[heydj]

Out of curiosity why did you buy Baleno? Was there a decision making matrix? Did you do a proper comparison? There has to be a reason(s) for you to buy this car.

Please list those reasons? Then see if this car is meeting those requirements for you.

If it is then problem solved, maybe all you need is a confidence booster that decision you have taken is the right one.

One more thing don't ever let anyone in office or elsewhere see you down or tell you why you did this or that. People at times take pleasure in seeing someone suffer, so stop listening to all that. Rationalize why you bought this car and move on, life is too short to agonize over all this.

[COMMUTER]

Originally Posted by Olympal

I concur with your tinpot assessment of the Baleno. I recall an incident when I was waiting on a flyover incline with a Baleno ahead of my Polo. The Baleno started rolling back and before I realised it, it had crashed into my bonnet with a loud noise. The rear of the Baleno had huge dent and the boot would not open. The damage to the Polo was only a broken number plate.

Like several people advised on this site, sell the Baleno baloney and buy a Polo or i20. Ford has reduced the sheet metal thickness on its latest models to reduce weight and increase fuel efficiency.

I agree that the sheet metal has reduced but I have had two big bumps.

The first one was when the gate started closing due to wind when I was parking inside my place. I hear a loud crash, the gate(not very filmsy) was bent on contact with the front right door. I mentally calculated a bill of 11k after remembering the door replacement and painting cost from Ford Service Price Promise website. When I went over to inspect the damage I was pleasantly stunned on failing to feel or see any damage in the night. On the morning there was a slight fold in the metal with the paint remaining unaffected.

The second bump when in a (once in a 5 year)hurry I misjudged a reverse being blocked by a Red Vista and bumped hard because of my Figo overlapping the vista by two inches. The cars scrapped over a feet up to the wheel arches. The cars got wedged on contact. My stomach went tender in panic and when I pulled out forwarded parked, I was wonderfully speechless for a moment in finding no deformation in metal. The cars traded paint this time though which in my eyes still haven't looked that ghastly enough to warrant a stint at the workshop.

We have an VW Ameo which feels much better built but I do feel that one is not vastly better in taking bumps after having observed them for a considerable period and mileage.

[MaheshY1]

As much as I love the reassuring thud of a VW, it has nothing to do in the event of a serious crash. The chassis and the crumble zones are responsible for saving the occupants.

Adding weights to the doors might make you feel like your car has a thick skin but the bones matter more.

I'm among the maruti haters but I know the Baleno has a chassis that'll easily get through the crash tests once they're enforced. It's stronger than the previous gen Swift. I've to applaud the carmaker for making ABS and dual airbags standard in a sub-5 lakh rupees car at a time when they could have charged for it. (Launch price ex Delhi of base model) People still don't know what ISOFIX does and yet maruti offered it in the Baleno.

Q: didn't you do your research before buying? Didn't you test drive the car? Even casually checking out the car parked on the showroom floor would have been enough to see if you like the sheet metal or not.

If you're worried about you toddler, invest in a good child seat. No car is safe if the child is not safely tethered.

Above all, car purchase are emotional decisions and if it doesn't make you feel positive, then you should get rid of it.

Pro Tip: keep the stickers on if you're prepared to knock off about 1 lakh rupees from the market price of your car.

[S2!!!]

I'm very happy for the person who buys your car. He/she will get a really nice spacious and practical hatchback, with a phenomenal petrol engine that's run just 6,500 km for less than half the price of a brand new car, making it a great deal. Hopefully the stickers are still placed though at the time of the sales procedure, as it is a possibility that the prospective buyer wouldn't have seen this thread.

I can't believe how people just buy cars without any pre-research and proper testing. A car is an asset that will be with you for a good number of years. You need to choose wisely.

It's quite natural that some cars might not meet the owners expectation after daily usage and some cars even throw up occasional tantrums, which is all a part and parcel of owning a car. Don't like it? Sell it, simple. If it is a huge financial hit, buy pre-owned or something from a lower segment.

[COMMUTER]

To conclude, please buy a used petrol gas guzzler, almost a decade old, for peanuts and keep it as your highway only car to get rid of this agony and still remain financially less ripped off. If you sell your Baleno, filmsy it might be, you might be ending up with remorse due to the financial loss at a later period.

The main take away in your thread is that we must spend time and money in driving the car we are planning to buy before signing the loan papers.

I humbly request you to deal with another myth, the famed Resale of Maruti.
Please, remove the stickers, put up many online ads, take it to Maruti Suzuki own True value among others and share the responses you get here.

[RoadMonkey]

I used to be in somewhat of a similar bought when I made the decision to purchase Baleno, except I knew I'd made the choice after a lot of thinking and there really wasn't any better option. I couldn't go for the Elite i20 because I just preferred the handling of Baleno, as light as it might be. I had (still do, but it's with Dad now), a Ritz before this and it felt more surefooted at 3 digit speeds than Baleno, and while Baleno does give the feeling of "being light", it doesn't feel unstable or as if it cannot handle the speeds. At least it doesn't to me.

Over the time, having clocked approx 10k Kms in the last 5 months, I've come to make my peace with it. My Baleno got a little dimple because a heavy friend of mine put his weight against it once. I was distraught then. How could it be so flimsy? I almost gave up on my Baleno and wanted to switch it for the New Honda Amaze. Now, slowly, I'm starting to make my peace with it. I've visited Maruti's bodyshop many times now, the guys there know me, they rectified a few rattles quickly without any formality or any payment. I make sure my car doesn't suffer rattles because it really spoils the mood, all that's outside can still be overlooked.

There are little things to enjoy in Baleno, the music system is nice, the steering/handling are not shabby (at least they don't feel too bad), the suspension is fine, and I so appreciate the tinted glasses in this summer! It also gives a feeling of coziness inside the cabin. The engine is a gem and the fuel economy more than makes up for all my gripes, at the end of the day, since I too have a Vitamin M problem and it's spent on more than just purchase of the car.

[bhavik.1991]

Originally Posted by vinair

More or less on a same boat mate! Having bought a Ciaz, I am just appalled at the cheap quality and the lousy service! But, stopped bothering much and just started looking at the positives.

I echo your feeling regarding my Brezza. She was bought for dad as he was not comfortable with hatchbacks, sedans. Since dad has quit driving from past one and half years, she's my responsibility. I have been using it as a beater car (my other rides Jetta & RC390 don't make sense inside city traffic). I will soon start a thread in What car section about what should I do with the car.

[5kmiles]

1. It is so easy to question someone else's decisions and own up to our bad decisions. When I bought S-Cross in 2016, Balenos were just coming into the showrooms and car did look and feel wow - for the price and segment. Though, Ciaz and Baleno felt distinctly like tin cans. Have driven S-cross for 58k KMs and no complaint at all with build - no rattles from body, no squeaks from anywhere in the car. So, Maruti can make decently built cars.

2. Couple of years back, someone's WagonR in my family fell on the side of road and overturned. Couple escaped with bruises. My friend's swift met a bad crash and he escaped with couple of broken ribs and some bruises. Car was badly damaged in both cases. My uncle's Vista crashed with a trucks some days back. Car was damaged as total loss in engine bay but both occupants escaped with very minor injuries. So, in accidents, heavier body might have a role or not.

3. Role of heavy body may not be critical in crashes - as proven by Etios' crash tests and that's most likely among the flimsiest cars after Datsun Gos of the world. However, it is very critical in enjoying car for longer run as it helps body stay in enjoyable shape for longer. I had a Manza for 1.25L kms and it barely had dimple dents and managed scrapes and dents much better. Painted only back bumber and one quarter panel through its life. What was also distinctly better than Maruti was paint quality that stayed shinier, albeit with lot of care with Meguiar's and Mother's stuff.

[d_himan]

Good old fashioned trolling by the OP I suspect.

I own a Polo GT TSI and a Baleno Alpha CVT. The Baleno redeems itself very well.

Yes, the plastic, paint and the sheet metal, seat thickness, slickness of the touchscreen etc are not like VW.

However, unlike the Polo, after 8 months of torturous Bombay roads, I have zero rattles, the ride quality is great, it has Isofix (we have a toddler), it is not an embarrassment to pick people up from the airport or take colleagues out for lunch (2 healthy humans can sit comfortably in the rear unlike my polo), numerous smaller, useful features (seat belt height adjustability, osram bixenons, keyless entry, UV cut glasses for starters) and a significantly better AC. Importantly, the engine brings a smile (this, despite having a TSI) and the stock brakes feel more reassuring.

So yes, it's not perfect, but definitely not as bad as the OP is making it out to be.

[2000rpm]

Wow! Didnt realize there were so many people unhappy with their purchase.

I can open a used car showroom by just getting people here onboard.

[dark.knight]

Originally Posted by d_himan

Good old fashioned trolling by the OP I suspect.

I'd reckon the least we can do is to accommodate opinion of actual owners of cars, so that we can learn from it. Every new car owner may have a different opinion, a different take on quality.. it what makes this forum a little interesting, a bit frustrating yet very enlightening at the end of the day. Trolling is being used as a term for almost everything today.. I was just accused of trolling when I said its raining in my city, to my friend who is sniffing dust in Delhi. ;-)

A ton of replies have already been made to the OP so I have little to add.. but it is no secret that the build quality of Maruti today, is on the poor side. Every time I write this I may be accused of being a hater and supporting its biggest rival in India.. but I say it only based on what Baleno owners have written here and compared it to my own experiences with the old square-lamped timeless Maruti 800 for 8 long years and it was one of the most memorable car ownerships we've had.. mainly because it is linked to my childhood. I've sat on its hood (about 35 kgs would've been my weight), leaned all over it, even used to fix the parking area light when standing on the roof. While the roof used to cave-in slightly, it always recovered when I got off and even a major shunt in traffic by another car caused a simple cave-in about a square-inch, nothing else.

I have nothing to add on safety, all I can hope for is that everyone drives safe be it whatever a car, and everyone reaches home each day with no harm caused to self or to any other living being. However, there is such a thing as just-enough rigidity/stiffness of the body sheet so as to enable withstanding of daily wear-tear, a few bumps or knocks of human bodies and objects. I have that much of an expectation when buying a car. Dilution should be done only so much.

[5kmiles]

Originally Posted by dark.knight

A ton of replies have already been made to the OP so I have little to add.. but it is no secret that the build quality of Maruti today, is on the poor side.

I have had 2 WagonRs in the past - one from 2002-2009 (88k kms) and other from 2011-2016 (65k kms). Stark difference in sheet metal quality - can be identified at every step of the usage. However, both cars served me very very strongly for my needs and expectations at the time. First one was way better for sure.

Also, make a trip to any large sized Maruti dealership's body shop. And take a look at damages to Balenos and Ciazs parked there. I had some damage on my S-Cross and spotted multiple damaged Balenos - fairly high %. Post-damage views can give a sense of how strong the car is.

Spotted an accident on NH8 around Mehrauli area few months back - Baleno in back and Ciaz in front with Ertiga in middle. Ciaz's boot had crumpled like crazy and Baleno's hood took a good hit. Somehow Ertiga was in best shape among all 3. Not sure of the reason - maybe Ertiga is better.

[docmoya2007]

I think this is the most useless thread I have ever encountered on team-bhp forum. As an auto enthusiast, I love almost all vehicles, be it mine or my friends' or relatives'. No vehicle is perfect. You just have to adjust yourself for every different vehicle. And the one who made the opening post has not described any details what put him off so much. I think, it is best if the moderators removed this thread. Live cars. Love cars. By the way, I too own a 2011 Ford Fiesta Classic SXi and a 2017 Maruti Suzuki Alto 800.

[ashwinprakas]

Two things that caught my eye.

1. The OP in his/her thread starter has failed to furnish any substantial causes for his concern.

2. Other than sensationalism I find no other practical reason for this threads existence. You don't like a car, replace it, no point being miserable about it.

The sticker job and unsubstantiated claims is not doing anyone any favors from where I see it.

Not being much of a driver myself I might fail to see certain things that might seem obvious (and do enlighten me on the same) but my experience with anything mechanical is that given the number of parts involved a rattle here or there is something bound to happen and something(more so if you're an enthusiast) that should be worked upon using someones better judgement, be it your mechanics or yours if you know better.

Peace.
A.P.

[scwagh]

Friend, I understand what you are going through, but truth be told Baleno is not so bad car. The price point at which it comes very few cars will have that thunk when you close the door. You are thinking way too much about the build quality and seeing those stickers day-in and day-out will only make the matters worse.

Build quality of the vehicle is the first thing which you will realize even before starting the car when on a test drive. Had it been so worrisome, it would have got registered in your mind that time itself.

My advice. Remove those stickers, be positive and go on a long drive in your car and you would be amazed how (relatively) composed it feels out their on highways. If it can work on highways, it can surely survive the city.