[Dr.Naren]

I had bought the Baleno right after launch. It is October 2015 make. I had noticed that ride quality is very bouncy at rear since day 1 of ownership. This was the same even in TD cars. Since it was present in all cars, I decided to live with it and doesn't matter much as I used to drive alone most of the times.

I saw many owners posting on social media that they have got full suspension replaced under warranty. Based on domestic feedback, Maruti had modified the design in 2017 cars. It doesn't mean that old cars had defective suspension, so there was no official recall. Maruti was changing full suspension setup or only rear shock absorbers for most of the owners who complained about bouncy ride. MTNL issued to the service centres mentioned chassis number cut off and cars manufactured till December 2016 have old suspension.


Many owners were getting the suspension replacement done under warranty since last few months. Maruti has even sent check list to dealers about suspension inspection and replacement.


MTNL and Check sheet pics were posted in Baleno Owners FB group, WhatsApp groups.

The suspension replacement procedure is not standard across all the dealerships. Many dealers don't even accept this issue and say everything is NORMAL. I have seen that suspension replacement is smooth affair in big cities and not so easy procedure in tier 2 and tier 3 cities. Based on my personal experience..I am posting the best and fast method to escalate this issue.

Step 1 :
Shoot an email to contact@nexaexperience.com. Do write in detail about bouncy ride quality and also provide following details :
1. Owner Name
2. Car Registration Number
3. Mobile number
4. Service Centre

The owner would be then contacted by Nexa Customer care, Dealer works manager and TSM. They will schedule an appointment at the mentioned service centre for inspection.

Step 2 : Inspection & Road test
The dealer would inspect the car as mentioned on check sheet. If the dealer says everything is normal, do escalate to TSM and regional office.. Details available here :
http://www.nexaexperience.com/servic...back-form.html

The dealer works manager or TSM would approve the parts to be replaced under warranty. It would take 10-14 days to source all the parts.

Step 3 :
The dealer will contact when parts are in stock. Schedule an appointment and get all the parts replaced. It would take around 4 hours. Since the entire suspension is changed.. Better to do wheel alignment after the work.

[Dr.Naren]

My Experience :

03/08/2017 : Sent email to Nexa regarding bouncy ride quality.

04/08/2017 : Got calls from dealer, TSM and appointment was fixed for inspection.

05/08/2017 : The car was inspected at service centre and report sent to TSM.

14/08/2017 : Got email from TSM that as per the service centre report, suspension is NORMAL and can't be replaced under warranty.

15/08/2017 to 25/08/2017 : I did not give up and sent multiple emails to TSM and regional office.

25/08/2017 : TSM decided to come to the dealership and inspect the car personally.

09/09/2017 : The car was inspected again at the service centre in presence of TSM. Bouncy ride quality was acknowledged.

13/09/2017 : I got call from TSM saying that he has approved full suspension replacement under warranty and the dealer has ordered the parts

04/10/2017 : The service centre informed us that all parts have finally arrived and scheduled the date for replacement.

05/10/2017 : Full Suspension kit Replaced under Warranty!!












There are no major visible differences between new and old parts. The rear shocks felt little softer on inspection and rear coils were around 1cm shorter. There was very minor change in new rear suspension beam. The place at which the coil springs are seated has minor difference. It took around 4 hours to replace the full suspension.

Wheel alignment check and road test was done after installation of all parts. We took the car on same stretch of bad road and the difference was very much evident. The ride is still on stiffer side but not so bouncy at rear like before. It took us almost 2 months to get full suspension replaced under warranty and it was worth the wait.

Few Important Points :

1. The suspension setup in Baleno is not defective. There is no noise, oil leaks etc and Maruti is not bound to recall the cars.

2. All Manufacturers keep improving the parts based on domestic feedback. Maruti has also done the same and slightly changed the design in 2017 models for better ride quality.

3. I appreciate Maruti Suzuki for listening to pre 2017 customers and replacing the suspension under warranty.

4. I do not advice everyone to get it replaced. If the ride quality is very bouncy and the owners genuinely feel the need for change.. Go ahead!!

5. Do not expect day and night difference with new suspension. The ride would be still on stiffer side but not so stiff as before.

6. This is not applicable to 2017 cars, they already have the new suspension.

7. Special thanks to Baleno owner Sandesh Chinchapur for creating awareness amongst Baleno owners regarding chassis number cut off, modified suspension setup and replacement under warranty.

8. The front strut is different for diesel and petrol models. There are few cases where the dealer had interchanged the parts by mistake. I advice the owners to make sure the parts are correct before installation.

9. Do get the wheel alignment check done post installation of new suspension setup

10. The entire process would take at least a month : Step 1 to Step 3 as mentioned in post 1!!

[Aditya]

Thread moved from the Assembly Line to Technical Stuff. Thanks for sharing!

[puneetakhouri]

Thanks for the post, I am due to get my 2015 December Baleno Delta Petrol's suspensions changed. I followed a similar process like yours and shot a mail to Nexa and they took the Local Nexa Dealership in the loop. The local dealer did not create any fuss and simply said that we have ordered your parts and will contact you when they arrive. He called a fortnight later and said the parts have arrived but they will have to postpone the replacement for sometime because a lot of cars have arrived after Mumbai flooding. Those have to be fixed on priority and he will give me a further date.


My question is, although the rear suspension is very bouncy and very hard, but I have also observed is that it is more noisy than it is bad. What I mean is that although it can glide over potholes with the vehicle not pitching a lot but the noise that the suspension creates makes you feel as if you seriously damaged something. So my question is- Is the suspension noise reduced after the replacement?

[Dr.Naren]

Originally Posted by puneetakhouri

the suspension noise reduced after the replacement?

I did not notice any suspension noise even in old setup. There was no abnormal sounds, oil leak or anything. Maruti has replaced the entire setup on goodwill basis

[PrideRed]

Originally Posted by Dr.Naren

I did not notice any suspension noise even in old setup. There was no abnormal sounds, oil leak or anything. Maruti has replaced the entire setup on goodwill basis

This is good stuff from Maruti. Though they took their own sweet time, accepting their mistake and going ahead and replacing the entire suspension is commendable.
I have heard some similar complaints of bouncy rear in Ciaz as well? Is this applicable only to Baleno's?

[Dr.Naren]

Originally Posted by PrideRed

I have heard some similar complaints of bouncy rear in Ciaz as well? Is this applicable only to Baleno's?

Yes, Maruti has done minor changes even in rear shocks of Ciaz. Do check the MTNL pic which I have posted.. Even Ciaz with chassis number cut off is listed there

[abhishek46]

Originally Posted by Dr.Naren

2. All Manufacturers keep improving the parts based on domestic feedback. Maruti has also done the same and slightly changed the design in 2017 models for better ride quality.

Dear Dr.Naren,
Thanks for this informative post.
My neighbor has an early model Baleno, and I am inclined to pass on this news to him.
However, I am not sure how to articulate the 'bounciness' to him.
Could you please elaborate more on, under which circumstance is the bounciness was felt in your car? (Driving on bad road, on highway undulations, on speed breakers or even on smooth roads?)

[Dr.Naren]

Originally Posted by abhishek46

Could you please elaborate more on, under which circumstance is the bounciness was felt in your car? (Driving on bad road, on highway undulations, on speed breakers or even on smooth roads?)

The bounciness is very prominent at lower speeds on speed breakers, bad roads etc. There are no issues on flat smooth roads. The rear suspension is too stiff and Maruti has done minor changes in 2017 Baleno.

[Captain Slow]

Dr.Naren How many KM has your car done ? Most companies will only replace suspension if its within 10,000KM - Less than 1 year.
This is Called Customer Satisfaction! Amazing job my MSIL! Customer is King! And Now we know why MSIL is Number 1!

[Dr.Naren]

Originally Posted by Captain Slow

Dr.Naren How many KM has your car done ? Most companies will only replace suspension if its within 10,000KM - Less than 1 year.

The car has done 17,500 KM.

Maruti covers suspension even under extended warranty till 4 years / 80k KM. I had got front right strut replaced in S-Cross 1.6 at 24k km and rear shocks were replaced in SX4 at around 50K km.

This is Called Customer Satisfaction! Amazing job my MSIL! Customer is King! And Now we know why MSIL is Number 1!

And this is the reason why 4/7 cars in my garage are from Maruti Suzuki

[GSMINC]

Originally Posted by Dr.Naren

The car has done 17,500 KM.

Maruti covers suspension even under extended warranty till 4 years / 80k KM.

Maruti Covers Suspension under extended warranty only for the 3rd year/60,000 kms.

Maruti Initial warranty is 2 years/40,000kms, whole car is covered
Under extended warranty: Body warranty (chassis/suspension/steering etc, basically the whole car except engine/transmission) covered only till 3rd year/60,000 kms
& Engine/transmission covered upto 4 years/80,000kms

[y448]

Originally Posted by Dr.Naren

MTNL issued to the service centres mentioned chassis number cut off and cars manufactured till December 2016 have old suspension.

If the VIN cutoff is already shared with the dealer why do they need to do an inspection? (could not read the inspection checklist image from mobile)

[Dr.Naren]

Originally Posted by y448

If the VIN cutoff is already shared with the dealer why do they need to do an inspection? (could not read the inspection checklist image from mobile)

Most of the dealers in small cities and towns are not aware of this. Maruti has not sent them separate circular about Baleno. It was just mentioned in their monthly newsletter. As I said before, the process is much easier in big cities as they have done many replacements. Mine was the first Baleno in this service centre.

There is no official recall. Maruti has sent check sheet to dealers. They will follow this only if any customer complains of bouncy ride.

[puneetakhouri]

Originally Posted by Dr.Naren

I did not notice any suspension noise even in old setup. There was no abnormal sounds, oil leak or anything. Maruti has replaced the entire setup on goodwill basis

By noise I meant the loud crash and bang of the suspension on hitting any pothole. The thud sound does not seem to be muted in any way and I feel it gets exaggerated by the suspension. The dealer has said that they will change the shock absorbers and see how it goes before changing the full suspension. Apologies if it wasn't clear in my last post. So my question would be - are the pothole thuds muted after the replacement or do they filter into the cabin with the same intensity like in the earlier setup.