions, during late hours, it kind of gets a little difficult to spot pot-holes (our roads, at the end of the day) and brighter bulbs will help IMHO.
Here is what you have made me think now - I will wait to see how the stock bulbs fare before actually spending the Rs. 1200/-. Thanks a bunch!

Mod Note: Please avoid typing like.... this....

[ashis89]

Originally Posted by RaghuChn

You do have a point. The reason I wanted to change the bulbs, is I have the same ones in my i20 and they are substantially better than the stock ones. Also, even in city driving conditions, during late hours, it kind of gets a little difficult to spot pot-holes (our roads, at the end of the day) and brighter bulbs will help IMHO.
Here is what you have made me think now - I will wait to see how the stock bulbs fare before actually spending the Rs. 1200/-. Thanks a bunch!

Mod Note: Please avoid typing like.... this....

I own a WagonR and the stock headlights are quite good. I have been on long night highway drives and numerous late night city runs with those lights. They feel inadequate during heavy rains but then most lights become ineffective on a dark wet road.

[swiftnfurious]

Originally Posted by RaghuChn

....I will wait to see how the stock bulbs fare...

Originally Posted by ashis89

I own a WagonR and the stock headlights are quite good...

+1. The current gen Wagon R has one of the better headlights from the OEM. For city drives, one need not upgrade.

[RaghuChn]

Thanks a bunch swiftnfurious and ashis89. Yes, I found the stock lights useful last night - my first night out with the car .

[Chetan_Rao]

Originally Posted by RaghuChn

........With mostly bumper-2-bumper traffic, Airbags anyways won't deploy given the multiple conditions that need to be met for it to get activated". Cross checked with the online manual (Pg 2-26, click here for a pdf version), and honestly, I don't think the SRS Airbags would ever get deployed IMHO...

Unfortunately, you're just perpetuating the Maruti salesperson's 'you don't need safety equipment for the city' myth there. Any/all criteria for airbag deployment can be met within city limits given appropriate circumstances, and it may not even be your fault when it happens.

It's apparent from your post that you could both afford the safety-spec and already had a car so a bit of waiting time shouldn't have been a deal breaker either?

Too late now, but you could've avoided becoming part of Maruti's 'Our research tells us our customers don't care for safety features' campaign.

[swiftnfurious]

Originally Posted by Chetan_Rao

Unfortunately, you're just perpetuating the Maruti salesperson's 'you don't need safety equipment for the city' myth there. Any/all criteria for airbag deployment can be met within city limits given appropriate circumstances, and it may not even be your fault when it happens.

Well said. A simple 'google' would tell one that the airbags are designed to deploy from speeds as low as 12 -20 kmph (8-14 mph) and ABS kicks in at speeds low as 20 kmph, in city / bumper traffic.

https://www.google.co.in/search?q=sp...GaPR8AfbqIfYCg

Unfortunately, a whole lot of us believe the airbags & ABS are for the rash drivers or highway drives or high speed drives and not for someone who drives sedately. The MS chairman made a foolish statement that we don't need safety options in India; you can't really blame a sales guy if he sang to the tune.

They'd also harp on the costly investment to restore the car after airbags deploy (which anyway the insurance covers and one doesn't have to pay from their pocket). What they sadly doesn't tell you is the "cost / time / pain / mental agony of your body parts' recovery" after the accident; in case one fortunately lives to need it!

Off-Topic: I waited for 4 months to get my ABS equipped Swift. All the SAs I interacted with (on the delivery day) were unanimous about the 'intelligent move' of opting for the ABS version. They'll never tell you this at the booking time though.

[RaghuChn]

Originally Posted by swiftnfurious

Well said. A simple 'google' would tell one that the airbags are designed to deploy from speeds as low as 12 -20 kmph (8-14 mph) and ABS kicks in at speeds low as 20 kmph, in city and in bumper traffic.

With due respect, I would like to point at the written documentation on the owners manual. I have provided the link in my post above - please advise if that was to be disbelieved? I checked that before finalizing my choice and if it had provided any inkling of being useful within our city traffic conditions, I would have opted to go for the (O). The second deal breaker was the wait time - though it is not a question of having another car to fill in, it is more about how soon I wanted an automatic one.

While I can't do much now (unfortunately) on the Waggy, I certainly will keep the fellow BHPians' advise in my mind when I change cars (will be in the market by mid 2017, for the other car).