Before the launch of Ritz I saw many reviewers expecting the price of Ritz to be more then that of Swift, but were surprised that the Ritz was placed lower then Swift. Since the last two months I have been scouting to buy a new vehicle my budget being less then 6 lacs. The cars I considered were i10, i20, fabia, vista, palio and of course swift and even Linea. Currently I am using an Alto.
Previously I have used 800, indica. l I have found maruti quality and relaibilty to be excellent, in my past 10 years maruti has never been found to be wanting. We had been given Altos under company policy and there were quiet a few altos around, but nobody had a scary story to tell. Tata Vista even though improved has something like the luck of the draw attached to its buy, some are happy some bang their heads. In the same value of Ritz.
I could get a lower version of i20, for comparable version of Ritz (zxi), after spending 1.25/1.5 lacs more what do I get, good looks (questionable), solid and refined interiors, more space (esp boot space). These pluses were not enough to convert me. The same story about fabia and added to that scary stories about skoda’s after sale service and pricey spare parts. Linea is a different league. I was very intrested in Palio esp. 1.6 stile ( there are very few hatchbacks with 1.6), apart from questionable service I felt it is a pretty old model, I could not even get to see the car at the show room, I guess they are all concentrating on Linea and upcoming Punto.
So on to the test drive --
1) Exteriors: The car does not look that bad. I thought swift to be ugly when initially launched, but now people are going gaga about its sporty looks. IMHO Ritz has more sporty looks then swift. I guess if this car picks up people will forget about the flat back, the same way they forgot wagon R’s looks. I was dissapointed with the colours of Ritz, all are a bit different, they are flashy, green and blue are a bit too dark, the showroom did not have colour panels too, I decided to play safe and booked the white colour.
2)Interiors: Still plasticky, but less then that of Swift. The water fall panel is different but is OK. Tachometer is useful just in the periphery of your driving vision. Front space is good, glove compartment is spacious (better then Alto). Back space is more then swift, just a little bit more to make three 5’7" comfortable. The same might not be true for swift. Boot space is a bit tricky, the salesman said the volume is same as that of swift but I doubt it. Very little door fabric to be seen. Here i10/i20 might score huge points. But for us who drive out of town once in six months that too with one suit case space does not matter that much. (else I would have looked for sedan).
3)The Drive: This is where everything was settled in favour of Ritz. Let me tell you this engine if it does not run into maintenance problems later is a winner, so smooth, so silent, the gearing ratios are so correct that driving ritz is a pleasure. Here i20 looses huge points. Braking and handling is OK. I was in city so I could not do high speeds, but was stable in cornering too. My friend who owns a swift said the handling of pot holes is better then that of swift.
So based on the above points I have decided to go for Ritz, Jazz will be beyond me, and I do not want to bet on Fiats after sales service for Punto, as I hear Tata is doing an even worse service job then Fiat. Going for Maruti reliability and after sales service and a super smooth new product were the deciders.