Re: Suzuki's New Premium Hatchback Baleno Now Launched!
Hello friends finally got my Ray Blue Baleno Delta Petrol delivered on the 17th feb 2016, had booked it on 5th november 2015. A little bit about the zeroing in on Baleno...
I have been a bike lover all my life, I own a Honda Unicorn so that kind of taste surely would reflect in my car too. Now i started looking for various small car options in the below 6 lakhs INR bracket. It all started with the wagon R, a workhorse indeed, great mileage and space in that segment but somehow i knew the tin cans maruti makes so ticked it off the list.
Then looked for the i10, my brother owns it, a good car indeed, but fuel efficiency was low and the steering issue made me lose interest in it.
Then I looked forward to the european cousins, Polo and Punto. Somehow i always knew that german engineering is better and almost made my mind for a Polo but service horror stories and service costs got me step back and also the rear leg room in the Polo was a deal breaker.
Amongst all this Honda was always riding my mind, hence the pocket rocket Brio was my first choice, a gem of a car, cute looks were specially loved by my wife, however the 150 litre Boot was completely impractical. Thus with a heavy heart had to leave it.
The swift was straight away rejected for being extremely common. The i20 was a stunner and felt beyond my reach but then fuel efficiency and service costs kept me away from it.
So finally the only 2 options left were the Honda Amaze and the Honda Jazz. I didnt even know how to drive so my brother in law took the test drive of the Jazz, and even i could feel the weak low end. But somehow i was ready to take it having known that after all its a Honda. Suddenly news about the Baleno launch surfaced. Now i always thought that Baleno would be priced way beyond my budget as i had seen it in the case of the S-cross. However God had other plans. The day Baleno prices were announced the whole equation changed not only for me but for the whole automotive industry. Even today it seems, it was launched as if looking into my needs lol.
The baleno even though a maruti product but it just ticked the right boxes almost everywhere. The Delta had enough equipment for me to grab it at once. Booked it on 5th november and had a pleasant experience at nexa. I suppose pasco automobiles is not that bad as some of our fello TAIgers from mumbai and Bangalore have had to deal with. The RM Deepak Paliwal made things really easy for me. This helped me a lot for taking things as it should be for an informed car buyer. Did get to do a PDI 2 days before the delivery at the showroom. The car was perfect and a FEB 2016 manufactured vehicle, Manesar is only 20 kms from the nexa showroom.
Took only the mud flaps and the baleno mats, and later the car body cover as did look for it throughly in the market but couldn't get it. Got my seat covers from the market, almost the same ones that we get at nexa in silver and black for only 4200 including labour charges for the fitting(Full Bucket Fit). Bought the Door visors for 550, car perfume gel, a divinity for only 50 INR for which the dealer charges 350/- also bought a set of 3D mats, and silver scuff plates non illuminated type as for illuminations the wiring had to be cut thus taking the warranty for a toss.
Have already driven 1090 kms. First service is due will take it tomorrow. Rest the drive is a pleasure for the front seat driver and passenger. The rear seat comfort is stiff. On long drives older people will feel sick. But then the road presence is phenomenal. There have been times when people have asked me the price and have had a shock of their lives... i mean they couldn't believe their ears as to how such a big car can be bought in just 6.5 lakh rupees.
"Neighbour's Envy.... Owners Pride" :)
![[frustration]](https://www.theautomotiveindia.com/forums/images/smilies/Frustration.gif "Frustration [frustration]")