Santro or Maruti: I researched various cars, as I decided to buy my First car. I test drived Santro, Indica, Wagon-R, Swift etc. I found Swift an excellent car, but I zeroed on Maruti Wagon-R, as my first Car, as advised by dealer. I was in a dillema for quite long to finalise either Wagon-R or Santro. While Santro is superior in looks than Wagon R with matching features, Wagon-R offers desired comfort level and reliability of a Maruti product which has trust of over 25 years on Indian Roads with unparrallel After Sale Service Network.
Looks: Silky Silver is the mostly sold body colour but I choose Passion Red and I do not regret my decision. Now I really enjoy the praise in the eyes of watchers of the car.
Performance: Wagon R is a good car which meets your expectation level in terms of ease of driving with least fatigue. It offers good leg room as well as sufficient head room, hence a person with good body builts finds driving Wagon R really comfortable.
First 1000 KM: I completed 1000 KM in two months time, as I use my car only on weekends. After first service, it was fine tuned and gears got more soft while changing.Cooling effect of AC was low which did not improve even after first service.
Fuel Average: The fuel average of more than 12 KMPL is the last thing one can expect on Indian road conditions, though Maruti 800 and Maruti Alto give an average of more than 16 KMPL.
Extended Warranty: The extended warranty offerred by the dealer Sai service is valid for servicing at Sai dealership only which are available in Mumbai and a few more cities of Maharashtra and Goa. Hence it is advisable to go for Maruti Contrywide extended warranty only.
Dealer: The service of Sai Service is really pathetic and you may have to repent to choose them, though they claim to care about their customers. From the day one the Remote lock was not working. It was repaired by the Nippon service person twice but of no use. Ultimately I had to give take my car to Sai service centre for a day to get it repaired finally. It was had to struggle very hard to get back the extra amount paid to dealer when i choose not to take some of the accessories. Dealers mostly manipulate in insurance declaration value to show low insurance cost. In my case the insurance declared value is less than the invoice value(leave aprat the accessories and registration expenses). In case you loss your car, you will be shocked to know how dealer manipulates Declared value just to make price comparable. If possible, you should arrange insurance from insurance company directly taking into account the full value and the Personal accident policy for passengers. Registration charges included hidden cost of around 3000/- which is unsupported. You may save a major part of this cost, if you take some extra pain to get this done by yourself or some other agent.
Conclusion: Overall Maruti product comes with reliability, durability and best performance with widespread After sale service network and these vehiles fetch good value on resale as well. In netshell I did not regret choosing Wagon R as my first car.
Hence, It is advisable to go for Wagon R, which is value for money and comfort.