[reihem]

Originally Posted by PrasannaDhana

Please enlighten me. What does it actually mean when you say "fall apart"?
I own a 60k km run ciaz, it still is in the same shape it was on day 1, no rattles or no falling apart what so ever. Or is it the way we treat our car? I sure understand Ciaz is a tincan and drive extremely careful within the city to escape dents. But I don't understand how a car could develop rattles and squeaks within months of ownership unless one drives it without mechanical empathy.

PS: I have owned cars from Maruti, Mahindra, Tata, Honda, Renault, Chevrolet and HM. Maruti held up as good as other brands, if not better. Or I guess I have been extremely lucky to own Marutis that stayed intact.

Perhaps I lack mechanical empathy as you seem to suggest (I certainly don't think I do ), but it seems strange that a honda city hasn't responded to my "treatment" in the way the ciaz did. I'm not drawing comparisons with cars from different segments and price bands, that would be unfair.

My opinions are of course restricted to my experiences. This has been my experience. If you're happy with your ciaz - power to you !

[PrasannaDhana]

Originally Posted by reihem

Perhaps I lack mechanical empathy as you seem to suggest (I certainly don't think I do ), but it seems strange that a honda city hasn't responded to my "treatment" in the way the ciaz did. I'm not drawing comparisons with cars from different segments and price bands, that would be unfair.

My opinions are of course restricted to my experiences. This has been my experience. If you're happy with your ciaz - power to you !

Haha That is not something that I implied. As you have said, we talk from our experiences.

May be, I have been lucky
I hear same feedback from a lot of people in this forum about the rattling nature of marutis.

[amvj]

Okay first of all I have posted this one in the weird and wacky thread but it was the mods who moved this out from that thread created a new thread out of it. I am not trying to be defensive here but just making a point. May be they are now grabbing popcorn and watching this thread.

You are a Team-bhp member and you have plenty of resources to check before deciding the car. Why did you bought this and posting non-sense in this forum ?

I was looking for my first car (hatchback) during mid 2017. That time National Green Tribunal (NGT also known as idiots) was very vocal against Diesels. Also I am not a mile mucher to justify the need for Diesel car. This made many of the great cars removed from my check list such as Hyundai i20 (petrol is still rubbish), Ford Figo or Figo S (Petrol is not great) and Punto Diesel. I have not considered VW, I am still afraid of their after sales service. Also I have not considered the Etios liva, Tata and Mahindra.

The only cars in my list were Abarth Punto, Jazz and Baleno. My first option was Abarth Punto even though it was bit stretching my budget. When I enquired about this, the dealer in Bangalore said they are not accepting Abarth Punto booking. Since there was no production of the car (that time). I have moved on and the next was Jazz, Jazz is bit like a mini Innova. I liked the previous Gen Jazz sold here but I don't like the new one's look.

Then I left with no other option except Baleno. I was bit skeptical about this especially the weight but Maruti mention that it is designed with crash test in mind etc. I have only checked Baleno and Jazz in the showroom in person. I admit this was a huge mistake. At one point I was thinking about the base variant of S-cross, Ecosport and some sedans too. Since many of the features will not be there, I have not considered them. This was my another big mistake.

As a first time car buyer, I still do not get many things by reading or watching photos. Some of them are build quality, steering feel. Only after buying a car, I come to know about this.

So you have bought Baleno now why are you regretting it ?

I have got Baleno on Oct 2017. I have not noticed how flimsy the car is until recently. When one of my colleague showed me. He recently bought S-cross. He has greater attention to detail in observation that I often over looked.

Everybody makes mistakes. Even Jeremy Clarkson bought wrong variant of Ferrari 355, check below video esp at 3.20. He recently bought VW Golf in wrong colour too.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P8YZzGaprtA

What is your problem and why are you sticking stickers like this ? Will the sticker serve you any benefit ? You are vandalizing the car.

The car has very light sheet metal, the interior plastics are also very light. The brakes are weak and the engine is overrated (it is smooth I admit but it is also weak) and these kind of things reduces my enthusiasm. It is still debatable whether the car passes crash test or not. We are yet to have our proper Indian crash tests.

Even if the car passes the crash test, the metal on the car is very easily susceptible to dents. Not only that, a small crash will make you to replace very large portion of area. If VW, Hyundai can make thick strong cars in the same budget range, there is no reason for Maruti to not to do it.
I have mentioned many times about the cons of this car yet nothing happened. Only after seeing the stickers, people are now posting their thoughts.

We Indians are okay to stay with rubbish and we are not at all willing to change. That is why we have things like Trains that still throws shit in the rail road. There are still garbage thrown in the road. Still we have frequent power cuts. I have seen these 30 years ago and still the same now. Nothing changed so far because we are happy with whatever we have or if somebody raise their voice against it like me here, people tend to discourage and comment against it.

The sticker is not as bad as the car itself.

Your opinions are contrary.

https://www.team-bhp.com/forum/offic...ml#post4375477 (Maruti Baleno : Official Review)

I admit I am one of the people who protested when someone posted picture of crashed Baleno saying it is not safe. I said we cannot tell whether a car is safe or not just by looking at the picture. It is still true because we will never know how much speed the car carry in the event of an accident.

However, it is not just one or two Baleno crash photos. There are now quite lot more really. Even though there is no scientific conclusion on this, I don't think not all crashed Balenos had such high speed accident.

I have taken a video today to show how much the metal of the car is flexing. This should be noted that I have tried this on other cars in my office car park and none of them are flexing as this much. May be the new Swift or the upcoming Ertiga will have this "feature". Again this is not scientific. Metal flex may not be linked with crash test fails but spending close to 9L and what you are getting in return is bit shocking. True to be told, I am not aware that the car metal flexes like this until recently. Again I am very bad at noticing things. It is not just the exterior metal, even the interior plastic panels are very very light.

https://youtu.be/J_4G_day13U

What are you going to do with this car ?

I will continue to drive it. I have other priorities at the moment with respect to money. Unless if Maruti steps in and want me to return the car which obviously will not happen.

Summing it up

I think there is no need to glorify any manufacturer. These guys are shameless and do whatever to reap profits whether it is Maruti or VW. Maruti and recently Nissan issued statement after the crash test fails, they both said the cars comply with Indian Govt norms. God only knows what norms we have. Renault Duster sold here has smaller airbags than the one sold in other countries. Just look at the way they want to earn more money.

https://indianexpress.com/article/bu...-maruti-chief/

https://www.outlookindia.com/website...gn-vari/298831

I believe someone from Maruti will see this and make a note of it. May be they will implement it in their future products. There is a mechanism to provide the feedback of Maruti car service but there is no mechanism to provide feedback about the car which Maruti sells. I don't think my post will affect Maruti in anyway. It is like a drop in the ocean.


Again people take things personally. You don't have to be serious unless you are a Maruti aficionado or a Maruti salesman.

[noopster]

Originally Posted by Palaver

Reading some of the statements made by our fellow subscribers, I must say that this problem that the OP is facing is primarily due to the products that are low on quality and even lower on the list of features that they provide.

Originally Posted by Swapnil4585

Precisely the reason, why I never enter in a Maruti showroom. The build quality is so weak, that this one flaw outweighs all other perceived positives that it has.

Originally Posted by reihem

I bought a Ciaz as a city work horse in 2015 Jan. It was great till it started to fall apart 6-7 months later. I dumped it and I've never looked at Maruti again.

I wasn’t going to comment on this thread at all but given the trend of the last few posts, some of which are quoted above, thought I may as well...

I own both a Maruti as well as a “well-built” German for the past 7 years and have driven both equally. The 2006 Swift has completed 1L km now but we aren’t seriously considering replacing it because it does the job of second car/ city runabout admirably. It doesn’t rattle and is certainly no tin can. Neither did it “start to fall apart” when it was 6 months old (I bought it at 3 years/30,000 km and it was still mint).

The 2011 Vento is my primary ride mostly because it has safety features the Swift Vxi trim misses (like many cars of its vintage) and NOT because of some magical body strength that the former possesses. In fact I am a relatively happy owner simply because I opted for a petrol AT which allowed me freedom from the problems that plague other VW owners, such as Dieselgate, DSG failures and malfunctioning fuel injectors.

To the OP: buyer’s remorse is one thing, indulging in self-flagellation like this is quite another. 5 minutes into your test drive (if you even took one) you would have realised how lightweight the Baleno feels on the open road. Yet you bought the Baleno of your own free will, so my advice would be to learn to love it. Other than the lightweight feel, it’s a decent car: I did a 1000 km round trip in a friend’s Baleno and we were fine. You can also explore ways to address the problem constructively: investing in chunkier Tyres? A beefed up suspension? Door damping?

Even assuming you genuinely hate the car so much, nothing stops you from listing the car on a couple of popular marketplaces including Team BHP’s and starting your search for its replacement.

Think about it and do the right thing.

[IshaanIan]

Why not look into getting the whole car damped with dampmat? Trust me you will not regret that. Metal flex could be a bad thing in case of a minor accident as that would lead to a lot of unnecessary damage but a light car also equates to a thrilling driving experience in general the car will be easy to throw into corners and chuck about from here to there. As for your brakes, please check that there is no air in the lines perhaps you should blead the brake lines at the service center. Upgraded brake pads are also a very simple basic mod that you can implement. Simply sharing as you have mentioned that you will be keeping the car.

[reihem]

Originally Posted by noopster

I own both a Maruti as well as a “well-built” German for the past 7 years and have driven both equally. The 2006 Swift has completed 1L km now but we aren’t seriously considering replacing it because it does the job of second car/ city runabout admirably. It doesn’t rattle and is certainly no tin can. Neither did it “start to fall apart” when it was 6 months old (I bought it at 3 years/30,000 km and it was still mint).

Think about it and do the right thing.

I take it I’m part of the peanut gallery .. since I was quoted.

So which of the following holds true ? I’m not entitled to my opinion. My opinion is incorrect. You don’t agree with my opinion.

I haven’t driven your cars, you haven’t driven mine. This boils down to us sharing our perceptions / opinions based on experiences ? Yes ?

I’m assuming you guys (the mods who run this place) made this a thread for others to react to based on personal experience ?

I ate a meal at a restaurant and loved it - this doesn’t preclude someone else from finding a roach in their meal. This sort of logic fails me.

Why silence dissent in a forum that was surely made and managed by you guys for opinions of all sorts to be shared ?

[Dr.Naren]

Originally Posted by amvj

I have taken a video today to show how much the metal of the car is flexing.

Yes, Baleno has thin sheet metal and prone to dents easily. Appreciate you for trying this on your own car for demo.

This should be noted that I have tried this on other cars in my office car park and none of them are flexing as this much.

The other car owners allowed you to do this?

He recently bought S-cross. He has greater attention to detail in observation that I often over looked.

I own both S-Cross and Baleno. Yes, Baleno has much lighter build and prone to dents. But, I do not hate the car at all. Baleno has better front seats, lighter clutch, butter smooth gear shifts, better brakes and handling. Whenever I miss the high revving petrol, I shift to Baleno for couple of days .

[abhijeet080808]

I guess one point that is being slightly lost is the fact that this is the OP's first car.

If we look back to our first car, and the proceeding shortlisting of cars as per one's budget and tastes and the flurry of short test drives that would have followed before the final car was bought, I am sure none of us can confidently say we knew exactly what we were doing.

At the end of all permutations and combinations, we would have kind of hoped we have arrived at the correct decision and hopefully have a car with us that will serve us with satisfaction for many years to come.

It works in most of the cases, but not always. Short of living with a car for a long term, it is simply not easy to know the in and outs of a car. That is what long term reviews are for. I guess that is also why reviews of new cars on this site takes time.

So, I guess the car did not turn out as per OP's expectation. There are 2 ways - live with it or sell it off and move on. Along the way, if the OP tries to raise awareness about particular shortcomings of the car (poor build quality), so that other first time buyers are aware of it, I would say its a good thing to do.

Of course subsequent car purchases are much easier.

[Added_flavor]

Originally Posted by amvj

I have taken a video today to show how much the metal of the car is flexing. This should be noted that I have tried this on other cars in my office car park and none of them are flexing as this much. May be the new Swift or the upcoming Ertiga will have this "feature". Again this is not scientific. Metal flex may not be linked with crash test fails but spending close to 9L and what you are getting in return is bit shocking. True to be told, I am not aware that the car metal flexes like this until recently. Again I am very bad at noticing things. It is not just the exterior metal, even the interior plastic panels are very very light.

I found a YouTube video tailor made for you, Sir. Here, we have a smart chap "testing" the safety and build quality of the car your way. He presses a Maruti Baleno, a ford EcoSport and a Volkswagen Polo. Watch for the result.

https://youtu.be/zXqRnKDVQLs

Now that you've watched, during your finger test, are you sure you applied the same amount of pressure on all the cars in your office parking lot?

I have a feeling you pressed your Baleno harder than the other cars due to the hatred you have for it.

[PrasannaDhana]

Op

Originally Posted by Added_flavor

Now that you've watched, during your finger test, are you sure you applied the same amount of pressure on all the cars in your office parking lot?

I have a feeling you pressed your Baleno harder than the other cars due to the hatred you have for it.

I happened to be near my Storme while I watched that video . Tried my FCAP(Finger-CAP) on it and I was pretty disappointed. I couldn't find a deflection in any of the areas- bonnet-no, fenders -no, doors- no, abc pillars- no, tailgate-no. Why was I disappointed? I am pretty strong but couldn't make a deflection on it.

Now I am going to conclude that the storme, with all its 2.5 tonnes of heavy metal, is the safest car. But wait, it hasn't been crash tested, and it may even get a 0 star rating, who knows! But perception is through my senses, how relevant can it be?

I should also agree with OP that extremely light build quality is a turn off. The only small dent on my ciaz is from an old man leaning on the door, leaving a 2 inch wide dent that is visible only at certain lighting conditions.

[ninjatalli]

Originally Posted by amvj

Okay first of all I have posted this one in the weird and wacky thread but it was the mods who moved this out from that thread created a new thread out of it. I am not trying to be defensive here but just making a point. May be they are now grabbing popcorn and watching this thread.

What a thread! 1 post by OP who probably just wanted to rant & let off some steam on his ownership experience on the weird&wacky thread; and already there's a TON of advice on what he should and should not do next; several posts lecturing him what he's saying (/via stickers) is not ideal; and parallel conversations between pro-baleno/con-baleno users inclusive of mods!

I knew it's dangerous these days to put up an opinion on social forums, with others always jumping in to argue/give a counter view; seems like team-bhp isn't far behind lol!

Buddy, don't know about mods but I sure have the popcorn ready

[Waspune]

Originally Posted by amvj

I believe someone from Maruti will see this and make a note of it. May be they will implement it in their future products. There is a mechanism to provide the feedback of Maruti car service but there is no mechanism to provide feedback about the car which Maruti sells. I don't think my post will affect Maruti in anyway. It is like a drop in the ocean.

Maruti sells around 15k balenos a month which does mean that your post is indeed a drop in the ocean. Before blaming Maruti we need to blame us who overlook things like super light built quality in favour of brilliant FE, brilliant set of features etc. Maruti played quite smartly by giving air bags and abs as standard and everyone thought it's a SAFE car. That's the extent a normal car buyer in India ventures to wrt safety. We wouldn't know much about CCB, bumper crash bars etc that actually increase the weight of the car and play a pivotal role in a practical crash scenario.

I am told that the made for India Kwid that is 150 kgs lighter when compared to the made for Brazil one is devoid of CCB (Cross Car Beam) that prevents the car from squeezing when hit from side. You already mentioned about Duster's smaller airbags.

People even went gung-ho on the Euro NCAP rating that the European baleno scored (4 stars) without knowing that today the EURO NCAP doesn't award any stars until the car has a minimum of 6 airbags and other safety electronics. The reason why the Punto scored a 0, yes the same car that scored a 5 stars 12 years ago. I am sure all current crop of Indian cars will score a 0 if they get tested in EURO NCAP today, until they have 6 airbags and other host of passive and active safety electronics.

I feel that everyone at his/her back of mind know that how tiny a Maruti is built (barring the S-Cross) but they overlook it for known reasons. Well you see so many of them on the roads and specially for a first time buyer like you the word of mouth plays a very important role. I am totally with you on this and hope that you are able to change your car when you are done with other obligations. But till then keep it in top shape so that the resale value doesn't get affected.

Let the Indian NCAP come and the Baleno would score a solid 5 stars.

[SmartCat]

On a lighter note, that comfy bendy sheet metal is probably responsible for Baleno getting excellent pedestrian safety ratings. Pedestrians are likely to get away with just a mild headache.

Originally Posted by reihem

I take it I’m part of the peanut gallery .. since I was quoted. So which of the following holds true ? I’m not entitled to my opinion. My opinion is incorrect. You don’t agree with my opinion. Why silence dissent in a forum that was surely made and managed by you guys for opinions of all sorts to be shared ?

Although you gave an acceptable opinion on Maruti cars (based on your Ciaz experience), it was accompanied by dramatization ("fell apart in 6 months") and not proper substantiation. That's probably why your opinion did not carry much weight.

Because "fell apart in 6 months" gives an impression that it comically shed all body panels while you were driving around.

[gubbi555]

It's evident that most Maruti cars in an effort to strive for that higher fuel economy compromise on the body. We bought a Celerio a few months ago and have just restricted it's usage around home for quick errand runs. Yesterday, in crawling traffic I was switching lanes when a cabbie aggressively came at me causing me to defense back to my own lane. In the process, I nudged at probably a single digit speed to the car in front and now my bumper has a size-able concave dent. The car may have ABS and airbags but I would never want to take this car onto the highway and if I have to, I know I'm not crossing the triple digit mark.

That being said, I'm still happy with the car in terms of usability and ease of maintenance within the city with the AMT gearbox. Serves it's purpose very well, I knew what I was getting into! Good luck to the OP!

[octane1002]

A simple advice to OP..one that an auto enthusiast can relate to:

Life is too short to be compromising on the car you drive.Every day spent at the wheel of an ordinary (to you) car, is a waste. The day wont come back, nor will the experience be a memorable one.

This is of course subject to reasonability..not suggesting overstepping your financial comfort zone. But swap your ride (by way of a lateral upgrade) for something that brings the joy of owning a car back to you.Whether it is an I20 or generously depreciated GT TSi, get the one that gives you peace and pride.