We have a Maruti Suzuki WagonR LXI(2010 Model - The Blue Eye Boy) since 4 years. We purchased it from Competent Maruti Suzuki Hamirpur(Himachal Pradesh)and this review is all about my experience with the car till now. It has been driven just more than 21000 Kms till now. This is because most of the times we use our car for family commutes only.
It has a 998cc K10B engine that generates 67PS of power. Well I will not mention specs as everybody can find those on the internet. The car after 4 years feels just like as it was new. Not from exterior or interiors but in terms of engine response and reliability. The engine sound is as good as it was new. Also I have never tried a self second time as this car till now has always started with single self even in winter dew condition. This is really pleasing to me. We get our car serviced timely every time.
The mileage till now is just about 16 Kmpl. Earlier in the beginning it was around 14 Kmpl and stayed there even after one year. Then we changed our service station from Competent Hamirpur to an unauthorized service station at Ghumarwin. And then the mileage increased to above 15 Kmpl. Obviously just the authorized service station badge is not enough until trained and honest service personals are not there.
The people at Competent Hamirpur are just not caring enough and they just do everything in a hurry. And after that they put taxes on the labour charges as well which is even annoying after a horrible servicing. They use cheap engine oils which come in drums and charge the customers M.R.P. price of Maruti Genuine Oils(Shell Helix) and then they apply 12% VAT on the M.R.P. as well.
This is cheating not only to the customer’s pocket but also with the car. The service station at Ghumarwin is not a Maruti Suzuki authorized srvice station but at least they do the servicing well and use Maruti Genuine Engine oil and break the bottle seal in front of the customer. The current mileage of 16 Kmpl is good enough because I live in Himachal Pradesh and in this hilly terrain gear shifts are frequent and sometimes avg. speed of the journey turns out to be less then 40 Kmph due to the condition of roads.
I have drove this car on some of the worst roads. Worst means driving on stones completely. Till now there is no mechanical failure in the car. It never troubled us during the journey. I haven’t replaced the battery yet as it is working fine. We have got the front tyres replaced after 15000 Kms and we reused them in the rear. The tyre bear was due to sporty driving on congested roads where breaking was frequent at every turn.
Now about the dynamics of the car. At corners there is huge amount of body roll which always forces me to bear a seat belt otherwise driver could fall on the left side during right turn. This has made my seat belt bearing habit permanent. Next I think due to body roll at turns the pressure on tyres is also more which results in faster wear of tyres. But sensible driving avoids that.
Overall instead of body roll the car still feels confident to throw around tight corners. The stability is good up to 100 Kmph speed which is sufficient for a car of this category. The engine is also very silent and smooth even at higher RPMs. Brakes are also decent and make your car stop before you want. Very confident brakes.
The build quality of the interiors is not that great and internals starts to make lose sounds as we continue to drive on totally rough roads. The air conditioner is good enough and so is the heater. The legroom is descent both at front and the rear seat which was the main plus point during our purchase. Also the head room feels great and airy which is like heaven for me as I am 6 feet tall. No other car felt so good to me inside in terms of head room.
The quality of seats though is not that great and leaves something to desire. The seats lack under thy support and a proper lower back support. The suspension however is really good while driving on bad roads. It feels spongy and absorbs most of the bumps. Now there comes the main USP of this car the Value For Money approach and also low cost of ownership. Maruti Suzuki has not done anything nonsense with the car as I have seen with my friends Hyundai i10.
There was some kind of exposed plastic guard beneath the engine which got cracked due to some stone hitting beneath on bad road and the cost of replacement was Rs. 1200. Apart from that Hyundai i10 is much more premium car and very good to drive as well. But the overall cost of ownership is also more due to expensive spares from hyundai. Maruti Suzuki WagonR is a car that packs all the necessities along with a great and reliable engine. It is also fairly stylish and does not look ugly from any angle.
Also from inside it gives a good feel and also feels somewhat premium if not completely. Also Maruti Suzuki has used good quality parts that withstand odd conditions quite comfortably which makes this car reliable. Overall I am a happy owner of my Maruti Suzuki WagonR - The Blue Eyed Boy.