Team-BHP > Team-BHP Reviews > Long-Term Ownership Reviews


Reply
  Search this Thread
34,240 views
Old 26th October 2020, 17:33   #16
Distinguished - BHPian
 
vigsom's Avatar
 
Join Date: Feb 2006
Location: NSEW
Posts: 3,756
Thanked: 25,344 Times
Re: Review: 2003 Maruti Versa – The car that never tires!

Quote:
Originally Posted by BoneCollector View Post
There was a time when Dad was influenced by this car but idea was shot down as it looked like a Van.
Thank You Doc,

The Versa was a hit or miss - in my case I decided to concentrate on the strengths of the vehicle and ignore the shortcomings.

Quote:
Originally Posted by Sran View Post
I have been a car owner for long and done some rare jobs in them but it has never come to my wisdom to register them
Thank You @Sran; I'd recommend storing pictures as good memories.

Quote:
Originally Posted by ron_9191 View Post
changed my perspective about the lovely Versa which I don't know whether it still lives on as the Eeco. Obviously, Maruti must have chopped off all the good bits to price it appropriately
Yes, the Eeco didn't carry the following that the Versa had

1. Doorpanels were plain rexine on hardboard
2. No kickpanels
3. No power steering
4. No flexi seating
5. No central locking
6. Roof height lowered.
7. Rexine seats like in the Omni

Quote:
Originally Posted by justwheels View Post
Wish we had the quality of yester years rather than the gizmos of today
Thank You @justwheels,

Those were the days of bland, yet reliable cars.

Quote:
Originally Posted by yesyeswe View Post
I have just started my car journey and i hope i am able to take good care of her
Thank You @yesyeswe.

If you dwell deep into issues, nothing is impossible.

Quote:
Originally Posted by InsaneSpeed View Post
back in 2008 we had shortlisted the Versa

However had to rule it out since it was made to order car and waiting period was close to 4 - 5 months with no confirmed delivery date
Thank You @InsaneSpeed.

That was unfortunate. I think the Versa was a goner by 2009 because the Eeco was already in the works.
vigsom is offline   (1) Thanks
Old 27th October 2020, 18:20   #17
BHPian
 
Join Date: Oct 2012
Location: Chennai
Posts: 796
Thanked: 3,362 Times
Re: Review: 2003 Maruti Versa – The car that never tires!

Hey Vigsom, I absolutely love your Nosviews (Nostalgia Reviews?), to call them a simple review would be a misnomer.

I do hope you have 10 more cars / bikes whose stories you have left to tell though as I wouldn't want you to run out of them.
Stribog is offline   (1) Thanks
Old 28th October 2020, 14:30   #18
BHPian
 
Join Date: Jan 2020
Location: India
Posts: 26
Thanked: 231 Times
Re: Review: 2003 Maruti Versa – The car that never tires!

Growing up in the 90's for most people, especially kids interesting content was limited to television programs, movies aired on DD, video game parlours and books mostly rented at book lenders every locality had or subscription to Disney and USSR published books (Chacha Chowdhry, Disney Today, Misha etc.)

The eager wait for interesting content has not changed then and now. Once hooked to a web series, people wait for the next part with manic desperation.

Your posts Vigsomji has a similar kind of effect. After reading your Fiat post, I narrated it to my parents and they enjoyed and re-lived our experience of owning and maintaining our first car which was a Fiat. Growing up around that car I gained all knowledge regarding maintaining and driving a vehicle.

Your posts have drama, suspense, adventure, edginess of doing something the first time fearing something might go wrong, joy of accomplishing something. In short the way you narrate the story and the content has everything which gets kids / people hooked to a series of content.

Also it has lots of cues to pick up and practice in every day life. Best among all being the, 'Art of Bargaining'. Sadly the art is dying slowly with value of money depreciating and too many options.

With a hope that you have owned lot many more cars, eagerly waiting for the next post in the series.

Thought it might of interest, sharing a video of the Japanese version of the Versa the Suzuki Every, it's so much better especially the seats, door trims, footwell trims, dashboard, dual air bags.

donabrh is offline   (1) Thanks
Old 19th November 2020, 09:48   #19
Distinguished - BHPian
 
paragsachania's Avatar
 
Join Date: Nov 2007
Location: Belur/Bangalore
Posts: 7,148
Thanked: 27,132 Times
Re: Review: 2003 Maruti Versa – The car that never tires!

Few cars were always unique to our times and Versa for sure remains one of them. No wonder I managed to take some time to read this beautiful narration of your ownership experience that is nearing the second decade now!!

The small little details right from how it all started to the instances where you fixed issues and escaped from the floods made it even more interesting.

Quote:
Originally Posted by vigsom View Post
[*]Load Sensing Proportionating valve (LSPV) - to vary the hydraulic pressure to the rear brakes based on load
Seriously? I didn't know and learning about it only now. Being a people mover such sensible and thoughtful feature, especially to aid braking is simply wonderful.

Quote:
Originally Posted by vigsom View Post
Seeing either overpriced fully loaded cars, or no cars, I decided to post an ad in the Gujarat Samachar and titled it “Versa Joyye Chhe” (Wanted Versa).
I just couldn't skip responding to this because you certainly made full use of resources back then when internet was still far from reaching the aam junta. Market was just a place and never a marketplace.

Quote:
I asked the owner about this and he said that all private vehicles in Gujarat with over 5 seats carried a registration validity of only 2 years from new, requiring registration renewal (CPI) at the RTO every year thereafter.
This is also something new to me. Is this practice still prevalent?

It is a fact that the Eeco perhaps sees its maximum sale from the state of Gujarat. Never ever I have come across so many Eecos on roads as much as I see them on the highways of Gujarat each time I have driven. Then, one of the visits my folks told me how the Toofan/Trax doing inter city runs were slowly finding a replacement with the CNG Eecos due to the lower running costs and ease of maintenance. I am not sure how much of this is true but I do remember from my last year's drive between Ahmedabad and Mehansana when I didn't spot a single Toofan/Trax but could see loads of Eecos picking passengers enroute and If I recollect it right, all were white boards.

If this also a reason why the registration is required every 2 years?

Quote:
Originally Posted by vigsom View Post
The owner was a pious man; when he handed over the car, he took off his footwear, bowed before the Ganpati idol that was inside the car, and thanked me profusely for helping him realize his dream of the Tavera. There is a lot more to parting with a car than just a business deal !!!
A very nice gesture and shows the admiration for the vehicle too.

Quote:
Rocket speed pick up
After being constantly driven in and around the Ambassador for a really long time while we grew up, in 1997 I had a chance to be driven in the Esteem and boy what a joyous ride that was especially when one could really reach triple digit speeds in 3rd gear itself!! The Esteem shall remain one of the most favorite of my cars till date.

Quote:
Originally Posted by vigsom View Post
Do I still love the Versa?

Of course Yes.

The Versa is still my local runabout vehicle every time I go to Surat; and it is amazing to see the vehicle run like stock even after 17 years.
Great that you still own this machine and making full use of it. As long as they remain troublefree and are maintained in good mechanical condition, they will never disappoint you.

Wishing you a lot more kms on the not so ubiquitous MPV today.
paragsachania is offline   (1) Thanks
Old 2nd January 2022, 13:05   #20
BHPian
 
CzechItaliaMoto's Avatar
 
Join Date: May 2019
Location: Bangalore
Posts: 123
Thanked: 158 Times
Re: Review: 2003 Maruti Versa – The car that never tires!

Hi, my dad's Maruti Versa has an OBD II port and when i plug in the scanner, nothing seems to happen. Does MS have its own secure scanning tool that prevents other devices from accessing the computer or is there any way to fix this OBD port?
CzechItaliaMoto is offline  
Reply

Most Viewed
Thread Tools Search this Thread
Search this Thread:

Advanced Search

Copyright ©2000 - 2024, Team-BHP.com
Proudly powered by E2E Networks