[rajshenoy]

Originally Posted by kailashnj

Thanks for the info rajshenoy, will visit the MASS today and see if they can help.

This is the thread i referred to get information on Vinyl mats

http://www.team-bhp.com/forum/modifi...ination-3.html

People do have mixed reaction about this. Frankly speaking, If Ertiga floor had come in any other color, i would have not opted for any extra floor mats.
You can also explore 3D kagu mats and 3M nomad mats as alternatives.

[drkritik]

Rajesh did you get paint protection?
It's costing nearly 4k. Is it worth and required?
3m also offers Similar options any views ?

Kindly share the DIY armrests option via Pm.

[rajshenoy]

Back from a 1000 km long trip via Western ghats. Thanks to the Cyclone. Was greeted by rain throughout the journey but managed to complete as per the plans.

So here is the feedback:

1. Highway manners - This car loves highways. Loves to be revved hard and overtaking vehicles is effortless. Compared to the stiff suspension of Swift that i used to drive on same roads, Ertiga is very composed at all speeds. Suspension soaks up uneven roads, broken roads, and sudden surprise potholes keeping the passengers in the rear comfy and dozing off. Makes a big difference and feels very fresh even after long drive.
Drove on 4 lane toll roads, winding Malnad roads, Broken Ghat roads(resembling river bed) and the coastal Karnataka roads and Was very impressed with the handling of this car.

2. Engine: I was maintaining the 2000-2500 RPM band and the car loves it. There is hardly any strain on the engine with AC and the rear blower running 100% of the time. and also with luggage+ 5 people.

3. FE: With all the bashing it took, i was happy to get 18.6kmpl during the first leg and during return leg(hill climb) got around 17.2kmpl. Not bad considering that i was maintaining 90-110 kmph on good roads and there was a stretch that was having hardly any road. plus 60% of the journey was on ghat/winding 2 lane roads. AC was always ON too.

4. NVH : Very good for a diesel. Just what the MJD is known for. It is silent both inside and outside. Even the road/Tyre noise is very minimal.On speeds above 100kmph, there is a faint wind noise creeping in somewhere near the driver window. Its not very annoying, but definitely there if cabin is silent. With music or passenger chit chat, the noise is not audible at all. But will get the thing checked during next service. I remember reading similar issue in official ertiga review thread.

[mohan41]

Originally Posted by rajshenoy

Small issue
I have a steep gradient(and a tight stretch of road) just outside my house and typically requires 2nd or 1st gear. I had just taken the car out and the people inside couldn't wait to switch on both ACs. As i was climbing the gradient, an Auto rushed and i had to almost come to a standstill.When I tried to move, I noticed that the vehicle stalled. I started the engine again, slotted to first and car did not move(stalled again) After couple of cranks and failure I turned off the AC and asked people at the back to switch of the second row blower too. Then the vehicle moved smoothly.
So just wondering if the vehicle has issues climbing up the slope from standstill with 4-5 people and both AC ON. Will try to reproduce the issue if I can.

I want to mention something that I have seen consistently with my Ertiga DDiS. Immediately after switching on AC, for about a minute (or may be two minutes), AC seems to cause noticeable loss of power which is apparent if one is moving from standstill. But after a while no difference is felt. Also, in this case, since you had just taken the car out, I believe the engine had not come to the optimal temperature which is another factor - I have always felt performance is significantly better once the engine has warmed up to normal (half-way mark on the temp guage)

[rajshenoy]

Originally Posted by mohan41

I want to mention something that I have seen consistently with my Ertiga DDiS. Immediately after switching on AC, for about a minute (or may be two minutes), AC seems to cause noticeable loss of power which is apparent if one is moving from standstill. But after a while no difference is felt. Also, in this case, since you had just taken the car out, I believe the engine had not come to the optimal temperature which is another factor - I have always felt performance is significantly better once the engine has warmed up to normal (half-way mark on the temp guage)

Yes I have learned to live with diesels now

Apart from that, many know already about hissing wind noise and the middle row seat has some rattles when I am driving alone

I guess maruti has improved a lot but still has small niggles to work on to do well in above 10 lakh segment.

Overall I am a happy owner. My car is compact than sedans of same price, has extra seats and back row ac, mileage is good for any MPV too

[rajshenoy]

Car is nearing 5000 km and its time for second service(sometime next week)

+ve
1. F.Economy - I have got an average of 15.9km till date. which is great considering its size and Bangalore roads
2. Seating - Excellent, On many occasions I did have to carry more than 5 passengers and the 3rd row seat works like boon then.
I have tried 1-2 ppl, 5 ppl+luggage, 6-7 people, 8+2 children(very short distance)
3. Utility - Very good luggage space for a 5 seater. Middle row seat slides making it very practical for all the requirements that i have
4. Engine - Engine does not feel laggy at all. Its very drivable in city(I mostly drive below 1500RPM) and in Highways, the car just rockets in the 2000-2500 RPM range.
5. Suspension - Soft and composed, but the car rocks when more than one Tyre has to go over potholes. And Bangalore has plenty of them. Its definitely not a hatch or sedan. with that in mind, body roll is way better than other MPVs
6. Ground clearance - Awesome 185mm. Never had to think twice about car bottoming out on any road( Worst stretch ever driven in my life - NH stretch near Kundapur,Udupi.)

-ve
1. Rattles - Middle row seat rattles, Its a maruti trait .
2. There is a faint wind noise from the front quarter glass. Need to check during service
3. While playing music with more bass, doors do vibrate a bit. If i had installed aftermarket music system, it would have been my head ache. But Should i treat this as a defect for company installed system. They should provide enough damping for vibration reduction ?

Things that could have been better:
Lights - Nothing bad about them, but they are only marginally adequate. But i can live with those
Split 3rd row seat - Would have helped me better manage my luggage with 6th passenger still comfy. Now i am messing with my seat for storing luggage.

I have been maintaining a FE chart and here is the snapshot so far. As one can see, I have been getting close to 16 kmpl average till date. Mileage is definitely improving gradually compared to 13.5kmpl in the begining.


Notice the difference between MID and the actual mileage. Its been mostly 1-1.5 km less than MID, baring couple of strange instances

[paragsachania]

Originally Posted by rajshenoy

3. While playing music with more bass, doors do vibrate a bit. If i had installed aftermarket music system, it would have been my head ache. But Should i treat this as a defect for company installed system. They should provide enough damping for vibration reduction ?

The easiest solution to get rid of the door pad plastic noise is to install MDF spacer rings.

Even I face this issue with songs having high bass in my Ertiga but I have noticed that this is common in many cars as the speakers are installed on the door's metal frame directly.

Spacers should cost you around 100 each (may be lesser) and installation will take around 60 minutes for all the 4 doors and you can retain the OE speakers.

I have personally found the quality of OE HU and Sound quality of the stock speaker definitely good.

[rajshenoy]

Originally Posted by paragsachania

The easiest solution to get rid of the door pad plastic noise is to install MDF spacer rings.

Even I face this issue with songs having high bass in my Ertiga but I have noticed that this is common in many cars as the speakers are installed on the door's metal frame directly.

Spacers should cost you around 100 each (may be lesser) and installation will take around 60 minutes for all the 4 doors and you can retain the OE speakers.

I have personally found the quality of OE HU and Sound quality of the stock speaker definitely good.

I know that wooden rings reduce the vibration considerably. But since the music system was provided by Maruti, they should have taken care to reduce the vibrations !!. Lets see if they can fit the wooden rings for no cost

I too like the OEM speaker quality. Its pretty good for stock system. Mine is Vdi, Just wondering how much difference can the tweeters make and should i spend extra on it? I am very happy with the 4 speakers though. If tweeters can bring audio clarity, i might want to fit it.

[rajshenoy]

I have been busy with my new Job so never got chance to take the car out on the highway since long time.

Car has been doing good. close to 7K now (around 5.5 months) and FE has been great for car of this size. Its hovering between 15.5 to 17 in Bangalore city.

Wanted to share few pics that i shot from my mobile last week.

[rajshenoy]

I must confess that 2014 was a very hectic year for me. A job change, Welcoming a new member to my family only meant that the long trips that i wanted, Never happened.

As of today, my Dusky is chugging at 22000 kms and still feels like new.

Positives:
A no nonsense car, Compact for city trips(Solo driving) and occasional heavy duty(7 adults + 3 kids)
Drives great on highways in the turbo band
FE is consistent 16 kmpl average. Have got maximum 19.5 on a recent highway trip and a worst of 14.5 in last one year.
Problems seen till date:
Seat rattles - Most of it is only when i am driving solo. With people in the back seats, car is silent. Of course it is not a Ford or a VW. MASS adjusts the seats during every service and rattles are gone for a while
Engine Oil leak - Started seeing this when the car was as new as 5K kms. During 10K service, the Engine seal packing was replaced under warranty and with one long drive in bad roads, Leak was back at 15K. At 20K service the diagnosis was the tightening of bolts near the oil sump.
Good part is that oil levels dont dip and its more of a oil covered sump at the bottom than a huge leak.
Wind noise from RHS front door at highway speeds - Minor irritant still persists above 80kmph. But it has been greately reduced during 20K service where they seem to have adjusted the driver side door.
Hand break not working - Yes When i park at inclines and pull the hand breaks, it just goes back down, but after moving the vehicle bit back and forth, it works. Again MASS troubleshooted this at 20K service by adjusting the hand break play. So far problem has not happened again
Boot opened on speedbreakers - Happened on those multiple small speed breakers which i did not notice and happened to go over it at speed of 40-50kmph. I got the door open beep and the warning light, pulled up the vehicle and checked all doors to notice that it was the boot door. Shut it tight again and it did not repeat after that. I only had two cabin sized bags in the boot and my brat at back seat !!

Apart from these, I got an armrest installed(A shout out to Parag) DIY. Got it from Ebay and refereed to the threads from Parag.

Also got some chrome door handles from ebay. It looks decent from far, but it is as good as its worth(400 rs)


2015 should be exciting for my Dusky as I already finished one Mangalore trip and a Goa trip is due next month.

And hey, brown seem to be a popular color at least in Bangalore since i see plenty of these on the roads . Not just Ertiga, overall I am seeing many makers offering brown cars.

[rajshenoy]

On a lazy Sunday afternoon towards the fag end of 2017, I thought it was perfect time to update the same and see if it qualifies to become a "long-term ownership review"

Apologies for the prolonged silence !!A failed startup was more than enough to keep me super occupied in all these years along with a lovely princess who is now 3.5 yrs old.

80000kms and 4 year update
As i type, the car is running smooth at around 82K on the odometer but off late there are few observations

Positives that I LUV
Compact size - boon in chocked cities such as Bangalore. Car is effortless to maneuver and feels just like a hatchback
Mile cruncher - this 1.25l DDiS loves highways. sweet spot being around 2-3K RPM and i mostly keep the needle at 2500RPM and dusky can chug along all day at 100-110kmph. Though there is turbo lag below 1.8K RPM, i guess it was never a deal breaker since day 1.
Kitna deti hai Its a Maruti, so how can i skip answering this ? I have always managed around 14-16kmpl in Bangalore traffic and maximum of 19.5kmpl on highways. This drops to 17kmpl during "ghat" driving, and when i am in mood to revv/shift gears often.
People mover There are couple of incidents which prove the varsatile nature of this car. I once carried my whole office for a lunch outing. Well being a small startup, we were just 8 geeks. Other incident being family mover - Made a quick visit to the Heritage Winery on Mysore road with 6 adults and 3 kids and we decided to travel together avoiding two cars.
Not so great things
Lack of boot space
It was a day-1 problem, but somehow not a deal breaker. as i never had more than 5 people on long journeys along with luggage. I am looking at the new Maruti MPV scoops with great hope that we will see bigger boot.
Gearbox
Having owned SX-4 in the family, SA had mentioned about issues with the gearbox with the 90hp DDiS and told will have to open it up within 80k kms. Though the SX4 is still running smooth at over 1lakh kms, Ertiga was not so lucky. More on that to follow
Service costs at dealerships Maruti certainly is not a cheap car to maintain. In fact it costs as much as a Ford or Skoda/VW if we periodically visit dealerships for servicing. Most of us have already seen a video of Baleno service. They dont do much either. I have been visiting a MASS (not dealership) since my swift and continue to service my Ertiga from there. This ensures my car runs smooth and doesn't leave me stranded on highways !!

Hiccups on the way !!
Engine oil leakage This started as early as 5000kms and replaced the oil seal packing under warranty.
Symptoms: Notice oil leak near oil sump(http://www.team-bhp.com/forum/techni...ml#post3323658
Dead battery While coming back from a mall, went to re-fuel and the car never started after refueling. Called the Maruti on road service and the help reached in 10 mins and i was on the move. Replaced the battery !!

Symptoms: If there are issues with electrical system, watch out !!. Power steering warning light kept popping about a week back and for the first time i realized how hard it is without the electronic assist. Also the car needed a longer crank the day before.

Issue with Synchronizer rings
By now i guess this is well known issue. This happened at around 67000kms and 1 month to before expiry of my 4 year warranty. Rushed my car to BIMAL and they passed the blame on clutch assembly but eventually agreed to replace the synchronizer rings under warranty and looking at the high running i also decided to replace my clutch disk and the cover avoiding the labor charges(though I only experienced slight shudder on inclines)

Symptoms: It all started with difficulty to slot in 1 and 2 gears

New Clutch gone kaput in 12000kms
My car had crossed 81K and was planning to drop for service and as i was telling my wife that even after 80K the car is butter smooth, there was a loud judder. This came all of a sudden and i struggled to drive to office and back. Car would hardly move in reverse too !! There was no loss of power in higher gears except for that annoying shudder and noise. As the warranty had expired, Avoided BIMAL and my local SA told that they must have messed up while replacing the clutch disk during gear box repair and that had led to a damage to flywheel as well


So i had to replace entire clutch assembly (around 8.5K). This only happened because i gave the car to dealership for warranty repair and was not present during the repair.


Other updates
The stock MRF ZVTV lasted over 65000kms, they could have lasted another 10-15k kms however i found them to be pretty noisy. I replaced them with Yoko Earth 1 upsized to 195/60 R15.
http://www.team-bhp.com/forum/tyre-a...ml#post4181255

Its been around 16K kms and Earth1s have been aging well. Certainly the noise has increased but it could also be because i am too lazy to remove those stones

I recommend these for on looking for premium yet VFM tyres. Certainly cheaper than Michelin XM2 or PLC and should last around 50K kms. I considered XM2 but not sure if i will keep my car beyond 2018 or so.

That brings me to my next update. What next for 2018 ?
I am a single driver in the family and Ertiga is that perfect all rounder that didnt let me down even once !! However it is becoming increasingly difficult to drive a manual in Bangalore traffic and i am on the lookout for an automatic.

I even started a thread on this and it is not going to be easy to find a replacement for Ertiga !!
http://www.team-bhp.com/forum/what-c...ml#post4276513

It is obvious I need something as special as Ertiga, but i am confused as to
1. Buy an automatic hatch(entry level AMT like Alto/Celerio) and keep Ertiga
2. Upgrade to a proper automatic(as shared in the thread)

Option 1 is ideal for chocked city roads, small car for office commute and Ertiga for highways(at least till 2020)
Option 2 is to go for a 7 seater automatic like HEXA/XUV500 but it will be a pain in city.

Having a lot of hopes on Auto expo 2018, especially the Mahindra MPV or the new Ertiga (if it comes with a proper automatic)

So to summarize, the car still drives like new(new battery, tyres, clutch(2) and gears) and i don't see any drop in the performance or handling.
The ideal replacement for an Ertiga i feel would be an all new Ertiga which is wider, longer and has 1.5l engines(over 100Bhp) and 6 speed automatic and until that happens, i guess i will have to wait. No regrets though !!

[KALINGA]

Originally Posted by rajshenoy

That brings me to my next update. What next for 2018 ?
I am a single driver in the family and Ertiga is that perfect all rounder that didnt let me down even once !! However it is becoming increasingly difficult to drive a manual in Bangalore traffic and i am on the lookout for an automatic.

I even started a thread on this and it is not going to be easy to find a replacement for Ertiga !!

It is obvious I need something as special as Ertiga, but i am confused as to
1. Buy an automatic hatch(entry level AMT like Alto/Celerio) and keep Ertiga
2. Upgrade to a proper automatic(as shared in the thread)

Option 1 is ideal for chocked city roads, small car for office commute and Ertiga for highways(at least till 2020)
Option 2 is to go for a 7 seater automatic like HEXA/XUV500 but it will be a pain in city.

Having a lot of hopes on Auto expo 2018, especially the Mahindra MPV or the new Ertiga (if it comes with a proper automatic)

So to summarize, the car still drives like new(new battery, tyres, clutch(2) and gears) and i don't see any drop in the performance or handling.
The ideal replacement for an Ertiga i feel would be an all new Ertiga which is wider, longer and has 1.5l engines(over 100Bhp) and 6 speed automatic and until that happens, i guess i will have to wait. No regrets though !!

Exactly my situation.
Mine is ZXi and has done 73000 KM in 4 years. No issues till now. Now a days the traffic has increased a lot in Pune. So i was thinking of an automatic car. Even i has decided to sell my Ertiga. But never find a VFM MUV (read Automatic MUV) like Ertiga in the market now.

So decided to keep my Ertiga for 2 more years. This will only use for long highway drive.

And decided to get an automatic small car for city use and short highway drive.

2 days back i got my Tata Tiago XZA.
Which have all the bells & whistles.
Tiago is VFM too.
Excellent ride quality in city and highway as well.

My next upgrade will be in 2019 and may be a next generation Ertiga.

[rajshenoy]

Originally Posted by KALINGA

So decided to keep my Ertiga for 2 more years. This will only use for long highway drive.

And decided to get an automatic small car for city use and short highway drive.

2 days back i got my Tata Tiago XZA.
Which have all the bells & whistles.
Tiago is VFM too.
Excellent ride quality in city and highway as well.

My next upgrade will be in 2019 and may be a next generation Ertiga.

My usage is around 25000 kms per year(or more) and pretty much 50-50 between City and highways.

I would have ideally bought an electric city car and swapped Ertiga by 2020 for a manual car(UV or mostly a petrol sedan considering BS-VI confusion).

Not impressed with the E20plus and i dont think we will see VFM EV before 2020. Hoping for a miracle in 2018 auto expo

[rajshenoy]

After Months of flip-flop and even the idea of selling the Ertiga, i finally decided to hold on to it for another year or two and bought an Alto K10 AMT for city runs. This car is no frills and bought only for the specific purpose of office commute during the work week for a couple(and occasionally kids)

I am at peace now, ertiga still doing the duties just like day one. Mileage is hovering around 90K kms now and now with a city car, My expectation is to run Ertiga for another 10K before I gradually move on to next set of wheels.

If i were to just keep one car that can double up as City + Highways, Office+ Fully loaded with 5-6 family members - I can only think of Ertiga for now. Perhaps the potential upgrade too looks like All new Ertiga which is expected by end of this year. My requirement this time would be a proper modern automatic. 6 AT or CVT with tiptronic mode. Since my usage is split now, mostly i will go for a Petrol automatic this time.

Maruti, if you are listening, Ertiga automatic in top end trim.

[rajshenoy]

After close to 6 years and almost a lakh kms, decided to let go my Ertiga. After buying the alto, my usage had come down to only 7-8000 kms per year. Also full load of passengers on long drives became very rare.

Coming to the car, absolutely Reliable. Never left me stranded(almost!!) and i can vouch the car can last another 1Lakh kms without any major breakdowns. Also brilliant interior space management by Maruti, with rear seats that can be used by an average adults in good comfort. Being a typical Maruti, it returned excellent fuel economy figures averaging 14-15 kmpl in Bangalore roads and 17-20 kmpl on highways.

As they say, we write so much when there are niggles and problems and low activity on this thread only meant that Maruti had found a very happy user in me. This car had covered a good part of South India.

One of the main reason for selling the car has been due to my family being sensitive to the body roll on winding roads. It takes bit of patience manoeuvring the MPV considering the back seat passengers and that was taking away most of my driving pleasure.

Good bits:
1. Fuel economy
2. Interior Space management
3. Diesel torque
4. Reliability

Bad bits:
1. NVH levels at highway speeds
2. Minor rattles from middle row seat when not occupied
3. Boot space (good to see Maruti address it in 2018 upgrade)

While i wanted to keep this car for another year till we had clarity on BS-VI and related new launches, I came across a pre-owned Corolla Altis(11th gen) and it was a love at first sight. More on that here (The 'not-so-obvious' advantages to buying pre-owned cars)

I strongly believe that my Corolla can meet my changed driving needs better now and I will be counting on the Toyota reliability for a trouble free ownership. While the 1.8 N/A engine is not meant for Enthusiasts, it perfectly suits my driving style. It has amazing mid range and very good torque spread which means very few gear shifts during city rides and the extra sixth gear for relaxed cruising. Looking forward to many more long drives and happy ownership.

So until then - "Ciao"