[sbm]

Originally Posted by balenoed

Hi,

Thanks for the helpful post. Even I got my 2018 Baleno's steering column replaced under warranty and I have the same observation, that the hardness remains.

How many kms have you clocked in your Baleno? And is there any noticeable change in ride quality other than improved steering behaviour after bush replacement?

I have done around 40k kms.The thud sound that comes from front suspension when going over potholes (it was rectified 2018 afterwards) has reduced a little bit.

Has self centering improved in your car's steering after the steering column change? Self centering mainly occurs due to positive castor angle, and if castor angle is reduced due to some other factors, the steering power assist is tuned in such a way that it turns back the steering when coming out of the corner, like in i20.
But when Baleno was first launched, I wonder what got into the minds of Maruti engineers or they might have just forgot to drive the car they built or just didn't bother to work on the steering. But, they did rectify the problem in the facelift. I think replacing the steering column with
same column will not solve these issue. They should have replaced it with a new gen steering column.

[balenoed]

Originally Posted by sbm

I have done around 40k kms.The thud sound that comes from front suspension when going over potholes (it was rectified 2018 afterwards) has reduced a little bit.

Has self centering improved in your car's steering after the steering column change? Self centering mainly occurs due to positive castor angle, and if castor angle is reduced due to some other factors, the steering power assist is tuned in such a way that it turns back the steering when coming out of the corner, like in i20.
But when Baleno was first launched, I wonder what got into the minds of Maruti engineers or they might have just forgot to drive the car they built or just didn't bother to work on the steering. But, they did rectify the problem in the facelift. I think replacing the steering column with
same column will not solve these issue. They should have replaced it with a new gen steering column.

Self centering has improved. But its still nowhere near to what is expected from a modern EPS.

Didn't test drive the facelift, so can't comment on the new improved setup.

The ride quality has stiffened a bit in my car and my guess is, it's due to the 3 year old hard compound MRF's on my Delta. Road noise has also increased.

[Abhi_abarth]

I see cracks developed on all 4 tyres of my Zeta. These cracks are on the side but the tread of the tyres is still good. I get the wheels rotated and balanced during every service but fail to understand the reason for this. I don't use the car much, have done 26 K till date (since May 2017).
But yes, the road noise has significantly increased over the last few months.

Attaching pics for reference with the cracks highlighted.

Requesting suggestions from members.

[Mountainman21]

Originally Posted by Abhi_abarth

I see cracks developed on all 4 tyres of my Zeta. These cracks are on the side but the tread of the tyres is still good. I get the wheels rotated and balanced during every service but fail to understand the reason for this. I don't use the car much, have done 26 K till date (since May 2017).
But yes, the road noise has significantly increased over the last few months.

Attaching pics for reference with the cracks highlighted. .

If car is parked outside (without shelter) and is not driven regularly (more than a month gap) then rubber becomes hard and develops cracks when driving later.

I had the same issue in our Indica Vista (now sold) as it used to be parked for 2-3 months outside and it developed cracks similar to yours (don't have pictures of cracks with me now.)

[SpaceJunk]

Hey, my zeta baleno 2016 has clocked 62k. Talking about my tyres,
-FL burst over a pot hole, a side wall crack & replaced.
-RL had an unever wear after the suspension was changed under warranty.
(both were replaced with Apollo 195/55r/16 87V in place of the 87H that came with the car)

-FR & RR are still running from the date I purchased the car. From the thread wear, I think it would run another 2-5k kms unless something unexpected happens.

[ChoosetoCruze]

Originally Posted by Abhi_abarth

Attaching pics for reference with the cracks highlighted.

That’s normal wear & tear for a 4yr old tyre in hot & humid Indian conditions. As long as the cracks are on the tread only (and not the sidewall), I wouldn’t worry about it. Continue driving normally.

[balenoed]

I got my Baleno's 4th service done today from MSSD Naraina, Delhi. Everything was done well until I got my eye on the bill after reaching home. The replaced the old oil filter with Oil Filter 16510M68K10. Previously the oil filter installed was 16520M68K00.

I've read on Facebook groups that the K10 filter comes with 6 holes while the K00 filter comes with 8 holes. And K10 filter is fitted in Swift. And also there's a trend in all MASS to change it to K10 in Baleno. Would this make any difference? Should I get it replaced with K00?

Thanks

[Horizon85]

One of the things that I have come to dislike about Baleno during 5 years of ownership is the road noise that creeps into the cabin, specially on the highway.

Was wondering if there is a possibility to add any further cladding on the wheel arches to reduce road noise. I know that changing tyres would fix it to some extent. But, I'm keen on exploring cladding because when softer tires alone, the noise would start again as tires get old.

Anyone explored wheel arch cladding, please share your experiences.

[nirmaljusdoit]

Originally Posted by Horizon85

Was wondering if there is a possibility to add any further cladding on the wheel arches to reduce road noise. I know that changing tyres would fix it to some extent. But, I'm keen on exploring cladding because when softer tires alone, the noise would start again as tires get old.
.

Underbody coating will wear off in due course of time, if youre planning to retain your car for longer, doing under floor damping with damping sheets will help to reduce road noise to a large extent.

[Dieselritzer]

Folks,
Has anyone upgraded the LED headlights? I have the Glanza and the throw of LEDs is horrible for highway usage. High beam is decent but low beam is just horrible. Any solutions? Thanks in advance.

[donjacob]

Four years with My Baleno Alpha 1.2 Granite Gray.

Disclaimer: This is the first time I am writing on any public platform. Kindly forgive my mistakes.

I am typing this ownership experience on the fourth birthday of my car. It came home on 25th Jan 2021.And the experience so far has been fairly good.

We had a 2007 Santro Xing XO before this guy came home. It was sold after nine years and 92000kms after we booked the Baleno. The initial plan was to upgrade to a Honda City by replacing the Santro. We were on the verge of booking a Golden Brown City SMT in Jan 2016 but Dad somehow wanted to push the purchase plan for a few months. Then we came across a preowned 2014 City VMT Diesel run 22k kms used by a Doctor through an acquaintance. We inspected the car in his Hospital's parking ground. The car was in an okay condition. The seats were soiled and had some scratches on the interior. He quoted 9 lakhs for the car as he was offered the same by a Mercedes dealer. We quoted 8.75 lakhs for it but he was not ready to sell it at that price. So we left to take our car which was parked at the other end of the parking ground and our acquaintance called back to say that he was willing to part with it for 8.90 lakhs. We agreed for the price took our car to the other end of the parking lot where the seller was waiting. Armed with advance amount , My Dad gets of the car while the seller walks upto us and says that his wife didn't approve of this price and this deal won't go through. All this happened under a timespan of 10 minutes. Disappointed, we came back home.

The car purchase plan was turned off for sometime as our family were dealing with Medical Issues. Until our Santro decided to how up with issues every now and then. We had to spend close to 40k as part of it's annual maintenance and that's when my dad decided that we were getting a new car. One fine day he comes up and says that he is seriously interested in considering Baleno as our next car. As it could offer much features and we had to cut short our initial budget due to some medical issues. All this while I was reading online reviews of City and dreaming of bringing it to our home. I get way too much excited when I hear about anyone purchasing a car in my family and usually gets heartbroken after they kill plans. Same was the case with the City. But hey this time we were atleast getting a car which was as good looking as the City and was almost as equipped as the City except for Cruise Control and Sunroof which anyways was not there in the variant we had planned i.e SMT.

So, the car purchase plan was back on. The nearest Nexa dealer we had at that time was 60 kms away from our home. We requested for a test drive and Dad was given an opinion of choosing as the variant as it's the VFM variant as per the SA. The price difference between Alpha and Zeta was around 80k and we were getting the petrol variant only as our monthly running was around 10000kms per year.

Now we had our test drive left with the time to choose for a variant and color. I somehow convinced Dad for Alpha making headlamps with DRL and projectors by saying that the Zeta with halogen headlamps looked like a Swift . The colors that made to the final round was Ray Blue and Granite Gray. I wanted to have a black car but this Granite Gray was the only option that was close to Black. And finally the car was booked as Maruti Baleno Alpha in Granite Gray color in sometime around early September after a test drive at our home.

The car was estimated to come by early December as per the SA. 3-4 months was the booking period for a Baleno then. The santro was sold in September itself for 1.70lakh to an individual buyer as we were no more interested in spending any money on that car. And we were without a car for the time till the Baleno gets delivered. But my Dad's brother kindly offered to use his Innova till the time our gets delivered as he knew that a car was necessary for us as we had the medical emergency still on in our family.

Months passed by with me reading every single page of Team BHP review and going through accessories and YouTube videos. The car was finally delivered on 25th Jan 2017 after 4 months of booking. We had gone to the showroom only on the delivery day. Loan was processed form SBI. Insurance was purchased outside the showroom through our known agent as we had a 50% NCB from the Santro. We saved almost 10k by doing this. Extended warranty was purachsed only after two years at the end of standard warranty. Accessories added were Rain Guards, Mud Flaps, Cushions, Steering Cover, TomTom fast charger and an air freshener which came as a combo for around 8k .

We were out of the dealership within two hours after stepping inside. Overall delivery experience was good by the Popular Nexa Palarivattom.

First sight at the dealership
Attachment 2113020



The car completed it's first thousand kms within two weeks. Car was taken for it's first service to Popular Maruti Muvattupuzha. The SA took us for a test drive and inquired for any complaints and tried to sell us a vinyl floor matting. But we said a No to both as we had a negative experience with Vinyl mats in our Innova. Seat covers were installed the same day from an aftermarket store in a color of our choice for 5k.
The car was registered at Thodupuzha RTO after our choice of number was available which took three weeks after the delivery.

I installed Garware suncontrol film in green color on the side windows with 70% transparency and in blue color with 50% on the hatch door glass. Even though the sunfilm on the side windows was of 70% VLT ,the UV Cut glasses gave a combined output of around 50% VLT
Second service at 5000kms was uneventful with replacing of a seat clip which was broken while installing the seat covers. The final bill came to around 36rs.

The same day I went ahead and installed Roots Vibrosonic horns on the car as I found the stock horns to be weak on sound.

10k kms came in 7 months and the service was carried out at AVG motors Pala which included oil and filter change. It was around the same time there was posts in Baleno Owners Club Facebook group about oil filters replaced with the ones that were used in Swift was replaced in Baleno when the part itself was different. The same was done to my car too and was replaced after a mail was sent to Nexa.

On 31st December 2017, while returning back to Thodupuzha after visiting the Idukki Dam, the car met with a small accident while I was driving . I crashed into a big rock that had fallen down to the side of road wile giving side to a lorry. All I heard was a loud sound. The car had it's first fender bender . The front left fender had a dent , alloy had a scratch , wheel alignment was off and the there was a brushing sound from the left front wheel. The alignment was corrected the next day at a competent shop in Thodupuzha. Fender was tinkered and painted for 2500rupees at an FNG. The brushing sound was analyzed to be a damaged bearing at the dealership after a lot of test drives and was replaced under warranty.

The second paid service was carried out at Indus Motors Thodupuzha in July 2018 and the bill came upto 4230 rupees. The first set of brake pads were replaced at 25000kms even though it had much life left as the SAs at the dealership insisted on replacing it .

The Third paid service was done at AVG Motors Pala at 30000kms in April 2019 and the bill came upto 3780 rupees. The USB port of the SLDA unit was replaced in April 2019 as it was not helping in connecting with Apple Carplay or Android Auto.

Tyres were replaced at 33700 kms with Michelin Energy XM2 from Pala Tyres for 32000 rupees.

Fourth paid service was done in Jan 2020 at Popular Maruti Thodupuzha. The bill came upto 6012 rupees. These guys had billed for 3.2 litres of engine oil for my car when the manual itself says 3.1 litres. I argued with the SA about this and he was clueless about how much oil was to filled into the car.

Was never expecting this from a major brands Service Advisor. A mail was shot to Nexa regarding this and was apologised by the manager.
Fifth paid serivce at 50000kms was done in july 2020 and this was the first time the car covered 10000kms in six months which was mainly contributed by a Bangalore trip and two Kannur trips. The car still running everyday even during lockdown as my dad works in the Health Department.

At 49000 kms, there was a sound coming from the front right suspension which was diagnosed as a faulty tie end rod and was replaced under warranty.

Steering column was replaced under warranty as the centering function was not working.

Sixth paid service was done on yesterday i.e 24th Jan at 60280 kms at AVG Pala and the bill came up to 5400 which included replacing of both front differential axle boots as they had some leakages. The steering is still not centering and there is a sound when turning the steering wheel. The person who inspects the steering was not there as it was a Sunday and they have promised to inspect it sometime this day.

After four years and 60000kms my observations about this car is, the car is very good to be driven in Kerala with two people onboard. I feel that the car is not enough to be driven on four lane highways at speed.

The headlights are of great visibility unless it's raining.

The head unit is good when used with Apple Carplay, Even though the sound clarity has went down with years.

The major grouse I have about this car is about it's metal strength. My car is has many dimples on both the sides. A friend did a finger test while talking about the car and the dimple is still there.

Attaching some pics I clicked over these years.


At Malankara Dam Muttom


At Kanjar Riverside.


At somewhere near Ammachi Kottaram, Kuttikanam.


Using the spare tyre for the first time. The funny thing is that we had noticed this puncture only after filling the boot full of coconuts. We had to take out every single one of them to get access to the spare tyre.


A picture I clicked while waiting at a shop. Edited by a friend.


Morning at Palakkad when I was heading to Bangalore last month.

[Dr.Naren]

Loving it: Flat Bottom Steering

[pgsagar]

Originally Posted by Dr.Naren

Loving it: Flat Bottom Steering

Attachment 2118338

This looks like a transplant job of steering wheel from Swift, right? I see cruise control button on right side. Can Baleno be altered to take a CC? Or, is it just dummy?

[Dr.Naren]

Originally Posted by pgsagar

This looks like a transplant job of steering wheel from Swift, right? I see cruise control button on right side. Can Baleno be altered to take a CC? Or, is it just dummy?

This is XL6 steering wheel. The one from Swift is the best for Baleno. Yes, the cruise control buttons are dummy.

More details here

https://www.team-bhp.com/forum/long-...-wolfd-20.html

[avi550m]

I was doing some preliminary research on Altroz vs Baleno vs Amaze as my cousin is looking to buy a car around Rs. 8 lakhs. When i went to Varun Nexa in Hebbal there was a component called 'Suzuki Connect' (picture attached) which cost 9,999 and was apparently compulsory to take. It is a vehicle tracking system. Also, Basic accessory kit costing 9,599 is apparently compulsory. Can someone shed some light on this. I dont need all the basic accessories just the mats and mudguards. I also do not really want the vehicle tracking system. Is this just a one off dealer or is Nexa Maruti making it compulsory (according to the sales executive).