[gary]

Would have voted yes if I could. For a budget of 4-7 lakhs, yes! I own a A-star from 2009 and it has been a hassle free car, like other Maruti's. There are a few others in the family that are equally reliable.

[Peterf]

Voted yes.

If you want a small, peppy, reliable car for city runabouts Maruti still has good offerings. I sometime feels Maruti gets bashed unproportionate for the safety. Apart from Tata, Mahindra all other manufacturers are in the same boat.

Case in Point, Both Santro and Wagon R have 2 stars but everyone bashes Wagon r more than the Santro.

I feel there is a fun associated with owning a small car with high revving engine which will also be efficient and reliable.

Hence for low budgets yes for me. Above 10 lakhs a strict no.

[Doonite]

Voted NO.

We bought our Ertiga ZXi in 2014 and it has been serving us reliably since with usual and often delayed services at the ASS. However, there are certain negatives which do irk me now as we aspire to buy a car 1 or 2 segments above:

1. Very poor NVH. In traffic, too much outside noise can be heard with me sometimes even checking if the windows are rolled up or not. On higways, at cruising speeds, the engine noise though sweet gets irritating after a while as well.

2. Lifeless interiors even though I've grown to like them over the years.

3. Horrible Service at all Maruti ASS's in my city and everytime i have a disappointing or bang average experience with them including Maruti Body Shop. Both ASS and Body Shop are located within 2-3 km's from home. I don't know nor have any knowledge of reliable FNG's in my area. Infact, a good thing came out of it as i learned lots of DYI methods to service the car myself to an extent

4. Engine gets out of breath on hilly roads especially if AC on and it gets troublesome to constantly change gears. (2nd to overtake, 3rd to cruise and then 2nd again if speed drops). Even on highways 100kmps is somewhere near 2500+ RPM which does not make cruising a pleasant or fast experience.

5. Bad paint quality as well as irritating rattles that randomly pop up make for a bad ownership experience.

Now that the rant is over, we'd probably look for a 5 seater SUV (assuming it has AWD) as our next car or 7 seater with last 2 rows almost always folded and a number of features such as:

1. 6 airbags minimum (if tested by GNCAP, even better)

2. Proper music system.

3. Premium interiors.

4. Powerful Engine.

5. Sunroof (to fulfill Mom's wish).

6. An ASC that can fix things and doesn't require
escalation every time.

Now these are the things which i can think from the top of my head and does any Maruti car offer the above? No. (Including point 6 for my locality)
If i have to buy a budget city car, I'll go with Hyundai (no Tata because their service is just )as their interiors have a feel good factor and budget cars rarely have any serious issues, so reliability is sorted as well.

Even if i had a limited budget of 14-15 lakhs, I'd rather buy an used Fortuner or an Innova Crysta than an Scross. I've helped 2 people in family buy used Fortuner's and apart from basic services, they're running like a dream.

[PrasannaDhana]

Voted No!

This, Coming from a guy who has bought 8 Marutis in the last 2 decades, 7 brand new and 1 pre-owned.

Reasons:

1. Lack of Value:

They don't offer much value when compared to the competition. No exciting engines, no exciting features, absolutely pathetic build quality to name a few. When I bought my Swift diesel in 2006, it was one of the most fun to drive hatchbacks that time. When I bought my ciaz diesel in 2015, it was the most value for money, cheapest to run C2 sedan. But now, they are neither fun to drive nor cheap to own/run. S Cross is an exception, while the chassis screams for more power beyond a point.
Marutis are no more cheap, except for the A & B segment.

Their 1.0 is lackluster, 1.2 is good, 1.5 just does the duty. There isn't one exciting engine like the VAG's 1.0 TSI, or Hyundai's/Tata's 1.5 diesel or their 1.2 turbo petrol (Nexon's).

2. Lack of diesel:

I am a hard-core MT guy. So, their lack of interest in giving a proper AT instead of their stupid jerky AMT and archaic 4 speed AT doesn't bother me.

What bothers me is the lack of their ability to make their 1.5 diesel compliant with BS6 regulations.

3. Hypocritical Top management:

When the BS4 to BS6 transition happened, they silently increased the prices of their petrol variants to match the prices of discontinued diesel variants.

They call their calls safe, and shamelessly market their heartect platform that it complies with Bharat crash regulations.

And how can we forget their dumb attempt in justifying how diesel cars donot make any sense today?!

4. Ugly designs

Name one good looking Maruti. Swift, to an extent looks good. Others, nah!! Example: Their new wagon r, upcoming celerio etc.

5. Costly Service and After Sales

Debunking the biggest myth that Marutis are cheap to own. Skoda / VAG 15k once periodic service and Maruti's 10k once service end up costing same. Example - I spent 15k every 15000 km on our Rapid tdi and always spent 10k every 10k on my ciaz ddis.


To sum it in one word, Maruti chose not to grow and improve when actually mediocre manufacturers like Tata and Mahindra have made so much of progress in the last 6 years.

I recently purchased a car and Maruti did not even feature in my options list. Now go to the second line of this post and re-read it. Maruti definitely loses a lot of their loyalists.

There is a population of buyers, typically middle aged and senior citizens, who grew up buying their first car, which was a Maruti. They still want to buy a Maruti. My dad, just today asked me about the upcoming celerio, and wants to replace his 2016 celerio with it. Maruti puts its bets on such type of customers, but it will be a rude shock to them few years down the line, when they realize that, that type of customer population has steadily decreased.

Talking about beater cars too, Renault Kwid is more fun to drive and as economical. If you are looking at the 7 lakh beater cars, Tiago fares much better than their Celerio/swift base.

[neo_narender]

Yes.

As a secondary/beater car for the family. It would mostly be used within the city, for those trips to get the groceries & where there is minimum to no parking in tighter lanes.

I already own a Rapid 1.0 TSI, so am kinda covered on driving pleasure & a relatively safe car front.

Neo

[sandygordon]

Voted NO

I can make it a yes, if they can launch a Wagon R Petrol / Electric with a 5 star safety rating and a 6 speed TC gearbox. I d jump at take that for a city runabout.
Service is still top class atleast in Kerala. Roadside assistance has been a very good experience.

Last day my wife's celerio was stuck in the middle of road in one of the busiest junctions in Cochin at around 7pm. She panicked, I called RSA and they came in under 10 minutes, took the car to the service station and dropped her at the nearest autorickshaw-station. If it had been a Kia - They would have said - "too busy now, no appointments sir."

[Vibhanshu0923]

I am not eligible to vote yet but I would have chosen 'Yes' if I could.

However, it is highly conditional 'Yes'. We were in the market for a petrol manual car in the 7 to 10 lakhs price bracket for use in the city by my sister and had categorically ruled out Maruti from our search due to our recent perception about the brand (safety, build quality, older tech etc.). Our requirements were very specific -

1. Reliability (As my sister will drive it, we wanted a model with proven reliability)
2. Cabin experience and feel
3. Refinement and ease of driving
4. Essential features (Airbags, ABS, Automatic climate control, Electric ORVMS, Reverse camera and a decent sound system)
5. Usable interior space for 4 adults in the car
6. Decent fuel efficiency

Post test driving every offering within the budget from Hyundai and Honda (Reliability criteria ruled out other manufacturers), no car appealed on all the above fronts to my sister. As the car will strictly be used within city limits, we apprehensively thought of checking out the Swift/Baleno. Ironically enough, it was the Swift which struck a chord with us. The engine was creamy and decently powerful while the car fit in all our requirements. The interior quality was also acceptable (the Hyundai cars were better) and the black interior concealed the cost-cutting well. Long story short, we made a booking for the ZXI trim of the Swift.

I completely agree with GTO's post and truly Maruti does not have the strategic direction or technological prowess for the coming years. However, in this era of advanced turbo-petrols and increasing tech in cars, Maruti is still relevant with sorted basics and features. Not for long though.

[sudeepg]

Not today for sure.

Reasons

1. There's no other car in their offering which appeals to me other than the S-Cross
2. No diesel engine offerings.
3. Age old Automatics and AMTs which are not good to drive.
4. Poor NEXA experience. As one of the first customers of NEXA, I have got zero value from NEXA.

That said, their after sales service has been awesome.

[kaustubhp]

No and a big reason for that is Hyundai. Reliability, ASS and fuss-free ownership is offered by Hyundai also. Wide variety of vehicles from Santo to Tucson. Hatchbacks, Sedans, CSUV, Midsize SUVs and SUVs. They offer it all. There will be equal number of Hyundai dealerships in your city as Maruti, if not more. In addition, you also get multiple engine and transmission options. Except S-Cross and Brezza, all use very flimsy material. Ciaz looks good but nothing beyond that. It seems reliability does not cut for Maruti anymore.

[sinharishi]

Voted No.

Own a S-Cross 1.3 (Oct/2016) which is at 1,65,000 kms. The car is still used by my father for his warehouse visits. Father refuses to let it go only because of the running cost - the crossover still delivers 23-24 kmpl! There is not a car in Maruti's stable that would be an apt upgrade from the S-Cross.

After our recent crash, I would never opt anything less than a 5-star rated car, even for city runs. Safe cars saves lives.

[whitewing]

Voted Yes.

I would first decide on an cars based on my needs(not on brand), narrow down on a few that suit my needs and budget.
Then I would look at the brand.
If a Maruti happened to be in the list. It automatically will go higher in the ranking simply because Maruti's extensive service network and niggle free experience are significant factors in the overall ownership experience.
Earlier the low cost of service would also have been a factor, but no longer since some years.

[sreejithkk]

Voted Yes. I have a 2.5 year old Ertiga, and still now also I do not see a significant competition in that segment. Initially I wanted to switch from Maruti when I purchased this car, mainly due to the rattles that I have to suffer in my 2007 wagonR. But the moment I decided on an occassional 7 seater, I do not come across any 7 seater at 9.9 L ex showroom which was my max budget. (At that time Marazzo 8 seater was priced more than 9.9 and the base trim was barebones). Now also I do not see much competition here and wondering why not other manufactures like Honda/Hyundai do not venture in to this segment.

[sramanat]

Voted: YES
For almost any Maruti, I see a better alternative for 1-2 lakhs more. Except XL6/Ertiga and possibly Ciaz. Innova is bigger, but about 5-7 lakhs more expensive.

[devansn]

It is very unlikely that I will end up buying a Maruti as of today - safety is still a concern. And most of them do not feel "tight" and have a feeling that the new ones will not age well.

However, its a fact that in some cases, Maruti is the only choice. For instance, my cousin wanted a petrol automatic that can seat 6 or more and is decently safe. He is not an enthusiast. Budget was max 15 lakhs +/- few lakhs.
The only options are Datsun Go+, Renault Triber and the Maruti Ertiga / XL6 cousins. Go+ is not safe and Triber has AMT plus an anaemic engine. See - we only have Maruti left.
Fuel type is not a major issue - but even if you add diesel to the criteria, there is nothing else below, say, 17 lakhs. Marazzo automatic may come in the near future, but that is going to be AMT - my experience with my friend's TUV300 AMT is not so good.

[lionell]

Voted: YES.

When I wan in the market for a automatic 7 seater, there was no option apart from two spectrums of the price band. Mid: XL6/Ertiga High: Crysta

The Crysta was way out of budget. I had no choice then to look in the Maruti stable. The XL6 ticked all the right boxes and I heard it had a better safety rating than the Seltos (imagine my surprise, unsure if its true).

A year later I do not regret my decision. Its a great buy and suits my touring duties with family as well.

My next buy though will be a sedan because our parents will get too old to tour by car and will not warrant the space we need now.