[aargee]

After 1859 Km, got the engine bay cleaned, but not up to satisfaction due to lack of time. But better than nothing.
Products used...
1. Sonus All purpose cleaner
2. Ultima Waterless wash
3. CarPro PERL
4. Meguiar's applicator



Click to open the picture in high resolution.

[Dr.Naren]

Originally Posted by aargee

After 1859 Km, got the engine bay cleaned, but not up to satisfaction due to lack of time. But better than nothing.
Products used

Thanks for posting this pic

I was having some kind of OCD that engine is not placed straight in my car and slightly tilted

[antardaksh]

Originally Posted by aargee

After 1859 Km, got the engine bay cleaned, but not up to satisfaction due to lack of time. But better than nothing.
Products used...
1. Sonus All purpose cleaner
2. Ultima Waterless wash
3. CarPro PERL
4. Meguiar's applicator

Hi aargee,

Could you please share steps you followed with these products. Engine bay looks very clean , I am sure we can get this kind of result only if we do it ourselves.

Regards.

[invidious]

Originally Posted by gr8guyme

How much were the Yoko tyres?? and how much did they exchange the JK tyres for? I am planning to change to Yoko too, and the dealer is quoting 6500/- per tyre for the Yoko....I haven't spoken to him about the JK Elanzo exchange.

Apparently JK Elanzos are a big flop and the market is flooded with them with JK getting rid of the stock at low prices. If I remember I got about Rs. 3400 or Rs. 3500 per tyre and in exchange I paid just under 12K total for the swap. Also, I did it when the usage of the JKs was under 100 kms - this enabled the tyre owner to sell the JKs as new.

[gr8guyme]

Originally Posted by invidious

Apparently JK Elanzos are a big flop and the market is flooded with them with JK getting rid of the stock at low prices. If I remember I got about Rs. 3400 or Rs. 3500 per tyre and in exchange I paid just under 12K total for the swap. Also, I did it when the usage of the JKs was under 100 kms - this enabled the tyre owner to sell the JKs as new.

Thank you!!! Also, I see that the Yokos were approximately 6000/- per tyre from your total expenditure. Any other suggestions for tyres other than Yokos and Michelin? What about Bridgestone or Good Year ??

[Leoshashi]

Originally Posted by invidious

Apparently JK Elanzos are a big flop and the market is flooded with them with JK getting rid of the stock at low prices.

Also, the dealers are getting rid of the excess stock by offering them as replacement tyres for Govt. owned SX4's. Since the government cares for just two things, branded and lowest rate(L1), the Elanzos have become very common on the SX4's.

[Dr.Naren]

I have run more than 16000 KM on stock Elanzos. I used to find the braking very average and I did suspect on tyres. But, the culprit was brake pads and lasted only 15K km. After I changed the pads, I am very happy with braking. Also, Elanzo tyres are made of hard compound and not prone to punctures. Even the new Elanzos are sold for 3500 Rs and for that price it's a steal ( 16 inch tyre for 3500..seriously??)

Maruti has chosen JK Elanzo only because of the lowest price. After driving S-Cross with MC5 and Primacy 3ST, I would recommend tyre change right after delivery. The difference is H-U-G-E in terms of ride comfort, tyre noise, steering feel and grip. But, the only disadvantage is these are soft compound tyres and prone to sidewall damage and punctures.

[sudeepg]

Originally Posted by Dr.Naren

Maruti has chosen JK Elanzo only because of the lowest price. After driving S-Cross with MC5 and Primacy 3ST, I would recommend tyre change right after delivery. The difference is H-U-G-E in terms of ride comfort, tyre noise, steering feel and grip. But, the only disadvantage is these are soft compound tyres and prone to sidewall damage and punctures.

Agree with this 100%. They have cut corners with the S-Cross in many places while trying to position it as a premium offering while trying to maximize their profits. At least they should not have done this with their first premium offering in my opinion.

The comforts come in because of the softer compound and one cannot afford to be careless, even in situations like going off the road to avoid an oncoming vehicle etc. I found the Yokos to be balanced between the ride comfort and durability. I am currently running on Pirellis and extremely happy with them. They do cost more though, 7400 per tyre if I recall correctly.

[aargee]

Originally Posted by sudeepg

They have cut corners with the S-Cross in many places while trying to position it as a premium offering while trying to maximize their profits

Not just with tires on Alpha, but also with...
1. 25W HID instead of 55W
2. Rear bench A/C
3. Rear 12V adapter would've been more functional rather than the one in the boot provided for a refrigerator
4. Thumb contour on steering wheel
5. Better designed glovebox
6. Additional (atleast a rubber) mat in the boot would've been very helpful during those tire changes

For the below 2, I'm sure MSIL would've priced over Creta, but then, much criticism would've been avoided
A. All auto windows would've been a real premium offering
B. Side airbags would've proved much safer vehicle

[bharath79]

Originally Posted by aargee

Not just with tires on Alpha, but also with...

1. 25W HID instead of 55W

2. Rear bench A/C

3. Rear 12V adapter would've been more functional rather than the one in the boot provided for a refrigerator

4. Thumb contour on steering wheel

5. Better designed glovebox

6. Additional (atleast a rubber) mat in the boot would've been very helpful during those tire changes



For the below 2, I'm sure MSIL would've priced over Creta, but then, much criticism would've been avoided

A. All auto windows would've been a real premium offering

B. Side airbags would've proved much safer vehicle

We will see most of these features by the third or fourth facelift, hopefully before the end of the lifecycle.

Regards
Bharath

[Dr.Naren]

Originally Posted by aargee

Not just with tires on Alpha, but also with...

Yes, Maruti has cut corners on many things. But at the end of day, they have not touched the engine and transmission. DDIS 320 is enough to forget about all other minor things .

I would give full points to Maruti regarding :

1. Fully imported powertrain
2. No compromise on build quality
3. All basic features and gizmos present

1.6 DDIS with all grip and side air bags would have been sweet, say with the pricing of 1.6 Alpha when it was launched!!

[sudeepg]

Originally Posted by Dr.Naren

Yes, Maruti has cut corners on many things. But at the end of day, they have not touched the engine and transmission. DDIS 320 is enough to forget about all other minor things .

I would give full points to Maruti regarding :

1. Fully imported powertrain
2. No compromise on build quality
3. All basic features and gizmos present

1.6 DDIS with all grip and side air bags would have been sweet, say with the pricing of 1.6 Alpha when it was launched!!

Well, the 1.6 engine is definitely a gem as you say, but my opinion on this matter is that when you position a product as premium (especially from Maruti) and for the indian market, there are certain variables at play which must be satisfied to make it a success.

a. Total cost of ownership. The launch price for a cross over was a complete blunder which even today the Maruti Execs do not accept (even though a 2 lakh discount was offered later and not to forget the random compensation offered to some customers only). Secondly, the cost of spare parts which is higher when they could actually keep it lower. What is the point in having two different labour charges for the same car but with just different engines & transmissions? I guess they could just offset the labour cost for engine specific stuff and not for the whole car per se. For instance, the general service for 1.6 is higher than 1.3. Why? I can't understand it yet.

b. Brand - Nexa launched as a premium brand with dedicated RMs. Till date no bloke has followed up with me after the purchase.

c. Build Quality - This is something that is yet to be certified from long term ownership reports. It's no doubt that at the first look it's definitely miles ahead than typical Maruti stuff we are used to. You provide a car that costs over a million rupees and yet have difficult to accept quality issues such as

1. a. Uneven panel gaps
2. b. Windows that don't sit flush
3. c. Head rests that dig into your neck.
4. d. No automatic on offer and no petrol engines.

I can still understand not offering the allgrip. It's really not going to make a huge impact in terms of sales. Over and above this, why did they cut out on things like poor HIDs, no DRLs (DRL is one of the most common features on offer today and they have it on international models already)

Further - Wipers that were of low grade quality. Many BHPIans including me had to get it changed under warranty and still the wipers have gone bad under a year of use. Is this premium and for a car prived in XUV and Creta territory?

Now if you look at this with a typical mass market mindset and look at the Brezza and S-Cross, you'd see that (engines/tranny aside) the feature list is almost the same except for things like Day/night rear view mirror, disc brakes etc and the cost is significantly lower. Some of us would argue that the build quality is higher in S-cross, but I'd say that it's too early to comment on the quality yet. If you owned a honda or a toyota for over 5 years, you'd realize what I am talking about. Another 2 years will really bring out how good the quality of S-Cross is.

The S-cross is a 60:40 when it comes to my viewpoint. 60% good and 40% not good when it comes to offering and value for money. It ticks many boxes but not all and definitely not appealing to the mass.

[Dr.Naren]

I am not saying S-Cross is a premium product as advertised by Maruti. Creta is miles ahead in terms of interior quality, fit and finish and build. But, as you said S-Cross is one of the best cars on sale from Maruti stable. No car is perfect and there is lot of scope for improvement even on S-Cross ( say minor things).

Regarding the service costs compared to 1.3..certain spare parts are imported and they cost 3 times more than 1.3. Another example is engine oil and filter change. It's a very straightforward and easy process in 1.3. But for 1.6, it's such a pain. The oil filter location is very cumbersome and it takes lot of time and effort to get it done.

[sudeepg]

Originally Posted by Dr.Naren

Regarding the service costs compared to 1.3..certain spare parts are imported and they cost 3 times more than 1.3. Another example is engine oil and filter change. It's a very straightforward and easy process in 1.3. But for 1.6, it's such a pain. The oil filter location is very cumbersome and it takes lot of time and effort to get it done.

Exactly! If the spare is imported and the value passed onto customer, then it's fine. But I was surprised to see the note on air filter that is identical and costs 3 times as much for 1.6. Why can't they just optimize spares where there is scope? The USP of Maruti was its total cost of ownership. IMO, they shouldn't just take a cross over, position it as premium and rip away customers. Ford is making a conscious effort to keep spares and overall ownership costs low. Related thread:
http://www.team-bhp.com/forum/techni...e-manesar.html

My only gripe with Maruti is that they position the product as premium, but really isn't what many consider as Premium or a premium experience

[Dr.Naren]

Originally Posted by sudeepg

Exactly! If the spare is imported and the value passed onto customer, then it's fine. But I was surprised to see the note on air filter that is identical and costs 3 times as much for 1.6. Why can't they just optimize spares where there is scope?

Regarding the air filter, I have mentioned it in detail. Yes, even 1.3 air filter fits in 1.6. Also, Maruti has asked the dealers to use 1.3 air filter depending on the availability. I think Maruti has stopped importing 1.6 air filters from Romania and 1.3 air filter would be the default one.

Yes, Maruti is definitely charging a premium for Nexa cars during service, spare parts etc. The brake pads of S-Cross are same as SX4. Maruti has changed the part number and charging us more for "premium Nexa product".