Ertiga- a badly engineered car.

Exterior Good but not appealing. Soft and gentle for a family car. Resemblence to Ritz and swift combined.

Interior (Features, Space & Comfort) Good, but not best. Seats, space and features satisfactory for a family car at this price band.

Engine Performance, Fuel Economy and Gearbox The engine is totally unrelaiable! Though it is very sad to say, the experience with this vehicle is totaly bad! I had a ride on this vehicle ( new, clocked 40K km.) for around 20 km and it showed sudden powerloss without any warning on the dash. This was repeated 4 times during the 20km dirve. There is no excess smoke, no abnormal sound or any warning signal on the dashboard. Driving at around a speed of 50km/hr, the throttle suddenly feels to be non responsive and the vehicel decelerates. On applying the clutch to shift down, it regains response but, at engaging the gear, it becomes numb again. At neutral or at clutch depressed stage, the engine never shows any problem.  

The gear shifting was a hillarious job, especially to shift to the 2nd gear from any gear other than 1st. It reminded me the old villes petrol jeep. The owner of the vehicle told me that he was facing this problem from 20K km, ie., from 6 months back. 5 or 6 times the vehicle was with maruti service centre and they couldn't fix it. Every time they deliver the vehicle saying that it is OK now, but the problem is repeating. He is using it as a taxi and as far as I could know, he is a very good driver and drives the vehicle in a professional way. He spend all his lifes savings to buy this vehicle, but now he is suffering a lot with this vehicle.

Ride Quality & Handling Ride quality is up to the standard, except for some vibrations during idling. Handling is good and controls are OK.

Final Words Maruti has to put effort to recall such faulty vehicles to rectify the problem, as many Ertiga owners experienced this engine problem. Since the service people are unable to diagnose the trouble using the computer, the issue is outside the central processor. Urgent attention is required, otherwise, Maruti's trusted name will be spoiled. The vehicle is good enough for a family, if it was without this issue.

Areas of improvement Engine and gear box must be made trouble free. Front grill can be given a chrome finish or chrome lining, which will increase the look dramatically. Vibrations at idling and slow speeds can be eliminated.

Fuel economy, Exterior & interior.Bad engine performance, tricky gear box, sudden power loss during drive.