[vinit.merchant]

Neat. Pretty Neat. Good Deal. Congratulations.

[sureshkishore]

Originally Posted by tarunmadhok

Nce Pics. The car looks clean from the pics. Looks like tyres needs to be changed?

Thanks! Tyres good enough for 15000kms. But insurance is due in December. Will cost 15k. Spent 3800 for periodic service at dealer workshop.
Thank you kailashnj,BlackPearl,kaushik_s!!

[srijit]

Kaushik, you are gonna be so mad Suresh, congrats!! Where do you live in Trivandrum?

Originally Posted by kaushik_s

Congrats man, welcome to the Baleno Club. How come others always find a black baleno whereas I couldn't ;-)

I just bought a second hand Black Baleno LXi. The car is a May 2006 one and has run only about 15.5K Kms. Took delivery on November 14th.
This is my first sedan car. My previous car experience is about 30K kms on a Maruti 800 and about 20K kms on an Alto LXi. Needless to say, I have never driven a sedan except for about 10 mins when I was test-driving this car outside the True Value showroom.

The True Value showroom, from where I picked up the car is in Alapuzha. About 150kms from Trivandrum, where I live. After the deal was finalized, I drove it along at a nice steady speed between 60 to 80 kmph. I didnt want to take any risks especially since I was extremely new to sedan type cars. However, I did not feel any discomfort or un-easiness in the size or handling of the car (it is completely stock right now).
Reached Trivandrum without any fuss, went to the temples, did the pujas. By that time it was getting dark, so I switched on the headlamps. To my surprise, no light!!!

Add to that, the area I was in, was having a powercut. Couldnt see anything. So I put on the emergency blinkers, and keeping the light lever in the position used to signal passing, I drove the last 10 kms home. Since this was pretty uncomfortable and also since the beam was in high mode, I let go of the lever a couple of times. Again to my surprise, about a couple of kms from my house the normal lights came on and stayed on. Took the car to the workshop, where they looked at the fuses and said that it was all in order. Also, I just want to mention that I was aided somewhat by the fact that I was able to crawl in the city in third gear. I think I only changed gear once from third. That too was a new experience from my Alto, where a lift of the accelerator meant downshifting.

The car is black in color and the earlier owner has put in a red/black combination seat cover. I have to admit that it doesnt look that good, but then I have no intention of ripping it out just yet. No ICE whatsoever, so I make do with my iPod and headphones.

Overall impressions:
I love it. It does everything I want at this point in time. It is quite nimble and easy to park, especially in my tight and narrow courtyard. I havent felt that this is a big car in the sense that it is difficult to maneuver. It is quite addictive feeling the power come up in the higher rev regions, though I try to keep that to a minimum. It is stupid to do that on the stock tyres and in city limits. Found that the car responds well to feathering the accelerator. So fine that I actually stalled the car a couple of times in third gear
Also found out that burying the accelerator is highly satisfying, but risky on stock tyres.

Minor changes planned:

• Headlamps to brigher ones with relay kit and wiring harness, to be done soon
• Gear lock
• Better Horns
• Alloys and better wheels only after 10K more kms
• City lights, budget permitting
• Automatic Climate control from VXi, if I feel like it and if budget permits

Many thanks to ram_hyundai for helping me the entire time and also for getting me a great deal

Many thanks also to the TBHPians whose brains I have picked to help me finalize on the Baleno.

[prasanth]

How much did you pay for it?

[srijit]

@prasanth, have contacted you via PM

[me_sid]

Hey guys great to have two additional joinees in the Baleno Club
@Suresh> Car looks good and interiors are pretty good. Enjoy the long drives my friend she wont turn you down.

@Srijit> Options are endless, as gurus would say Baleno is one of the most mod friendly cars. But for startup go for the Phillips Rally's, Hella Red Grills ( If you want traffic in front of you to drop their pants ).