[ajayc123]

Originally Posted by silverado

I dont think this is happening with majority of cars. I have a 5 year old Baleno which has done 32k kms, and none of the parts mentioned here ( or for that matter none of the parts ) have chipped/ faded/ or come apart.

My car has been tight and rattle free till now.
Car has always been inside covered parking and i am the only person who drives it.

I also have a Baleno that I had purchased when it was launched, and don't have any problems described by the OP and is rattle free so far.

[sridhar24]

I strongly feel its the customers in the first place who have encouraged the manufacturers like Maruti to carry out such tactics of using low quality of materials in cars due to unreasonable demand to have more for less money.

There is no doubt Maruti taken maximum advantage of this and price their cars at lower cost but and actually making the customers spend much more in the form of service where parts wear out sooner than normal. This unfortunately many people don't realize at all and blindly go for Maruti cars just worrying about resale value.

I think all are its an open secret why the similar models abroad cost much more than in India, due to double standards followed by manufacturers.
It is the customers who needs to change their mindset, but unfortunately the majority of mass market customers will remain like this.

[samitjain]

With so many Marutis on road, in fact every 2nd car being Maruti there are bound to be unsatisfied customers.
I have Baleno aka Glanza but don’t have any issues even though it’s relatively new. Hyundai is in the same league and infact my experience of having owned Getz and Verna Fluidic, their quality was even worse. Silver paint fading and broken door handles.

All the manufacturer in these price bracket are similar. For Metro cities when Marutis cars are perfect. Small, good mileage and good resale. I have owned expensive cars from BMW as well as Audi, but Maruti will continue to be in my list.

I believe Honda is even worse than Maruti. So singling out Maruti is wrong. You can’t continue to own 50% market share if people were so unsatisfied with their products.

Indian people are intelligent and Marutis success is a fact that they understand Indian pshcye better than others.

Innova and Fortuner continue to sell even though they are getting expensive every 6 months.
Skoda cannot make fool of people if they say they are selling quality when failure rates are so high.
It’s not only product but ASS which is extremely important where Toyota excels way ahead of even the Big Germans

[NST440]

Lately I have seen a dramatic upsurge in the amount of Maruti Suzuki bashing on various social media platforms, memes suggesting tin can stuff and pics comparing build quality of TATA to MSIL. Who are these people and what is their point is what I fail to understand. Putting up fake pics and suggesting one brand over the other. If this was the case, MSIL wouldn’t be the owner of half of the market share in a risky playfield like India.

Are we on the road to drive or to play demolition derby? People in India know their needs and not everyone can spend big money on buying and maintaining a white elephant which sell for peanuts eventually. Each brand has an identity and its own USP and MSIL being at the top of the food chain know the game very well. The no. Of accidents of a car which sells 10 times to other competitors will always be higher.

Talking about the deteriorating quality, I have seen Steering and gear leather of cars costing half a crore going bad in a span of less than 5 years in my extended family as well and it has a lot to do with how one maintains and ensures upkeep of his/ her vehicle at the first place.

Have seen many , many Maruti vehicles from Arena as well as Nexa having immaculate interiors even after 5 years and many Hyundai’s and Honda’s in a sad state at times. Each brand and car is unique in its right and that is the reason each of it sells in whatever numbers. My friend has a 2015 make swift as a daily driver who is into a lot of touring and his car completed 2 lac kilometres last month. Even this day the car feels like new, be it the interiors or be it the engine or mechanical aspects.

It has a lot to do with the person than with the vehicle itself. A monkey on a Mercedes will still be a monkey.

[snappysam]

I have to disagree with the Original Post.

I drive a 2011 Swift ZDI with 113000 Kms on the odo. My car still drives like new. Not interior issues, faults or even a single rattle from anywhere.

Well, intially for about first 10000 Kms my car did have a slight buzzing sound from the left side of the dashboard. This will diagnosed to be a acrew that somehow got unscrewed and fell into the dashboard. It was sorted out and car has been rattle free now.

Interiors still look fresh despite the car being parked in open area for about 4 years (We were living away from our home base for this duration and did not have parking space).

Only problem I have are the discoloured headlights due to plastic ageing. Apart from routine services costs, I have had to replace all 4 struts, AC condenser coil due to small leak, ECU, Clutch disc at around 50000kms (due to a leaking hydraulic piston), front brake pads (2 times) and ball joints at the front (about 3 times).

For a 10 year old car, I find MSIL quality to be extremely satisfying. All I wish is that they use stronger steel and design stronger cars thar trump Crash Safety tests. There are the 2 grave sore points.

Perhaps if my car had been from NEXA, I might have had a different experience. Yet I am a happy Maruti Customer.

[fhdowntheline]

Originally Posted by NST440

Talking about the deteriorating quality, I have seen Steering and gear leather of cars costing half a crore going bad in a span of less than 5 years in my extended family as well and it has a lot to do with how one maintains and ensures upkeep of his/ her vehicle at the first place.

It has a lot to do with the person than with the vehicle itself. A monkey on a Mercedes will still be a monkey.

This is so true- I am actually surprised at some of the comments on used cars in this thread. A used car regardless of the brand is ALWAYS a gamble. I have owned cars from Hyundai, Maruti, Fiat, Tata, Nissan, Renault, Honda, VW (in that order) and never ever have I seen part quality deteriorate in 2-3 years or so- except in case of the Nano whose headlamps went cloudy within 6 months. After 4-5 years, you cant ever guarantee anything as such, neither the interior, nor the mechanicals. Our road and environmental conditions are brutal to say the least. Our driving habits are sub-optimal and indisciplined (as a general society).

[pavi]

Originally Posted by snappysam

I have to disagree with the Original Post.

You got a very good experience owning a Maruti, so is the case with lot of others too. But in the original post, he is sharing his own experience about his two Maruti cars. Your car is 9 years old, which itself is the reason why it is free of these issues. My brother's Swift is a 2016 make and although the experience has been very good, gear level cracks, broken air vent chrome lining, gear shift pattern markings etc. happened. We care for our cars a lot, and have covered parking at home and office.

[TJ02]

I personally believe most of the forum members maintain their car well and our enthusiasts. Any enthusiast will not let their car get soiled. This thread is mainly on their deteriorating quality and why customers still have confidence in the Brand Maruti. I have a 5plus year old Ciaz looking at the interiors you will not think it is that old, but the paint quality is not upto the mark if you are paying upwards of 10 lac plus, the color starts becoming dull, built is flimsy, rattling sounds have nothing to do with maintaining interiors and you just learn to live with it. Maruti does not have any solution for the rattling sounds and even the service center manager gives up by saying nothing can be done.

People need to change their attitude maybe pay more and look out for different brands unless that happens Maruti will just keep its focus on efficiency(recent example updated swift, the focus has again been mileage). The service cost is also no less can see the link attached. For 40000km driven Ignis the guy is paying around Rs. 8000/- and does criticize Maruti for inflated bills.

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

I think it is a matter of time before other brands start grabbing Maruti's market share. The Market share has fallen from 53% to 46% already (link https://www.team-bhp.com/forum/india...-analysis.html (February 2021 : Indian Car Sales Figures & Analysis))
Hopefully it is a matter of time before customers start trusting other brands.

[pgsagar]

Originally Posted by NST440

Lately I have seen a dramatic upsurge in the amount of Maruti Suzuki bashing on various social media platforms, memes suggesting tin can stuff and pics comparing build quality of TATA to MSIL. Who are these people and what is their point is what I fail to understand. Putting up fake pics and suggesting one brand over the other. If this was the case, MSIL wouldn’t be the owner of half of the market share in a risky playfield like India.

I agree. I don't own a Maruti. Nor am I a fan but I see an orchestrated campaign on youtube declaring it a "tin ka dabba". Like a troll army. Look at what this tin ka dabba has done to new Creta, which incidentally no one is talking about.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=59oCZM5IYAw

The point is, Maruti is not alone when it comes to deteriorating quality. All foreign brands are busy raising prices and lowering quality. Whether Maruti or Honda or Hyundai or Toyota. Only exception seem to be desi brands of Mahindra and Tata. Compare old gen Thar and Safari with current gen. Whatever puritans may say about old legendary Safari, I would any day take the current one. Ditto with new Thar and I am sure new Scorpio/XUV500 would have a leg up over current ones.

[fhdowntheline]

Originally Posted by pgsagar

I agree. I don't own a Maruti. Nor am I a fan but I see an orchestrated campaign on Youtube declaring it a "tin ka dabba". Like a troll army. Look at what this tin ka dabba has done to new Creta, which incidentally no one is talking about.
.

This accident, if anything, proves that collision impacts need not always follow a pattern that is tested in the labs (front, side). This axle break can happen in any car. There is another Youtube video of a first gen Santro t-boning a Ford Endeavour, resulting in that car toppling over, while the Santro driver was able to come out and inspect his damage.

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

All it takes is a well-timed impact in the right spot, which can never be tested fully in a lab environment. Factors such as road surface inconsistencies etc, also play a huge role.

[arvind71181]

Originally Posted by samitjain

With so many Marutis on road, in fact every 2nd car being Maruti there are bound to be unsatisfied customers.
I have Baleno aka Glanza but don’t have any issues even though it’s relatively new. Hyundai is in the same league and infact my experience of having owned Getz and Verna Fluidic, their quality was even worse. Silver paint fading and broken door handles.

There are bound to be unsatisfied customers and only if they voice their concern, the company might decide to pull up its (or) its vendor's socks

Originally Posted by NST440

Lately I have seen a dramatic upsurge in the amount of Maruti Suzuki bashing on various social media platforms, memes suggesting tin can stuff and pics comparing build quality of TATA to MSIL. Who are these people and what is their point is what I fail to understand. Putting up fake pics and suggesting one brand over the other. If this was the case, MSIL wouldn’t be the owner of half of the market share in a risky playfield like India.

Talking about the deteriorating quality, I have seen Steering and gear leather of cars costing half a crore going bad in a span of less than 5 years in my extended family as well and it has a lot to do with how one maintains and ensures upkeep of his/ her vehicle at the first place.

Have seen many , many Maruti vehicles from Arena as well as Nexa having immaculate interiors even after 5 years and many Hyundai’s and Honda’s in a sad state at times. Each brand and car is unique in its right and that is the reason each of it sells in whatever numbers. My friend has a 2015 make swift as a daily driver who is into a lot of touring and his car completed 2 lac kilometres last month. Even this day the car feels like new, be it the interiors or be it the engine or mechanical aspects.

Considering that the OP raised very specific questions on the interior quality and not about the 'tin can' reliability, not sure why this topic has come up. You are talking about your friend's experience, while the OP and others, including me are talking about our own personal experiences. Also, I have mentioned that the part quality in older Maruti cars was good, considering I owned a swift previously and my dad currently owns an SX4. Generally, as far as I have seen, owners seldom complain about their cars as they do not want to be seen as accepting a 'fault' per se, so if they themselves complain, in my opinion, it needs to be taken seriously by the company if it wants to grow, specifically in the premium segment. I do assure you, I do take normal, regular care of my cars and this gear lever/steering wheel problem is certainly not because I did not care for them

Originally Posted by NST440

It has a lot to do with the person than with the vehicle itself. A monkey on a Mercedes will still be a monkey.

Totally unnecessary and a bit much, if I can say so

Originally Posted by snappysam

I have to disagree with the Original Post.

I drive a 2011 Swift ZDI with 113000 Kms on the odo. My car still drives like new. Not interior issues, faults or even a single rattle from anywhere.

Well, intially for about first 10000 Kms my car did have a slight buzzing sound from the left side of the dashboard. This will diagnosed to be a acrew that somehow got unscrewed and fell into the dashboard. It was sorted out and car has been rattle free now.

Interiors still look fresh despite the car being parked in open area for about 4 years (We were living away from our home base for this duration and did not have parking space).

Only problem I have are the discoloured headlights due to plastic ageing. Apart from routine services costs, I have had to replace all 4 struts, AC condenser coil due to small leak, ECU, Clutch disc at around 50000kms (due to a leaking hydraulic piston), front brake pads (2 times) and ball joints at the front (about 3 times).

For a 10 year old car, I find MSIL quality to be extremely satisfying. All I wish is that they use stronger steel and design stronger cars thar trump Crash Safety tests. There are the 2 grave sore points.

Perhaps if my car had been from NEXA, I might have had a different experience. Yet I am a happy Maruti Customer.

As I said, my 2009 - 2016 Swift LXI did not have any of these problems. I am a NEXA customer as well, and have bought their most expensive offering, so I expect long lasting interior quality that too from an important part like the gear lever . Not to mention the atrocious cost of replacing these parts. 5K for a gear lever, really??!!

Don't get me wrong, I love my car to bits and it has been extremely reliable, for the 85,000 kms (stock clutch, minor suspension part change, brake sensor switch replacement only done) but I do accept that the interior part quality is not on par for the price (for my specific car)

Originally Posted by pavi

You got a very good experience owning a Maruti, so is the case with lot of others too. But in the orginal post, he is sharing his own experience about his two Maruti cars. Your car is 9 years old, which itself is the reason why it is free of these issues. My brother's Swift is 2016 make and the experience although very good, gear level cracks, broken air vent chrome lining, gear shift pattern markings etc. happened. We care our cars a lot, and have covered parking at home and office.

+1 to this

Originally Posted by pgsagar

I agree. I don't own a Maruti. Nor am I a fan but I see an orchestrated campaign on Youtube declaring it a "tin ka dabba". Like a troll army. Look at what this tin ka dabba has done to new Creta, which incidentally no one is talking about.

https://www.Youtube.com/watch?v=59oCZM5IYAw

The point is, Maruti is not alone when it comes to deteriorating quality. All foreign brands are busy raising prices and lowering quality. Whether Maruti or Honda or Hyundai or Toyota. Only exception seem to be desi brands of Mahindra and Tata. Compare old gen Thar and Safari with current gen. Whatever puritans may say about old legendary Safari, I would any day take the current one. Ditto with new Thar and I am sure new Scorpio/XUV500 would have a leg up over current ones.

I personally don't believe that these campaigns are going to actually result in any real change in buyer behavior. India still comes home in a Maruti. Heck, I have owned an esteem, a swift and an S-Cross. Next car, I have to definitely go out of the stable

[Dr.Naren]

^^^ I agree with you, Arvind

It's funny to see few people comment that the issues are because we owners don't take care of our cars .

My garage has 7 cars, out of which 4 are from Maruti stable. My 10+ year old SX4 which even met with a major accident doesn't have broken AC vent knobs while the newer cars like Baleno and S-Cross in my garage have faced these issues. It's obvious that Maruti quality (especially the interiors) has definitely "deteriorated" in newer cars.

[snappysam]

Dr. Naren

I reckon newer models of several brands are produced at a lower quality, including MSIL. It has probably to do with the fact that the average customer tends to replace their cars in 4-6 years time. That is how most customers are behaving, so car companies sacrifice longetivity of vehicle parts. This is my take on the whole issue.

[Carguy_2906]

I owned a 2009 Maruti Dzire, the car had some rattles in the dashboard but the markings of the buttons and switch gear never faded. Same with my friend's Baleno, it had rattles but the vents or letterings didn't fade at all.

[landcruiser123]

I've keep saying it - manufacturers are saving pennies by cutting quality in Indian cars. Penny-wise & pound-foolish. I know at least half a dozen 800s and Zens from the early 2000s with gear knobs which have minimal wear & tear.

At least MSIL owners don't have to deal with stuff like this: https://www.team-bhp.com/forum/techn...61-km-odo.html (MT Gearbox failure on brand new Hyundai Verna (261 km on the odo))