Team-BHP
(
https://www.team-bhp.com/forum/)
Before I begin, please check my earlier report on the car at
http://www.team-bhp.com/forum/long-t...km-report.html
Since that report, the car has covered another 8000km in a span of roughly 5 months. I've had a great time with the car, taking it over all sorts of terrain and most of the times it has been driven hard. The car has so far never let me down on more than a few long 1000km+ highway drives (Hyderabad, Gokarna/Karwar, Kerala/Bandipur) and innumerable high speed runs to Mysore.
Since I've already posted most of my driving experience details in the earlier review, I'll limit myself to anything significant since then.
First thing was to get rid of the horribly noisy Bridgestone RE88 tyres that came OE. While they offered a lot of grip, they were noisy and hard. The car is shod with slightly wider than OE 205/60 Michelin PP2 on stock 15" rims. The grip has improved even more and the car feels absolutely planted and rock steady even at 170-180 kph. The ride quality too has improved over the Bridgestones. The road noise is significantly lower, especially at high speeds which is awesome considering the fact that these tyres are sporty performance oriented tyres.
The few gripes I had earlier regarding the gear shift, especially second gear seems to have disappeared. The shifts are absolutely smooth and effortless. The car also feels more rev happy as compared to before.
The car got rear ended by a reckless maruti zen driver once on the broken sections NH4 which caused a cracked bumper and damaged rear skirts. The zen's front end was a complete mess with a leaking radiator and a bent engine bay. This was when the prices of bumpers was still high and I was hit with a 35k bill. The surprising fact was that the bumper was only 13k while the rear skirting was 15k. Insurance paid roughly 21k out of it and the rest was thru my pocket. I didnt bother pursuing the zen driver as he looked like a ruffian and seemed to be driving under influence as he was smelling of alcohol.
Thankfully the bumper and skirting prices have crashed to around 8k each of late.
The service intervals are at 10000km/6 months whichever earlier. The car was given for second service at exactly 9200 km. This included an oil change and a complete interior and exterior detailing/polishing. The cost of the oil change was 852 rupees and that of the detailing was 1800 rupees.
Post 2nd service the car seems to be much improved in the fuel efficiency front. I was getting roughly around 9-10 or so in the city. Post service, I've noticed this to always be in the double digits. On my last highway run to kerala, I managed an incredible 15.8 km/l thanks to a speed breaker sitting in the rear seat (read my dad lol:).
The are few rattling issues with the car that have cropped up post some hard driving on poor terrain... the first is a slight rattle inside the dashboard that comes up occasionally. Lathangi tried to fix it twice. The problem disappears for 10-15 days and then once again crops up when going over bad roads. I guess this time round I'll ask them to open the dash and take a look inside.
The second is a rattling rear number plate. This comes at extremely low rpms on a high gear. The number plate will be replaced on next service. The third is a bit of squeaking on the driver's side seat belt. I've been assured that this will also be replaced under warranty the next time I visit Lathangi.
Other than these minor issues, its been so far so good. The car has kept me completely happy. The clutch seems to have hardened a bit with age which is good since at the outset it was a bit too delicate. I hope this small niggling issues get fixed at the earliest.
My service experience with lathangi has been exceptional, not withstanding the fact that the dashboard rattle still comes occasionally. The thing I like about them the most is that their service manager (Mr Prasad) actually takes time out to sit with the me and take feedback on every single nitty gritty of the car everytime I visit them. He seems genuinely interested in getting to the root of the problem and making sure that if it crops up again on any other car, it gets solved. I'd never noticed this proactive attitude in any of the Maruti service stations before.
I hope to keep this thread continuously updated with my experiences.
Good report ROC. Few questions
1. How did your dad like the rear seat?
2. The skirting is sports model only right?
3. Also how would you rate the accelration...a friend who owns a 1.6 GTX said Cedia seemed a bit lacking in the mid end....
Also finally have started seeing Cedia's in Delhi as well. Though still not very common.
Elito
He didn't seem to complain too much. He found it to be quite comfortable. Same with my mom as well. The skirting is only on the sports model.
Well have driven bottle's palio 1.6 stile. The acceleration seems to feel better in the palio but if you look at the 0-100 times from autocar, the cedia is around 10.2 sec while the Palio is a whole second slower. Its just that the engine doesn't make as much noise as the palio. Acceleration in the low range is a bit sluggish but it zooms once past 2000rpm.
Hey man, excellent & objective review, was a pleasure reading itclap: . Good to see you enjoying the Cedia experience
Nice writeup.
It comes with alloys right?
15plus kmph is awesome. Did you get this mileage after that like for drives to Mysore?
Thats was a costly affair for the bumper .
^^Nope I never could manage such mileage again as I cant sit at 80kph all the time. However with spirited driving it still gives me around 13 or so.
It has 15" alloys as stock on all models.
Thanks for the update. I love Cedia!!
Nice report. I am planning to buy a Cedia sports model by this month end. Actually I was test driving and reading reviews for the past one year before I narrowed down to Cedia. Only serious competetion to Cedia was Corolla (IMHO).
how much does a regular service cost?
Depends on what is being done in the service. An oil change is 850 bucks (oil filter + 4liter oil). For paid service, the labour charge is 625 rupees.
Nice review ROC! I always have a special liking for your car and detailed review's...
Good review again Reign! I've done 8000 kms in 6 months and have driven to Hyderabad, Pondicherry and Ooty. Yet to experience any of these niggling issues that you highlighted. Perhaps you are a crazy driver:) but I am surely a safe driver.
Agree with you, it is a sheer delight to own this car and get it serviced by Lathangi motors.
Nice Report ROC, that FE is quite exceptional !! Car gives a excellent performance in terms of FE if speed is maintained in 90-110kmph bracket...
Abhi
Nice report man.
I have driven 2000km ( cedia sports) and I am getting around 9km in chennai city and 11- 14 km on highways depends on the speed.
Till now, no issues and I am enjoying every moment with my Cedia.
Enjoy and safe driving.
Quote:
Originally Posted by reignofchaos
(Post 688954)
This included an oil change and a complete interior and exterior detailing/polishing. The cost of the oil change was 852 rupees and that of the detailing was 1800 rupees.
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@ROC, Did the exterior detailing job include any paint touch-ups to cover up scratches, if any? Was the job well done?
My 6 months service is due in a month and I have 2 paint related issues to take care of. One was caused by some liquid dropping from a leaking pipe on to the roof of my car in the basement parking at my office. I am unable to get those marks off the paint.
The other one is a scratch on the front bumper caused by a moron trying to drive out of a parking lot at Garuda Mall. He brushed my car that was parked adjacent to his old santro.
Its funny that all marks and scratches have come when my car was parked!
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