Guys, time to review my new wagon R Petrol. I bought a Wagon R Petrol since I calculated daily running from office to home 10 KMs. but since I laid my hands on this vehicle, I love to drive around and have clocked 12, 000+ KMs. in less than a year.
When I went out to buy a car within 4-5 lacs, I had 2 cars in mind, Santro and Wagon R. Another requirement was to buy top end model. No one in my family is willing to wind up the glasses up or down, even on rear seat, just press button to do the needful. When I checked with a dealership in Thane, top end variants were discontinued and I had had very bad experience with service on my old Santro with the dealer. I learnt to trust road side mechanics with my Santro rather than this dealer.
Wagon R was the choice, I was left with. I needed a vehicle where ingress and egress was convenient for old folks. Before I visited the dealership, I had reservations of the looks, but when I was shown the New Wagon R at Spectra, Thane I was pleasantly surprised.
Now the review:
Look & Feel: All cars look similar, inside and outside. VXI has a built in audio system - good enough for people interested in FM and CD player for highway drives, adjustable steering(still wonder, what difference it makes). Pepped in with reverse sensors, blue tooth etc. it is a pleasure getting on the driver seat of the vehicle.
Drive: We get a clear vision of the road except for one blind spot on the right. Easy gear shift, Brakes are good at normal speed, pickup is just okay - it is an effort to stay with the bike when signal turns green, Fuel economy: I got around 14.5 when I went to Shirdi within a week of taking delivery of the vehicle. I touched max speed of 125 KPH on Nashik - Mumbai highway and got 16 KPH on my very recent trip to Surat again touched a max of 125 KPH even after sun down(Adjustable headlights and built in fog lights help a lot to me, a 48 yr. old), Maximum I clocked in was 135 KPH on Mumbai - Pune expressway. No issues, just plain chilling while you drive, at whatever speed you are comfortable.
I am loving this car and wonder whether to have it serviced at an Maruti authorized service center or Maruti dealership or the road side mechanic. Any suggestions please?
Had some bad moments with my car too.
I was racing towards Goregaon, since my wife and kids were deserted due to a miscalculation, at 90 KMs per hour at a time nearing midnight and in heavy rains. I failed to see a pothole and that resulted in a flat tyre. It took me around 25 minutes to change the tyre, with the auto wallahs and bus drivers having a great time drenching me while I changed the tyre.
Something weird happened and thinking I was in 1st while I was in reverse banged my brand new car to a pole in dead of night. Took around a month for the tail light to arrive and again my car was like new. Uh! my bumper is still damaged, but dealer wants to replace it and my road side mechanic will repair it for 500, will have it repaired if I decide to have it serviced with the road side mechanic, else doesn’t really matter.
Compare this car in terms of convenience to any sedan, I find it better, but compare it in pickup or engine power, this will not be able to match it. During these 11 months, I am happy with my choice. Maybe will be back when something goes wrong or I am still happy at the end of 2 years with the vehicle. Will probably have some inputs on the servicing too by that time.