Team-BHP - Joy with my Toy : Maruti Ertiga VXi Initial Ownership Report

Friends, I am now a Proud Owner for Ertiga VXI. Though I got the possession on January 29th, I could not start my ownership thread as I was out of town for office works and later on personal vacation.

Background

I had Maruti Zen 2002 LXI since 2009 and had installed CNG kit in that. I was happy with the low cost of maintenance and fuel for my Zen. However, since my family got expanded and had a baby boy in October 2012, I started a hunt for the next car. Initially due to budget constraints I thought of looking at the used car.

Used Car Hunt

Since I got a taste of huge fuel savings due to CNG conversion, I wanted to go for either CNG fitted car or any petrol car that I can convert into CNG. The basic reason for looking at next car is the space constraint as the boot space was entirely gone with CNG tank in my Zen. Hence I had decided to for bigger car, probably sedan car so that even after CNG kit, there is enough space to put luggage. Just to update you, my hometown is in Surat which is 300 km from Mumbai and I frequently visit that.

Only Honda, Hyundai and Maruti cars were of interest to me. I had visited several dealers and understood that the odometer is generally tempered by the dealers so we can’t trust them. So was looking for direct sellers. Got a very good deal of Hyundai Elantra CRDI Leather option (Manufactured in Oct 2006 and registered in January 2007) genuinely run about 70,000 km and was maintained by the business man by his company. The car was in excellent condition. After several negotiations the final price was fixed at Rs. 2.70 Lakhs (With new insurance and RTO transfer on my account).

Meanwhile I thought of selling my Zen and went to several mechanics to fix small issues. I generally asked every mechanic and Auto parts dealer about Elantra. Believe me, everybody suggested not to go for Elantra even if it is at very low price. The reason is huge cost of its parts (which generally not readily available in the service centre and they take at least 3-4 days to get them) and maintenance cost. They suggested me to go for any Maruti car. With heavy heart, I cancelled that deal and was then looking for used Maruti car.

Needless to say, there are tones of used Swifts, Dzire, Rits, etc available in the market. Since I needed a sedan car, only Dzire was fitting my requirement. As you know, Dzire is a very successful model and its resale value is very high, no car was available below 4 Lakhs. There is no way I could buy in cash and looking for used car loan. I inquired with banks and came to know that, only 70% of the cost of used car will be financed and that too at very high rate approx. 15%. So, I dropped the idea or used car and now set for new car given the fact that I would be using that for at least 7-10 years. Hunt began for new car.

New Car Hunt

As mentioned earlier, I was looking for Sedan Petrol car within Maruti, Honda and Hyundai. Also a thought came that since I am going for petrol sedan car because of future CNG conversion, then why not go for small diesel car, which will release my boot space tension. Research was on and short listed Chevy beat diesel because of its high fuel efficiency and moderate cost Rs. 6 Lakhs compared to Figo, Swift, etc.

Meanwhile, on petrol side, I had short-listed Honda City Corporate Edition and Ertiga ZXI for approx. Rs. 8-8.3 lakhs. Was really confused about Petrol or diesel? Then one news came up in the new paper and TV channel and that has helped me to decide. The news was of Govt. planning to remove the subsidy on the Diesel and the price of Diesel will increase by Rs. 10 per litre in a year timeframe. So no point in going for diesel car if the future prices of petrol and diesel will be the same. With Petrol car, atleast I will have an option of putting CNG kit but with diesel, I would be stuck for 7-10 years.

Hence the short listing came down to two;

Honda City Corporate – OTR cost Rs. 8 Lakh (Navi Mumbai)
Maruti Ertiga ZXI – OTR Rs. 8.3 Lakh (Navi Mumbai)

Honda City vs Maruti Ertiga

Both are excellent brands. Honda scores in built quality and super refined petrol Engine. Maruti scores in low cost of maintenance and service network with good refined petrol engine. I talked to owner’s of Honda city in my office and their general opinion is that Honda parts and service/maintenance is very costly. On comfort side, City anytime has lots of comfort compared to Ertiga. But at the same time with Ertiga, I can go off road due to its high (185 mm) ground clearance and 7 people capacity.

I then inquired about possibility of CNG kit in Ertiga without affecting the last row seats. Most of the fitment centre told me that it is possible to put 12 kg (Slim) CNG cylinder in the little boot space available in Ertiga without affecting the last row seat. That was the sealing argument in favor of Ertiga. I will get peace of mind for Maurti service and maintenance cost for next 10 years and can carry 7 people with CNG kit with SUV like feeling. So I finally zeroed down to Ertiga.

Ertiga ZXI or VXI

Obviously you will all tell me that one should surely go for ZXI the top end version. I was also inclined towards ZXI. How the hunt for the good dealers, deal, discount and delivery. Got almost same quotes without any discount and no freebies. However the availability was an issue. I started enquiry on 15th Jan’13 and wanted to have the delivery before 5th Feb’13, as I had planned my LTA vacation in Surat, Ahmedabad and wanted to drive with the new car. Most of the dealer informed that the official waiting period for Ertiga is 3-4 months.

Two dealers were having ready availability of that of 2012 make model and that too only LXI and VXI version, no ZXI. Only at one place I got the ready availability if Granite Gray ZXI. I was up for it but then obviously I have to take the accord of my boss, i.e wife. She was hell against Gray, said that gray is very bad color, actually it is no color. She was only liking White out of the choice of colors. Hence a very specific requirement of Ertiga ZXI white 2013 model. No dealer had this readily available. There was no problem in booking it. But I once had a bad experience while purchasing Swift. They promised me to deliver in 2 months. However, they took almost 5-6 months to deliver citing various reasons.

One dealer told me that since Manesar plant is going under pressure from union and had huge order backlog especially for Ertiga Diesel models, they will probably may or may not start production of Ertiga petrol car for next 2 months, and hence he can’t guarantee the delivery before 5th Feb’13. There was a news of Maruti increasing the prices of car by 10 to 15k post 21st Jan’13. Every places I enquire, they said that at the time of invoice the applicable prices will be applied and they can’t provide me the price protection.

About Dealer

One dealer, Automotive Manufactures in Nerul, told me that there is one White VXI available with them and it is of 2013 model and it is in transit. The car will reach to them within 3-4 days. That was Friday, 18th Jan’13. She offered me that if I pay book the car that day and pay the full amount before 21st Jan’13, she can provide me the price protection by raising the Transit Invoice. I said that 21st Jan is Monday and no banks work on Sunday. She said she can’t help it because of their system will not accept the old prices once it is updated in their system. So, I only had one day left that is Saturday, 19th Jan’13 to arrange the loan.

Fortunately in our building, one gentleman works as a branch manager in Syndicate bank. I immediately called him and explained. He assured that I will get finance next day as he has the power upto Rs. 8 Lakh. In the evening, I visited the dealer and paid Rs. 10K as booking amount and collected the quotation to be submitted to the bank. I added 15K amount for accessories in the quotation. She assured that I will get delivery on Friday 25th Jan’13. Later at night, that gentleman brought the loan papers and I signed and completed the formalities. He asked me to be there at their branch the next day at 10 am.

I went the next day on Saturday and reached the bank at 10:30 am. He immediately sent one peon with me to get franking on the documents. I competed that and other formalities and I was given a cheque of 95% of the On Road cost including the 15K accessories (which I did put in the quotation) by 12 noon. The Total On Road Cost for VXI is Rs. 7.66 Lakhs for Navi Mumbai Registration. There was no processing charge, no-prepayment penalty. The interest cost was 10.75% for 5 years. I thanked everyone in the bank and went straight to the dealer. She was very surprised that how I could able to get finance so fast. That’s how the VXI was my destiny.

Delivery Episode

On Tuesday, I got a call from dealer that either Tuesday night or on Wednesday morning the trailer will arrive in their stock yard. She gave me Engine and Chassis number as well. Till this time, everything was going fine and at fast speed. I got a shock on Wednesday when got a call from dealer saying that my car has arrived but its key is misplaced by the trailer driver…!! :deadhorse

I asked how it can happen. She explained that, total 7 car was there in the trailer out of which 3 car belongs to that dealer and the rest are for other dealer. To avoid the misuse of car by the driver, they put all car keys in one car. Fortunately or unfortunately it was my car in which the transporter has kept all keys of the other car. During Octroi checking in Mumbai, driver missed my car keys. Transporter is trying the find out the missing keys.

I was very disturbed and asked actually that case is there or they just want to delay the delivery or it may happened that car might not have arrived only. She assured me that the car is in trailer itself and their stock yard PDI person has not allowed to derail other cars from the trailer. Transporter was in hurry to release his trailer and he sent his technical expert to see how the car can be released from the trailer. She offered me to take it to their stock yard and show me the trailer and my car. However, due to time mismatch of my office, I could not go. However, I spoke to their Admin Manager and also to stock yard PDI executive, he accorded the incident and said that they have already raised the point to Maruti and will be expecting new car keys within 2 days by Courier. He said that Car is in perfect condition and he did not allow the transporter to touch any vehicle inside. He said that anytime I can come to the yard and he will show me inside the trailer where my car is located.

I kept on following with them about the keys. Finally the keys arrived at 3 pm on Friday, 25th Jan’13 and they informed me that the car is safely derailed from the trailer and they will do fittings of the accessories that I had ordered on Friday. Since RTO is not working on Saturday (26th Jan’13) and Sunday, they can send the vehicle to RTO on Monday and will arrive in their showroom on Monday afternoon and I can get delivery only on Tuesday i.e 29th Jan’13 with tax papers and number. I told that I will check the car and VIN number and if it is not Jan’13 model, I will not accept it. They confirmed that it is indeed Jan’13 model.

On Monday evening, 28th Jan’13, I visited the showroom to have the first glance of my car. She apologized for the delay and led me to my car. One white Ertiga was in washing. While walking towards it she said that it is probably mine, I said it can’t be because I could see alloy wheel shape so it must be of some other customer ZXI or ZDI model. Coming closure she said yes this is your car, the alloy wheel effect is the wheel cap.

I surprised to see a good looking wheel cap. Since it was already dark, I could not see in detail but I checked that everything is all right and asked them to open the bonnet. Checked all things in place with neat and clean compartment, I asked for VIN number location, they pointed me. I just checked last two digits read ‘AD’ and that was it, I was relieved. It was January 2013 model. The odometer showed 65 km.
Following accessories that I ordered were fitted.
1) Door Steel Guard – Rs. 450
2) Door Wiser – Rs. 1250
3) Roof End Spoiler White – Rs. 4490
4) Reverse Parking Sensor – Rs 2890
5) Full Body Cover – Rs. 1190
6) Teflon Coating with Underbody Antirust Coating (with 1 free after 3rd service) – Rs. 6500

Apart from that she promised me to give black matting, and perfume.

Delivery Time

Strangely I was not very excited to get delivery of my car. In fact I was feeling nervous because of fear that whether the car will be genuine and I will be able to carry out detailed PDI. What if I fail to see any defects, etc. The main reason for this is that I had planned full surprise to my parents (who stays in Surat) to my in laws (who stays in Mumbai) and my all friends that I am going to get a new car. So I wanted nothing to go wrong with the car inspection.

With my wife and my 3 month smarty son ‘Sriaan’ urf ‘Toy’, we reached the showroom at 4:30 pm. Our car was getting ready by polishing and little ‘sajavat’. That sales executive came and tried to complete the pending formalities. I did that but said that I will sign the delivery challan only after inspecting the vehicle. I did then tried my level best to check everything. First is odometer, which now showed 72 km. I asked why it is on higher side. As expected they said that their stock yard is 30 km from the showroom, RTO is another 10 km and PDI does some test etc. I said that yesterday it was 65 km. The PDI guy was there he said that yes he drove the car that day for final test drive. I then asked for their PDI report. He said they can’t give to customer. But if the car is passed from PDI, there will be sticker on the window glass, which he showed to me.

Sales executive explained me basic features of the car. I wanted to know how the Stephaney is removed under the body. The other person showed me how to do that.

Then I was checking the color matching/patching etc., I observed slightly dull white on the roof end spoiler. I pointed that to them and said there is a color mismatch while paining the spoiler. Initially they tried to convince me that it is the same but due to reflection it is showing like that. I still demanded further investigation. Finally the MGA guys came and mentioned that by mistake they did Arctic Perl white (of Dzire fame) instead of Superior white and promised to get it repainted during my next visit. I agreed for Saturday and made them put in the writing.

It was already 6:00 pm. The dealer organized a ‘Pujari’ and that poor chap was waiting for us as ours was the last delivery. But the vehicle registration number was not allotted to me till then. Sales executive was in continuous touch with the agent and since I demanded for some specialized number ‘189’ (I just wanted sum to be 9 and also last digit to be 9) she said that agent is taking time and will get the registration number within 30 min.

Finally at 7:00 pm, I could get the number. Pujari finally did the Pooja, we clicked some photographs. Sales executive gave me free mat, perfume, Ganesh Idol and 20 sachets of wiper shampoo and a 5 Ltr petrol coupon. We also gave her a gift (Parker Pen) and sweet box as a token for her service. Tough she suggested not to give anything to the security person as there are cameras installed, I gave sweet box with 100 Rs. to the security person. He smiled and said thank you.

We Zoooomed past the gate with lots of joy but little fear of driving such big car compared to my Zen and also because parking constraints in my building.

First Experience

My first words,
1) Great Power
2) Smooth Engine
3) Very easy to drive and not feeling like I am driving mini SUV
4) Very spacious
5) Long gear ratios, can drive in 3rd gear in bumper traffic.
6) Chilling AC

I went to the nearest petrol pump and filled 5 litre petrol. Then I went to our normal petrol pump and asked him to fill up to the lid. Another 45 litre is gone to the tank. Means total 50 litres already filled up in the tank apart from whatever was already there when I took the delivery. I later checked in the brochure, the fuel tank capacity mentioned is 45 ltres. Friends, what is the actual fuel tank capacity? And what is the reserve? The capacity is certainly more than 50 ltrs. Also I doubt whether there is dead fuel level because how than I would have been able to drive my car from the showroom to the nearest petrol pump 3 km away with the (X-50 ltr) capacity tank?

I Parked the car in my designated place of Zen in the building. As expected, next day I got a call from society manager that some other car owner is not comfortable in taking out his car due to my big size car. After certain calls, options and trials finally I got a good temporary parking space. I am happy with it.

First 354 km Review

The next Saturday morning I went to the showroom and they removed the spoiler for repainting. Sales executive gave me free bottle of car shampoo as I was casually mentioning that they did not offer me test drive, etc. By evening it was ready and went to their showroom for fitment. Though they matched the color, I was not very happy with their finishing. But no point in pondering over trivial things. I keep on looking at my car, looks so beautiful. We drove to my in-laws home and they were dead surprised to see new car.

Following day, I went to the market and installed Power Ranger steel guard of century make for front and for rear (Total 5.1 K). Now it looks more sexy. After 354 km, I did my second full tank filling and following is the observation.

First Fuel Tank filling reading – 82 km

Second Fuel Tank filling reading – 354 km

Meter Consol Display Average – 15.3 kmpl

Total Petrol consumed – 21.59 Ltr

Derived Average – 12.59 kmpl

Driving Style/Condition – 65% Highway + 35% City + 50% AC On.

Remarks = Meter Consol Display Average – 2.7 kmpl = Actual Average

Now my target is to derive an accurate correction factor like 2.7 kmpl which can be subtracted from the Display Average to arrive at the accurate and actual fuel consumption.

Driving Experience/Observation:

During first 354 km, I was very attentive and was very much concerned while driving in the City traffic and while parking. Reverse parking sensor, though a basic one, but is a very handy unit. It starts beeping once an object is less than 1.3 mt distance and gives a stopping alarm once the distance is 0.3 mt.

The car feels big and space is amazing. Though yet to have the full capacity on board to actually comment on the comfort level of rear passengers. But for driver and co-driver seats and leg room is very good and very comfortable. The biggest plus point I observed is the tall gear ratio. I could actually drive in 5th gear even at 30 kmph speed without feeling the knocking of engine. I had mixed feeling of the Power steering response. But would like to comment later after my long trip to hometown in Gujarat.

First 725 km Review

I had started for Surat with 354 km as oddo meter reading and with my small family (My wife, my little 3 month old son Sriaan urf ‘Toy’ and lots of luggage. The last row seat and the tiny boot space were all full. I was driving below 100 kmph speed as I did not want to go overboard before first service. Highway (NH-8) driving was a sheer pleasure. I must commend the Chilling AC. Even at minimum blower speed, we could feel the chilling AC in the noon time. We stopped at Navsari at my sister’s home approx. 220 km from Mumbai.

I tried various driving styles to check its effect on the fuel consumption. I will share my observation at the end of my thread as a conclusion. However, I got a display average of 20.2 kmpl after driving 220 km on highway with 80 kmph speed. We then drove to Dandi sea beach with 4 adults and 3 kids. All were very comfortable. Next day we went to Surat and had some city driving with lots of bikers driving around crazily. By this time, I was used to the properly gauge the size of the car. Thanks to the front ‘Power Ranger’ steel guard Antenna. Next day we were suppose to go my native place in Ahmedabad District (Village called Paladi). So I did my third Tank filling at 725 km and here goes my second derivation.

Previous Fuel Tank filling reading – 354 km

Current Fuel Tank filling reading – 725 km

Meter Consol Display Average – 17.4 kmpl

Total distance travelled between Tank full – 371 km

Total Petrol consumed – 25.34 Ltr

Derived Average – 14.64 kmpl

Driving Style/Condition – 85% Highway + 15% City + 100% AC On.

Remarks = Meter Consol Display Average – 2.8 kmpl = Actual Average

Driving Experience/Observation

I must say my big ‘Toy’ Ertiga is fun to driver on highways. However, I found my earlier car Zen (old model) was more fun to drive..!! Sheer coz of its very peppy engine. I used to drive my Zen on more than 120 kmph speed on this highway and the power steering was more responsive than Ertiga. You just paddle the gas and it starts flying like anything. While I observed that Power steering is not that much responsive like Zen but it surely not lacking compared to its competitor. Since I wanted to wait to cross beyond 100 kmph before first service and to obtain maximum average, I deliberately drove less than 100 kmph speed. I am sure once I do my first or second service, I am going to love the driving at more than 100 kmph speed.

First 1334 km Review

Next day early morning, we started from Surat with 725 km on oddo reading and with my full family (My Mom, Dad, wife, Little Sriaan and lots of luggage. We really had a good time. We visited several villages, kachha roads, Lots of Temple, Highways, State Roads, Stone wala road etc. The ground clearance is amazing and I did not had any problem or issue while driving on very bad roads. However due to my negligence, once the lower portion of my front steel guard touched one naughty bumper, which I could not see while driving at high speed. I immediately stopped and checked but to my surprise, I did not find any damage or even scratch. I drove approx. 600 km within 3 days and came back to Surat. I did my third Tank filling at 1334 km and here goes my third derivation.

Previous Fuel Tank filling reading – 725 km

Current Fuel Tank filling reading – 1334 km

Meter Consol Display Average – 17.2 kmpl

Total distance travelled between Tank full – 608 km

Total Petrol consumed – 41.64 Ltr

Derived Average – 14.60 kmpl

Driving Style/Condition – 60% National Highway + 25% State Roads (2 Lane) + 15% on Kaccha road, Town/villages + 100% AC On.

Remarks = Meter Consol Display Average – 2.6 kmpl = Actual Average

Driving Experience/Observation:

OMG!! I completed total 1334 km in 15 days..clap:. We really enjoyed the journey. Many times my car was full with 6 adults and 1 or 2 kids in villages while visiting the Temples. None complained about the rear seat leg room. All this time during hot weather, Chilling AC was amazing, I never had to increase the blower speed beyond 2nd even though the car was fully loaded with dual AC on and outside temperature around 38 degrees in the noon.

The only complain I have about Ertiga is its Carpet getting dirty very easily and very soon (being beige). One surely needs to laminate it.

Back to Mumbai at 1700 Oddo km

We came back to Mumbai on last Sunday and oddo meter reading is 1700 km. We had approx. 60 km driving in the Surat City and approx. 300 km on Surat-Mumbai NH-8. Currently my meter display is showing 19.6 kmpl (Derived 16.9 kmpl with 2,7 as correcting factor). Since I had now a reliably accurate derivation of fuel efficiency, I wanted to experiment with some driving style. Following is my conclusion about the Fuel economy.

Conclusion/Remarks:

Actual Fuel efficiency = Meter Display Average – 2.7 kmpl (Mean average of 2.7, 2.8 and 2.6 which I got in my tank-to-tank fill experience during first 1700 km)

“It does not matter if you drive at 60 or 80 kmph speed but what matters for fuel economy is how often you press the gas paddle to maintain that speed”.

I can say this because, once your press the gas paddle, the display average starts reducing to even 6 or 7 kmpl for that much time and when you release the paddle, it will show 30 kmpl. If you want better fuel efficiency, you must keep more time between accelerating. E.g if you press the full or half accelerator for 7-8 seconds to increase the speed from 40 to 100 kmpl (Instantaneous Average will show as 6-7 kmpl) , you rest for same 7-8 seconds (Instantaneous Average will show as 30 kmpl-which is max as per its program). After this rest your speed will not come down to again 40 kmpl but it will come down to say 55 or 60 kmph. But what you got is the weighted average of instantaneous fuel economy 18 over a period of 15 seconds. Repeat this step to get your desired speed say 80. You just need to manage this speed with little accelerator and take the maximum use of downward slope without accelerator.

These are all my own observation and derivation. But I am sure the derived Correction factor of 2.7 kmpl between Display average and actual average is surely to stay. How about naming this correction factor 2.7 kmpl as ‘Toy Derived Correction Factor’ (TDCF)? Lolz…!!

I will surely ascertain this figure during my future tank-to-tank filling. My next target is having a good seat cover, Carpet Lamination, Steering Cover, 3D Kagu Mat and a good roof top carrier. Watch out this space for more details

Cheers,
Anil