Review: Wagon R after 40 thousand kms
It's such a strange thing that I havent written about my car. I am into fifth year (yeah last year of EMI) and done forty thousand kilometers in last four years. I think now the time is ripe to write about it. Even though the initial plan was to use it only inside the city, I have done many long drives and including whole night drives without any problem. I haven't faced any problem on highway or inside the city. Its been always pleasure to drive my first car. Here is the complete review after driving it for about 40k kms.
Ease of Driving:
Let me tell you, this wasn't my favorite small car. It was MS-Zen. But then by the time I was capable enough to buy a car, Zen was phased out. WagonR's engine is pretty capable for a small car with 1.1lt, 64bhp. But because of its tall body it can't handle the curves well at above 60kmph and wind above 90kmph. But that said this car is very zippy between 40 to 60, can be as good as Zen inside the city. Since the driver almost sits on the front wheels you know where exactly they are, very important when you are competing with autos. It's small, enough capable and easy to drive. Its an amazing city car but an average highway car.
It's comfortable and its poor-man's MUV:
One of the reasons I bought this version of the car was split back seats. They are full push backs, so I have a car with all four seats as push back seats. It's very important if you plan to take your parents on a long drive. Along with good head room this makes the best back seats in small car segment. The shock absorbers are not best in the class but I heard the recent model has better gas-filled suspension.
Since it is tall and also the back seats can be folder front (one or both), it gives you lot of luggage space. We have carried almost everything at the back.If you are a cyclist, it can easily take two bicycles without any problem. So for me its an affordable MUV.
No problem car and sure value for money:
I have few hundreds of kilomteres in a day (Many five hundreds, few 800+ and 1k). I have done 300km in one stretch. I have done that on some of the worst road. I haven't faced any problems except for occasional punctures. Its been truly a no problem car.I have a petrol variant and it gives about 13/14kmpl. It's not great but neither its very bad. I think it's on par with cars in its segment (except the ones run on LPG/Diesel). At 4lakh, I think its worth every rupee.
Nice review! I bought Santro 4 years back. Looked also at WagonR. But I have done around 1.12lac KMs.
The best thing about Santro is it’s excellent road grip even at high speeds. Sharp turns at 100-120kmph without any issue and the shocks r amazing. Specially in the ghats, its a perfect car.
Apart from that everything else with both the cars are same. And yeah wagonR has electronic steering, santro has hydraulics, kinda heavy.
i have a versa and already did close to 1L kms now … and my impression on versa is very similar to wagon r, may be except that high speeds are also not much of a problem. but, like u said, curves at 100+ shud be done with care. the space factor and ease of maneuvering makes it stand out. the ‘poor mans muv’ tag suits both these guys
i felt wagon r also has a good ground clearance (like versa) making it a good choice off-road. i’ve taken the versa almost all over the country (delhi to kanyakumari and mumabi to chennai) including very bad terrains (gokarna, porthimund … etc and many waterfall terrains like hebbe, satodi, magod to name a few) and its done it all with ease :)
Hey……love to read about Wagon R. Yes, it is a no problem car. I have done 43 K in last 4 years, lots of long drives.
One of the best thing is as you said the seats. You can join front and back seat together and make a bed !!! It is really useful, one can sleep when the other one drives. Wonder why Maruthi is not giving this option in the new models. Only other vehicle i found this feature is Xylo. For this reason, i will not trade my Wagon R even for a S Class !!!!!
And, i use a K & N filter, and in city i get 15+ KMPL and on highway i get 17+. With Shell Super Petrol, i have touched 19 KMPL in Mysore-BLR highway !!!
Another beauty is, you can walk in to the car, don’t have to crawl in.
I would strongly suggest you to gift a Bosh wiper to your car, as a part of 40K celebration. It makes a sea difference.
hello ………….
I love wagon R
this is a nice one. i was expecting such a blog and happy you wrote about this.
keep posting such news regularly……..
What does the alphabet A that appears on the fuel and mileage indicator mean? The vehicle was bought from the showroom only last year.
Dear All,
Please be aware that the wagon R runs good till 50,000 to 60,000 Kms and after that the Coolant head will have a problem which will cost around 32,000 with all the spares etc. I faced that issue and I had read few reviews aswell and worst thing is MARUTI does not respond to such issues . So I thought I will ALERT all WAGONR users .