[Panko]

Preamble:

It was in the month of June, that we (me, myself and wifey) decided that we desperately need a hatchback.

Purpose:

1. City Driving (Home-Office-Home)
2. Occassional week-end trips
3. Rare long journies

Petrol OR Diesel:

Initially I was tilting towards Diesel as we already have a Fiesta D in the family. However wifey wanted Petrol.

So,
Lot of search and research.
Lot of opinions and confusions.
Lot of permutations and combinations

And slowly but surely...clarity started to come to mind.

The number of offers & deals on Petrol were & are too good to refuse (thanks to fuel hikes).

I'll make him an offer he can't refuse. Godfather, huh?

The Qualifiers:

1. Chevrolet Beat:

The first one we test-drove was The Transformers Baby. It was LT with Options.

What we liked?
- The looks.
- Suspension
- Breaks

What we did not like?
- Dull interiors
- Very sluggish engine
- Gear-shift not up to the mark.
- Puny Tyres

Considering the fact that we did not feel comfortable with the heart & soul of the Car (i.e. Engine) we removed it instantly from our list.

2. I-10:
Now, this cutie was our personal favorite. We, both, liked it. Loved it. We were almost sure that we will buy an I-10.

What We liked?
- The loads of features
- Quality of interiors
- Good Engine
- Gear-Shift
- Discounts. Discounts. Discounts.

What we did not like?
- Puny tyres.
- Limited width. Can't seat 3 people in the rear seat adequately.
- Average looks
- Low driving seat position. Tall people can have problem during long drives.
- Appears to be segment lower compared to Swift/Ritz/Figo.

We were interested in Sportz model. And we thought we will definitely have one in our parking lot.

Strict no-no to Micra, Liva and Polo because of concerns over less number of dealers/servicing costs concern/maintenance/spares availability/lack of long-term reviews etc.

Punto's Petrol engine is not that good. I never considered Fabia because of service issues faced by numerous Team-BHP members.

Wifey was not interested in the queen of hatches - Swift as it has become too common on roads. New Swift was not launched then.

The Wild Card Entry:

One day, I was wandering around my office during lunch break. And...
Lo and Behold! There was a white Ritz. Standing 'Tall' and looking marvellous.
I was stunned!

I never liked Ritz before. I joked about it's rear.
But slowly it started to grow on me. I started to like everything about it. The tall stance, bigger tyres, roomy interiors, big car feel, sporty design, etc.

Final Showdown: Cute girl (I-10) or Tall & Handsome Boy (Ritz)

So...more confusions.
Search and research
Frequent visits to Team-BHP
But we were a bit biased towards I-10.

We had finalized I-10 Sportz & Ritz VXi Dazzle-Celebration Edition. Both were costing in the same range. Both were fierce fighters.

After initial discussions, opinions and search we started to tilt more towards I-10. At this cost we will be getting following with I-10:

- Rear washer/wiper & defogger.
- ORVM indicators.
- Heated ORVMs
- Electrically adjustable ORVMs
- Gear shift indicator

And what was I getting with Ritz? Nothing. Nada!

So, it was almost final now. We decided to take one final look.

It was Thursday. We decided enough is enough and we will book the car that day itself.

So we visited both Hyundai & Maruti showrooms and had one final look at both the cars.

And suddenly the 'practical' benefits of Ritz started to appear before me:

- Great headroom
- Roomy interiors
- Big car feel
- Front & rear fog lamps
- 60-40 split rear seats
- The 'Best' petrol engine in the hatchback segment.
- Smooth gear-shift
- Big dash.
- Aerodynamic design
- Consistent fuel efficiency
- Best interiors quality in Maruti

And at that moment we knew it was the car for us.
It was 09.00 PM. I called the Maruti Salesperson and told him the deal I wanted. He gave confirmation call within five minutes and we booked Ritz at 09.30 PM on that day itself.

So, it was the Tall Boy for us!

Important Point: If you are confused between two or more cars, please visit the showrooms and have a look at all the cars within the span of 2-3 hours. It will definitely help you in arriving at final decision! It has worked for me.

Finance:

I had pre-approved auto loan from HDFC and there were not any hassles in loan-disbursement. The interest rate offered to me was 12%.

Model & Dealership:

We booked Ritz VXi Dazzle Celebration Edition from Sai Service Station. It was a great experience and Mr. Vikram Pathak and Mr. Yogesh Lagad from Sai Service helped me a lot in the process.

Accessories

We opted for following extra accessories:

1. Dazzle Edition:

Standard VXi +

JVC 2-Din Music System with 2+2 Door Speakers
Art Leather Seat Covers (Black)
Steering Cover
Body Graphics
Mud flaps and mats
Side moldings
Body colored ORVMs & door handles

2. Other Accessories:

Remote locking (Keyless)
Rear Parcel Tray
Body Cover

Delivery:

The car was delivered on July 15, 2011 (on the occasion of Guru Pournima. Wife insisted on it ).

Delivery was given as per the schedule with free 5 ltr.s of Petrol by the dealer.

Overall buying experience was very good and I am completely satisfied with it!

[Panko]

The car has crossed 800 KM. Following are few observations:

- Engine is super-smooth and has started to open up. Every-time I turn ignition on, it brings smile on my face
- Gear shift is smoother. However, it took some time adjusting to the reverse-gear.
- Great visibility
- I like the on-dash positioning of the Tachometer. It is the first thing you notice while in driving position. Very helpful for gear-shift.

[romeomidhun]

Congrats for your new SUV!

You surely have avoided a very-common-on-roads car (i10), just like you excluded Swift!

[charthom]

@Panko

Congrats on the new Ritz. Really a well thoughtout and practical purchase. I wish you many many years of happy driving with the car.

You were looking for petrol only I realize-otherwise diesel ritz would have been a good choice.

Anyway considering diesel Beat is out of question as you wanted petrol only-again a car you could have waited for and tried out.

What colour is your Ritz? can you tell us?

How do you find the rear seat comfort and ride?

Please post more snaps of the car inside/outside.

Best of luck to you and your family.

Drive safe!!

[bluevolt]

Hi panko,

Congratulations on your Maruti Ritz VXi.

Please post some pictures of your ride ASAP.

Wishing you happy and safe driving!

[ghodlur]

Am I seeing a different thread now, Panko? I thought I had replied to your earlier posts where you had not listed the qualifier and it was not such a detailed post too. Could not find my post at all.

Anyways congratulations again on the Ritz. It does have the best and most practical engine. What is the OTR cost and what mods are you planning (if at all)? Have you thought about the under body anti rust coating, do get one.

[Dry Ice]

Congrats Panko! I remember when the Ritz was launched, everybody hated the design. The sales numbers now suggest, people have accepted the looks as it is indeed an immensely practical hatch.

Do share pics of your car and driving experience.

[rajanprash]

Congrats Panko !
Ritz is a VFM hatchback.
Did you get the car with JK tyres or Bridgestone tyres? If JK, then i would suggest you to change before 1000 kms to get good resale value.
After 5000+ kms, JK's become too noisy and the ride quality becomes bad ( entirely due to tyres ). My Ritz has covered 25k on JK's and now the ride quality and tyre noise is unbearable.
Also, how do you find the braking efficiency? Is it on par with other cars of the same segment?
Lastly, some pics please.

[Panko]

Originally Posted by ghodlur

Am I seeing a different thread now, Panko? I thought I had replied to your earlier posts where you had not listed the qualifier and it was not such a detailed post too. Could not find my post at all.

Anyways congratulations again on the Ritz. It does have the best and most practical engine. What is the OTR cost and what mods are you planning (if at all)? Have you thought about the under body anti rust coating, do get one.

Thanks Ghodlur. Yeah you are right. This is the different thread. Previous one got deleted because of insufficient data. My mistake.

The OTR cost (inclusive of all the mentioned accessories) was just 4.78 lac. It was a very good deal.

I am not planning for any mods till the second free inspection.

Will get the 3M anti rust coating done. Your suggestions will be very useful in this regard.

Also, I would especially like to mention that buying & delivery process was very good and satisfying, especially when compared to our purchase of Ford Fiesta SXi TDCI last Diwali.

The Fiesta had run only 14 KM while my father did PDI. The RTO passing was done by the dealer after a couple of days (it was Friday). We went to take delivery on Saturday. And guess what??? The Odometer showed 750 odd KM of running.

Added to that the car was not cleaned properly. It was dirty from inside. The plastic seat-covers were absent. It was pathetic.

We declined to take delivery and bashed the Dealer. After few arguments dealer assured that he will give few added discounts and freebies and assured to clean it to make it look like brand new car. (What options did we have? It was already registered).

We came home with the car. But the enthusiasm and excitement were all gone. Next day (Sunday) they came to pick-up the car for cleaning. We told them that if even a single dirt-mark remained, we will not accept the car.
The calls and discussions continued. Meanwhile I also e-mailed to Ford and also sent online complaint (I have not received any reply to any of those till date).

And the better sense prevailed. The Sales Manager called in the evening and asked me if we would like to have new car instead of this one? Only it will take some time for delivery as new order will have to be put through the system. I was like- man! that is exactly what I want. Give me the new car. I will wait for months to get new one.

And the car delivered earlier never came back.

We got our brand new Fiesta baby (we were present when it was brought down from the Ford container) after a month. It had hardly run for 10 odd KM. And it brought back the smiles on faces of our family.

All is well that ends well.

I do not know how the dealership managed it. But they accepted their mistake and gave us a brand-new car. So, we let the bygones be bygones and thanked and praised the dealership for their efforts to put it right.

Hence, I was very skeptical during this new purchase of Ritz. But it went very smoothly and was an enjoyable experience.

[Panko]

Originally Posted by romeomidhun

Congrats for your new SUV!

Thanks a lot for the wishes! But SUV? No man. It's just a small, tall & cramped hatch.

Originally Posted by charthom

@Panko

Congrats on the new Ritz. Really a well thoughtout and practical purchase. I wish you many many years of happy driving with the car.

What colour is your Ritz? can you tell us?

How do you find the rear seat comfort and ride?

Please post more snaps of the car inside/outside.

Best of luck to you and your family.

Drive safe!!

Thanks a lot Charthom! It's Silver. Sorry I forgot to mention.
To be frank I have not yet myself been on rear seat much. But going by the friends' opinions it's quite comfortable and can seat three people adequately (not comfortably).
I will definitely post the snaps soon.

Originally Posted by bluevolt

Hi panko,

Congratulations on your Maruti Ritz VXi.

Please post some pictures of your ride ASAP.

Wishing you happy and safe driving!

Thanks a lot Bluvolt. I will share the snaps soon! Very soon!

Originally Posted by Dry Ice

Congrats Panko! I remember when the Ritz was launched, everybody hated the design. The sales numbers now suggest, people have accepted the looks as it is indeed an immensely practical hatch.

Do share pics of your car and driving experience.

Thanks Dry Ice! It is a practical hatch. Though the sales are still not as per expectations (by Maruti Suzuki standards).

Originally Posted by rajanprash

Congrats Panko !
Ritz is a VFM hatchback.
Did you get the car with JK tyres or Bridgestone tyres? If JK, then i would suggest you to change before 1000 kms to get good resale value.
After 5000+ kms, JK's become too noisy and the ride quality becomes bad ( entirely due to tyres ). My Ritz has covered 25k on JK's and now the ride quality and tyre noise is unbearable.
Also, how do you find the braking efficiency? Is it on par with other cars of the same segment?
Lastly, some pics please.

Thanks a lot Rajan for valuable guidance. I got JK. I am planning to replace it with MRF after some time. But at the moment it's JK for me.

[ghodlur]

Originally Posted by Panko

The Fiesta had run only 14 KM while my father did PDI. The RTO passing was done by the dealer after a couple of days (it was Friday). We went to take delivery on Saturday. And guess what??? The Odometer showed 750 odd KM of running.
What? Thats unbelievable.

And the better sense prevailed. The Sales Manager called in the evening and asked me if we would like to have new car instead of this one?
Had he done that earlier, he would have saved you the ordeal you have gone through.

It had hardly run for 10 odd KM. And it brought back the smiles on faces of our family.

All is well that ends well.

@Panko,

Wow, thats fantastic. Good for you and hats off to you for perseving and making the dealer give you the correct car you deserved. I wish you happy mile crunchin in both the rides and drive safely.

[Panko]

Last week-end I took Ritz to Manntra Hill Resort, approximately 60 km from Pune. Following were the observations:

-It easily reached the speed of 100 at around 2.5-2.7 K RPM in 5'th gear. Did not stress it further since engine is new.
- No vibrations or engine noise in cabin.
- Good pick-up
- Gear shift is very soft and easy. Positioning of Gear-Knob in center console helps a lot.
- Have not bothered to calculate the FE yet. It should be around 12 in City with AC on for around 60-70% of time.
- Rear Number plate is making noise. Will fix it during first servicing.
- On open roads, the 'tick-tick' sound comes from rear left and right. I think it's of new tyres. Or could it be because of loose seat-belt assembly? But it appears to be coming from outside. Experts are requested to guide.

[nomadabhi]

Congratulations, considering the hype growing over Deisel prices, I respect you decision and being it MS you will be blessed with thousands of KM with no nick-nacks from A.S.S. with their n/w following you like Hutch Pug.

[Panko]

Originally Posted by nomadabhi

Congratulations, considering the hype growing over Deisel prices, I respect you decision and being it MS you will be blessed with thousands of KM with no nick-nacks from A.S.S. with their n/w following you like Hutch Pug.

Thanks a lot for your wishes!

[Panko]

Here are few of the pics: