[Durango Dude]

Took a test drive of the Ciaz manual petrol, yesterday, must say it's gearing & kerb weight masks its underpowered engine, at least in urban conditions. The exterior & interiors are well made. It doesn't rattle, has spacious & well appointed interiors. Seats are comfy and rear are a little low set. Ground clearance is adequate. It's a good car with adequate performance, sensibly priced from Maruti: this may the recipe for its success.

[jetsetgo08]

I might be going against the tide, but I never felt Ciaz was the game changer. The game changed because of the incompetence of the prime competitors(read Honda, Hyundai & others) to up their game & capitalize on the sales of their existing products.

Honda became complacent, always late to respond to the market. And off-lately a little greedy.
Hyundai concentrated on the i20's & creta's.
VW/Skoda got trapped themselves under dieselgate.

Although the Ciaz could be a no-nonsense car, there is nothing in it that would tug heart strings.

IMHO, the Ciaz would get trumped by all the other sedans in almost all the aspects but FE & after sales service, which apparently are the only driving parameters for its high sales.

[mxx]

Ciaz is popular, no doubt. you can see it everywhere on the streets. In my family and relatives circle alone there were atleast 3 new ciaz which were purchased last year.
However, at the end of the day, it is NOT a great car in my opinion. It is a typical maruti, an average car with good pricing. The good pricing is what makes it popular more than anything else. But there are other cars too which have good sales. does not make them great cars or game changers. Does this discussion even need a separate thread?
BTW, SVHS is not a "hybrid" in true sense, it is just a brake energy regeneration system. It will only add a slight improvement in fuel efficiency. I think mahindra and maruti is using systems like brake energy regeneration systems marketed as hybrids only to make use of tax exemptions on hybrid vehicles.

[Silverfire]

We have a Ciaz in the family & I disagree it's not a good car. Points on which Ciaz is way better than the competition:
1. Pricing: cheapest full size sedan especially in NCR thanks to subsidy on SHVS
2. Fuel Efficiency: my father's petrol Ciaz regularly gives him 20+ Kmpl in pune city
3. Interiors: the Ciaz is half a size larger than its segment rivals the city &a the Verna. This translates into massive space in both rows & a huge boot. Also the interiors are well designed in a pleasing shade of beige that is popular in our market with good quality leather seats.
4. Features: the Ciaz come fully loaded with touchscreen AVN , keyless entry , projector lamps etc.
5. Maruti' service network : peace of mind & lowest cost of spares. Will also translate into good resale value down the road compared to a vento/rapid
6. Sorted road manners: the suspension is comfy yet the car is stable at high speeds. Compare this with the city's bouncy suspension or the Verna's wallowy boat ride.

[DCEite]

I would wait for the Petrol Ciaz with a larger and more potent engine. Till that time i reserve my judgement on the topic if its a game changer or not.

[Karthik Chandra]

Ciaz has changed the fact that MSIL can't build and sell bigger cars (read a million rupee car). Ciaz is a superb VFM family sedan that does everything right. Its a game changer for Maruti Suzuki as a company for sure.

But if it has to be a game changer, from the industry perspective, IMO it has to be equipped with the K14C - 140PS turbo charged petrol engine and the DDiS 320 which can be a true RS variant along with the K14B and DDiS 200 engines

[Durango Dude]

I did a TD of the Ciaz ZXI AT this afternoon and was impressed by the ease of the drive. I have been offered a ZXI+AT for ₹12.5L on road, Chennai, incl discounts for a 2016 model. I'm yet to get the VIN Number. I want your thoughts on this deal, dear friends. Ex-S: ₹1101975, Insurance ₹30252, Registration ₹186435, TCS Tax ₹11019, OTR ₹1329682. The sales person gave me a quote of ₹ 1249682 OTR. The discounts with exchange bonus etc, works out to ₹80,000. Is this okay for this car do I smell something fishy?!

I was sold on the car once I took the TD, the auto box is perfectly tuned. There was hardly any hesitation while downshifting and there were 4 of us on board with the A/C on: that said the A/C was adequate. Brakes were perfect and progressive. I didn't feel it being under-powered and the auto box completely masked the feel I was driving a big car: that said it's almost as big as my old gen '05 Elantra GLS.

[Passiondrive]

Originally Posted by Visaster

I give up. Not able to solve the steering noise problem in my SHVS VDI since the past 4 months, car been to the service centre 4 times for it. The best reply the company could give is that the noise is there in all cars, why am I worried. Its one thing to try to resolve it, passing it on as it is a common problem (feature), Maruti is terrible at it.
2 other issues in the car are the glove box vibration and the front disc brake cover plate, awareness of that problem and solution has still not been spread to everyone in charge of service.
My audio system all of a sudden stopped to tune Radio station, the clarity is poor as though the antenna is not connected.

How many have this noisy steering heard while taking a turn at stop or slow speed, very irritating it is, if anyone has found a solution, please share it. Thanks.

Visaster, if you look under the glove compartment you can find a perforated black plastic panel screwed on to the dashboard underneath. Unscrew that panel, take a sheet of thermocol( the flexible type) , pack it between the black panel and dash board and screw it back. Viola..you will enjoy the silence . I did this to my Ciaz 2 years back, identified the problem myself and rectified it. such irritating sounds can drive me mad. I did that in search of sanity and here I'am... still sane after 2 years... that noise gone forever.

You can do one more thing. Remove the glove lid, pack 2 layers of plastic sheets with one layer of double sticker tape sandwiched in between. cut it into a size appropriate to fit into the hinge space and fix the glove lid back. Now you can sleep in peace.
We dentists always strive for perfection you know...I can understand your plight.

[supremeBaleno]

Originally Posted by Karthik Chandra

But if it has to be a game changer, from the industry perspective, IMO it has to be equipped with the K14C - 140PS turbo charged petrol engine and the DDiS 320 which can be a true RS variant along with the K14B and DDiS 200 engines

Guess you meant "from the enthusiast prespective". Who else would be charged about a 140PS TC petrol engine ?

But what sells is not what the enthusiast desires. It's what the normal customer desires & the Ciaz seemingly ticks the right boxes for that group. My sister has a Ciaz which I drove for 80kms odd & guess what ? It does the job.

Does it excite me ? No. But they think it is great. And in the end for MSIL that is what matters. Not what I (someone who would not buy a Ciaz) think.

BTW, it indeed is a game-changer. Look at the Jan-2017 car sales figures and you have Ciaz at 6500 odd cars with the Honda City trailing by 200 odd cars. The City has been the leader in that segment for years. Its not a mean feat to dislodge it. And the Ciaz has done it. Whether you like it or not.

[shankar.balan]

The rear seat in the Ciaz is poor for a tall person.
I always end up banging my head on the roof when the car goes over a speed bump or indeed any kind of bump.
It is not "tall-person-friendly" in the rear seat.
For that reason alone I don't like that car.
So I ask, how can it be a "game changer"?

[The Brutailer]

Not a game changer. In fact it's very similar to City with a considerable power shortage. Ciaz was made to compete with City when SX4 failed and they've done just that though giving mileage a priority over power.
Game changer is a car which offers something unique and shakes up the competition. Like maybe Duster or Ecosport.

Ciaz is just another sedan. Not a gamechanger.

[Mr.Boss]

What contributes for the Ciaz sales figure?

Maruti Suzuki badge
Imagine the same vehicle is launched by Hyundai, people must have complained about the handling performance. People are ready to compromise on this part due to MS wide spread service network.

Space
Others cars in this segment to offer similar space is Nissan Sunny & Honda City. Nissan is (in)famous for the A.S.S and Honda for the price point of view.

Fuel Economy
It almost left the smaller hatchbacks in shame. We have a Ciaz within family and it delivers nothing less than 23 kmpl on hoghways.

Ride Comfort
Soft tune suspension for the light weight construction added advantage for the ride comfort. I must admit the ride comfort is better than Sunny any day.

Like jetsetgo08 said, the game changed because of the lack of 'performance' from the competitors rather than Ciaz itself

For people who are familiar with non-japanese car's driving dynamics, Ciaz will never be an inspiring car on highways. After driving Linea and Sunny extensively I feel Ciaz is very much unsettled on highways and corners (thanks to the waffer thin, light weight construction and soft suspension)

Saying this I still love Ciaz for the features, FE, ride comfort at broken patches.

[DieselAddikt]

What's so special about the car ? It is another decent sedan with barely enough power for highway runs. I don't understand how it is a game changer and why it warrants a new thread ? What does it offer that the competition does not offer ?

[Mr.Boss]

Originally Posted by DieselAddikt

What does it offer that the competition does not offer ?

IMO nothing except the wide spread service network and "Low on maintenance" myth (of Maruti Suzuki)

[SmartCat]

What I understand is that Ciaz is priced roughly 15% lower than its well known competition but it also has 20% lower power output (BHP), acceleration and top speed. Both Ciaz and City appeal to different type of customers and this shows up in monthly sales figures - leaving Verna/Vento/Rapid far behind.

Also, Ciaz has one of the best interiors in a Maruti and the feature list in top variants are expansive. When comparing Ciaz's performance with that of SX4, remember that the latter did not have these significant advantages.