New Wagon R CNG 38,000 Kms ownership review I completed my 35000 kms about a month ago. I love my car and it is fantastic. It hasnt given me any trouble whatsoever so far.
All I have gone in for so far is regular service. Even the brake pads that they nomally change at 30,000 were intact and I saved 2000 aprox because they did not need a replacement. The bill was about 3000. The MAS where I get my car serviced has a 3 +1 scheme. I have got two services done. One more and the third service will be free.
Earlier I was getting my car serviced by Competent but somehow found them expensive. I cannot say exactly why. But they did add an additive in petrol which was to clean the injectors and charged me 700 which I felt they should have asked before adding. I did not feel too happy about it. Also they misplaced many things. I did get them all but it was a stress and incompetence. I felt lost in so many cars being serviced. And they do not encourage you to see what they are doing.
At MAS the service is more personal. You can choose your own guy and I believe the same guy should service your car because he knows it thoroughly. Instead of always changing groups that run the top workshops associated with showrooms.
What they changed: 2 bulbs (my car had taken a hit from rear), Lube oil, Air filter, Oil filter, Coolant, Car washing etc
What they checked: Brake pads which were in good condition so no changes made. They merely scrapped the surface to get rid of the dust and dirt
I had changed the horn though because the original was very low for high way driving. I dont use too much of horn and replaced the standard one with Rooter. This horn conked out and I had to shell another 300 to replace it. The rooter replacement was for 650 and this time I went for Hella ordinary horn but one with dual sound. The guy who sold me the horn said that it had conked out because at the service station they probably sprayed water over it, which I really doubt.
So not basically a Maruti fault but a fault of non-standard equipment.
Another thing I would like to point is that the spark plug gap is of the most importance for CNG performance. Most mechanics just use approximation but please, stop them for ruining your car's performance. Scream at them if you must, but get them to use the filler gauge and set the spark plug gaps to either 0.9 mm or 1 mm. You can choose either of the two based on your own driving preferences. at 0.9mm you will save gas but have a slightly slugging engine. at 1.0 you will have a very responsive engine but at the cost of a little of fuel economy. At 0.8mm the car performance is pathetic and it will move like a heavy brick and you will start wondering why you bought the Wagon R CNG version at all. This is the gap most mechanics tend to keep because it works well with Maruti 800 or amybe Alto. But is certainly not the gap for Wagon R CNG. Please do not get your car serviced by workshops who do not have these filler gauges. They are completely unprofessional and you should not be dealing with them.
Some pointers on CNG:
I have been getting a lot of queries about CNG and felt I should clear them here, in this platform, rather than keep answering them privately.
CNG is a proven technology. It doesnt damage the engine. If id did, it wouldnt have been in use. Most people have this erroneous belief that CNG is a dry gas and therefore corrodes the engine. That petrol is wet so it lubricates. This is wrong. It is the lubricating oil that lubricates the engine not petrol. In modern cars, petrol is inleted as a spray or gas.
There is no need to run the CNG car for 3 months or X months before using CNG. The company experts say you can start from day one.
Please dont go by what people say. Most of these people who give free advice do not know anything about CNG, have never owned a CNG car and are propagating myths. Talk to people who own CNG car to complete your learning. It is obvious that a guy who speaks against CNG isnt a user and has found a justification for not buying the car which he will defend at all costs. Advice from such people can affect your decision badly and for no good reason. Have a scientific mind, research the net for information if you have doubts and don't trust people. But do not accept advice blindly.
I advice you to check out the NGV outlets in your city before you decide to buy. For Delhi you need not carry out this exercise. I can vouch that there are enough CNG stations with NGV not to be a cause of worry. I had someone from Mumbai complaining that the NGV outlets in Mumbai were limited. Let me explain you. The nozzle to fill at CNG station is of two types. One is the regular which has a small pipe protrution. The other is NGV which has a broad circular cone. Out of say 8filling sets that most CNG stations have only 3 or 4 have this NGV mode. And sometimes, as in Mumbai these stations do not have the NGV facility at all.
Also, just check the availability of CNG. If there are very long queues then think if time would be more important to you or savings. If you are short of time always but have surplus money due to a good income, it is pointless to stress yourself with waiting when time for you is a premium, rather than savings.
The benefits for car owners with drivers in CNG means these drivers cannot sell petrol and that leads to a lot of savings.
Another factor you must be sure of is that your driving should not be more than 85 kilometers per day. Beyond this, you will have to get a refill every day. I drive 70 kms every day so one refill lasts for 2 days. If I had to fill gas everyday then it would perhaps be a real pain. Normal time for refills is 15-20 minutes during lean hours (after 10 pm and before 7 am). During peak hours the wait is over 35 minutes. So watch out for how busy these stations are and how much time you have at your disposal. And the queues will only get longer with time. Touchwood so far I am managing fine and do not regret the decision to opt for CNG.
Also, if your drive is less than 30 kms per day, you will take a very long time to recover the costs and practically not in 5 years of time. I calculated the other day that only after driving 25000 kilometers could I recover the additional cost of 75000 rupees that I invested (assuming I saved 3 rs an average per kilometer). So dont go by absolute savings. Go by the time in which you are likely to achieve those savings...... Most people just think of I save 3 Rs per kilometer so I must get it. And some of the people I know are driving less than 50 kilometers a week. They will never recover their investment, it is a wrong belief of savings they are living.
For resale too, it will be assumed that you drove a car a lot before selling it. No amount of saying that the meter is not tampered will convince the future buyer that you dod not extract every ounce from the car. So the car will have a sharp drop in returns compared to say a Petrol version. This is what I feel and this is what I would think if I was the buyer. You can check or verify this with a seller of used cars.
From every point of view the Wagon R CNG is a great car: Technology, maintenance, responsiveness, road visibility etc. But please get the maths right before you decide......
And yes, I am not too happy about the build quality, right from the beginning. It's sheet metal is thin and sags the moment you lean against the side panels to the left or right of the engine. Same is with the doors.
You can ask me more if you wish..... at syravi at yahoo dot com |