[a4anurag]

Hello BHPians,

I am back with another review (Short one though) of the other car in our garage, Maruti Suzuki Ertiga ZDi.

This car purchase was more of a shock to me than anything else since it was a sudden change in decision from dad without any information to me, Thanks to Maruti Suzuki (aka Varun Motors).

The car we had was SX4 VXi (Silver colour) that was purchased in September, 2007. We were one of the first few owners of the SX4 in Hyderabad when it was launched in India in 2007. I personally loved the car thanks to the engine and sharp handling it had in-spite of 190 mm ground clearance. The SX4 was near as tall as my Ritz which was a good point when coming to interior space and packaging.

This is the only picture I have of the SX4!

The car gave a pathetic efficiency of 10 kmpl with all internals being in good condition. The spirited motor makes the driver spirited too loosing out on FE. Controlling oneself on that engine is a hell of a task. Super-slick gearbox made things even easier with good greenhouse so no obstruction of view from any angle.

We needed a change as dad now has to travel 58 kms a day as compared to 12 kms so the need of a diesel engine arose. Dad was a total anti-diesel person but the 1.3L DDiS engine that was on my Ritz changed his perception to the modern day engines. The drive ability, fuel efficiency hooked him so he started looking at the diesel.

PS: A special and heart-felt thanks to BHPian Sabby-69 for lending me his Nikon DSLR for the pictures!

[a4anurag]

The cars that dad short listed was which could be replacing the SX4:

1. Skoda Octavia
2. Renault Fluence
3. Toyota Corolla Altis
4. Volkswagen Jetta

1) Skoda Octavia:

Likes:

• Design and Looks
• Solid build
• Engine

Dislikes:

• ASC - No great reason other that feedback we all know about Skoda. The car is good but for the S.A.S.S.

2) Renault Fluence:

Likes:

• Everything

Dislikes:

• ASC standards and the distance to the ASC
• Ownership costs are unknown

3) Toyota Corolla Altis:

Likes:

• T-Badge, a Toyota after all
• Reliability
• Comfort

Dislikes:

• Not a VFM
• Too Underpowered

4) Volkswagen Jetta:

Likes:

• Looks
• Handling

Dislikes:

• OTR was the highest
• ASC feedback by dad's colleagues who own Polo's and Vento's.

My pick here was the Jetta without a doubt but later the Jetta and Octavia were removed ASC behavior and reviews here on T-BHP. We were now remaining with the Fluence and Corolla Altis. A short TD of the Fluence and it had me hooked onto to it but the only problem dad found was the ASC (Not a strong point and the distance from the place where stay). The colony where I reside has a couple of duster’s and most them complaining with the ASC attitude and service quality so this got the Fluence off the list. Now came the last choice the Corolla Altis. A very nice looking car with a reliable, trustworthy, peaceful ‘T’ badge to back you up at any time. The only grouse was the 1.4 D-4D engine that was plonked into it. Had I been given a chance I would have done a heart transplant with the 2.5L D-4D engine that is on the Innova. The car feels under-powered when coming from a 105 PS car and the funny part is the Ritz felt faster than the Corolla. Nevertheless, the dealer gave us ample time to think and countless visits to decide on the variant, colour etc. The model we chose was the mid-variant that was coming down to 17L. The worst part here was it came with NO stereo head unit (but all 4 doors have in-built speakers), NO mud flaps, No floor mats, I was

Paying 1.7 million and such petty features are not included is a funny thing to hear on but after all the discussions we had Toyota decided that all the 3 will be fit free of cost before delivery.

Hurray!

[a4anurag]

Since my Ritz had covered 1 lakh kms, dad was thinking to replace the same with Swift ZDi, so he wanted to buy both the cars at a time. After a chat with Varun motors, they promised the Swift to be delivered in December month (As the colour I chose was rare and had to be brought from outside Hyderabad). So we contacted Toyota asking for delivery in December. They agreed and all was well till dad came across the thread “New Corolla Altis to be launched in 2014!”. Reading on he postponed the purchase as he didn’t want an older model when he knew a newer was coming. This sudden change in decision postponed my Swift arrival by months too (As we were clueless when the Corolla was to be launched). I was a bit upset but kept cool by dreaming and reading reviews of all the Swift owners on Team-BHP.

Came the month of Discounts a.k.a December:

On the 19th December, 2013 the Swift ZDi was purchased thanks to the discount and good-buy back price offered by True Value. Now remained the Sx4 to be sold off but we were patiently waiting for the news of Corolla launch but no strong development was seen.

On 22nd December, I heard dad was asking an estimate etc for the Ertiga ZDi so in shock I asked him whether he was buying that car? He replied (Cool manner) – No son, I am just enquiring. I breathe a sigh of relief. Days passed by and no proper development was seen on the Corolla nor any news/surprise of the Ertiga (Fingers crossed).

D-Day:

On the 30th December, 2013 dad calls and says:

Dad: I have paid the final amount for the car after exchange of the SX4.
Me: What! (In surprise and tensed manner). How much was the amount you paid?
Dad: 8L
Me: Eh?
Dad: Yes son, 2.5L for the SX4 and 8L for the Ertiga ZDi in white.
Me: I was speechless.
Dad: Hello… Hello
Me: Why did you buy it without even telling me? Weren’t going a segment higher and looking at the Corolla?
Dad: Even I want the corolla but I feel the wait is in-definite so seeing the fuel bills, I paid in for the Ertiga.

Conversation ends..

[a4anurag]

Delivery day:

I didn’t go to get the delivery as I wasn't at home.

On the 1st January, 2014 the car was delivered to us at 4 pm, 3 days delay as the white colour was having a waiting period but as dad is a regular and an old customer the car was brought specially for him.

Here is a picture of the car when I saw it after reaching home from work at night:

Since I was at work on that day, I saw the car standing in the garage only the next day. As soon as I arrived, dad handed me the keys and asked me to go for a test drive. I was hesitant as it would feel the same as the Ritz and Swift since it had the same engine underneath. But I did go for a drive on it.

Here is what I feel of the LUV:

What I Like:

• Ergonomics
• The white colour
• Space
• Driveability (Thanks to VGT)

What I don’t like:

• Beige
• Spare wheel mounting point
• Space between the front seats wasted (Since kind of storage spaces should have been provided, no rear bottle holder too)
• Rear tail lamp

The Key :

More on the car below....

[a4anurag]

Engine + Gearbox:

Same 1.3L DDiS that does duty in half the nation’s cars being widely accepted and praised. I felt at home driving it since I knew how the engine would behave at what gear. Enough has been spoken off and I don’t want to elaborate much on it. But the part I love of the engine is the VGT that is an advantage over the FGT on the Swift I own. The VGT addition makes the car feel ‘ready’ from the GO and is stress-free even at 120 kmph but I feel the Swift to be a bit strained after 120 kmph. One can keep cruising for days together without any issues.

The gearbox feels slightly notchy and doesn’t get into gear properly but this was sorted out after the first service. Now it feels good to drive.

Rating: 10/10

Looks:

On a first glance, it looks like a grown-up, elongated Ritz. Reason I am saying this is due to the short bonnet and longer body with a tall stance reminds me of the Ritz whenever I look at it. Front end is well designed and has cues borrowed more from the Ritz but the rear where things don’t match well thanks to those Alto-ish tail lamps that are too small for that body design. A larger tail lamp would have done the trick and given the car a complete look. Alloys too feel nice to look at and suit the car when seen from all angles but I say it is a pain to clean them properly.

A very neutral looking car!

Rating: 8/10

Ride and handling:

Comfortable, stable and knows what it is designed for. Minimal body roll even after being a tall boy it holds the line on the road without any glitch. The rear seats are the best place to be in with best ride quality being offered. It feels like a Rolls-Royce!

Rating: 9/10

Space:

Almost as big as the Innova, the Ertiga has a wheelbase similar to the Innova (class leader) being 15 mm shorter so it is down to the brilliant packaging done by Maruti to please all the type of owners that decide to buy this car. If a youngster is looking at this, front seats are endowed with a good view to the driver. If chauffeur driven then the passenger seat offers good space if moved all the way behind and if the owner decides to sit in the back seat then the recline-able seats make travel easy with ample space. Since the car will be used by dad (chauffeur driven) the third row is folded permanently making it for L.A.R.G.E boot to use.

Rating: 10/10

Interiors & Ergonomics:

Another Swift when looked at the dashboard minus the all-black theme and the ACC set-up. The beige makes the cabin feel bright and spacious which is a big positive but highly painful to keep it clean. The only happy part is that the instrumentation console is black. Thank god Maruti left that black else if that was also was beige then I don’t know how it would look. Thank you Maruti!

Seating is what I love in this car which is tall and supportive to the whole body. One can do long highway trips without any breaks. Be it the height adjustable front seats (Driver) or the reclining rear ones that makes moving around lot easier. All controls fall in place with best ergonomic that make the driver or passenger feel at home. Ingress and Egress is the best in the Maruti stable with no need to bend/crouch. The best part is the rear door, opens almost half the length of the car making it easy to walk-in. The seat and b-pillar distance is good enough so that it doesn't obstruct when getting in or out.

Rating: 8/10

Features:

The ZDi variant has everything that a car need but surprising part is the omission of the ACC in the top-variant. The old-school A/C looks out of place giving a feeling like it is a VDi trim. The beige in the interiors is OK but Maruti should have applied some common-sense to give a darker shade where human contact happens frequently so that it doesn’t get dull or soiled spoiling the whole look of the car.

The second row A/C controls are a nice feature that increases comfort levels without the need to irritate the drive to control the A/C depending the rear passenger’s feedback. One thing that I have noticed is that when the front AC switches are in OFF position and the rear A/C controls are used, cool air blows. Is this that the rear A/C controls chill the passengers irrespective of the front A/C usage? I know that there is a condenser pipe inside the rear vents but I thought that the rear AC cooling is routed through the front so if one doesn’t use the front AC then the rear ones just blow air. What say guys?!

Rating: 9/10

Tyres

Maruti loves MRF, this is the company that they have tied up with and the ZVTV does duty here with a specification of 185/65 R15. This is the same that is on the Swift too. Cost saving I must say. This car needs better section tyres.

Grip levels are good with only grouse being tyre noise being on the louder side. It is more audible that the diesel engine at highway speeds. Dad being happy and ok with it no upgrade is planned as of now. The issue here is that the spare wheel is not in the boot but is placed underneath the third row which needs to be lowered down to use. Till date no punctures have happened for dad to try this circus out.

Rating: 7/10

Fuel Efficiency:

Being a small engine (on capacity point of view) has a decent FE for its size. Being 90 PS on power it is giving us 16.7 kmpl overall till date with 4K on the odometer. The average FE is not crossing 16 kmpl at all and I hope this better’s out after the oil change. Surprising but I am happy and not that I am expecting this car to return 20 kmpl. Fuel bills are on check and dad’s purse too! I guess it is that VGT that is spoiling the FE which makes him use the power band more and more. Addiction you see with NO regrets here.

Rating: 8/10

Audio

Nice looking HU (but for the beige again) with the speakers placed on all 4 doors each and the tweeter on the front end of the dashboard. The buttons on the Head unit feel rough but have a positive response. Made by Nippon Audiotronix the sound quality is on the lower side thanks to those large interiors that is not efficiently covered by the speakers. The speakers crack if the volume is increased so the normal hearing range is 7 to 11. I would prefer a sub-woofer and an amplifier for the Ertiga to get good sound out of the set-up. Steering mounted controls are another boon since the driver needs not lift his hand off the wheel and can concentrate on driving rather than shuffling songs.

The annoying part I have found is that the folder changing knob is ONLY to change folders but if a folder has 250 songs and I want to listen to the 191st song, I have to press the ‘Next’ button 191 times which is pretty annoying to me (Same issue in my Swift).

Rating: 8/10

Build Quality

It is made and built on par with competition with no ratting till date from any corner of the car. I find panels gaps to be large in some placed like – front door and the front quarter panel gap (Near the DDiS logo).

Rating: 9/10

[a4anurag]

Here are the pictures and I leave it to then to do the taking. .

Love the length of the car:




Alto-ish tail lamp:


Badging (Damn the Sai Service sticker):






The Engine that runs the nation (look at the panel gap that I was mentioning):


Nice Design (Simple and Elegant):






Long Antenna:


Prefer this kind of one on the Ertiga!






Wheel Arch!


The intercooler and radiator seen here but placed too close to the bumper (hardly any protection):


See the height difference?!

[a4anurag]

A few more pictures...

Dashboard:


A view from passenger side:


Rear seats:


L.A.R.G.E door and L.A.R.G.E window:


Artwork at the armrest area:


2nd Row A/C vents:


2nd Row A/C controls:


Front A/C controls:


Seat adjuster (Back seat angle + height adjustment):


Front fog lamps + security alarm button + Headlamp levelling device:


Nippon Stereo (HU):


Instrumentation Console:


Tweeters:


Door pocket (Holds 1ltr bottle) and the front speaker:


Front fully pushed back, I am still comfortable - seat back is touching my knee slightly:


Drivers view from the ORVM:


ORVM's view of the passengers:


Boot space with third folded permanently:


Another compartment:


The engine bay (I know it is dirty, due for second service soon so will be cleaned then!):

[a4anurag]

The last Set...

The second interior lamp:


Spare wheel:


Rear suspension:


The Underbody:


Silencer:


Wiper stalk:


Headlamp/indicator stalk


Instrumentation console:

The car is reading 4.1K as seen and shall be going for the second service soon. Shall update the thread after the service happens.

Thanks for reading the review and hope it helps the needy.

Anurag.

[Samurai]

Moving out... thank you for sharing - Support Team

[paragsachania]

Crisp review for the Ertiga Anurag! You get to drive the FGT and VGT and can make instant comparison on the drive-ability part and you have penned it down precisely when it comes to both.

Having clocked 15000 kms in my Ertiga already, I am completely used to the linear behavior of the VGT. Though one can instantly recognize the "missing" thrust from Swift's FGT, the VGT exhibits considerably lesser lag. Having done some super long highway runs with full load, I can easily say that ~90 Horses doing the duty behind its engine are adequate to satisfy the commuter needs required from a spacious and a practical car. The Ertiga does this flawlessly and behaves almost like a car too - Something which I will prefer over body rolls and swinging suspension over more space.

Wish you all the best and may you drive down to Bangalore in coming days :-)!

I am sure we will connect more often to talk about the Ertiga and share related knowledge we gain over the ownership.

[saket77]

Congratulations for the Ertiga. Looks good in white.
Just have a feeling that you might have let go your SX4 a bit tool cheaply as you say it was well maintained.

OT: Have a concern that sharing the key reference numbers (like in the pic you posted of the keys)...does it not pose any security risk?

[swiftdiesel]

Congratulations! I reckon it's one wise decision from your dad to go with the Ertiga. Actually, the wheelbase difference with the Innova is just 10mm. Ertiga is 2740 and Innova is 2750. Your observations on the VGT nature of the engine is spot on since I too graduated from a Swift to the Ertiga. The power deficit is felt only when taking very steep inclines with AC on and a full load. In every other situation, the power is par for the course. And Ertiga looks best in white and yeah great choice of colour! Have fun!

[Prodigy07]

Congrats Anurag. Crisp review

Quick question regarding the A/C.

When the front A/C is switched on and the rear A/C is switched off, I notice the rear outlet vents over the front seats to be cold. Is this normal? Also, even when the rear A/C is switched off, I get wierd sounds from the vents.

[a4anurag]

Thank you guys for liking the review!

Originally Posted by paragsachania

Crisp review for the Ertiga Anurag! You get to drive the FGT and VGT and can make instant comparison on the drive-ability part and you have penned it down precisely when it comes to both.

Having clocked 15000 kms in my Ertiga already

I am sure we will connect more often to talk about the Ertiga and share related knowledge we gain over the ownership.

Thanks to you specially and you being my inspiration to pen down my review. 15K in 5 months, Hmm, I am closing in slowly but steadily on the Swift (8700 kms as of now)

I liked the VGT more than the FGT as it makes NVH better and drive ability better so driver fatigue is lesser.

Originally Posted by saket77

Congratulations for the Ertiga. Looks good in white.
Just have a feeling that you might have let go your SX4 a bit tool cheaply as you say it was well maintained.

OT: Have a concern that sharing the key reference numbers (like in the pic you posted of the keys)...does it not pose any security risk?

It was not that well maintained and sold off at 93K kms. At the end there were issues and all were pending due to lack of spares from MASS. I am happy that we got rid of that car!

Regarding the key, yes, I just realised it. Hope there is no problem with it. Shall report the post and delete it.

Thanks Saket!

Originally Posted by swiftdiesel

Congratulations! I reckon it's one wise decision from your dad to go with the Ertiga. Actually, the wheelbase difference with the Innova is just 10mm. Ertiga is 2740 and Innova is 2750. Your observations on the VGT nature of the engine is spot on since I too graduated from a Swift to the Ertiga.

I love the Innova always and the Ertiga comes second in all categories except for the pricing. I wanted the Innova but it was too costly so this was the only sensible option dad had in this segment.

Originally Posted by Prodigy07

When the front A/C is switched on and the rear A/C is switched off, I notice the rear outlet vents over the front seats to be cold. Is this normal? Also, even when the rear A/C is switched off, I get wierd sounds from the vents.

None of the issues above are not being faced by me in the Ertiga.

Anurag.

[ank.nsit]

You and your dad are Maruti's forever loyal customers.
Previous cars were both Maruti's & replaced by both Maruti's again.