Maruti Ciaz petrol: 6.5 years & 52,000 Km ownership experience

With a combined efficiency of 14.8 km/L (11.5 km/L in city, 17km/L on highway), it's a fuel efficient petrol car.

BHPian shauryadabas recently shared this with other enthusiasts.

Greetings everyone, this is my first post on Team-BHP forum and I am open to valuable suggestions or criticism from fellow BHPians. I am a regular reader of the reviews on this forum for almost 8 years now and I appreciate the awesome content!

I am writing this long-term ownership review of my Dad's 2015 Ciaz VXI+ (~Delta) which has crossed 62000km and is doing duty as our one and only family car. I own a pre-owned 2017 Mazda 6 in FL, USA for which I am planning to write a separate detailed review sometime soon.

Back in 2015:

It was Dec 2015 and our 2008 Swift Diesel was due for a replacement. As a family of 5 members (with both me and my brother no longer small kids), our requirement was a much more spacious car that should not feel cramped at any situation. Dad decided the budget to be 10L and we were open to Sedans/Crossovers/SUVs with no particular preference for petrol or diesel. We only considered manual transmission at that time (this preference will definitely change for the Ciaz replacement).

I just got my driving license around that time and honestly, I was not having much driving experience (I was too young). My interest for cars was only based on their aesthetics and what I read in auto magazines and forums.
(It is all changed today though. After driving my Mazda 6 for almost 40k miles in USA, I now know what exactly is a good driver's car ).

In no particular order, the options considered were:

1. Honda City:

This was the default choice but higher prices and no discounts were the only drawbacks.

2. Renault Duster:

Very capable car (with ground clearance as a huge advantage), almost 1lac discount was being offered on the base model at that time. The interiors and lack of feel-good features were a letdown though.

3. Toyota Etios:

Toyota reliability was the prime reason to consider this car but we were not very impressed with the interior quality and bland looks.

4,5. Volkswagen Vento / Skoda Rapid:

Incredibly well-built cars (even more solid than my Mazda 6 !!), test drive was great. The only negative in these cars was the huge center floor hump which makes it less comfortable for the rear seat middle passenger, and also the long-term reliability concerns.

6. Hyundai Verna:

Tight back seat was a let off in a well-rounded package.

7. Hyundai Creta:

Expensive for our budget with base model not even equipped with airbags (at that time).

8. Maruti S-cross:

Non-conventional Maruti which is very well-built. I really don't know why we did not buy this car (maybe the ungainly front looks and smaller boot)

9. Ford Ecosport:

Solidly built, great to drive but the rear-seat width was tight for 5 adults.

10. Ciaz:

Ticked maximum of our requirements and was incredibly value for money. Pleasant looks and well-appointed interiors were a plus. Build quality and driving experience felt just about average though (as claimed by Dad). We decided to opt for the petrol engine as it was more refined than the diesel and safe from the 10-year diesel rule in Delhi NCR. VXI+/ZXI+ in Dark gray/White were the preferred options.

Finally, we sealed the deal on a White VXI+ at 9.25 lac (on-road).

Selecting Maruti product for the third time (after 800 and Swift) was a little ironical as Dad really wanted to try a different brand this time (but at last Ciaz came out as the most value-for-money option).

Accessories added: Leatherette seat covers, rear sunblind, rain visors, chrome door handles, and chrome window line (I don't like the chrome stuff much).

Ownership experience over the past 6.5 years:

To keep it concise, I have listed my positive/negative points below based on my observations over the years:

Positives:

• Comfortable suspension setup (good for long drives).
• Rear-seat legroom.
• Interior design and quality feels good for the price IMO.
• 510L boot space is huge.
• Big car feel for considerably less money.
• Bottom-end pickup is quick.
• Fuel efficiency for a petrol engine (~15kpl combined driving)

Negatives:

• Build quality is average at best.
• Top-end performance is lacking.
• 15-inch wheels look small (top model's 16-inchers are better)
• Interior rattling noises on bad roads.
• Squats down when fully loaded.
• Headlight response is not great.
• Fixed rear headrests are annoying (new model has adjustable ones)

I am attaching some recent pics along with few details:

Car looks well proportionate except those small wheels.

Interior fit and finish is good at most places

Loads of legroom.

Projector lamps look good but the light throw is not great.

Panel gaps are inconsistent at some places.

510 litre boot space is very practical for long family trips

The instrument cluster backlit looks really cool in a subtle way

Ciaz has proven to be a very reliable product for us till now. Out of the 62000km covered, 40% was driven in city and remaining 60% on highway/interstates. With a combined efficiency of ~14.8 kpl (11.5 kpl in city, 17kpl on highway), it's a fuel efficient petrol car. We have done several long trips with the car and all in all, Ciaz has been a great companion.

We are planning to keep it for another 2-3 years and then replace it with an SUV or a larger sedan. I will keep this thread updated.

Lastly, I am also attaching a pic of my Mazda 6 here in USA (I am planning to write a well-detailed review of it soon and will add the link in this thread):

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