[AutoIndian]

Originally Posted by rajshenoy

Since you are used to Diesel engines and 10 years with Indica, I am sure Ertiga will be more powerful even in city. Suggest you have a good test drive along with your family members as well for other factors such as comfort and drivability. Also check how you can stuff luggage on long drives with 6 adults. In my case i never had that requirement of 6+ adults for long drives.

Yes, I won't be buying Ertiga or any other car for that matter, unless I test drive it with my whole family & am convinced about their comfort. Dad's age is 71+ & everytime he enters the Indica's co-passenger seat he struggles getting in & feeling comfy. He also fumbles to find a correct position to rest his feet. So his comfort levels are of prime importance. Mostly there would be 4 adults & 2 kids, so there ahould be sufficient space left out for the luggage. If not then aftermarket roof racks are surely an option.

Maruti is pushing hard to make more sales, So you might get good resale and also discounts on Ertiga plus car available off the shelf for fast moving colors. Just make sure to tell them you are in no hurry to put pressure on them.

My current ride is already reserved for my brother in law, so no worries on its resale. I would however like to wait till calendar year end or financial year end in order to get some good offers on the Ertiga (fingers crossed)

[Jetta_Volkmann]

Hello Raj, Congrats for your new ride.

Somehow I missed your thread. That is an excellent analysis and honest write up. Ertiga looks very good in dusky brown. Only thing is it is very hard to maintain. Since it is the same 1.3DDiS, how is the power delivery when the car is fully loaded. I guess it may run out of stuff while climbing hills with all seats occupied and luggage. U must comment about it sooner than latter.

Happy motoring. Hope Ertiga will give you piece of my mind through out your ownership period.

Drive Safe.

[aneezan]

Congrats on your Ertiga.
Great looking car and good review. I love the boot space in the Ertiga
I would like to know how it performs on the highways.

[pahwa]

Its a very detailed and very well written review Rajesh. I like the point system you followed to choose among the cars in your budget. Wish you thousands of happy miles with your car.

Ertiga no doubt is a very good choice for your requirements and you picked the best color too. Did you go for any paint protection? How much did the under body coating cost you?

[Maverift]

Congratulations on your buy and thanks for very balanced and unbiased review of Ertiga.
The points system used to arrive at the choice is very practical.

I think even with introduction of similar products from competitors, Ertiga will always hold a market of its own. Currently, we have Quanto which is supposed to do everything Ertiga can but still no one considers it.

I maybe looking for upgrading from my Swift VXi ABS sometime in early-mid 2014 and Ertiga is right there at the top of my list with requirements being almost same as yours.

Edit: Didn't you transfer No Claim Bonus from your previous car? If you did, I think adding your experience may help a lot of others.

[rajshenoy]

Originally Posted by pahwa

Did you go for any paint protection? How much did the under body coating cost you?

I did not go for any paint protection. The default teflon coating claimed by dealers is just a gimmick.

About the under body coating, my personal experience is it is not needed for Bangalore. I have written a note about that as well. In my case i park the vehicle mostly under shade in a closed parking. Less exposure to sunlight and rains.

Originally Posted by Maverift

Edit: Didn't you transfer No Claim Bonus from your previous car? If you did, I think adding your experience may help a lot of others.

I ended up completing the sale after i purchased my new car(Since i wanted to drive till last day) I am aware of NCB transfer and need to follow up with my old insurance guy so that i can get this done for next years renewal.

[blackstallion27]

Originally Posted by rajshenoy

I ended up completing the sale after i purchased my new car(Since i wanted to drive till last day) I am aware of NCB transfer and need to follow up with my old insurance guy so that i can get this done for next years renewal.

Congrats on your buy!
Which Insurance do you have? In case it is Bajaj Allianz, you can transfer it for the current year and they would refund the money as well.

[rajshenoy]

Originally Posted by blackstallion27

Congrats on your buy!
Which Insurance do you have? In case it is Bajaj Allianz, you can transfer it for the current year and they would refund the money as well.

Its Ifco-Tokio zero dep for the new car. Old one had a Royal sundaram. Both are having a tie up with Maruti insurance(I chose Ifco-Tokio because their premium was lower) Will I be able to get a refund in this case as well ?

[blackstallion27]

Originally Posted by rajshenoy

Its Ifco-Tokio zero dep for the new car. Old one had a Royal sundaram. Will I be able to get a refund in this case as well ?

The insurance company of the old one does not matter as long as you get an NCB certificate, its the current insurer that matters. I do not know about Ifco-tokio, but most of the other insurers do not refund the money. I found Bajaj to be the only one during my search in Dec 12.

[urajkumar]

Congratulations Raj ! I remember few interactions with you during the ecosport launch! We are similar in many ways
1) "Raj" - the name SRK always uses & India loves
2) White Swift VXi 1.3 Petrol was my previous car and an absolute favorite at home

Alas it ends here - I went for the ecosport since it fits my requirement and you went for Ertiga which is an equally good vehicle (You just cannot go wrong with a Maruti)

Wishing you many more happy miles!

[rajshenoy]

Originally Posted by urajkumar

Congratulations Raj ! I remember few interactions with you during the ecosport launch! We are similar in many ways
1) "Raj" - the name SRK always uses & India loves
2) White Swift VXi 1.3 Petrol was my previous car and an absolute favorite at home

Alas it ends here - I went for the ecosport since it fits my requirement and you went for Ertiga which is an equally good vehicle (You just cannot go wrong with a Maruti)

Wishing you many more happy miles!

Good one on the similarity aspect. Congratulations on your EcoSport. Its a good beast in same line like Swift.

I would say you didnt change still. Ecosport is going to be like next swift. Sporty and modern eye catching design(when swift was launched). But it is me who is changed now, from sporty to a practical family mover(because i have old parents and growing kid now)

[drkritik]

Originally Posted by AutoIndian

My driving style is very much the same. Since last 10 years I am driving a diesel & that too a naturally aspirated engine, I never push the accelerator very hard

One more valid reason for you to choose Ertiga then.

Also Ertiga's car which you wouldn't mind keeping for another 10 years ! It's basically a great people mover and maintenance will not cost much: since it's Maruti . Even if you buy one one more car for your daily commute later, you wouldn't mind keeping this solely for long weekend drives. A cheap to maintain car, reliable, fun to drive with economic fuel bills ticks almost all requisites for a long term ownership.

That's what appealed to me most while buying. With my experience of Japanese cars it should easily clock 1.5L kilometres without a fuss.
I guess even Rajesh would have thought about this.

[rajshenoy]

I think i have measured the worst FE this car can achieve.
Due to some reason or the other this whole week i was stuck in bad jams and most of the times both rows of AC running while the car was standstill for long time(I call it diesel generator mode).

And today just back from Bannerghatta road which was Jammed both ways while going and while returning back. From IIMB to Zoo, it took 1 hr to reach and 1.5 hrs to return.

FE 13.34 kmpl. not bad considering the Jam, but not great either.

People mover:
Tried 6 adults and a kid (my lil one happily sleeping with my wife on last row) and they gave a good feedback on the last row comfort. Its not bumpy and not puke-ish either. AC is pretty effective and cools the cabin very fast.
Also there is no strain at all on the engine even with all those people, It pulls clean just like when i am driving alone.

Small issue
I have a steep gradient(and a tight stretch of road) just outside my house and typically requires 2nd or 1st gear. I had just taken the car out and the people inside couldn't wait to switch on both ACs. As i was climbing the gradient, an Auto rushed and i had to almost come to a standstill.When I tried to move, I noticed that the vehicle stalled. I started the engine again, slotted to first and car did not move(stalled again) After couple of cranks and failure I turned off the AC and asked people at the back to switch of the second row blower too. Then the vehicle moved smoothly.
So just wondering if the vehicle has issues climbing up the slope from standstill with 4-5 people and both AC ON. Will try to reproduce the issue if I can.

[slamnos]

Congrats Raj ! Its an appropriate car to upgrade from Swift, drives great and decent space, and as always no problems with Maruti Suzuki.

[drkritik]

Originally Posted by rajshenoy

So just wondering if the vehicle has issues climbing up the slope from standstill with 4-5 people and both AC ON. Will try to reproduce the issue if I can.

What exactly happened? Stall means did it switch off completely and you had to restart? Or just vehicle stopped moving and you had to engage the handbrake and clutch?

I had a similar issue with 5 occupants while driving uphill in narrow parking lot. I was in 3rd gear at low speeds before entering the steep road, vehicle couldn't move, I engaged handbrake immediately and down shifted to 1st gear. With heavy leg on throttle, releasing handbrake slowly i could negotiate the climb easily. My vehicle didn't stall completely neither it switched off, which probably helped me in negotiating. AC was on but no where in the context.

I have a very steep incline during my daily drive to hospital, which my Ritz used to negotiate with difficulty in 4th gear, whereas Ertiga does this in 4th gear, (with good amount of speed before reaching the incline of course ) effortlessly. I find many of Scorpios struggling to keep the pace. The same incline if done at lower speeds it won't work, you need to downshift appropriately.

In general what I've found is (after stalling completely twice) , it isn't a great vehicle to drive at lower speeds and lower RPM s , much similar to my Ritz diesel. One more point is it's too emotional about the right gear especially in lower speeds, much similar to my friend's Yeti. Don't drive this vehicle in wrong gear .

As with every car, it has a learning curve too, especially for us who upgraded from powerful hatchbacks.

Make no mistake it looks like a hatch from the front , with length of a spacious C2 Sedan but from driving perspective it's totally a different beast altogether. It is much similar to larger MUVs .

My FE was still worse 12.9 kmpl. Now improved after a highway drive and first service to 16 kmpl. Probably we still couldn't figure out correctly how to drive this beast for adequate power and optimal fuel economy.

Hope this helps. .