A happy Ritesh Madhok of Thane, Mumbai, brought home his new Zen Estilo on March 29. But hardly a fortnight and 800km later, that happiness turned to despair.

He noticed some oil near the front tyre where the car was parked and he immediately drove across to the authorised dealer, Thanawala Motor Agency, which is part of the Maruti Service Masters countrywide network.

On inspection at the workshop, it was found out that the oil from the engine had flowed into the coolant box which was full and overflowing with oil. With the brand-new Estilo still at the workshop in early May, Ritesh wrote in to 'Helpline' asking us to intervene.

We wrote to Maruti, which after consultation with Thanawala Motor Agency, acknowledged there was a problem with the engine and offered to replace it with a brand-new unit.

On May 7, the new engine was fitted into the Estilo's bay and test runs conducted. Since then, Ritesh has taken delivery of his car and until now has not had any further problem. However, his confidence in the product has been dented.

Autocar Says
An uncommon problem that shouldn't have cropped up in the first place and the quality control guys in the Maruti factory should be rapped on the knuckles. Maruti's decision to replace the engine doesn't come as a surprise. The carmaker has regularly topped customer satisfaction charts with its lightning-fast response to complaints.