Buying a Maruti Suzuki S-Presso at age 70

At age 70, owner decided to sell his Ford Ecosport & bring home a Maruti Suzuki S-Presso.

BHPian mm_shen recently shared this with other enthusiasts.

My uncle is ageing and touching 70 now. He owned an Ecosport which I adored. But he couldn't manage driving it and decided to sell it.

Against my protest he bought an S-presso VXI+ AGS. Even though skeptical about it, after about two months, I am glad he did.

It is the perfect car for your ageing parents/elders who are hell bent on driving themselves till they can. Let me elaborate:

1. The car is small and nimble. The footprint is small, they will not have to worry much about parking. The turning radius is tight and can take U turns within tight spaces very comfortably. Elder drivers will be more at ease with a smaller car which can take tight turns easily. They need not worry of the weakened eyesight.

2. The seating position is high compared to Ignis which I own. You can clearly see the end of the bonnet. This is a boon for bumper to bumper traffic. High seating allows you to gauge the traffic ahead easily. In ignis, if a huge SUV is in front, I find it hard to see the vehicles in front. Height is truly a bonus when you see so many SUVs on Indian roads. Anyone, including the elders can navigate through traffic easily.

3. Nifty little thing for quick errands. He had brought it to factory. I had to visit a few vendors. Instead of going on a two wheeler, thought of using his car. I could finish the my visits more or less in the same time it would take me by a two wheeler. The added comfort of a car with AC was a bonus. Instead of riding a two wheelers, our elders can use a car. It might not be the safest amongst cars, but certainly for city traffic it is better than a scooter.

4. Milage. Middle class people like me do have a sense of amount spent on fuel. The car gives an milage of about 16-18 in city and about 22-25 on highways. This surely is huge money saver.

5. Many people have said that the car suspension was bouncy. But I felt the car handles bad patches of roads better than other small cars like swift, ignis and likes. The additional ground clearance does not make you worry about a huge speed bump ahead.

6. Decent highway manners when driven at a speed not exceeding 80 kmph. It drives relatively well when you drive it at 70-80. You can squeeze out the maximum mileage too. The car can also touch 100-110 easily. But does not inspire confidence to continue at those speeds. But for elderly drivers, I feed 80 kmph is a decent speed.

7. No nonsense Point A to B car. There is no high five electronics to make you confused. Start the ignition. Put it in Drive and press the accelerator. Off you go. Stop where you want. Pull the hand break, turn off the engine. You are done. The ease of maintaining such cars is a real blessing. You can get these car repaired at any local garage. Most Marutis are similar in this sense.

8. Hill hold has become a standard feature on all AGS models in Maruti. Kudos to Maruti to make this standard. My 2018 Ignis AMT rolls back on an incline when I let go of the brakes. This does not. It hold upto 3 seconds which gives ample time to put your foot on the accelerator and move. I was worried about how my uncle who only drove manuals his whole life will adapt to this flaw. Thankfully hill hold is standard in all AGS models and he did not find this problem at all.

8. There are two airbags which come as standard. Yes it does not make much of a difference in highway accidents. But for city use, which most elders use this for, it gives a small safety.

Seeing all these positives and see my uncle adapt to the car rather quickly, I have changed my opinion about the S-presso. It is not as bas as people make you to believe. You get your money's worth.

It does have a few features which irritates me. But nothing major which will make you regret. Some are

1. Centre console. You have to glance to the center to see the speed. It takes a little getting used to. Since this is an AGS, I really did not find the use of a tachometer which is missing on this car.

2. Rear passengers do not get power windows. They are manual windows. Only the front windows are powered and the switches are positioned in the center. If someone outside tries to talk when the windows are up, I fumble like a buffoon searching for the buttons on the door only to realize it is on the center console.

3. All the switches are different than their regular cars. OVRM setting switches, not on the door, it is on the right side of the steering column. The headlight leveler is above the bonnet opening handle and looks like a fuel cap. They used to give rotary switches.

Inspite of all these things, I believe it is a perfect car for elders in the family. Heck, I can even say for a daily driver to go to work and back, small errands, this car is pretty good.

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