Pre-Loved Maruti Suzuki Zen Estilo Ownership Review: Tall Girl Comes Home

[ss80]

Zen Estilo Lxi (Pre-loved) - Tall Girl comes home

Hi All,

After owning 3 old cars (18yr old M800, 24yr old M800 & 6yr Old Nano). It was high time, I stopped fiddling around in car and start driving it. My last car was a used Nano & boy it served me well for 6months (10000kms) before TASS screwed up everything for me.

The car hunt began immediately after selling nano & prime requirements were

• Preferably a 5+ seater
• Petrol only
• A more modern engine, than the usual ones that I drove
• conventional placement of suspension, engine etc
• A Maruti
• Power steering was definately not in the list, as I am used to a range of manual steering cars from 800 till esteem, Eeco to Omni, worst case even non ps-sumo & jeep. I definately dint dream of a over assisted PS (like i10/ old waggy)

Initially I saw a Eeco & loved it to the core. It had everything I wanted except the engine being below the seat and fellow member BHVM explained how safe it was & not at all for highway. So dropped Eeco and started fresh hunt again.

While I was busy hunting for cars, I managed to source a excellent condition WagonR 2004 (only38K driven) car, due to personal reasons I could not make up my decision to buy it & let my cousin go for it. He is one amongst the hundreds of happy waggy guys.

Also my close cousin bought a Zen Estilo (kseries) and I had to drive the initial 50+kms and I felt that this car fits every requirement of mine (except the 5+ seater idea) and ofcourse I hated the engine like anything. The 3pot Kseries is nowhere impressive as the older 4cylinder 1.1mill

Few days back I saw an ad on Quickr and visited the Mahindra First Choice showroom on old madras road and test drove this White Zen Estilo 2007 car and yeah - it made perfect sense to buy it. The showroom guys were pretty straight forward and offered decent 4km test drive. I liked the car and decided to book it.

Price quoted: 1.90Lakhs
Bought it for: 1.70Lakhs

The deal offered to me was 1.65Lkhs +3K for RTO = 1.68L
I asked them to make it 1.70L for Car + Rto + Wheel caps + Engine Oil & oil filter change + 1 labour free service. They hesitated but they did agree finally. Swiped card for 10K and moved on. to come back in the evening to collect the car.

By evening, I made payment (personal loan by Axis) and took the car home, So for a change, my neice, my cousin, my GF - all insisted on getting Pooja done. First time, getting a pooja done for a car that I bought and trust me it felt good.

Few pictures for now.

The speedo (oh god! I am relieved to see a Temp needle here - missed it a lot in Nano) None of the new K series cars come with temp needle.



A pic taken at the time of test drive


The Pooja at a temple,






Having completed the first 100kms in about 3days. This is what I have to say

What I liked:

1. Brilliant engine -cant believe maruti dumped this gem of a motor. When you drive a 1.1 estilo/waggy, its hard to believe that the engine is ON. On the other hand, start a Kseries similar car and let it idle in ac and open the dooor. You will see the door edge shaking and seats if not occupied - too vibrate a lot. I hated that thing about the 3 pot motor.
2. Perfect seats & space is just about my requirement
3. Ample storage space everywhere
4. 2 power windows integrated with door pads (OEM)
5. Rear Headrests and dikki door part of central locking
6. Probably one of the best suspension (way better than most of its segment cars)
7. Minimal body roll compared to WagonR
8. The power steering isnt that easy as a i10/waggy, it is a bit heavier.

What I would love to change:

• Tyres, the car begs for better tyres post 80 - 90kmph, you can feel the need for better tyres.
• The music system I have is a CD, Aux & FM Sony (Brilliant output) with 4 door speakers. I would probably change to a USB one, sometime later.
• Reverse camera (not that I need one), just scared about reversing sometimes as too many little kids in the neigbourhood these days.

 

[bhvm]

Re: TallGirl came home :) - Zen Esilo pre-loved car buying & ownership review

Congrats on the Zen, SS.
Tall Girl is quite an interesting name. So you have a cute white girl among the tallboys eh?
Very nice.

Any Mods planned on this beauty?

 

[ramankanythia]

Re: TallGirl came home :) - Zen Esilo pre-loved car buying & ownership review

congrats for purchase of car
what happened to nano ?? why sold and for how much ??

 

[Nanofreak]

Re: TallGirl came home :) - Zen Esilo pre-loved car buying & ownership review

Hello Anand,

Congrats on the new car, quite well maintained, with just a dink on the bownut, how much did it cost.

Regards

Vinod

 

[rakeshkn]

Re: TallGirl came home :) - Zen Esilo pre-loved car buying & ownership review

2007, that mean 9 years. Exactly the same age of my little Suzuki. Congrats for the car, enjoy :)

 

[sushant_infotag]

Re: TallGirl came home :) - Zen Esilo pre-loved car buying & ownership review

Congrats on the new purchase. Happy and excited to see what customizations this zen will get from the DIY master.

 

[Nairrk]

Congratulations on your new purchase, Estilo..

A good car indeed, but cannot understand why Maruti stopped this model

I too had this estilo (black colour) but sold after using around 2.5 years. ( wanted to purchase a sedan and gone for the Ford Fiesta...)

 

[shrijit303]

Hello ss80,
A big congratulations on the Zen Estilo.
Hope that you clock happy,trouble free miles on your new car.
Thanks,

 

[akmalazim]

congratulations Anand bhai ! looks like maruti never leaves you :)

 

[ss80]

2007, that mean ..........

Congrats on the new purchase. Happy and excited to ........

Congratulations on your new purchase, Estilo..

A good car indeed, but cannot understand why Maruti stopped this model

I too had this estilo (black colour) but sold aft...........

Hello ss80,
A big congratulations on the Zen Estilo.
Hope that you clock happy,trouble free miles on your new car.
Thanks,

congratulations Anand bhai ! looks like maruti never leaves you :)

Thank you all, it does feel like "back at home" with Maruti
Not much DIY's in mind, as this is more of a family car.

The wishlist is a bit small and here it goes:
1. Tyre upgrade seems to be the only thing in mind for now, existing tyres are 2014 make and have more than 70% buttons and no cracks etc
2. Headlamp bulb upgrade likely as existing ones are pretty dim in rain, cant believe someone managed to drive without 100/90 for such a long time.
3. Changing oil filter soon, as the existing one is a bit crushed because of overtightening by the First Choice guys
4. Wipers are almost at end of life, realised it only yesterday.
5. Hit a nasty pothole at low speed and alignment is gone, need to get that fixed.
This is my first 5 speed car and hence it is taking time to adjust to the lower torque at humps etc
M800, nano used to pull effortlessly even in lower speeds, without much downshifts. Here it is a bit different.

Driven about 450kms so far and mileage seems to be just about 13kmpl - with 90% AC on and 50/50highway & city driving. Since my usage is roughly around 500kms/ month I dont worry much about mileage.

As of now the best part of my car is seen right below!





Sitting with this comfort @ 100kmph and still ample space for luggage simply feels awesome.


Recently did a 130kms drive to & fro Kolar & Oh boy! What a suspension, I feel its better than
M800, alto, spark (yup test drove one recently), wagonR, new estilo! I was tailgating (at a safe distance) a Volvo which was doing 120ish and yeah I liked the way it handles. Now I realise how important it is to have lengthy swing arms in the suspension set up, does temendous job in reducing thud thud etc

Also, since the rear seat is higher than front, even a 5.4 guy can comfortably have a nice view of the road ahead.


This is the kneeroom left for back seat passenger, with a 5.9 guy sitting in the front.


1/3rd of windshield can still be seen by backseat passengers.

 

[Srikanth]

Congos to you for your tall girl
It is another no nonsense car from maruti
It will look after you and your family very well.

Happy motoring

 

[P3T3R]

Congrats on the new car.
The Estilo and Wagon R are basically the same car (platform) but somehow the Wagon R has a much better resale than the Estilo.

 

[ss80]

Been on my first long trip yesterday to & fro Ambur.
A 342kms drive - solo driver. Max speed 100kmph - never crossed that no matter how empty the road was. 80 - 100seems to be best for covering distance without compromising much on safety.


Looks like my car got to meet a date/ perhaps all its cousins at the temple parking lot.

 

[swiftshashi]

Congrats Anand bhai...You seem to have got a neat car. It looks as good as new. Wishing you many happy miles with it.

 

[deville_56]

If it is still 145 tyres, please change to 155 or 165 and the car's nervousness will go, especially in patched stretches. Car will handle and brake better.