Maruti Suzuki A-Star Auto - Road Test

prafulasher · 11th September 2015, 10:27

BHPians,

I am happy to report that I have picked up an A-star VXi AT (Aug 2013) model for close to 3.6L OTR. The price seems a little steep but the car has hardly run 5700 odd kms and has a complete service history. Minus a few light scratches on the front bumper, which proves that the car has spent its time in Pune, there are no dents and the car runs beautifully.

This takes me away from my original plan of trading in my 3rd gen manual Honda City (Dec 2011) for a new Polo TSi. I am in love with the iVTEC engine and there was a constant voice inside my head asking me to hold on to the car. I am really happy as I get to keep my City for long highway runs and use this tiny little bug to putter around in the crazy Pune city traffic. The car hasn't had much running and went for its last service on 27th June 2015. The insurance had expired and the asking price was 390000. the car was "CarTrade certified". I have been using it since the last 3 days and there are 0 rattles and the gearbox is decent enough for my needs.

outdoorlover · 12th September 2015, 20:04

@prafulasher, congrats and happy "A- staring"!!

prafulasher · 13th September 2015, 20:06

Quote:

Originally Posted by outdoorlover

@prafulasher, congrats and happy "A- staring"!!

Thanks @outdoorlover. Am loving every moment I get to spend with the car. It has already travelled close to 200 kms in the past 3-4 days!

vsathyap · 20th September 2015, 16:19

Hi All,

I'm on the lookout for an automatic vehicle for my sister-in-law and have zeroed in on a used AStar Automatic from Maruti TrueValue. The engine of this car seems to be fine without any issues and the suspension feels hard- could be over inflated tires as the vehicle was sitting in a showroom for a long time.

However, the one thing that put me off during the TD was that the acc pedal vibrated quite a lot (almost like putting my foot on a vibrating mobile phone) when the car revved in the D Gear. This happened only until it picked up the revs and faded away after some time. Again, when the transmission upshifted, the vibration came back until the revs picked up and then the vibrations diluted... and finally smooth-ed out once the car was gliding. I observed this happen on all gear changes, and was specially felt a lot when the car was probably in the 2nd-3rd gears.

It almost felt like this, if I could put it into words:

GGGGGGRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRr rr rr ...rr......rr......................r.............. ................r.....................r..... Smoooth drive .... <SHIFT UP>
GGGGGGRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRr rr rr ...rr......rr......................r.............. ................r.....................r
<REPEAT>

Maruti is offering a 1year warranty on the used car (TrueValue) and also provides 3 free services. However, I am still a little uncomfortable on the vibrating pedal. Can anyone clarify what the issue could be and if I should:

Walk away and look for a different vehicle
Commit to buying the vehicle only if Maruti can fix the problem (unlikely that they will agree to this proposal)
Commit to buy the car and have Maruti Fix the problem before I get the delivery

Advice

Ravindra M · 20th September 2015, 16:29

Vibrations in accelerator pedal is a symptom. The issue may be somewhere else.

It may be as simple as a bolt in the pedal assembly is loose or it may be severe like busted engine mounts or gearbox mounts or something wrong with engine causing the vibrations being transmitted to the pedal.

I think used Auto A-stars are rare. If you liked the car, better to take a competent mechanic along with you and let him diagnose the issue. You must be aware of the root cause and also see how long the car has lived with it.

Jeroen · 20th September 2015, 16:55

Most likely the pedal picks up and or resonates along with some other part. Because it isn't really hooked up to anything in any fixed way. Its no indication of what happens in the engine/transmission or anything like that.

In fact, if its only the pedal that vibrates its probably something minor. A bushing worn in the linkage worn down. Maybe something is touching it. etc.

As it only happens when driving at speed it might be a bit difficult to diagnose. I would just take a very close look at the pedal, its pivot points, hinges, cables, brackets under the dashboard and inside the engine bay. Make sure the engine is switched of, remove the key to be on the safe side and step on the pedal and push it back and forth and force it both ways sideway all along its travel. See if you hear anything or feel any play and take it from there.

Good luck

Jeroen

VeeTee · 21st September 2015, 14:29

This good be something to do with the torque converter until it comes up to speed. This would reflect during every gear shift and initial acceleration until torque converter is completely in-sync.

Satish

vsathyap · 22nd September 2015, 16:46

Thanks all for your replies but I decided to walk away from the AStar. I had a look at the service history and the vehicle was in for "BODY WORK" at least 6 times in 2 years and all these individual "body works" had costed over 50000 Rs. in total.

Plus, I also verified that the NCB stands at 20% which is way too less for a 4 y/o vehicle (it should be somewhere around the 40% mark if insurance was never claimed by the prev owner). This clearly indicated that the car was in for some major body work 2 years back. All this made me a little more "observant" and I started looking at the car in great detail and found that the left front door has been replaced/repainted. The rear and front bumpers have been replaced/repainted. The floor running-line on the left side has been tinkered and repainted and one of the headlights was sparkly new while the other looked aged, again, which points to a replaced headlamp unit.

After looking at all this, and with the issue of the vibrating acc pedal, I did not want to pursue further with this car. Hence dropped it.

Thanks all for your valuable inputs.

condor · 22nd September 2015, 19:12

@Sathya, fair call. Look around - there will be other cars. 6 times for body work & 20% NCB is quite low.

Look around- this is a nice car for the city. I sometimes get tempted to take the A-star instead of the Safari that I have

condor · 26th September 2015, 08:25

Moved from the stock JK Vectra 155/80 r13 to Y.oko Ea.rth -1 175/65 r14. Makes a big difference in ride. Guys - in case anyone is changing tyres, pls change to this size.

deetjohn · 26th September 2015, 08:32

Quote:

Originally Posted by condor

Moved from the stock JK Vectra 155/80 r13 to Y.oko Ea.rth -1 175/65 r14. Makes a big difference in ride. Guys - in case anyone is changing tyres, pls change to this size.

Nice one condor! That means you got 14" alloys too.

Please share some pictures.

We swapped the stock JK Vectra with Acelere on our ZXi and it made a big difference to the car. Ride, handling, noise, grip. Just about everything related to tyres went up by a notch or two. But 155/80 R13 is a bit puny for the A-star. The chassis begs for wider tyres. Good choice!

condor · 26th September 2015, 09:06

Quote:

Originally Posted by deetjohn

Nice one condor! That means you got 14" alloys too.

Please share some pictures.

But 155/80 R13 is a bit puny for the A-star. The chassis begs for wider tyres. Good choice!

No alloys, Deepak. Just a set of 14" rims from a Celerio.

I was a bit apprehensive that the 175's will be a little wide - till I got them on. But no, they are just right ! Maruti should have done at lesat 165's as stock for this one.

outdoorlover · 28th September 2015, 00:41

Quote:

Originally Posted by condor

No alloys, Deepak. Just a set of 14" rims from a Celerio.

I was a bit apprehensive that the 175's will be a little wide - till I got them on. But no, they are just right ! Maruti should have done at lesat 165's as stock for this one.

Condor, how much did the 14in Celerio rims cost you?

condor · 29th September 2015, 20:51

Quote:

Originally Posted by outdoorlover

Condor, how much did the 14in Celerio rims cost you?

I purchased the set (with wheel caps). The set (5 rims, 4 caps) cost me 2.5k. The seller had posted on olx, and he had upgraded to alloys immed on delivery.

condor · 14th October 2015, 22:17

Was finally able to open the headlamp bulbs in my A-star. I had not been able to remove the rubber gasket like ring. WD-40 did the trick to get it un-stuck. The bulb on the left side says OSRAM, but made in PRC. I have replaced that one with a regular one. A small improvement, but not much. Need to do something about this.

11th September 2015, 10:27	#586
prafulasher BHPian Join Date: Apr 2008 Location: Pune Posts: 59 Thanked: 25 Times	Re: Maruti A-Star review + test Drive BHPians, I am happy to report that I have picked up an A-star VXi AT (Aug 2013) model for close to 3.6L OTR. The price seems a little steep but the car has hardly run 5700 odd kms and has a complete service history. Minus a few light scratches on the front bumper, which proves that the car has spent its time in Pune, there are no dents and the car runs beautifully. This takes me away from my original plan of trading in my 3rd gen manual Honda City (Dec 2011) for a new Polo TSi. I am in love with the iVTEC engine and there was a constant voice inside my head asking me to hold on to the car. I am really happy as I get to keep my City for long highway runs and use this tiny little bug to putter around in the crazy Pune city traffic. The car hasn't had much running and went for its last service on 27th June 2015. The insurance had expired and the asking price was 390000. the car was "CarTrade certified". I have been using it since the last 3 days and there are 0 rattles and the gearbox is decent enough for my needs.
	(1) Thanks

12th September 2015, 20:04	#587
outdoorlover BHPian Join Date: Mar 2014 Location: Bangalore Posts: 411 Thanked: 410 Times	@prafulasher, congrats and happy "A- staring"!!
	() Thanks

20th September 2015, 16:19	#589
vsathyap BHPian Join Date: Aug 2011 Location: BengaLuru Posts: 422 Thanked: 1,647 Times	Vibrating Accelerator pedal? Hi All, I'm on the lookout for an automatic vehicle for my sister-in-law and have zeroed in on a used AStar Automatic from Maruti TrueValue. The engine of this car seems to be fine without any issues and the suspension feels hard- could be over inflated tires as the vehicle was sitting in a showroom for a long time. However, the one thing that put me off during the TD was that the acc pedal vibrated quite a lot (almost like putting my foot on a vibrating mobile phone) when the car revved in the D Gear. This happened only until it picked up the revs and faded away after some time. Again, when the transmission upshifted, the vibration came back until the revs picked up and then the vibrations diluted... and finally smooth-ed out once the car was gliding. I observed this happen on all gear changes, and was specially felt a lot when the car was probably in the 2nd-3rd gears. It almost felt like this, if I could put it into words: GGGGGGRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRr rr rr ...rr......rr......................r.............. ................r.....................r..... Smoooth drive .... <SHIFT UP> GGGGGGRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRr rr rr ...rr......rr......................r.............. ................r.....................r <REPEAT> Maruti is offering a 1year warranty on the used car (TrueValue) and also provides 3 free services. However, I am still a little uncomfortable on the vibrating pedal. Can anyone clarify what the issue could be and if I should: Walk away and look for a different vehicle Commit to buying the vehicle only if Maruti can fix the problem (unlikely that they will agree to this proposal) Commit to buy the car and have Maruti Fix the problem before I get the delivery Advice
	() Thanks

20th September 2015, 16:29	#590
Ravindra M BHPian Join Date: Mar 2009 Location: Bangalore Posts: 277 Thanked: 222 Times	Re: Vibrating Accelerator pedal? Vibrations in accelerator pedal is a symptom. The issue may be somewhere else. It may be as simple as a bolt in the pedal assembly is loose or it may be severe like busted engine mounts or gearbox mounts or something wrong with engine causing the vibrations being transmitted to the pedal. I think used Auto A-stars are rare. If you liked the car, better to take a competent mechanic along with you and let him diagnose the issue. You must be aware of the root cause and also see how long the car has lived with it.
	(1) Thanks

20th September 2015, 16:55	#591
Jeroen Distinguished - BHPian Join Date: Oct 2012 Location: Delhi Posts: 8,098 Thanked: 50,818 Times View My Garage	Re: Vibrating Accelerator pedal? Most likely the pedal picks up and or resonates along with some other part. Because it isn't really hooked up to anything in any fixed way. Its no indication of what happens in the engine/transmission or anything like that. In fact, if its only the pedal that vibrates its probably something minor. A bushing worn in the linkage worn down. Maybe something is touching it. etc. As it only happens when driving at speed it might be a bit difficult to diagnose. I would just take a very close look at the pedal, its pivot points, hinges, cables, brackets under the dashboard and inside the engine bay. Make sure the engine is switched of, remove the key to be on the safe side and step on the pedal and push it back and forth and force it both ways sideway all along its travel. See if you hear anything or feel any play and take it from there. Good luck Jeroen
	() Thanks

21st September 2015, 14:29	#592
VeeTee BHPian Join Date: Jan 2009 Location: Chennai Posts: 44 Thanked: 17 Times	Re: Vibrating Accelerator pedal? This good be something to do with the torque converter until it comes up to speed. This would reflect during every gear shift and initial acceleration until torque converter is completely in-sync. Satish
	() Thanks

22nd September 2015, 16:46	#593
vsathyap BHPian Join Date: Aug 2011 Location: BengaLuru Posts: 422 Thanked: 1,647 Times	Re: Maruti Suzuki A-Star Auto - Road Test Thanks all for your replies but I decided to walk away from the AStar. I had a look at the service history and the vehicle was in for "BODY WORK" at least 6 times in 2 years and all these individual "body works" had costed over 50000 Rs. in total. Plus, I also verified that the NCB stands at 20% which is way too less for a 4 y/o vehicle (it should be somewhere around the 40% mark if insurance was never claimed by the prev owner). This clearly indicated that the car was in for some major body work 2 years back. All this made me a little more "observant" and I started looking at the car in great detail and found that the left front door has been replaced/repainted. The rear and front bumpers have been replaced/repainted. The floor running-line on the left side has been tinkered and repainted and one of the headlights was sparkly new while the other looked aged, again, which points to a replaced headlamp unit. After looking at all this, and with the issue of the vibrating acc pedal, I did not want to pursue further with this car. Hence dropped it. Thanks all for your valuable inputs.
	() Thanks

22nd September 2015, 19:12	#594
condor Distinguished - BHPian Join Date: Jun 2006 Location: Speed-brkr City Posts: 15,864 Thanked: 16,014 Times View My Garage	Re: Maruti Suzuki A-Star Auto - Road Test @Sathya, fair call. Look around - there will be other cars. 6 times for body work & 20% NCB is quite low. Look around- this is a nice car for the city. I sometimes get tempted to take the A-star instead of the Safari that I have
	() Thanks

26th September 2015, 08:25	#595
condor Distinguished - BHPian Join Date: Jun 2006 Location: Speed-brkr City Posts: 15,864 Thanked: 16,014 Times View My Garage	Re: Maruti Suzuki A-Star Auto - Road Test Moved from the stock JK Vectra 155/80 r13 to Y.oko Ea.rth -1 175/65 r14. Makes a big difference in ride. Guys - in case anyone is changing tyres, pls change to this size.
	(1) Thanks

14th October 2015, 22:17	#600
condor Distinguished - BHPian Join Date: Jun 2006 Location: Speed-brkr City Posts: 15,864 Thanked: 16,014 Times View My Garage	Re: Maruti Suzuki A-Star Auto - Road Test Was finally able to open the headlamp bulbs in my A-star. I had not been able to remove the rubber gasket like ring. WD-40 did the trick to get it un-stuck. The bulb on the left side says OSRAM, but made in PRC. I have replaced that one with a regular one. A small improvement, but not much. Need to do something about this.
	() Thanks