54,000 km in 4 years with my Maruti Ciaz petrol: Overall experience

Overall, am happy with the Ciaz Petrol Alpha 1.5L. It may lack in terms of premium plastic parts or a sunroof, but those are not necessities either.

BHPian Golden_Chariot recently shared this with other enthusiasts.

I bought the Ciaz Alpha Petrol mild hybrid after returning to India in year 2019. Drove about 12000 Km until Mar 2020 until Covid hit. Did some memorable road trips. The car was unfortunately sparsely used during the lockdown for about a year. Did some serious running in March 2021, until Covid again struck and the car was again standing for 5 months.

Thereafter from Oct 2021, I am driving it regularly till date. Have clocked about 54000 Km till date. The things I like about the car are, great manoeuvrability. very comfortable ride quality on long rides, plush cabin, 1.5L petrol engine is a decent trade-off between power and mileage. The cruise control is a great feature, you can essntially use on any 6 lane highway and rest your legs on the long ride. No rattle noise like the smaller maruti cars. The suspension is also great and contributes to the good ride quality. The boot is very spacious and is a boon during long trips as it can fit in 2 large and 1 small suitcase easily , with a few smaller bags. if you pull down the armset on the back seat, 2 x people can sit very compfrtably. 3x can be a bit cramped especially on long rides.

The cons are the touch screen system. I did update the software to the latest one and after that the screen stopped hanging. The USB port broke, leaving me to connect only using bluetooth. In the new model the USB port design is changed from square to circular. So, I am not able to use Android Auto. Most Ciaz dealerships take a request to order the part (USB port) and then say it’s not available. This in my opinion is a bummer from MSIL. The plastic quality in certian sections, like the door holders appears cheap and fragile. Although, the ground clearance is decent, when the car has 5 occupants, the underside scrapes with speed breakers on the road, especially those which are not is standard design. The tyres are low profile. (Again a feedback from tyre delaership as my first tyre burst happened within the first 3 months, due to the side wall rupture. The car went though a pot hole ( not visible due to rains) at speed of 60 Kmph.

I had to replace the tyres (Goodyear) 195/55R16 at 34,000Km. The tyre dealership told me that they have seen this issue with all cars bought in 2019 as most of these cars were standing for about 1-2 years during covid, leading to tyre rubber cracking up. My tyre was hit my a nail in 2022, but there was a big chunk of rubber that came off. So, decided to replace all 4 x tyres. That costed Rs.30,000/- with Goodyear tyres, same rating and size. I was told Yokohama tyres are more durable but costed 40,000 for 4 x tyres.

From a service cost perspective car needs it at every 10,000 Km. I spend about Rs. 8000/- on the service, twice an year due to high running. Recently at 50,000 Km, they changed the front brakes disc. I also got the interiors cleaned and that added another Rs.4000/- to the bill.

Overall, am happy with the Ciaz Petrol Alpha 1.5L. It may lack in terms of premium plastic parts or a sunroof, but those are not necessities either. The criticism around poor build quality or poor door thud sound are unwarranted. Ciaz comes with a 4 star NCAP safety rating for front occupants. Has 2 x airbags for front passengers, which is decent, MSIL uses tectile steel for the frame. It is great value for Money. A good balance between a city car and a highway ride. We buy the car to drive, not to open-close the door for the perfect thud sound……. or knock the car sheet metal for sound.

Someone aspiring for a more premium sedan may obviously drift towards the Verna, City or Virtus. But the mileage of these cars is a bummer, so essentially you need a 2nd car for driving within the city, maybe a hybrid? Getting an additional parking spot also is a challenge in cities.

In that sense, Ciaz petrol Alpha can be the one mode of transport that caters to both City and highway driving needs, saving you ownership costs of 2 x cars and an additional parking spot.

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