[Subbu]

Last weekI was inquiring with Chennai dealers about Baleno LXi.

Today I am informed that Maruti has stopped supplies of LXi and only VXi would be available henceforth. One of the dealer (Kapico) has put me on to (CARS India) since the other dealer has 1 LXi in stock.

I am also informed that phase out is being accelerated.

Is it still worth buying Baleno. I am still inclined since the new Baleno will continue to have the existing engine.

The on road price quoted to me is around 5.90 lakhs after discount. I think some more reduction is possible.

I am taking the test drive today and looking to finalize by next week.

All advice welcome. Thanks.

[santhoshx]

So that is clear indication on phasing out of current Baleno. You will get a very good car at a discounted price but resale value will be much less. If you plan to keep it for atleaset 3-4 years i think its a good buy

[balenopower]

Yes if u dont care much about the resale....u can buy it eyes closed...u'll get an ossome discount making teh car even more value for money

[sammyboy]

hmm phasing out the old baleno is ok but shouldnt they have done it along with the launch of the new one ? It would have given the buyers something to choose from .

[Subbu]

Took a test drive just now on a car with 10,000 kms on the Odo.

1. Engine felt a little rough and coarse.
2. From near stoppage, could'nt accelerate on 2nd gear. Had to shift to 1st.
3. Engine noise / road noise quite evident in cabin. Could'nt find any evidence of 13 noise reduction technologies.
4. Accelerator pedal seems slightly stuck initially. Once pushed beyond, it moved smoothly.

Is this because I was driving a test vehicle (which could have been abused). Any feedback from owners on this ?.

Lots of space in front and rear. Even with the front seat fully pushed back, there was enough leg room in the rear. Car took potholes quite comfortably at low speed. Could'nt try the same at reasonable speed.

Dealer is quoting additonal Rs.27,000 for changing from stock rims / tyres to 185/65/R14 Tubeless + Alloys.

I plan to use the vehicle for 5 - 6 years.

Will appreciate feedback on these points from owners. Thanks.

[esteem_lover]

Originally Posted by Subbu

Took a test drive just now on a car with 10,000 kms on the Odo.

1. Engine felt a little rough and coarse.
2. From near stoppage, could'nt accelerate on 2nd gear. Had to shift to 1st.
3. Engine noise / road noise quite evident in cabin. Could'nt find any evidence of 13 noise reduction technologies.
4. Accelerator pedal seems slightly stuck initially. Once pushed beyond, it moved smoothly.

Is this because I was driving a test vehicle (which could have been abused). Any feedback from owners on this ?.

Lots of space in front and rear. Even with the front seat fully pushed back, there was enough leg room in the rear. Car took potholes quite comfortably at low speed. Could'nt try the same at reasonable speed.

Dealer is quoting additonal Rs.27,000 for changing from stock rims / tyres to 185/65/R14 Tubeless + Alloys.

I plan to use the vehicle for 5 - 6 years.

Will appreciate feedback on these points from owners. Thanks.

First, please confirm the price quoted by the dealer. you said 5.90 & you say you test drove one with 10,000kms on the odo.

For point no.3....did you try lifting the door mats & looking underneath. Looks like they sealed all the 13 screw points in this car. lol. dont believe all the crap that comes in the form of Ads.

edit : my friend too is having difficulty laying his hands on a LXi in Bangalore. Looks like they have a lot of VXi in stock that they have to push before releasing the LXis.

[GTO]

1. Engine felt a little rough and coarse.
2. From near stoppage, could'nt accelerate on 2nd gear. Had to shift to 1st.
3. Engine noise / road noise quite evident in cabin. Could'nt find any evidence of 13 noise reduction technologies.
4. Accelerator pedal seems slightly stuck initially. Once pushed beyond, it moved smoothly.

1. The Baleno engine is a bit noisy on full revv.

2. Disadvantage of tall gearing. Why would you want to choose 2nd from a full stop anyways?

4. Could be an issue with the test-drive car.

[Pankaj401]

First, please confirm the price quoted by the dealer. you said 5.90 & you say you test drove one with 10,000kms on the odo.

He must be talking about the test-drive vehicle.

[supremeBaleno]

Originally Posted by GTO

2. Disadvantage of tall gearing. Why would you want to choose 2nd from a full stop anyways?

Exactly what I was thinking.

Originally Posted by Subbu

3. Engine noise / road noise quite evident in cabin. Could'nt find any evidence of 13 noise reduction technologies. Any feedback from owners on this ?.

No comments on the marketing line. But from my experience, the Baleno provides awesome shielding from the road noise, which is one of the main reasons (apart from a/c) why I prefer to always keep the windows up. I observed that while engine noise, other vehicle noise and similar stuff is kept out, certain human noises somehow penetrate in. Something to do with the frequency of the voice ?? Not sure.

[goldie_malhotra]

Originally Posted by Subbu

Took a test drive just now on a car with 10,000 kms on the Odo.

1. Engine felt a little rough and coarse.
2. From near stoppage, could'nt accelerate on 2nd gear. Had to shift to 1st.
3. Engine noise / road noise quite evident in cabin. Could'nt find any evidence of 13 noise reduction technologies.
4. Accelerator pedal seems slightly stuck initially. Once pushed beyond, it moved smoothly.

Is this because I was driving a test vehicle (which could have been abused). Any feedback from owners on this ?.

I found similar issues during my TD as well
1. Engine was coarse at anything higher than 2500-3000 rpm, and did not rev smoothly beyond that.
2. Not exactly - one can start from 2nd, but gets poor pickup due to tall gears.
3. There was a lot of noise/vibrations felt for a car of its class.
4. In my case it was the clutch, to which the salesman said was a routine issue with the baleno.

This formed a bad impression about the car in my mind.

In fact, I was so surprised after reading reviews on this site, that I asked one of my friends who had bought a new baleno, for the keys.

1. The engine revved freely and smoothly to 4000 rpm, after which I felt a bit of un-refinement, but it felt very eager to go on.
2. Could start from even the 3rd gear smoothly, though pickup is another issue.
3. NVH levels were definitely lots better than the TD car, but still I felt there was some scope for improvement.
4. There was absolutely no issue with the clutch or the gas pedal - both were quite smooth.

All in all, it told me how badly abused a car can be during TD - though I myself belong to the category whom salesmen fear to hand the keys over to

[hyper-VTEC]

My dreams of buying a Baleno would never be fulfilled :-(

[theMAG]

Originally Posted by Subbu

Last weekI was inquiring with Chennai dealers about Baleno LXi.

Today I am informed that Maruti has stopped supplies of LXi and only VXi would be available henceforth. One of the dealer (Kapico) has put me on to (CARS India) since the other dealer has 1 LXi in stock.

I am also informed that phase out is being accelerated.

Is it still worth buying Baleno. I am still inclined since the new Baleno will continue to have the existing engine.

The on road price quoted to me is around 5.90 lakhs after discount. I think some more reduction is possible.

I am taking the test drive today and looking to finalize by next week.

All advice welcome. Thanks.

If its not too late, I would recommend against going ahead with the Baleno. You can never say with clarity that the current engine will be around for the Baleno-successor.

[elf]

Originally Posted by Subbu

... Dealer is quoting additonal Rs.27,000 for changing from stock rims / tyres to 185/65/R14 Tubeless + Alloys. ...

Presumably, the alloys would be Aura or Neo, & I'm sure you can get a better deal outside from your local tyre/wheel shop in Chennai. You could also contact one of the T-BHP members for their advice.

For 27k, you should be able to get imported tyres & wheels if you prefer.

[esteem_lover]

Originally Posted by elf

Presumably, the alloys would be Aura or Neo, & I'm sure you can get a better deal outside from your local tyre/wheel shop in Chennai. You could also contact one of the T-BHP members for their advice.

For 27k, you should be able to get imported tyres & wheels if you prefer.

yeah, exactly. you could get new tyres & alloys for that price. In exchange for your brand new tyres & rims, the price should drop considerably. say 1500/- per tyre, comes to 6k less.

[Subbu]

Took Goldie Malhotra's advice and test drove a nearly new car this morning (2500 kms on the Odo).

1. Engine was smoother but still felt little rough.
2. Cabin noise was much less.
3. Acceleration from 2nd gear was much better but I expected little more.
4. Clutch and Accelerator were very light and smooth.

Got a much better feel of the car.

Sticker Price on Road is 6.43 lakhs and 50k discount seems to be on the cards straight away. Need to find out if more is feasible (seems so).

Also test drove a Fiesta 1.4. Engine felt much better. Ofcourse atleast 60k more in price. Interior definitely contemporary.

In a fix between Baleno and Fiesta.

Can Baleno owners advice me on the long term running cost. I did read many of the long term reports in this forum. Still some final advice will help. Thanks folks. Please keep this going.