Team-BHP - Maruti Celerio : Official Review

Quote:

Originally Posted by CharlesA (Post 4185560)

2nd AMT box failed on our Celerio. For many days the vehicle would lose drive while driving. Last Sunday morning it just stopped in 3rd in the middle of the road. The car would not change gears and was stuck, after waiting for 5 min tried again. It did start but the engine oil lamp lamp lit up. Drove to Kalyani Motors and after running the diagnostics confirmed the AMT box needs to be replaced. First box replaced around 17k and second failed at 25k.

Quite a worrying thing. Did you discuss about this with the guys at the dealership? What did they say and what were the causes of this issue? I thought the AMT unit was reliable at least and the only bother was the clutch. But this is seeming otherwise :Frustrati

Quote:

Originally Posted by CharlesA (Post 4185560)

I think you should take up the matter with Maruti higher ups. Repetaed failure of same crucial component is not good and needs to be looked up seriously even if the service center replaces the AMT box in warranty.

Quote:

Originally Posted by vishy76 (Post 4185563)

Why don't you start a new thread on this issue? Could help many prospective customers and also force Maruti to take notice.

Hope this is the last time you have to resort to gearbox replacement.

Regards,
Vishy

I agree agree:. If all Celerio AMT owners are facing such serious issues with the gearbox, then we must start a new thread so that it gets the attention of Maruti. The Celerio is 3 years old in the market and generally such issues get addressed by the OEMs within this time period. This was the presumption under which I purchased my car. Now I'm worried.

Also, if audiohaulic is right and it really is matter of only a software update, Maruti must do it asap.

Quote:

Originally Posted by cityslicker86 (Post 4185872)

I have started a new thread on this. Link here:

http://www.team-bhp.com/forum/techni...-amt-woes.html

All owners can discuss and voice their issues here :)

Regards,
vishy

A quick update from my side :

Its been 4300kms / 2.5 months running around in the Bangalore B2B traffic. The car is driven 60kms every day with 60% of route clogged or slow moving.
The car is averaging at about 14.6 - 15 kmpl per tank full. The car runs only on Shell regular fuel.

The gearbox is holding up well and I guess I've finally understood how it works. The gearshifts are smooth and not clunky anymore and some times the 3 <->4 and 4 <-> 5 gear shifts are hardly felt.

The tires remain a sore point of the car. One evening on wet hosur road, the BMTC guy did what he does the best - swerve without notice. I was in the fast lane at about 80km/hr and I had to slam brakes. I felt the ABS on the pedal however the car skidded a good distance in straight line, tires screeching and stopped. Its extremely noisy as well in cabin and I need to switch to the 185 patch.

The seats are not very comfortable. I get a neck pain and on long distances, the steering position and the seat adjustment just cannot be matched. Either I get an ankle pain moving the seat closer or I get a wrist pain moving the steering lower. Wife on the other hand is comfortable and has no complaints what so ever.

Suspension does a decent job in soaking the bumps. The nasty one's filter through with a thud. Driving through bangalore's bad roads has fortunately not given even a single rattle. The only faint rattle is the parcel tray's grooves bouncing on the fiber clamps.

2 brushes with yellow boarded nincompoops on the front bumper. Most marks were scrubbed off only minor, barely visible, scuffs remain. Paint quality is really good.

The dashboard camera is the best accessory I've added which promptly acts as the big brother in all situations. Plus I evaluate my driving style and lane discipline every week through these videos.

The AC is a chiller and does a great job in keeping the cabin cool. I added the cabin pollen filter at Rs.450/- at Mandovi Mysore.

The headlamps are amazing and there is just no need to upgrade at all. City as well as highway (rain or dry) the stock lamps hold up well. Just because I had a pair of night breakers lying at home, I swapped them and now the headlamps are even better.

Changes planned :
1. Front windshield sun film
2. Tyre change to the 185/60/R14 patch
3. Active Sub-Woofer

Must Have's if you are buying this car :
1. Always buy the version with ABS and Airbags
2. Swap the tyres even before you take the car for the almighty's blessings
3. Add an AC filter pronto. The cabin air quality greatly improves
4. Add a basic Dashboard camera
5. Don't swap the speakers. The HU is very weak and the speakers would hardly be utilized to its potential

Totally loving the practicality of the car and the simplicity. clap:

On a random plan of going out of station, me and my parents did a quick visit to Chikmagalur. But this time, we chose to take the Celerio instead of our SX4 mainly because of two things: To check out Fastag, and to check out how the car is on an extended highway drive. Perhaps, this could be the only time the Celerio saw the highway farther than the regular 70km drive to Kolar. Overall, we could keep up good pace with the car and we covered the distance of 250kms in 4 hours or so both ways. Our SX4 could better this by another 15-20 mins.

On flat roads like Bangalore Hassan highway, the car held ground very well, far better than our WagonR. On some places where the road surface was not good, the person sitting at the back complained. In ghats, the car was a hoot to drive thanks to the manual mode.

Automatic mode in ghats will take the gearbox everywhere, but will take you nowhere. - Simple words to explain the behaviour.

I really appreciate Magnetti to have provided the manual mode as standard and not as an option to manufacturers like how the suppliers have done with the Kwid. I cant imagine how one can drive an AMT without a manual mode.

To prove it all, this was the test of the cars capablities - Climbing up this slope + multiple hair pin bends which was wet due to the rains with AC and three persons on board: clap:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Pet-hn2lrOg

Also notice how I was able to reverse up the incline to let the Fortuner reach the bend. There was space for only one car to pass through and the only place where we could cross each other was the siding on the hairpin bend. I was able to reverse up the slope without creating any scene and then crossed the fortuner.

Overall mileage on the MID was 19.2kmpl after aggressive driving. However, after driving in an estate road, the AC blower has developed a faint rattle, which I need to fix now.

Quote:

Originally Posted by sibot (Post 4226181)

I've been following this thread for sometime now and I have to say the car does look like a reliable city car with the occasional short highway commute.

I will probably wait for the facelift version to be launched before I take the jump. I don't think we are looking at any specification upgrades except for a few extra features? Are there any pictures of the facelift?

Yes it is a very reliable city car. I have one and enjoying my ownership. Yes wait for the facelift version which might be launched by end of this year. As per the information available there will be no change in the engine department. The changes that one can expect are revamped front and rear, few additional features etc. Sadly there are no pictures to prove these points so its a mere speculation right now.

So I think you should definitely wait for it. It should we worth the wait.

Regards

Quote:

Originally Posted by HappyRoadie (Post 4226289)

Thank you for the input. I look forward to the release. We do not have plans to buy one in the coming months, so the launch would be perfectly timed.

I have a question though, does buying a Celerio MT make sense? I've been reading a lot of mixed reviews about the AMT on this thread and it's making me question if it's the right choice.

To rephrase, considering the AMT on the Celerio is the USP of the car, does the MT make sense? My father would any day take the reliability of the Maruti stable over a Tata (tiago, tigor, etc.), but are there any other worthy competitors in MT in that price range?

Quote:

Originally Posted by sibot (Post 4226484)

Celerio is a good vehicle for city commute. As far as AMT is concerned I have got used to it now and haven't faced any issue. Once you get hang of how the AMT works you'll enjoy it. It's really a boon driving in bumper to bumper traffic or crowded city roads.

If you are looking for MT then there are other options as well. For example you can check out Grand I10 as well. It is a better vehicle compared to Celerio. It has a better build quality (both exterior and interior), better engine, etc.

Ultimately it comes down to you whether you want a MT or AMT car.

Regards

Quote:

Originally Posted by sibot (Post 4226484)

I have a question though, does buying a Celerio MT make sense? I've been reading a lot of mixed reviews about the AMT on this thread and it's making me question if it's the right choice.

To rephrase, considering the AMT on the Celerio is the USP of the car, does the MT make sense? My father would any day take the reliability of the Maruti stable over a Tata (tiago, tigor, etc.), but are there any other worthy competitors in MT in that price range?

In my opinion, you should stick to the MT versions of Maruti's vehicles. Going by the discussion on this forum, while some AMT owners have had a positive experience, many others have reported major problems with their AMTs (Box failures, mid-drive stalling etc.) all indicative of a design flaw. I'm suffering the same. My car's drive is so bad now that it cant go 500m without juddering/shoving once or twice. Its done only about 1000 Km till now. I'll have to take it to the service centre asap. Also, a colleague purchased a Celerio AMT a few months ago and he has started facing the judder issue already. His car has barely done 700 Km.

If you would like to stick to Maruti brand only, consider the all time favourite Swift, or the latest Ignis (provided you like its polarising looks). The swift at least is time tested. We used to have one and had a lovely experience for the 7 years we owned it.

Else, Grand i10 is a recommended option.

Had a wonderful drive in Celerio Automatic this weekend. We traveled a total of 603 kms in 2 days. With 80% AC usage and 3 occupants + full luggage, we got fuel efficiency of 20.2 kmpl. Usually my friend gets 22-23 but this time potholes on expressways ate it. Our max speed touched only 85 km per hour, that too for a short time period. We stick to safe speed of 80 kmph most of the time.

Our route on Saturday was Chinchwad - Mumbai Pune Expressway - Taloja MIDC - Kalyan city - Padgha route - Nashik highway - Kasara - Igatpuri - Nashik City.

Our route on Sunday was Nashik - Trimbakeshwar - Ghoti - Igatpuri - Kasara - Padgha - Kalyan city - Taloja MIDC - Expressway - back to Chinchwad.

There are a lot of dangerous potholes, especially in Kasara ghat on Mumbai Nashik expressway. Please drive carefully.

I drove in ghat sections as friend was not comfortable. We didn't use manual mode at all. Whenever car used to loose power in 4th gear, I just pressed the accelerator pedal (as told by dealer in test drive) and car down-shifted to 2nd gear immediately. Never felt the need for manual mode, even for overtakes.

JK Vectras are totally useless tyres given by Maruti as OEM fit on Celerio. We tried to stop but bumped over many speed breakers while other drivers around us were comfortable. The road noise generated by JK Vectras is horrible. I could not drive with windows open.

You must not use both feet for driving as most of AMT users do. In test drive itself, the dealer had told us that using both feet will damage the ECU. So care has to be taken. We didn't have any problems with AMT. It is eager to up-shift so once you take off your foot over accelerator it will shift up by 1 gear.

Celerio must have a top end variant with 1.2L engine because the current engine feels under powered. I have driven my friend's SWIFT too and felt the engine of SWIFT very refined over Celerio.