Okay first of all I have posted this one in the weird and wacky thread but it was the mods who moved this out from that thread created a new thread out of it. I am not trying to be defensive here but just making a point. May be they are now grabbing popcorn and watching this thread.
You are a Team-bhp member and you have plenty of resources to check before deciding the car. Why did you bought this and posting non-sense in this forum ?
I was looking for my first car (hatchback) during mid 2017. That time National Green Tribunal (NGT also known as idiots) was very vocal against Diesels. Also I am not a mile mucher to justify the need for Diesel car. This made many of the great cars removed from my check list such as Hyundai i20 (petrol is still rubbish), Ford Figo or Figo S (Petrol is not great) and Punto Diesel. I have not considered VW, I am still afraid of their after sales service. Also I have not considered the Etios liva, Tata and Mahindra.
The only cars in my list were Abarth Punto, Jazz and Baleno. My first option was Abarth Punto even though it was bit stretching my budget. When I enquired about this, the dealer in Bangalore said they are not accepting Abarth Punto booking. Since there was no production of the car (that time). I have moved on and the next was Jazz, Jazz is bit like a mini Innova. I liked the previous Gen Jazz sold here but I don't like the new one's look.
Then I left with no other option except Baleno. I was bit skeptical about this especially the weight but Maruti mention that it is designed with crash test in mind etc. I have only checked Baleno and Jazz in the showroom in person. I admit this was a huge mistake. At one point I was thinking about the base variant of S-cross, Ecosport and some sedans too. Since many of the features will not be there, I have not considered them. This was my another big mistake.
As a first time car buyer, I still do not get many things by reading or watching photos. Some of them are build quality, steering feel. Only after buying a car, I come to know about this.
So you have bought Baleno now why are you regretting it ?
I have got Baleno on Oct 2017. I have not noticed how flimsy the car is until recently. When one of my colleague showed me. He recently bought S-cross. He has greater attention to detail in observation that I often over looked.
Everybody makes mistakes. Even Jeremy Clarkson bought wrong variant of Ferrari 355, check below video esp at 3.20. He recently bought VW Golf in wrong colour too.
What is your problem and why are you sticking stickers like this ? Will the sticker serve you any benefit ? You are vandalizing the car.
The car has very light sheet metal, the interior plastics are also very light. The brakes are weak and the engine is overrated (it is smooth I admit but it is also weak) and these kind of things reduces my enthusiasm. It is still debatable whether the car passes crash test or not. We are yet to have our proper Indian crash tests.
Even if the car passes the crash test, the metal on the car is very easily susceptible to dents. Not only that, a small crash will make you to replace very large portion of area. If VW, Hyundai can make thick strong cars in the same budget range, there is no reason for Maruti to not to do it.
I have mentioned many times about the cons of this car yet nothing happened. Only after seeing the stickers, people are now posting their thoughts.
We Indians are okay to stay with rubbish and we are not at all willing to change. That is why we have things like Trains that still throws shit in the rail road. There are still garbage thrown in the road. Still we have frequent power cuts. I have seen these 30 years ago and still the same now. Nothing changed so far because we are happy with whatever we have or if somebody raise their voice against it like me here, people tend to discourage and comment against it.
The sticker is not as bad as the car itself.
Your opinions are contrary. https://www.team-bhp.com/forum/offic...ml#post4375477 (Maruti Baleno : Official Review)
I admit I am one of the people who protested when someone posted picture of crashed Baleno saying it is not safe. I said we cannot tell whether a car is safe or not just by looking at the picture. It is still true because we will never know how much speed the car carry in the event of an accident.
However, it is not just one or two Baleno crash photos. There are now quite lot more really. Even though there is no scientific conclusion on this, I don't think not all crashed Balenos had such high speed accident.
I have taken a video today to show how much the metal of the car is flexing. This should be noted that I have tried this on other cars in my office car park and none of them are flexing as this much. May be the new Swift or the upcoming Ertiga will have this "feature". Again this is not scientific. Metal flex may not be linked with crash test fails but spending close to 9L and what you are getting in return is bit shocking. True to be told, I am not aware that the car metal flexes like this until recently. Again I am very bad at noticing things. It is not just the exterior metal, even the interior plastic panels are very very light.
What are you going to do with this car ?
I will continue to drive it. I have other priorities at the moment with respect to money. Unless if Maruti steps in and want me to return the car which obviously will not happen.
Summing it up
I think there is no need to glorify any manufacturer. These guys are shameless and do whatever to reap profits whether it is Maruti or VW. Maruti and recently Nissan issued statement after the crash test fails, they both said the cars comply with Indian Govt norms. God only knows what norms we have. Renault Duster sold here has smaller airbags than the one sold in other countries. Just look at the way they want to earn more money.
https://indianexpress.com/article/bu...-maruti-chief/ https://www.outlookindia.com/website...gn-vari/298831
I believe someone from Maruti will see this and make a note of it. May be they will implement it in their future products. There is a mechanism to provide the feedback of Maruti car service but there is no mechanism to provide feedback about the car which Maruti sells. I don't think my post will affect Maruti in anyway. It is like a drop in the ocean.
Again people take things personally. You don't have to be serious unless you are a Maruti aficionado or a Maruti salesman.