Play with the Configurator: Nexa Maruti Suzuki Ciaz

Bored out of your wits during the ongoing COVID-19 lockdown? It's time to play with the Configurator for a car or bike that you like – it can actually be quite an engaging activity.  

Life during this unprecedented COVID-19 situation can at times get quite dull and boring and we do need to find different ways to keep ourselves occupied. So when you’re done working, playing online games, and watching your favourite TV shows, if you’re still scratching your head to find something to do, and you like cars, here’s a fun activity you can engage in – playing with the car configurator!

Of course, this sounds like something we’ve done in racing video games but there’s no harm in trying it out in the real world, although you won’t be finding stage 3 racing clutch packs or Brembo disc brake options here.  

So, today’s car of choice for car configurator play is the Maruti Suzuki Ciaz on the company’s Nexa website.

The Nexa configurator is pretty easy to find on the website and loads fairly quickly too. You can find the configurator button on the main model landing on the centre right-hand side of the screen, where it can be chosen from a click-to-expand menu. Once this opens up, you choose the variant and hit personalise.

Once you enter the configurator, the first step is to choose the car colour, post which you can head into the ‘Exterior’ category that allows you to choose from a range of trim garnish options, such as wheel covers for lower variants, door mouldings, headlamp garnish, and window visors.

I chose to customise the S variant of the Ciaz, which already comes with a rear spoiler, but I decided to go for the rear-windscreen visor, which looks pretty neat. I skipped everything else on the menu here as there was a scary amount of chrome garnishing to choose from. It’s a similar story when it comes to ‘Interior’ category customisation as well with faux wood trim inserts. So, I opted in for the most basic and simple accessory – some nice black carpet foot mats to go with the all-black interiors of the Ciaz S.

Next up was the ‘Safety’ category, but this button is defunct and has nothing on offer. Although, I wonder if Maruti Suzuki was offering ISOFIX child seats here. Anyway, moving on, next up is the ‘Comfort & Convenience’ category where there is a wide range of products and accessories to choose from. I went in for a body cover that costs a very reasonable Rs 1,490, a tyre inflator, and anti-rust coating protection, which I assume is an underbody protection treatment. I also picked the ‘paint protection’ option, which I assume is the Teflon coating but at Rs. 332 it isn’t, and lastly, I ticked the body wax option, which is a coat of polish minus labour costs. I sincerely hope they polish the car and not hand me a can of polish with my brand new car.

After this, there is an ‘Audio infotainment’ section where you can pick anything from a single-DIN stereo to a swanky double-DIN touchscreen infotainment system. But since the Ciaz S is the top-of-the-line variant with its in-built infotainment system, I didn’t feel the need to pick anything from this section.

Last up is the ‘Packages’ section, which is defunct like the Safety section, no matter which variant of the Ciaz you choose.

Coming back to my mildly custom Ciaz S, well the car has a list price of Rs 10,08,689 (ex-showroom).  Factor in the extras I chose for the car, and the total bill goes up by Rs 9,861, which if you think about it is very reasonable, considering that you just bought all of these goodies from the OEM and not an aftermarket shop.

On the whole, this was a fun exercise, with the only problem being the slow response from the configurator, which tends to even hang sometimes if you add and remove an accessory too many times.

Nevertheless, if you’re bored out of your wits, head over to a car or motorcycle’s website and see if you can kit a car or a motorcycle out to your liking. I’ll try and bring you more of these. Now, Mahindra offers an accessory brochure for all its models, but there is no configurator like the Nexa system that not only allows you to add items and tally costs but also gives you a digital glimpse of what your car will look like with new fitments.

What do you think this Metallic Premium Silver Ciaz S looks like with the rear spoiler and rear windscreen visor? I do wish, though, that the Ciaz S was available with the Alpha model’s dual-tone alloy wheels instead of these all-black rims that are indeed 16-inch units but look like the smaller 15-inch ones available in lower-spec variants of the Ciaz, as they have the same design. I am also not too sure about how good or bad the lower all-black body kit of the Ciaz S looks like in real life in terms of fit and finish and quality. But there’s only one way to figure out things like this – check out the car in real, once showrooms open, of course. And that’s the thing with virtual showrooms for cars. No matter what you see, you can only be sure once inspect a car in person!

Also read - Maruti Suzuki Ciaz gets BS-VI update, Ciaz S launched

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