[shk 8896]

Finally Ritzy got TBHP Stickers!Here are some recent snaps of her.

[shk 8896]

Ritzy is facing first biggest problem-No AC!!
The AC cooling coil has degraded and no replacement parts are available.I had once noticed that the heater was not working some months back but it was not a big matter of concern as it was never used.
Took her to MASS but they quoted a biggish 7k for repairing AC without even diagnosing it.Unsatisfied by their behaviour,dad took the car to another reliable garage but the parts are not available.This is strange when considering that ritzy is a Maruti.
Please help

[rock75]

very strange! Parts are not readily available for a running maruti model?

[Eddy]

Parts might not be available at one particular shop, but look around and you will find them.

Which part(s) btw ?

[neo45007]

I am facing issue with AC in my Ritz Vxi.

When I switch off AC after running it for sometime, it blows hot air.
After complaining to Mandovi Service station, they said it was due to some dust in the filters and they cleaned it.

Rubbish

I still have this problem. Any suggestions?

[AkMar]

Originally Posted by neo45007

I am facing issue with AC in my Ritz Vxi.

When I switch off AC after running it for sometime, it blows hot air.

At what position of the temperature knob do you face this issue? If the answer is anything other than the coolest position, try setting the temperature knob in the coolest position after you switch off the AC. We faced a similar issue in our swift, and I noticed that setting the temperature knob in coolest position does have an effect on the air temperature even after switching off the AC. Perhaps setting the temperature above the coolest position lets in some hot air (not too sure about the source of this air) into the cabin.

Experts please correct me if I am wrong.

[neo45007]

It comes even in the coolest position. That's why I feel there should be some problem. Need advice as service station guys said 'all is well'.

[tacho9000]

Hi neo45007 please check whether your heater coil assembly is leaking and whether it is getting switched on by itself. An acquintance of mine once had the same problem as you faced and on inspection found that the heater was leaking and hence blowing in hot air. Suggest you check for the same mate. You can try some other service station as there are quite a few good ones in bangalore one of them being Suraksha or any local garage like Sejal Motors. Just as suggestion or second opinion maybe.

[shk 8896]

First of all,apologising for not updating the thread regularly.Was busy with my academics.
The air con issues have been sorted out and the AC runs perfectly after replacing the cooling coil.
Ritzy crunched about 2000 kms this month and the odo now stands at 47.5k kms. The engine is still butter smooth and dad enjoys driving it around.Got her a much deserved waxing and stands gleaming in the garage. The only issue is the poor tyres which should be replaced before the monsoons.They make awful sounds and make the ride bumpy.May go fr MRF ZLOs.
A couple of pics too.

[pradyblr]

shk 8896:
Nice to know the AC issue is resolved.
Did you replace the coil at MASS ? What was the cost involved?

[shk 8896]

Originally Posted by pradyblr

shk 8896:
Nice to know the AC issue is resolved.
Did you replace the coil at MASS ? What was the cost involved?

Yes, the cooling coil was replaced from MASS .IIRC,it costed a 4.5k billfor the spare part plus labour.

[whitewing]

Originally Posted by shk 8896

Yes, the cooling coil was replaced from MASS .IIRC,it costed a 4.5k billfor the spare part plus labor.

Is this not covered as part of the extended warranty?? Or did you choose not to take the extended warranty?

[shk 8896]

First of all, let me apologise for not updating the thread for years together. The thread was just the views of a 15 year old before any driving experience so was not interested to continue afterwards.

The car was sold after 7 years and 90k kilometres.

With increasing maintenance costs and declining service quality throughout the MASS service centers in KL, it was decided to sell the car and move on. Sometime in August this year, the car was handed over to one person and I'm happy that we got a good deal for the car.

I will be giving a brief overview of the stuff we did on the car.

- The car was serviced from MASS at an interval of 10k kilometers religiously.
- Switched to Mobil1 5W-40 synthetic oil from 70k kilometers.
- Changed the clutch kit, flywheel, water pump at 80k kilometers.
- Got a set of Michelin XM2 185/70R14 two years back around 75k kilometers.
- Third battery - Amaron.
- In the last two years, the running of the car was not consistent.
- Had a small road incident in 2015 in which the front LHS fender, suspension, lower arm and wheel bearings were replaced. Thankfully the occupants were safe because all of them were belted up.
- Rear struts were leaking so replaced around 85k kilometer.
- Parts failure was higher in the last two years - water pump, AC compressor, cooling coil were replaced. Maybe because our's was a first batch car. But can't justify that way since even the Swift used to have the same components.

Attaching a couple of screenshots of the maintenance log from the Maruti App.




Also our highway runs increased and we started frequently travelling between Calicut and Trivandrum, lack of active safety features like airbags and ABS was of a major concern.
The news of Ritz being phased off was the final nail in Ritz's coffin. Having one phased off car in garage is okay, not friggin three of them!

The replacement car is a Panther Black Ford Ecosport TDCI Titanium.

Few final thoughts about the car -
- The car was a perfect city car - Taking U-Turns and parallel parking was a breeze. Not a great highway car.
- Better build quality and paint quality compared to later Marutis. In fact, this was a reason we decided to stay away from Maruti this time.
- Punchy engine. I loved pushing the car. True, it had turbo lag but not Fiat bad.
- Better steering feedback compared to later Marutis - I drove a Dzire petrol recently and felt like the steering was disconnected!
- Comfortable front seats. I forgot the last time I actually sat in the rear seats - they were flat and not so comfortable.
- Really oddly shaped boot and very high loading lip.
- Predictable handling - the car even after a softly sprung year and tallboy design , the car handles decently. Yeah, body roll is evident.
- Later Ritz's had better NVH levels and the engine were less noisier - noticed them when I drove my cousin's 2012 Ritz.
- How the hell did I forgot rattles! LOL!
- Maruti service being cheap is a myth. Ritz costed like VAG cars while my '03 Zen, which is still MASS serviced costs peanuts in comparison. Also very less component failures in case of Zen, even after it being a thirteen year old car. Confusing!
- Even though lot of parts failed, the car never left us stranded us in the middle of the road. A standing ovation for the reliability of the car.
- With upsized rubber and alloys, the car was a decent looker.



So, was I happy with the car? YES!
The car served us well over the years even though the service experience was a turnoff.



Goodbye, till we meet again! You'll be missed.

Cheers,
Sreehari

PS: The only sadness is that I was not there when the car was handed over to the new owner. :(