For the last 4 years, I own a Zen LX Model which I had bought in Nov 2002, and trust me, its is the best buy I had. I was planning on a Palio then, and had also paid the entire amount of 389000 to Fiat, but after one of the worst nightmarish experience with Fiat, I was back to good old Maruti...
The below review is more from a point of view of running costs, we all know Zen is the second most sold car on Indian roads beyond 800, and in any case Maruti has stopped its production, so no suggestions about buying it:)
1, Delaership and Service Issues....none whatsoever, Maruti is so reliable a thing( I realised post getting entangled with Palio... u dont realise what you have till u visit have nots), too many service centres, and the spares are very easily available... service people are really courteous and the service costs are a bare minimum, I have had all services done from official workshops and never been to a street side mechanic, and still the costs foctor is awesome.
Running quality- post 60000 km in 4 yeras, the only thing that irritates is rattling doors at high speeds, I have driven the car at speeds upton 115 km/hr on highways and it is simply superb....the ride is excellent and smooth, and completely nisefree, AC cools the car in seconds and doe snot even eat into the mileage
Costs and MIleage.... as mentioned earlier, service and maintenece costs are highly affordable, I have not had to change any major parts till date, I had also opted for an extended warranty which covers the car for any trouble till 4 years or 80000 km, again awesome plan..... the mileage after so much of driving around is still close to 14.5 kmpl, with AC constantly running in city traffic in Delhi
REcently Bridgestone has launched R12 tyres for this car- TUbeless, and THat had made the riding quality eben more exhilarating
overall a great buy, the other cars I have driven are santro and alto, but nothing comes close to Zen in handling and costs.... I can manouvre the car without trouble with a single hand without too much of an effort.....
Simply Superb...Zen