I have just completed my first 1000 kms in my new Wagon R Vxi & I would like to share my experience.
WHY I DECIDED TO BUY WAGON R: I had seen wagon R and its performance when I was staying abroad. When I returned to India, wagon R was naturally became one of the short listed cars. My criteria for short-listing was as follows
It should be fuel-efficient and it should fit in Mumbai traffic. My wife wanted a vehicle, which should have sufficient backspace so that when ever she wants to keep a luggage she wouldn’t have any problems. She also wanted AC to be equally effective in the back seat .My son wanted to drive without sitting tight as he is a tall guy, he also wanted a excellent pick up. For me, I wanted a car, which should be roomier from inside and should have a good ground clearance, as we frequently venture on country roads. I also wanted a car, which should be trouble free and less of maintenance. We all needed comfort features like power windows, power steering, and central locking to be present. Wagon R fitted well in all our requirements and we decided to go ahead and book the car.
WHY I CHOSE SAI SERVICE, ANDHERI, MUMBAI: Sai Services Andheri is one of the largest dealer of Maruti vehicles in Mumbai. Their offer was the most competitive, their office and service station were near to my residence. Also I got very good feed back from my sister who has bought Zen from them. Sai service deals all their customer in ONE WINDOW CLEARANCE basis where their sales person takes care of all your requirements so when I went to Sai Service, I was assigned to Ms.Srini Karrakal who is working there as Asst Sales Manager. She answered all my queries, coordinated with other departmental colleagues and kept her composure balanced and cool when I was bothering her practically every day when the delivery was getting delayed because of transporter’s strike ( I got delivery almost 1 month after the date of booking). My wife and son who had gone to pick up the car were really impressed by the treatment given Sai service people at the time of giving the delivery of the vehicle.
THE PERFORMANCE OF CAR DURING FIRST 1000KMS: I drove first 1000kms with AC always ON. The car gives 11-12kms/litre in city and 14kms/litre on long drives (highways).
For few occasions we had to keep AC initially on medium level for first few minutes because of very hot climate of last month (May). One thing I noticed that when you keep AC on medium level, the noise level of AC is rather high while on minimum level AC is totally silent .
Out side noise is quite low when all windows are closed however it needs to be further brought down by better insulation.
The pick up is really good with no complaints so is the ground clearance I tested the car at different places and it did not touch ground on a single occasion. The suspension of car is still hard especially on back seats may be because of its height.
There are few things lacking which I feel it should brought to attention, this car does not provide you a clock as standard attachment as done in other competing models like Indica. There is not even space provided on dash board so you cant even fit a clock separately.
Also there is no space provided for back speakers. This is a problem because if you attach them normally then the back seats cannot be reclined to fullest extent.
One more thing that I would like to mention is that while driving on highways at speed of 90~100 kmph (with four adults and AC) the car feels completely stable and powerful. It doesn’t wobble or vibrate dangerously as mentioned in magazine articles that I had read.
CONCLUSION: I would like to conclude by telling you that I think Wagon R is a very practical & flexible car and I would recommend it to anybody interested in buying it. My choice of dealer i.e. Sai Service, Andheri is equally remembered and recommended.