My 'loaner's' Maruti Esteem-54500 km Report.

Hey friends, as most of you know that on the 26th of April, my car(Swift) got seriously banged up and till date, is lying there with a huge bill on our head, even if insurance part is excluded, Rs,63000 to be exact.

After a LOT of requesting, Maruti provided us with a loaner's vehicle exactly two weeks back. It is an Esteem VXi, 2004 model. It is the new look version which comes pretty decently equipped with a stereo, power windows, AC, central locking, auto-down feature on driver's side window, beige interiors, etc. It is white in color.

When the showroom's driver drove the car to us, the initial impressions were of a well maintained car. But it soon disappeared into thin air. One side of the car was clean, the side which we saw first, and the other side was damaged with a dent, side beads missing, wheel caps missing and a lot of scratches. On closer inspection, we found that the mirror lock for the right side was missing, which resulted into its not setting properly in open and closed position and constant wobbling on bad roads. It frequently needed re-adjustments on the go.

The interiors were all right, but maintenance was poor. The beige part had become stained and grey and gave you a feeling that you were sitting in a dirty car, though rubbing hands against any part of the interior wont yield any. Everything was all right, the car exuded a sweet smell, though there was no car perform. I concluded that it was the smell of some car polish. The tape panel was missing and it pissed me off. I repeatedly asked the Maruti guys for it, but they refused. :frustration: Then we started our drive back home with the car. Collecting it was easy and required only the 'job card' of your car and a signature of anyone carrying it.

The first glitch we noticed were the power windows, which would just not go up and down smoothly. Sometimes, hand assistance would also be required. The electrics were poorly maintained, as could be seen. It still hasn't packed up totally. Thank god for that.

The second grouse is the AC. The evaporator coil, AC cooling fluid, etc were all missing which resulted into a mostly ineffective AC. The compressor would do overtime, but still no effective chilling. Plus, the kind of summer we are having in Kolkata, its difficult to survive without one.

The next are the headlights. They are blue in color!!! Plus at dipped beam, they hardly illuminate. Driving at full beam becomes necessary and in that mode, the focus of the headlights go haywire. Its also tough for the oncoming vehicle to move comfortably. Plus, there were no foglamp bulbs. They had been removed and only the assembly remained!!!!

One day, we were driving back home at night under heavy rainfall. Time to check out the wipers. To my horror, they weren't working properly. The blades were worn out and it was making a scary noise while struggling up and down. That drive back home was a scary one.

The tires of the car, especially the rear ones, had nothing left. They were totally flat on the surface. They needed urgent change. We had to drive VERY cautiously on wet roads.

Then comes the gearshift. Esteem gearshifts are known to be a joy to use. But sadly, this one wasn't. Even the gearshift, a mechanical part, wasn't maintained properly and false neutrals and difficult reverse gear shifting was the order of the day.

The last drawback were the brakes. There was very less feel than usual and it needs a good hard shove to stop, something which I feel hard to adjust to, as I am accustomed to gentle dabbing treatment. I could also feel the brakes to be a bit worn out. They were worse during the rains.

Thats not to say that the car wasn't good at all. I firstly liked the seats. For such a cramped car, the seats were pretty comfy and supportive. I could sit pretty comfortably and the driving position feels snug and comfy.

The engine was pretty smooth for a car of such shabby maintenance. It just loves to be revved and is more lively than the Swift's motor. Fill in premium petrol and the car just comes into its own league, easily outperforming other powerful cars. I also loves the noisy and the buzzy nature of the engine and am getting better average than the Swift.

The steering feel is nice, a revelation from the Electronic Power Steering of the Swift. Turning into corners is much easier with such steering.

The all-independent suspension gave a nice ride and handling balance, though the chassis didn't have enough guts to take it, wobbling horribly. Plus, over bumps, the steering tends to follow the road irregularities to a very high extent, something which I havn't faced with my swift.


Overall
I'd say that the Esteem is a nice car and the fact that it is still roadworthy despite of no maintenance, speaks volumes about this car's durability, which impressed me to a good extent. I did love the change for a while, but now, I am missing my Swift and want it back, though my driver prefers the Esteem more.

Pics to follow soon.

I too love the steering of Esteem, read Hydraulic power steering. It is a driver's delight. How do you compare its performance with Swift? i guess it'll be better.

By reading all the problems you mentioned, i guess possible it is the worst maintained car. As a loaner's car it would have been with many customers and abused a lot. Any one who drives this car will give a bad impression to him about the car. Hope you get your Swift soon.

Road Rocket wrote:Good review.
I've too heard that Esteem is not a good car for long term period but overall for ahort term its a nice family car. :)

RoadRocket

That's exactly not the point. We had an Esteem too, it has clocked above 96k kms. It all depends on maintenance and regular servicing is all it requires.

I am an esteem lover too... this one is rev happy and an excellent engine to go on highways... but on maintanence i did have some not so good experience from MASS.... switched over to reliable local mechanics ...

Today, I finally gave back the Esteem and got my Swift. I had taken it with the odo reading 53924 km and gave it back with the odo reading 55918 km. In a period of a month and a half, We have covered nearly 2k kilometers with this car and I must admit that I loved it and even missing the Esteem to some extent. Despite the fact that it was one of the most shabbily maintained cars I have ever come across, Esteem proved its mettle and pointed out that despite the poor maintenance, it can keep its head up and run for another 50k kilometers without having to open the hood. It was only the gearbox which needed an overhaul. Otherwise, it was just fine.

So a month and a half well spent with the Esteem, and Esteem owners should be proud of what they own, literally a warrior in their hands.

Congrats on getting your Swift back. Yeah, Esteem is a great car, another zero maintenance from Maruti. I doubt that no modern car can be good like old Marutis without much maintenance. Now waiting for the review of your Swift in the Review section.

Good to hear you got your car back, do let us know the final amount paid by you and things done on it by ASS.

Total bill of Swift came to 1.35 lakh, out of which we gave Rs, 57000 and the rest given by insurance. There are a couple of things I'd like to point out:-

a. Maruti ASS doesn't deserve No.1 spot anymore because they have become arrogant, and their so called assurance and influence fizzles out at crisis situations. All parts for my airbags took a lot of time to come, thereby delaying the job. Maruti doesn't make airbag components in volumes, meaning that if you hit, it'll be around 3 months after you get your car back.

b. One shouldn't be fooled by the VFM pricing of Maruti cars. This is because they make up costs by pricing accident repair parts heftily and ***** the blood out of the customer. Anybody lucky enough to come out of a mishap alive, will die hearing the repair costs of his/her car.

c. Lack of adequate training to sales personnel and the repair guys, who do not know the policies of the company with regard to insurance and other norms. Our repair guy didn't know that an airbag car must be released only after their refit. This we got to know from Maruti head office, that too, after we poked around.

c. Negligence and carelessness is their other problem. One of the workshop drivers, who is probably worse at driving than our grandmothers, was backing up a car. It was a blue Alto. He had to turn to get the car out. The way he was reversing scared me. Then, as soon as he turned, the front left part of the bumper hit a yellow Zen's rear bumper, and the metallic blue coat came off on the yellow bumper. Then they did a shabby touch up job and delivered the car hastily to avoid suspicion. A person not knowing how to drive, is assigned to take the cars in and out to various sections. I don't think this is acceptable.

d. Maruti dealers/ASS bribe unsatisfied customers to give them good feedback and comments in return for a free polish or washing job.


I think we should all take note of this and get the myth of Maruti being No.1 out of our minds. I think even Ford would do a better job.

That varies among service stations, i guess. The one where i'm servicing the Swift is pretty good one, but i know of other two in our city who try to cheat. Repair cost of your car shot high, because of airbags, other than that Swift's parts are actually slightly cheaper than the competition. Regarding drivers, i think they train them that way. As far as i've seen, all of them move our cars with a little wheel spin and they go faster than necessary inside the premises. Bribing customers is new to me. But actually two different person ask us feedback, one during service and another through phone after 1-2 weeks.

I'd suggest you to try any other dealer in your locality, it may be better. Can you post pics of your car, before and after repair job done?

@ dc
rest all is fine bro. but i dont agree with you on high repair costs. with airbags replaced 1.35 lac is a small amount. the major part of that is gone into replacement of airbags. do this in a skoda and you will know what costly parts are. rest 1.35 lac is a very small amount that anyone would pay for saving his life. safety isnt expensive, its priceless.

@CC, I did not click pics of the damaged car because I was too depressed. So there is no way I can show you the damages.

@Bharat, I agree that 1.35 lakh is a small amount to pay for safety, but then, the configuration for airbags should be more complex, because a situation such as ours didn't require airbags.

dcargod wrote:
@Bharat, I agree that 1.35 lakh is a small amount to pay for safety, but then, the configuration for airbags should be more complex, because a situation such as ours didn't require airbags.

you were lucky enough that it was not required. not all people are so lucky.

dcargod wrote:Total bill of Swift came to 1.35 lakh, out of which we gave Rs, 57000 and the rest given by insurance. There are a couple of things I'd like to point out:-

a. Maruti ASS doesn't deserve No.1 spot anymore because they have become arrogant, and their so called assurance and influence fizzles out at crisis situations. All parts for my airbags took a lot of time to come, thereby delaying the job. Maruti doesn't make airbag components in volumes, meaning that if you hit, it'll be around 3 months after you get your car back.

b. One shouldn't be fooled by the VFM pricing of Maruti cars. This is because they make up costs by pricing accident repair parts heftily and ***** the blood out of the customer. Anybody lucky enough to come out of a mishap alive, will die hearing the repair costs of his/her car.

c. Lack of adequate training to sales personnel and the repair guys, who do not know the policies of the company with regard to insurance and other norms. Our repair guy didn't know that an airbag car must be released only after their refit. This we got to know from Maruti head office, that too, after we poked around.

c. Negligence and carelessness is their other problem. One of the workshop drivers, who is probably worse at driving than our grandmothers, was backing up a car. It was a blue Alto. He had to turn to get the car out. The way he was reversing scared me. Then, as soon as he turned, the front left part of the bumper hit a yellow Zen's rear bumper, and the metallic blue coat came off on the yellow bumper. Then they did a shabby touch up job and delivered the car hastily to avoid suspicion. A person not knowing how to drive, is assigned to take the cars in and out to various sections. I don't think this is acceptable.

d. Maruti dealers/ASS bribe unsatisfied customers to give them good feedback and comments in return for a free polish or washing job.


I think we should all take note of this and get the myth of Maruti being No.1 out of our minds. I think even Ford would do a better job.

well thats the reality, no offence to maruti owners but this is gettinginto reality and have heard from many, dealers treat customers like a piece of **** and they did a bloody hell mistake buying a maruti product, just initial cost being cheap doesnt get justify with the whole product,quality and better service is what required for maruti, new players are improving and hope they does too.