Baleno is a pleasure to drive. Its tall gearing, suspension, AC and performance are all superb. But the car does not have a clutch that can handle its power. My Baleno is just ten months old. But the clutch plate and the pressure plate both gave way when I tried reversing it on a steep slope a month ago. At 5.7 lakh Baleno lxi is a great buy. I have had no other problems with it so far.
The car has given me decent mileage. I get about 10 km/litre in the city and I got about 14 km/litre on my recent trip from Mumbai to Goa and Bangalore. I changed my tyres to 185/70 tubeless radials soon after I bought the car and it does help particularly when I am on the highways. I have done a maximum of 150km/hr. The car handles extremely well at this speed. The power steering is good and gives you a good feel of the road. Even in the city the car is extremely comfortable to drive. You rarely need to change gears and you can do some of the busiest of the stretches on third gear. If Maruti sorts out that clutch it’s a great car to own.