[wanderernomad]

Still no car. The MASS guys are expecting the bumper to arrive by Saturday. Lets see.

[thoma]

Are they going for a new bumper? I thought it could be fixed by heating and painting as there is no tearing. Do let us know the cost for the new bumper including painting it. I am on the look out to replace my Baleno's front bumper, which has sustained multiple tearing, thanks to dad's carefree driving.

By the way, were you able to find out the root cause for the battery getting drained last time? Do share the repair bill for the 60k kms service too, if possible. Thanks.

[MADMAX111]

Wandernomad,

My Baleno has done 92000 kms till now. No issues. Runs absolutely fine. One clutch plate change around 50 K and brake pads change around 60 k. The brakes need a little work now as the bite is less (will check the master cylinder). Clutch has become hard again. Front and rear bumper are scratched/dented due to stupid Delhi drivers. On second set of tyres (Bridgestone Potenza G III) and third battery (Amaron) recently changed. The suspension has lost a bit of stiffness and car rolls slightly in turns. No rattles/squeaks, absolutely reliable, consistent FE of 11.5 with 100% AC in city, 13-14 on highway.

Little known fact I observed : the car has a predictive fuel gauge- If you start revving hard you will notice the fuel gauge drops probably indicating lesser range with that driving style. Revert to sedate driving and climbs back again after few minutes.

I have gone through your ownership report. Looks like the previous owner did not mantain the car well though it claims to have logged 40k odd kms only. Baleno is a reliable car due to high content of SGP fitted.

Enjoy ur drive.

[johy]

Originally Posted by MADMAX111

Wandernomad,


Little known fact I observed : the car has a predictive fuel gauge- If you start revving hard you will notice the fuel gauge drops probably indicating lesser range with that driving style. Revert to sedate driving and climbs back again after few minutes.

Spot on mate, I noticed the same. When I first purchased my Baleno, I thought it was a "defect," but then realized that it was very useful. I am selling off my Baleno and am finding it very difficult to find a worthy replacement. :-(

[filcord]

Originally Posted by johy

. . . I am selling off my Baleno and am finding it very difficult to find a worthy replacement. :-(

There's just no replacement for a Baleno at this price point. I wish I could have kept mine but I needed the margin money. Sigh!

[wanderernomad]

Originally Posted by thoma

Are they going for a new bumper? I thought it could be fixed by heating and painting as there is no tearing. Do let us know the cost for the new bumper including painting it. I am on the look out to replace my Baleno's front bumper, which has sustained multiple tearing, thanks to dad's carefree driving.

Yes, as the plastic locks and the inner plastic supports have broken. They are putting in a new bumper. Since they are doing it FOC I may not be able to give you a clear quote but the painting charges are about 3000 or so for the bumper as written on their board. Will check and let you know the precise pricing

Originally Posted by thoma

By the way, were you able to find out the root cause for the battery getting drained last time? Do share the repair bill for the 60k kms service too, if possible. Thanks.

No not quite as it never happened again but the suspect was an improperly closed door, I think, as the remote locks the doors even if they are improperly closed. Will share the bill details as soon as I pay them and get my car back.

[wanderernomad]

Originally Posted by johy

Spot on mate, I noticed the same. When I first purchased my Baleno, I thought it was a "defect," but then realized that it was very useful. I am selling off my Baleno and am finding it very difficult to find a worthy replacement. :-(

Yours is a LXI or a VXI? The reason I asked is whether it has 14" stock alloys or not and if it does, then do you have the black centre hub caps on all 4?

[johy]

Originally Posted by wanderernomad

Yours is a LXI or a VXI? The reason I asked is whether it has 14" stock alloys or not and if it does, then do you have the black centre hub caps on all 4?

Vxi. Black center hub caps missing on two. The garage guys first stole one. Then the other. :(

[wanderernomad]

Originally Posted by johy

Vxi. Black center hub caps missing on two. The garage guys first stole one. Then the other. :(

Just in case you do sell it soon, can you take out the other two as well for me? Unless of course you sell it to a bhpian then I shall need to talk him into buying the entire set of 4 from Maruti and give me these 2 black ones.

[MADMAX111]

The hub caps are avaialble with dealers in delhi and gurgaon. I lost one and got from Apra auto GGAON. Prepare to wait a while they search for it.

[wanderernomad]

Originally Posted by MADMAX111

The hub caps are avaialble with dealers in delhi and gurgaon. I lost one and got from Apra auto GGAON. Prepare to wait a while they search for it.

The hub caps which I found to be with the dealers are the new silver ones costing about 1600 INR for a set of 4. You talking about the same or these black ones are available with Apra? If yes is it possible to buy 1-2 from them?

[MADMAX111]

The black ones costed 150 rs each

[wanderernomad]

Finally the car is back. Though they have replaced with a new bumper I am far from satisfied with the finish. The front co driver side edges are not in line and there is a significant gap between the panel, the headlight housing and the bumper's edge. When pointed out the works manager's reply was very blunt- we have done what ever was possible, cant do no anymore, either leave it here or take the car". I nearly thrashed the guy there and then. However, a small talk with the right police officer did get him back to his senses and he requested for an hour to straighten it further. But even then the result is not good but atleast the bumper edge meets the panel line now. Took the car and will see how to put the gaps in proper place at a friends garage. The bill for the 60K service and the clutch over haul is as follows"
1. Gasket 1 no. 3.52
2. Seal,DIL, Diff side LH 43.96
3. Clip Trunk trim 8.55
4. Spark Plug BKR6E 4 no. 211.64
5. Gasket throttle body 7.67
6. Gasket 61.54
7. Oil filter 72.97
8. Cover Clutch 1210.55
9. Disc Clutch 1445.22
10.seal oil, diff side fh 74.73
11. holder rear bumper 17.82
12. cleaning cloth 10.55
13. bg throttel cleaner 225.86
14. coolant (ss) 413.18
15. brake fluid gc 1500aa 263.74
16. screen wash concentrate 13.12
17. MGO (20W40) shell 3.3 ltr 757.19
18. MGCO ( ?0W20) Sufil 500.65 part number 97999ma0w90 shl what is this?
19. labour: paid service 1000
disc brake cleaning 100
Throttle body cleaning 247
Clutch overhaul 1200

Total came to Rs 6261 for parts and about 2800 for labour. I know the above total is about 2547 but it is different from the 2845 or so as shown to me in the estimate. Due to the above incident I got 100% discount on labour charges so paid only Rs 6261. Howver, They broke my Hella Halogen fog lamp and now I need to find a replacement for it as they cannot source a part and they also lost one of my alloy wheel hub caps. They have promised to source them for me soon as it could not be found in the workshop.

[saadat1992]

Originally Posted by wanderernomad

Then while expecting a call to pick up the car my Driver called to inform that the service centre test driver has banged the car while on the road test. Ran to the site and found that the test driver has banged the left side on to the left pane lof a stationary swift.:

That's bad! Seriously!. I have seen many times how those people at the service stations drive the car so rashly! I have no idea why they do that in such a small place i.e.: inside the service center.
The companies should warn the drivers not to do so.
By the way, Did the company pay for the repairs?

[wanderernomad]

Originally Posted by saadat1992

That's bad! Seriously!. I have seen many times how those people at the service stations drive the car so rashly! I have no idea why they do that in such a small place i.e.: inside the service center.
The companies should warn the drivers not to do so.
By the way, Did the company pay for the repairs?

Yes they did. At first they pointed out a small print in the job card which said that they drive the car at the owners risk and they are not liable. Then some choicest punjabi abuses and some local clout finally made them see the true picture. They did the job but I am not fully satisfied.