[prasanna_indaje]

I am a proud owner of Urban Blue SCross 1.6 Zeta, which came to my home on 12th Feb 2016. With close to 13000 kilometers on the odometer and all free ‘inspections’ / 'services' complete , I feel this is the right time to start an ownership thread.

Tag that brings the change :


My Automotive History :
I purchased my first car, a Maruti Ritz VDi in December 2009. A wonderful car and served the purpose very well. After driving 95000 kilometers in little under 4 years, sold the car in September 2013. It was absolutely trouble free and breeze to drive. Car was completely stock and was on the second set of tyres (Michelin XM1s) when I sold it.

My boss decided to move onsite by end of February 2013. On a sunny February morning, knowing my lust for automobiles, he asked casually whether I wanted to own his 2010 August SX4 ZXi. There was no way I could resist the offer. After a quick call to my other half, I confirmed to my boss that I would take the car. Car was still on the company lease and 8 more EMIs were pending, all I had to do is internally transfer the lease to my name. SX4 had 48000 kilometers on the odo and was in very good condition when I got (and after that too) . All I had to do is buy a new set of Goodyear Assurance tyres and replace the hard clutch. I had both Ritz and SX4 for around 6 months and then sold Ritz in September 2013. When I exchanged the SX4 for SCross, car had 106000 kilometers on the odo and was on the third set (second set of Goodyear Assurances) tyres



In mid-2014, my wife wanted a car for her office commute. Test drove few used ATs , and finalized on a pre-owned 2003 Model Santro Xing AT, which had done only 45000 kilometers in 11 years. This purchase raised many eyebrows, especially when I told people that I paid around 1.5L for a 10+ year old car. However, almost two years down the line and after 15000 kilometers, the car is doing fine and turned out to be VFM. Again, on this car, I had to put new tyres (Goodyear GPS2 which are not upto the mark) and change the drive shafts. Also serviced the car in between once. Car is still with me and doing its duty very well.

To continue the story further, the long waited RE Thunderbird 500 came home on April 2014. It is still with me and has a measly figure of 6000 kms on the odo. But each and every kilometer brought and still bringing a smile on my face. Probably, this motorcycle will stay with me for many more coming years.

Finally, presenting hero of the story, my SCross 1.6 Zeta which came home on 12th Feb 2016.


The process of evaluation:

Many times during last year I became a butt of jokes in my circle because of my activities related to automobiles.

Both my cars then were hard drinkers and it was economically impossible to manage their drinking habit. Both cars were pre-owned, discontinued, had the habit of guzzling fuel and age was showing up. We decided to change one of the cars in early 2015. Great ! but the question was which one to change? . Below are some of the point of discussions with family and friends :

• SX4 : Pre-owned, nearing 1L kilometers, ageing suspension , already discontinued and less KMPL – Hence need to be changed. During many discussions, a wise friend suggested against changing. His logic was that the car has minuscule resale value and it won’t reduce drastically even after another 50000 kilometers. Felt his suggestion is correct and decided against changing SX4.

• Santro AT : Pre-owned, nearing 15 year mark, ageing transmission / suspension / mechanicals (year wise) , already discontinued and drastically less FE – Hence need to be changed. This decision was supported by friend and family too.

Even after many rounds of discussions, I was not able to take firm decision on which car to change and which car to buy. With some confusion still in mind I started my car hunting with following requirements in mind - safety features (2 airbags + ABS), good build quality, decent equipment list, spacious interiors, good service network and ability to adopt to my usage pattern:

• Linea TJet : I learnt driving in a Palio ELX and I have a soft corner for Fiat. I took the test drives of TJet and I was blown away the performance and torque figures for a petrol. One of my cousins had a Punto and his service experience was more than enough for me to go away from this brand.
  Likes : Build, Equipment level, Performance, Torque
  Dislikes: Service network, service quality, Interiors

• Honda City VMT: Again, a very good car. Few of my friends own this car (both new and previous versions). After taking few drives in their cars, I felt that there is a major difference in build quality of previous versions and current version. Also, this car was more suitable for city and highways than my mixed usage in city and village roads.
  Likes: Interiors, Equipment level, Reliability, Performance
  Dislikes : Build Quality, Ground Clarence, fitment to my usage pattern (assumed).

• Nano XTA: Cute little automatic. Took a couple of test drives. Though it was little low on power and pickup, it is a very good city car. Also, it was performing satisfactorily with sports mode. Was sold on the car and almost booked immediately. I even filled the booking form but backed out in the last minute thinking that I need to evaluate few other cars.
  Likes : Small Size, AT, Price, Equipment List (for the money), interior space (for the segment)
  Dislikes: Lazy AT (Sports mode solves this), Highway stability (assumed)

• Maruti AMT Hatchbacks : Evaluated all AMT 3 hatchbacks from Maruti. Alto K10 AMT, Celerio ZXi AMT and WagonR VXi AMT. After test-driving each , my confusion increased my few more folds and I suddenly decided to postpone the car buying process for sometime.
  Likes: Good engine and gearbox combo, VFM, Service, Resale
  Dislikes : Nothing major, but 3 different cars to choose from in approximately 1 lac difference.

Sometime in December 2015, I got opportunity to drive my wife’s Santro AT to office for a couple of weeks. This opportunity was able to convince me that I need an Automatic. Car hunting started again. But this time, I decided to trade my SX4 for a decent AT car, hatchback or a sedan. Started second phase of car hunting

• Ciaz ZXi AT: Drive experience was good and the car handled very well in city conditions. But car felt lazy on speeds above three digits. Since I do a decent amount of highway driving, this was sort of a deal breaker form me.
  Likes : Interiors, price, service, equipment list, seating
  Dislikes : Dated transmission - 4 speed TC, fitment to my usage pattern (assumed)

• City VX CVT and SV CVT : I evaluated City VX CVT at the showroom and felt that 14L price tag was very high for me. SV CVT was around my budget, but I did not find VFM compared to Ciaz ZXi AT. Dropped City from the list and moved on.

• Figo Aspire DCT. It is a well-rounded car for a compact sedan. There was some deal going on in December and inroad price in Bangalore was 9.1L. Superb gear shift quality and felt far more active on road compared to Ciaz. Also shuffling between the gears with the button on the shifter was fun. On the flipside, beige interiors were not to the liking of my wife and the boot was smaller for my need. After sea-sawing for some time, moved away from this car.
  Likes: Super quick DCT, manual override, good power, decent interiors, interior space
  Dislikes: Smaller boot, beige (white rather than beige)

• Baleno Delta CVT: This was the car which ticked all boxes and both of us were impressed by looking at interiors and size of the cabin. We were convinced after a short drive that this is the car to buy. Returned the showroom thinking about booking the car. While discussing through the booking process and waiting period in the ‘premium’ environment of Nexa, one of the RMs informed that SCross 1.6 has good discounts. After discount price of 1.6 Alpha was around 15.7 L on road ( This was a couple of weeks before price correction by Maruti). RM requested me to drive the 1.6 and give a feedback. I think this is the turning point which made me to lean completely towards SCross.
  Likes: CVT, price, equipment list, black interiors
  Dislikes : Longest waiting period (I was quoted 7 to 9 months) for CVT, doubts about build quality

• SCross 1.6: This is my second encounter with SCross. I had been to Nexa once earlier as soon as this car was released. When RM offered test drive, I took keys, stepped inside demo car (a 1.6 Alpha) and the WOW factor kicked in. Somehow I was liking everything in this car suddenly. Hit the start button and released the clutch slowly. For a couple of seconds everything was normal, felt nothing special about 1.6 and the WOW factor came down a bit. It was all restored once I reached the turbo zone and I am still high on this factor. After a test drive of 2 kilometers, I was liking the car very much.
  It had everything I needed and more. Good quality (and black) interiors, wonderful engine, good build, electronics that I need, decent ground clearance, economy of a diesel and a MARUTI. For this car, I was ready to sacrifice my requirement of automatic.
  But twist in the story came from the other half. I had to explain why this bland looking, non-automatic, hatchback like car is suddenly topping my car list. To convince, I Explained features in detail, bragged about the engine, spoke about how 'international' this Maruti is and gave presentation on interior and ride quality. With all these, I was able to 'sell' the car to my family.
  Likes: Engine, ride quality, space inside, interiors, equipment list, torque / power, highway driveability
  Dislikes : Turbo lag, small boot, looks (subjective, I think it grows on with time)

Drove back home with full of 1.6 in mind. Once at home, started browsing Team BHP and stumbled upon MI10’s fantastic thread, which helped to strengthen the decision. After a day, I was sure that I wanted this car and decided to go ahead with booking.

Negotiation and Booking:
After taking quotes from two more dealerships over phone, I went back to Nexa near my home to finalize the price and agree on exchange value of my SX4. After few discussions it turned out to be the least exchange value for SX4 (1.8 L) and highest price for SCross 1.6( Close 10 14L for Zeta 1.6 and 15.2 L for Alpha 1.6) amongst the quotes I had. Gave it a pass and started dealership hunting. After many rounds of calls and few dealership visits, finalized on Pratham Nexa in Museum road. The deal I agreed with them was 2.7 L exchange value for SX4 and 13.4 L for Zeta 1.6.

While deciding between the options, it turned out that Pratham had only 1.6 Delta and Zeta in stock and I wanted 1.6 Alpha more than other variants . Tried with multiple dealers again (there are 4 Nexas in Bangalore) and found that only one of the dealers had a couple of 1.6 Alphas in stock, but they were not willing to come below 15.2 L (incidentally, they were the first dealership with whom I started the negotiation) . In the meantime the rumor (actually a reality) of 4L discount on 1.6 spread like wild fire. This combined with lack of 1.6 sales and higher stock in the yard, I was able to get good discounts on 1.6 Zeta. After some more analysis and financial engineering, I went ahead with booking of 1.6 Zeta in Urban blue color in 2nd week of January.

Maruti took a very good initiative after I booked the car - they reduced the price by 2 odd more lacs. This worked in my favor and I was able to negotiate further. Finally, I sealed the deal for 12.1 L on road for Zeta 1.6. This number made me to deviate from my desire for Alpha. The best deal I got on Alpha after price cut was 14.8 on road. Initially there was a mental battle between savings of 2.7 lacs versus bi-xenon, auto headlights, auto wipers, ACC, rear camera and leather seats. However 2.7 lacs won.

I went to the dealer yard in Sarjapur village before paying booking amount to check the cars in stock. Inspected few cars few cars in detail and finalized on an Urban Blue Zeta 1.6 manufactured in August 2015 with 35 kilometers on the odo.
Their storage yard is impressive. It has high fence, round the clock security and concrete flooring for parking new cars. Typically in most of the dealerships I have seen, new cars are stored in a dusty / muddy field, with barbed wire fencing and next to nil security.

The PDI times of SCross:


To summarize, I started by car search from TJet and City MT, moved to Nano AT, test drove Maruti AMTs, postponed idea of new car, again drove Ciaz AT, though I do not like compact sedans evaluated Aspire DCT, then moved to Baleno CVT and finally bought SCross 1.6 Zeta, despite of wanting 1.6 Alpha. Yes, it is confusing, non-linear and illogical. But, the end result is what I like!.

Delivery - The bad dream :
I can’t stop myself from comparing the booking and delivery process to the outer skin of a jackfruit and the car to the sweet inner part. Entire booking and delivery process was unsatisfactory to the core. Only feel good factor of this entire deal is the car and the deal I have got. Highlight is the D day when they delivered my car with brown(and somewhat white) rose bouquet, without wash, without floor mats, without demo and 1 hour after the requested time (mine was the first delivery on a Friday, absolutely no rush and 12 noon delivery requirement was communicated multiple times and agreed upon, but the car was delivered after 1.30 PM, without hard copy of invoive for accessories). Another highlight (of lesser intensity thou) was that I was shooed away by Nexa security when I went to the showroom on by Bullet few days before delivery. Reason given, 2 wheeler parking not available for Nexa .
Anyways I had to deal with the thorny outer skin to get the sweet stuff.

There are many such examples. But , I have decided to move on leaving bad dreams behind. I have the greatest weapon to deal with bad delivery dreams : SCross it is !

The Car :
This is the best part of the deal. It has all I need and more. Being a noob here, I will try to explain my usage pattern and pros / cons from my point of view

Usage Pattern : I drive in the Bangalore traffic for approximately 150 kilometers a week. In addition to this, I drive to my native place (a village near Mangalore, KA) not less than 12 times a year. Each trip would add up to 1000 kilometers to the odo. Apart from city drives and trips to native place, I do small road trips around Bangalore few times a year. With all these driving around, I clock around 24000 kilometer a year (give or take).
During my trips to native place, I will have to travel on unpaved roads for a few kilometers. These roads have steep inclines, turns, ruts , gravel and dust. To simplify, normal ‘mud’ roads that you can find in any Indian village. In rainy season, it becomes very difficult to travel these roads by a normal sedan / hatchback.

Pros :
1. The Highway Drivability – The car is a breeze to drive on highways. It accelerates effortlessly in any gear. Overtaking in our classic two lane highways is a breeze now. In my SX4, I had to drop a gear or two to gather enough torque and momentum to overtake. It is no more required.
2. Build and on road behavior - It reminds me of my cousin’s Punto in build quality and road behaviour. It hugs the road like a typical budget European sedan (maybe I am exaggerating a little bit !) / hatchback. Initially I felt that the car understeers a bit. After a few hundred kilometers I noticed that my approach speed to the curves is much higher than my usual speed. Once I adjusted myself to this phenomena, I was ok. Car feels planted on our highways. Gains and sheds speed as expected without any drama. It does not throw occupants around in ghat sections (My SX4 used to do this a little bit).
3. Voice Command – I can place a call, play a song, go to a playlist, select a media type and do many more activities with my typical south Indian accent. Surprisingly the success rate is more than 90%. Very few commands fail, most of the times it works flawlessly.
4. Rear bench space, front seats and the arm rest – Rear bench can accommodate three well-built adults in decent amount of comfort. Though seats look thin, they pack ‘just right’ amount of cushion and support. Front seats and arm rest are high on ergonomics and comfort. My 5’11” and 100kg frame fits well. And surprisingly no squeaking of seats for a Maruti. Front seats and the arm rest have healthy adjustment range
5. Interior quality – It is miles ahead of the cars that I have owned and seen in the same segment (Disclaimer : I have not seen Creta and there may be few more exceptions). Dash board, instrument cluster, meters, ambient lighting, interior lights, seat fabric, utility spaces etc. does not leave much to complain. Control stalks and poser window console comes from part sharing bin and I am ok with that. I have used similar switch in my previous Marutis and they are absolutely reliable.
6. Features – LCD display for MDI, Touch Screen HU, voice command, utility space, dual opening parcel tray, rear parking sensors, intermittent wipers, foot well / glove box illumination and some more. Car Play works like a charm after upgrading the HU firmware during first service.
7. Ground clearance – Though it has similar GC as SX4 on paper, it crosses obstacles without scraping the underbody where a SX4 would struggle. In my native place there are a couple of places where SX4 would definitely scrape the underbody with 5 people on board. SCross goes over that hurdle with similar load without any drama.
8. Minimal Road noise – Once engine warms up, the cabin is relatively quiet. Yes ! some minimal amount of diesel clatter and road noise filters in. Two clicks of volume up and the noise gets dissolved.

Cons :
1. Turbo lag – It took a week for me to travel to office without stalling even once in between. If we need to stop on steep inclines and start again, be rest assured that half clutch is required. Car struggles to move from zero on steep inclines. Once 1500 RPM mark is crossed, we are all good again. Problem gets multiplied if this happens in mud roads with some gravel. Couple of times I had to re-create WRC scenes in my native place, with front wheels spinning and kicking lot of dust around.
2. Mild vibration in steering wheel – There is mild vibration in the steering wheel around 1500 RPM in all speeds. Raised this with SA during both services and I was told that it is common behavior of new Maruti diesel engines. I do not believe this and have already escalated to Maruti Regional Service Manager.
3. Lack of ACC - Even my 2010 SX4 had this. Not sure what made Maruti to skip this in 1.6 Zeta when 1.3 Zeta gets it.
4. Lack of cruise control - Again, not sure what made Maruti to skip this in 1.6 Zeta when 1.3 Zeta gets it.
5. OEM Tyres - Better I not speak about these. Almost everyone in this forum who own SCross (1.3/ 1.6) have changed their tyres.
6. Power Windows - Door pads on front doors flex a little when the windows glasses are completly rolled up. Also, window glasses roll up with a 'thud' sound at the end.

Deal in short :
I traded my SX4 to SCross via True Value. I got good resale value of 2.7L for my SX4 (second owner, 106000 kilometers run and some signs of driving in Bangalore traffic.)
SX4- Parting shot:


Final price I paid for SCross is 12.1 L including extended warranty. I got the standard accessories (2 sets of mats, illuminated sil guards and car cover) free.

I opted for upgrading all speakers to Hertz and added an active sub-woofer (19000 for the entire set). Sound quality had improved drastically after this upgrade.
Inspired by the reviews, all 5 tyres were changed to Micheline PST3 immediatly after delivery (7500 per tyre / 3500 buyback for OEM JKs). Millivisions near Lalbag road (Bangalore) is where I got my tyres chaged. I did some amount of research on the pricing with multiple tyre dealers and this turned out to be the best deal I got.

Visited 3M in Marathahalli, ORR and opted for paint sealant treatment, under body coat, Nomad floor mats and PPF on door edges, running board and behind the handles. This visit made me poorer by 17K.

After 3M visit:

Drives so far :
In the 2.5 months of ownership, I have covered close to 6000 kilometers. Have travelled to Mangalore 4 times, once to Mysore and once to Ooty (up and down via Kalhatti ghat). I have enjoyed every kilometer with this car

[prasanna_indaje]

Safety - Safer the better
ABS: Few times during my highway travels, I got to know how useful ABS is. To give and example, my Ritz slid across a two lane road on a rainy, typical Mangalorean, day under emergency braking. Somehow, the car managed to stop under the nose of an oncoming private bus, which stopped to accommodate my drama on road fortunately. Couple of other times I sensed wheels locking and I being on the verge of loosing control. With SX4, I never had to face these issues and the car performed well under all braking scenarios. [ SX4 had an indicator to tell when ABS kicked in !!! - Nothing but voilently vibrating brake pedal ]. So with all these lessons learnt, I wanted ABS in my car and SCross has it. This car never disappointed me with its braking capabilities. Wider tyres (by Maruti standards) do provide adiquate support to the braking ability.

Airbags: I know the importance of Airbags. Wanted a minimum of two in my new car and the SCross has just two. More would have been better, but I am happy that Maruti has given ABS and 2 Airbags standard across Nexa range.

Body shell: This is one of the most debated subject these days (off course, another Nexa partner, the Baleno kick started these discussions) . I do not know about sheet metal quality, thickness or rigidity in this car and I believe there is no way to find it easily. But while doing a 'feel' based analysis of the sheet metal quality and comparing with my cousin's 2016 Feb Honda City SV CVT, I felt SCross has better metal quality. Again, I do not have any scientific evidance to prove this and I neither believe in 'thicker the sheet metal, better the car' theory.

Tell tale signs: Drive car with parking brake on for 5-10 meters, the car throws back a 'ding' at you and the MID turns red with a message. Drive car with one of the doors not closed properly, again the same 'ding' is thrown back at you and MID stares at you with red eyes and a image indicating door which is not closed properly. Low fuel warning is no more a lamp, it is a 'ding' with message in MID, but in yellow color.
May other warnings via MID - headlights on and engine not running, key not in range to start, key not in range while engine running etc. And I am sure many more such warnings are yet to be discovered by me.
In addition to MID messages and 'dings', the car beeps a few times when I try to lock the car with any of the doors open (or half locked). Also it gives a long beep when I walk out of the idling car (with parking brakes on, off course) with key inside my pocket or when I accedentally press request key with key inside the car.

Seat belt pretensioners : The car has them. Read on this very forum that it is one of the important safety features. Some how, I feel that the seatbelt becomes automatically tight to the optimal level once I start driving. I tried few times to keep a little margin around my waist, but within a minute or so the belt is tight again. This is not uncomfortable, but just wondering if this has got anything to do with the pretensioner. Never faced this in Ritz or SX4.

Driver Fatigue and Visibility : Compared to my previous cars and a few other cars in the family that I have driven, index of driver fatigue is very less in this car (subjective, this is based on my 'feel' factor). May be due to proper seating, adjustability of driver seat and steering whichever the way driver needs, nice steering wheel (functional, without thumb contours, mildly vibrating at 1500 RPM !!, and typical Maruti), good ergonomics, supportive seats and good behaviour. (Note : Have not driven more than 500 kilometres in a day yet). I found steering wheel better to hold and use, compared to my SX4.
Except rear visibility, which is addressed by reverse sensors (1.6 Zeta does not have reverse camera), there are no major visibility glitches (SX4 had a thick A pillar which could easily hide an oncoming loaded truck in curves).
Dashboard and AC vent reflections cause a little bit of discomfort during sunny days. I have tackled this issue with a UV protected sunglass and it works fine.

Fuelomics - The FE economics

Flashback: I was forced (well, indirectly) to fill the tank within one kilometer of the delivery. When I started the car on the day of delivery, it welcomed me with a 'ding' and a warning on MID for low fuel. I asked the RM about quantity of fuel in the tank. Got a lame answer that it should be 10 liters. When asked again on low fuel warning, I was told that the fuel would have been consumed for travels in the yard, to the showroom and to registration (Odo had only 52 kms). I again asked what should be the minimum fuel quantity on delivery. I got a 7 liter fuel cupon in return as the answer and I was asked to go to some XYZ fuel pump to redeem the same. Took the cupon, but skipped that pump.

Drove straight to Shell outlet on Vittal Malya road and filled the tank. To my surprise, the tank took almost 48 liters of fuel. Which means, I drove my new car to fuel pump with vapours of fuel in the tank..

I drive more on highways and less in city, may be a 60:40 split between highways and within city. Most of the times, say 99%, AC will be running. Below are the average FE details.

City : I typically drive in Bangalore ORR between Marathahalli and Bellandur during peak hours. I spend around 1 hour and 30 minutes every day for 15 kilometer round trip. Once in a week I travel to RR Nagar from Marathahalli, again during peak hours.

MID shows between 12 to 13 KMPL in this scenario and thankful method gives around 12 KMPL.

Highways : I try to keep the car around 100 km/h during my highway trips. But some times unknowingly exceed self imposed limits.

MID shows between 16 to 18 kmpl onthese trips and tankful method gives a figure around 16 kmpl.

I always fill the tank to brim and prefer if there is Shell outlet in the visinity.

The Air Conditioner
AC is a chiller if the outside temperature is below 35*C and typically there is no need to exceed fan speed 2. However, Mangalore summer (and the current Bangalore weather) demands maximum fan speed and the cabin requires some time to cool on a sunny day. If the car is parked under sun for sometime it takes around 5 minutes to cool the cabin. If you have rear passengers, be ready to receive complaints on 'No AC'. A rear AC vent would have been a very good addition. However, all these complaints will vanish after 5-10 minutes of switching on the AC at full speed.

ACC too would have been a nice addition for 1.6 Zeta.

Exterior
No complaints on the exterior fit and finish. Panel gaps are consistent and equal. Paint quality is good. Not many chrome bits around and I like it that way. Roof rails are not cosmetic. Should be able to mount a Thule box on the top without any issues.
Do I miss something on the exterior?
Yes ! the bi-xenon headlamps. If they are available as MGA down the line, I will definitely get them installed.

Interior
All black interiors are really good and to my liking.

Seat fabric is black with contrast stitching. Seats doesn't look very wide or cushiony. They are on the firmer side, but supportive and accommodate me (5" 11' & Just below 100 kgs) in comfort. I get enough under thigh support and have enough shoulder room.
Rear seats can accommodate 3 well built adults in comfort. Floor hump is present, but does not interfere much with the middle passenger's seating position. (Mine is Zeta 1.6 and has fabric seats. Alpha (both 1.3 and 1.6) comes with leather (+manmade material) upholstery of very good quality). The rear seat is 'pseudo' reclining. It has two options: Upright (90*) or relaxing (normal).

Control stalks and power window switches: They are from Maruti parts bin. These can be seen in other Maruti's from different segments (for example, all my previous Marutis had similar controls and switches). There is nothing premium, but they are ergonomic, reliable and functional.

ABC pedals and the 'cushioned' dead pedal: ABC pedals are well spaced. Again not too different from other Marutis. Placement is good and there is enough space between them. Dead pedal is useful and also cushioned . Clutch is typical Fiat, is on the heavier side and has long throw. Point of engagement seems to be in the middle of travel which has been consistent in the 6000 kms I have covered

Boot : Feels and looks a little smaller for the size of this car. But I have not felt any crunch of space so far. All space in the boot is 100% usable. There are no intrusions. To give an example, I was able to carry 30-35 coconuts (with husk), 2X50kg rice bags, Couple of large travel bags and some miscellaneous items in the boot, without folding any seats or removing the parcel tray. Note that I also have a subwoofer in the boot.

Steering:

Functionality : Has predictable behavior and gives ample road feedback, even road undulations. After initial 'psychological' feeling of understeering, I did not find any issues.
However, there is a mild vibration in the steering wheel around 1500 RPM. After 6000 kms of observation, couple of visits to service station and a meeting with Maruti regional service manager, I feel that it is the phenomena of the car and caused by resonance. Will continue observation and see if it increases or reduces over time.

Features : Tilt and telescopic steering (along with height adjustable driver seat) helps to achieve required driving position quickly. Steering wheel also has audio controls on the left side. Pull type keys for phone controls and voice command are placed just below the 'wheel' on left side. Horn pad is not reachable very easily and requires a little stretch.

NVH :
Car starts with the typical Diesel clatter and some noise filters into the cabin at all speeds. On cruising speeds, turning up the volume a little bit will force noise to disappear. But, car is in no way silent from inside when engine is running. I would have loved to see some additional noise dampening / insulation done on this car. At some points I notice that more that optimal noise is filtering in.

There is no vibration or harshness felt across the cabin at any speed. The Michelins, that I upgraded immediately after delivery, are helping to reduce road noise drastically.


Entertainment:

This is the most loved gadget in the car by family. Currently it is running on version 7.4 with Apple CarPlay. All the 4 quadrants are working fine and there has been no glitches so far. Voice command lady is an Indian for sure. She understands almost all my commands and success rate is very high. (I suspect this audio unit has inbuilt machine learning technology, which helps the system to adopt to a particular accent over time.).
GPS : Maps are good and cover most of the POIs are areas. For example, I was able to navigate to a particular hospital in Mangalore and in another instance I was able to find way to a temple in Kasaragod (KL) through interior roads. I heard from service center manager that the maps can be upgraded for free during the first year of ownership and the upgrades are payable after first year.
Audio quality : I am not an ICE expert. From my layman knowledge, I see that there are no disappointments here. Voice is clear and crisp across genres of music. I play variety of music ranging from classical to rock. ( Disclaimer : Stock speakers are upgraded to Hertz and a Hertz subwoofer is added. I did this on delivery, hence can not compare with stock speakers)
Phone Integration : Works as expected. There were no complaints from the receivers about echo or any other distortions. Only one phone can be paired at a time for telephony purpose. System can read out messages aloud if required.
CarPlay / MirroLink : I was able to get the CarPlay working. Could not test MirrorLink yet as I do not have a compatible android phone.

[prasanna_indaje]

ENGINE AND 6 SPEED GEARBOX
The most important and loved part of the car. The performance brings a grin on my face and I end up patting my own back every time I drive this car, be it in City or Highway.

The car is amazingly drivable in the turbo range. It allows me to stay in 3rd gear at city speeds around 25kmph and above . However, sometimes the OOR traffic ensures that I do not cross 2nd gear (15 - 20 kmph)
Stop and go traffic feels a little tough initially due to turbo lag. We will get used to it after few kilometers . Just to reconfirm, there is a evident turbo lag, but we can overcome the same by adopting the driving style. Basically learning to live with it.

On the highway runs, I was able to stay in 6th gear for speeds above 80kmph. The torque on tap helps to reduce gear shifts and makes highway runs a dream come true.


Handling
SCross is a decent handler. Pushing this car around corners feels more secure and doable. I never felt even once that the car is not handling well. Have taken the car few times via Shiradi ghat (between Bangalore and Mangalore) and once via Kalhatti ghat (between Bandipur and Ooty). Ghat driving felt comfortable and safer.
On gravel, mud and unpaved roads, there is a slight feedback on the steering. But no complaints from the passengers. While passing over road undulations or rumble strips, SCross feels more comfortable than my previous SX4.

Likes
Ride Quality and handling
Torque / Power
Seating
Equipment Levels

Would have liked
Cruise Control
ACC

Dislikes
OE Tyres
Not so good lighting
Nexa experience

Conclusion
After a random and non-linear car search, I ended up buying SCross 1.6. This car fits to my requirements as if it is tailor made. I am happy with the build, interior quality, performance, comfort, handling, FE and ASS. ACC, Cruise control and better quality stock tyres on the 16 Zeta would have made me even happier.

Future plans: I would like to get the leather seat covers from the likes of Stanley or Ovion a year down the line. If Maruti offers Bi-Xenon lights as add-on accessories, will get them installed. No other mods planned.

Regrets : Yes! The delivery day and procedure. But have moved on and enjoying the car at the moment.

[GTO]

Thread moved from the Assembly Line to the Initial Ownership Section. Thanks for sharing!

[Dr.Naren]

Congrats buddy!!

S-Cross is global replacement for SX4 and you too went that way . I too have SX4 (diesel) and 1.6 S-Cross. I find the suspension, steering and brakes very similar in both cars. But 1.6 S-Cross is brutal on highways and even my remapped 1.3 won't catch up.

[prasanna_indaje]

Originally Posted by Dr.Naren

Congrats buddy!!

S-Cross is global replacement for SX4 and you too went that way . I too have SX4 (diesel) and 1.6 S-Cross. I find the suspension, steering and brakes very similar in both cars. But 1.6 S-Cross is brutal on highways and even my remapped 1.3 won't catch up.

Thanks Dr.Naren.
Yes. SCross inherits all characteristics of SX4, with many improvements (including fuel consumption ). With 13000 kms on the odo, the engine has become smoother and revs freely (for a diesel) now.
Fortunately there are no rattles. But the driver seat squeaks a little bit on bad roads.
Couple of times the touch screen stopped responding. When I restarted the car, it was back to normal.

[mpksuhas]

Congrats on the new drive Prasanna.

Couple of years back when in market for new cars, I was eagerly checking out Scross launch plans, had moved to other vehicles since the launch and specs were not confirmed.

I feel Scross is an ideal drive for city and highway mixed usage.

Your comment on safety package

Regarding the 3M outlet mentioned, based on reviews 3M HSR & Sarjapur road has better feedback compared to that on ORR Marathahalli.

Also, from the route you mentioned I notice that you work and stay near to my office in Bangalore. Hope we will bump in to each other sometime.

[prasanna_indaje]

Originally Posted by mpksuhas

Congrats on the new drive Prasanna.

Regarding the 3M outlet mentioned, based on reviews 3M HSR & Sarjapur road has better feedback compared to that on ORR Marathahalli.

Also, from the route you mentioned I notice that you work and stay near to my office in Bangalore. Hope we will bump in to each other sometime.

Thanks moksuhas.
Yes. SCross is a good vehicle for combined use in city and on highways.
for your suggestion on 3M Marathahalli. I chose it only because of the the proximity to home. I had gone there once with my old car asking only for foam wash and I was told that they do not do 'only foam wash' and I would have to choose one of the polishes in addition to wash (needles to say, I walked out). But with the new car and the list of polishing activities, they were happy to work on the car..

I stay in Marathahalli and work in Bellandur. If you use ORR daily, then I am sure we will bump into each other.

[Omkar]

Congratulations on the purchase! You seem to have a knack for raising eyebrows with car purchases.

Originally Posted by prasanna_indaje

I can’t stop myself from comparing the booking and delivery process to the outer skin of a jackfruit and the car to the sweet inner part. Entire booking and delivery process was unsatisfactory to the core.

Too bad that the delivery was unsatisfactory. The delivery experience I've had with Maruti Suzuki in the past has been pretty good and your experience came as a shocker to me!

There are many such examples. But , I have decided to move on leaving bad dreams behind.

Ignorance is bliss.

MID shows between 16 to 18 kmpl onthese trips and tankful method gives a figure around 16 kmpl.

Happiness is when you drive the car, greater happiness comes when the fuel economy is satisfactory.

If Maruti offers Bi-Xenon lights as add-on accessories, will get them installed.

I'm guessing the Bi-Xenon lights are available on the Alpha variant. So that won't be much of a problem for you.
Enjoyed reading the report. Keep posting.

[arvind71181]

Congratulations on the vehicle. I also have got a 1.6 S-Cross, although recently. Hopefully, an ownership report should be out soon. Your thought process on choosing the car was a good read.

Leather can be done outside, but I am not sure if Maruti will get you the projectors as an accessory as I hear from some people that it is only for the Alpha variants, this has been mentioned in the official review thread as well.

Keep updating!!

[lamborghini]

Originally Posted by prasanna_indaje

Future plans: I would like to get the leather seat covers from the likes of Stanley or Ovion a year down the line. If Maruti offers Bi-Xenon lights as add-on accessories, will get them installed. No other mods planned.

Congrats on the vehicle! Wish you many happy kms with her!

Re: the leather seat covers - IMO Stanley and Ovion will offer better quality, fit, and custom options than the stock Maruti ones. While I love the all black interiors, I'm not sold 100% on the stock leather that comes with the vehicle.

Also, re: headlights - IMO, sticking to the regular halogen set up with better bulbs would be my recommendation. The Xenons are perfect for city driving, but I've always been left wanting for more on poorly lit roads / highways. The high beam isn't as powerful as the Bi-Xenons on other vehicles owing to it's 25W rating, and changing to more powerful ones is quite a complex task (not a simple bulb replacement as in other Xenon vehicles).
Alternately, you can switch over to HIDs as well - provided there is no scattering of lights (ala the previous gen Corolla Altis which did not come with HIDs), but if there is only one bulb for high and low beams - then you'll mostly have to stick to halogens to keep the bi-level functionality.

[prasanna_indaje]

Originally Posted by Omkar

Congratulations on the purchase! You seem to have a knack for raising eyebrows with car purchases.

Thanks Omkar. Somehow all purchases have a twist .

Congratulations on the vehicle. I also have got a 1.6 S-Cross, although recently. Hopefully, an ownership report should be out soon. Your thought process on choosing the car was a good read.

Leather can be done outside, but I am not sure if Maruti will get you the projectors as an accessory as I hear from some people that it is only for the Alpha variants, this has been mentioned in the official review thread as well.

Thanks and congratulations on your vehicle. I bet you will smile every time when you cross 1750 RPMs.
I will wait for sometime and see if someone upgrades their lights to bi-xenon. Will take a decision based on reviews.

Congrats on the vehicle! Wish you many happy kms with her!

Thanks Lamborghini.
Regarding the seat covers, I agree with you more than 100%. I will go for Stanley (or nothing !) if budget permits.
Regarding the lights, I will not change the setup immediately. Initially I will upgrade the bulbs to XtermeVision (or similar) and see if there is any improvement. If none, may be a relay and higher wattage bulbs.

I find it very difficult to drive in the night, especially during rainy days.

[prasanna_indaje]

Completed 9 months and the car has close to 17000 kilometers on the odo. Engine has become smoother along with kilometers. FE is hovering around 14 KMPL, mix of city and highway.

Clutch feels a bit heavier in City traffic. But not yet unbearable.

[prasanna_indaje]

Just discovered another useful feature of SCross:

Front reading lights are equipped with a timer to switch off, in case the light is left switched on in a locked car.

I was working in the car with ignition off and reading light on, light went off after 15 minutes. Tried to switch on immediately and it did not work. Switched ignition on and off once and was able to operate reading light again.

Did the same test again, with same results.

[Sip]

Hi prasanna thanks for compiling your experience. I too have 1.6 Zeta and loving the experience of driving an s-cross1.6 ! I miss projector lamps and cruise control.
May be I had worst NEXA experience ever possible as I had full cost of car out of my pocket for 4 months before I got the car finally. For this I have booked a date with NEXA in consumer court!