[abhisheksircar]

Originally Posted by Knight Rider

Great review and congratulations on your purchase, I am also considering the same variant in Bangalore. Can you please let me know about the AC performance for the backseat passengers? I found that to be lacking when i test drove it for the first time, Have you installed any sunfilim? Also for the Puddle lamp and illuminated door sills, was it done using couplers or was there any splicing of wires involved?

Thanks in advance.

I'll be honest. Never sat in the back seat yet, hence can't say with conviction but in general the AC is effective at least in Bangalore weathers. No complains.

For the wiring, I have not seen what they have really used or how have they installed it inside those door pads.

I'll PM you.

[Sabrish]

Originally Posted by Knight Rider

Great review and congratulations on your purchase, I am also considering the same variant in Bangalore. Can you please let me know about the AC performance for the backseat passengers? I found that to be lacking when i test drove it for the first time, Have you installed any sunfilim? Also for the Puddle lamp and illuminated door sills, was it done using couplers or was there any splicing of wires involved?

Thanks in advance.

The AC throw in the rear is good enough. We have a Kiger CVT in our group and its a no-nonsense car. To begin with when my friend was looking at a replacement of his Grand i10 AT, this was never a probable. Later while exploring the available options, we stumbled upon this and boy, this hits all the right notes for the segment.

One of the missing features was the hill descent support, I can safely say that the car has a good grip and doesn’t roll back on slopes or hills. Its creeps / stalls when at an elevated position and this is without the brakes/accelerator. I believe the mild default set acceleration at the drive mode helps to maintain the climb.

Like its rightly mentioned here, except for the Interior Quality & Fit and Finish in a few areas this eats the cake be it the space (Rear/Boot/Storage) or the engine gearbox combination (Turbo CVT), Fuel efficiency etc.

Looks being subjective, the pricing used to be super attractive too. In the recent times, there has been a bump in the Kiger prices. I would still recommend this to any one over the other CSUVs.

[harikishanb]

Hi abhisheksircar, Can you please let me know the real world mileage of Kiger. I have been reading about Turbo Charged Petrol engines and seems to me that they drink a lot of petrol. I read a post about a fellow BHPian's friend buying a new Kiger and he was only getting 8-9 kmpl. Kindly confirm. Thanks Hari Kishan

[abhisheksircar]

Originally Posted by harikishanb

Hi abhisheksircar, Can you please let me know the real world mileage of Kiger. I have been reading about Turbo Charged Petrol engines and seems to me that they drink a lot of petrol. I read a post about a fellow BHPian's friend buying a new Kiger and he was only getting 8-9 kmpl. Kindly confirm. Thanks Hari Kishan

11.3 km/ltr with 1800 kms driven mostly in the city and that's Bangalore traffic with the car always on with AC. When I go to drop my son in the morning when there is no traffic, I get around 14.2. You can measure a trip mileage in this car. In a short 120 kms highway trip that I did, it gave me 18.3. I must also add here that I have not tried Turbo or Eco mode yet as I wanted the Engine to feel relaxed till the first 2000 kms checkup. No stress to the engine with sudden accelerations etc., although have gone just short of triple digits in many occasions.

[abhisheksircar]

1800 kms and 2 months, we are absolutely loving the upgrade from the Celerio.

Observations

- The car continues to drive really well and that's it's strength. The suspension, the CVT gearbox. Continuous assurance of being a 4* rated car.
- It continues to be a looker. 3 people in my known circle have booked the Kiger. People have come forward to ask me as to how's the car like.
- We have got an average mileage of 11.3 kms/ltr over the first 1800 kms which is primarily in the city, AC always on.
- The AC is not a bone chiller but does its work and is loud at max blower. With my requirement of 24 approx, the blower stays at 2 notches in Bangalore weather.

I have now got used to the small niggles like the seat belt position etc. Considering the roads in Bangalore, I have been taking the Kiger out more than my Ciaz these days. It's much for comfortable to ride over the potholes and bumpy roads. Purpose served.

Issues.

- As someone had reported, yes, the brakes do have some sound on cold start and in slow speeds.
- I finally faced the much spoken about rubber band effect in a CVT but it's very subtle. The CVT gear box is a charm.
- I would have loved the blower to go to 0 every time the car is switched off instead of starting with the car where last left. So my sequence of stopping a car is, Stop AC, Get blower to 0, Switch off car, Unlock car from the central dash.
- The rear parcel shelf jumps a bit to make some noise but that's subdued with the music system which is always on
- The engine is not the most silent and has a humming noise from the 3 pots. It's not loud and all but it's evident.

Now the service

This was a big concern for me as it's almost like a new territory for me after being pampered by Suzuki service for 2 decades. I was suggested to take the car to Mysore service center which is headed by Santosh. Now Mysore service center is 53 kms from my place if I take the NICE road but for things like service, I usually do not bother about distance. The closest Renault service center is just about 10 kms from my place.

So the first service is within 2 months or 2000 kms, whichever comes first. I went right on time to be hosted by Santosh who was nice to have stepped out to greet me. I was introduced to Nishank, who is one of the service advisors there. 3 of us and one more engineer took the car for a test drive. There is a defined route which includes good and bad roads. It's actually a good track to test every possible issue. This service was supposed to be a general checkup and hence mostly quoted as a "Wash the Car" service but they all took time to understand any anomalies. The tyre pressure was on the higher side, the mats were not best suited for the pedals and engine bay is being visited by rats as there were paw marks. They didn't miss anything ! Although the brake issue was not replicated, they took a note of that too.

Santosh has more than 2 decades of experience with brands like Suzuki, Porsche, Audi etc. He understands cars. I also noticed that he is quite serious when he is taking the test drive asking his team to take notes of the observations he was making while driving. It's not just a joy ride.

I expected the service to be just a wash and out but it took a good 4 hours as they cleaned up the brake pads, just to be sure and attended to any concerns I had like a rattling sound on one of the panels which was narrowed down to a loose bolt which could be a result of the accessories installed where the panels were removed, like the puddle lamps. Presumption. Nishank kept sending me pictures of the progress on whatsapp which made me comfortable. There was a software update too which took a while and no one can do anything on the car when that's going on.

The first service costed me about 360/- INR which included washer fluid, grease, brake clean etc. From the next 1 year service, it should be ideally 0 because of the easy care I have which covers everything is what I understood. I paid a bit extra for a 3M rodent repellent spray treatment as well.

If I had to nitpick, I would say it was me missing the NEXA experience of sitting in a nice lounge and seeing my car getting serviced through a large glass window. This service lounge and setup is at par with the Suzuki Arena setup or any other general service setup with availability of wifi, tea/coffee and a sitting area equipped with sofas.

In short, it was a big sigh of relief to know that it's hopefully going to be a smooth sail from here on.

[mbudhraja]

Kiger is one of the most underrated car of these days. I think it is the best VFM car of the segment, and I personally feel Renault over Nissan amy day in India for that service assurance.

[sid_sawhney]

Congratulations on your Kiger, Abhishek! I'm glad you had such a good experience.
I bought the Kiger RXZ CVT earlier this year as well. My experience has also generally been good with the car.
Unfortunately, my service experience has been rather poor. I've gotten my car serviced at Renault Yelahanka. For the first service I also had issues regarding the brake noise and the brake feeling rather heavy during start stop traffic. Since I had some work I left my car at the service centre and had to come back home.
The service centre team said that since their technician isn't available on a Sunday, the car would be available on a Monday only. Being a working day, I asked them to have the car dropped off. I was asked to pay a sum of 250rs for drop off(which I wasn't aware is common practice) but obliged anyway. When the car was handed over, I noticed a strange mark on my right DRL. I immediately told the driver and called up the service executive. He said that sometimes there is moisture which will go in a few hours. I was unconvinced and also taken aback by the headlight fogging up by a little water but agreed to monitor it anyway.
Over the next couple of days, it was confirmed that it wasn't moisture but a stain on the headlight which wouldn't go even after attempting to clean properly. I complained again and was asked to bring in the car. In addition I also noticed that the pulse action for windshield jet wasn't working.
It was annoying that my car actually came back with issues after the first service.
Unfortunately, I was supposed to shift cities and had to again get my car picked up and dropped for this repair. The service center gave me extremely unconvincing answers to the problems such as the wiper wasn't working because the nozzle gets jammed due to dust in the nozzle. How does the dust enter you'd ask? Because the water used is impure!

Similarly for the headlight stain, the service executive stayed that some AC water must have fallen because I had parked the car wrongly somewhere. They also discovered the DRL had cracked underneath the stain. After I sternly subverted his various attempts to place the blame on me, he finally gave in and said that they will replace the headlight under warranty. It was also uncovered that on bith occasions the Service representative hadn't inspected my car before clearing it for delivery.

Just these couple of incidents have made me lost so much confidence in Renault service that now I'm partially regretting going with Renault. Now that I have moved out of Bangalore I'm hoping the service centres here in Hyderabad are better.

[abhisheksircar]

Originally Posted by sid_sawhney

Just these couple of incidents have made me lost so much confidence in Renault service that now I'm partially regretting going with Renault. Now that I have moved out of Bangalore I'm hoping the service centres here in Hyderabad are better.

It just takes one incident to shatter the whole belief on a certain system. Sometimes the service centers take it too casually as just one car but they do not see the repercussions of it in all ways and means. It's quite an unpleasant experience. Let me see if I can locate a good one for you in Hyderabad Bangalore, I can vouch for the Mysore one at least on their intention.

[wilful]

Originally Posted by sid_sawhney

Congratulations on your Kiger, Abhishek! I'm glad you had such a good experience.
I bought the Kiger RXZ CVT earlier this year as well. My experience has also generally been good with the car.
Unfortunately, my service experience has been rather poor. I've gotten my car serviced at Renault Yelahanka. For the first service I also had issues regarding the brake noise and the brake feeling rather heavy during start stop traffic.

Indeed it’s a great pity that the company tends to brush these issues off until there is a large wave of resentment from customers. The brake issue will be swept under the carpet until it can no longer be hidden.
It’s otherwise such a VFM car!

[abhisheksircar]

Originally Posted by wilful

Indeed it’s a great pity that the company tends to brush these issues off until there is a large wave of resentment from customers. The brake issue will be swept under the carpet until it can no longer be hidden.
It’s otherwise such a VFM car!

2021, the major 'noise' was on the fender lining and it was somewhat attended to in 2022 version. There was enough noise all over in youtube and all as well to make it important enough to be attended to. 2022, I agree, the most prominent issue is the creaking sound in the brakes in slow or dead speeds. Hope it's attended to and with a solution which is backward compatible.

[sid_sawhney]

Originally Posted by abhisheksircar

2021, the major 'noise' was on the fender lining and it was somewhat attended to in 2022 version. There was enough noise all over in Youtube and all as well to make it important enough to be attended to. 2022, I agree, the most prominent issue is the creaking sound in the brakes in slow or dead speeds. Hope it's attended to and with a solution which is backward compatible.

After having attended to the brake noise issue in my vehicle twice, the service centre wasn't able to fix it completely. Although they did manage to bring it down a little. They attributed it to a noise that is generally experienced in all automatic vehicles.

I'm curious to know if any of the Kiger owners have experienced the windshield wipers being subpar? Every time I use the wipers at a low speed/frequency it smears the water across its span area in a way that it reduces visibility further rather than fixing it. Once dried off I can also noticeably see wiper marks on my windshield. Is this something I should get checked? I'm not sure how to reproduce it for my service representative but it is something that's definitely impacting my confidence while driving.

[abhisheksircar]

Originally Posted by sid_sawhney

After having attended to the brake noise issue in my vehicle twice, the service centre wasn't able to fix it completely. Although they did manage to bring it down a little. They attributed it to a noise that is generally experienced in all automatic vehicles.

I think I had read somewhere that some service center had tried their best but finally concluded that it's a design issue. No safety hazard but has this sound only in low speeds. Will check again in the next service.

Originally Posted by sid_sawhney

I'm curious to know if any of the Kiger owners have experienced the windshield wipers being subpar?

I did notice some shuddering of the left wiper a couple of times but no smears or streak marks yet. After this wears down, I might go for the Bosch one though.

[abhisheksircar]

Many reviews that I read of the Kiger kept mentioning that there is in-cabin noise that one needs to be aware of. I would agree as well as the 3 cylinders are not as quite. It hums. That said, it never bothered me enough to mention it as an issue but then I thought, let's measure it.

I used a very basic setup of my Samsung S22 Ultra with an app called Decibel. I checked it in a sensitive place to start with, which is my home office room and the measure came to about 34 dB. This is a quiet room and good enough for silent client meetings as well. So it works, if it can catch that silence.

I measured the noise levels in my Ciaz:
• In idle it was around 52 dB
• On the road, it went as high as 74 dB.

And then the moment of truth, the Kiger:
• It has similar readings, with idle was as low as 53 dB
• Where as in roads it was about 75 dB (around 80 km/hr on tarmac, windows up, AC on)

Both the cars were around 35 dB when the engine was off.

Now, why do I not hear this much when I drive. I have this habit of listening to music when I drive and when I put on the music, it goes up to 77 dB which masks the engine or ambient noise.

So this is how it stacks up.



Image Source : https://hearinghealthfoundation.org/

[Sumer]

You also need to keep in mind that a 2-3 db difference is easily audible as it is a logarithmic scale, ie every 10bd means doubling of sound pressure (eg 50db is twice as loud as 40db)

[abhisheksircar]

Originally Posted by Sumer

You also need to keep in mind that a 2-3 db difference is easily audible as it is a logarithmic scale, ie every 10bd means doubling of sound pressure (eg 50db is twice as loud as 40db)

Absolutely agree and the humming is hence evident with the 2-3 db difference. The three pot is not as quite as my Ciaz but I just wanted to highlight how much more. I have not reached a state that the humming is a botheration yet.