Maruti Suzuki Celerio diesel longterm review: After six months and 7,423km

The most rewarding part of working for OVERDRIVE is getting to test a wide variety of cars and bikes. But one has to wait one's turn to get to the more exotic, bigger capacity machines – obviously snapped up by the more experienced of us. Yep! Autojournos aren't exempt from the trappings of hierarchy. But the Celerio diesel was unanimously voted as my longtermer, given the kilometres I toil through everyday. No hierarchy here, I assure you.

The Celerio diesel has me surprised with her wide range of abilities. She will make you revisit the spec sheet, because it feels like she makes way more power than the claimed 47PS. She scoots through traffic like nobody's business and cruises comfortably at 120kmph on the highway while still returning close to 22kmpl. Everyone who's driven it at office has come away surprised with its cheeky nimbleness.

Everyone except for Bert, who seemed reluctant to admit it was his when the valet pulled up at a hotel porch. Drive around with two passengers though, and the Celerio begins to struggle, especially on slopes.
The Celerio also gets all the creature comforts you can ask of a budget hatch. For my frame though (6' 4"), I found that the driver's seat gets a bit tiring on long journeys. The 6' 1" Rishaad agrees. Shorter drivers though shouldn't have a problem.

Issues? Surprisingly none with the product itself but plenty on the service side. The Celerio recently went through her second 'free service' but came back with a massive Rs 4,600 bill. The break down – Rs 1,000 for interior cleaning, Rs 1,000 for wheel alignment and balancing, some rear wiper greasing for Rs 500 and a whole lot of taxes. No oil change. As Rishaad mentioned earlier, that's scheduled at every 10,000km, which seems to be becoming the norm these days.

Due to her diminutive size and small capacity engine, she hasn't been in much demand at the OD office. So no one fights me for the keys to the Celerio, which works in my favour. She's almost exclusively mine. Win!
Date acquired May '15
Total mileage 7,423km

This month:
Mileage 4,593km
Fuel 205.59 litres
Efficiency 22.34kmpl

For more long term reports of the Celerio diesel, click here

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