We sold our Chevvy Beat D after 8 years of ownership and were in the market to get a replacement, this was going to be specifically for my Dad. Had zeroed in on Ignis and Wagon-R but my mom put some sense in me and my Dad and we finally booked the top end S-Presso !
The first day when we checked out the Wagon-R, I did not give S-Presso a second look as we were fixated on the Waggy. Day two, I took my mom to show what my dad was up to and she rejected the car in the first look. Reason: "Dad will not drive this because he is going to say 'I dont want to drive this in small roads' and will end up hauling ourselves on his Jupiter"
They had a heated argument just like two kids in the showroom with people watching us

I, my wife and the sales representative had a great time enjoying it.
Some key excerpts:
Dad: "I can drive a car this big, why are you always stopping me from doing things ?"
Mom: "Oh yeah? then why did you take me to the market on your scooter that day ? I had to carry all the groceries on my lap, I remember you saying ' I am not going to drive that big car in those small lanes' "
Dad:"I've been driving cars for last 30 years..."
Mom dismisses him at looks at the Sales Executive: "You know, this man asks the security guard to park his car, because he has no CONFIDENCE in reversing it, he has scraped it so many times, show us a smaller car else I am leaving "
...
While they were tossing around their points, the executive asked me "Sir, I think we should show them the S-Presso"
I interjected and ordered them to go upstairs where the S-presso was kept on display. Mom instantly liked the dimensions and declared that she is not going to look beyond a car of this size. Then, my dad and I started looking at the car. Some points I noted :
- The space is comparable to the older Wagon-R.
- You just need to walk in and twitch your butt to slide inside. Ingress and egress is not going to be hard on older people's knees
- Dashboard looks funky and if you are open to such unconventional designs, you might just like it.
- At 5'8'' I could see the bonnet from the driver's view. Some might like it.
- Boot is big too, much bigger than the Beat
- Looks wise, it is quirky, but still does not look that bad. Its the other things like puny tyres, the gap between the wheel and the body which make it look bad.
- Battery is very small, should be light on pocket
- The lower bumpers are not colored and jut out a little, so people like my dad who don't mind scraping the car a little every now and then in parking lots will be happy to have lower maintenance costs as painting will not be involved. (I hope the lower bumper is comes as a separate unit)
- The car is tall, that makes the door pretty tall, once inside, you will see the plastic door pad is so big and flat that you can actually use it as a black-board if you have some chalks around. A bit disappointed that Maruti did not put some thought in designing it better. The feel of sitting inside is too industrial.
- Clutch was light, but moving the stick was a little hard and rubbery. (Did not drive it)
- The gap between the rear wheel and wheel arch is was so big that my Dad had to ask the executive if it was a manufacturing defect. The only way to hide it is going for a darker shade like granite grey. It looks too bad on orange (might be the same case for other colors)
- As far as build quality is concerned, the car is exactly similar to the older Alto K10, thin doors, hard and scratch plastics on the door-pads etc. Nothing premium even like the Hyundai Eon.
- As I am not that tall, under-thigh support was fine for me, taller ones will find that only their butt is rested properly. Rear seats are flat and boring, but will get the job done. The fixed rear head-rest is usable for shorter people, yet it was not as useless as the Honda Brio's.
- Some serious miss outs: Day-Night mirror and Fog lamps are not available even on the top end vxi+ . Its almost as if Maruti wants the car to be driven strictly within city limits.
Coming to why we had to go for the S-Presso:
After owning brands like Fiat and Chevrolet there was only one car that is still in our house and running perfectly fine: My dad's second new car, the Zen, bought in 2006 ! We later sold her to my cousin who has no issues whatsoever so far. Dad has developed a liking for Maruti and I agree with him, at his age, I cannot ask him to run around distant service centers with something falling apart or not working or risk him and his woman getting stranded on the streets five years later when all of them have got a little old. He is 59 right now. The thing with Maruti is that it just works.
P.S: Hyundai's Santro was in for contention but after Mom's earful we did not bother to pay a visit.