My 2005 Maruti Zen: Likes, dislikes & rants after 10 years of ownership

I have lost count of the people who has asked me if I’m selling my car

BHPian jensjoseph recently shared this with other enthusiasts.

I don’t intend this to be a full-fledged ownership review of the Maruti Suzuki Zen, but a brief record of my thoughts as an owner without having to cover all the aspects of car ownership.

How it all started?

About 10 years ago, I was in the market for a car. I wasn’t very specific about purchasing a new or used car at the time, but as I did my research, I was seriously looking at used cars. I didn’t even finalize the Zen as I was looking at sedans and hatchbacks alike. And I finally purchased a used Zen in June 2012 and it has been with me ever since.

What I love about the Zen and what I don't?

It’s a small car. It can fit in a tiny parking space where most larger hatchbacks can or don’t. While that’s a good thing, the small size is its downside. It's got lower legroom and smaller boot space. When I drive home to Kerala, I travel with enough luggage for a week, but I return with literally half a house. Every. Single. Time.

Notes and Rants:

1. As I drove home the car after paying the amount in full and signing all documents in June 2012, I told myself that I’ll purchase a sedan in 5 years’ time. Yet, here I am with the Zen after nearly 11 years.
2. In my apartment complex, the Zen is the oldest car. The next oldest one is an Esteem manufactured in May 2005.
3. In the 10 years of ownership, I’ve driven about 55,000 kilometres. The odometer reading now stands at 88,500 kilometres as I drive much less due to the Covid situation.
4. One specific gentleman who is part of security keeps nudging me to buy a new car. When he sees me he says, ‘Apartment 101 brought a Verna’, ‘Apartment 306 brought an XUV500’, ‘Apartment 318 brought an i20’ and so on. I smile back at him as I don’t think I’ll buy a new car anytime soon, given my current usage.
5. On 2 separate highway drives, I’ve noticed how owners of bigger cars felt insulted or insecure if I overtook them with the Zen. I wasn’t fast by any means; there were 2-3 adults with me, there was luggage in the boot and I happen to overtake them when they were slow or slowing down. My mother-in-law once remarked that my car may not be big and fast, but it sure is an ego-killer.
6. A month after I brought the car, I drove with it to the office at least twice a week. On the days I went in my car, I noticed that colleagues would turn up at the office earlier than usual. I usually reached the office early, between 8 and 8.15 am. Colleagues who wouldn’t reach the office before 10.30 am used to be in the office between 9 and 9.30 am. I noticed this pattern for about a month or so and then things went back to normal: I would be the only person in the office other than the security personnel till about 10 am or 10.30 am or so when my colleagues started coming to work. It turned out that the MD of the company had a Zen: it was the same colour as mine and my Zen was mistaken for his. Someone figured out the difference between the MD’s Zen and mine (other than the registration): mine had alloy wheels and leather seat covers. The MD’s Zen had steel wheels and fabric seat covers.
7. The most I’ve driven the Zen on an everyday basis was when my wife and I were expecting our babies. Other than this, it was driven every Sunday to church and almost every Saturday to get groceries.
8. I’ve driven other cars and I’ve noticed that there’s very little in the Zen that draws your attention; which means I tend to enjoy the drive much more.
9. I’ve gotten the ‘You’re-a-senior-engineer-now-and-you-still-drive-that-car?’ look many, many times. I’ve been asked the same question many times too. The question used to irk me initially but now I simply say ‘Yes’. That answer doesn’t seem to have a good comeback from the questioner.
10. Once, I got back home after running some errands and as I parked the car, a tall gentleman with a toddler in his arms approached me. He nodded, smiled and wished me ‘Good morning. And I responded in the same manner. The next sentence surprised me. He didn’t introduce himself; instead, he asked me if I knew what the biggest regret in his life was. I said no, and he said he was selling his Zen a few years ago.
11. I had to get a notary attestation in 2021 and just for a single signature and a seal, I spent nearly 1.5 hours at the public notary’s house. Why 1.5 hours? Why at his house? Because the notary was a friend of my brother-in-law and they spent time chatting since they hadn’t met since the beginning of the pandemic. When I finally got the attestation and drove back home, I told my brother-in-law that I wasn’t there when God was passing out patience. Yet, it is ironic that I have been patient and brushed off the itch to get a new car for so long.
12. Servicing is done at every 10,000 km mark and it's headed for it 90,000 km service before the end of the year. The servicing cost is fairly on par with other cars and I go by the principle that ‘If you take care of the car, it will take care of you.
13. The bullying bothers me a bit. Some people have this itch to bully and it shows up very often when I drive. I can understand buses and bigger commercial vehicles wanting to bully but what gets to me is when say a Hyundai Eon does it. Or a Santro. In such instances, I let them pass and wish them in my mind with ‘I hope you have the day you deserve’.
14. The tires were upsized from 145/70 R13 to 155/65 R13 and made for a better grip with minimal loss of mileage.
15. Speaking of mileage, I get about 22-24 km/l on the highways and about 14-15 in Bangalore city.

Selling it?

I don’t have an answer to this question. Maybe I might, maybe I won't. I have lost count of the people who has asked me if I’m selling my car but here are the ones I remember:

1. The first HR manager at my company in 2012 asked if I’m selling it nearly 3 weeks after I brought it.
2. The second HR manager at my company asked if I’m selling it as she preferred a small car. She now drives an automatic i10.
3. Once the a/c condenser had to be replaced and I drove it to a workshop after Gunjur, Bangalore as they had the OEM parts. The service manager there asked me if I’m selling it.
4. On the same day I went to get the a/c condenser replaced, I had to get a certain part welded. I drove with the a/c technician to a nearby welding shop and someone there asked me if I’m selling it.
5. Once I had to drop a relative at Cochin airport for an early morning flight. I got back home by around 6.30 am and told my wife I’m going to bed and don’t bother waking me up; i.e. I’ll get up when I can and I’ll have what seemed appropriate at the time, maybe a late breakfast or lunch. My wife woke me up at 10 am and told me there were two people outside to see me. I stepped out and saw two people, one of them is a service technician at Yamaha Motors and I recognize him from the uniform. He said he saw the Zen and brought his friend who wanted to purchase it. I turned down the offer.
6. In March 2020, while I was getting the Zen serviced at Bimal Maruti in Mahadevapura, one of the technicians offered to buy it for Rs. 80,000. I turned down the offer.
7. When returning from Kerala in January 2022, I stopped to refuel in Gundlupete, Karnataka. There was a family in a larger car and one person from the car came over and inquired if the paint is the original one. I replied in the affirmative, and then he asked if I'm interested in selling the car. Like always, I turned down the offer.

When I head home for the holidays, I rent cars. Thus far, I’ve rented and driven the Maruti Suzuki A-Star, Alto 800, Alto K-10, Ford Ecosport, Hyundai i10, Grand i10, Tata Indica, Indigo and most recently the Nissan Micra. These cars are so good to the point that when I come home and drive the Zen, I get suspicious: I feel like someone stole a nut or a screw from the car because the steering and the clutch are so light. But then I realize I’ve been driving another car for the last week or the last 10 days and there’s a certain simplicity in the Zen that few other cars have or can match.

And here she is in all her glory...

Here's what BHPian shankar.balan had to say on the matter:

This is a lovely and heartwarming story.

Evidently you, like many of us, love these old cars.

If I were you, I would keep it.

It's a lovely car.

Incidentally yesterday I saw a beautifully kept Yellow Zen of the 1990s vintage in Lavelle Road. And this morning on my walk I saw a lovely silvery beige one of the early 2000’s vintage on one of the nearby streets.

You should join the Old Maruti Club of Bangalore.

And you should also ask the Esteem owner to do so.

All the best with that modern classic Zen of yours. It still is a head-turner for sure!

Here's what BHPian Rajeevraj had to say on the matter:

Very nice update. I used to have a Zen from 2007 to 2011. It was a 2003/4 model similar to this one. Lovely little car. The main reason for changing it was the small boot which made it impossible for me to manage the Kerala trips as you mentioned.

Not surprised that you are able to easily keep up and overtake modern cars. The Zen was a simple no-nonsense, absolutely fun-to-drive car. This is why even today so many people are behind you for buying it.

You should hold on to it even when you upgrade. Wish you many more miles of happy ownership.

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