[Zeek]

Service update for my 2019 Ertiga ZXI AT BS4
This was an Annual service for 50K kms, there were no complaints on the car

• Got the 0W16 Shell
• Proactively Changed the Battery, Even though there werent any observed low battery behavior.
  • Kalyani service - Kankapura road, Bangalore offered a decent price on the ISS Battery
• Got the headlamp adjusted (Both low and high beam), now the throw is much better from the Stock setup, I tried doing it myself, however I couldn't adjust it the "right way"

The stock Ecopia's tread-wear indicator started showing more prominently, instead of extending the life for few 100 kms more, I decide to change the tyres.
Headed to Tyre Professionals, Basavangudi, Bangalore. (I believe this is a sister concern of Madhus)

• Decided on Continental UC6 (185/65/R15), the quoted price was 6.8K per tyre
• Balancing and alignment was charged extra
• Got SensAiry TPMS installed for 7K (set of 5)
  • Got the app only version, to keep the dashboard look "clean",
    However a separate display dedicated to TPMS makes more practical sense for warnings etc.

Initial impressions of the tyre seem decent,
contrary to lot of reviews, I dint feel the difference between Stock Ecopias and UC6 on Bangalore roads, I still have to take it out on Highway

The Hunt for a Good Head unit with Wireless Carplay and Android auto is still on
Sony 9500ES is listed at a whopping 1.05 Lakhs !

[murlidar]

Originally Posted by yoscenario2000

Facelift Ertiga ZXI CNG 2022 Upgrades:
Here are the upgrades:
2. Premium Top Gear Seat Covers with door pads & steering wrap
3. LED Headlights and Fog lights Upgrade
4. Qubo Pro GPS Dashcam
5. Blackpunkt rear camera
6. Floor lamination
There are more upgrades and I’ll keep on adding them over the period of time.
Here are the pics during the installation process.

Looking forward to hear your experiences about points 2 to 6.

[Shrek8421]

Update: Booked a Auburn Red Zxi+ AT Ertiga from Mandovi, St Johns Road, Bangalore on May 31st

Current Car: Ritz Vxi ABS 2011 model with ~66k kms. No major issues except for general wear and tear: old stock tyres, poor shock absorbers (Maruti is asking me to spend 25K and update them). The car bottoms out on moderate speed breakers in Bangalore.
The 5 seats and cramped boot are making it difficult for a road trip with wife + 3 growing children and father-in-law

Requirements:
1. 7 seater
2. Decent boot space
3. Car like dynamics to drive (for wife)
4. AT (CVT or TC) for horrible Bangalore city traffic. My left leg is starting to hurt while driving.
5. Decent ride comfort
6. 4 star safety at least
Budget 15 OTR Bangalore (including exchange)

Cars considered:
1. XL6:
I liked the exterior looks and its a Maruti so there will be peace of ownership. But ruled out because of captain seats and less VFM after recent price increase since 2022 update.
Took a test drive of the manual and its rides well. Light steering, 13-14kmpl mileage in city ( my brother-in-law has been driving it mostly in city for about 3k)
Most of the premium features (ventilated seats, smartplay pro, IR cut and UV cut glass) are in Alpha and Alpha+ which amount to 17l+ OTR
Black interiors

2. Carens:
KIA has still not provided an IMT vehicle for test drive or bothered to give an evaluation of my car. Its been a month. (VST KIA palace road)
Ruled out because the prestige plus variant is almost 19L OTR. Also not interested in the Turbo petrol and its unknown reliability. Wife was not convinced about IMT and wants a hassle free AT box. Body shell seems to be more brittle than ertiga/XL6 from GNCAP tests. Seriously KIA!!

3. Triber:
Good package but ruled out because of space and poor engine with AMT gearbox. But nice idea from Renault and an amazing 4* in crash tests.

4. Marazzo:
Superb vehicle and really premium. But ruled out because of not AT and Mahindra apathy towards it.
As some one else here said: "Why should I care about the vehicle if Mahindra themselves don't!"
Wish they gave it an update but looks like it will be discontinued.


Why did I book and finalize the Ertiga:

Booking Process: After showing interest I was contacted by Kalyani, Mandovi and Varun motors in Bangalore.
Kalyani failed to give an evaluation for my car and no test drive offered
Varun have an evaluation of 2.3L and offered a test drive in only a manual
Mandovi gave an evaluation of 2.7L after negotiation and offered the top model AT for test drive immediately. So I booked with Mandovi
All dealers are asking for a 5 month waiting period!!

Pros:
1. 7 seats and all reasonably spaced.
2. Pretty good boot
3. Car-like to drive and the AT box is really smooth to shift in city conditions.
4. Engine is adequate and both of us are sedate drivers.
5. Love the dual tone Beige dominant interiors and the kids loved the massive space on offer coming from Ritz.
6. Maruti reliability, low cost of ownership, service and spares
7. Didn't want to compromise and ended up going for the top model @ 16+L OTR Bangalore
8. Cruise control for the long drives
9. Good AC
Nice peppy NA engine with proven reliability and an AISIN (not JATCO) AT that should also last for 10-15 years.

Cons:
1. 3 star rating and questionable build quality
2. After price increase of 2022 model the VFM factor has decreased
3. Long waiting but I am ok with that as the requirement is not urgent
4. Erratic mileage reports for AT in city. People reporting 8 - 12 kmpl
5. Ride comfort can be improved, especially for 2nd and 3rd row.

would love to hear some thoughts from owners!
Thanks for reading

[mohan41]

Originally Posted by Shrek8421

Update: Booked a Auburn Red Zxi+ AT Ertiga from Mandovi, St Johns Road, Bangalore on May 31st

Congratutions. I have to eventually replace my ageing 2012 Ertiga and for my requirements the latest Ertiga AT is the best fit. Carens might be better than Ertiga but I dont trust reliability of DCT or IMT in the long term.

I believe you took test drive of XL6 and Ertiga, both 2022 or later models. I have one question: Whether NVH is poor in Ertiga compared to XL6, and if so how bad is it? I am asking because the according to reviews of XL6, NVH has improved in the 2022 model. No such information about latest Ertiga has been available.

Originally Posted by Shrek8421

Erratic mileage reports for AT in city. People reporting 8 - 12 kmpl

I think it depends on the conditions and the daily usage. I have a Santro AT, 16 year old and gives FE of 7-9kmpl. Most drives are very short which is one reason (Engine has not warmed up enough). I feel that even 8 kmpl for a large car with 1.5L Petrol TC AT is quite good. And based on feedback from XL6 owners, 10kmpl looks to be easily possible in Bangalore city.

[Shrek8421]

Originally Posted by mohan41

Congratutions. I have to eventually replace my ageing 2012 Ertiga and for my requirements the latest Ertiga AT is the best fit. Carens might be better than Ertiga but I dont trust reliability of DCT or IMT in the long term.

I believe you took test drive of XL6 and Ertiga, both 2022 or later models. I have one question: Whether NVH is poor in Ertiga compared to XL6, and if so how bad is it? I am asking because the according to reviews of XL6, NVH has improved in the 2022 model. No such information about latest Ertiga has been available.


I think it depends on the conditions and the daily usage. I have a Santro AT, 16 year old and gives FE of 7-9kmpl. Most drives are very short which is one reason (Engine has not warmed up enough). I feel that even 8 kmpl for a large car with 1.5L Petrol TC AT is quite good. And based on feedback from XL6 owners, 10kmpl looks to be easily possible in Bangalore city.

The drives of Ertiga and XL6 were short but I found no major difference in NVH levels. Engine was quite silent and the ISS works without much fuss or noise.
Ride/tyre noise maybe slightly different due to the tyre size difference but in bangalore city roads there wasnt a significant difference.

Regarding reliability I completely agree. I feel Kia/Hyuundai push these newer tech in India relying on planned obsolescence so that customers will buy from them sooner rather than later.

Thanks for the observation on mileage. I guess there will be a drop but the question is; is it worth the 1.5L premium and extra fuel expenditure in ever-worsening bangalore traffic.

[rajivtelang]

Originally Posted by Shrek8421

would love to hear some thoughts from owners!
Thanks for reading

Driving 2016, Vxi ertiga MT bought new then. Don't want to compare with newer models but seen a lot of similarities with them. Suspensions are pretty the same and I feel tired after 600 plus kilometers of drive. You may find the car smooth overall but the accumulated shocks over such a distance are tiring. Every time I drove to Goa from Bangalore gave me similar experience right from day one.
Most of the points are covered nicely by you and others here. Coming to comparison of shocks, I compared it with newer Ertiga of my BIL and Tiago that I have. New ertiga gave same experience but Tiago handles same roads beautifully. I drove same roads multiple times and could not feel tiredness, or may be just 20% compared to Ertiga.
I prefer MT all the times since I can extract the power from engine when I want especially in ghats.
These are some thoughts, congrats on the purchase.

[murlidar]

What is the average mileage of Ertiga on highways and city?

[rajivtelang]

Originally Posted by murlidar

What is the average mileage of Ertiga on highways and city?

I get 13-14 in Bangalore and 19-20 on highways, both based on MID. Long trips average to around 18 with 4 passengers and some luggage. This is with KB14 engine, MT gearbox. Newer KB15 may give different results.

[Shrek8421]

Originally Posted by rajivtelang

I get 13-14 in Bangalore and 19-20 on highways, both based on MID. Long trips average to around 18 with 4 passengers and some luggage. This is with KB14 engine, MT gearbox. Newer KB15 may give different results.

These are great numbers.
Hopefully the K15C with 6AT will come close to this. I am seeing users reporting 10-12 kmpl.

[rajivtelang]

Originally Posted by Shrek8421

These are great numbers.
Hopefully the K15C with 6AT will come close to this. I am seeing users reporting 10-12 kmpl.

Just a matter of light foot and type of traffic you encounter daily. I have seen 8-9 kmpl on crawling traffic as well. But depends on the time of the day. AT might give lesser mileage by a kilometer or so. Perhaps the 6th gear will change the game, just check rpms in 6th at 100kmph. If between 2.5- 3K, you got it.. expect a good one on highways. My ertiga exceeds 3k at 100kmph most of the times in 5th on highway, but that's the highest gear for me.

[mohan41]

FE of AT in highways should be as good as MT if not better because it would run most of the time in the highest gear and torque converter lockup will happen when in highest gear.

[procrj]

Originally Posted by Shrek8421

These are great numbers.
Hopefully the K15C with 6AT will come close to this. I am seeing users reporting 10-12 kmpl.

10-12 kmpl would be bumper to bumper traffic. My K15B gives me 12-13 in city and i drive with a heavy foot, but not a lot of b2b traffic. My Highway drives are 15-16 kmpl since my speed typically is 100-120kmph, again quick acceleration in lower gears (4k rpm) to get to cruising speed. The K15C AT will give you about 18-19 on Highways if you drive in the 80kmph range. My advice, forget the FE and just enjoy the ride.

[Shrek8421]

Originally Posted by procrj

10-12 kmpl would be bumper to bumper traffic. My K15B gives me 12-13 in city and i drive with a heavy foot, but not a lot of b2b traffic. My Highway drives are 15-16 kmpl since my speed typically is 100-120kmph, again quick acceleration in lower gears (4k rpm) to get to cruising speed. The K15C AT will give you about 18-19 on Highways if you drive in the 80kmph range. My advice, forget the FE and just enjoy the ride.

That's a good point. Obsessing with a volatile mileage is futile.

Also I was only wondering how do the above numbers stack up against the iMT carens just for comparison.

[murlidar]

Any suggestions for led bulb upgrades for low and high beam for Ertiga zxi+ AT.

[Shrek8421]

Originally Posted by rajivtelang

Driving 2016, Vxi ertiga MT bought new then.
=====
These are some thoughts, congrats on the purchase.

I wonder if the ride quality can be improved by changing the tyres. I feel a GC clearance of 185 is adequate and limits body roll. Only maybe needs a tyre replacement?

Thoughts on michelin or yokohamas?