Why I chose the 2022 Maruti Brezza ZXI+ AT over its rivals

Cars considered were the Nissan Magnite, Kia Sonet, Renault Kiger and Honda City.

Have been following this thread right from the time I booked my Brezza ZXI+ AT.

I wanted to get a Sub-Compact SUV for myself and my wife as roads and traffic in Chennai have become really bad.

It all started when my brother took my Creta to Bangalore and I was left using his Swift. It was rainy day and I was driving in traffic for almost an hour with the roads flooded and my legs aching so badly from driving the swift. And just for your reference this is a 2021 model manual dualjet car. This is the moment when I decided to get a new car and give the Swift away. I am 6'2 and I am on the healthy side so didn't have too many options in the market at the 12 to 13 lakh price point.

I was very clear that I wanted a proper CVT or a Torque Converter long term car that I can atleast use for the next 6 to 7 years without any issues and AMT was definately a NO for me. Was reluctant about the Dual Clutch as well owing to its long term reliability issues. Here's how my search started.

Option 1 : Nissan Magnite : The automatic was good and it had a descent feature list but somehow I could not agree to spend 13 lakhs on this. The engine was really noisy and the car somehow lacked the refinement one would expect from a 13 lakh rupee car. Last year this car was at around 11.50 lakhs and I still felt it did not justify the Price Increase.

Option 2 : Kia Sonet : Good Car with a very good feature list. Loved the drive reminded me of the Creta. Front seats were super comfy for my height but once I had the seat set to my height it was impossible even for a small sized adult to sit behind me. Then the waiting period which was about 3 months. This made me rule out the Sonet.

Option 3 : Renault Kiger : Felt the drive better than the Magnite somehow. Interiors also felt nice and roomy. My wife liked the car and the sales team was super friendly. Took a test drive and really liked it. They were offering me a good discount and it kinda ticked all the boxes. Suspension felt way better than the Magnite. The only let down here again was the Noisy Engine and miss on a few safety features that were there on the Magnite. Also surprisingly noticed a few rattles on the new TD vehicle that had only run about 2000 KM. Still overall as a package liked the Kiger for what it had to offer. Renault had a few colour options in Stock and promised delivery within a week of booking. After 2 days of thought and discussions went ahead and booked the RXZ O in Silver on the 6th of September. Wanted the Red but it had a waiting of about a month so went ahead with the silver. The lack of refinement and the bad service stories of Renault was still hitting me behind my head. As mentioned earlier was looking for a car that I don't have to worry about for the next 6 to 7 years and the long term reliability of the Kiger was still a question for me.

Option 4 : Honda City : I know this is no compact SUV and yes this was after I booked the Kiger. This was a car that was being recommended by all my friends and people I knew when I told them I am buying a car. Went and checked the city and the car felt really comfortable. Was a bit low for my liking but the overall comfort and the strong Honda IVTEC and CVT combo was impressive. I was confused again. My wife and family also liked the city and this was costing around 16 Lakhs OTR chennai for the V-CVT version. The sales team also were again really friendly and promptly followed up on things. Still did not want to take the jump as I was not fully convinced with idea of buying a sedan.

Option 5 : Maruti Brezza : Okay this is the fun part. Checked the reviews of the new Brezza and the pricing. I like everyone else judged it without seeing or driving it. The price was also way above the budget that I initially decided and I didn't even want to check this out. So a friend of mine asked to get my Swift evaluated at one of the True Value's so took my car there and was getting it evaluated ( Renault and everyone else were offering a really low price). This is when I first saw the Brezza ZXI+ AT in Red and Black. Trust me the car looked big and stunning. I couldn't stop myself from checking it out and asked the sales person if I can see the vehicle. He immediately asked me to take a TD and arranged everything in a minute. I had driven the old brezza and wasn't a big fan of the 1.5L NA that Maruti offered. However everything changed when I started driving the vehicle. The refinement levels were supreme. The steering was really light ( I somehow felt the Honda had a slightly heavy steering for city traffic). The suspension felt way better and the car overall felt nothing like the old Brezza. Its not an enthusiast choice but is very practical. The strong after sales Maruti has to offer, The tried and tested NA 1.5L engine that is now made better with dual jet, Strong and reliable torque converter and the most important of all the super strong Re-Sale of Suzukis strongly pushed me towards stretching more from the initial budget I had thought of.

My Observations :

• Really nice to drive around in the bumper to bumper traffic in the city.

• Steering felt nice and easy to drive.

• By far the best AT that Maruti has offered in the Indian Market.

• Height is really good. Even though it had a Sunroof it doesn't effect you in anyway.

• Really nice driving position. Was giving a commanding view. My wife is 5'5 and she was finding it easy to drive in the city because of the driving position.

• Rear space is okay. Not all that great but is descent when I adjust the front seat to my driving position.

• Features : Had everything that one can ask for from a car at this price point. Please don't compare it with Hyundai's and Kia's. Except for the Ventilated seats and TPMS. Maruti has thrown in every feature that customer's today are looking for.

Went back home after the TD. My wife was furious at me for even checking so many cars after we actually booked the Kiger. But she also liked the Brezza way better than all the other cars that we checked including the Kiger. So the next day I went to the showroom with my wife. The sales person insisted we come over and I also wanted to close on the SWIFT and finalise the price. The sales person welcomed us and directly took us into the showroom. I was talking about the price they had to offer for my Swift and casually asked him when would I get a Brezza ZXI Plus Automatic if I booked one now. He asked me for the colour and I said Red/Black. He told he can arrange it in 2 months and opened the system and showed me the bookings for each colour. Red/Black ZXI Plus AT had about 10 bookings and only one car was delivered. Every colour of this variant had a booking except for Silver Single tone. The SA asked us to check the silver colour a VXI was getting ready to be delivered. My wife liked it and convinced me that it would be easy to maintain. I met the SA and told him that I had made a booking for the KIGER and would book the Brezza only if he can deliver it to me by the end of the month. He assured that if I book the silver since I would be the first in the list he can get the vehicle delivered.

Went ahead and made the booking on the 12th of August after a lot of thinking. Was following up with the SA on daily basis to check if the vehicle was alloted and dispatched. Around 21 the SA was like automatic cars are not being dispatched by Suzuki and is trying his best. I had decided that if I could not get the car by the end of the month I will go ahead and get the Kiger. I still did not cancel the booking and requested Renault SA time till the end of the month to which they agreed. Finally I get a call on the 22nd of August from the SA saying the car was alloted and dispatched and will reach Chennai by the 2nd of September.

I finally had my car delivered on the 8th of September. Truly impressed by the MSA team in Chennai for meeting their promise and delivering a car that is in such high demand on time.

Read BHPian comments for more insights and information.