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Old 18th February 2009, 22:37   #106
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It was twice that I had come very close to procuring a Baleno. The first time though, circa 2001, it was an afterthought to latching onto the OHC VTEC. But fortunately for me, at that time things worked out in a different manner and I could buy neither.

Thinking of it, there were so many fun alternatives then. The Nexia tried to revive a little bit of Cielo's image but it was launched too late. One car that impressed in the late 90's being an older design, was the Peugeot 309, from handling to ride, everything was like a dream (till the dream got shatterred in the ownership experience for many). But then, that was a time we were making a slow transition, acquainting ourselves to modern cars.
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Old 18th February 2009, 22:43   #107
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Quote:
Originally Posted by 1100D View Post
...the Peugeot 309, from handling to ride, everything was like a dream (till the dream got shatterred in the ownership experience for many).
Now THAT was a wonderful car that came way before it's time to India, and died a painful death of starvation (of spares).

Let's put it this way... Given similar levels of after-sales support, would I buy a Baleno today, or a Peugeot 309? My vote goes for the Peugeot.
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Old 19th February 2009, 00:42   #108
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I own a baleno and can easily say that if it was priced right it would have stayed on and would have been the best selling car. Just add alloy wheels and a new set of LED tail lights (which i am going to do very soon) and a chrome strip on the boot and the looks changes drastically.

I am not a pedal to metal driver but when in baleno it changes everything it has got a the rev happy engine, stable handling and though OHC might be for a boy racer, baleno is a complete family car which loves to be driven to a certain limit. The ac is awesome (though i dont have an automatic climate control) and ride is great.
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Old 19th February 2009, 00:49   #109
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Quote:
Originally Posted by SS-Traveller View Post
Now THAT was a wonderful car that came way before it's time to India, and died a painful death of starvation (of spares).

Let's put it this way... Given similar levels of after-sales support, would I buy a Baleno today, or a Peugeot 309? My vote goes for the Peugeot.
For Peugeot the nail in the coffin was their Indian partner ie. PAL exactly similar to the case of Hyosung and Daelim which chose wrong partners to enter India ie. Kinetic and LML respectively.

Ford had initially failed trusting Mahindra to help them enter the Indian "car" industry. Mahindra went on to have another miserable affair with "Mitsubishi" with the Voyager. Toyota in India couldnt grow until they left the hands of the Kirloskar's who brought them to India. Renault I'm sure is still regretting not doing their homework well about their Indian partner and so on.
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Old 19th February 2009, 00:52   #110
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hi mates

i own an 800 gifted by my dad when i was at school in 87.... i still have it today {there was one engine change in 2000}

i was in my pg when i thought of a luxury car..... had to choose OHC/Baleno/Lancer...

after test drives and the look and feel chose the lancer...

if it was not lancy,, i would have gone for baleno.... it was quite impressive with AC performance,,, excellent coolng in chennai heat, good engine..

but did not likethe look from rear and front

my dads friend a doctor had Peugeot 309 and later sold the same ... not because of the quality but because of its after-sales support.... i remember myvisits to pudu-pet 'the stolen/ after mart' in chennai where we were unable to get simple door handles...

QUOTE=SS-Traveller;1178522]Given similar levels of after-sales support, would I buy a Baleno today, or a Peugeot 309? My vote goes for the Peugeot.[/quote]

sorry mate i can say, you still get baleno and cielo spares but not the pegiot spares,,,
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Old 19th February 2009, 09:44   #111
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I am still of the belief that that the image of the company that killed the baleno.What else was wrong with it except for the rear??parked side by side to the 1 gen city, the baleno had more of those muscular / bulging lines compared to the straight line of city.The interior plastics of the city weren't that great also.
As somebody else also said if they marked the car as Honda Baleno,I am sure it would have sold in numbers even today. I love this car.
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Old 19th February 2009, 09:55   #112
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The Baleno has always been a great car. We missed buying one because of color inavailibility and finally went for the Accent Viva petrol.

The only factor that actually killed the sales of the Baleno was the initial pricing. After they reduced the price, it was a very good competitor to the Accents and Ikons. As for the Honda City compario, I guess the hallowed H badge makes a lot of difference to the buyer.

As a long standing observation, any car released in the Honda city bracket and competition always suffers from poor sales.

OT: The Peugoet 309 was an amazing car. Great ground clearance, features and drivelability. Pity the A.S.S. killed it.
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Old 19th February 2009, 09:58   #113
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I also lament the Baleno. In my view what did it in were the following:

1. High price.
2. Poor marketing.
3. The image of Maruti as an econo-box vendor.
4. Somewhat pnain jane looks.

It was a lovely car with a gem of an engine. The mid range torque was fantastic.
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Old 19th February 2009, 10:17   #114
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While Baleno was a nice car and was a hoot to drive, there was nothing in it that's ahead of its time.

Quote:
Originally Posted by aaggoswami View Post
If this car was sold as Honda Baleno, it would have been the market even today IMO.
Not gonna happen. Unlike Maruti, Honda does not hang on to its cars for decades, irrespective of however successful it is.
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Old 19th February 2009, 11:15   #115
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I own baleno and so far the only regret has been the ground clearance when fully loaded.
definatly it was not ahead of its time nor will it be today. but if they had changed the design and made it look better with more lines, it would have been a killer. amoung all marutis the back seat is still the best in baleno.
with a good looking spoiler, the back looks good. :-)
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Old 19th February 2009, 11:35   #116
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Ajay Devgan produced & starred in a movie called 'Raju Chacha' in 2000. The film bombed at the box office. Many years later, he claimed that his film was ahead of its time and if it was released now, it would have been a hit. His argument was multiplex culture would have ensured it a hit.

For me, this Baleno being 'ahead of its time' argument sounds similar.
Quote:
Originally Posted by romeomidhun View Post
Do you think Maruti Suzuki Baleno, though a dated car in other countries, was a car that came to India (and left, too) ahead of its time in India?
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Old 19th February 2009, 11:57   #117
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Baleno was and is an ourdated car. Period.
Still, if it was selling today, people would buy it the same way the people continue buying wagonR, alto etc..
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Old 19th February 2009, 13:01   #118
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Quote:
Originally Posted by aaggoswami
Initially when the car hit the streets it was 96 bhp, but due to E-III emession norms, it came down to 91 bhp.
It was 94bhp, which was brought down to 91bhp in the E-III version.

Like rjstyles69 said, haven't we already discussed the 'Baleno' to death in so many other threads ? IMO it would be a repeat of the same stuff.
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Old 19th February 2009, 13:02   #119
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IMHO, the great things about the Baleno are
1. Excellent low-end torque. Pulls cleanly from 25kmph in 4th gear and < 20 in 3rd gear.
2. Excellent A/c
3. Very good mileage

I think Maruti should have planted the Baleno's engine in the Swift. From the impression I get talking to Swift petrol owners, mileage in city is comparable to what I get [11-12 kmpl], and would made made swift a much better car to drive within the city as well.
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Old 19th February 2009, 14:28   #120
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Quote:
Originally Posted by supremeBaleno View Post
As in, something that its peers did not have. Maybe the all-independent suspension and climate control (the City still does not have it), but that's about it IMO.
Well OHC does come with all independent suspension.


Quote:
Originally Posted by SS-Traveller View Post
IMHO, the Daewoo Cielo was a car that came to, and left, India too far ahead of its time.
Absolutely agree with you


Quote:
Originally Posted by SS-Traveller View Post
Now THAT was a wonderful car that came way before it's time to India, and died a painful death of starvation (of spares).

Let's put it this way... Given similar levels of after-sales support, would I buy a Baleno today, or a Peugeot 309? My vote goes for the Peugeot.
Rightly said. peugot, the engine TUD5 is awesome, it's suspension etc are very good
Quote:
Originally Posted by rjstyles69 View Post
This topic has been discussed to death. Do we relly need another OHC/NHC vs Baleno bashing thread.
agree with you. there has been many threads about the same topic.
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