[Jeroen]

The MAP sensor could have well caused these problem. Not sure why the spark plugs and coil were changed. Very simple to test them.

I am also very surprised to hear how the authorised dealer dealt with this problem. If I have said it thousand times on this forum, I will say it a zillion times:

Run away from mechanics that assume stuff and begin swapping out parts. No matter what car, as long as it has an OBD connection, always and I mean always scan it for error codes first before you do anything else! You don’t even open the bonnet, because the OBD connector is underneath the dashboard, near the driver position.

Swapping parts is always a last resort. You can test spark plugs, throttle bodies, fuel pumps, ignition coils. If there is anything amiss in almost all cases you will get a code and each of these components can be checked individually by every half competent mechanic and a multimeter (and a pressure gauge for the fuel,pump).

Glad to see all has been sorted.
Jeroen

[neiltopaz]

Just prior to Christmas 2023, my wife's 2017 Celerio had gone in for a small touch-up when I chanced upon photographs of Suzuki's Celerio Classic exhibited at an overseas car show.

Drawing inspiration from those photographs I discussed this with my painters and with some good suggestions from them, we decided on the scheme you see here.

Our car was originally finished in Glistening Grey. Customization was done with Maruti's Passion Red.

Inside, the centre console too has a touch of customization - a Japanese water colour with the Suzuki Logo emblazoned over the sun.

On its return home, the car looked wonderful, but the stock wheel caps appeared a bit ordinary. Hunting on Amazon, I sourced Prigan wheel caps in black & red to go with the custom paint job. Prigan's representative was most helpful in giving me actual photos of their products before I could finalize. The wheel caps arrived on Christmas Day - a grand culmination of my customization efforts.

My sincere thanks to M/s. Urs Kar Service Centre, Mysore, who have supported my painting, polishing and car care needs across all my brands of cars for decades now.

[prabhatsingh02]

Hey, I need help with changing the glove box lock of my 2018 Celerio X? This is my first post here, not sure where to ask for help for the same.

The lock is broken and the glove box, as of now, is attached via a screw. I want to repair the lock only, but cant seem to figure out how to open the glove box lock mechanism, cause it is sealed from the back, with no access to screws.

Regards!

[fine69]

Hi, I have a 2015 Celerio ZXi AMT that's done 56k so far. It had juddering issues from the very beginning, at least as far back as I can remember, but they weren't very bothersome till date.

Recently I took the car out on a very hot day and had to spend almost 1.5 hrs in a very severe jam. I've rarely driven this car in severe jams and first time I realized that the AC wasn't cooling enough.

The same day I experienced another serious issue of RPM dipping to almost 600-700 everytime I would apply brake in the start stop traffic, as if the car would stall and after a second or two it would go back to it's normal rate between 900-1100.

The car hasn't stalled so far but the issue has become very severe. Juddering in 1st and 2nd gear is way too bothersome and jerks are almost uncontrollable now.

I got the AC gas top up done, AC chills like never before, got the service done early, all oils changed basically. Also got all sensors cleaned for deposit of carbon etc. but the problem remains and gets worse by the day.

My mechanic says I should change the clutch (tentative cost 12k) but I'm not too sure whether RPM dipping is clutch related or throttle body or something else.

He had also checked ignition coil and injectors and found everything to be normal.

Any tips to sort out this weird problem?

[abhiijithbhatn]

This post is going to be a bit lengthy, mixing my journey with Celerio, personal milestones, and its impact.



In October 2019, due to some personal issues, I had to sell my beloved Hyundai Accent CRDI and the comfortable Mahindra Xylo E8. I ended up purchasing a pre-owned Celerio, which had already crossed the 1,05,000 km mark. At the time, I was dealing with a recurring slip disc, planning an AI start-up, and living 40 km away from Bangalore’s IT hub. I needed a small, automatic car that wouldn’t aggravate my back issues and fit within my budget. The Celerio AMT checked all the boxes.

For the first few months, the car saw little to no use as I transitioned from working on an AI-based start-up to reviving my father’s small business, which had been limping along since 2006 after his passing. Somehow, there was this gut feeling that by incorporating new technology, we could help the Indian manufacturing sector. My partner and I took the plunge, building a Mech-Tech startup focused on developing high-precision probes (sensors) for computer-controlled machines.

Both of us were IT professionals and had no background in the manufacturing sector—no experience, no connections, no clue how it even worked. But in January 2020, we jumped in full-time, following the typical IT playbook: digital marketing strategies, emails, a website, and presentation decks. We started cold-calling customers, trying to get them on video calls to explain our product offerings—zero success.

We thought maybe participating in a trade show in Ludhiana, Punjab would work, expecting to sell 100 units in two days by offering deep discounts (like OLA’s strategy). We sold two—again, no success.

Then came the series of Covid lockdowns:
• Covid Phase 1: No business—no success.
• Covid Phase 2: We were burning through our savings. Our sales and R&D hires started taking advantage of us, exploiting our trust. For example, we'd send someone to the Pune-Bhosari area, but they’d visit only two companies a day, blaming long travel times between them. Naively, we believed them because we weren’t visiting customers ourselves, too tied up in virtual meetings. By this time, company visits were restricted due to Covid fears. We ramped the team to six, but in the end, only retained one—no success.
• Covid Phase 3: As Phase 2 opened up, we finally connected with good industry people through LinkedIn and other references. They gave us valuable insights on sales, marketing, and networking. Our fear of Covid had lessened, but now the fear of economic survival loomed larger. So, we started traveling to manufacturing hubs like Pune, Mumbai, Rajkot, and Kolhapur for face-to-face meetings. We relied on public transport—buses, flights—and gained some perspective on how the B2B manufacturing world operates. Yet, still no profitable sales.
It became obvious: unless we physically met customers, no profitable business was coming. While Bangalore is an important market for our products, very few people gave us entry or showed interest. The business lesson: We needed to be where customers were willing to pay. By this time, it was just the two founders and one R&D engineer. Our travel and accommodation expenses were rising, so we cut costs by renting an RK in Pune. But the bigger question was, how to reduce travel costs?

Enter Celerio. Enter Success.

Maharashtra was an early adopter of CNG, and our broker advised that CNG was much cheaper than petrol bike. So, in November 2021, with the car at 1,18,000 km, I installed a Lovato CNG kit. With Pune as our base, we started visiting clients in Mumbai, Aurangabad, Nashik, Surat, Ahmedabad, Rajkot, and Jamnagar. The Celerio, my partner, and I took the front seats, with two large suitcases and products packed in the back. Now, with over 2,00,000 km on the odometer, this car has traveled across most of Maharashtra, Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh, Telangana, Kerala, and Madhya Pradesh. And this was the beginning of our success.


What Makes the Celerio Great:
1. Seats and Seating Position: I had back pain in the Accent after 200 km and stomach cramps in the Xylo after 500 km. With the Celerio, I once drove 32 hours non-stop from Bangalore to Gandhinagar, with just a 4-hour sleep break at a petrol bunk, covering 1600 km—and still felt fresh upon reaching the hotel! A 1000 km drive to Pune is common now. Even my employees find the seating comfortable, including the backseat. At first, the seats don’t feel cushioned, but they don't cave in after long distances like other cars, which makes them perfect for extended trips. No Rattles.

2. Maintenance: I used to spend 7-10k every 5k km on services for my older cars. With the Celerio (thanks to a great ex-Maruti mechanic), I haven’t spent more than 1 lakh so far, including half-engine work at 188k km, clutch and driveshaft changes, 8 Yokohama Earth 1 tires, routine oil changes at 10k intervals, and air/cabin filter changes every 5k km.

3. Mileage: On petrol—14 KMPL in the city, 20 KMPL on highways. On CNG—18 KMPL in the city, 28 KMPL on highways, and a best of 35 KMPL without AC.

4. Handling: With Yokohama tires, the Celerio glides silently. I’ve taken it through ghats, gracefully cornering while cars behind either understeered or oversteered.

5. AMT: In over 2 lakh km, only two clutch changes. The current clutch has another 20-30k km of life, according to my mechanic. I often use manual mode when driving aggressively, and I suspect the AMT might even be better than I am at manual shifting. I find other transmissions like CVT or even DCT which now a days tuned for reliability dont give the initial boost, making them less exciting compared to my AMT.

6. Service Center: No matter where I go, the nearest service center is just a town away, with easily available spares.

7. Parking: Its dimensions and drivability are perfect for city traffic and tight parking spaces.

________________________________________

Areas That Could Be Improved:
1. Airbags, Safety: My Celerio doesn’t have airbags. We once had an accident on a three-lane road when a truck suddenly swerved and hit us. We were pulled over a guardrail and back onto the road. Thankfully, we weren’t hurt, but the repair bill almost totaled the car. After negotiating with the Maruti service center, the final bill was around 2 lakhs, and I had to pay 70k out of pocket due to depreciation.


2. Boot Space: The 65L CNG tank takes up most of the boot space. Even fitting a cabin suitcase requires putting it in through the backseat.

3. Engine Power: The engine feels underpowered. The Hyundai Santro feels peppier. An extra 10 HP or the Swift’s 1.2 engine would’ve been perfect.

4. Seatbelt: The seatbelt’s fixed position is uncomfortable for shorter people (below 5’3”), as it rubs against their neck.

5. Storage: The car could definitely use more storage space.

6. Steering Centering: Even after multiple visits to service centers and experts, the steering refuses to self-center.

7. Clutch Warning: The clutch warning buzzer is the bane of slow traffic. It’s more effective than water torture for extracting confessions!

________________________________________

What’s Horrible:
1. Wiper Blades: They barely last three months before making annoying noises.

2. Cabin Noise: While the engine purrs beautifully, the cabin does a terrible job at blocking out tire and road noise, making it hard to take calls on speaker.

________________________________________

So what is Celerio’s Contribution to the Indian Automotive Industry

As I mentioned earlier, my company manufactures high-precision probes for computer-controlled machines, extensively used in die molds for injection molding, press components, PDC, and machining centers for steel and aluminum casting. My customers are tier 1, 2, and 3 suppliers to most Indian automotive, agriculture, commercial OEMs, with some even exporting globally. Over the last three years, my customers have significantly benefited from our products producing high precision jobs.
Today, my company is 21 people strong, growing in double digits year-on-year, and none of this would’ve been possible without my humble reliable, cost effective, super comfortable Celerio which pushed us to go far places, do more client visits and meet amazing people and also view some scenic beautiful spots in remote spots in India.

[PrideRed]

Originally Posted by abhiijithbhatn

________________________________________

So what is Celerio’s Contribution to the Indian Automotive Industry

As I mentioned earlier, my company manufactures high-precision probes for computer-controlled machines, extensively used in die molds for injection molding, press components, PDC, and machining centers for steel and aluminum casting. My customers are tier 1, 2, and 3 suppliers to most Indian automotive, agriculture, commercial OEMs, with some even exporting globally. Over the last three years, my customers have significantly benefited from our products producing high precision jobs.
Today, my company is 21 people strong, growing in double digits year-on-year, and none of this would’ve been possible without my humble reliable, cost effective, super comfortable Celerio which pushed us to go far places, do more client visits and meet amazing people and also view some scenic beautiful spots in remote spots in India.

Attachment 2652106

That's quite an inspiring story and good read. Always good to read stories of these lesser privileged humble cars. The AMT is not fun but then once you get used to its not that bad either. Suzuki's safety ratings are a big concern but then after sales is probably among the best out there.

[turbowhistle]

Wow, I have nothing else to say than how inspiring it is. This is how you maintain the passion with balancing the real world responsibilities. Kudos to you on reviving your father's business and making great strides in it as well, not many can do that!

This is a proper workhorse car though, it's serving you great and will keep on doing as long as you maintain it properly. Congrats and all the best to you!

[autobahnjpr]

Amazing story. MSIL vehicles are great partners for many small scale business people and entrepreneurs who want frugality and reliability. I know someone who uses his Maruti van as a great business partner taking material & man across states. Your tenacity is praiseworthy and I hope and wish many people follow the road to self business than running after jobs.

Originally Posted by abhiijithbhatn

This post is going to be a bit lengthy, mixing my journey with Celerio, personal milestones, and its impact.

[happymover]

Originally Posted by abhiijithbhatn

Enter Celerio. Enter Success.

Kudos to the Man and his Machine. Its so nice of you to credit part of your success to the humble car. The life stories like yours are the ones which make us to sit back and relish the journeys with our automobiles.

Originally Posted by abhiijithbhatn

Areas That Could Be Improved:
1. Airbags, Safety: My Celerio doesn’t have airbags.

In 2017, When buying Celerio for my Father, I consciously made effort/decision to book "O" variants which had ABS and twin airbags. Most of the dealers were not ready to accept bookings. Finally with lot of persistence, was able to buy ZXI(O).

[nikvint]

Wow, what a story. Happy to hear that your persistence and confidence in yourself is paying you now. It is really commendable that you include car in your life story and give her a due respect. Highly appreciate. All the best.

[logicalguy]

I have been driving a Maruti Celerio petrol AMT since 2019 and clocked 35k kms recently (15k kms in last 1 year). I am sharing my experience with the car below.

• Decision to buy: I was looking for a small car back then within 6 lac. Automatic (obviously in this budget AMT was the only availability) was a preference as I would mostly drive in city traffic of Bhubaneswar and Cuttack.
• Narrowing down: We visited 3 showrooms, Maruti, Tata and Hyundai to have a look at Celerio, WagonR, Tiago and Santro.
  Rejected WagonR because of its looks, Tiago because of the behaviour of the sales person, Santro because of the fuel efficiency.
• Experience of AMT: AMT cost me around 50k more than the manual, but it is worth, considering the city drive i have been through these 5 years. I think I got every penny back for the extra cost paid over the manual.
• Maintenance: Parts changed/repaired so far:
  Front and rear bumper - i was a new driver, so they got damaged within 1 year. They got replaced under warranty.
  Battery - It was replaced after 2 years.
  Antenna base - Water leakage issue
  Good experience with service center with all of these cases
  Maruti stood on its reputation of low maintenance cost.
• Drive experience: Good for city driving, easy to maneuver. Not so good on highways ( Did not expect much at this budget). There is noticeable lag in the AMT gearbox, but I am used to that now. You can feel the lag while pressing the padle hard during overtaking. Otherwise the AMT does its job quite well. I have taken it till 120 kmph on highway, but I did not feel confident as it was not stable at this speed. 80-90 kmph is ideal on a highway for this car. Suspension is ok-ok, you can feel the small potholes in the city and the uneasiness while going over speed breaker.
• Best part: I think the best part of celerio is its fuel efficiency. For a light foot driver which I am, I easily extract 22 kmpl on highways and 18 kmpl in city.
  Note: my daily driving has 30% highway and 70% city and city traffic is a mix of bumper to bumper and free flowing traffic and i extract 19-20 kmpl every time.

Conclusion: Till now it is a nice experience with this car. People who want a budget car with highest fuel efficiency and comfort of AMT can consider this. If you are not worried about the boot space, go for the CNG and enjoy savings every drive.

[abhiijithbhatn]

Originally Posted by logicalguy

Otherwise the AMT does its job quite well. I have taken it till 120 kmph on highway, but I did not feel confident as it was not stable at this speed.

I have taken my Celerio to high speeds and taken aggressive corners; its confidence is rock solid. Tire compound matters a lot. I use soft compound tires (I have Yokohama Earth1). With proper wheel balancing, high-speed stability becomes more enjoyable.

P.S.: Soft compound tires may reduce your mileage by 1-2 km/l but significantly increase safety.

[visionrider]

Just simply wow. Hats-off to your persistence and dedication of continuing your father's business. It really takes guts to give up a comfortable life and take up the challenges head on.

[Ad_J]

Wow! Such an inspiring story.

My acquaintance has a Celerio which has over 73,000 KM on the odo. He started to drive a little late in his life and I kid you not when I say this if it had been any other car, it would've had a plethora of problems by now. He is a bit of what we can call 'a heavy driver'.

He doesn't slow down for potholes, bad roads, and speed bumps no matter how unsettling the cabin gets for the passengers, excessively revvs the engine on pick-up, doesn't downshift unless the car shudders and doesn't upshifts unless the car screamingly begs for it. Apart from regular maintenance at a FNG his car hasn't suffered any major problems regarding engine, GB or transmission. Maybe 2 or 3 cutch-plate replacements.

I am surprised in spite of this much abuse how well this car has been putting up with him. Never ever it has left him stranded anywhere.

Although I have never been a fan of Maruti Suzuki but Celerio is such an underrated reliable workhorse.

[Oxy]

I am wondering what advantages does Celerio offer over an Alto K10. The 2022 version of the K10 is even a bit taller and roomier! You get AMT/CNG in the K10 as well.

I am finding it tough to choose between Celerio, Alto K10 and the S-Presso. I can understand the WagonR is a segment above even though it's available with the same engine option.

BTW congratulations @abhiijithbhatn on what you have achieved and thanks for sharing such an inspiring story!