[paragsachania]

Done and dusted!! Steering Mounted Audio and Bluetooth controls for the first Gen Ertiga VDi.



Detailed thread coming up soon .

[svsantosh]

Originally Posted by paragsachania

No Vikram I didn't. I had contemplated on this few years before and later lost interest and hence never even bothered much. As of today, I don't feel the need for it.

Lockdown gave us all much needed time

Cant wait to see a detailed thread. Kudos!

[paragsachania]

Originally Posted by svsantosh

Lockdown gave us all much needed time

Thanks Santosh.

Actually everything to do with this particular DIY has happened in the last one month including shopping for parts online and waiting for it to arrive.

I must say this wasn't an easy one and I spent a lot of time reading, visualising and measuring various aspects and only then ordered the needed parts.

This is because during 2013,VDi never came with Airbags and that meant there wasn't a contact coil. So homework started from this step but very happy and content in the end that everything worked perfectly well.

In fact, here is a pic I took only 2 hours before when I headed out to align the steering wheel to center position by driving a bit on levelled road surfaces for a distance.



The HU wasn't even fixed back as I wanted to properly test everything was OK including indicator cancel cam, horn and more!!

The thread will capture all these details, hopefully in a day or two.

[paragsachania]

Originally Posted by vikramv4u

Parag bhai.. Thanks for the update..

Quick Q: I thought you had installed Steering Mounted Controls, right? Or did you just intend t

Thanks

Vikram

Originally Posted by svsantosh

Cant wait to see a detailed thread. Kudos!

A thread is now published in the DIY section with all the details:

DIY: Steering Mounted Audio and BT Control for Ertiga

[paragsachania]

Installation of Black steering column cover:

As part of the DIY where I installed Steering Mounted Audio and BT controls by retrofitting the Celerio Steering wheel onto my Ertiga, the DIY felt incomplete till I managed to replace the steering column cover as well, and in Black.

Thanks to Leoshashi who helped me get the part number for the column cover in black because Ertiga only had a limited edition in Black, back then in 2016-17 and it wasn't easy at least for me to find the right part number.

It took exactly 24 days since the day I placed order on Boodmo for the part to arrive but thankfully it did.

Here are few images of the part and how the interiors look after I replaced the column cover today:













So now I have the gear lever, the gearshift boot as well as the steering and column cover in black to complete the set-up:



Just to give you a perspective, this is how they compare:

[paragsachania]

THE 200,000 KM UPDATE:

On Dec 27, after 7 Years and over a month, the Ertiga finally clocked the 200,000 Km mark while I was on a family drive to Kodagu (Coorg) at Madikeri. Essentially, I will now consider this one as reliable as its senior Tallboy sibling WagonR that is inching closer to the 260,000 Km mark on its Odo . Hence, the bar is set for the Ertiga.

There hasn't been anything significant that I have to mention on this ownership thread since my last major update at 196,000 Km and hence this will mostly remain a pictorial update to depict how things have held up mechanically and including the interiors after rigorously putting to use the sheer practicality and flexibility aspect of this 5+2 seater that remained the ultimate choice for me then way back in 2013 when I was on the lookout for a bigger car.

• That customary pic of the magic number:

• Based on the month of year that the Ertiga clocked each of the 10,000 Km, here is now the monthly average looks and you can notice a significant dip in the year 2020, thanks to COVID and reduced driving throughout this year

• The below graph represents the number of months it took to cover every 10,000 Km with the last one from 190K to 200K being the longest due to obvious reasons:

• Overall, the body has held up very well despite me not into any TLC for this one. I am not into detailing nor have I visited any place for getting the car detailed ever in its lifetime. I also do not wash the car very regularly and there is generally a huge gap between 2 washes. Here are some of the images of the exteriors:

• Following image covers details about the parts that I have replaced during the last 7 years or ideally to say, during its usage of 200,000 Km:

• Tire wear for the current P3STs has been better than the predecessor XM2s (lasted 93,000). What you see in the below image is the wear pattern for all the 4 tires after ~ 91,500 Km of usage:

• There is nothing special to talk about the alloys. They have held up pretty well till now without losing the sheen:

• How difficult was it to maintain all beige interiors so far? Well, let the pictures do the talking and honestly, it hasn't been any difficult so far:

• Lettering or at times even color of the switches fade after certain Kms of regular usage but that hasn't been the case with both of my cars till date:

• The stalks for the combination switches:

• The Dashboard and the Gear lever/Handbrake console:

• I have been lucky ever since I picked up a set of 3D mats 7 years before for as less as 1750/-. These mats don't show any signs of aging at all, including the driver side mat where one usually sees it breaking apart due to impression of the footwear by the driver. To me, these have served very well and have been absolute paisa vasool:

• A common query on the lighting forum is that headlights fade over the years and this is faster if you upgrade the regular 60/55w halogens to higher wattage (most popular) 100/90w. You can have a look at both the clusters in the below image. For that matter, I still do a lot of cross country night driving with these lights:

• Few more images of the interiors:

• The steering wheel is hardly 3500 Km old. I had replaced this as part of my DIY where I enabled the steering audio controls:

• I had got the seat covers done through my regular guy when I purchased the car. They have served me very well. Of course you can notice that the driver seat is the one that has maximum signs of wear. I have been thinking to get a makeover for all the seats sooner with a different shade too:

• The Odometer reading as of today afternoon when I clicked these images:

• Practicality is the word and this one has never let me down. We had around 8 guests arriving from Gujarat over the X-mas break and the boot with the 3rd row folded gobbled up all their luggage very easily:

Epilogue

Overall, it has been an extremely reliable journey so far and I have nothing specific to talk about where I can say I was stranded or wasn't able to complete my journey as planned. This is exactly the kind of reliability that I will be looking for if I upgrade from this in future which still has a long way to go.

As far as drives are concerned, I am headed for a 2500 drive next weekend!

[PrasannaDhana]

Wow!

That's an awesome milestone Parag!

Congratulations on doing something very few owners do. Clocking 2 lakh kms and still the car looks fresh
That too, on two cars!

Your threads make me feel confident about using my cars beyond the 1 lakh km mark. Looking forward to seeing 2.5 lakh km on the odo

This thread sure has been/will be a reference point for all DDIS 200/ Ertiga owners

[CrAzY dRiVeR]

Nice.

2L kms is nothing new for you, but still so good to see you taking another car to this milestone. Hope the Ertiga gets to cross the WagonR's odo figures and reach a few more such milestones in the years ahead.

PS: How I would have liked to post a similar update but my miles are crawling now thanks to the WFH scenario.

[Dr.Naren]

Good going, well maintained Ertiga

I could never imagine that kind of brake pads and tyre life for my cars even in my dream .

[PrasannaDhana]

Originally Posted by Dr.Naren

I could never imagine that kind of brake pads and tyre life for my cars even in my dream .

I was just thinking the same

I am at 26000 km on my P4ST and was happy I would clock another 25000 km on them. I see Parag has done 90k km on P3ST and I was shocked!

Brake pads, they last me a decent 30-40 k km.

[vigsom]

Originally Posted by paragsachania

the Ertiga finally clocked the 200,000 Km mark

There hasn't been anything significant that I have to mention

You've created records of sorts with this car, and deserve a good treat for yourself and the car. This car deserves to feature in Maruti's Hall of Fame for several reasons:

1. Body still as good as new after 7 years - the less you wash and detail, the better

2. Stock engine - no big deal for a DDiS 200 but in a country where 1,00,000km is a psychological milestone, 2,00,000km is something only psychos on tbhp can achieve

3. Brake pad life - 82,000km is just out of the world

4. Stock Suspension till 1,82,000km

5. Stock Air-conditioner - trust me on this, ACs work best if left alone as NO aftermarket AC technician's work can match the durability of the stock AC, especially of Maruti and Toyota. (We see Mahindra and Hyundai ACs evaporator cores pack up in 4 years).

6. Stock turbocharger

7. Stock alternator sans any service

Take a bow, Ertiga Vdi and @paragsachania !!

[audioholic]

Originally Posted by vigsom

You've created records of sorts with this car, and deserve a good treat for yourself and the car. This car deserves to feature in Maruti's Hall of Fame for several reasons:

Take a bow, Ertiga Vdi and @paragsachania !!

Definitely. This is a textbook for a long term review of a car or rather a very long term review. There are other cars in the forum as well which have done good amount of kms, but I dont think I have seen a 2L kms review of any car in recent times and one which has in record everything that has been done. Kudos to Parag for the efforts in reaching this milestone in an uneventful manner.

I have been fortunate to experience his car a few times, and also after this 2L kms milestone. The moment I sat in the car, I was surprised by the state of various things in the car. Me and Parag had the exact discussion for a long time and he will still remember my expression. If one hides the Odo of the car, they will never know how much distance it has covered. Trust me on that. And any questions on Maruti quality - This car is the answer. If you take good care of it, it will definitely not give up on you and still look brand new.

I am looking forward to more milestones and wish Parag many more to come!

[rakesh_r]

How the hell can a car look so new even after running 2lac km. I wonder if you were running your car on a threadmill
Kudos to you for maintaining the car so well. I always loved the old Ertiga for its practicality, had considered it as a replacement for my Swift, the beige interior was the only sore point due to which had to strike it off, hate the new ones though the XL6 looks good but sadly it doesn't come with a Diesel engine.
Wishing you a happy and hasslefree ownership, looking forward to meet you in person.

[rahulb22]

Congrats Paragbhai,

Your's is a case-study on how a car should be driven and maintained!!

[paragsachania]

A lot of times, I have to either quote a particular post or refer to the post while responding to certain queries or even when I am referring to something over the ownership. Here is a list of all such posts & threads with important updates for easy reference:

100,000 Km update

150,000 Km update

200,000 Km update

DIY - 2 DIN BT Head Unit (Kenwood DPX-5130BT)

DIY - 2nd row seat rattle fix

DIY - Aftermarket fitment of the armrest

Steering rack replacement under extended warranty - 57,000 Km

Stock brake pads replaced @ 82,000 Km, EGR cleaning

Synchronizer rings replaced at 97,000 Km

DIY - Door damping & speakers upgrade to JBL GTO609c

DIY - Flippy Key

DIY - Gear knob replacement to Ciaz

DIY - Horn replacement (Hella Chrome)

DIY - Interiors and Upholstery cleaning

DIY - LED bumper reflectors

DIY - MAF sensor cleaning

DIY - Oil Change and Periodic service

DIY - OSRAM DRL Fog (strengthening the wiring)

DIY - Steering audio and BT controls

DIY -Replacement of steering column cover (Black)

Dog hit and a cracked bumper!

Non-Stop Bangalore - Gandhinagar (1530 Km)

Non-Stop Bangalore - Rajkot (1700 Km)

Replacement and repositioning of the door moulding

Replacement of springs for driver's seat foam

Service at FNG, replacement of stock drums, First CEL code, Windscreen
replacement

Tire upgrade - 195/65/R15 profile - Michelin P3ST

Tire upgrade - 205/60/R15 profile - Michelin XM2

Tires - Visual comparison - 185/65 Vs 195/65 Vs 205/60