W-R Duo : Inline with expectations. Review on Maruti Suzuki Wagon R Duo

Updating on 04-Jan-2011

All, Happy New Year.

so guys, I am still have my wonderful Wagon-R and clocked almost 65000 KMs.

In last two months, I had 4-long drives (twice between Delhi-bhopal) on this vehicle and to a big surprise I clocked 16-17 kmpl.  Yes this time car tyres are new and NO-AC and also recently services.

updated on 11/03/08

DO NOT BUY WAGON-R with LPG. I repeat

DO NOT BUY.

Reason :

1. Cost of LPG is going up and its not cost-effective any more.

   
   




2. Why to pay 30-35K more for LPG.

   
   

And why to take a hit on performance of vehicle for no benefits.

Otherwise , WagonR is a wonderful car.  Clocked aroun 11000 KM in 10 months and on petrol giving mileage of 14-14.5 (with AC) in DELHI.

Update on 31-Oct-2007 (as clocked 6000+ kms and second service done).

MILEAGE : Its giving approx 10.5 on LPG and Petrol (no idea-just using as reserve only). Not sure if it is going to cross the barrier of 11 and reach 12 after third service. I am talking of mileage only when AC is turned ON.

COMFORT : No dropping in comfort level.

GEAR-SHIFT : Its got resolved. So no more trouble (keeping fingers crossed).

So till now, I think I am quite happy with the car per se.

Servicing : I tried Mitra-Madhapur-Hyderabad, both the times, and found that he is not a good service provider. Just doing time pass there. When I complained last time, he then washed the car, in front of me, and in consolidation I got the MOVIE tickets :).

Just one suggestion to people : People had commened that this car is not good for 5, I wanted to say that please do not buy any c-seg car with 5 people in mind. Fully loaded car deteriorates fast. And also, we don't drive always with 5-ppl in normal circumstances. For some occasions, these cars manage easily (ofcourse not for long drives then)

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I had reacently purchased Brand New Wagon-R Duo last week and drove around 400 KMs. Of course I had gone thru various reviews posted at MouthShut and also consulted few of my friends who are using  this car since a long time.

So thought of giving my inputs here as my responsibiilty towards mouthshut and to benefit other (if they go thru this review)

*Good things about CAR

Driving Comfort : WR is a wonderful car on-road. It has got one of the smartest power-steering works with touch of your fingers. The EPS makes the manauvering so smooth that you hardly put any pressure on yourself or on the car to move. This is really good for Indian cities where you have to work a lot on steering to reach the destination.

Safety : Wagon-R (Duo) had got a horizontal beam (inside the dashboard). Maruti claims that this beam will absorb the maximum impact of any head-on collision. This surely looks a very major plus. otherwise there is not much in the car. Since Maruti is not known for strong body and hence even a cyclist passes from nearby, we feel that we will get a big dent on the body. Of course this doesn't stop anybody from going out.

Secondly I opted for immobilizer, as explained by the dealer that this gives you extra protection and ensured that no one can start the engine with duplicate key. I have no means to test this feature but taking the dealers word, opted for this feature. (Paid 4500/- extra for this feature).

I hope that this immobilizer should work whenever my car requires the same.

Power : As lot of people are saying that LPG resulted in loss or power, yes its true but only if you are moving at a very slow speed and on 3rd gear or fully-loaded. I too felt the same. Otherwise at a decent speed, one will not feel any difference in LPG or pertol mode.

I am trying to follow the mode changing procedure as suggested by the dealers-technical person (come to neutral-change the mode-let indicator blink for 5/6 times - press accelator - then move). hope this will have some good effects.

Mileage: LPG-12kmpl and Petrol-14KMPL. I haven't got done my first service yet so don't now whether this will hold good or not.

Space : As I will be driving mostly in city area, I felt that the I will not utilize the complete boot anyway and hence I had compromised on space front. Another point which I considered that because I may go to distant place once in a while (say once in 2/3 months) and that too not with heavy lugguage, I do not require the complete boot at all. Apart from then, inside the CAR you have plenty of space. The dashboard is quite broad, decent leg-room, space above head etc etc.

*Problems so far:

*1. Dealer (Saboo-Somajiguda-Hyderabad) : Found that he is not a good-service provider as he doesn't care for customer.

1. With CAR : Initially facing Gear-shift is a major problem. Will see whether after first service this problem will get over.

   
   




2. Fuel-Mode Change : My car-engine gets stopped on changing the mode from LPG to Pertol while standing. I believe this has to do with proper tuning and not a major issue.

   
   




3. LPG Guage Indicator: Maruti should provide some good display to indicate the level of LPG. The given indicator seems no significance other then telling that there is some gas in the tank so only believing on the tripmeter.

   
   

Will come back, with new experiences and time.