[bluevolt]

"How it all started"

Preface

With Diwali Festival season around the corner, I can’t think of any better time to bring home an all new Maruti Suzuki Baleno. And to add to festivity charm, writing the ownership report of my car on the occasion of Dhanteras & posting it on just before Diwali day just adds up the fun even more. Publishing ownership thread is always special, so today I am writing my 5th ownership report on this forum – the previous ownership reports covered all my vehicles including Honda City i-VTEC, Maruti WagonR, Hyundai i10 and Hero Honda Karizma.

Background

With Honda City & Maruti WagonR with us since many years, we quite had a balanced garage. A full-sized sedan for long highway runs and a compact hatchback for city runabouts. While City is newer vehicle, our WagonR completed 10 years earlier this April. I was planning to replace WagonR since last 2 years but kept on postponing the decision as it was such a lovely car and it was too hard to let her go so easily. But earlier this summer, we finally decided to go for a new car by the time festival season arrives and thus a hunt for a new car begun.

The Decision to let WagonR go

We bought Maruti WagonR in April 2007 and it was glorious 10 years of ownership experience. The WagonR never let us down in terms of overall reliability and maintenance costs.
But with the car’s age crossing over 10 years, the resale value dropped quite significantly. There were some mechanical parts like suspension system that needed complete overhaul. Brake pads too were going for a toss. Mileage dropped to 7-8 KMPL. Keyless entry & central locking system stopped working. Rust was cropping up at various places including both front doors, boot lid joints, underneath bonnet etc. Power steering also had issues. Water was entering the car in monsoons due to rusting, cracked door seals. I was getting little apprehensive in terms of future reliability of the car, upcoming service costs, degradation of several body panels and lowering of resale value. I could still stretch and kept WagonR for two more years but all these factors made us finalise a new car by the time festival season starts.

[bluevolt]

"Alternatives that were considered, and why I zeroed in on this particular car"

Finalising the new car

I started my hunt almost 3 years back. In Jan, 2015, my shortlisted vehicles were Swift Dzire, Honda Amaze, Hyundai i20, Hyundai Xcent. When Maruti launched Brezza, we considered it and decided to almost book it but the long waiting period of 6-8 months that time made us cancel the decision. Few months later, we considered Ciaz hybrid due to its value for money pricing and lots of discounts on offer. Ciaz was dropped off the list considering the fact that keeping two full sized sedans will not be easy on pocket. S-Cross was also considered along with Ciaz but was dropped due to the same reason. For this year, I had just two cars in my mind – Maruti Suzuki Baleno and Maruti Dzire.

Mind was with Dzire but the heart chose the Baleno

It was tough call. I was surely going for Dzire. The 2017 Dzire with new improved looks caught my attention. Unlike previous Swift Dzire, this car was for sure a big improvement in terms of overall looks and back seat space. But when I compared the prices and feature list, Baleno was always a step ahead of Dzire. When I test drove both cars, Baleno gave me better driveability due to its long wheel base. There was not much difference in the prices of both cars with Dzire being around 20k higher than Baleno – variant to variant. Both cars have same waiting period of 3 months. I was more interested in Dzire considering the fact that it is a latest launch and with our expected ownership period of at least 8-10 years, Dzire will hold better resale. Baleno is nearly 2-year-old vehicle but still has waiting period. This attributes the fact that it is one amazing car from Maruti stable. So, when we were finalising between the 2 cars, I took out Dzire and chose the Baleno for following reasons (Please note that the reasons can be subjective and can vary from person to person. So, it is a request to Dzire/Baleno lovers to not take things personally) –

 Baleno looks much better, premium and contemporary than Dzire
 It has amazing amount of rear space that Dzire can’t even dream of having ever
 Baleno has better drivability, road manners and presence.
 The idea of having a compact family sedan in terms of Dzire was not exciting with Honda City already in garage.
 The heart simply chose Baleno, so all other logics and excuses go in vain.

[bluevolt]

"Complete booking & delivery experience with the dealership"

Zeroed in Baleno – Which variant & fuel type to go for?

With my low running, it was obvious that I will be going for a petrol model. Now the catch was to decide on the variants. Sigma, Delta, Zeta were the contenders. I was going for the Delta as it offers awesome features. It appeared to be mix of both worlds – feature rich yet value for money. But then I compared both cars variant to variant, I found Sigma to be most sensible and logical variant to go for considering my need. In the end, it all boiled down to decide between wants and needs. While Delta was way ahead in terms of features that I wanted like auto A/C, Sigma had all what I needed. So, I went for Sigma.

Nexa Dealer Visit, Test Drive of Baleno & True Value Evaluation of WagonR

I had not paid visit to Nexa showroom earlier. Last year when I was looking for Brezza, I also wanted to visit a Nexa dealer to check out the S-Cross. But since we cancelled the plan last year, visiting a Nexa dealer never materialised. So, I searched for two Nexa showrooms close to my home. One was Nexa, Saya Automobiles – a newly opened showroom in Hotel Crown Plaza mall, Rohini and another was Nexa, Krish Automobiles located in Pitampura. Since Crown plaza is hardly a couple of kilometres away from home, we went there on a weekend. Nexa showrooms are definitely a level up in terms of swankiness, the staff looks smarter in that coat pant dress code, more futuristic with iPads with sales staff and a better environment in terms of politeness and overall customer behaviour as compared to other Maruti showrooms/or even the Honda showroom I usually visit for my other Honda car. As a disclaimer, I am stating that this experience can be different for others and not necessarily the same.

The relationship manager provided us details of the variants, prices and waiting periods. I asked for a TD and we were given a fully loaded top variant for the test drive. The first thing I noticed about the car was its build quality. When I closed the door of the car, I reminded myself that it is a Maruti Suzuki and I cannot expect a VW thud from the Baleno. The test drive car, though, was neat & clean and drove quite well. Power, torque, drivability & handling were way better than WagonR. The engine is one beautiful gem in this car. Apart from car’s smart and good looks, it is the engine that adds to the car’s character. I liked overall test drive and gave the relationship manager a thumb up from my side and asked a True Value person to evaluate my WagonR’s worth and offer me a suitable quote. The good experience at that showroom got over as soon as the person quoted price for my WagonR. In no way I was going to sell my WagonR at his quoted price, thus, I cancelled the program of booking Baleno in that Nexa dealership. Later when the relationship manager called for a follow up, I wanted to tell him how wrong evaluation of cars by his True Value evaluator actually lost them a customer but nevertheless, I just politely refused to buy my car with this quotation.

Next, we visited Nexa, Krish Automobiles in Pitampura. The relationship manager that was assigned to us was well behaved and took all of our request in professional and courteous way. When we asked him for True Value evaluation and how our car booking is completely dependent on what fair price the evaluator will offer, he assured us that we will not be disappointed. After getting the quotation for our WagonR, we actually were really happy. We got almost 30% increase as compared to the last quotation. We finalised the deal there itself, signed the booking cheque and handed over our beloved WagonR to Maruti true value people. It was not easy to let go of a car that was with you since last 10-11 years! Not only I was emotionally connected with it, it was one vehicle that I never wanted to part away from our garage.

[bluevolt]

"Essential Details"

On-road price & discounts

There were no discounts on Baleno whatsoever. No freebies as well. The final OTR (Delhi) after all accessories installed was Rs. 6,10,000.

Extended warranties & service packages

There was option to choose 4 year warranty plan by paying extra 8000 but currently I chose only the standard 2 years warranty. I still have the option to extend the warranty at a later date and will consider about it in coming months. There are 3 standard free services included with oil change in 3rd service i.e. 10,000 KMs or 1 year mark.

Inside of the Nexa Showroom, Accessories on display - Krish Automobiles, Pitampura



Baleno looks amazing in blue color, but I guess it will be difficult to maintain this colour







Ciaz now enjoying Nexa exclusivity







Overall the Nexa showrooms are managed really well.

[bluevolt]

"Delivery experience with the dealership"

Maruti Suzuki Baleno is Home – The Delivery Day

We chose delivery date of 27th September – The auspicious occasion of Navratres – MahaSaptami. I took a day’s off from work for the delivery day. No matter what car you are buying, the feeling on the day of taking your car’s delivery is simply priceless. I could recall the same excited state of mind I was in when we took delivery of our Maruti 800, Maruti WagonR & Honda City in the past. An awesome day added to the list of my favourite days – the moments of which I cherish always!

The scheduled time for taking delivery was 4PM, so we reached showroom about half an hour back and started all the paper related formalities. All payments were done. I personally checked the car for all accessories being correctly installed, any issues whatsoever with it. Overall, I was happy with the car. The odo reading was some 40 odd kilometres, though a bit high as my Honda City was just 6 KMs was on ODO during delivery ceremony. WagonR had some 33 KMs at this time if I remember correctly.

But, Nevertheless, there was no other issue whatsoever. The car was cleaned up and it was parked in the delivery bay where the Nexa people display your name on a display with a welcome message. So, around 5PM, we finally had the possession of our brand new Maruti Suzuki Baleno. After coming out of the showroom, we drove it to temple & my parents did Pooja for the car. I clicked few clicks of the Baleno along with her elder – The City. Finally, we reached home around 7PM in the evening and parked the Baleno in its parking. Overall, the car’s delivery experience was smooth and memorable.

The first look before the delivery ceremony with temporary registration





The parcel tray offers great utility.





7 liters of fuel was provided free





Bringing her home after pooja



A small photoshoot over the weekend







The rear design looks awesome. Front looks contemporary - kind of a modern swift. But overall it is much wider

[vnabhi]

Congrats @Bluevolt. Nice choice indeed! I know how difficult it is to let go of your WagonR, especially after a decade.

However I am surprised that you had rusting and other issues with it. Brake pads and suspension parts like struts are normal to any car, but rust in a dry place like Delhi??

In comparison, my 16 year-old Waggie has no rust at all! I did change the front struts, drive shafts and clutch so far, but that is normal to any car.

I too was contemplating a new hatchback, but have postponed it for another year as my daughter might need money for higher education.

Wish you many happy miles with it. May I ask the on-road price for your variant?

[bluevolt]

"Safety & related equipment"

Maruti has provided front driver & passenger SRS airbags along with ABS across all variants in Baleno. This is really good approach by Maruti and in my opinion, all other manufacturers should follow this practice as well. Maruti, too, should make ABS/Air bags standard across all their cars and not just in cars sold through Nexa outlets.

The LED tail lights looks really good in the night. They are visible from distance as well.





Probably the best angle to look onto a Baleno



The headlights are decent for city use. I am yet to take it to a zero street light state highways.





Festival season - a great time to buy a car



Along with her elder - The City has a new companion.







I don't know why, but I like this plain & simple grille design as compared to honeycomb grill design available in other variants.

[bluevolt]

-> Number of kms at the time of writing this review- 550 Kms

-> Usage pattern - Over 90% use will be in city with occasional highway travelling.

"Exterior styling & design- Overall build quality, fit & finish, paint quality and panel gap"

Let’s Talk about Baleno - Exteriors

For most people not having deep interest in cars and their specific variants, it will be hard to differentiate between Sigma and other variants from the exteriors. The colour we chose – Granite Grey adds to the maturity of the car. IMO, Baleno looks more elegant and mature in this colour. Baleno wears a matured look overall. It is modern yet elegant and a treat for the eyes. Unlike the assumption about Maruti car’s not being too great in terms of designing and looks, Baleno is an exception. The best angle to look at this car is every angle! My favourite is its rear design though. The front headlamps carry swiftish design looks. The grill design in Sigma variant is different than in other variants.

I had earlier read in Baleno’s official review thread that people like Sigma’s grill more than the grill present in other variant and after owning this model, I totally agree with what I had read before. The tyres are not undersized – A great thing to have a correct size tyres in your car that comes as factory fit. I have MRF tyres in my car. Recommended pressure is around 29 Psi IIRC, but I always go for 33 Psi in all my cars. Maybe I have got used to the mix of fuel efficiency & comfort that I get from this range. The door handles, ORVMs are body coloured. Full marks to Maruti to not to treat first variant of a model to be inferior. I don’t like chrome much on any car, so I like Sigma not having any chrome strip in both front & rear.

There is no rear wiper in this variant and I don’t miss it either. The LED rear lamps looks amazing in the night so does the rear spoiler. The external antenna looks cool and sturdy at the same place as well. All in all, Baleno has nice road presence, good looks and a personality that a car of this segment should be having.





At the Nexa dealership





Had a small photoshoot along with my friend's S-Cross







Baleno looks contemporary with better road presence in this color IMO





Swift alike headlamps integrates well with the design flow

[bluevolt]

"Interior design & quality, space & comfort...front & back, Driving position, ergonomics, controls & MID"

Let’s Get Inside – Interiors

I have always liked Baleno’s all black interiors. The first thing that you will notice after getting in a Baleno will space – lots of space, everywhere. Though, there is quite a difference in terms of interior designing and equipment list when you compare Sigma and other variants. You get a manual Air conditioning, front power windows, manual ORVM control, central locking system etc as good enough basic needs. There is no tachometer, no factory fit music system, rear power windows, defogger, keyless entry, Indicators on ORVM along with auto fold etc. I have deliberately missed these features by going for Sigma and the reason for going for it has been already discussed. When we talk about the interiors of Sigma after getting a 2-din system installed, they look pretty decent.

The overall look that the dashboard, meter console wears is pretty much down to earth with no frills here & there. The multi information display console carries most of the essential stuff out there including trip meters, overall fuel efficiency, current fuel efficiency, clock, range etc. The MID backlit looks good in the night and is bright enough for the day time as well. The positioning of ABC pedals is nice with a rest pedal besides clutch pedal.

Sigma variant gets front air bags with ABS. Interiors also gets two charging slots, so no complaints in terms of feature list that Maruti provides with Sigma variant. I got a Sony Bluetooth music system along with Sony speakers installed and the system integrates quite well with dashboard. It appears to be a perfect fit - matches the OEM in terms of overall fit & finish of the product. Other accessories I got includes Auto cop gear shift lock, Maruti OEM Nippon keyless entry system along with Nexa kit. The front seats are comfortable with lots of space around. No complaints whatsoever with leg room, head room, etc. The steering wheel position is also as per my expectation. The rear seats also have huge amount of space even with the front seats in full backwards position.

Under thigh support is decent and with low floor bump and mid seat bump, it assures that 3 adults can easily travel in the rear seats of Baleno. The parcel tray inclusion is great utility. The boot lid is easy to open with lots of space for luggage. The boot is wide and deep – will be boon for those airport drives with large suitcases. The door panels have plenty of storage facilities for water bottles.



The dashboard of Sigma variant with Sony double din music system in place.



Rear has loads of leg room. Seats are comfortable for 3 adults.





Plastic quality is fine but could have been a notch better







Autocop gear shift lock pin type - Got it installed from outside. Must have accessory in a car



Manual rear window



Manual AC but chills the spacious cabin really well

[bluevolt]

"Some more interior shots"

Front power window controls along with central locking button & passenger power window disable button



Hazard light switch



A closer look at the central console



Speedometer along with MID minus tachometer



Console Lights up well in the dark







A closer look at the MID - readability is really good.

[bluevolt]

" Comments & Overall opinion on Engine performance & driveability in the city, on the highway"

Let’s open the Bonnet – The Engine, Performance & Mileage.

Press the clutch pedal and turn the key to engine start position. The engine cranks with a beautiful sound and fires up within couple of seconds. The 1.2 L petrol engine is really refined. The clutch pedal is light to use. I am really impressed with the gear shift quality as well. I managed to pull the car in 3rd gear with speeds as low as possible without engine stalling. With ample of torque, I am equally impressed with car’s pick up as well.

From WagonR’s 64 BHP to 83 BHP in Baleno, the performance is way ahead that I have experienced in a hatchback. The car drives really well, and is well suited for city rides. I have currently driven my Baleno in city only and I have got used to its dimensions very easily. Though the car is wide and long, still manoeuvrability wise I have not faced any problem. Currently, the engine is in running in period so I have not driven my car over 70-80 KMPH.

As observed from this speed range, braking is good with ABS on board. With long wheel base and overall length, the overall handling also appears pretty decent. Currently I have clocked 500KMs on the ODO and average is around 15 KMPL. I guess this will improve post run in period. AC performance is really good even with 1st blower position.

I hope the AC will perform equally better in next summers in 40-46-degree heat. That will be the real test for the AC. Gear shifts are super smooth, there is hardly any effort while shifting between any gear. The engine bay has lots of room & this results in easy accessibility to the components. Baleno has single radiator fan – I as expecting two fans considering the width of the car. Engine noise is negligible with zero vibrations. MRF ZVTS 175 cross section tyres are sufficient for Baleno. Spare tyre is also of the same specification.

Engine doesn't have any cover displaying branding



Manual Transmission





Single radiator fan



Engine compartment is really spacious but there is no under body engine cover





Seems to be ABS Unit I believe

[bluevolt]

"Likes & Dislikes of the Car"

What I liked

-> Overall looks & road presence
-> Huge amount of interior space
-> Great engine & performance
-> Handling & Drivability

What I disliked

-> Build quality could have been better
-> Plastic quality could have been a notch better as well

Now what could have been better in Baleno – I can’t complain much. Overall, I am satisfied with the car. It meets all my expectations that I had set when I was shortlisting cars. Though, the build quality could have been more at the premium side along with premium looks. There is no thud when you close the doors – of course I know I cannot expect German thud from Maruti but I hope Maruti starts improving on build quality as well as they are improving on the looks of their cars. Other than that, not much negatives yet. First service is due in 15 days and by then I hope my car will complete 1000 Kms on ODO. Will keep the thread regularly updated.

So that’s it for now guys, thanks for reading and wishing all BHPians a very Happy & Prosperous Diwali!

[GTO]

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

[Lone Ranger]

Congrats on the car bluevolt, really nice color choice! If possible, try to dust and clean the car yourself - that lovely blue will be demolished by the car cleaners within no time. Since you are coming from the wagon R, how would you compare the baleno seats vs the wagon R seats in terms of comfort and lower back (lumbar) support?

[bluevolt]

Originally Posted by vnabhi

Congrats @Bluevolt. Nice choice indeed! I know how difficult it is to let go of your WagonR, especially after a decade.

However I am surprised that you had rusting and other issues with it. Brake pads and suspension parts like struts are normal to any car, but rust in a dry place like Delhi??

In comparison, my 16 year-old Waggie has no rust at all! I did change the front struts, drive shafts and clutch so far, but that is normal to any car.

I too was contemplating a new hatchback, but have postponed it for another year as my daughter might need money for higher education.

Wish you many happy miles with it. May I ask the on-road price for your variant?

Hi Vnabhi, Many thanks. Yes, even I was surprised with rusting on the lower edges of my WagonR's car doors. This started in 8th year of ownership. Not sure what could be the reason.

There were no discounts on Baleno whatsoever. No freebies as well. The final OTR (Delhi) after all accessories installed was Rs. 6,10,000.

I, too, was postponing the upgrade decision since last 2 years but the planned materialized now. I am sure you, too, will upgrade at the right time.

Originally Posted by Lone Ranger

Congrats on the car bluevolt, really nice color choice! If possible, try to dust and clean the car yourself - that lovely blue will be demolished by the car cleaners within no time. Since you are coming from the wagon R, how would you compare the baleno seats vs the wagon R seats in terms of comfort and lower back (lumbar) support?

Thanks LoneRanger.

Currently I am cleaning it myself and using the Nexa body cover to cover it when not in use. Let's see how long I can do that. I am planning to protect the paint using Collinite Wax after 1st service and then repeating the coating every 6 months.

In terms of seating comfort especially lower back, I am finding Baleno's seats to be as comfortable as compared to my City's seats. WagonR's rear seats hardly had any lower back support but this is not the case with Baleno. The seats seems to be good enough for long drives as well, though, I have got this car primarily for in city driving. I am yet to do a long drive with this car. Will surely update regarding the seating comfort during long drives.