[PioneerNB]

Any one else having memories where you are racing around your friends in bicycles and imagining it to be Bikes/ Cars? For the sake of it I had renamed my cycle to Eleanor from Gone in 60 Seconds, with such a rich childhood experience in a small town named Udhagamandalam I grew up with friends who had similar passion. Blessed to be surrounded by blessed people, I got to travel in many cars/ bikes at a fairly early age and wanted to get behind the wheel as soon as possible.

After a few years (that’s how 90’s kids still treat themselves) ended up in Pune and was finally able to afford a second hand car. And I ended up with a Celerio AMT.



“Wait a minute” I know and please let me explain more on why Eleanor ended up as Creep-enor.

1. First pre owned car, so need to test waters with low investment.
2. Budget set till 4Lakh.
3. Car age up to 5 years.
4. Less than 40,000 Kilometers.
5. Well maintained, the Team BHP guidelines.
6. Good vibes: the car must give good positive vibration
7. Prefer a car serviced at ASC’s.
8. Automatic: Travelling in self-drive cars and in “Pune” I realized the clutch was slowly making me hate driving so tilted towards AMT/Automatic as a first owning experience(anyways future is electric and automatic so why bother).
9. I am a travel freak and do not want to be checking my already strapped pockets for fuel cash (Period: super happy with the 18Km/ltr I am getting).
10. Low maintenance costs (let me circle back to this later).
11. Known brand and ease of access to service centers and spares.
12. Petrol (Period).
13. I must be aware of the issues while buying the car and not be taken by surprise later.

I wanted to go the pre-owned route for my first car because:

A. Have an OCD to be spic and span, so a new car in Pune would bring my heart out my throat within a few days: scratches, chips and what not: once I heard a person comment “its Pune bro expect scratches and move on, to a Grand i10 owner whom he scratched with his ape”.
B. No car in India excites me to shell out money. Jimny, Tata HB2 and Thar (5 doors, rendered) makes me go weak, a year/two after they launch I will lay my hand on a new one. Ford Endeavor is my dream and I am working hard to hopefully achieve it one day.

Decision Rationale

I had shortlisted numerous hatchbacks, my base list consisted of the below table, have excluded the below cars/brands for reasons pertaining to myself alone.

1. Wagon R: Too boxy and high speed stability.
2. Alto: Wonderful go cart where we sit down also like in a go cart.
3. Datsun: Could not connect with the design and I do not see many cars in Pune.
4. Chevy: Because GM told GB to India.

The representation is basis second hand costs in Pune and my judgment basis staying in Katraj. It brings out Swift, Grand i10 and Celerio at the top, I test drove numerous cars amongst the lot.

Grand i10: The Achilles heel is fuel efficiency due to it being a proper TC and service cost: so it was thrown out: I loved the feature packed and well done interiors (test drove an almost new car(2 year old) with remote start stop button, ahh the comfort and lack of security). There are so many almost new ones on sale in Pune, must be the fuel consumption panic that makes people sell the cars within 2/3 years of ownership.

Swift: Not many Amt’s out there but the Dzire had many. I was comfortable to look at a sedan also and went for many test drives. It ticked all boxes. Simply flawless and fun to drive, even in AMT it did what it was required from it. It was overpriced be certified or normal. True value seems even more priced than new cars if we calculate the costs of depreciation.

Tiago: I loved the cute styling but Pune has 5 service centers and none close to my home. I even went to the showroom to see if I can get a new one (they had a fancy EMI scheme), but the attitude of the sales staff is cockier than the potshots Tata keeps taking at other brands for safety.

Kwid: Lovely vehicle, artificially butch and well proportioned. The car in which I took a TD had some issue or might be natural. Though the seat was positioned fully back the minute I released my feet from the accelerator I could feel my knee bruise the steering. And also the control knob for gear looked flimsy. A wonderful and premium design poorly executed.

Buying experience @ Kothari Hyundai, Tikal road Pune

All dealers for Car Trade, Mahindra, TrueValue were charging a premium for good cars and their certification.

With continued research I found a Swift Dzire AMT (2016) and a Celerio AMT(2015). My primary interest was the Swift. After test driving both I felt Celerio calling out to me. Somehow I am a guy of comfort factor and the Celerio managed to over shadow Swift in terms of cost, cleanliness and positive vibrations (don’t know how many BHPians relate to this)
I was given to understand that the Celerio was used as a secondary highway car for a businessman in Pune to travel to Pune/Mumbai once/twice a month. The ticket holder had numerous toll tickets to prove and also:

1. The car has covered 33K Kms in a span of 5 years.
2. The ASC’s records were matching, drove her to the ASC and got records checked and did a basic mechanic check even before booking the car.
3. Highway machine and driver driven.
4. Nonsmoker and clean interior.
5. The dealer had swapped the seat covers and done a thorough cleaning(must have reads our TBHP’s tips to sell a used car thread), the car looked almost new(bear with me)
Went ahead and booked the Celerio VXI, it seemed a bit over priced at 4.20 Lakh they were asking, bought it down and it still seemed overpriced: checked cartrade for value and it was in between the low and high range of 3.5L to 4.2L.

Cost to bank: 3,75,000 INR: Bank transfer using personal loan
Booking date: 24 Jan 2020
Insurance: Valid till April 2021

In all its glory:

Issues I was aware of while taking delivery:
1. Both bumpers painted, was informed that it is usually done for all cars
2. Battery to be changed
3. Rusting issue below battery holder
4. Insurance renewal
5. PUC is going to be 6 month affair rather than yearly affair due to BS3

Bringing the car on track:

My first stop was to get the car serviced
1. All fluids replaced
2. Battery change
3. Normal periodic service
4. Changed left headlight to HID: DIY
5. Black roof: Local chap

The service was done at authorized service center in Parvati industrial estate and it cost around 15K INR including the battery.

During a routine full body clean I was told that the spare tire trunk had some rust issues near the leak seal: this was a shocker for me as this issue was nonexistent during my check: NOTE: Mumbai travel history was a warning sign I failed to recognize. Had the same rectified immediately along with the battery bay rust by going to Katraj body shop of Maruti and it cost around 19K INR.


It has been a restrictive year till now, but my Odometer reads 43K, 10K KMs in a year.

1. Am I happy: Yes, I am!
2. No touch screen, rear camera must be difficult right? Naa, happy with my one plus connected to the Pioneer deck and reverse parking sensors ensure I don’t reverse over confidently.
3. How is the AMT? I am a light footed person, like a cat. I don’t stomp the accelerator /brake /clutch. And I feel the AMT set up is best suited for people who have feather light foot: BHPians: This can be a debate topic
4. Head nod bro: Every time there are more than 2 people on board, but very evident on Ghats and mall parking’s. Occasionally I use a combination of manual and hand brake in Ghats and I feel like Tokyo drift while I creep my way out.
5. Maintenance @ ASC: Normal PMS stands at 10K INR, the service advisors scare you into buying additional stuff, Demyto is my next bet for yearly PMS and spot jobs.

Overall I am happy with the car, not many niggle.
I did not see any safety ratings in this purchase because genuinely there is not much of a balance of AMT, cost saving, safety and reliability out in the used car market in this budget.

On the bright side: whenever I upgrade in future I will be having a hell of an upgrade in terms of comfort to accessories.

Truth be told: I like the Celerio, easy to zip, easy on the pocket and honestly it is FUN TO DRIVE*.

*Recently DIY'ed spring buffers of Autoclue on to the front suspension and it entirely changed the driving dynamics of the car, much planted now



A huge shout out to Audioholic’s thread: My Maruti Celerio ZXi(O) AMT - A rare variant - Team-BHP (team-bhp.com) which helped me decide and understand the Celerio better.

A parting shot


As long as you enjoy the drive, it does not matter what you drive.

[sam264_2000]

Nice write up! Reminded me of October 2017 when we were researching to buy 1st car for my wife (new driver). We only wanted Celerio ZXi(O) AMT. I had narrowed down to a used example with Kothari, Tilak Road (exact variant). Maroon color, 4500km, rear view camera in IRVM for 4.75L. By the time I reached the dealer next day, the car was sold. Good used cars are hard to come by. We ended up buying a new one and it's been a pleasure to drive for last 3 years. The car has got its fair share of scratches on both sides and a change of bumper too (settled under insurance claim). All signs of a new driver. But now I don't feel a thing with new scratches. With a light foot, I am able to extract 15-16kmpl in city conditions. Last week on an outstation trip, I got 20kmpl.

[ArTigor]

Nice and Crisp writeup, I was oriented a bit towards Celerio back in September 2017 when I was looking for a new car, The VXI CNG was costing just around 6 lakh on road and it did not have lot of features too, yet was ready to get aftermarket stuff installed, although some drastic changes in life demanded constant travel outside Mumbai(highway runs) and hence got a Diesel Tigor XT barely at 1.2 lakh rupees more than Celerio. Yet if my runs were going to be restricted to city it would have been Celerio.

Your Celerio looks quite good for a 5 year used vehicle, especially considering Maruti cars sheet metal does'nt take minor dings in urban traffic robustly, I have a 2016 gen 2 K10 hence I know it.
Where Celerio excels is space management on the inside, a perfect blend of an airy cabin and good interior materials. I always found the ride quality & handling of Celerio much better than the earlier WagonR, although current gen WagonR ride quality has improved by leaps and bounds thanks to the new platform.
At 4.2 lakhs surely the car is on a higher side of price band for a 5 year used piece, yet its a Maruti with the frugal K10 so it commands that premium, and coupled with used Celerios being favourites with fleet, private cab operators adds to the demand. Infact Celerio in hatchbacks is what is Ertiga in MPVs to fleet operators!
MASS is on the higher side for service costs, they have become ridiculously costly, recently I shifed to a known FNG, where the major 10k km service costed me 5k rupees, the same would have costed me between 9 - 10k rupees at MASS.

Just want to know few things:
1- Was your vehicle scraping the underbody? Because many of my friends and colleagues who have Celerio never had this issue and neither is Celerio really soft sprung, so why spring buffers installed?
2- How is the AMT response for a 5 years and 45 k kilometers run vehicle, share detailed review on this aspect, it can be helpful to people looking forward to used AMT cars.

[kamilharis]

Nice review PioneerNB.

My uncle had a Chevrolet Spark MT and Celerio AMT later replaced it. This car was so much better than the Spark, and another thing that I like with the Celerio is its rear-seat space.

Also could you please throw in more details on the Spring Buffers used on the coils. Which brand and cost of the part, warranty (if any), etc.?

[PioneerNB]

sam264_2000 thank you for your thoughts, exactly its easier to get scratches and live with it. I am easily getting 18Kmpl and in my latest trip from Pune-Jalgao-Pune I got more than 20Kmpl. Great feat considering a 5 year old horse

Nice write up! Reminded me of October 2017 when we were researching to buy 1st car for my wife (new driver). We only wanted Celerio ZXi(O) AMT. I had narrowed down to a used example with Kothari, Tilak Road (exact variant).

Out of all the cars i have seen Kothari, Tilak Road has good pre owned ones. My Celerio was traded for a Kia Seltos was what i got to know. the Tilak Road branch seriously knows how to pre clean and sort niggles of cars before putting them on display. They have a workshop just to deal with such used vehicles before they are put on display.

[PioneerNB]

Originally Posted by ArTigor

At 4.2 lakhs surely the car is on a higher side of price band for a 5 year used piece,
Just want to know few things:
1- Was your vehicle scraping the underbody? Because many of my friends and colleagues who have Celerio never had this issue and neither is Celerio really soft sprung, so why spring buffers installed?
2- How is the AMT response for a 5 years and 45 k kilometers run vehicle, share detailed review on this aspect, it can be helpful to people looking forward to used AMT cars.

Thank you for your wonderful experience sharing, your Tigor is a wonderful highway mile muncher indeed and totally agree on the fact that the Celerio gives an airy feel. I am planning to take my serving over to Demyto(Pune): they basically send over a van at home and do everything in front of you.

Here are the below response to your queries:

1. I had to visit Jalgaon and I received feedback that the roads are worst and non existent at places so the Celerio might scrape. As a prevention measure I got the spring buffers and that is the only reason the car survived the so called highway to Jalgaon. I am planning to post the Jalgaon-Pune experience in a few day in this thread and hopefully it helps add a bit more value to your question.

2. Yes, on the AMT bit. it is working as normal as it can, occasionally it judders. Let me drop a detailed post on this also along with the Jalgaon trail.

[fhdowntheline]

Originally Posted by ArTigor

Just want to know few things:
1- Was your vehicle scraping the underbody? Because many of my friends and colleagues who have Celerio never had this issue and neither is Celerio really soft sprung, so why spring buffers installed?
2- How is the AMT response for a 5 years and 45 k kilometers run vehicle, share detailed review on this aspect, it can be helpful to people looking forward to used AMT cars.

Second these queries, particularly the first one. I am looking at a low-power entry level hatch (something better than a 2-wheeler) for my wife who has suddenly evinced interest in driving (after not doing so for the many years when we had 2 cars always). Now she's berating me for selling off the Polo GT, although I argued the Polo GT ,anyway would have been too much of a car for her use case.

[PioneerNB]

Originally Posted by kamilharis

Nice review PioneerNB.
Also could you please throw in more details on the Spring Buffers used on the coils. Which brand and cost of the part, warranty (if any), etc.?

Thank you Kamilharis for your thoughts, agreed the Celerio is spacious and somehow does not seem that compact from inside.

The Spring buffer used is from Autoclue(click link).

there is no warranty and its a simple piece of rubber which prevents the spring from bottoming out by providing more resistance. A total DIY and easy set up. you can find details in the link and I for one am totally happy with this set up. the Celerio is acting more mature at highways and with the so called highways and roads it is taking on potholes a bit better than it earlier used to

[ArTigor]

Originally Posted by PioneerNB

1. I had to visit Jalgaon and I received feedback that the roads are worst and non existent at places so the Celerio might scrape.

Ohh now I see the context and can completely understand, in January 2021 one of my friend who is from Jalgaon was traveling to Osmanabad via the Dreadful Jalgaon Aurangabad stretch in his Amaze, unfortunately his car was driven by a temporary hired driver and somewhere between Aurangabad and Jalgaon his car hit a rough patch with a huge thud. Once arrived at Osmanabad he realizes there is oil leakage, upon checking it was found out that the oil sump had cracked and almost 50% oil had leaked.
Fortunately there wasnt any major damage to the engine as some oil was still there in circulation and an oil sump change and engine oil change got his vehicle back on track.
Looking forward to your driving experience.

[darkLightning]

As a fellow owner of Celerio Zxi(O) AMT I congratulate you for your purchase.
I also did a lot of market research before choosing Celerio and it is one of the most practically sorted car in it's price range, only downside I can think of is that it is not as safe as say a Tiago.

As for the concerns over scrapping, I recently went to visit my relatives and there was a big section full of broken / under-construction roads with stones flying everywhere.

Celerio did took at least 5 underbody hits in that section and there was a noticeable alignment disturbance as well as noise coming while taking right turn after that.

Fortunately suspension didn't get any damage and the cost to resolve the alignment and noise came to about 500 INR.

So yes Celerio even though it has better ground clearance than say a Swift still it can take hits due to no underbody protection. Being a Maruti car the service resolution will be cheap that is a plus point.

[RT13]

Nice. Just sold our 2014 Celerio with 29.5k on the odo. It held up nicely in the time we had. For the AMT, you could consider replacing the throttle body unit. It costs about 6k and apparently is the cause of the juddering issue in most of the first gen Celerios. If I’d held onto mine for another year I would’ve. Seems a small price to pay for a smoother ride. One thing I will say, that simple car, if you know how to work the AMT (lift foot off the accelerator completely for a second and stomp right down after), it has a pretty unexpected surge to it making it interesting to drive in city. Gotta say, it never let me down.

I also got the doors soundproofed which made a huge difference to the rattles and road noise.

Oh and I never ever had a problem with ground clearance at all despite the horrific state of Bangalore’s roads in the last couple of years. Don’t know why that seems to be an issue.

Have fun!

[PioneerNB]

Originally Posted by fhdowntheline

Second these queries, particularly the first one. I am looking at a low-power entry level hatch (something better than a 2-wheeler) for my wife who has suddenly evinced interest in driving (after not doing so for the many years when we had 2 cars always). Now she's berating me for selling off the Polo GT, although I argued the Polo GT ,anyway would have been too much of a car for her use case.

I would strongly suggest you to have a look at the Ignis, instead of the Celerio. It is miles ahead of the Celerio and you be be having better sleep since its a safer car.

[PioneerNB]

Originally Posted by RT13

I also got the doors soundproofed which made a huge difference to the rattles and road noise.

Oh and I never ever had a problem with ground clearance at all despite the horrific state of Bangalore’s roads in the last couple of years. Don’t know why that seems to be an issue.

Ah let me see for the sound proofing.
Trust there exists roads which cannot even be considered as off road trails in parts of Maharastra and my buffer was in order to avoid damages due to such roads.

[PioneerNB]

Originally Posted by darkLightning

Fortunately suspension didn't get any damage and the cost to resolve the alignment and noise came to about 500 INR.

So yes Celerio even though it has better ground clearance than say a Swift still it can take hits due to no underbody protection. Being a Maruti car the service resolution will be cheap that is a plus point.

Thank you Darklightning, the Celerio is a very pocket friendly car which is also a bit fun to drive as per me. Unfortunately the ASCs is Pune is no longer cheap

[PioneerNB]

For the AMT, you could consider replacing the throttle body unit. It costs about 6k and apparently is the cause of the juddering issue in most of the first gen Celerios. If I’d held onto mine for another year I would’ve. Seems a small price to pay for a smoother ride. One thing I will say, that simple car, if you know how to work the AMT (lift foot off the accelerator completely for a second and stomp right down after), it has a pretty unexpected surge to it making it interesting to drive in city. Gotta say, it never let me down.

RT13 : haha I was reluctant to do it: but once I stomped I agree that’s it’s fun in long stretches. Good surge of power and for now this is enough for me, good trick buddy. As for throttle body it just occurs in cold conditions once the engine is warmed up/ summer times it totally works fine. But i shall remember this for future times.

2- How is the AMT response for a 5 years and 45 k kilometers run vehicle, share detailed review on this aspect, it can be helpful to people looking forward to used AMT cars.

Pune-Jalgao-Pune trip update

I had the opportunity to stretch the Celerio on a long trip from Jalgao to Pune. Here is a short summary:

Route: Google map, Pune: Ahmednagar: Waluj: Chalisgao: Jalgao

Quick route update: Amazing two lane till Waluj and post that route is nonexistent to fairy long stretches of cement highway under construction followed by irregular patches which can lead to bottom numbing pain and accidents in case if not attentive to driving.

Tolls: no toll collected, major highway under construction

Preparations: Vehicle serviced and oil change. Brake pads were flagged to be changed in 2000Kms. Spring buffers attached just for this trip (see main review for details)

Trip: The Ce is a fairly trustworthy companion and I planned to see how long we can drive it continuously. A wedding to attend in Jalgao had my senses tingly to take her out.

We started around morning 5:30 and were in the dark as the state highway till Ranjan Gao has no lights. The roads were fairly free and we wanted to cross Ranjan Gao before the truckers came in. I have an HID in the left side of Ce and it worked fairly well in lighting the roads. The Amt is a breeze to drive and does not surprise you in any way. The steering is fairly easy to steer and control.

Until Waluj we could make good time and a constant speed of 80 to 100Kmph, not many strays and a wonderful experience to be on this road. Greenery/ companies on both sides just dwarf us in our vehicle. I was almost under impression that my friend just was pulling my legs when he told me that roads were bad. Once I crossed Waluj “boom" roads vanished and we were greeted to a huge pile of dust and non-existent stretches. This was the time when I could feel the spring buffers come into action. The Ce is front heavy and me alone adding up to 90 KG is not a big selling point. The spring buffers prevented the spring from bottoming out and we managed to reach till Ellora without a stop. The hills of Ellora are so pathetic that I felt bad as an Indian and for the tourists who use this route. Big heavy trucks ply this road and the pathetic conditions would have numerous trucks having brake failure/ air brake pressure loss.





The Ce’s seat comfort is not much and we needed a brake to stretch our back and fuel up. Some amazing fritters: this part of Maharashtra has different type of fritters which tastes much crispier and will give you amazing acidity. Post our pit stop we move ahead and are greeted by a wonderful stretch of cement road, I was all so happy “boom” another stretch of unconstructed road filled with inhumane potholes. I followed the Tbhp thumb rule: use a better vehicle as a lead car. I saw a new Sonet and took it as my lead car. I am at awe how balanced the Sonet was, multiple potholes and I could see the tires move up and down and the body shell was not moving at all. The Ce on the other hand was entirely tilting and tumbling (my off-roading dreams in sand dunes of Rajasthan were realized here in MH). But nothing to complaint here as I was aware of this and am ok with this, I would rather have spring buffer and not damage my underbody than be a bit more comfortable.


Within 9 hours we make it to Jalgao, a fairly good performance by Ce as it was consistent and never did surprise us in any manner:

1.Constant speed of 80-100 Kmph
2.Mileage returned was aroung 18Kmpl. 5 year old AMT you say and not bragging I fuelled up at 100Rs for the entire trip
3.AMT: never under/over responded. A government job per say, no surprises and no excitement
4.No quick over takes, no trying to mark territories by speeding or mock racing, just plain sedate driving
5.Entire trip to and fro I just used the manual mode twice to overtake trucks/ speed up in the Ellora mudslide road
6.5 year old tires did a good job: while returning I hit a cement bag divider fallen to the side and post that I think the rim is bent a bit: air doesn’t hold up for more than 3 weeks, need to investigate (any tips Bhpians?)
7.The airy and spacious cabin did not make us feel claustrophobic
8.Two passengers is the max limit for Ce on long road trips as there is adequate power on the tap and the car does not feel heavy
9.The noise levels were ok and since this is my first car experience I am really satisfied. A biker at heart so this was a much cleaner trip.

Ce performed so well that she has given me confidence to take her out more on longish trips. I am hopeful that in coming months once post Covid rush is over I shall be taking her places and updating this thread.
Over all a wonderful trip and a much needed one. We were cooped up due to Covid and again are. This trip was a good break indeed.
The AMT and Ce though 5 years do not feel as old and there are no rattles: I am confident if you are able to scout for a good second hand car which was loved earlier it will not be disappointing.