Maruti Suzuki Ertiga ZDI+: 10,000km Long Term Review

The Diwali break gave me an opportunity to take the family out on a road trip, since usually I find myself traveling alone without them given the nature of my job. As opposed to flying to some far-off destination I thought driving to some place not too far away would be a better choice, and the family was keen on the same too. My current long termer, the Maruti Suzuki Ertiga was the choice of wheels and the destination was Kolhapur, a small but bustling city in south Maharashtra, 230km away from Pune. The third row of seats was folded down to make space for our luggage, and I was glad to note that the middle row is not fixed and can be pushed behind to liberate more legroom. 

The Ertiga was pretty much our home for the three days of the trip, since apart from driving to Kolhapur on the wide, relatively traffic free NH4 we also spent a lot of time driving to various places in the city, known equally well as a shrine and destination for food lovers with its typical spicy food, vegetarian or non-vegetarian. The Ertiga felt comfortable to drive, be it open roads or city traffic, and the suspension setup felt slightly stiff but never uncomfortable. I did feel the need for a sixth gear on highways, as the engine felt a tad noisy and slightly stressed at triple digit speeds. The Ertiga didn’t feel out of place even when driven for sustained periods on open highways, but after this trip I did feel it is better suited as a people mover for shorter distances. Fuel efficiency was in the region of 18kmpl, which ensured our trip of over 600km was done in a single tankful of diesel. On the whole, I am liking the idea of having an Ertiga as a family car, since it seems good enough as my daily driver and people mover as well. 

Total km to date: 9466km

Efficiency: 18.6kmpl

Date acquired: July 2016

Costs: Nil

Cheers: Space, comfort, efficiency

Sneers: No sixth gear