Suzuki Celerio Vxi Amt

[KANDY1983]

I am planning buy new Suzuki celerio VXI AMT. I need valuable thoughts of the members to finalize it. Below the main concern of me. Planning to use the car for 5 - 7 years at least.

1. Reliability & maintain cost

2. Value for money.

3. Advantages & Disadvantages of the car

Thank you in advance.

[Crosswind]

Too early to talk about reliability or maintenance cost of an indian auto gear vehicle. You are far better off with a proven vehicle such as second hand a Viva Elite/Swift/Vitz/Demio

Its not value for money. The auto gear celery-o costs something like 2.4 mill and you can get a 2009 Japanese Swift for that price.

[hrm]

It's not like a conventional auto if you have used for such you will feel the difference. This is an automated manual to be exact. Some of my friends told me gear shifts are not so smooth, jerky and sometimes it doesn't do proper down shift etc. Not to mention in hills vehicle will roll backwards even in D and you have to use hand break to get off. However best way is to have a test drive and see for your self.

Not sure about reliability but maintenance cost would be more or less the same as having an Indian Alto.

[Crosswind]

No the maintenance cost would not be the same. There is a world of difference between the bulto and celery-o, not limited to the auto box. Bulto is a simple car in every sense of the word. Celery-o is maruti's attempt at building a car with some level of sophistication.

[hrm]

I have been in both models. Apart from AMT I don't see such sophistication. It has the same K10 engine which has some refinements. If there is a difference it would be not a world apart. Btw Maruti is the one saying maintenance would be the same may be to attract the mass.

[sathyajithj99]

  On 5/14/2015 at 5:09 PM, hrm said:

  On 5/14/2015 at 5:09 PM, hrm said:

I have been in both models. Apart from AMT I don't see such sophistication. It has the same K10 engine which has some refinements. If there is a difference it would be not a world apart. Btw Maruti is the one saying maintenance would be the same may be to attract the mass.

If this is true, it's going to be loud as hell

[hrm]

  On 5/14/2015 at 5:27 PM, sathyajithj99 said:

If this is true, it's going to be loud as hell

Yeah. It's 3 cylinder and revs pretty high. Celerio has the engine called K-Next which is a refined version of K10B

[Supra_Natural]

  On 5/14/2015 at 5:09 PM, hrm said:

I have been in both models. Apart from AMT I don't see such sophistication. It has the same K10 engine which has some refinements. If there is a difference it would be not a world apart. Btw Maruti is the one saying maintenance would be the same may be to attract the mass.

In that case they are lying. I did a test drive of the thing for a publication and they sent along a guy from the service side rather than a sales rep for a change. He told me quite frankly that the AMT will need clutch/pressure plates replaced just like a normal manual box and they have been informed by India that it is likely to happen at around every 30k Kilometres because of the way the box operates.

My impressions of the car was that it was a typical Maruti shitbox, though it has to be said they are reasonably well put together these days. The gearbox was a real pain in the rear end because it jerked, shifted abruptly and never seemed to be able to decide what gear to be in, sort of like someone still learning to drive who hadn't yet figured out clutch bite points and so on.

[hrm]

  On 5/15/2015 at 8:28 AM, Supra_Natural said:

In that case they are lying. I did a test drive of the thing for a publication and they sent along a guy from the service side rather than a sales rep for a change. He told me quite frankly that the AMT will need clutch/pressure plates replaced just like a normal manual box and they have been informed by India that it is likely to happen at around every 30k Kilometres because of the way the box operates.

My impressions of the car was that it was a typical Maruti shitbox, though it has to be said they are reasonably well put together these days. The gearbox was a real pain in the rear end because it jerked, shifted abruptly and never seemed to be able to decide what gear to be in, sort of like someone still learning to drive who hadn't yet figured out clutch bite points and so on.

That's correct Supra. I felt the same even as a passenger of that car. What they have actually done is move the clutch to the engine bay to electronically engage oppose to being near the foot rest for the driver to enagege. It's their way of introducing a cheap automation without compromising fuel efficiency that much. May be it's ok for Indians who drive manuals most of the time.

[matroska]

  On 5/14/2015 at 1:30 PM, Crosswind said:

Too early to talk about reliability or maintenance cost of an indian auto gear vehicle. You are far better off with a proven vehicle such as second hand a Viva Elite/Swift/Vitz/Demio

Its not value for money. The auto gear celery-o costs something like 2.4 mill and you can get a 2009 Japanese Swift for that price.

if you are buying a Vitz make sure you buy one with the 'wanker' mirrors that was owned by a lady-doctor and has beige 'interiyal'

[matroska]

yet another duplicate...Firefox! wtf!

Edited May 15, 2015 by matroska

[wolseley]

The gearbox is a "Magnetti Marelli". A kind of one on the Fiat Punto. But coupled with a Maruti only the god knows what will happen.

[Crosswind]

  On 5/15/2015 at 10:30 AM, wolseley said:

The gearbox is a "Magnetti Marelli". A kind of one on the Fiat Punto. But coupled with a Maruti only the god knows what will happen.

Does this mean its got a selespeed pump? even the Italians couldn't get that one right... I can only pray for the buyers of the Celery-o when the pump starts packing up...

So much for the maintenance cost being same as the bulto.

[The Don]

I thought Maruti was building a home grown gearbox.

Sounds like the dual clutch software is not up to scratch. I would be surprised if a Magnetti Marelli is that jerky.

[Davy]

Forgive my ignorance, isn't AMT as same as Semi Automatic? If so, there are several European and even Japanese manufacturers who have perfected it to a level where regular maintenance isn't required and where shift shock is not felt by occupants.

I drove a Lancer RalliArt with dual clutch SST a few weeks back and the thing was shifting very good. It's been on the market since 2008 or so and no major gearbox issues are noted as far as I have found out. Not sure if AMT and Dual Clutch can even be compared though.

Wonder what Suzuki India is doing so wrong for it to be this bad. If it's a software issue as The Don has said, then their initial expectations from the gearbox were far too low from what customers are expecting.

Edited May 16, 2015 by Davy

[zeristo]

Maintenance cost and value for money is good as it is with India cars, RELIABILITY IS A BIG NO !!!!! INDIAN CARS = 100% UNRELIABLE. Happened to own an Alto and Maruti800. worst cars I've ever had. Problem is that Indian cars designed in India exclusively for the Indian market are terrible cars. Celerio happens to fall in that category.

[Crosswind]

  On 5/16/2015 at 12:35 AM, Davy said:

Forgive my ignorance, isn't AMT as same as Semi Automatic? If so, there are several European and even Japanese manufacturers who have perfected it to a level where regular maintenance isn't required and where shift shock is not felt by occupants.

I drove a Lancer RalliArt with dual clutch SST a few weeks back and the thing was shifting very good. It's been on the market since 2008 or so and no major gearbox issues are noted as far as I have found out. Not sure if AMT and Dual Clutch can even be compared though.

Wonder what Suzuki India is doing so wrong for it to be this bad. If it's a software issue as The Don has said, then their initial expectations from the gearbox were far too low from what customers are expecting.

There are many variants of semi auto gearboxes. The magnetti marelli one uses a electronic clutch, complete with clutch and pressure plates instead of a torque converter. Instead of calling it an automatic or semi-automatic tranny, its more accurate to call it an electrohydraulic self shifting gearbox (at least thats what alfa calls it afaik).

[Devinda_Z]

Didn't the Proton Saavy have something like this box as well?

[Clark's son]

  On 5/14/2015 at 12:56 PM, KANDY1983 said:

I am planning buy new Suzuki celerio VXI AMT. I need valuable thoughts of the members to finalize it. Below the main concern of me. Planning to use the car for 5 - 7 years at least.

1. Reliability & maintain cost

2. Value for money.

3. Advantages & Disadvantages of the car

Thank you in advance.

I really don't think you could use a Maruti for 7 yrs.

I would recommend something like a 2010 passo, or a used Swift for similar or less money,

There are a lot better cars too

[Crosswind]

  On 5/16/2015 at 9:52 AM, Devinda_Z said:

Didn't the Proton Saavy have something like this box as well?

Yes they did. I think all Savvys in Sri Lanka now have conventional autoboxes transplanted to them.

[udararaj]

I am planning buy new Suzuki celerio VXI AMT. I need valuable thoughts of the members to finalize it. Below the main concern of me. Planning to use the car for 5 - 7 years at least.

1. Reliability & maintain cost

2. Value for money.

3. Advantages & Disadvantages of the car

Thank you in advance.

Go for a Viva elite manufacture in 2012 -2014 time. You certantly can use for 5 -6 years. Im using a brand new viva AT now and now more than 3 years. Other than few running repairs there are no other issues. Only thing is now you can not buy a brand new viva coz they stop manufacturing it.

Also if you can wait one - two months you can buy brand new Peroduva axia which is going to replace Viva. That can even better than viva elite and you can buy it for 2.5 million

See the video bellow.

[The Don]

How would anybody know the reliability and overall maintenance cost of a car that has just been released beyond whats already discussed on this thread?

How can we see what might happen in 7 years?

This sounds like a job for Sumanadasa.... At the moment your guess is as good at mine. The issues relating to the interesting auto box has already been discussed. It will definitely not be as smooth as the Viva, though probably more fuel efficient.