[ant_vas]

The Background
I have been an ardent fan of Fiat cars since the time i started driving cars a decade back. My first 3 cars were all fiats (Stile 1.1 SLX, Stile 1.3 MJD and Punto Evo 1.2 Active).







Have seen fiat's journey in Indian market in close quarters and have been amused about the general public's perception about Fiat cars and service. Never had any issues with the cars nor with the servicing (even when it was Tata-Fiat). I had even been in an accident in MJD but came out without a scratch, that's very confidence inspiring build quality indeed.

Now with Fiat (FCA) focusing on the Jeep brand, i (rather my car) was feeling abandoned. Not that i had issues with the car or service but with no new car's announced nor any news about plans of fiat in india for coming years, i started to doubt if Fiat will completely stop selling their cars and instead spend all their energy on Jeep. With the compass being a success and renegade also expected to do good in India, i started to seriously think about moving away from Brand Fiat.

10 years driving and enjoying fiat cars, making this decision was not easy. This thought of mine was reinforced by the resell value fiat cars command in India's second hand car market.

So decided to get a new car after consultation with my wife and we both agreed that its better to sell our 3 year old Punto evo now than couple of years later, when the asking price will almost be like for a scrap car.

Which Car
Now that it was decided that we will get a new car, we made a conscious decision to get a Automatic/AMT petrol due to most of our usage being in bangalore and 2-4 outstation runs a year. Our daily commute from home to office is around 22KM crossing Dairy circle, St.John's hospital circle.

The reasoning being:

1) Bangalore traffic is going from bad to worse by the day

2) Auto/AMT will make it easy to drive in the maddening traffic

3) Wife can also start driving the car

4) Should come with all safety features and other bells and whistles and

5) Max budget of around 10L

Wife had tried to drive the fiat's before and had gotten her LL done twice, but she just couldn't get over the maddening traffic and preferred to be either driven around or hop in to an Uber/Ola. so i was left to enjoying the fiat's from the driver seat.

Listed the Punto on Olx and also circulated the details over whatsapp to friends and family and also started looking around and considered the following cars to replace our beloved Punto.

1) Honda Jazz: Spacious car. 1.2L engine was refined. But test drive of the Jazz AT was a disappointment. The test drive car had 20K on the odo and the rubber band effect was very pronounced! the Automatic was available only on in the mid variant. The OTR was quoted at 9.4L after free insurance and some cash discount. wasn't convinced so kept this car on hold

2) Ford Figo AT: This car has a 1.5L engine and also Dual Clutch auto, the drive was wonderful! the car drove beautifully over potholes and also the hill hold feature worked like a charm. But the car was strictly for 4! the music system was uninspiring and i felt cramped inside the cabin. With OTR of 9.52L and no discount/offers, this car was second on the hold list.

3) Hyundai i20 AT: 4 speed auto with asking price of over 11L plus, no test drive as there was no car available. 1st on dropped list

4) Hyundai Xcent AT: 4 speed auto,was well within the budget, had good features. But was not available on top trim plus no test drive car was available. 1st on the "My next car" list. The dealer was keen on selling Grand i10 AT, but i wasn't keen even on TD.

5) Maruti Suzuki Baleno AT: was available on top trim and the price was just about my set budget. was spacious as well on par with Jazz. Some how wasn't convinced with the looks. reminded me of a stretched swift. scheduled the TD but cancelled it. The kerb weight of <900 KG also made me thing about its structural strength. 2nd on the dropped list

6) Maruti Suzuki Dzire AGS: AMT in all trims, was about the right budget. The new dzire of 2017 looks a lot better than the previous 2 gen cars (hated the looks) and with those killer DRL and projector lamps, the ZXi+ trim looked irresistible. Was worried about its kerb weight also being <1000 KG, but after seeing the car in person some how i felt the build strength was acceptable. this car moved to the top of my "Next car" list

7) KUV 100: While i was looking at other car's, wife suggested to checkout KUV100 as her brother drives one. Have driven it and the drive is good. but the vibrations was off-putting! Automatic version were launched around the same time but wasn't convinced if the petrol cars from mahindra are worth considering. dropped it without test drive. 3rd car on the dropped list

8) Duster AT: My Brother in law drive a duster diesel and its a hoot to drive. The jaded interior and AT being over the budget dropped it even before contact dealer for TD

9) Honda WR-V: Yes considered this car as well even though it was manual. The TD was good, the 1.2L engine performed well. waiting period of 3 months and OTR of over 10L for top trim, dropped it from the list.

10) Honda Amaze: was just about the right size and budget. feature list was ok, but the looks weren't, dropped it without a test drive.

11) Tata Tigor: Was not sure about the 3 cylinder engine and the vibration, hence dropped it without inquiry/test drive.

Xcent and Dzire were the 2 final contenders left in the fray.

Selling the Punto:
While i was doing test drives for new cars, i also asked the dealers to evaluate and quote for my punto evo. The max quote across all maruti/Hyundai/ford/Honda dealers was 2.6L.

On Olx it was a different story. I had listed the car for 3.59L and there were people claiming to be fiat lovers and asking the car for 2.2L and then there were others other who offered 3L without even seeing the car in person.

Out of almost 20 offers on Olx, only 3 turned up to see the car in person!
The 1st one took a TD, was impressed and offered 3.2L. I informed him that i would like to meet couple of other folks who were to come and see the car. While i waited for other folks to come and see the car, this guy kept following up with me. The offers on Olx were stuck at 3L and i started to believe that the person who offered 3.2L might be willing to increase it a little. gave him a final price of 3.35L but he stood at 3.3L saying its already more.

The next day another potential buyer came, took the test drive and when i said minimum price i am looking is 3.5L, he immediately agreed! He took my bank details to do transfer token advance. There was another potential buyer in the next hour from Olx who wanted to see the car. tried avoiding him with reasons like: stuck in meeting, on call etc. but he insisted that he will see the car himself and if i can send the key thru a friend he will just check the interiors but won't start the car. Sent one of our office colleague with the keys.

I receive a call from my colleague who went down with the key and he informed me that a courier vehicle hit my car and bumper is damaged!
I ran down, while this potential buyer was still there. Thankfully the courier vehicle had only touched the rear right tire mud flap and there wasn't any damage to the actual bumper. sent the courier guy on his way while the potential buyer sat inside the car, fiddled with music system and offered 3.4L! i told him i have standing offer of 3.5L from another person and if he doesn't pay the money will let him know.

By evening, received the token advance and removed the ad from Olx, happy and satisfied with the price i got for my car. The buyer took the delivery on 28 Oct after making the full payment.

There went my Beloved Fiat Punto!



Decision time

Between Xcent and Dzire, it came down to the features and the space they offered.

Xcent 2017: Has decent space, good interiors, ok exterior and fit and finish are top notch. the 2017 update has some additional features like keyless entry, reverse parking sensors, electrical OVRMS, LED DRL. But the AT was 4 speed and was not available in SX(O) trim. OTR was around 8.7L and they did offer some discounts. But as the features between the S and SX(O) trim differed, i wasn't convinced.

DZire 2017: Fresh looks, spacious, AMT on all trims in both Petrol and Diesel. The fit and finish was good, the car drove well during TD in city traffic on pot holed roads.The ZXI+ AGS trim came with 7" infotainment system, Projector LED headlamps, LED DRL, Special Alloy wheels. The OTR was around 10.08L and no offer/discounts were offered.

Wife and i had discussion on the choice of car as the OTR quoted by dealers for Dzire ZXi+AGS in Bangalore was just over 10L mark. Convinced wife that we can go for this car as it has all bells and whistles plus the safety features.

Also my Head took precedent over heart and the resale value of the car also became one of the important point for this decision. Even though Hyundai commands a good resale value, but am sure a big S badge fetches a lot more in India.

With no test drive car available Xcent AT, and my head set to Dzire, it became a easy decision for me to zero in on the winner Dzire ZXi+AGS

Booking and Dealership experience

We decided to go with the Oriental Blue color for the car.

Contacted Kalyani, Bimal, Kataria, Mandovi, Sagar automobiles to get the final quote and also the delivery time frame.

Kalyani was snobish: they didn't follow up after initial quote and were like 3 month waiting period take it or leave it

Bimal was better in responding and willing to make the sale. But they too stuck to 12 - 15 week waiting period and no leeway

Mandovi claimed they can get the car faster but with the Baleno service episode doing rounds on internet, i wasn't comfortable going with them.

Sagar also said waiting period was 12 - 15 weeks for Blue car but can readily deliver the grey one, we declined the offer of grey.

Kataria sales executive was nice, he followed up diligently and also confirmed that they do have a blue ZXi+AGS in stock and can deliver it in 3 days if i book the car and complete the paperwork with in 3 days.

Since there was no offer / Discount offered on Dzire for obvious reasons, we decided to go ahead and book the car with kataria motors. I was of the impression that the sales executive i was dealing with was from Kanakapura road showroom, but he was from Domlur showroom. Made online transfer of 11K booking amount and got confirmation call and receipt the next day.

Had informed the dealer that i won't take the insurance (quoted at 26K), ext warranty (~12.5K) and the accessories (5K). As ext warranty can be bought anytime during the base warranty period i chose not to go with it now.

As i had to travel on work, couldn't initiate the paper work on the same day. Once back in bangalore, after delivering my punto to the buyer on 28 Oct, gave the documents for loan processing at 12 PM and it was approved by 4PM by HDFC as i have salary account with them. Got 8.5% interest rate.

The sales guy was to come and take me to the yard for doing the PDI on 31. Before he came the bank person called and informed that the dealership is asking for the funds to be released. I asked him to hold on till i complete the PDI.

The sales guy cam in a celerio AMT and i felt it drove well. reached the yard on kanakapura road, searched for the car among hundreds of cars parked there. The car looked fine, interiors were clean. car Started without a problem. Body was without a scratch. made note of chassis and engine number and left from the yard. satisfied with the PDI asked the bank person to release the funds and the delivery of the new car was fixed for 4 Nov as i was traveling out of bangalore from 2-3 Nov.

I started to scour for the insurance. Bajaj quoted 25K, Tata AIG gave a quote of 19.5K at 8L IDV. HDFC Ergo matched it at 19.5K. Initially dealer asked me to get the quote and they would match it. But when they saw the zero dep quote was less than 20K, they backed out. Finally went with Tata-Aig

On the night of 31 Oct, i get call from the kataria sales person who hands the phone to his GM. This gentleman starts off confirming my booking, but i could sense there is something fishy with the way he is speaking. He then proceeds to say that they can't deliver the car (the one for which i did PDI) as it was flood damaged in their yard due to rains. They have replaced the floor mat in this car and it is awaiting inspection from maruti before being sent to Truevale.

As i had personally seen the car in the yard and knew 1st hand that this was BS, i told him if he can't deliver the car as per commitment, then i will cancel the booking. He tried to hard sell a sherwood brown car in the same trim but i put my foot down and made it clear that oriental Blue ZXi+AGS is what i booked and that's what i expect to be delivered on 4 Nov.

He committed that he shall arrange this car from some other dealer and will deliver it on 4th as per commit and ended the call. With in next 1 minute he calls back and starts to push me to buy insurance and ext warranty. I just asked him to first ensure the car is available before talking about other stuff. He simply disconnected the call.

After the call, i called up the bank person to confirm if the funds were released to the dealer. to my surprise he informs me that they asked him not to release as the car was booked by other kataria showroom and it will be delivered to some other customer.

Next day sales person calls and confirms that they have arranged for a new car from another dealership and it will be delivered on 4 Nov as per commitment. He even sent photos of the car over whatsapp



Verified the VIN and confirmed that it was a different car than the one i saw in the yard for PDI. as i was not in Bangalore on these days, i had to simply trust and go with this new car.

Completed the insurance purchase from Tata-AIG and sent the document to the sales person by 12.30PM to get the car registered at jayanagar RTO. As the insurance document arrived only by 12.30PM couldn't get the car registered on 3rd Nov, instead it was scheduled for 4th Nov, the same day scheduled for delivery. The sales person assured me that by 3 PM the car will be ready for delivery

Delivery experience

Reached dealership with parents and wife on 4th Nov afternoon around 3.30PM. the Car was washed, polished and kept ready for delivery. Finished the paperwork and also asked them to install 3D mats to avoid soiling the beige floor. Both parents were seeing the car for first time and they were mightily impressed with the looks and loved the blue color.

The sales person quickly explained the features and informed that they have already filled 5L of petrol in the car. We did a small photo ceremony. funnily apart from the sales person and front desk lady (to click photo) no one from dealership was present at the time of delivery. Guess since i didn't purchase insurance/ext warranty/accessories and no dealer sticker, they were giving me the cold treatment

The sales person got the car cleaned one more time with an additional strap of ribbon on the bonnet before handing over the keys. It was around 5PM



Started from dealership in domlur and went straight to the temple as dad insisted that we do the puja before going home. Had to reverse the car completely on two roads as one was a dead end and other was blocked due to drain work.

By the time we were done with the puja and starte for home, it was close to 7PM.



From the temple went to Indian Oil petrol bunk in domlur near the post office and asked to do a full tank. realized that the bunk is cheating the customers as the car drank 38.5L of petrol when the tank capacity is 37L. add to that 5L petrol the dealer had already filled! Didn't want to spoil our happy occasion by getting in to an argument with the bunk attendants, so just paid and started to drive towards home.

Interiors:

The Dzire ZXI+AGS trim comes with beige color interiors. Its so much beige that you will have nightmare thinking about keeping the clean from inside. the seats, the door pads, the rear parcel tray and even the floor is beige.

The windows are big and offer good view from inside. The IVRM appears very delicate but does its job.

The panel on the driver side door hosts OVRM adjustment joystick, central lock, power windows buttons. The quality of these buttons is just about average and look outdated

The dashboard is combination of black, beige and false wooden finish. In the 1 week usage of the car, i haven't driven the car with windows down, AC circulation kept to internal but still i see dust gathered on the black part of the dash board. may be from the carpet but looks like its a dust magnet

The glove box is beige in color, looks ok and the plastic quality appears cheap. Just open it you will realize the cost cutting done by maruti Suzuki.

The false wood finish bit is there on the dashboard, below the front door handles and also on the steering wheel. Definitely gives a premium look

The front doors come with good amount of storage space including place to hold 1 ltr water bottle. The back side doors also provide storage place.

There are 2 cup holder in front of the 12V charging/USB/Aux ports at the center. The rear passengers also get 12V charger and place to keep their mobile phone (only 1)

The steering wheel comes leather wrapped and its good to hold. The volume control, mode selection, phone control and voice recognition button are provided on the left side. The steering wheel is height adjustable but telescopic adjustment is missing

The 7" touch screen infotainment system sits at the center of the dash board and is easily accessible. The touch sensitivity is good. it connects easily to phone via Bluetooth and lets you see your call log and read SMS messages on screen. (No whatsapp though). The infotainment system also comes with built in Android auto, for which we need to connect the android phone via a USB cable to the USB port below the automatic climate control unit. Need to download the Android auto app on the phone and you can use google maps for navigation with live traffic updates instead of the Here maps bundles with the system. I haven't been able to fully explore the infotainment system so far except for the music player part.

The ZXI+ trim comes with 6 speakers and the sound output is decent. The system comes with inbuilt presets like: Rock, Pop, Jazz, Classic etc. for my untrained ears the flat preset works just fine. The FM radio reception is ok as i could feel the music from phone sounded a lot better than FM. The mute button also works as pause/play when playing music via Bluetooth from the phone. There is volume increase with speed feature available with 2 levels. By default this feature is disables.

The system comes with inbuilt navigation using Here maps. There also GPS available (i guess in the antenna). You need to enter the destination and can navigate but there is no live traffic update. The maps are stored on SD card and we need to get the stored maps updated during our visits to the service stations.

When we engage the reverse gear, the display automatically switches to rear view camera which has good clarity. It also has guide lines and there is a beep sound to alert the driver of the distance of any object near by. This beeping sound can be turned off, but i recommend dzire owners to never do that.

The automatic climate control system works well and cools the cabin quickly. You can set the temperature using the rotating knob on the right and adjust the fan speed using the rotating knob on the left. Mode button provides option to select the air flow direction. There are buttons for front and rear defogger as well in the same panel. You can use the system to automatically control the temperature or can use in Manual mode or even in the fan mode only. The center AC vents can be adjusted for direction of airflow but no option to shut them completely. The side AC vents though provide both direction and flow control option. The side vents are in Beige which flows from the beige color of the dashboard. A littel silver border and black grill would have made it look little classy



The MID, provides information such as: Total KM, Trip A, Trip B, current mileage, trip mileage, time, external temperature and gear shift. It will also display if your car is in D more or M mode. It will display N when the car is in neutral.

The instrument panel also has lights for handbrake, seat warning belt (with beep), temperature, warning for pressing the brake to shift to D mode from N mode and host of other displays.

Front bucket seats are comfortable with the right amount of cushion and back/thigh support. The driver side seat comes with height adjustment which is really helpful if more than 1 person will drive the car. The head rest are a little bigger but are placed at an angel which is comfortable for me. The road visibility is good and due to height adjustment feature can easily get a commanding view of the road.

The back seat also has good cushion and under thigh support. The back seat can accommodate 3 medium built adults with just about right shoulder space. head room is fine. For my height of 5' 11" the head room was adequate. The leg room for rear passengers is good and even after taking the front seats to full back position, you would have enough space for your legs. The back side passenger seat comes with magazine holder, no such thing on the driver seat back side. The rear passengers get AC vents with direction control. There is no foot level AC vents. (punto had them on active trim as well) The person sitting in the center will have direct hit from the AC and also, he/she might have proper back support due to foldable armrest. When open the arm rest has 2 cup holders.





The parcel tray is beige in color and is shaped such that it curves towards the seat. not sure if anything kept there will stay.(no more soft toys staring at you from car in front :-D)

The boot is spacious and should be able accommodate couple of big luggage without any problem. There is a light for easy use in the night time as the carpet in the boot is black in color.

The spare tire is 14" with steel rim instead of the 15" which are used on the running tires. There is no thermocol storage for the tools provided.




Exteriors:

The car looks different than the outgoing dzire from the front (atleast in the ZXI+ trim). This is mainly due to the hexagonal grill with chrome lining, projector LED headlamps and those bright LED DLR.



The projector headlights with DRL look gorgeous



The fog lamps though emit yellow color light and looks ugly when the headlight and DRL both emit white color. Planning to change the bulbs (H16, 12V, 19W) suggestions are welcome.



From the side the car looks beautiful with the line flowing properly from the front to the back. In fact the new 2017 dzire doesn't look like any of the previous 2 gen dzire from the side



The car comes with key less entry system. There is a request button on both the driver and passenger side doors on the front.



From the back the car looks same as the old gen dzire which is sad. a little tweaking in the design to make the boot lid more curved would have made this car look completely different than its predecessor



The boot lid it very light weight and not sure if it can stand impact from a bike! there is no plastic/carpet insulation provided on the inside of the boot lid and it looks ugly with all the gaps and wires hanging.



The boot can be opened by pressing the button on the wireless key fob or using the boot release lever on the driver side floor or using the request button which is neatly tucked on the boot lid along with the reverse camera, number plate board lights.

I am not a big fan of the rear view of the car and also don't like too much chrome on my car.
The wheels are 15" and come with a beautiful alloy design.They provide good grip on the road and so far haven't noticed much of road noise



Initial driving impression

Start the car by pressing the brake pedal and pressing the start/stop button and the engine comes to life. The engine is pretty quiet and there are no vibrations felt inside the cabin.

During cold starts in the morning, the engine RPM will hover around 1500 for a minute and half before settling down to around 700-800. During this 1-1.5 minute time you can also see the blue temperature light glow in the dashboard.

After filling the petrol, started towards home in BSK, used the D mode the whole route. Even though the car pulls swiftly, i started to notice that there is a 1-2 second delay between the gear changes being done by the controller. No one else in the car was able to tell the difference but driving the car i was definitely feeling the loss of power for 1-2 second every time gear was changed.

The road noise was also well insulated. apart from my observation about the fear shift the drive was smooth and traffic was also less. Reached home and parked the car at its designated slot to retire for the day. As it was hardly less than 10KM drive back home couldn't observe much about the way car drives.

The next day evening went out to Mysore road for dinner with my friends. My friend chetan was dropped to my place by his wife in their Honda City Diesel. She wanted to see how the new Dzire drives with AMT. after a quick spin she came out impressed. Once other friends joined, 5 of us drove towards Mysore road.

I was driving initially and took the uttarahalli main road as mysore road is a mess due to on-going metro work. drove in D mode and the drive was nice and smooth. I was learning about at what RPM the gear changes happen so that i can release the gas to avoid that loss of power feeling. As i have been driving fiat's for a decade i was cautious and hardly crossed 40 kmph. After crossing decathlon, chetan took the wheels and he started with D mode, but switched to M mode. Boy the car runs in Manul mode.With auto downshift of gears in manual mode, it was a breeze to drive and he enjoyed driving it.

It was drizzling slightly and we got a chance to check the wipers in action. The wipers are a little small and don't clean all the way up. But the portion which is part of drivers vision will be cleaned. I also notices that the left wiper was make shuddering noise. may be it was due to lack of lubrication as the rain was just a drizzle.

After dinner, started back and this time another friend of mine Raghu took the wheels and he too liked the way the car drove in both D and M modes. In fact the very next day after reaching his office in his Hyundai Getz, he sends a whatsapp message in our group that after driving my car last night, he is thinking if he can fit the engine and gear box in his getz! The Odo read 130KM and the fuel efficiency on the MID is shown as 11.5 kmpl. This is with AC on 70% of the time.

The stability on the car and the road manners was good on the highway. M mode is recommended for highway drives to enable easy overtaking.

Come monday and have been driving the car to work daily and the AMT at low rpm's is very eager to change gears (both up-shift and downshifts). It can be irritating at time, but the solution is to keep the car at little higher revs and it should be fine. I am also developing the habit of taking my foot of the gas pedal once the rpm needle crossed 2000 and the controller invariably up-shifts with no visible loss of power feeling for a second or two. Today deliberately drove at little higher rpm by being heavy footed on the gas pedal and the drive was much smoother (and faster)

The other observation is if you are waiting at a traffic light, don't expect the car to pull immediately in D mode. it will takes its time and you won't like it. Its better to engage M mode if you don't want vehicles to honk behind you. Another observation is if you want to quickly slot the car to D mode from Neutral and drive away, be sure to have the brake pressed. Else there will be a beep and a light on dashboard indicating the didn't switch to D mode and 1st gear isn't engaged.

When the car is in D or M mode default 1st gear is engaged. If you are waiting at the traffic light and haven't put the car to neutral, the 1st gear will remain engaged. Since there is no clutch pedal, driver might forget to out the car in neutral when at stand still and this might take a toll on the clutch life and also mileage.

The steering is very light weight (EPS). Even though it makes it easier to handle the car but coming from fiat where HPS gave exact feedback about whats happening with the car, this EPS will take sometime for me to get used to.

The braking comes with ABS and so far the performance has been good. I haven't had any situation (thankfully) to apply the brake in emergency situation.

The odo reads 210 KM as on today and the mileage displayed is as 11.6 kmpl. i have been driving inside city only in D mode and hope i will learn more about the car and adjust my driving style to the way gear shifts happen in D mode.

The AMT has ensured that my left leg is literally useless once i sit in the car!

My Wife will also start her driving lessons this week and hopefully she too will drive and start enjoying the car.

Likes
1) Looks: especially with the LED DRL and LED projector headlamps and yes the blue color.

2) comfortable seats: Both front and back seats and comfortable with good cushion. back seats have an good incline angle as well and also have ISOFIX for child seat.

3) Space: has generous head room, leg room for both front and rear seat passengers

4) Reverse camera: Clear picture with guide lines even in the night. The beep sound is also a good feature.

5) 15" tires with awesome looking alloy wheels appear to have nice grip and also give a distinct look to the car.

6) Keyless lock/unlock for door and boot and Keyless start /stop for engine.

7) Car won't start if the key fob isn't inside the car. also if the drive stick is in D mode, car wont start! It has to be in N position and brake should be pressed.

8) Good storage space and 2 charging points and 1 USB/Aux port

9) Infotainment system with built in GPS navigation and Android Auto (still figuring our the android auto part)

10) So far, with whatever i have driven i feel the drive and handling is pretty good.

Dislikes
1) There is a large blank space in the upper half of MID above the gear indicator.

2) Doors don't unlock after the ignition is switched off, have to manually use the unlock button. I find it weird as my Punto evo active had this feature.

3) There is no cladding on the inside of the boot lid! for a car which cost 1 million on road, maruthi could have at least given carpet type cover if not plastic one. Not even available as accessory! Again punto evo active had a nice plastic cover for the inside of the boot lid. Also the boot lid is very thin :-(

4) Major Dislike: Too much Beige! seats and doors are understandable, but the entire floor is beige! Its a nightmare to keep it clean.

5) No Black color! Why maruti, why? This car in Black with those Led DRL and headlamps would be a killer!

6) While the DRL and headlamps emit white color light (~4000 - 4200K), the fog lamps are yellow in color (guess <3500 K). This looks ugly! i don't use the fog lamps just for this reason and any which ways the DRL are pretty bright

7) The glove box looks and feels flimsy and cheap! not done for a car costing 1M

8) Mirrors don't fold automatically after the ignition is switched off. Have to manually do this.

9) The controller is eager to up-shift/down-shift. especially on inclines. from my home to the main road there is a incline which can be done easily in 2nd gear. The controller goes to 2nd gear in D mode, but then in the middle of the climb decides to shift down to 1st gear even though the engine was not stressed. This always results in loss of power feeling for 1-2 seconds. I know manual mode is to used here but the D mode does the job all right.

10) No illumination on the power window button except for driver side. common maruti!

11) Spare wheel is 14" steel with a speed limit of 80 kmph! at least 15" with steel rim would have been nice.

Even though i have more points on the dislike list than the like list, i am still very happy with the car and i am enjoying the clutch free driving in bangalore! I am also learning that the controller usually up shifts around 2000 rpm, so if i lift my foot of the accelerator around 2000 rpm mark the controller up shifts and there is no jerk/loss of power feeling

Accessories installed:
- Got Window sun shades with zipper from amazon (auto pearl)
- Jopasu car duster from amazon
- Car windshield sunshade from amazon (this really helps)
- Dexeros dash cam (from the old car)
- 3D floor mats (MGA)

Planning to get the following done:
- Car seat covers in Black to break the beige interiors
- 3M door edge transparent stickers
- Door edge guards
- alloy spare wheel with 15" tire (for a later date)

Thanks for reading, do let me know if i haven't understood some of the features of my car.

[GTO]

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

[ALTIMAed]

Hi Ant_vas, congratulations on your new acquisition. Wishing you many miles with many smiles.

I drive a Dzire ZDI AMT purchased on 14th July 2016, having done 17,xxx Kms till date. Having previously driven slush boxes (Nissan Tiida and Renault Safrane) and CVTs (Nissan Altima) at Oman, it did not take me much time / kms to get used to the AMT. If I could say, it is just a matter of time, for you and the AMT to adjust to each other.

Refering to your dislikes

1) 1) There is a large blank space in the upper half of MID above the gear indicator - my car has the external temperature displayed at the blank space.

2) Doors don't unlock after the ignition is switched off, have to manually use the unlock button. I find it weird as my Punto evo active had this feature - my car has this feature, kindly refer the owner's manual, you may find how to set it. But if MUL has skipped this feature, its wrong on their part.

8) Mirrors don't fold automatically after the ignition is switched off. Have to manually do this - my car has a switch which when depressed, both the ORVM fold, am surprised MUL has omitted this feature in the new Dzire (check if there is a button near the joystick that controls the mirror adjustment).

[libranof1987]

Congratulations on the new car! The 2017 DZire sure is a looker. Glad that you've got the highest trim with every possible safety feature.

I'm surprised Kataria pulled off such a stunt, especially given all the news on another Bangalore dealer. I think you should escalate this to Maruti. You take every precaution and then having to select the car without a PDI is not fair to you. At that stage when you're mentally prepared to bring home your car in a few days, what Kataria did is very lousy business ethics.

Also, regarding how much fuel went in to tank on the first day: it is routinely documented that the car can take in more fuel than what the tank is estimated to be. Can't say with certainty that the bunk didn't cheat but it is plausible that your car took in more than 37l. Quite likely that the dealer didn't fill 5l.

All this apart, wish you a wonderful ownership period!

[PetaWatt]

Congrats for the new car, wish you great miles ahead. Thanks for sharing the experience.

Originally Posted by ant_vas

After the call, i called up the bank person to confirm if the funds were released to the dealer. to my surprise he informs me that they asked him not to release as the car was booked by other kataria showroom and it will be delivered to some other customer.

This unethical practice is being done by multiple dealers now a days.

Originally Posted by ant_vas

no dealer sticker

I dont know why dealers think they can put sticker without asking the owner. If they give discount in return just to put the stickers, it will make sense

Originally Posted by ant_vas

realized that the bunk is cheating the customers as the car drank 38.5L of petrol when the tank capacity is 37L. add to that 5L petrol the dealer had already filled!

Was filling stopped at autocut? After autocut, tank can take still take 6L+ of fuel (Not recommended, never do this)

Originally Posted by ant_vas

there is no plastic/carpet insulation provided on the inside of the boot lid and it looks ugly with all the gaps and wires hanging.

If this is because of the cost cutting, its a very bad decision by Maruti. There are chances of small things falling in the panel through those big gapes. Make sure your cover the big holes in the panel using Platic board and double sided tape.

Originally Posted by ant_vas

Even though the car pulls swiftly, i started to notice that there is a 1-2 second delay between the gear changes being done by the controller. No one else in the car was able to tell the difference but driving the car i was definitely feeling the loss of power for 1-2 second every time gear was changed.

A typical AMT characteristics. It is like someone else pressing the clutch and shifting the gear, without telling you to release the accelerator pedal.

Originally Posted by ant_vas

Doors don't unlock after the ignition is switched off, have to manually use the unlock button.
Mirrors don't fold automatically after the ignition is switched off

There is a different angle to look onto these behaviour of car. Imagine you are at a signal, and timer is showing 120 secs before Green signal will be given. You might decide to switch off the engine.

Originally Posted by ant_vas

alloy spare wheel with 15" tire (for a later date)

For my first car, I bought set of 5 alloys. I sold the car after 6 years, 60000 kms. Spare wheel not being used a single time. Once my rear left tyre was punctured, as it was tubeless, I noticed it next day. Used the puncture kit to remove the nail and push the glue strap, used the inflator to fill in the air. The same inflator I use once a month to keep tyre pressure in check.
Cost of 1 Extra alloy = INR 4000
Cost of Puncture Kit+Inflator = 200+1500 = Rs 1700

[ROG_AK]

Originally Posted by ant_vas

..
2) Doors don't unlock after the ignition is switched off, have to manually use the unlock button. I find it weird as my Punto evo active had this feature.

8) Mirrors don't fold automatically after the ignition is switched off. Have to manually do this.
..

Enjoy the new car, it should serve you well. Check the MID settings, there should be an option to change the way the doors lock / unlock.
For the mirrors you can get a relay for about two thousand which can enable this feature.

[ant_vas]

1) 1) There is a large blank space in the upper half of MID above the gear indicator - my car has the external temperature displayed at the blank space.

2) Doors don't unlock after the ignition is switched off, have to manually use the unlock button. I find it weird as my Punto evo active had this feature - my car has this feature, kindly refer the owner's manual, you may find how to set it. But if MUL has skipped this feature, its wrong on their part.

8) Mirrors don't fold automatically after the ignition is switched off. Have to manually do this - my car has a switch which when depressed, both the ORVM fold, am surprised MUL has omitted this feature in the new Dzire (check if there is a button near the joystick that controls the mirror adjustment).

Hey thanks ALTIMAed.

In the MID, the external temperature is displayed on the top most line.

Haven't been able to explore the owners manual in details so i may have missed out on this feature setting.

For ORVM's yes there is a button on the driver side door panel, i have to press it manually. I believe they should retract automatically.

Also, regarding how much fuel went in to tank on the first day: it is routinely documented that the car can take in more fuel than what the tank is estimated to be. Can't say with certainty that the bunk didn't cheat but it is plausible that your car took in more than 37l. Quite likely that the dealer didn't fill 5l.

Thanks for your wishes libranof1987, yes i asked the attendant to stop as soon as the auto cut-off kicked in. lets see how much fuel goes next time.

For my first car, I bought set of 5 alloys. I sold the car after 6 years, 60000 kms. Spare wheel not being used a single time. Once my rear left tyre was punctured, as it was tubeless, I noticed it next day. Used the puncture kit to remove the nail and push the glue strap, used the inflator to fill in the air. The same inflator I use once a month to keep tyre pressure in check.
Cost of 1 Extra alloy = INR 4000
Cost of Puncture Kit+Inflator = 200+1500 = Rs 1700

Thanks PetaWatt, you certainly make a valid point about the spare tire. in fact in my last car my spare tire wasn't used at all! i already carry tire inflator and tubeless puncture kit, i am gonna stick to you advise and leave the spare tire as it it.

Enjoy the new car, it should serve you well. Check the MID settings, there should be an option to change the way the doors lock / unlock.

Thanks ROG_AK! i do see a setting in MID about doors, but i am still not able to fully understand how to use the setting menu. have to spend couple of hour going thru each feature for easy understanding.

Hope you are able to put the tremendous attention you article about service experience with mandovi back and are able to enjoy your baleno!


Further update on the car

Took the car to 3M car care in Basavanagudi yesterday and spent half a day getting the following done:

1) Under body and silencer coating
2) Essential paint protection package
3) Nomad mats (black)
4) 3M transparent stickers on the door edges.

After the essential package, the car's color looks little darker and also more shiner. Not sure what kind of polish they used at the dealership before delivery but i felt it dulled the color of the car. spent around 14K and i am satisfied with the work done.

Nomad mats are on the expensive side, lets hope they perform better than the regular noodle mats as claimed by the 3M showroom folks.

Coming to Driving, with more KM i drive i have started to love the car more. The AMT is performing well and am slowly getting used to it.

The tire and suspension setup work really well. The car handles and drives really well on the highway. it can take corners at 80 kmph without any challenge.

[adeshsurroach]

Congratulations on your new car!

Dzire surely has come up with a nice package as part of its third generation car. It is an ideal choice for whom Ciaz is a stretch budget-wise.

The issue with the delivery of your car needs to be brought to the attention of Maruti I believe.

What was the rating you gave to the dealership when the car was delivered? This would be an ideal opportunity to raise an issue and by giving low rating, Maruti would have themselves followed up on priority.

[ant_vas]

What was the rating you gave to the dealership when the car was delivered? This would be an ideal opportunity to raise an issue and by giving low rating, Maruti would have themselves followed up on priority

surprisingly till date i haven't got any call from maruti Suzuki about my experience of buying a new car!

I received a call only from the same dealership. I am wondering does maruti keep track of all new car sales that happen? do they call each and every individual and take feedback?

[sandx]

Originally Posted by ant_vas

1) Under body and silencer coating
2) Essential paint protection package
3) Nomad mats (black)
4) 3M transparent stickers on the door edges.

Congratulations on the new car ant_vas. It sure does look gorgeous, specially in the blue shade. A noob question if you would please review, what is the advantage of using 3M transparent stickers. Would also like to see an image if possible on the area where it has been applied.

[bhpfaninblr]

Congratulations on the new car! Looks gorgeous. How much did the underbody coating cost?

[ant_vas]

A noob question if you would please review, what is the advantage of using 3M transparent stickers. Would also like to see an image if possible on the area where it has been applied.

Thanks sandx. i park my car at a spot where there is wall on the driver side. when you open the door, there is chance of the door edge hitting the wall and the door getting damaged. So to prevent this i have got the 3M transparent sticker applied on the door edge. This sticker is a more thicker and kind of takes the impact there by preventing the damage to the metal. This sticker can be applied from bonnet to roof to bumpers to running board. infact i remember seeing a photo on this forum where a gentle man got his new car wrapped completely with this transparent film. prevents nicks/scratches due to traffic as well. will try to get a photo for you.

How much did the underbody coating cost?

Thanks bhpfaninblr. They 3M folks charge separately for under body coating and silencer coating. Together they would cost you ~6K.

Here are some photos, sorry for the bad quality as i took them from my phone.

[tacho9000]

Congratulations on your new car ant_vas. The AMT as you have said about the driving pattern is the perfect way to use it. I have done a few short trips with BHPian ALTIMAed in his Dzire AMT and everytime come out impressed. Wishing you many more miles in your new car. And this is the model of dzire I fell in love with instantaneously, the first gen grew on me over time and the second gen I could never digest but this generation looks stunning specially the blue in the top end trim.

Regards,
Subhra

[Sridhar K]

Originally Posted by PetaWatt

For my first car, I bought set of 5 alloys. I sold the car after 6 years, 60000 kms. Spare wheel not being used a single time. Once my rear left tyre was punctured, as it was tubeless, I noticed it next day. Used the puncture kit to remove the nail and push the glue strap, used the inflator to fill in the air. The same inflator I use once a month to keep tyre pressure in check.
Cost of 1 Extra alloy = INR 4000
Cost of Puncture Kit+Inflator = 200+1500 = Rs 1700

There is another way to look at this. With spare tyres, it is always advisable to do a 5 wheel rotation every 5K. So, each tyre gets rested for every 5k kms thereby providing 20% more life for your tyres.Otherwise it is wasted if you just keep it in the boot

[Newpunter]

Congrats on the new Car. I'm also an Ex-Fiat owner, but I bought a Rapid instead. I did consider the Dzire seriously before settling on the Rapid. I think it is great value for money and it has all the features one wants in this price range. It also looks great when compared to the ugly previous version.

The AMT was the only thing that I didn't like in the car. I had already driven the DSG cars from VW and Skoda, so the AMT stuck out like a sore thumb and ultimately was the reason I opted for the Rapid.

Wishing you a lot of happy miles on your new car .