[ashkamath]

Originally Posted by lightfootdriver

A friend is opting for Baleno AMT alpha variant in Bangalore. What accessories should we be installing on car? Thanks in advance for your inputs.

As a fellow member mentioned below, mud flaps and floor mats should suffice.

When it comes to fitting accessories in a brand new car, I hold a very different view from the others.

Do not install any accessories as soon as you get your car delivery. Not even seat covers. Run it as it was delivered till the first service, say 1000 or 2000 Kms and it might take a month or so.

During that running in period, the initial one or two months of ownership, observe what are the features that you are missing in the car. It could be anything. You could observe that you need a dash cam, or if you have children at home and if they eat in the car, you might notice that the possibility of the car seats getting stained /soiled increase and you might need a seat cover, you might need a auto adjusting IRVM as you could find the headlight glare too much in IRVM etc.

Once you notice the requirements, as per your driving needs, then during the first service go for company fitted accessories or off-market accessories as you deem fit.

I have noticed that every new car buyer jumps and adds Fog Lamps in his car. Many man never use the fog lamps owing to the good weather conditions in their region, but they nevertheless get fog lamps fitted. I find such fitment unnecessary and wasteful expenditure. Get what you really need in your car and avoid fitting accessories for social validation or following the crowd.

The Baleno Alpha AMT is the top variant with all the bells and whistles. You pay a hefty price for the same. I suggest you get the mudflap and floor mats and nothing more. I drove a 2004 Tata Indica DLA V2 for 18 years (sold in 2022) where I got the seat covers installed after 6-7 years of ownership as the stock seats started looking old and showing age. It was just fine with stock seats. There wasn't any problem with them.

Think about it. Never jump in the accessories bandwagon for no other apparent reason other than "Everyone is doing it, Let me as well get some accessories fitted". Take your time, see how it goes. You can always get the accessories fitted anytime later. Enjoy your car and take the extra accessories fitment easy and slow. Do not hurry.

[CBlazer]

Hi,

My Oct '23 Baleno AGS has done 7200 km so far. More than a month to go for the third free service. The city mileage has dropped to 10-11 kmpl in recent months compared to 12.5 kmpl that I got initially. Used mostly in peak hour office commutes lasting one hour or more. I always fill up with regular Shell petrol. The engine oil has become very dark and thick.

I'm considering an engine oil change along with an early third free service. Any thoughts on the mileage? Whether to switch to semi-synthetic or synthetic oil? The service advisors recommend 5w40 synthetic Castrol.

[sumeethaldankar]

Originally Posted by CBlazer

Hi,

My Oct '23 Baleno AGS has done 7200 km so far. More than a month to go for the third free service. The city mileage has dropped to 10-11 kmpl in recent months compared to 12.5 kmpl that I got initially. Used mostly in peak hour office commutes lasting one hour or more. I always fill up with regular Shell petrol. The engine oil has become very dark and thick.

I'm considering an engine oil change along with an early third free service. Any thoughts on the mileage? Whether to switch to semi-synthetic or synthetic oil? The service advisors recommend 5w40 synthetic Castrol.

Please check your owners manual it will have the recommended grade mentioned. There will be several grades mentioned, best is the one which is marked as "recommended". The second best options will be mentioned in the list as well and you could use those. Carry the manual with you during the service and strictly request the service advisors to use the grade mentioned.

[CBlazer]

Originally Posted by sumeethaldankar

Please check your owners manual it will have the recommended grade mentioned. There will be several grades mentioned, best is the one which is marked as "recommended". The second best options will be mentioned in the list as well and you could use those. Carry the manual with you during the service and strictly request the service advisors to use the grade mentioned.

I checked with different MASS centers. They are all pushing for 5w-40 synthetic oil whereas the manual only recommends 0w-16. They say Maruti approves either grade for the car.

[shankar.balan]

Originally Posted by CBlazer

I checked with different MASS centers. They are all pushing for 5w-40 synthetic oil whereas the manual only recommends 0w-16. They say Maruti approves either grade for the car.

Buy the oil and filter from Puneeth of Essaarr and take it to RNS Motors in Bommanahalli and ask them to service the car.
Better for you. The good thing is that all Maruti and Nexa service centres use the same software so your records will be clear.

[sumeethaldankar]

Originally Posted by CBlazer

I checked with different MASS centers. They are all pushing for 5w-40 synthetic oil whereas the manual only recommends 0w-16. They say Maruti approves either grade for the car.

The thicker oil will make the engine response sluggish as MASS had crammed 0w40 down my Swift's throat for quite some time. The recommended grade for my car is 0W20 as 1st option while the second best is 5w30.
I changed the oil outside MASS to 0W20 once my warranty got over and now have a smooth drive.

Best you carry your own oil especially which is Maruti approved brand eg Ecstar and take it to the service station. Check with the service station beforehand as they will do drama as they will lose revenue on oil.

[balpha]

Originally Posted by CBlazer

Whether to switch to semi-synthetic or synthetic oil? The service advisors recommend 5w40 synthetic Castrol.

Always stick to the grade mentioned in the user manual of your vehicle. For the new generation Baleno MS has specified three viscosity grades 0w-16 for India, 5w30 and 0w20 for countries except India. You can select any of these three grades.

You can switch to fully synthetic oil, but using a different viscosity won't be a good idea. 0w-16 oil is specially designed for the BS6 vehicles, and it is a very thin oil, almost as thin as water. Using thicker oil will put pressure on the oil pump, can cause wear in the engine components, and also lead to sluggish performance of the vehicle.

On my 4th service, I switched to Total Quartz 9000 0W16, its a fully synthetic oil. The car feels smoother compared to the earlier Ecstar engine oil which was from Idemitsu.

[skrsan]

This is my first post on Team-BHP, happy to share the experience of shortlisting our first car and the TD experience.

Generally, I have seen people having preferences, leanings, dreams for their first car purchase. For me - I did not really know what I wanted specifically in a first car.

Every car looks good to me, and I mean it, I like every car - for what it is.
So finding one for me was a task.

What do I want?

A Performance car - No
Eke out the best mileage - No
Have fancy creature features - Well, not a mandate
Armour like safety - Not really (as it is primarily city use on traffic less hours only)
Not many service centers - Ok, not a deciding factor
Hard or Soft Suspension - I see benefits in both and adaptable to both styles
Upright/firm or Cushiony Seats - Like both
Great handling, steering response - No (my use daily case and the roads that I will drive won't allow realizing that fun)
Budget - 12L, can extend till 14
Budget range: 7-14L

As you can see the above method not working - so tried another way

Why I want a Car?
- I am picking up - dropping my kid for some game classes morning 6-7 (this is the primary one, so far never needed a car but a two-wheeler for this use case is becoming messy now
- May be some weekend shopping trips (But as my wife says I am a torture fellow in this respect, and I agree, I would not take my vehicle, sometimes even a two wheeler, if I am not convinced with proper parking facilities - so that cuts short 50% of such trips)
- Outer City Trips - May be monthly once (<100km)
- Little far away trips - May be a few times in a year (<300km)

- Long trips - Not really sure at this point in time because my hometown is 1000km away, I enjoy 5-6 hours drive at max, it may be tiring doing 17+ hours particularly with my kid around - when I have an option of direct flight to my tier-II home city, that can cover it in 6 hours door-door. I can still drive around in my Dad's car after reaching there

- This is the only unknown parameter now
- Highway drives? Not Sure

Ok. we are getting somewhere now - Range is down now to only A, B1, B2 segment

My wife is paranoid on GC, that is the first thing and probably the only thing she asks when I tell about a car, the roads are bad in our place and the parking spaces are mini concrete hills, and I agree on this point

I will start with the final shortlisted cars, as otherwise this one may become the size of a mini novel-

1. Ignis
2. Magnite
3. Exter

Ignis:
-My wife learned driving (again) in a Wagon-R automatic, Ignis was like a big brother with 180mm GC - no brainer
-I don't like LEDs, in general and definitely not an LED for Fog Lamps, Ignis Alpha had Halogen Fog Lamps, and surprisingly LED headlamps were desirable in this car too
- Has Rear Wiper and Rear Defogger from Mid variant, while in other cars you are forced to go to higher trims for these basic necessities
- It feels like it can be taken on a Highway on a needy day, compared to a Wagon-R
- That Engine! [Period]
- It may be discontinued by 2027 with BS7. There is news it may not be updated for Euro7
- Probably only sibling not to have the K12N update
- But this is not a negative deciding factor for me, just having continuation of the name doesn't make it the same car afterall. Swift Gen-1/2 is not today's Swift though they may look similar and carry same name - it is completely different inside out, and the old engines are gold
- Reduced crash rating - The second test happened in Dec-2022 degrading it from 3 to a 1 star, but I can see in Feb-2023 Ignis added ESC, Hill hold with a price hike. So from a layman's perspective I think it would have still got 3 if tested after Feb-2023 (I am not an expert so it is just my observation, I may be wrong)
- Side Note - It will be good if these agencies give standalone crash worthiness ratings, and not adding points for safety features into the main rating
- Presence of ESP, Airbags, ADAS improve safety and definitely worthy of being a parameter in a new car assessment program
- My only concern is mixing of the methodologies of testing. Crash testing is "Tested in actual". To some extend even "Airbag" deployment gets tested, but who is testing ESP in realtime, just adding points if manufacturer says it is there doesnt seem right. A. "Actual Testing" and B. "Availability of a safety feature not tested" should be separate.
- You can give a crash rating separate and give another red/amber/green for minimum safety features, that may make more sense
- Some cars have 4 star but body is unstable (Eg, Tiago, Kiger) but they say in order to have a minimum 3 star xyz is required, and body stability is not one among them, does that mean it is ok to have a unstable body. How are we supposed to interpret all these, its frankly confusing as a common man (to me atleast)


Magnite:

1. 4 star, Stable body
2. New - 6 Airbags
3. New - Improved interiors with soft touch points
4. New - the frameless auto-dimming IRVM looks beautiful (it was expected though as Kiger had it in its previous update)
5. New - Changing that door knob!

- It sure does not have a super refined engine, and is "built to a cost", no discounting that fact - but it still practical in my opinion,
- We have a service center nearby and generally good experience reported from my friends owning Magnite

More than feature what made me happy was their effort to show they consider India seriously for their cars. I was sold for this attitude

and I should not forget that 205 GC, atleast my wife had one preference and that ticks :P

Reason for Elimination
- As my daily use case will be driving short distances and have long waiting periods in between, so turbo is off my list, I wanted only a NA
- The Tekna NA variant (1 Minus Top) was my choice, it had everything minus Cruise (which I will not use), so turned out perfect a choice
- NA Engine is only E10 compliant, Only the Turbo is E20 Compliant
- For those asking source, I read this in the Owners Manual of new Magnite posted on their Website (Page 207)
- They don't explicitly mention about E20 anywhere
- I didn't want to risk this one, so Magnite was eliminated

Exter: This should have been in the first on my list if you only consider the merits

1. Every variant is value for money
2. Gets Offline Map Navigation option in top trim
3. While some people point out to concerns on bottoming out, my friends owning Exter did not find it an issue in real time.

Reason for Elimination
1. I just wanted 4 things - All power windows, A rear wiper, Rear Defogger, good GC
2. Ignis ticked all these even in Zeta (under 9L onroad)
3. Similarly priced Exter did not have Rear Wiper or Rear Defogger, I had to up almost ~70K to SX only for a defogger and another ~70K to SX(0) for the rear wiper, ofcouse they offer many segment first features at that price point that too at a very value for money proposition, but I don't really want a Sunroof or a Cruise Control (I enjoy Cruise controls in Hyundai by the way, they work even from 30km), all I wanted was only peanuts but they are available only in pricey variants
4. When 6 airbags are standard, please provide atleast defogger as standard, when dashcam is marketed as a safety thing (which is right, not debating that) why not defoggers from base variants (New gen Swift got this right)
5. Now even the lower variant S gets sunroof, but no defogger
6. The only two variants that made sense for me was SX (without a rear wiper) or the SX(O) connect (top)
7. Offline Navigation and Bluelink are differentiators from competition where you get to speak to a real human when roadstruck, for me I dont know if I will do more Highway drives yet, if I do so in future I will definitely consider a Hyundai

Ok now we come to the interesting part of the story. Ignis Fixed and Booked

Now comes the twist, as we were waiting for the SA, the second day we were just checking out the other cars, There was a Baleno Zeta standing there, when the SA came he gave us a demo of that car too, while still discussing final price of Ignis.

A test drive car was not immediately available for Ignis. I asked SA for test drive of Baleno. My wife liked it instantly. So we took it to the roads of our daily commute.

Test Drive Impressions:
PROs
- Telescopic steering and seat height adjust help get the right driving position (no cars in 10L gets telescopic steering, if I am not wrong)
- My wife is ~5ft, she found this car comfortable to drive
- During TD, it felt more like a small car in contrast to how it looks.
- Breaks are sharp and inspire confidence
- Hill hold works as expected
- Suspension is firm however is likeable
- Feeling of - going over rough patches/ rumble strips, this one was good, compared to other cars (to me personally)
- The GC seemed adequate for our roads, we even got down once and asked the SA to pass through a breaker to see how it performed, and was satisfied.

CONs
- Overall visibility is a weak point (compared to competition), however it is compensated with a 360 camera and adaptive guidelines
- I still fear front may touch in steep parking areas, in our TD we saw no problem
- I may get used to it, but atleast in the TD, looking at MID seemed easy than looking at the HUD
- I find little use of having an Auto Headlamp with-out high beam assist

Baleno Alpha AGS
- Booked on 04th Nov 2024
- Car came to dealership 06Nov2024
- Waiting for delivery on 08 Nov 2024

I will update delivery experience in my next post.

[venukrithish]

Originally Posted by skrsan

My wife is paranoid on GC, that is the first thing and probably the only thing she asks when I tell about a car, the roads are bad in our place and the parking spaces are mini concrete hills, and I agree on this point

If you were hellbent on having good GC why did settle on Baleno? Baleno has the worst GC of your options.

[chandras1]

Originally Posted by venukrithish

If you were hellbent on having good GC why did settle on Baleno? Baleno has the worst GC of your options.

Baleno has very good GC in my personal experience. Have scrapped the bottom only twice in 12K kms of ownership.

[venukrithish]

Originally Posted by chandras1

Baleno has very good GC in my personal experience. Have scrapped the bottom only twice in 12K kms of ownership.

Yeah ofc, 170mm is good enough for most people. But OP stated he has to deal with bad roads on a daily basis and I'm just pondering what made him think Baleno is good enough.

[chandras1]

What I meant to say is that the number doesn't give the right picture. It's GC is good enough to throw a pleasant surprise - where you expect to scrape and get mentally prepared for it, it glides smoothly ��

[balpha]

Originally Posted by chandras1

Baleno has very good GC in my personal experience. Have scrapped the bottom only twice in 12K kms of ownership.

Driving alone I have found the GC of Baleno to be adequate. But with 5 people on board the GC reduces drastically. I have scraped the bottom quite a few times and have even broken a part of my engine under body cover.

[sharmanova]

Maruti Baleno CNG to get a new top-spec variant.

Baleno CNG Alpha MT variant likely to be launched soon. Rival Altroz gets CNG in top variant.

Expected pricing is ~ ₹12.25L

Link: