[Sutripta]

Have owned almost every one of the older Marutis (except the Baleno). And yes, that means the Versa. For its intended use, I found it perfectly satisfactory.

Any car if it meets most of your needs then it is Ok. If not, well you can't really beat it into shape. In the target it was meant to fulfill, it did it pretty well. To us it was the replacement for the factory AC Omni. Essentially for airport and station runs. Have even toured in it.

We had the 7 seater AC Versa. It had rear AC vents. And the AC was pretty good. Depending on need we would take the rear seat out, or leave it in. Small footprint. Tight turning radius. Good visibility. And even now one of the narrowest cars still being sold. Maruti reliability. Depends on how much one values those attributes. Would not suggest it as personal transport.

For the people for whom the AC was not important, the Omni made more sense. The Omni had a better shaped load platform.

More than the ride, what drove us up the wall was refilling the cooling system. Unless the system has been changed between the Versa and the Eeco, wonder why no one has mentioned it.

Sutripta

[anjan_c2007]

Originally Posted by GTO

Actually, 20 years if we include the Versa . In my books, this is a brilliant case study of repositioning a flopped car to target an entirely different segment. The initial ads targeted the private buyer, while the later product at a massively slashed price went all out to the commercial segment which makes for its sales today.

In terms of sheer real estate & utility for the money, you just can't beat an Eeco (or the older Omni).

Well said GTO. Meant some peep into the past on my part to add more information. We all very well remember the TV advertisements around October 2001 wherein the Brand Ambassador, our Big B with his son were seen. Abhishek was driving and the Big B was reclining on the rear seat.

The launch was with so much fanfare. Wonder as to how such a classy launch later on made the Versa, the Eeco with its ultimate destination now as a taxi and as a load carrier.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jOBu...WildFilmsIndia

It is evident from this link that the Big B's contract as Brand Ambassador for the Versa was for two years w.e.f. October 2001 till Sept 2003. And by September 2003, the contract of Big B was not renewed, as Maruti decided to reposition the from the 'Versa for the classes' to 'Versa for the masses', with a drastic price cut.

https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/...how/201709.cms

The older Versa advertisements





A decade back, I had seen a classified 'used car' advertisement in a newspaper stating "Maruti Varsha for sale......". Was wondering what a Varsha meant and then realised that "e" was replaced by an "a" and the new "h" added.

[peterjim13]

Its tough to compare the car with a lot of passenger cars available - but when I look at the decision on buying the car for my preschool - what I found is

- Affordable
- Much better and comfortable than alternatives like Mahindra Supro/Maximo and Tata alternatives.
- Next best competitor was a Tata Winger which is much more expensive and larger and had received super negative feedback on the maintenance.
- Easy to drive in City (Even though it doesn't have a super responsive steering)
- AC and 6 Seats at the rear
- Petrol engine from Maruti
and on top of everything
- Easy to maintain, and much cheaper to maintain as well.

> This post shouldn't be confused as a success story of a mediocre car - but how Maruti understands Indian Buyers or may be a good bunch of buyers who are not concerned by the concerns of passenger car buyers here.

My 2 paisa

[vigsom]

Originally Posted by anjan_c2007

Abhishek was driving and the Big B was reclining on the rear seat

The variant featured in the Ad was the SDX with captain seats in the middle row and alloy wheels, spoiler, and aluminium finish dashboard surround. That variant was stopped in 2002 I think after which DX and DX2(twin AC) remained. Later, a plain jade non-AC variant was also launched.

Originally Posted by Sutripta

We had the 7 seater AC Versa. It had rear AC vents.

More than the ride, what drove us up the wall was refilling the cooling system

Did you own the SDX or DX2?

The coolant circuit in the Eeco is a carry-forward from the Versa.

Yes, the coolant change was a royal pain the first time, because we knew nothing about this weird car that had the radiator at a higher elevation than the engine.

We

1. removed the radiator bottom hose
2. drained coolant into a pan
3. fitted the hose back
4. filled coolant in the radiator and the expansion tank
5. ran the engine till the thermostat opened, stopped the engine to allow coolant to be taken in from the tank and repeated this several times till no more coolant drop was seen in the expansion tank.

We later found that there is a Thermostat cap under the gear lever plate (hard to access) - this cap is unique to the Eeco and the Versa.



plus a bleeder hose from the heater outlet pipe plugged into a blank at the jack pedestal



The bleeder hose came in handy during coolant replacement the second time.

[Romeo_Mike]

I have always found the the Eeco immense value for what it offers to the target customer-

The 7 seater Eeco taxi used to be my daily shared ride from Elphinstone to office in Mumbai and I was surprised how effortlessly it was able to carry a full load of passengers with the driver manouvering the rush hour traffic in a manner that would put racing drivers to shame

And that cavernous rear end of the five seater variant was big enough to move a small house. Once we actually used 2 of them to move someone's house!

It was indeed a master stroke from Maruti to kill the Versa and relaunch it as the Eeco and allow it to fulfill it's life's purpose.

[chiranjitp]

Originally Posted by vigsom

Is the car registered as a 5 seater or a seven seater now?

The car is still registered as a 5 seater, same as before. I guess from legal point of view, buying a 7 seater non AC Eeco & then retrofitting AC is better.

[Sutripta]

Originally Posted by vigsom

Did you own the SDX or DX2?
...
We

1. removed the radiator bottom hose
2. drained coolant into a pan
3. fitted the hose back
4. filled coolant in the radiator and the expansion tank
5. ran the engine till the thermostat opened, stopped the engine to allow coolant to be taken in from the tank and repeated this several times till no more coolant drop was seen in the expansion tank.

DX2

We should have exchanged notes when we both had the Versa!

One other thing I forgot to mention - the seat folding mechanism so that the rear seat passengers could let themselves out was a disaster. Never did find out if the mechanism was redesigned.

Sutripta

[vigsom]

Originally Posted by Sutripta

the seat folding mechanism so that the rear seat passengers could let themselves out was a disaster. Never did find out if the mechanism was redesigned.

The seat folding mechanism wasn't carried forward to the 5 seater non-AC Versa OR all variants of the Eeco; the 7 seater variant of the Eeco has (1+1) + 2+3 seating with a gap on the side of the second row to allow passengers to the rear (as illustrated in the post by @chiranjitp)

[Sutripta]

^^^
No, I meant later versions of the Versa, not Eeco.

Sutripta

[DRIV3R]

Originally Posted by chiranjitp

Thanks to you, my uncle has a 7 seater Eeco with AC .

Thanks to you and Shashi, I got what I need. We got our Eeco a month ago, a 5 seater AC model.

The dealer here down south was clueless and said we cannot do the conversion or moving second row to third, we need to drill holes and remove fuel tank, spare wheel blah blah., I left it there but was still not convinced with his explanation.

Today I casually searched and stumbled upon this thread, and was happy that things are the way I expected.

We do not need the second row, and would need a seat in the third, (for more flat cargo space in middle row) so shall procure just the third row seat base and transfer the backrest from the second one. Shall place an order with MGP once lockdown ends. Should be an interesting DIY.

[chiranjitp]

Originally Posted by DRIV3R

Thanks to you and Shashi, I got what I need. We got our Eeco a month ago, a 5 seater AC model.

The dealer here down south was clueless and said we cannot do the conversion or moving second row to third, we need to drill holes and remove fuel tank, spare wheel blah blah., I left it there but was still not convinced with his explanation.

First of all congrats on the Eeco . The holes were already there in our Eeco, covered with plastic caps. You can easily remove the carpet & check whether the holes are there in your Eeco. If it's there (which I am certain it will be), order the required parts.

Even in our case the dealer was reluctant to do such modifications, the SA suggested some aftermarket juggad (which was more expensive as well).

[DRIV3R]

Originally Posted by chiranjitp

First of all congrats on the Eeco . The holes were already there in our Eeco, covered with plastic caps. You can easily remove the carpet & check whether the holes are there in your Eeco. If it's there (which I am certain it will be), order the required parts.

Even in our case the dealer was reluctant to do such modifications, the SA suggested some aftermarket juggad (which was more expensive as well).

Thanks buddy!

Just checked and we do have the holes in the chassis for mounting the third row seat base. Makes sense from a manufacturer perspective too as it doesn't make sense for Maruti to maintain two different variants of chassis for 5/7 seater. Applies to most other cars too.

Here are couple poor quality pics from my phone.

[asit.kulkarni93]

I recently drove fellow Bhpian blackwasp’s brand new Eeco cargo which he has picked up for office use. He had driven it down to Pune and both of us had some work around the city so I got to drive it for over 30 kms. I had the following observations-

1. Ergonomics are much better than the Omni.
2. AC cools well. Even during peak summers, we didn’t have to use the AC at higher fan speeds.
3. Factory fit reverse parking sensors are a boon.
4. When the car was empty, it was bouncing around. As soon we loaded it with material, the ride was liveable.
5. Wheels are puny. This car deserves 14 or 15 inch wheels.
6. Gearbox was notchy and slotting into first and reverse was difficult. Gearing is short which makes it perfect for hauling heavy loads.
7. Being a non power steering unit, it was difficult to use at parking speeds but I found no issues on the move.
8. Engine has a decent mid range. Never felt underpowered and struggled like the Omni.
9. Brakes were decent enough. It gets ABS now which should improve things.
10. On CNG, this thing is super cheap to run. Kanad did a round trip from Mumbai to Pune in about 400 Rs worth of CNG. We pay more toll than that.

Perfect goods carrier for our congested cities. As an ambulance, it’s horrible. Just a wild idea, but I don’t know why the commercial sector be it goods or passenger service, doesn’t understand the importance of an Automatic Transmission. If the Eeco was offered with the 4-AT TC that Maruti has for an additional amount, I am sure there are people who would opt for that. It’s very easy to burn the clutch on the Eeco and the 4-AT will make drivers relaxed. I think it will take our market atleast 15 years for ATs to enter the small CV segment.

[Emvi]

Originally Posted by asit.kulkarni93

4. When the car was empty, it was bouncing around. As soon we loaded it with material, the ride was liveable.

Omni too has similar traits. A couple of Omni owners who I know, while traveling alone, load a 50kg(approx.) sandbag at the rear end, which apparently negates the bouncy ride to a good extent!

5. Wheels are puny. This car deserves 14 or 15 inch wheels.

I agree with you. The wheels look seriously undersized.

[paragsachania]

Originally Posted by asit.kulkarni93

As an ambulance, it’s horrible.

In 2019, my mum was taken in the ambulance from a hospital that she was admitted for an MRI scan at a nearby center since the hospital's system was down. This was the first time experience for me sitting inside the Eeco that was an ambulance. On earlier occasion I had traveled in this in a dealer vehicle to their stockyard for a PDI.

While I knew Eeco was better than Omni in every aspect, I realised that how it made perfect sense as an ambulance, especially for intra city runs. I could sit comfortably at the edge of the rear and still my head wasn't hitting the roof (am taller than 6'). Apart from that, I the acceleration felt zippy and as you rightly mentioned, I couldn't feel anywhere that it was struggling. I was also impressed the way it managed some rough roads (corporation was laying pipes and roads were dug-up).

Although the Force Traveller would always remain a fantastic choice, the Eeco didn't disappoint me at all, as an ambulance and I had to change my perception then. For those small by-lanes, smaller turning radius, ease of parking and sneaking through traffic inside a city, I could only imagine how a larger vehicle would managed.