Team-BHP - Review: 1st-gen Maruti Ertiga

I had been to the Maruti Showroom at Jindal House beside the Zoo in Kolkata today afternoon.

Few points I would like to state here,if it benefits anybody :

Firstly,there is no information to the dealer regarding price change/difference vis a vis alloy wheels. Since I have already booked a ZDi earlier, I obviously asked them that is it true that Ertiga ZDi is being offered minus alloys for a reduced price.They were like ' sir,ZDi mein to alloy hotai hai,kiyun woh alloy minus ayega ' !

Secondly from 1st of July,there's a price increase of around Rs 10,000 for the highest model ( read ZDi ) as due to increase in the service tax.

Thirdly,there's a white VDi available with the dealer for immediate delivery. ZDi alas though has still a long way to go in terms of probable delivery date.

Lastly,the dealer himself has got a Granite Grey ZDi .

Quote:

Originally Posted by mohan41

You are right that the Ertiga is catchy.

However, I sometimes wonder why they could not stretch the rear overhang a little more to give us some more boot space. Another 10-15cm would have taken the length to around 4365-4415mm which is still not too large, most sedans are in that range (lengthwise).

I agree. Perhaps they had the challenge of enhancing the structural rigidity which will increase the weight even further. Increased weight will take its toll on the engine and thereby affect performance. This is my supposition.

Quote:

Originally Posted by swiftdiesel (Post 2842785)

I agree, though even a 5 cm increase in length would have been great. In fact if they could get a 100 BHP engine in diesel, this would have been awesome. Any idea what figure could be achieved by Peteing the ZDi? I am not thinking of it, but wanted to know just for academic purpose.

I'd been to Maruti showroom yesterday evening to take a look at Ertiga and they don't have one at the showroom. I was surprised to hear from them that they share the same demo cars across all showrooms in Hyderabad. The sales guy was also not very enthusiastic about providing any details, except handing me over a price list.

The quoted wait time for ZDI is about 8 months and for VDI, it is 2 months. I need a car urgently and budget is not a constraint. My requirements are that it should be a 7 or 8 seater, trouble-free and easy to maneuver. I am considering Innova, XUV5oo and Ertiga. I haven't checked the Innova wait time, but I heard that it is about 3 months. I'm yet to check XUV wait time, but Ertiga VDI is available in less than 2 months. My dilemma is should I compromise on safety by taking VDI instead of ZDI? (I'm not particular about alloy wheels, steering mounted audio controls etc, but I'll miss air bags on VDI.) Veterans on this forum - please recommend. Thank you.

Quote:

Originally Posted by nistala (Post 2844570)

The quoted wait time for ZDI is about 8 months and for VDI, it is 2 months. I need a car urgently and budget is not a constraint. My requirements are that it should be a 7 or 8 seater, trouble-free and easy to maneuver. I am considering Innova, XUV5oo and Ertiga. I haven't checked the Innova wait time, but I heard that it is about 3 months. I'm yet to check XUV wait time, but Ertiga VDI is available in less than 2 months. My dilemma is should I compromise on safety by taking VDI instead of ZDI? (I'm not particular about alloy wheels, steering mounted audio controls etc, but I'll miss air bags on VDI.)

IMO, you can go ahead with the VDi. Barring the airbags and rear defogger, VDI comes with all other safety features. IMHO, active safety features are more important to have.

Secondly, I just heard from a friend that XUV is now available off the shelf, incase you are interested. Call M&M and check.

All the best!

I guess, this story of shortage of alloy wheels, esp for Ertiga is not mentioned on this thread.

Shortage of alloy rims holds up Maruti models - Corporate News - livemint.com

As consumer confidence slips, growth slows and uncertainty clouds the economy, waiting periods for the most popular car models are getting shorter. But Maruti Suzuki India Ltd, the country’s largest manufacturer, is trying to deal with an unexpectedly contradictory trend.

Not only are people keen on the company’s Swift, Dzire and Ertiga models, most of them are dead set on their top-end variants. The problem is that Maruti had expected a more even spread in demand across the range and now it can’t get enough supplies of one key part that goes into the costliest models—alloy wheels. .....

Thanks ajay and tanwaramit.
I've read the XUV5oo niggles thread on this forum and to be honest, I'm disappointed with the list of issues reported, considering that it is a 16L (on-road price) car. So, it looks like I've to decide between Ertiga and Innova. When I mentioned to the sales guy that I am not particular about alloy wheel, so a ZDI w/o alloys will do, he told me that it is not just alloy wheels', but also the air bags' unavailability that is causing the delay.

BTW, I've travelled in scorpio (for ~ 2000 kms) and xylo (for ~ 600 kms), sitting in the 3rd row and I didn't like the ride quality, hence did not consider them at all.

Quote:

Originally Posted by supremeBaleno (Post 2841627)

Indeed a good job done by the design folks. Hats off to them and we forgive the Estilo/Ritz/A-Star and other such nightmares from them. :)

Quote:

Originally Posted by swiftdiesel (Post 2840480)

My reason for asking was in appreciation of its design. Every time I look at an Ertiga it just makes me go wow! Simple yet catchy, a design characteristic that's tough to achieve.

The renault scenic is quite common here in France,to me it has quite a resemblance with the Maruti ertiga. For a moment I felt it's design was a straight pick from the scenic.:) The tail lights are quite different though.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Mr_Bean (Post 2845159)

Very true and keen observation comparing the Ertiga with the Scenic! In fact only after seeing the Renault Espace, Scenic and Ford Focus S-Max did I fall in love with MPVs. Ertiga just fit the bill perfectly!

I was in Bali, Indonesia last week and was pleasantly surprised to find quite a few Ertiga's plying on the roads.

Bali is dominated by MPV's for tourists. The most popular MPV i saw was the Suzuki APV/Arena. The Ertiga is an improved version of the APV. The APV has an old ladder frame chasis with leaf springs and is RWD.

The next most popular MPV in Bali is the Toyota Avanza (also rebadged as Daihatsu Xenia). This is half a size smaller than the Ertiga and APV. The Innova is the 3rd most popularly seen vehicle labeled and Kijang Innova.

Apart from MPV's the compact offroader Toyota Rush (Rebadged as Daihatsu Terios) is a common sight.

Honda CR-V's are like the mid segment and are fairly popular with the private buyers to distinguish from the tourist MPV's.

Most of the cars are petrol including the Ertiga mainly because Petrol and diesel both cost Rs.26/litre there.

Went to yercaud over the weekend. 4 adults and 2 kids. and 2 days of luggage. few observation...

1. my wife wont go back to that 3rd row. except for kids/young people that place is no good for adults. too much of vertical movement. even on bangalore-salem stretch. couple of bad patches didn't help the matter either.
2. engine is comfortable at 80-120kmph on highway.
3. from a2b krishnagiri to yercaud, roam around for couple of days, back to a2b, the FE is 16.5.
4. ac performance was ok. no one complained. this is on plains. yercaud didn't really require ac.
5. on the ghat section, when car comes to complete halt on upward slope, to restart, need to slip the clutch generously. had to take the rpm to 1800, before releasing the clutch.

One main issue....
at around krishnagiri/darmapuri stretch, the engine exhibited a little weird behaviour. was cruising around 100-110. and then suddenly there was some kind of skipping(of power) from engine. was able to clearly feel the loose of power momentarily. It lasted for few secs each time. showed up only when cruising. under heavy acc, didn't see this.

after few mins it disappeared. only to never show up again.

the previous day, i also noticed the rpm dipping below idle(is it 800?) when the car was stuck in heavy traffic. not sure if these are related.

the first tank full was done at an IOC pump in ulsoor. 2nd was at shell in varthur road. 3rd was at the bp station on ORR. and 4/5th was at the a2b krishnagiri.

Quote:

Originally Posted by gkrishn (Post 2847475)

One main issue....
at around krishnagiri/darmapuri stretch, the engine exhibited a little weird behaviour. was cruising around 100-110. and then suddenly there was some kind of skipping(of power) from engine. was able to clearly feel the loose of power momentarily. It lasted for few secs each time. showed up only when cruising. under heavy acc, didn't see this.

after few mins it disappeared. only to never show up again.

the previous day, i also noticed the rpm dipping below idle(is it 800?) when the car was stuck in heavy traffic. not sure if these are related.

Was your AC on when this happened? It's simple if the AC was on. What you felt was the compressor cutting on and off. When it turns on you will feel that there is a momentarily loss of power.

You do not feel it under heavy acceleration because most new generation cars ensure that the AC compressor does not cut in under heavy acceleration.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Vid6639 (Post 2847486)

The AC was on. but I am not sure if this was due ac. the power loss was little intense and frequency was few secs in between.
again. this behaviour lasted only for few mins, in the total 400+ km journey.

Quote:

Originally Posted by gkrishn

2. engine is comfortable at 80-120kmph on highway.

Do you feel a Structural judder... Increased floor vibration especially after crossing 120 KMPH?

My ertiga has a very pronounced and shaky judder and the floor vibertes more than is normal once the car crosses 120 KMPH.