If you feel this post is bit long, sorry for that.
I want to summarize my/family ownership experience with various Maurti vehicles. I am talking about only Maruti and its perceived value & quality. I am absolutely not comparing maruti with any other brand on any parameters. I am only highlighting the fact that, for us Maruti has been THE reliable, comfortable and Value for money vehicles.
So far, in the family circle we have owned
- 800DX - pre-MPFI version
- Omni - basic version, pre-MPFI model
- Zen - MPFI & non-MPFI
- Wagon-R
- Alto
- SX4
Ownership experience span across ~12yrs. Let me also state that, me or any of my family members are not really auto enthusiasts. Our objective (I am sure 90% of Indian 4 wheeler users are of my type) is to use a vehicle which will transport us from point-A to point-B with acceptable level of ride comfort, with least possible cost and maximum reliability (no break downs on the way). We don't care how fast the vehicle is reaching 100km/hr, but we care whether we can break & stop the vehicle in time if we have to, that too without any after effect.
Vehicle Purchase Cost (On road price): My experience shows, Maruti vehicles score better here. Most of the times, you will not find another brand vehicle with the same or more feature list at the same price point.
Vehicle ownership running cost: I need not elaborate. Spare parts cost is indeed on the lower side. Once I had to take a chance and drove my Zen over a set of large stones (why I had to get into such a circumstance is a different story). In the process, the rod connecting the gear box and gear lever got a slight bent. The replacement part costed just less than 50Rs (though the labor cost came close to 2500-3000 rupees).
Reliability: Our experience has been that, all our Maruti vehicle were/are trustworthy. Never ever got stranded because of any failure. Only once I had to call the service guys, that too because I drove the car over real big stones taking a huge chance and the gear-lever/box rod got a bent. Otherwise my car was always trustworthy. In the past 8 years, I have been driving 20-30km daily, that too every day night driving. Never ever engine or electricals failed or gave any trouble. In my 6 year ownership of Zen, I once had to replace one break-light bulb. that's it. My brother drove his omni from Asam to Kerala and he covered the entire distance in 10days or so.. His omni was not even A/C or MPFI and was already 5-6yrs old when he made this drive. The Alto we have in our family is not used frequently. Manier times, it is used once in a month or so. Even then it does not show any resistance in starting-up.
Service network: Do I have to say any thing? I drive between Bangalore and Cochin occasionally. Irrespective of the route I take (Salem route or Kozikode route), I know an authorized service centre is always a call away through out my journey. It is a massive advantage and peace of mind for people like me.
Finally resale value: So far we sold 800 & Zen and believe me, those sales actually gave me a smile. I could not have expected more.
These things are the minimum expectations from the vehicle, and my point is our maruti vehicles never ever failed us in these critical parameters. Many people have complained about rattles, but I also saw many saying rattles appeared after fitting with after-market stuff. In the past 8 years, I have owned a Zen & now Sx4 and in my home town we have a 6yrs old Wagon-R. Never experienced rattle issues in Zen & Sx4. It may be because in Zen & Sx4, I did not add any accessories, so have been driving with all stock stuff only. Where as in Wagon-R, we had to add ICE, so I would not say it is rattle free. I think it all depends on how & who opens the dash/door etc and put them back into its original shape.
This note might look like from a person who has been hired by maruti. But believe me, I am a ordinary, non-expert car user, whose needs are beautifully met by Maruti. Last year when decided to change my Zen, there was no comparison. I did not even step into any other dealership. They might be selling technically advanced, more "quality" cars that too without rattle, higher snob-value etc etc. But I wanted a reliable, value for money, trust-worthy car, and when I have a brand which was tested with my own experience, I simply did not want to experiment. So went and bought Sx4 zxi without any hesitation. And you know, till this moment absolutely no regret on that decision.
The thread starter wanted to highlight the decline in quality in recent years. Frankly I did not notice. May be the sheet metal thickness has gone down by few submilli-meters. I bought my Zen in 2001, Waggon-R in 2002, Alto in 2006, Sx4 in 2007. The quality drop is not really visible to me at least. As I mentioned earlier, so far we did not get any tangible evidence to prove otherwise.
Note: These are my personal opinions on brand Maruti. As mentioned above, there is no comparison to any other brand. |