[champ27]

Mod Note: Team-BHP's Official Celerio Review has been uploaded at this link.


Greetings to all!!

I currently own a fluidic Verna and need a second car in the household. Below are my requirements:

Must have:

• The car will be used primarily by my wife for city runs in Bangalore with occasional highway trips. Hence it should be nimble, easy to drive, park etc.
• Good mileage - "kitna deti hai" is a key criteria
• Petrol - As monthly run is not going to be more than 500km, Diesel doesn't make any sense.
• Automatic / AMT (Non negotiable criteria)- Since the car will be primarily driven in the busy Bangalore traffic,automatic is the logical choice. Initially I was all for a fully automatic transmission but with Celerio AMT coming into the mix, things have become interesting.
• Budget- Not more than 6.5 Lakh
• Safety features- Atleast 2 Air bags. I was terribly disappointed to learn that Celerio AMT (VXi) doesn't have air bags. I guess even the Grand i10 automatic doesn't have air bags ( I may be wrong here). I will compromise on this criteria if there is no choice left for me after factoring first five points listed above.
  
  Nice to have: any or all of these will do. I know i am being greedy here
  
• ABS, audio system, seat height adjust, parking sensors, steering mounted controls, Electrically foldable ORVMs,Cooled glove box, push button start/stop with smart key, good fit & finish inside

With the above set of requirements, I could shortlist only 3 candidates: A-star automatic, Celerio AMT & Grand i10 automatic. I am not too sure about A-star primarily for being a market dud and secondly for cramped interior space. Also it's a dated product (No offense meant to existing A-star owners. This is just my personal opinion). But there are still other points going in favor of A-star, so I have put it "on hold" for now. This leaves me with Celerio AMT & Grand i10 automatic.

I took a test drive of Celerio AMT Vxi today. My first impressions were that it checked all the must have boxes for me except air bags. However, it could not tick any of the nice to have boxes for me. Other thoughts from my test drive experience were:

• I quite liked the M mode. It took some getting used to the confusing +/- set up of the tip tronic lever. The gear shift was smooth and could be easily controlled by throttle inputs, one just needed to lift the foot off the gas while flicking the lever and the gear change happened without any drama. M mode is definitely a plus point to have at the disposal during one of those highway runs just to have a little bit of fun.
• D mode is the one that's going to be primarily used for day to day driving. Again the shifts are quite smooth if you are easy on the gas pedal, so no issues there. I observed a noticeable lag in the gear shifts when the gas pedal was floored but that's not a biggie for me. Can live with that.
• Engine was quite smooth and free revving. Didn't get any impression of it getting strained even when I was red lining it.
• Plastic quality felt cheap. Even the build quality didn't feel so good.
• Extremely bare bone when it came to safety features ( No airbags, why MUL??) and other frills ( not even audio system) that one gets these days. Guys at the showroom had a very simple explanation on this front. They said all the Maruti customers are extremely price conscious, so any additions like airbags, abs will prove to be deal breakers in majority of cases. I just nodded my head in disbelief on how can safety features become deal breakers? Anyway..

I am yet to test drive grand i 10 automatic, so can't comment on that now.

Am I on the right track? Am I missing some other offerings in the market with my set of requirements? Are their some other good options that i can check out?
All suggestions, advises are welcome. Please help me out.

Note to Mods: Please merge this thread with any other thread having a similar query.

[carwatcher]

If Mileage is the main criteria, No one comes even close to Celerio, so no competition here.
If ABS/Airbags i.e. Safety is a priority then we have Honda Brio and Nissan Micra as option.
So Grand i10 fits nowhere, but be careful its favourite among ladies.
Quite a tough choice indeed.
If I were you, I would go for Micra.

[jha.shailesh]

If you have the budget, go for Brio - it's a best engineered car among all. Though you sit quite low in it, and ladies generally don't like it. If it's a city only car and you can relax your Airbags requirement, grand i10 will bring smile to your face with its value for money offer. Moreover, the car is very smooth and much refined as compared to Celerio. Celerio to me is a half a car, it lacks the finesse of the Koreans, engineering of the Japanese or build of the Germans. It trying to hard to become the cheapest automatic car, and unfortunately it is successful at becoming quite cheap. The tacky feel, the gitterng of the panels, loud noise of engine etc etc make you feel pretty cheap in it. With a lakh more you can grand i10 which gives you much more. It feels a premium offering and drives very smooth, better than Brio in terms of refinement and cabin noise. Ride and handling is where brio is ahead especially on the highways. But as an overall package considering features, space, interiors, looks and all that we look in a car, it's grand i10 all the way for me.

[Rajeevraj]

Typical problem we AT buyers face. Due to limited choice difficult to find something matching majority of criteria. For your scenario, if you can push your budget a little look at the Micra and brio. I think the Micra will satisfy every one of your criteria. If you cannot stretch the budget, the grand i10 is the better choice. I don't think milage is great. But with 500km a month it will be hardly noticeable. The other option in my opinion is to go the preowned route. For 6.5L you can get a 2-3 yr old Honda City AT which will touch most of your criteria.

[mints21]

I had already faced this dilemma when my M.D approached me for a suggestion. We explored all possibilities and narrowed it down on to the Grand i10 Asta.

Celerio is too expensive and the feature list is not even comparable to the Grand.

We did not like the Honda Brio because of the rear end design and Nissan because of low availability of After sales service centres.

We did consider Ritz A/T but the car was not available for test ride and almost all dealers we spoke or visited had no ready stock.

Grand is available off the shelf in Delhi so we choose to buy one.

A-star automatic,

I think this car is no longer available. It has been discontinued. Any dealer who is trying to sell this car may be sitting on the left over inventory.

[champ27]

Thanks for your responses. I see 2 other cars, Brio and Micra thrown into the mix. Need to check them out, esp the price. Any idea how much will the two cost on road in Bangalore?

Originally Posted by carwatcher

If Mileage is the main criteria, No one comes even close to Celerio, so no competition here.
If ABS/Airbags i.e. Safety is a priority then we have Honda Brio and Nissan Micra as option.
So Grand i10 fits nowhere, but be careful its favourite among ladies.
Quite a tough choice indeed.
If I were you, I would go for Micra.

Ideally I would have liked both ABS/Airbags and good mileage. But that's not happening i guess unless i stretch my budget.

Originally Posted by jha.shailesh

... Celerio to me is a half a car, it lacks the finesse of the Koreans, engineering of the Japanese or build of the Germans. It trying to hard to become the cheapest automatic car, and unfortunately it is successful at becoming quite cheap. The tacky feel, the gitterng of the panels, loud noise of engine etc etc make you feel pretty cheap in it.

I agree. The cheap build quality is something that is in your face even if you try hard not to notice it. Since I own a verna, it's all the more prominent. No, I am not comparing the two in anyway. Even my 7yr old Wagon R had better feel from the inside.

..With a lakh more you can grand i10 which gives you much more. It feels a premium offering and drives very smooth, better than Brio in terms of refinement and cabin noise. Ride and handling is where brio is ahead especially on the highways. But as an overall package considering features, space, interiors, looks and all that we look in a car, it's grand i10 all the way for me.

Grand i10 is a cool 1 Lakh more than celerio AMT, that's what has put me into a dilemma. Especially my wife is not too kicked about the bells and whistles it has to offer. Brio is an interesting option. Will need to find out what is its OTR in Bangalore. Again a low seating position may be a slight dampener.

Originally Posted by Rajeevraj

Typical problem we AT buyers face. Due to limited choice difficult to find something matching majority of criteria. For your scenario, if you can push your budget a little look at the Micra and brio. I think the Micra will satisfy every one of your criteria. If you cannot stretch the budget, the grand i10 is the better choice. I don't think milage is great. But with 500km a month it will be hardly noticeable. The other option in my opinion is to go the preowned route. For 6.5L you can get a 2-3 yr old Honda City AT which will touch most of your criteria.

Yes, I am told that grand i10 auto doesn't give a particularly good mileage and is no match to celerio on that count. So much so that the mileage even dips to single digit. I will need to check out Micra to see how much do I have to stretch. Not too keen to get another sedan in house. Wife strictly wants a small sized car for ease of city driving.

Originally Posted by mints21

I had already faced this dilemma when my M.D approached me for a suggestion. We explored all possibilities and narrowed it down on to the Grand i10 Asta.

Celerio is too expensive and the feature list is not even comparable to the Grand.

We did not like the Honda Brio because of the rear end design and Nissan because of low availability of After sales service centres.

We did consider Ritz A/T but the car was not available for test ride and almost all dealers we spoke or visited had no ready stock.

Grand is available off the shelf in Delhi so we choose to buy one.



I think this car is no longer available. It has been discontinued. Any dealer who is trying to sell this car may be sitting on the left over inventory.

Thanks for the information about A-Star. Ritz AT is way too expensive @7.5 OTR in Bangalore.
What was the OTR for Grand i10 Asta in Delhi?

And why do you say celerio is too expensive as compared to grand? Celerio AMT Vxi is 5.45 Lakh on road in Bangalore which is almost a lakh less than grand. In fact the price point of celerio AMT is what is getting the customers hooked to it and is contributing to my dilemma.Agreed, we can't even begin to compare the feature list of two cars,grand is miles ahead on that front.


Few more observations from my test drive yesterday. There was a huge demand for test drive for AMT version, looked like some festival season. The MT cut a sorry figure sitting on the sidelines. No one was bothered about test driving MT. The SA told me they have made around 1000 bookings till date and almost 95% of them are for AMT. There was a palpable confidence that could be easily felt in the sales staff. The SA told me that the management is so sure of the prospective sales figures that they have told their sales team, "don't try to sell this car, customers will anyway buy it". Not sure if it's the right attitude but it's working for MUL nonetheless.

I am attaching the latest price list of Maruti Suzuki cars.

[Rajeevraj]

Originally Posted by champ27

There was a palpable confidence that could be easily felt in the sales staff. The SA told me that the management is so sure of the prospective sales figures that they have told their sales team, "don't try to sell this car, customers will anyway buy it". Not sure if it's the right attitude but it's working for MUL nonetheless.

I am attaching the latest price list of Maruti Suzuki cars.

Not surprising. Felt the same attitude when I went to check out the ecosport and amaze when I was in the market for an AT car. It was like ' we can anyway sell all that we make, so I don't need to treat you well'. Now may be they can afford such an attitude, but sooner or later this will backfire on them.

[dark.knight]

This is my recommendation based on optimisation of the requirements stated above. As you know either the budget has to be upped or certain requirements have to be done without at the present prices. The reasons I give below are purely technical with certain points focussing on convenience and long term ownership :

- India spec Celerio is built on a budget, as expected very thin sheet metal and barebone interiors with very poor interior build quality. A definite safety risk. Always go with as much interior space as possible when it comes to hatches, you never know when you need them over the long run. Celerio is far too small interior wise.

- Brio has a great engine, what kills it is the build quality. The rear is 80% glass with no steel reinforcement for the boot door and a non-existant boot depth which makes it extremely dangerous for rear passengers. ABS does help in emergency braking situations but a car so improperly put-together counteracts any passive safety devices in the car. It's a definite fail if it's subjected to Euro-NCAP crash tests. Not to mention a practical bootspace is missing.

- Grand i10, if only it did come with 2 airbags and ABS this would've been the safest automatic entry hatchback in town. Unfortunately, facts say it doesn't come with them. What it has however is the best sheet metal usage along with steel structural reinforcement of all the 3 cars, a proper boot space with good depth and 252 litre space which is not only practical but safer for passengers (alongwith practical features like steering controls/parking sensors/rear a.c vents) . The service as you know is the best of the lot hence easy to live with. This is my choice as a well-built all-rounder car. Car structure is the first line of safety (always) so I cannot recommend a Brio even though it's engine is better.

One car does fit in your budget and has twin SRS/ABS etc, try shopping around for a 2nd hand auto i20 (pre-facelift) which is a real deal and an ideal city car. You will get more car for the same price which is very sensible. The old design to me is more appealing than the new one.

[nkg77]

Grande has a 4 speed auto box, where as Celerio AMT has a 5 speed gear box. If at all Maruti had added more features to the Vxi it would have been the best option.

[champ27]

Originally Posted by dark.knight

- India spec Celerio is built on a budget, as expected very thin sheet metal and barebone interiors with very poor interior build quality. A definite safety risk. Always go with as much interior space as possible when it comes to hatches, you never know when you need them over the long run. Celerio is far too small interior wise.

Totally agree. Build quality is nothing to talk about here.

- Brio has a great engine, what kills it is the build quality. The rear is 80% glass with no steel reinforcement for the boot door and a non-existant boot depth which makes it extremely dangerous for rear passengers. ABS does help in emergency braking situations but a car so improperly put-together counteracts any passive safety devices in the car. It's a definite fail if it's subjected to Euro-NCAP crash tests. Not to mention a practical bootspace is missing.

Exactly my feelings. I am not too kicked about the rear design. Looks very fragile to me and a definite safety concern.

- Grand i10, if only it did come with 2 airbags and ABS this would've been the safest automatic entry hatchback in town. Unfortunately, facts say it doesn't come with them. What it has however is the best sheet metal usage along with steel structural reinforcement of all the 3 cars, a proper boot space with good depth and 252 litre space which is not only practical but safer for passengers (alongwith practical features like steering controls/parking sensors/rear a.c vents) . The service as you know is the best of the lot hence easy to live with. This is my choice as a well-built all-rounder car. Car structure is the first line of safety (always) so I cannot recommend a Brio even though it's engine is better.

+1 to this. My only reservations about grand is the the price and lower mileage.That's why I am trying to explore all possible avenues at celerio's AMT price before stretching my budget.

One car does fit in your budget and has twin SRS/ABS etc, try shopping around for a 2nd hand auto i20 (pre-facelift) which is a real deal and an ideal city car. You will get more car for the same price which is very sensible. The old design to me is more appealing than the new one.

Haven't thought about this option.

Originally Posted by nkg77

Grande has a 4 speed auto box, where as Celerio AMT has a 5 speed gear box. If at all Maruti had added more features to the Vxi it would have been the best option.

I guess the customers are partly to blame for. When celerio AMT is able to garner such massive sales figure within weeks of its launch, why would Maruti add features to it even if it's a matter of safety of the very same customers. If the customers stop buying cars without basic safety features like airbags, auto companies will be left with no choice. But's this is a separate discussion..

[Guna]

A -star AT is no more available and Celerio/Grand i10 AT (Sports) do not have ABS/Airbags. You can try stretching your budget and explore Brio and Micra AT.

[drmohitg]

Please choose whatever you like in the end but I urge you not compromise on the presence of basic safety features of ABS and 2 airbags atleast. Yes the car will be run in busy Bangalore city traffic but one never know when tragedy strikes. I find it disheartening to see people discard the safety features on the criterion that the car will be run within city limits in traffic. Once the car has come to your house, you can never put a condition to it where you wont take it on a highway or relatively emptier road. So my humble request, more so as a BHPian is that safety features need to be priority number one along with AT ( in your case) and both have to be non negotiable. Good luck with your car hunting.

[champ27]

Originally Posted by drmohitg

Please choose whatever you like in the end but I urge you not compromise on the presence of basic safety features of ABS and 2 airbags atleast. Yes the car will be run in busy Bangalore city traffic but one never know when tragedy strikes. I find it disheartening to see people discard the safety features on the criterion that the car will be run within city limits in traffic. Once the car has come to your house, you can never put a condition to it where you wont take it on a highway or relatively emptier road. So my humble request, more so as a BHPian is that safety features need to be priority number one along with AT ( in your case) and both have to be non negotiable. Good luck with your car hunting.

Thanks! I am totally with you on this one. The thing is I am not able to compromise on both AT and airbags else I would have gone ahead and booked Celerio AT, pity they haven't launched AMT in Zxi version. Lack of safety features in celerio is the only thing stopping me from going ahead with this purchase.

It's baffling to know how limited the choice is in AT/AMT in 6-6.5 Lakh range. As you can see there are hardly any AT cars with the desired safety features in this price bracket.

As suggested above, will check out Brio & Micra though I have my own set of reservations about these cars. But I guess I will have to compromise on some front as there is nothing called a perfect car.The other option I see is to wait for future launches as I am not in a tearing hurry. May be good sense will prevail with some auto manufacturer and they start providing these features in the mid variants as well.

[999]

Originally Posted by champ27

It's baffling to know how limited the choice is in AT/AMT in 6-6.5 Lakh range. As you can see there are hardly any AT cars with the desired safety features in this price bracket.

Just to remind you that old i10 AT asta too have all the safety features you are looking out for. But then again it is a generation old with a boring 4 speed AT. I have a sportz At version of i10.

[mints21]

It's baffling to know how limited the choice is in AT/AMT in 6-6.5 Lakh range. As you can see there are hardly any AT cars with the desired safety features in this price bracket.

I do not agree with this statement, rather I would like to look the otherway round, when I was planing to buy an A/T hatchback for my wife in 2011, I had only two choices. One was an i10 and the other was A-star.

Today, we have moved forward and we have confusion on choices, which automatic to buy? We have Celerio, Grand i10, Nissan Micra, Honda Brio, Ford Ecosport to list a few.

I do agree that prices with certain cars act as constraint like an overpriced I 20, but the preference of people is changing and I see more and more people opting for automatic cars given the driving ease associated with it.

What was the OTR for Grand i10 Asta in Delhi?

It is 6.39 approx, I will send you the exact breakup tomorrow morning as the quotation is in my office.

Not surprising. Felt the same attitude when I went to check out the ecosport and amaze when I was in the market for an AT car. It was like ' we can anyway sell all that we make, so I don't need to treat you well'. Now may be they can afford such an attitude, but sooner or later this will backfire on them.

My experience with Maruti dealers in Delhi is that arrogance rules them the moment a new model is launched and is seen in demand. In 2003 the case was with the five speed Maruti 800, it was with Alto in 2006 or 2007, then with swift and Dezire in 2009 and now with Celerio.

I had gone to a leading Maruti dealer in Delhi "Rohan Motors" for Celerio and it was too tough a task to get a test ride. On availability front they tend to take the discussions on the demand and supply rather than coming staright to the waiting period timelines. I was too disgusted at their behaviour that I decided not to visit them ever again.