I bought our first car about five months back after a month
long research!
Why we bought this car?*
- For driving around 1000 km per month inside city and
around 200 km per month on highways(average) this car gives the best
compromise between petrol and diesel cars in terms of fuel economy and maintainance.
- We were looking for a small, cozy and offerdable car
for me and my wife to drive.
- Foldable back seat to carry any extra luggage(very
important since 95% of the time only I and my wife are travelling in the car and we could use this extra space with already small boot).
company fitted LPG and DOE(Department of Explosives) approved LPG fitting.
Other contenders I considered:*
Swift - Expensive, so left it.
Alto - Way too small and more than a decade old
technology.
Spark - I’heard’ from my friends that the service is not up to the mark; also
the version with folding back seats was expensive.
Now after driving for about 5200 km:
Pros –
-Decent
drivability
-Good economy: On
LPG: In city driving with approx. 20% AC
- 10 to 11 km per kg; on Petrol: Tested only on highways with 20% AC – 18 km per litre.
-Good comfortable
seats.
Problems faced so far -*
- For a rookie driver, if the engine stops while driving
very slowly(in Bangalore’s
traffic), that too if it happens two times in succession, the MIL
(Mulfunction Indicator Lamp) switches on. There is no solution for this problem
so far.( I had sent the car to service station for addressing this problem 3
times and also complained to Maruthi about this. Maruthi accepted this problem to be
present in all Duo’s, but provided no solution so far. They are still’working’
on this. They are not even ready to provide a possible time by which this will
be solved).
- The LPG relay switch(which transfers the fuel to LPG
after an initial start with petrol) has unacceptable delay in switching
sometimes. It switches after driving say 0.5 to 1.5 km. With this LPG mileage seems
great but your petrol has been sucked in!
plastic and build quality is very bad. My back door handle is already broken
and the boot cover coming off.
My Verdict on vehicle:
If your requirement for driving is as of mine, buy a decent
petrol car, may be Wagon R VXI – petrol version, fix the LPG kit from outside market
after 2 years or 60, 000 km of drive( whichever is earlier – to protect the warranty). But I strongly recommend against buying Duo with its seemingly lucrative’LPG’ option.
Purchase process and Dealer:
I bought the car from Pratham motor, Bangalore. The purchase process was hasty.
They made us to wait for delivery way too much and did not fit all the
accessories on delivery. They did give extra discount of Rs. 2000 over and above
the other discounts and freebies. Their service centers are completely occupied. The service
quality is poor. But they force you on
giving feedback rating of 8 out of 10.
The accessories fitted were of poor quality( I don’t know
if they are really MGA – Maruthi Genuine Accessory). The fog lamps stopped functioning after 2 weeks of fitting them.
My verdict on the dealer:
Never buy any accessories from this dealer. Buy the vehicle
if you get a decent discount(more or less all dealers in Bangalore are as less responsive as this
dealer).
Updates after 1 year of running the car:
We are completely satisfied with the car. We had small accidents 2 times - once because of my mistake and the other time from a biker. We have made couple of long trips with the vehicle, many of my friends who used to drive Maruti 800, Alto etc. have quite well appreciated the roomy interiors. Now with LPG rates going faster than Petrol rates, we are driving the car more or less on Petrol. I could reach a speed of 120 km/hr on highways. The car starts slightly shaking at such high speeds especially if it’s a windy day.
Some practical tips:
While repairing after an accident or so with your insurance company paying the bulk, get a clear estimation from the dealer. We were charged Rs.1200 for cleaning the car! Also, note that insurance company does not bear all the expenses. In addition, try to get the scrape parts back after the repair. You can sell it(in Shivajinagar, for Bangaloreans) for a decent price.
For renewing the insurance, get the quotes from different insurance companies before settling for one.