[frankmehta]

Those black little under eye things make the Ritz far prettier than it already is! Signifies what a little bit of make up can do for a woman ;-)


Congrats man, I would have bought a Ritz too, but a ZXi (i am in LOVE with K Series engines!!!)


PS: MEN: An eye patch (a la Jack Sparrow) doesn't qualify as Eye make up. Anyone trying this on a first/subsequent date MUST not blame me for any rejects/slaps/police arrests/pepper spray assaults (in the OTHER eye, stupid!)
Jack Sparrow gets the chics though :-P

[Utopian]

Congrats Vaas for the Ritzie, as you call it. I am seeing the rear bumper protector for the first time on the Ritz. How is the driving experience with the Ritz? Are you comfortable parking it sans the sensors? Some more snaps would be welcome.

[vaas2000]

Originally Posted by abhinav.s

Congrats on your first car mate!

Nice review with pics.

Keep munching those miles with the oil burner!!

Thank you Abhinav. Mile munching starts this extended weekend!

Originally Posted by PCS

Nice Car dude !

Ritz is the perfect choice for starters as this car is a benchmark in the industry today.

Ritz is one of the best built B Hatchbacks and best built maruti,

I have clocked 6000 kms in my Ritz Black VDi now. Hassle free.

Looking forward to more pics and reports from you

Enjoy Drivin till then !

Thank you Pcs, I do agree that build quality is a lot better than other maruti hatches that i've seen. The plastic quality also seems to be better.
Will post pics of interiors soon.

Originally Posted by james

Good to see your thread up, Vasanth! Hope to see many updates and lotsa mile munching happen in the near future!
As i told you waayy before you booked it, its a great car and total VFM. Im glad you didnt listen to people and picked up the ABS version. You cant go wrong with a maruti and so dont worry about anything. The car will serve you well for years to come! Just take care of it and service it often. Dont forget the 1 min idling before shutting it down- You dont want your turbo shaft or bearings taking a dump on you.
Once you are steady with the car and bored of the power in the next coupla months, we'll go to Pavan and get some more juice outta the engine!

Thanks man! You were a major factor in me getting the Ritz and that too the ABS version. Am glad that all the running around and wait was worth it. I sure do hope this maruti is Herohonda on four wheels like my zma I shall always follow the 1 minute idling to the T. I think it will years before i get bored of the diesel mill's power though!

Originally Posted by thedreamcatcher

Congrats

What was your decision behind the colour choice. Personally, feel the silver is a bit boring. The Chocolate colour in the diesel option is a killer

Again, each to themselves

Thank you. As James mentioned, all my vehicles are of silver colour and i prefer sober blending with the crowd type colours, i don't like my vehicle to stand out in a crowd. Plus am a lazy person hardly get free time to clean the vehicles, silver colour tends to hide dirt/dust and some minor scratches very well. So silver was obvious choice for me. Bakers brown in Ritz does look good, it's a new colour, but it looks very dull to me.

Originally Posted by james

Dreamcatcher, All his vehicles have been silver. His fly has a soft corner for silver! plus its less maintainance as compared to a darker colour.
All my cars are and have been silver for the very same reason!

Originally Posted by frankmehta

Those black little under eye things make the Ritz far prettier than it already is! Signifies what a little bit of make up can do for a woman ;-)


Congrats man, I would have bought a Ritz too, but a ZXi (i am in LOVE with K Series engines!!!)


PS: MEN: An eye patch (a la Jack Sparrow) doesn't qualify as Eye make up. Anyone trying this on a first/subsequent date MUST not blame me for any rejects/slaps/police arrests/pepper spray assaults (in the OTHER eye, stupid!)
Jack Sparrow gets the chics though :-P

Yeah those little black strips under the headlamps (Bumper protectors) make it look like Ritzie's wearing kajol or eyeliners. But i chose them for purely utilitarian purpose and not for cosmetic purpose. ZXI is fully loaded with a great mill and great deal for the price. I wish there was a ZDI variant in Ritz.

Originally Posted by Utopian

Congrats Vaas for the Ritzie, as you call it. I am seeing the rear bumper protector for the first time on the Ritz. How is the driving experience with the Ritz? Are you comfortable parking it sans the sensors? Some more snaps would be welcome.

Thanks Utopian. The Bumper protectors (front and rear) are avaiable as MGA accessories at all Maruti dealers. I saw it in Ritz accessories catalog from Ritz website. The vehicle shown there was silver so i could see how exactly my Ritzie would look with those on. They cost about Rs 690.
I drove her from Whitefield Bimal showroom till Jakkur flying club, but in peak city traffic at 6.30 pm and later in night. Driving wise, i found the short console integrated gear shifter was very handy and gave positive feedback. Driver seat height was good for me, but can't say same for shorter drivers. Over all Ritzie made me feel comfortable after a short time. I will be driving again this weekend when i go to honnavar, will post my experience then.
I have backed her up so far only twice and both the times it was a bit difficult with the limited rear visibility and thick C pillars, but i think i will get used to it over a period of time. However i still feel parking sensors will make my life easy, waiting for vitamin M to get those, till then have to get used to backing her up with out assistance.

Here are few more pics taken the next day when james was in town and one more pic during final pooja done at temple. I will post more snaps next week after i get back from the long drive.

[Schoudhury]

Congrats Buddy on our first car.
I also got myself a Ritz vdi few weeks back.
Also how much did you pay for the ICE setup @ the dealers place.

Enjoy Dost.
Cheers

[neo45007]

Congrats ! and welcome to the Ritz Owner's family ! :-)

[thedreamcatcher]

Good. I agree with your points and yes, it is a matter of wanting ones car to blend in or out. Also, draws less attention from potential thieves

[naveenvenkatesh]

Congrats.. I have booked a Ritz Zxi from Bimal, Old Airport Road. Will be getting it by the end of next month. They gave me car cover as freebie and i had to haggle a little for the steering cover.

Drive safe.

[vaas2000]

Originally Posted by Schoudhury

Congrats Buddy on our first car.
I also got myself a Ritz vdi few weeks back.
Also how much did you pay for the ICE setup @ the dealers place.

Enjoy Dost.
Cheers

Thank you. Congrats on your Ritz too. I believe the ICE setup cost me around 18k. Installation was free. The only reason i went in for ICE setup at dealer was i was running short of time with my marriage with in a month, so didn't have much time to run around to check for deals. however they have done a really good job with pin type socket for rear plank and the rear plank is elevated type. Also i can be sure that am getting genuine ICE components.

Originally Posted by neo45007

Congrats ! and welcome to the Ritz Owner's family ! :-)

Thank you, it feels great to be part of Ritz family

Originally Posted by thedreamcatcher

Good. I agree with your points and yes, it is a matter of wanting ones car to blend in or out. Also, draws less attention from potential thieves

True, I guess Silver has that additional advantage as well.

Originally Posted by naveenvenkatesh

Congrats.. I have booked a Ritz Zxi from Bimal, Old Airport Road. Will be getting it by the end of next month. They gave me car cover as freebie and i had to haggle a little for the steering cover.

Drive safe.

Thank you and congrats on your Soon to come Ritz too. Please do check the car at the stockyard before it goes to registration. Also Ritz as i saw now comes with mudflaps factory fitted. So please ensure that you get the original thick mudflaps, most of the free mudflaps that they put in are flimsy and look very cheap. Steering wheel cover (MGA) is really good, it almost feels like leather, it costs Rs 500 as per their accessories list, please ensure that you get that as free and not something else.

[naveenvenkatesh]

Thanks for the Tip vass2000. I will keep an eye on the mudflaps.
I have already told the sales person that i need to see the car in the stock yard before i take delivery. He said that won't be a problem and he will take us to the stock yard himself.
Regarding the steering cover, its already mentioned on paper. So its a guaranteed that its a freebie.
Also, did you check out any parking sensors for Ritz? Any idea about their price? I am thinking to get one.Would prefer one with sensors and camera.

[funnyguru]

Also, did you check out any parking sensors for Ritz? Any idea about their price? I am thinking to get one.Would prefer one with sensors and camera.[/quote]


The MGA sells Nippon sensors, however i would suggest you go for Xenos with 4 sensors. You also get 2 sensors but are lil cheaper. I got the one with 4 on my Ritzy.

[santhosh_lv]

congratulations vaas !! good choice

i am excited to knw what made you choose Ritz? ny others u had in mind before booking this?

[naveenvenkatesh]

Originally Posted by funnyguru

Also, did you check out any parking sensors for Ritz? Any idea about their price? I am thinking to get one.Would prefer one with sensors and camera.

The MGA sells Nippon sensors, however i would suggest you go for Xenos with 4 sensors. You also get 2 sensors but are lil cheaper. I got the one with 4 on my Ritzy.[/quote]


What was the total cost? Does it have a rear camera also?

Please let me know if Maruti guys install it or is it after market.

[funnyguru]

What was the total cost? Does it have a rear camera also?

Please let me know if Maruti guys install it or is it after market.[/quote]


No, these are the sensor ones. The camera ones will be more expensive. The Xenos (4 sensors) costed around 3k

[vaas2000]

Originally Posted by naveenvenkatesh

Thanks for the Tip vass2000. I will keep an eye on the mudflaps.
I have already told the sales person that i need to see the car in the stock yard before i take delivery. He said that won't be a problem and he will take us to the stock yard himself.
Regarding the steering cover, its already mentioned on paper. So its a guaranteed that its a freebie.
Also, did you check out any parking sensors for Ritz? Any idea about their price? I am thinking to get one.Would prefer one with sensors and camera.

That's great to hear. Please do ensure that the sales guy doesn't hurry things up while at stockyard, they tend to sweet talk and make you leave soon as most the cars there will be filled with dust and grime by being parked for so long. They don't want you to get wrong impression.
Glad that they have given you freebies in writing, Then u will defnitely get MGA steering cover, it's really good quality, please do choose the right colour combo, that will match with your future seat covers.
Parking sensor is next on cards, am thinking of the one that shows distance on the inner rear view mirror. Camera ones cost around 4 to 4.5K and LCD is extra.

Originally Posted by funnyguru

The MGA sells Nippon sensors, however i would suggest you go for Xenos with 4 sensors. You also get 2 sensors but are lil cheaper. I got the one with 4 on my Ritzy.

True, MGA is expensive for 2 sensors as well. Costs Rs 4k upwards. Plus it just has a thermometer kind of display on A pillar that shows numbers. Xenos gives greater range of products for much lesser. So which system did you get for your Ritz?

Originally Posted by santhosh_lv

congratulations vaas !! good choice

i am excited to knw what made you choose Ritz? ny others u had in mind before booking this?

Thank you. All i knew was i wanted a trouble free diesel hatch which i wanted to own for long term. Hyundai's I20 was out of my budget, I didn't want Fiat cars as i wasn't sure of Tata backed service. Definitely no indica for me as the brand was more known for cabs than for personal cars, but indica was the cheapest of the lot, fully loaded, somehow i couldn't consider it seriously. Maruti had only Swift and Ritz. I was more inclined towards Swift, but it's pricier than ritz and has obscene waiting period. Plus my friend has a swift VDI, found the interiors to be bit cramped and rear seat leg room tight. So swift was dropped from list. Ford Figo was new launch, I wanted to go with tried and trusted in the market, Most of my friends and James gave thumbs up to maruti in this aspect. So took test drive of Ritz along with my friend's swift. Was able to get comparison of both the cars back to back and Ritz was getting approval from parents. So finally settled for Ritz for it's practicality.
Ritz's roomy interiors, ease of getting in and getting out (both front and rear), both for me (am a 6 footer) and my parents, along with national 1.3 diesel mill made it an obvious choice.
Not to forgot the positive reviews on net and very good review on Team-Bhp along with Ritz owners positive feed back in the ownership threads sealed the deal.
I wanted to the safety features, but maruti does not provide airbags with diesel so went in for the lone safety feature add on ABS.

Originally Posted by naveenvenkatesh

What was the total cost? Does it have a rear camera also?

Please let me know if Maruti guys install it or is it after market.

Maruti guys install MGA Nippon sensors, i would say it's better to consider Xenos. Xenos guys do the installation themselves and we just need to confirm from them whether it's all clip/pin type connectors and not slicing of wires to be done. Haven't seen any rear camera kit with MGA.

Originally Posted by funnyguru

No, these are the sensor ones. The camera ones will be more expensive. The Xenos (4 sensors) costed around 3k

True, I will check for Xenos here and contact their distributor and check out various models. But Ritzie has to wait before she gets more accessories for quite some time as am running low on Vitamin M. As i have already put in accessories totaling 34K from the dealer.

[vaas2000]

Ritzie is back from her first roadtrip and she has clocked 1250 kms so far. Me and 2 of my friends went on a four day roadtrip last weekend and we took the following route:

Day1
Bangalore>Tumkur>Arsikere>Shimoga>Sagar>Jogfalls>H onnavar (Kasarkod beach)

Day2:
Honnvar>Idugunji>Honnavar(Local sight seeing places)>Kumta>Gokarna

Day3:
Gokarna>(In and around)>Kumta>Honnavar>Jogfalls>Sagar

Day4:
Sagar>Shimoga>Arsikere>tumkur>Bangalore

Ritzie gave mileage of around 17 kmpl with full time a/c on in the sweltering heat. ABS proved it's mettle in ghats, my friend did most of the driving as he is an experienced driver in ghats, according to him Ritzie handles on par with his swift and the ABS plays a major role in it. Another major point to be noted is ground clearance, he was amazed that Ritzie didn't bottom out in any of the speed breakers or bad roads with 3 of us onboard and with stuffed boot with loads of luggage. All the while Ritzie was run at 2k rpm and doing 80 kmph max.

Issues:
Found from start that Ritzie was slightly pulling towards left side slightly in straight roads when steering wheel is left untouched. Wheel alignment needs to be done in first service.
From 3rd day, rattling noise started some where in between the driver's door/B pillar. We were unable to locate the source of the rattle. It wasn't seat belt, as we were always wearing seat belts. Need to get this sorted out.

Plus points:
With 3 people on, the 60:40 rear seats were handy, we could reach the boot any time we wanted to take out stuff (laptop/camera etc) with out stopping (Note that i have plank mounted jbls at rear)

AC was very effective, we wouldn't have managed to drive with out it. It's damn hot in the coastal belt now. Felt the need for front windshield tint to cut down the heat. Need to get that sometime.

Engine is gem, didn't skip a beat in ghats or straights or any kind of roads. Pulled effortlessly and engine noise hasn't increased so far.

Spacious inside area was plus, none of us felt cramped. It was like we were travelling in a bigger vehicle. Even rear seat was comfy with seat belt on. Used to get bumpy if the roads were real bad at rear. Front used to glide.

Storage areas inside are real boon, we found tons of things to store like valets, mobile phones, eatables, smokes etc. Especially the dashboard storage area and front passenger under tray were huge pluses. The door water bottle holders did their job perfectly. Though 1 ltr bottles needed a bit of squeeze to fit in. We sorely missed storage in rear doors. Had to let 2 ltrs water bottles lie around in the foot area at rear.

Ground clearance is real good, Ritzie didn't bottom out in worst of roads or speed breakers.

ABS/EBD rocks, go for it! It's amazing in Ghats!

Few goofups on the way:

Witnessed a mini truck topple over right in front of us near arsikere, on first day, so that dampened our spirits a bit.
In Kasarkod beach, my friend parked ritzie very close to sand and as i thought she got stuck! the front wheels sank a bit in the sand while the rear was planted on stone. In the melee, the front bumper's under parts got scratched as Ritizie's front bumper landed on a stone while trying to back her up and the front wheels sank even more After about an hour's struggle and generous help from localities she was finally free from sand.

I noticed another fine scratch on day 1 on the left passenger door, it was like some plant had scratched Ritzie while driving by. Hmm, so she's got her share of scratches already. Thankfully silver colour masks it.
All the nonsense stopped after i got Ritzie a proper pooja done at Idugunji Ganesha temple. Hope she stays protected in days to come.

Will be going in for first service this weekend (saturday) Am going with Bimal Yelahanka for First service. Have called them and booked an appointment. Lets see how it goes.

Here are few pics of Ritzie from the road trip and few interior pics: