Maruti Suzuki is a great place to begin if you are looking to buy a used car, as their cars generally retain their resale value over time, and are inexpensive to maintain and run daily. The Maruti Suzuki Celerio is a great model as it has remained quite consistent over time. Globally, the car is in its third generation, but in India, the Celerio has been around since 2014, that is its global second generation avatar. Currently, this hatchback is in its third generation model, which was recently launched in India. Used versions of this generation will be generally more expensive, so we recommend second-hand buyers look at the older model, which was sold in India from 2014 to 2021.
Pre-owned Maruti Suzuki Generations
While the Celerio nameplate has been around for only two generations in India, the A-Star, which was sold here before 2014, was badged as a Celerio for some international markets. So technically, all three iterations of the Celerio have been sold in India. However, the A-Star is a pretty old car and most of the A-Star’s sold in India would be nearing extinction as far as their lifespan is considered, so those looking for a second-hand Celerio would be better off searching for a used second-gen model of the hatchback.
Generation 2: 2014 – 2021 Maruti Celerio
The second-gen Maruti Suzuki Celerio was an important model, not only for Maruti Suzuki, but for the Indian automotive history as well. It was a small car that offered great room on the inside, an automatic transmission – it was not so common in budget cars at the time – and a small diesel engine that returned fantastic fuel efficiency.
Generation 3: 2021 – Present Maruti Celerio
The newest generation of the Maruti Suzuki Celerio has a great design, offers the latest AMT from the Indian carmaker, and is relatively rich on features as well. But all of that has come at a cost, which is quite literally the price of the car in the second hand market. For now, it is so close to that of a new car, that it makes sense to go for the latter. Nonetheless, if you do find a good unit for sale at a reasonable cost, then there are not many chinks in its armour.
What to check in a pre-owned Maruti Celerio
Diesel clatter
Before February 2017, the Celerio was available with a two-cylinder diesel engine. This was an engine that was pretty much used only in the Celerio. It had an odd rattle, and even when running fine, it sounded broken. This diesel clatter only got worse with time and in badly maintained cars, it often reaches unbearable levels. The upside to this engine was its ridiculously good fuel efficiency, with its ARAI rating being upwards of 27 km/l. Be wary of badly maintained versions of the diesel Celerio, as they might require some hefty maintenance work.
Older Automatics were sluggish
The older automatics of the Celerio were sluggish. This is the first generation of the AMT, and in fact, the Celerio was the first car from Maruti Suzuki to debut this technology. The AMT at the time was jerky and the drive experience was quite poor. Due to the jerky drive, the transmissions of these cars would have taken a hefty beating over time, so avoid older automatic Celerio’s that have run a good number of kilometres. The newer automatics, post 2017, are in fact the ones which are much better, but be warned these units will not be cheap.
Wear and tear on the seats
Older Celerio’s didn’t have well padded seats, so chances are, the seats in second hand Celerio’s will have lost their comforting ability by now. Make sure the seats are structurally sound enough that they can still retain their shape before buying one. As for the flattened padding, it’s nothing that new seat covers won’t be able to fix.
CNG kit fitness test and certification
You will find many old CNG models of the Celerio, but be wary of cars that have aftermarket kits installed. The Celerio has been coming with a CNG kit from the factory for many years now, and these versions are actually quite good. However, aftermarket CNG kits in the Celerio have been known to cause issues sometimes, and improperly installed kits can really threaten the driving experience. If the car has an aftermarket CNG system in it at one point of time, we recommend that you drive the car in multiple driving environments – both city and highway – before buying it.
Summary
The Maruti Suzuki Celerio is quite a good second hand car to buy, simply for the reason that its after sales service costs are low, it offers a good driving experience and even if you sell the car after using it for a short while, it retains its value quite well. It’s then a win-win situation!
