{"id":247014,"date":"2023-12-01T07:20:04","date_gmt":"2023-12-01T07:20:04","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/automotobuzz.com\/?p=247014"},"modified":"2023-12-01T07:20:04","modified_gmt":"2023-12-01T07:20:04","slug":"sold-my-used-venue-got-a-new-baleno-cng-thoughts-after-1-year","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/automotobuzz.com\/news-features\/sold-my-used-venue-got-a-new-baleno-cng-thoughts-after-1-year\/","title":{"rendered":"Sold my used Venue & got a new Baleno CNG: Thoughts after 1 year"},"content":{"rendered":"

The Baleno is a wonderful car for most people. It is reflected in the sales figures. Had my budget permitted, I would have gone for a Kia Sonet automatic (TC).<\/h2>\n

BHPian sonmi-451 <\/strong>recently shared this with other enthusiasts.<\/p>\n

I purchased a Suzuki Baleno CNG Zeta in grey colour on 16th November 2022. The odo reads 23,4XX a year later. My usage pattern has been about 50% highway and 50% in and around cities. I used to live in Vjayawada when I purchased the car and was expecting to use it there for a couple of years at least, but had to move to Hyderabad just 6 months after purchase. I believe this change in ownership experience of a CNG car from a Tier-II city to a metro might be helpful for potential owners.<\/p>\n

Space:<\/strong><\/p>\n

I am 5’11 and another 6-footer can sit behind me easily. I also use a car seat for my daughter and still space is not an issue. Sub-4 m SUVs like the Brezza, Venue and Nexon seem tighter on space than the Baleno.<\/p>\n

Easy to Drive:<\/strong><\/p>\n

This is common with Suzuki cars. The clutch and steering are light and the gearbox is smooth. No issues there.<\/p>\n

CNG Mileage:<\/strong><\/p>\n

On highways, when I maintain speeds between 90 and 100 km\/h, I get 28-30 km\/kg as long as the acceleration is not too aggressive. Even when driven with heavy foot it’s easy to get 22-23 km\/kg on highways.<\/p>\n

In the city, I used to get about 19-20 km\/kg when in Vijayawada. In Hyderabad that has dropped to 17-18 km\/kg. I was expecting the city FE to be around 22 km\/kg when I purchased the car, but after noticing the average speeds (using the Suzuki Connect app) to be ~22-25 km\/h in the city, I am not surprised anymore.<\/p>\n

With the cost of CNG at Rs. 90-95 per kg, I am looking at Rs. 5-6 per km in the city and Rs. 3-4 per km on the highway. The latter at least helps me feel better for not opting to buy a Tiago EV considering the many reliability issues owners are reporting.<\/p>\n

Head Unit:<\/strong><\/p>\n

Wireless Apple CarPlay and Android Auto are a boon. You will never go back to using a cable once you get used to them. Add a wireless charger and the experience gets even better. The huge plastic area around the 7-inch unit sticks out as a sore thumb.<\/p>\n

Lights:<\/strong><\/p>\n

LED headlights (on Zeta and Alpha) are good, for people with mostly city usage. They may be enough. I added Aozoom FLP 1090 fog lights to improve visibility on highways and also teach some manners to high beam abusers. The low beam lighting has improved drastically, on highways and the high beam has improved a good deal as well, but these fog lamps have a wide spread and are not very focused. I find it odd that the DRLs below the headlights are not always on though!<\/p>\n

Audio:<\/strong><\/p>\n

I am not an audiophile. The stock speakers sound alright as long as the volume is below 70%. Above 70%, some genres of music cause the speakers to crack up. So I keep volume below 60% most of the time.<\/p>\n

Driving:<\/strong><\/p>\n

In the city, the car is easy to drive. The only gripe I have is with the 2nd gear. I wish 2nd gear had more torque lower down to avoid going into 1st gear when tackling potholes or speed breakers. I used to like it better in Vijayawada where the roads were mostly flat. I have been struggling after moving to Hyderabad where the change in elevation is much more frequent and as as a result, the gear changes as well. Add to that the traffic here and it makes me regret not buying an automatic in the first place.<\/p>\n

I don’t miss the automatic on highways though. I would have liked a little more power though. On flat roads, when running on CNG, the power seems adequate. It’s on the inclines that the car struggles. I would have happily given up a little FE to gain a little more power, but I am sure engineers at Suzuki know better.<\/p>\n

I find the braking to be good for the most part. The car stopped without much drama on a few occasions when I had to brake hard.<\/p>\n

Ground clearance is decent at 170 mm, but I feel we need at least 180 to 190 mm to handle our roads without much bother. On some occasions, I used to hit 120 km\/h when using my Sunny\/Venue, but I don’t feel confident doing that in my Baleno, I stick to speeds between 90 and 100 km\/h most of the time. I go to 110 km\/h at the most if I have to, even on Hyderabad’s ORR. The car doesn’t feel planted, due to its light weight and soft suspension.<\/p>\n

Suspension:<\/strong><\/p>\n

I like the suspension setup on the car, It is soft but not too soft for my liking. Only the big potholes cause it to bottom out. This setup will turn off enthusiasts though (which I am not). I do have fun once in a while but I prefer comfort over it any day. I would have preferred a stiffer suspension If we had better roads.<\/p>\n

Ergonomics:<\/strong><\/p>\n

Not sure if the seating falls under this. I find the seating to be too low. This was almost a deal breaker for me, but considering my budget constraints and the need for a CNG car with a decent feature list, I had to compromise. This does bother me a lot. Even with the seat set to its highest position, the under-thigh support is missing (I am 5’11 and obese). Mind you, the seats in the Baleno, at least to me, seem to have a longer base than the first-gen Brezza. I used to hate the short seat base in the first-gen Brezza. Due to the low seat height, I end up with my bottom on the seat but knees in the air with little under-thigh support. This issue is more pronounced on long trips which I do undertake at least a couple of times a month. I did buy two cushions – one about 2 to 3 inches thick and another about an inch thick. Both didn’t help much. I like how wide the seats are, considering I am an obese person. The cushioning is good even on long drives.<\/p>\n

Another major irritant for me is the front windshield. I find it to be way too short. The visibility of the front is hampered. I never had this issue in any of the cars I used before in India (Sunny, Venue, Zest, Ertiga and first-gen Elantra). I find the rear-view mirror to be blocking part of the view as well. I did get used to it for the most part, but it is still in the back of my mind on every drive, unfortunately.<\/p>\n

Other than these, I don’t have any complaints. I do like the physical buttons for the air-con.<\/p>\n

Purchase and After-sales:<\/strong><\/p>\n

The on-road price was Rs. 11.20 lakhs, along with a Rs. 15K discount in the form of accessories (only because we knew some higher-ups at Varun Nexa). The purchase experience was smooth. I was probably among the first few hundred customers to get delivery of a Baleno CNG when it was just launched back then.<\/p>\n

The after-sales service and support have been good except for a couple of issues I shall touch upon a little later in the post. No surprises with service costs so far. It is due for the next service at around 27K km. Here are the previous service costs. Unfortunately, I don’t remember all the details but I did opt for teflon coating during either the 3rd or 4th service. I did get some discount for 4th service on labour costs:<\/p>\n