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Upgraded from an old Ertiga to the Maruti XL6 AT: Initial impressions

19th October 2023, 12:08 by Ananth Iyer

The service experience has been 11/10. With the Ertiga, I never really understood the hype around Maruti's service as it was always a 7/10 experience for me. Nexa seems to have really worked on customer experience.

BHPian DDISClatters recently shared this with other enthusiasts.

After finally swallowing the pill about the 10-year diesel ban from NGT, it was time to hunt for a new car. We started the hunt at the 8.5-year mark of Ertiga as we assumed the waiting periods to be no short of a year.

This shot from our Manali trip remains my favorite

The next question that followed was if we actually needed a 6/7-seater. You see, out of 93K mileage clocked, it would have been hardly some 10k KMs that the car had any row except the front row occupied. Given the skyrocketing prices and the fact that we would be shelling out almost double for another MPV now, it made us consider the 5 seaters too.

The requirements

A comfortable 5 seater if not 7. While we were fine to compromise on an extra pair of seats, the car must be able to seat 5 people comfortably.
Basic modern kit (Keyless entry, LED headlights, good HU, etc.). This requirement of course means top model.
Automatic (Only a Torque Converter, DCT or CVT)
Bulletproof reliability. I am a firm believer that if in the current age and time, a company can’t overcome random breakdowns (Jeep), transmission failures (VW), or alignment issues (Tata), it is really them taking the consumer for granted rather than their incapability to make a reliable product. There are many other companies and Maruti is no saint either, they are the worst as they take their consumer’s life for granted. Yet, I picked a Maruti. So, no real hate for any particular brand but just a view on the state of our market.
Decent build quality. I had a restrictive budget and I was aware. Since the car will go around city rides 90% of the time, I was okay with a 3-star rating as a minimum.
Convenience features such as a good camera system, folding ORVMs, Auto AC, steering mounted controls etc.)

Cars considered:

I would just like to apologize upfront if my comments end up offending any of the owners of the below respective cars. I truly feel a car can have all the things right but may still not excite one. The final decision should always flow from your heart otherwise you’re going to regret it. Go spend a few more lakhs and get that top model, the turbo petrol engine, or the car with a sunroof if your heart desires it.

I experienced this regret firsthand with this purchase. XL6 made all the sense, however, the moment I see an Innova Crysta, there is that feeling of regret for skipping this car over the Fuel Economy. I have covered more on this when I talk about Crysta below.

Tata Nexon

The showroom experience was strictly okay and nothing to write home about. Since the facelift (2nd iteration), I have much appreciated the well-rounded package it offers. However, in the 2 times I have checked out this car, quality issues really held me back. It was almost like the universe giving me signals to avoid it.

On my first visit, the digital instrument panel was glitching so much as to render it unusable.

On my second visit, the glovebox just won't close. While both issues are something that a quick visit to ASC can fix, seeing these in a display car and the showroom's negligence to ignore those shows the generic attitude of the brand. While the showroom could be privately owned, this forum has a lot of horror stories from TATA ASC and support to reinforce my reservations.

Beyond this, Nexon offered an AMT transmission which was a no-go for me. Had I been in the market in mid-2023, I would have held off my purchase just until the facelift came in. Kudos to Tata for efforts with the latest iteration.

Creta/Seltos:

With a strict budget of 20L, I was happy to consider the IMT/DCT versions of Seltos & Creta respectively. They offered an amazing kit along with absolutely bonkers interior quality. Kudos to the Brand twins for setting the benchmark in interior quality in every segment.

The downer for them was the lack of increase in seating comfort for 3 abreast in the back seat in proportion to the price increase. Our family idealizes Innova and cars alike so sparing 20L for a 4-seater was a bit of a brainer to us. Both brands for some reason try to blend in some sportiness in their cars. The rear seat is pretty scooped out in both these cars and hence makes the middle passenger feel unwelcomed.

Venue/Sonet

Same story with these cars. Sonet offered great VFM and quality all around (sparing the build of course). Again, this was strictly a 4-seater so a no-go for a family of 7.
Venue, with the 2022 facelift was no longer the same VFM it used to be. Still, I loved the Nardo Grey N line variants but with space management worse than some hatchbacks, was an instant disqualification.

Magnite/Kiger

The twins offer great value and make way for a new segment altogether. The fact that both companies even managed to squeeze in a 4-star crash rating at this price is a big and applaudable feat.

Unfortunately, that has taken a toll on the overall quality and drivetrain. Both cars may have a strong structure but feature really flimsy sheet panels. The drivetrain suffers too from the 3 potters on offer along with the CVT/AMT options. In my test ride of Magnite, the car was vibrating a lot at idle. The last nail in the coffin was cheap interiors. This reason was enough for the family to rule the car out.

MG Astor

This car was super hyped up and extremely promising on paper. Plenty of features, good build quality, stunning looks, and premium interiors. Disappointment knocks the moment you press the pedal to experience the "turbo" engine. Such a downer. Either they are lying about a whole missing turbo, it's the CVT characteristics or someone in the tuning department messed up.

Another downer that could not be compromised on is the lack of space in the rear bench. After everyone is done praising the beautiful red interiors and done playing with the Al robot, the middle seat leaves a bitter experience for the unfortunate who has to sit there. While almost all rear benches are best suited for 4 nowadays, Astor should be mentioned as a 4-seater on the RC card. The unnecessarily sculpted seats in exchange for a sporty feel are to be blamed here. This car had so much potential and a good spread of features in every variant. Sad to see the company didn't get the basics right. Oh and yes, the 360 camera units are straight out of a 2012 smartphone camera at best.

A note for sedans

While the rest of the world is axing off sedans and hatches, it is a very interesting time in India for this body type right now. The market has some very hot contenders (Read VW Vitus GT). The only reason we could not consider them is due to low seating. We already have nightmares from the egress and ingress from my brother's Fluidic Verna. With my aging parents, we were not very pleased to pick a suicide mission for knees by getting any of the sedans on offer.

Toyota Innova Crysta

What can I say about this car? There's no other car even a few segments above that does all things as beautifully as Innova. Power, reliability, safety, features, VFM, you name it. Yes, you read the last part right. Even though the prices have gone up unrealistically since its inception in 2016, it still puts the contenders to shame for what it offers.

The answer as to why we ditched it is that of a traditional Indian Buyer. We had a budget of 20L and could have stretched to 22L for the Petrol G Auto Variant OTR. Petrol and Auto are a deadly combination for a 2T MPV. The salesman was kind enough to point this out because we were smiling ear to ear with the idea of an Innova in the garage finally. He said "sir ye 6-8kmpl se zyada nahi degi city mein". While a shocker, it would have been true for our use case. When clubbed with the fact that my father's driving style had a diesel Ertiga return 11kmpl in city and 15kmpl on highway all its life, Innova would not have been a sensible purchase.

The MPV Dilemma

There are two types of buyers in this market. The first group is people who want a big car along with the brand and name value. They may have a small family and could use the extra space for luggage. This group is happy to check out the contenders and may even buy one of them as 3rd row seats will be rarely used by them.

2nd group consists of buyers with actual need for all the seats on offer. This group is either big families or fleet/taxi operators. I fall in this group and It is truly hard to understand how none of the cars till the 40L segment and maybe even above have not been able to figure out the 3rd-row seats except Innova, Carens, Ertiga/XL6 & and Carnival. So many options available to a new buyer but only 4 true 7-seaters? Bahut naainsaafi hai!

To the point above, now we were left with just 2 options – XL6 & Carens

Kia Carens

I was pretty excited for this car ever since the spy shots started rolling in. When it did launch, the excitement went down a little due to the minivan type of looks from the front. However, the features, size, and powertrains on offer bumped it right on top again.

The showroom experience was good even though there were a lot of people walking in due to the new launch (Take notes Tata & Mahindra). The Blue colour under the spotlight gave out tones of purple and black and was the instant colour of choice. The interiors felt really premium and the touchscreen was super futuristic. Kia has hit it right with the seats in all three rows even though the seats are on a smaller side.

Unfortunately, that’s about it. The Turbo DCT, even though has 140 BHP on paper, fails to make you go wow. That is fine, to be honest, and is expected from a 7-seater. However, if one is not to use the power, why should I pick up the headache associated with Turbo and DCT transmission? The car is meant to go around the city and have heard plenty of “burning smell” reports in traffic from the DCT.

To make matters worse, owners reported how this powertrain struggled on hills. That is not acceptable for a powertrain with this much power and all modern tech.

Unfortunately, the issues don’t end there. The leaking AC tubing above 3rd row leading to the headliner being wet, and reports of headlamps fogging up in a month-old car made me question the development of the car.

Kia seems to have taken inputs from both Ertiga and Innova and incorporated what both cars excel at. Ertiga offers 7 seats at a budget which is targeted by Carens lower variants and Innova offers big size, reliability, and premium feel which is handled by Caren’s top model. The pricing is evident. While this was a smart approach, the development feels like a hurried one. Kia has good after-sales support and I was confident they would take feedback and attend to these issues. I was personally just not comfortable with making trips to ASC any other time than the regular service.

Maruti XL6

To my point earlier, families looking for 7-seaters in the 40L bracket don’t have a lot of options. Ertiga, while a good allrounder, comes with a taxi image, no real WOW features, and beige interiors that we were bored after owning Ertiga for 9 years.. The Facelifted XL6 fits right in for families like us who like the Ertiga but were going elsewhere due to all the reasons above.

When the last-gen XL6 was launched, it made everyone wonder why this car exists. With only a new facia, cladding, and black interiors as key differentiators compared to Ertiga, the car didn’t excite a lot of people, and sales speak likewise. I never even considered this car to be honest. Come 2022 and the launch of the facelift, the car made a lot of sense all of a sudden. It had a lot more to offer.

It was well differentiated in terms of looks. The puny tires were taken care of, the rear looks much better and 2022ish with those smoked taillamps, the ride height was just a tad bit more and gave it the perfect stance, gloss black B/C pillars, machined 16inch alloys, and the list continues.

The comfort and convenience went considerably up too with ventilated seats, 360-degree camera system, all-black leatherette interiors, UV cut glass all around, and updated HU with wireless Apple Carplay and Android Auto being key factors to lure one in.

Another major upgrade was the introduction of the Aisin-sourced 6-speed AT unit. Torque convertors are rare these days and I am glad Maruti picked this. The test drive was impressive and AT was as smooth as it should be. While no DCT, the shift speeds were comfortable in Auto mode and fast enough in manual mode. Paddle shifters were a welcome feature too. Contrary to my belief, the lack of power from the engine ensures you’ll be using these. Will cover more on this later.

Delivery day

The waiting period was surprisingly low and we got the car in October after booking it in August end. We picked the auspicious day of Dusshera. Even though the staff had commitments for their respective plans, they were accommodating enough and delivered the car at 5 PM.

Still miss the clean and well-rounded design of the original Ertiga

We picked up 3D mats, a Chrome belt for window lining, and sun visors. One accessory that has my heart is the faux trim similar to the one on the dashboard for all armrests. However, this costs 8k which I found to be a tad too much and hence skipped it.

The overall experience was leaps and bounds ahead of the time we took delivery of our Ertiga. This was partly due to Nexa and partly due to a change of Dealership.

Ownership experience

The car has done about 10K KMs and the ownership experience has been well, not so Maruti-like. That there should be seen as a compliment. Let me go over all categories to explain better:

Looks

While XL6 is no head-turner, it isn’t boring-looking either. The elegant front, sleek sides, and sporty rear come together to deliver a pleasant experience for the eyes. XL6 tries to do a lot of things with different elements all around yet stays away from the boundary of being quirky-looking.

Best angle to look at it IMO

The headlamps offer a good throw and I love the quad cluster design. While miles away, reminds me somewhat of the quad barrel setup in Bugatti Chiron.