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My experience with a 2013 Maruti Ritz VXi

28th July 2021, 16:32 by Rahul Nagaraj

There was no evaluation required for this car; it was as original as one could imagine when the ribbons were on.

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Introduction

This story, again, is going back in time, to early 2015, when I met the first Maruti Ritz that I’d ever seen in detail. My next encounter with a Ritz was in 2018 when I was holding a known septuagenarian’s Ritz for a month until my car reached me. The Maruti Ritz was a practical alternative to the Swift in its time, and these posts are my small way of acknowledging the many virtues of this unsung hero.

Sample image of a red Ritz facelift

Enter the Ritz

A friend was looking at a potential replacement for his 2009 Tata Vista Terra diesel. The Vista was doing fine, but a petrol was the need of the day. Friend’s better half’s colleague was selling their 2013 Maruti Ritz VXi facelift that had done a mere 13,000km as they were relocating. He asked if I could help him check the car out, which I gladly said yes to. Off we went to a place called Anakaputhur, a few km from Chennai Bypass, where this car, the Little Red Riding Hood was under cover.

When the covers were off, I just stood there, stunned. This was the most pristine used example that I’d seen after a 6,400km done Maruti Versa DX2 in Surat back in 2004. The added oomph was the shade – Mystique Red. There was no evaluation required for this car – it was as original as one could imagine when the ribbons were on. Although the car was approx. 1.5 years old, the new car smell was there, the interior and outside were pristine, with the paint finish stock and not even a gash on the surface.

I gave the go ahead, and the seller let go of the car for a mere Rs 3.6 lakhs, because my friend and his family were close friends of the seller.

Initial impressions on the facelifted Ritz

The Ritz came across as a practical alternative to the more successful Swift.

Likes:

Refined engine with VVT
Upright seating -you walk into the car and don’t bend into the car
60:40 split folding seats – a big bonus in a hatch
Dash mounted tacho – the first hatch to sport this sporty feature
Fantastic AC
Great view of the road, although the high dash could be bothersome for shorter drivers
Large ORVM
Stereo and AC controls were easy to reach, hence minimum inconvenience to the driver
Fog lamps (not sure if this was standard on the facelift VXi but this car had ‘em)
Rounded hood and a pointed nose unlike the flat front of the earlier Ritz

What could have been better:

Gear throws didn’t seem as short as the Swift’s – when shifting into second, one would feel that the throw is too long.
Rear looks are subjective – most didn’t like this while I felt it was quite satisfactory.

This particular car, a red facelifted Ritz VXi came with fog lamps, spoiler, and coloured door handles and ORVMs. The coloured ORVMs and door handles was a dealer job (based on the paint finish)

ORVM