Shopping for Baleno

[faizahmad]

Hello everybody I am considering buying a baleno. Since many of you must be using it, could i request you to tell me about your experiences with the car?

[mmsree_2000]

Dear friend,

I am the owner of a Baleno 2004 and has put in 9000 Km on it till date. The performance of the vehicle in terms of drve comfort, fuel efficiency and performace is extremely good. I get 12 Km in city and 14.5 on a high way. The acceleration and steering are effortless.

However there are mnor irritants. You get some sound from under the hood as well as from the door pannels. The vehicle is fitted with duel horns and one is not working. I took it to the service center and even after fixing it, it has failed again.

My final word about the vehicle is: It is a value for money vehicle and I hope Maruthi will soon rectify these minor defects

[ShortBuSX]

Is that the Baleno as in the Esteem? Or the new Baleno as in the Aerio/Liana?

[atif]

So plz tell me about baleno because i am looking to buy it? what is your opinion about it?

[tommilator]

It's great value for the money. I drive 200+ km a day in my Baleno Estate and in my experience its reliable and comfortable. I've driven it for the last 30.000km (out of 150.000) without experiencing any problems, even on sub-zero mornings.

Apart from changing the oil, oil and air filters and sparkplugs and checking the brakes, I've had no need for further maintenance. I do plan to change the exhaust some time this year due to rust, but thats mostly because of all the salt they put on the roads.

I do drive it like an old lady, rarely pushing the engine beyond 4500 rpm, and never before its warm. Its not the fastest accelerating car but its a steady workhorse that will take you to 150 km/h with comfort for half the price that an Audi of similar age and mileage will cost you. Not saying you don't get anything extra with an Audi, but the core functionality of getting from A to B is same.

[Drongoman]

I've owned two Baleno's to date, first a 1996 GLS hatchback (1.6l) which took an absolute flogging and still came back for more, i know drive a 1996 GTX Baleno (1.8l) with a few performance modifications and it runs like a dream.

From my experience Baleno's are very very reliable, even with driving like it like a race car 24/7

To date (after driving 2 Baleno's over 4 years, both with more than 120,000kms on the clock) I've had:
- No Engine Problems
- Absolutely No heating problems
Which are the worst problems you could have

Only problem with them is a few electrical problems which cause minor issues like high idling, engine cuts out when coming to a halt in first 5 mins of drive (BUT this is after doing 200,000kms)

Only other problem i've experience is i've had to replace 2 gearboxs over 4 years BUT i do push the car alot.


Overall a fantastic car, economical yet powerful, handles like a Porche.