Maruti Suzuki Baleno Review by TaheemRajat

Am a huge Maruti Suzuki fan, as these cars require quite low maintenance & can fetch high resale value. It’s also fuel efficient. I have had Maruti Esteem, Alto, Zen in past & my experience was simply amazing. That’s where when I thought to buy my next car I thought of fast selling Baleno. My choices were Swift, Swift Dezire & Baleno. I finally narrowed it down to Nexa Baleno as it has basic features in lowest model (Maruti Suzuki Sigma) like power windows (front), ABS, both driver & front passenger’s air ballon, 15 inch tyre size, etc.

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As per advertisement Maruti Suzuki Baleno gets a lot of features like touchscreen infotainment system with Android Auto and Apple CarPlay, push button start and keyless entry, automatic climate control, etc. However these features are available in higher models like Maruti Suzuki Baleno delta & Maruti Suzuki Baleno alpha. Moreover Maruti Suzuki Baleno specifications are exactly same as that of Maruti Suzuki Swift in terms of engine.

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Maruti Suzuki Baleno is the company’s offering in the premium hatchback space and it is sold via the NEXA dealership network. There was hype in December 2018 about the new Baleno 2019. Thro Nexa Maruti Suzuki Baleno was expected to be a premium car with awesome Baleno Interiors.  

 

I visited 3 different dealers in my city & narrowed down to one who offered me a deal – Music system (missing in Maruti Suzuki Baleno Sigma), Alloy Wheel, Seat Covers all together at 35K which seemed to be an interesting deal. However I could never understand the catch.

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Its only when I got delivery of my Maruti Suzuki Baleno, I realized:-

• My car was already driven 50 kms

• Was lying in car parking (open car parking) for around an year

• Maruti Suzuki Baleno interiors were bit dull

• My Maruti Suzuki Baleno accessories (outdoor) had scratches & were peeling off

• Music system installed was outdated one (discontinued model)

• Configurations were same as described

• Baleno 2019 had just cosmetic changes over earlier model

• Its only Baleno top model that had all the advertised features

• Maruti Suzuki Baleno alpha was overly priced for the features / accessories

• Even Maruti Suzuki Baleno delta was bit over priced & over hyped

• Comparatively Swift is more sturdy with better weight distribution

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I took the matter serious & had escalated the issue to the customer care about various scratches, old model, a driven care, accessories with scratches, etc. It was well received by the customer care team (Maruti Suzuki customer care team). Showroom / dealer was not interested to talk.

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This is my actual conversation with Nexa Team on Maruti Suzuki Baleno

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Re-summarizing our call & my experience:-

1> Its a normal process for Maruti Suzuki / Nexa to deliver car that is lying in stock yard for 6 months. Main concern! - For one of the most popular / fast selling car!

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2> Also its normal process for the delivered Baleno to be driven by dealership for around 50 kms while transiting the car from stockyard to showroom - while the distance between the 2 is less than 10 kms in my case

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3> Body Side moulding was changed due to scratches during delivery (I was told that car bumped into a stone earlier!) - This changes might have compromised the color integrity of the doors - This is acceptable as per Maruti Suzuki / Nexa and part of standard practice. Am now doubting the treatment of my Baleno during service

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4> Nexa Team have checked the current cooling of the car (making the engine noisier in the deal) & have confirmed that cooling capacity of Baleno Sigma is lower than that of Alto K10 (Not sure why) and also that current cooling capacity of the car is as per standard performance of Maruti Suzuki Baleno / Nexa

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5> Nexa team charged 10K as labor for accessories (Speakers, rear camera, rear sensors, music system, & other cosmetics) - This is normal as per Nexa Practice (The charges seem exorbitant) - It may be part of sales package of Kiran Motors (Vadodara, Gujarat) but doesnt seem ethical enough. Its only now I realized why Maruti Suzuki Baleno alpha variant was overly priced – It was labor charges. LOL

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6> Even though Nexa charged 10K for accessories, the team failed to connect rear camera to music system - for drive mode (In built feature of accessory) - While I had shared the manuals & wiring videos (Youtube) - Extremely disappointing. I really doubt the capabilities of Baleno top model now

 

7> It took me escalation & loads of follow ups to get the stuffs which I should have got during day of delivery - viz. Original Rims, Vacuum Cleaner (Charged as a part of accessory), Car wash!, Bumper corner protectors (10K is charged for such poor fitment), etc. All of a sudden Baleno top model seems to be a bad choice. Am not sure how Baleno 2019 is gonna perform

 

8> Remote Locking system was promised to be changed - Still pending - when asked for scratches & rust, I was given an explanation by Nexa team that that's how they keep the keys (Standard practice!). Its now that I started comparing Maruti Suzuki Baleno vs various other cars in the given price range

 

9> Am not sure about the logic where Ex Showroom price of car is quoted as 5XXXXX, while invoice is prepared for 5XXXXX, & IDV on Insurance is 5XXXXX (Zero Dep) - Standard practice, I guess. Believe Maruti Suzuki Baleno configurations change on various papers – ROFL

 

Overall, the car runs smooth but is quite delicate – one small bump & puff, you get lot of issues with it. Refer the various pictures of Baleno from internet.

Do let me know your thoughts.

 

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