[navan49]

Hi Vaas,

It is a good report on your Ritz. Really the ABS option is worth paying 19k plus. The color you got is good. The dust and small scratches are invisible in silky silver. Enjoy your Ritz. It gives around 19 to 20 km FE with full Ac. With out Ac in 80 kms constant speed on highway it gave me 26kms plus per ltr.

[Desmosedici]

Hey Vaas,

Can you tell how much did you pay for the Pioneer 4290SD. Looks really cool and guess the features are also superb

[vaas2000]

My apoligies for being offline for more than a month after i posted the thread. I got hitched last month and got busy with personal life, now got some breather and am back to share my expirience with Ritzie so far.

Originally Posted by navan49

Hi Vaas,

It is a good report on your Ritz. Really the ABS option is worth paying 19k plus. The color you got is good. The dust and small scratches are invisible in silky silver. Enjoy your Ritz. It gives around 19 to 20 km FE with full Ac. With out Ac in 80 kms constant speed on highway it gave me 26kms plus per ltr.

Thank you navan sir for your comments. Yes ABS rocks, it has proven it's worth many times so far. My average varied from 22 kmpl with 50% ac in city to 18 kmpl recently with 90% AC in city. Totally agree about silver colour's advantages when it comes to hiding scratches and dust.

Originally Posted by Desmosedici

Hey Vaas,

Can you tell how much did you pay for the Pioneer 4290SD. Looks really cool and guess the features are also superb

The HU costed me about Rs 9000. Got the ICE done at Bimal whitefield itself. Features wise it has SD card reader (can use mini/micro SD with adapters) So i can use my old sd cards for music. Has so many settings, haven't yet go through manual totally so far. This HU with my JBLs are keeping me happy.

Lot of things to let you all know, firstly statistics:

Kms on odo as of today: 3020 kms
Mileage: 22 kmpl (with 50% AC in city) to 18kmpl (in city with 90% AC)
Scratches: Under the front bumper, not visible outside. Some hairline scratches on rear doors.
Issues: There was persistant rattle noise coming from driver side B pillar/rear door. (Fixed today will let you know the story)


Service: First service done at Bimal yelahanka last month.
Quality of service:
Bad, i don't recommend this service center to any one. As it's a new showroom and all guys are new, they are not used to issues. I told them to check the B pillar rattle noise and after spending one whole day there, they told me it might be stig welding issue in the Bpillar/chasis!
I didn't believe their analysis, so didn't let them weld anything.
There was no service advisor, the person who interacted with me till the end was a supervisor but the job card was having some other person's name as service advisor. What takes the cake was there was no feed back form given to me by the service center, i saw it with the job sheet, but i wasn't asked to fill it, i guess they filled it on their own!
Plus they filled nitrogen in all tyres and i had to pay for it, they didn't bother to ask me whether i needed it in first place.

But credit should go where it's due. The supervisor, Mr praveen who interacted with me was good, he did all the running around and spend entire day trying to resolve the B pillar noise. Kudos to Mr praveen for that. The car was washed thoroughly and the interiors were spic and span.

I got mailer from maruti about dealer feedback and i filled it up and sent it last month. last week i received another feedback form from maruti, this time about the car and it's features/controls yet to fill it up. Got a call from Bimal about service feed back last month and told them what happened and i wasn't satisfied with their work in yelahanka branch. I was assured things will be changed and my feedback is being taken seriously. I also conveyed my appreciation to the supervisor there who worked on my car.

So far Road trips have been short, more of 1 day and around 300kms kind of drives. Mostly towards mysore and surroundings and each time ABS showed it's mettle when i was faced with those unmarked speedbreakers poping up in front of me. I drove to mysore 2 weeks back in night on a saturday, it was pouring cats and dogs through out, Ritzie behaved perfectly fine, no nervous moments, in heavy downpour or braking. I was absolutely comfortable through out the journey.
Got few front under bumper kisses from 1 huge ditch and a nasty speedbreaker with i failed to notice in time. That has left lot of nasty scratches under the front bumper. Apart from that no major scratches or dents so far.
Just in case you guys forgot, am still a L board driver, i just learnt driving 3 months back so still am not 100% confident or sure of driving in city or in highways. I usually drive with my wifey or my friend as co passengers.
Judging left boundary is something that is still a bit difficult, but am getting better day by day.

Got a sms from Bimal Whitefield last week about service/health check up camp being organised by Bimal on a sunday (last sunday) at their whitefield showroom and Maruti engineers from Delhi are coming to check the cars and take feedback. The B pillar rattle noise was persistant so far, so thought it will be good to get it checked with Maruti engineers. Off i went to the camp on sunday along with my friend.

I was the first to reach there. They were still setting up the tables and stuff. Then one of the maruti engineers introduced himself to me and asked for my feedback about Ritzie. Told him the positives first then the negatives about lack of Airbags/rear wiper and defogger. Told him that it was high time maruti gave us Ritz Zdi and Swift Zdi. Told him about Figo giving Zdi equivalent for cheaper price. I asked him about provision to fit rear wiper on my Ritzie and he told me he doesn't know if it's possible, he can check and let me know.
Then i told him that am also from team-bhp and he looked surprised, looked like he knew about the group then he took interest in the B pillar noise and we went on road test with Bimal personnel driving the car, the said that B pillar noise was known issue in Ritz and during their last camp in Ludhiana too there were almost same problem. I asked him what was the culprit, he said it varied in case to case, in most cases it was Wire couplings and few cases seat belt mechanism inside.
He told me in front of Bimal service personnel that my issue will be resolved. Before that, we were given snacks, soft drinks. Jk tyre representatives asked me for feed back, i told them i was quite ok with their tyres. They gave me a JK tyre tissue box. After that Ritzie was sent to wash and after washing all the fluids were checked. They had some kind of check list which they were going by checking each and everything. Ofcourse Ritzie passed all checks and she was certified all ok, except for the B pillar noise. Was given a small gift by Bimal as well for attending the camp. I found only new vehicles in camp, i guess they organised it for 2 or 3 month old vehicles. Most of the cars were Ritz followed by A star and probably a lone swift.

After the camp, I met Bimal service personnel and they told me that if i can get the car anytime on a week day, they can fix it in about half and hour. They again suspected some thing in B pillar weld or under chasis weld. I had taken off on monday and tuesday so decided to go back on monday to get the rattle noised fixed.

Went to Bimal Whitefield on monday morning, The service personnel i had interacted during the camp on sunday wasn't available, instead i was attended to by another service advisor who patiently took down all details. We went on Test drive to know the noise and after the road test, they took ritzie to fix things. After about 45 mins again another road test and this time the noise was getting even more persistant. Finally they said that they will have to check in depth and would need time. They said that they will have to sent Ritzie to body shop and check the welds near B pillar. So they made job card and told me that i can collect Ritzie by tuesday evening. But i need to call the advisor to know the progress.

Called the service advisor on tuesday noon and i was told that they were working on it and they will call back. I started my journey towards Bimal by then ( i stay 25 kms from the showroom! so had to change some 3 buses to reach there)at around 5 pm i got a call from the advisor saying that i can collect Ritzie now and they have fixed the issue.
I reached the showroom by 5.30 pm and met the advisor. Ritzie was all ready and we went on a road test, the Rattle noise from B pillar had vanished! we went off roading, went over speed breakers, but no noise now. After we reached back to showroom, service advisor told me about the issue. He said that all the while they were thinking it was the B pillar weld or the chasis weld issue. They had checked everything from seat belt mechanism to all plastics on B pillar. Then they escalated the issue to Maruti. The issue was traced to a wire coupling in the rear passenger door! The coupling was touching the door sheet whenever there was vibration in car (like bad roads or speed breakers) hence the noise.

He told me that they removed the rear door panel and fixed the coupling in place with some rubber support so it doesn't rattle again. I wasn't charged a penny for for the whole thing. Kudos to Mr Arvind (service Advisor) and Bimal Whitefield for resolving my issue and handling Ritzie with care while they were working on her.

Now Ritzie is fine, with the B pillar rattle noise gone, now am very happy, that was the only thorn in flesh. Am looking forward to more drives in future. Will keep you all updated about Ritzie's progress routinely.
I know this has been a loooong post, but i wanted to share with all about the B pillar rattle noise issue, it is something that might help other Ritz owners too in case they have same issue.

[ownerofazkaban]

Thanks for providing the insight into the Maruti Camp. The sales chaps at Pratham always sold Ritz as 20kmpl in city milage car and your experience proves it.

Enjoy the ride.

[gemithomas]

Nice Review. Thanks.

22km/l!!! Is it a tankful to tankful calculation? Please do give some tips on how you drive. i mean acceleration / gear change / rpm's you maintain etc. etc. I booked a Ritz and bought a Figo. And i'm getting only around 13 in city.

Please also give some details on kind of road/traffic in which you drive.

[vaas2000]

Originally Posted by ownerofazkaban

Thanks for providing the insight into the Maruti Camp. The sales chaps at Pratham always sold Ritz as 20kmpl in city milage car and your experience proves it.

Enjoy the ride.

Thank you for your comments. Service camp was good, gave me opportunity to interact with maruti engineer and got some freebies
Ritzie got a thorough wash for free as well. I guess Ritzie does give somewhere between 20 - 22 kmpl if driven properly in city.

Originally Posted by gemithomas

Nice Review. Thanks.

22km/l!!! Is it a tankful to tankful calculation? Please do give some tips on how you drive. i mean acceleration / gear change / rpm's you maintain etc. etc. I booked a Ritz and bought a Figo. And i'm getting only around 13 in city.

Please also give some details on kind of road/traffic in which you drive.

This is how i measured the mileage. First i filled some fuel, indicator was showing half tank full. Drove around for few days till the fuel indicator showed one bar. Then did tankful, during this time, set trip meter to zero and drove around till fuel reached 1 bar again. Again did tank ful. Took the total number of kms from trip meter and divided it by number liters which went in the tankful this time. I have done this twice, first time she gave 22 kmpl, most of the driving was in city and with out a/c then. Second time was little bit of highway and city with constant a/c and she gave 18kmpl.

Am still L board driver, so i keep speeds slow. Also i change gears max at 2000 rpm or at 1500 rpm. I use Ritzie only on weekends or during holidays as i have office cab for daily commute. Bumper to bumper traffic is what bangalore is famous for, but during weekends it's relatively a bit better. Also i don't cross 3000 Rpm. Usually it goes till there by mistake when i misjudge, else it's always around 2000 to 2300 rpm.

I read some excellent threads here on the forum about driving tips/gear changes/usage of gears etc. So am implementing them slowly. Thank you team-bhp once again. Needless to say, i have ordered my Team-bhp stickers yesterday and am waiting for them so Ritzie can flaunt her Team-bhp membership proudly

[vaas2000]

Yesterday managed to get a nasty scratch on the front bumper, near the fog lights on the left side. It was some debris from construction thrown on the road, one of the stones left the ugly mark, now ritzie has a nasty 1.5 inch length deep scratch near the fog lamp, black colour plastic of the bumper is visible from the scratch All this happened while i was parking Ritzie near my house and the debris was on the road near home.

Apart from that, it's been smooth sail so far. Next up will be fixing IND number plates (Gifted by James aka zahin for my wedding) and of course awaiting for Team-Bhp stickers to put them on Ritzie.

[vaas2000]

Am back with updates. Firstly, got my Team-bhp stickersand finally installed the IND plates gifted by Bhpian james aka Zahin.

Been using Ritzie only on weekends, Had been on a drive with family last week to Interiors of Mandya, Ritzie was at her usual self on mysore road. The Interior roads were total offroading with 7 kms of horrible excuse for roads, Ritzie was loaded with 4 adults, managed to go through the ordeal with out a squeak. The B pillar rattle noise hasn't come back to haunt thankfully inspite of the offroading adventure.

She's clocked 3422 Kms so far, Am looking forward to more drives with her. Haven't checked Mileage after last time, Will check it next time when i plan a long drive. Here are few pics of Ritzie sporting her IND plates and Team-bhp stickers on the plates, taken at Kamat in Maddur. I will be putting up few more Team-bhp stickers on her sometime this week.

[vaas2000]

Back with updates.
Smooth sailing so far, Ritzie has clocked 3645 kms so far. No new rattles or squeaks.
Found door protectors in Bigbazaar at Rs 100, bought them for Ritzie temporarily, once these fall off or disappear will get better quality ones.

Touch wood so far no new scratches. Been itching to go for a short drive, so am off this sunday towards Mandya for a day's drive with biking fraternity BikeNomads. Will post the drive experience once am back along with pics.


Also Ritzie got more few Team-bhp stickers on her now apart from number plate stickers. Here are the pics of stickers on her and the door protectors. Excuse the quality of pics, didn't have my cam handy so clicked through mobile cam. She will also be getting a Bikenomads sticker by weekend.

[Lemon]

Vaas... Great to read about " Ritzy". Your was especially interesting since I took delivery of a new Ritz in Silver too. I personally preferred white but had to settle for silver as the waiting time was almost a month. In hindsight I think I didnt make a bad decision as it looks very cool in this colour.

I have the rattle in the B pillar driver side and need to get this addressed as soon as possible as this is the only sound from an otherwise quiet car.

Clocked only 140 KM so far and I can say that its been splendid. The handling, suspension and the engine are really a delight.

I especially like the small sporty ( throaty ) overtone in the petrol engine when raising slightly.

Got a Xenos security keyless entry fixed at showroom level and now hunting for a tyre upgrade from Michelin Energy XM +. Maybe throw in the alloys as well. Havent yet decided on the ice but speakers are definitely JBL Compos.

[vinayak007]

Hello,

I have a question that i hope the gurus will help me out with.
I've been test driving the Ritz and Swift VDi from different dealerships and i've noted that the turbo kick above 2K rpm really depends on the car that i've been put to drive.
For ex. the cars in Pratham motors seem to have a very profound kick and the ones in Kalyani motors are more sedate.

This observation leads me to believe that dealerships might have tuned the engine by a margin to lend an elevated level of satisfaction to an unsuspecting customer.
Could this really be the case or is it just that the cars themselves carry some faults by and large ?

[vaas2000]

My Apologies for being gone for so long. Work/personal life took it's toll on me and couldn't find a breather to post, hence the delay.

Originally Posted by Lemon

Vaas... Great to read about " Ritzy". Your was especially interesting since I took delivery of a new Ritz in Silver too. I personally preferred white but had to settle for silver as the waiting time was almost a month. In hindsight I think I didnt make a bad decision as it looks very cool in this colour.

I have the rattle in the B pillar driver side and need to get this addressed as soon as possible as this is the only sound from an otherwise quiet car.

Clocked only 140 KM so far and I can say that its been splendid. The handling, suspension and the engine are really a delight.

I especially like the small sporty ( throaty ) overtone in the petrol engine when raising slightly.

Got a Xenos security keyless entry fixed at showroom level and now hunting for a tyre upgrade from Michelin Energy XM +. Maybe throw in the alloys as well. Havent yet decided on the ice but speakers are definitely JBL Compos.

Congrats on your Silver ritzie too, am sure by now you would have run few thousands of kms! So far i haven't felt the need to upgrade the stock tyres as of yet, Budget is tight as well, so i would rather wait for few more months before i decide about Alloys and Tyres. If i do, then am thinking of going in for OEM Zxi alloys with same 185 sized tyres other than JK.
JBLs rock, the ones on my Ritzie do their job very well, especially the rear tray mounted ones.

Originally Posted by vinayak007

Hello,

I have a question that i hope the gurus will help me out with.
I've been test driving the Ritz and Swift VDi from different dealerships and i've noted that the turbo kick above 2K rpm really depends on the car that i've been put to drive.
For ex. the cars in Pratham motors seem to have a very profound kick and the ones in Kalyani motors are more sedate.

This observation leads me to believe that dealerships might have tuned the engine by a margin to lend an elevated level of satisfaction to an unsuspecting customer.
Could this really be the case or is it just that the cars themselves carry some faults by and large ?

Not sure about that, i haven't found the "kick" to be profound unless i keep the throttle floored all the way down, else it's mild enough. May be you should drive one of your friend's or tbhpian's Ritz diesel to make out the difference.

Coming back to My Ritzie's update. She's been to variety of places in all these months, took her to Yercaud hills and to Goa the very next weekend. Ritzie was effortlessly doing 140kmph on goa road trip in NH4 with 3 adults and luggage. I managed to push her to 160kmph, no shudders or vibrations.
ABS rocks, lost count of occasions where it kicked in saved me from potential disasters. As of today after Goa road trip, Ritzie has clocked around 8000 change kms so far. Am not sure if i mentioned earlier, her second free service at 5000kms was done at mandovi motors, yeshwantpur, am very satisfied with their service, i will be leaving Ritzie under their care in future too.
Ritzie's underbody has taken lot of scrapes due my misjudgment in our great roads, she took a nasty bump in NH4 near ranibennur during Goa roadtrip. so am taking her to mandovi tomorrow to get her under body checked and get the underbody repainted as well, will post details.
Am using Ritzie for weekend road trips and weekend city drives, so far she's behaved very well and absolutely no problems. After i hit a nasty road hump in Goa trip, am hearing some kind of noise from front left tyre area, will be getting that checked as well.
Oh yeah last but not the least, she is no longer parked at my uncle's place, found her a basement parking near home for rent and she's parked there securely from past few months.
Few pics from her road trips so far: