I purchased my new Maruti Esteem VXi from Vitesse Ltd, Mumbai. I am very happy with this new car of mine. Earlier, I drove the Fiat UNO 1.2 ELX and was almost in love with it for the last six to seven years. It was really difficult to give up the UNO, but after a long and hard thought and some research on Indiacar.com, the largest automobile portal of India, I finally decided to upgrade to the Maruti Esteem VXI.
Immidiately, on taking delivery, I took the car from Mumbai to Ahmedabad and from there to Pune and back to Mumbai. In the span of 4 days, I drove almost 1400 kms. One can call that a real acid road test for a brand new car.
The drive quality was really very good. After the non-stop drive from Valsad to Ahmedabad, I was actually able to party with my friends. Obviously, there was no fatigue caused by the long drives. Maybe, the partial credit should go to the roads.
I havent been able to actually check the fuel efficiency, but a rough guesstimate tells me that I got anything between 16 to 18 kms per litre, and I havent switched off my A/c yet. That shows, that this car is quite economical to drive around.
The power steering, is quite featherlite, and parking is really very easy. This was the first change I noticed after giving up the UNO.
While returning from Ahmedabad, we were 6 adults in the car, and not one felt overcramped. This would mean that for 5 people, the drive would be even more pleasant.
Only one drawback I noticed in this car, is that if you are planning to have a 500 kms long drive, you need to stop for fuel at least twice, as the fuel tank is relatively smaller. I could not fill up more than 1300 to 1400 Rs. worth of petrol in the car at any given point of time. But I guess, having a larger fuel tank would have a adverse effect on the mileage of the car.
Overall, I can vouch for this car anytime. No wonder, this is the longest serving model in India.
Its a pity, that on Mouthshut.com, I cannot choose 2007 as the model year of the car. Although it is now mid June of 2007.