[Maky]

I do miss my Maruti Esteem sometimes. It had the best rear visibility of any car I've driven... almost felt like one had no need for side mirrors.
As for the Pioneer speakers in your original post I remember those from back in the day too... were called 'helmet' speakers by the installers hehe.

Thanks for sharing!

[vigsom]

Originally Posted by Cessna182

We have a 2002 Esteem LXI which runs for about 300 km a month.

Everything works well. The service cost is minimal, and it still drives like new.

Thank You @Cessna182.

I assume your car has done only 75000km or so; would be as good as new.

Originally Posted by GTO

brought back memories of my '96 Esteem which we owned for ~2 lakh km & 10 years

Thank You @GTO.I went through the link you'd sent; absolutely stunning colour for an Esteem. Was that blue one of the reasons you bought a blue Sunny?

And 2L kms and 10 years was good usage then, I'd say.

Originally Posted by dr.aviansh

My dad bought a 97 Ionion Blue Esteem VX Power Steering a few months later.

We had those 1998 Brake Lights fitted but ours used to turn on with the Lights and Brightened on braking!

Doc,

I remember the Ionian blue - very rich looking colour.

Even my Esteem had the parking lights and brake lights wired to the rear lamp set on the boot.

I got the parking lights to the boot cancelled because 4 lights lighting up only on braking would look even better.

Originally Posted by rr_zen

my 17-year old Esteem(2003 VXi) even today drives like a dream; has close to 65K kms on the ODO

Thank You @rr_zen; the way she looks now, you can actually keep the car for ever.

Originally Posted by v12

After that there was a dark green Esteem LX and then a white Esteem LX.

8, 10 and 12 inch subwoofers were the trend those days. Will try and source some pics if possible.

Thank You @v12. Please do post pictures if you get them.

The green LX - was this a 1998-1999 model in dark green?

Those days, the trend was to use free air subs if I am right. Don't know how great they'd sound without boot damping, but I would see many Surti lalas running their set ups on high volume to impress girls on the road

Originally Posted by Thatautoguy46

Even now whenever I see one with some beautiful alloys I can't stop myself from admiring it. Esteem in Black or Golden shade looks so good!!!

Thank You @Thatautoguy46.

Post 1998 colours were quite good - The Maharaja Gold and Golden beige Esteems looked rich. I also liked Moonbeam Silver.

Originally Posted by kmasthan

Wow. Mine too was a padmini and then a Maruti esteem.

Same pinch, @kmasthan Ji.

Originally Posted by OctYFAN

I owned a late 1996 white Esteem LX with body coloured bumpers, retrofitted AC and retrofitted power windows.

Thank You @OctYFAN; what AC did you retrofit and why? The car came with a Subros Unit, correct?

If you'd known the workaround for the rear suspension frame, you could have easily kept her. The only issue is getting the frame back in the right shape else the wheel alignment would be off.

Originally Posted by R2D2

I used to maintain that car myself including the carburettor cleaning & setting.

I bought my car, in the dark blue colour, back in Jul 2000.

Thank You @R2D2; the dark blue was a carb one right? One of my bosses had a 1999 VX in that shade.

And hats off to you for having the perseverance to clean and set the carb yourself.

Originally Posted by Maky

were called 'helmet' speakers by the installers hehe.

Thank You @Maky. Absolutely; helmets they were.

[R2D2]

Originally Posted by vigsom

Thank You @R2D2; the dark blue was a carb one right? One of my bosses had a 1999 VX in that shade.

No, it was one of the first batch of MPFI Euro 2 models, I insisted on this when all dealers were trying get rid of their older carb models assembled earlier in 2000. It was more like a cobalt blue, metallic shade.

And hats off to you for having the perseverance to clean and set the carb yourself.

Yeah, a pretty complex task but I had practice setting the twin carbs on the 2 cylinder Yamaha RD 350 back in the '80s, so a single carb on the Esteem didn't drive me up the wall like the bike did. But the bike was a nightmare mainly due to the finicky contact breaker point settings! Thank God for MPFI and electronic ignition I tell ya!

After setting the carb I did further fine tuning by driving the car to a PUC centre and using their machines to ensure emissions are in control. Idle speed was set by the ear - the engine has a particular "warble" (if I may call it that) when the idle speed was set right, just after the cooling fan switched off i.e. at operating temperature. The best part was my Dad being pleased with how the engine performed. So, it was a stamp of approval which was absolutely essential when dealing with my Dad's car. Oh yeah, the both Esteems used Castrol GTX 20W-50 and later Castrol Magnatec.

[OctYFAN]

Thank You @OctYFAN; what AC did you retrofit and why? The car came with a Subros Unit, correct?

You're welcome. Well the A.C. had been fitted already by a previous owner and though he told me honestly it's been like 15 years. I don't exactly remember.

If you'd known the workaround for the rear suspension frame, you could have easily kept her. The only issue is getting the frame back in the right shape else the wheel alignment would be off.

Well I was more of an amateur in repairs back then and most importantly I was not a member of Team-BHP back then

[BeemerBug_06]

Another brilliant thread Vigsom ! I am glad I could help out by providing the images you needed. The Maruti Esteem will always remain an icon. A car defined by a happy revving engine, low ground clearance and light weight.. no wonder it was so famous among the Rally Drivers and enthusiasts.
The Type 1 Esteem was a nice car and looked super in the all white avatar. It is rather enjoyable to drive too, thankfully I had the chance to drive one recently and it was a great experience . The only downside to the Esteem I feel was the handling and the build quality.
I thank you again for posting the thread in so much detail. The carburettor explanation part is surely helpful for someone like me who owns and drives a carbureted Zen.
Good Day !

[Neelanjan]

The Maruti Esteem came to our house just a year before I was born i.e - 1994.My dad bought one of the first batch of Esteems which were also known as japanese spec models with the mechanics. The Esteem which we had was of an ash grey colour (can't recollect the actual name)with both outside mirrors and 4 setup tail lights. There was no LX or VX badging at the rear as the first lot of Esteems only had its name written at the rear. The seats were super comfortable especially the rear ones. The esteem was driven only on special occasions and used to be parked most of the time with a body cover. My father preferred to use our other car which was 118 NE for going to office etc. The esteem was with us for 12 years and was driven less than 50000 KM's. In comparison the 118 NE had run over 2 lakhs kms from 1994 to 2002.The esteem was a prized possession and my dad took utmost care of the car by taking out time from his busy schedule. Not a single panel of the car was ever repainted and the car was almost scratch less. The car was eventually given to my father's friend who simply ripped the soul out of the car, never bothered to maintain it and was eventually sold in scrap after driving it for 4 years. One year after selling the esteem my father was quite disheartened to know the state in which his friend
kept the esteem. My father had such a liking for the esteem that he went ahead and bought a new 2007 esteem VXI which unfortunately missed the zing of the older generation. The seat cushioning was no more as comfortable as the 1994 esteem but it was much easier to drive with power steering etc. In 2009 we got a good price for the 2007 esteem and eventually sold it.

So that's the story of our Esteems - We are glad to own one of the first generation 1 St batch model and last generations last batch model.

[kamilharis]

Great thread man! Esteem for me is love at first right.

This great car was already discontinued by the time I was 13. But still, even now, this is one car which I always wanted to buy, keep, drive..

Hopefully when I go back to India I will be getting one for sure. I just keep OLXing esteem every now and then!

Love at first sight!

[aaggoswami]

Excellent thread !

I drove Esteem for my Driving License Test, still not able to forget the simply brilliant gearshifts, outstanding front visibility. When Accent 1.5, Cielo Execute, Ikon, Esteem and probably one or two more cars were tested by AutoCar India, they had special praise for Esteem, and it was in Carb format. Later on AutoCar India tested the MFPI Esteem with 85 bhp and the test drive had mentioned "The Boss is Back". IIRC, I was still using bicycle back then. Ikon and Esteem were the only cars having privilege to hang on in the rear view mirrors of City 1.5, Baleno 1.6. This was nothing short of an achievement. Esteem could have been faster but was geared too high alike Baleno. My uncle once drove Esteem from Varansi to Ahmedabad, he was all praises for the car. Esteem had all round independent, McPherson struts. Same as Baleno, Indica/Indigo/Bolt. It was ahead of its time I guess as very few cars today under Rs. 10 lakh provide independent suspension at rear. Esteem had the issue of sagging with load, though on paper the ground clearance was 180 mm.

Esteem is a legend in my books, a car that also dominated India car rally scene.