[narayans80]

When I brought my current car, a well wisher said some golden words "Buying is one time affair. Maintenance is lifetime". This has been Maruti's core strength that hasn't changed with what they did with their future plans.

I voted yes. Apart from the above, my other reasons are as follows

1. I am a satisfied current owner (of a 2018 S-Cross).
2. I am not excited to buy a Kia or Mahindra in the current scenario
3. Might've brought a pre-facelift Creta in 2018, current facelift is a total eyesore. Plus Hyundai has become more greedy than my i10 days a decade back.
4. The VAG group are too high risk for my daily driver usage
5. My Toyota experience has been totally underwhelming. I don't have enough kidneys in my body to buy their Innova. My current usage, I don't need an Innova.
6. I might buy a Tata

I am no Maruti fanboy. We didn't own one, and didn't even consider one before my current S-Cross. Infact I went with an i10 a decade back, because rest of my colleagues had Marutis. I've been converted based on my personal ownership experience.

[jigar1791@gmail]

Purely Situational and everyone's POV differs based on their needs and requirements.

For us, as a family, we have been living with Maruti since the last 30 odd-years. We have had everything Maruti had to offer at different point in time - the humble M-800 to Zen to Esteem to A-Star to Ciaz+WagonR at the moment.

Question is -
1. What does MSIL have to offer to it's customers looking for an upgrade from the C2 segment? NO
* If someone who already owns the premium offerings from MSIL (Ertiga/S-Cross/Ciaz), there are no in-house upgrade options available with Maruti. Those set of folks will have to look elsewhere once they plan their next purchase from a segment above.
* If we look at every other OEM in India, they have atleast some presence in a segment above the C2 bucket. Look at Hyundai/Honda(nothing at the moment)/VW twins/TaMo and M&M are very strong with their SUV options in the 15-25L price point.
* For such customers, Maruti doesn't have any offering, so they will have no other option but to look beyond MSIL for their next purchase (If Maruti doesn't have any footprint in segments above the Ciaz/Brezza/S-Cross and Ertiga going forward).

2. Entry level purchasers/1st time buyers/2nd car purchasers - THUMPING YES
* Maruti has plethora of options from Alto to the Baleno (from 4L to 9L).
* Each car serves varied requirements, and meets almost all expectations the owner will have from them - YES, the Alto does effortless in the Ghats of Uttarakhand and Himachal.
* Maruti also has the largest CNG portfolio - caters to a wide set of purchasers - cabbies to 2nd car owners to newbies to rural/sem-urban folks
* Reliable, fuss-free, simple mechanicals, cheap (relatively) to own and maintain, strong pan-India reach are some of the factors considered by such customers visiting a MSIL showroom.

In the end, to each his own, but for me..I do not think I'll be sticking to Maruti for my next purchase (solely because they have nothing to offer for my next upgrade).

Regards,
Jigar Shah

[KiloAlpha]

I voted "yes", and I would like to qualify it with a "but ... it depends".

I would seriously consider buying a Maruti, even today, if I was a mainstream buyer. This means that all I need is a box on 4 wheels that will be reliable, comfortable, easy on maintenance, and meet my basic needs for transportation of family in an urban/suburban environment.

A Maruti, affords me the comfort of choosing from several different options for maintenance. I could go to the main dealer, an independent Maruti service centre, FNG, DIY, or any combination of these. This reduces the maintenance headache a lot.

While it is true that Maruti cars are long in the tooth, the flip side of an "old" model is that kinks have been ironed out and mechanics know about their quirks and failings - hence peace of mind for me, the owner.

Given Maruti's reputation in the second hand market and an assurance of demand for the models when it comes to selling it on, I can buy a Maruti with the assurance that many people out there will be looking to buy my car in 5-10 years time. Even if the car I buy today is 5+ years old.

Being a mainstream Indian buyer, safety is of secondary concern - we can vehemently disagree with that stand on this forum, but there is no denying it exists.

For all of the above reasons, as a mainstream buyer, I would seriously consider a Maruti. A Hyundai car would be more or less on par with Maruti, Honda can also be considered as long as the car they have on offer meets my needs (given their meagre offerings), Tata and Kia come with the risk of uncertain service quality, Tata and Mahindra vehicles have a high probability of having niggles, Toyota is either overpriced (Innova/Fortuner) or is a Maruti (Glanza/Urban Cruiser), Renault and Nissan are a gamble in terms of quality, maintenance, and value in the 2nd hand market.

[Lalitha Venkat]

Originally Posted by raksrules

So if someone here says they are considering alto as it for "city run about", we too have same use case just that it happens to be only car for us.

Hence, for now, we are mostly getting Spresso but still waiting to check new Celerio and will decide after its launch.

The way i see it, if you are looking for a safer option, as compared to using a 2W or an auto to ferry kids, going to office etc., MUL cars are more safer and you can go for Alto and the likes like s-presso. If your bench mark is a ''better than 2W safety/ comfort''. That is the target market for MUL.

[Emvi]

Voted YES.
Honestly speaking my answer is both YES and NO.

YES because-
In sub 10 lakh rupees price segment, Maruti's product line-up is pretty much unbeatable. Undeniably Maruti is my top choice when it comes to a second car or a 'small' car. Ease of maintenance/ownership of Maruti cars is second to none especially in smaller towns, sub-urban/rural areas.

NO because-
Anything above 10 lakh rupees, I am not keen on Maruti cars. Maruti's product line-up is decent but nothing very exciting. I fail to see premiumness, and powertrains are ordinary to say the least. Lack of diesel option is a big negative as far as I am concerned.

[ArTigor]

Voted yes, although it would be only for a few models, like the Ignis, Ertiga/XL6, Scross and Brezza. I wouldn't touch any other Maruti product today for the poor build quality. The only one thing that still pulls me towards these Maruti products is the long term reliability, their products age well, no surprise breakdowns and breaking of internal parts, and are so easy and pocket friendly to maintain (this I noticed post switching from MASS to FNG). Maruti cars score good on all aspects engines, refinement, ergonomics, interior quality (acceptable), spares availability, sales and service reach, regret one thing though that is their build quality.

[sam_babushka]

Voted Yes. All the Marutis owned (M800-1998, Swift-2006, Ritz-2008, Ertiga-2016, not yet a decade) have exceeded 10 years of hassle-free service comfortably. And I mean absolutely hassle-free.

The only other car in my garage that is going on seventeen is a Toyota.

[Sebzgeo89]

Voted Yes.
Only for the baleno, considering it’s CVT gearbox. If the Ignis had the same gearbox, would prefer that over baleno. Other than that, Maruti doesn’t really seem relevant to me.

[kadanaJ]

Yes.

I like reliable and trouble-free cars. I've been very happy sticking to Toyota's and Honda's. I have close friends who are very happy with the lack of maintenance troubles with their Marutis.

I really like the S-Cross, and don't see why I'd even want to buy a bigger / more expensive car.

It's easy enough to drive around the city, stable enough for highways. Comfortably seats 4, has enough boot space if vertical space is utilised well.

Top end model has most of the required features. And the best and most underrated part about this car? The headunit is replaceable. So, many years from now, when there's a newer version of Bluetooth, or some different standard of Android Auto / Apple Carplay, I'm not stuck with an outdated infotainment system like most luxury car buyers. A simple headunit swap and I'm back in business.

The only features I'd like is a 360° camera, a better automatic gearbox, and ADAS that works in city traffic (the type of adaptive cruise control that works in bumper to bumper traffic). The last feature on my list being something that doesn't exist yet, so let's see which automaker brings it first to India.

[Slipstream11]

Voted NO.

Maruti's build quality is something that is not acceptable to me - even if its an Alto or a Celerio and it is meant for city drives only.

[KANNURAN]

I voted NO

Not that Maruti makes bad cars, but that our priorities have EVOLVED. I remember, when the first Maruti was launched, as schoolboys, we had run a distance to catch a glimpse of the first unit delivered in our neighborhood. And for many years after that, Maruti was the mainstay of consumer mobility in India.

During those times, it was a question of moving from point A to B, and Maruti was adept at it. But a growing economy and general well-being gradually got us used to the need for the OTHER VARIABLES involved in moving from point A to B, namely, safety, comfort and maybe, prestige. That's where Maruti lost out.

I used to rave about my Swift, (which I used for 12 years / 142K Km) till I switched to a Polo, Vento and now a Rapid. It would take a very compelling argument for me to move back to a Maruti again.

It is sad that Maruti failed to capitalize on the head-start and such market dominance. Getting rid of those rattles and selectively improving the safety factor was very much do-able for a company of that size and scale. And massive failings like misjudging the consumer preference for Diesel and the market migration toward EV's are UN-PARDONABLE.

As simple as this survey is, the emphatic NO it elicits is a verdict on the Maruti senior management and their having taken the customer for granted.

[Electromotive]

Voted yes.

That said, is there anything from the Maruti stable I want to buy? No. May be the Ignis if it were a BEV but that's not happening till 2025.
Maruti, like every other value brand, has its image working against it. Maruti is going to find it hard selling a vehicle above 10 lakhs because they don't have the brand cachet. And with rising input costs, keeping prices low is already becoming difficult (multiple price hikes this year already), so the perceived value brand image is becoming difficult to justify for any vehicle above 6 lakhs. Hyundai-Kia strategy of a premium brand image is paying dividends now. MG is also not giving any opportunity to complain. Any loss of market share by MSIL will directly go to these three.

Maruti is stuck between a rock and a hard place and time is running out. This thread and similar attacks on Maruti is proof that the market perceives that their jugular is exposed and it is time to go for the kill.

[Benoit]

Voted yes.

Except safety, Maruti excels in every aspect: peace of mind, fuel efficiency, durability, drivability, resale value, etc. Maruti makes the best city cars. If i need a city car, i would definitely buy a Maruti. The small ones, ofcourse. I wouldn't buy a Maruti for highway usage.

If Maruti starts making safe cars, Tata is out of the small cars game.

[charanreddy]

Voted yes but depends.

The SCross is a capable car comparable to others out there. Ertiga and XL6 also provide compelling value propositions.

Definite no to the Baleno , Swift etc. due to the really bad safety rating. Would be ok to pick up a small car for secondary use .

[TheVegabond]

Voted NO.

From a personal perspective, looking to upgrade my Hyundai Grand i10, Maruti does not offer me any option. I cannot consider S-cross/Ciaz an upgrade as my current car already has 90% of the features these cars offer. Add the age old interiors coupled with outdated AT boxes and I didn't even consider entering a Maruti showroom.

But, like many other BHPians already pointed out, for a first time car buyer, there is no other brand that provides a better value in terms of overall ownership experience. Most of these buyers are outside the Team-BHP world and wouldn't think about safety, driving dynamics, cabin experience and other things we talk about here.

We have to give it to Maruti when it comes to reliability and low running cost.