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6 comments:
i think Zen estillo is like mini toyota innova......but lookwise it is better than the old zen...
I purchased my Zen Estilo Lxi in December 2006. The on road price in Mysore was 3.98 Lakhs excluding standard accessories like rubber mats and mud-flaps.
In this review, I have tried to cover those points which I felt might not be evident at first sight.
1) Looks:
Exterior:
Well, this is a very subjective area - Some people find the odd looking car cute while others find it toy-like. I found the looks OK.
Interior:
The dashboard looks quite nice with trendy dual tone plastics. However, the quality of some plastic parts are disappointing. The switches on the fascia and the A/c console are poorly finished and look tacky. You can stow plenty of stuff in the dashboard niches. The cupholder, however, is small and will not fit mineral water bottles.
2) Engine Performance:
WARNING: The Zen currently uses WagonR’s F10D engine. Suzuki has decided to upgrade Zen’s engine to a newer model within a "few" months. This will affect resale values of the current models.
MILEAGE: I’m getting around 14kmpl in the city without the A/c on. Note that this is in Mysore where there is not much stop and go traffic. The car returned around 15kmpl on the highway without A/c.
PERFORMANCE: I was quite disappointed with the engine performance. When the car is fully loaded or when the A/c is running, the car begins to crawl and overtaking becomes a pain. Although I dont have the figures, I was not at all impressed with pick-up. Of course, I might be a little biased in this case because my other car is an Accent. I might have been expecting too much from this little car.
3) Comfort: The front seats are quite comfortable. However, the rear seats are "bench-like" and become uncomfortable during journeys exceeding an hour.
I recently went on a 3 hour trip to the hills. It was difficult to cram four full size adults into the car! Even if your passengers are moderately tall, you can expect their knees to dig into your back when you drive.
The gear-shift lever has looong throws and you will invariably end up bruising your co-passenger’s knee and shoulder when you shift gears.
One very irritating thing I noticed is that there no proper place to rest your left foot when you are not using the clutch. The place next to the clutch pedal is curved because of the transmission housing.
It is quite easy to get in and out due to the car’s semi tall-boy design.
4) Transmission:
The gear shift is annoyingly "rubbery" - It doesn’t slot into gear solidly and has an irritating "play". I’m never sure that the gear has engaged fully. It’s close to impossible to find 5th gear on the first try because of this. As I mentioned earlier, the gear throws are long and you will end up grazing the co-passenger’s knee when you shift to 1st or 2nd.
These are faults carried over from WagonR.
5) Suspension/Ride quality:
The suspension is the biggest drawback of the Zen. Even when you go over a small bump that other cars would have handled well, the Zen comes down with a sickening thud. I think this is due to insufficient travel for the suspension.
The suspension is softish - good enough for the city, but not confidence inspiring on the highway. The car’s height and soft suspension mean that corners better be taken at low speeds.
6) Miscellaneous:
The 5-door locking feature is quite nice - When you unlock the doors, the hatch is also unlocked automatically. I see that I’m using the hatch more frequently now because of the convenience.
There is no rear parcel tray available and rear passengers will have to make-do with zippered pouches on the front seats for stowing stuff.
The A/c is powerful and cools the car surprisingly fast.
There is no provision for fitting a clock.
The car doesnt come with built-in speakers. However, speaker grilles have been provided on all doors and also in the luggage area.
The thick ’A’ pillars tend to restrict visibility.
Maruti has cheaply tried to cut corners with this car - there is no cigarette lighter nor a vanity mirror in the co-passenger’s sun visor. These are small things but tend to irritate customers if missing.
CONCLUSION:
While this is a fairly nice car, it’s far from being outstanding. It would be a good idea to wait for the slew of models slated to launch in 2007.
Purchase Price (INR): 398,000
Dealer Name and City: Mandovi Motors Pvt Ltd, Mysore
Model Year: 2006
Hi ppl. I m going to b taiking abt. Zen.I know I know now all u readers will say "we’v read it all on the blogs et al" but hang on read abt. my zen my way.
To begin with I will talk abt. the space that this car offers Its true this is a relatively small car with BIG space in it. Yes it is a big and broad car so much so that it can occupy two elders (me and my Mom) when u have ur ever flowing relatives in saying "Can u pls. drop me home or to the closest railway station" and my dad readily says yeah why not? come on in .
But trust me I have never come out of the car with aches ibn my body atleast while travelling within the city.
Its good to have all the relatives and friends at the same time in the samne car unlike those small cars that only allow the parents and siblings in it.
Recently I shifted my car speakers on the diggy door ang wow! I have enough space to fit in alll the noisy kids travelling along ibn that newly found space which earlier wsa used only for keeping shopping bags.
The maintainance and fuel consumption of the car is relatively good as not only my dad but also me when I was a student and now a new earning member of the house can pay off the bills.Yes only if we saved very slightly from our pocket money we wud still have enough moolah with us to go to our favorite restaurant in ur own car that is .
Lastly comes the comfort, reliability and not to forget the looks of the car.
Trust me they r all good.The car is very comfortable, low and hence you stilll feel u r sitting in ur drrawing room sans the jhatkas on the roads.its a reliable car as its easy to drive and tough even on highways.
Well the looks of the car is young and laid back .so now all u ppl. who own the car or not driven it or will buy a new one aftet reading this will never shy away from taking ur date out in this car,perhaps which we all do while thinking more than twice to drive our parent’s car that looks old.
Means Style in Spanish and based on the old MR Wagon, the new Zen Estilo is out in the market. I took the test drive and have lot to say about it. Here it follows.
The first thing that strikes you when you see it is the shape. Very different from the original Zen and very original infact, considering the shape of other cars of its size in India. The front bonnet is very small and scoops down at a steep angle. The head lights are big and of a very different shape to keep it different from the Spark a.k.a. Matiz. If you notice closely you’ll find the front grill is not aligned in with the headlight as is the case with most cars. But its hardly noticeable. The colors available are 8 . All bright and sunny colors to match the stylish body.
Technically, it is built with the same engine and parts as the WagonR and thus carries the same reliability of the WagonR which has been in market for some years now. What that also means is that Maruti will achieve economies of scale by producing the same engine for both. Also spares will be economical.
From the inside the car looks decent, but is not very spacious. The beige interiors look contemporary and the VXi comes with beige in the door insides also. The VXi is powered with an rpm meter, defogger etc. The dashboard panel colors are also vivid, yellow, red. Somewhere I feel Maruti trying to tap into the female market. And even if you look at the car from a distance you’ll feel it to be a bit feminish.
The car is very light to drive, especially in the city. One thing I didn’t llike was the the height of the dashboard, which is higher than a WagonR or a Santro. If you are a bit short in height, the dashboard may block your vision of the left front of the car while driving. The boot has sufficient space but three people in back may get cramped.
So if you are a die hard driver and like to burn rubber, then this is not the car for you. Simply because it looks more toyish and while driving feels ccompletely weightless. It may be because of its great power steering but sometimes you need to get a response from the road. I’ll recommend the new WagonR more for its sporty looks and is a bit more hard than the Estilo.
Final comments on the repositioning of the Zen. While the earlier Zen was more postioned for the executive segment, the doctors and business men would swear by it, this one seems more postioned for the youth, college going (who have the money) and ofcourse females.
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.
2. 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
3. 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
Purchase Price (INR): 361000
Dealer Name and City: Vipul Motors, Gurgaon
Model Year: 2002
Zen for Boys & Girls. But Estilo is surely for the Girls !
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