[Siddarth_Ramani]

Originally Posted by Dr.AD

13 years, 137,000km, and Sold!

With that, let me call this "The End" to this Dusty story. Thank you very much for reading this, and for being with me throughout this decade long story!

Ohh man that nearly brought tears in my eyes. I used to closely follow your Sx4 thread, in fact I was inspired to get a used Sx4 as my first car (I just turned 21). I even made my dad read your thread. Plans got changed and none of the Sx4s in my budget were well maintained, so let go of the idea. If I do come across properly maintained copy, I will manipulate my parents and buy this.

If you don't mind how much did you get for this? & how much should I expect to pay for a well maintained ZXi in bangalore?

[OffRoadFun]

Congratulations on your new acquisition!

I have 2008 SX4 Golden ZXI, done only 85k kms and RC renewal is due this year end. thinking of keeping it as beater car.

[paragsachania]

Congratulations Doc. The SX4 was surely put to best use during its entire ownership years and this is perhaps one of those Marutis that was built better than most of the other cars from their stable.

I have had many memorable trips driving the SX4, more precisely during the monsoons and can totally relate to your experiences you have shared.

Wishing you memorable trips and off-roading on your new steed. I am sure you will have more interesting experiences to share with this one.

[indrangiri]

My SX4 also served me faithfully for 12 years from 2008 to 2020 and I had to let go after around 110K on the odo. Well built car with the mileage in city being the only downside.

Dr. AD, Congrats on your new Thar 4x4, that will go further to places where SX4 would have been a stretch! Happy cross country motoring!

[Lovecars]

Hi Dr. AD
Reading by your post reminded me of my SX4.
I also had a 2014 Sx4 VXI Green Cng. I didnt like the car initially because of its boring looks (subjective) but started liking it with the passage of time. It became my daily driver and clocked thousands of kms enjoying the best ride. I sold the beauty last month as it had done around 1.25L kms. Car was running in perfect condition with no issues. It only wanted fuel and ready to go anywhere without any tantrums. Ride quality, Suv like seating , Steering confidence,build quality etc were all top nitch. But the ITCH to upgrade made me sell my SX4. Although no car could match that VFM proportion in 10-15L range, I brought home a new Seltos Htx Cvt. Lets hope that the car lives upto expectations set by my SX4.

[sandeeprawat]

Originally Posted by Dr.AD

Feels like end of an era for me.

As a proud owner of 2011 Sx4 myself, just couldn't resist replying to this thread. Congratulations! What a wonderful journey. Looking forward to reading your new journey with new dusty.

I also plan to upgrade my ride to Thar 4x4. No plans to get rid of my Sx4 though. I feel this beast is still in its golden age.

[Dr.AD]

Originally Posted by Siddarth_Ramani

Ohh man that nearly brought tears in my eyes. I used to closely follow your Sx4 thread, in fact I was inspired to get a used Sx4 as my first car.

Thank you very much for your kind words!

If you don't mind how much did you get for this? & how much should I expect to pay for a well maintained ZXi in bangalore?

I did not negotiate at all or try to post classified ads to extract maximum prize. My friend circulated in his friend circle that I am thinking of selling the car. And through that, one gentleman instantly offered to buy my car, even without looking at it, thanks to following my thread here. We instantly agreed on Rs. 2L as the price. I am happy that a genuinely nice person who appreciated the car for how passionately I owned it, in spite of the very high mileage (1.37L km) and in spite of the car not being cosmetically in the best shape (I did not try to hide the few scratches and nicks that the car has), bought the car. He appreciated that the car is mechanically robust and drives so well yet, and was really happy to receive this car for his local city runs. I was really happy to meet such a nice buyer. Neither of us discussed or bargained on the price at all after the initial instantaneous agreement of Rs. 2L, and we just stuck to that.

Originally Posted by OffRoadFun

Congratulations on your new acquisition!

Thank you very much, OffRoadFun!

I have 2008 SX4 Golden ZXI, done only 85k kms and RC renewal is due this year end. thinking of keeping it as beater car.

Cool. Yes, it is a nice beater car. Works perfectly well in all conditions.

Originally Posted by paragsachania

Congratulations Doc. The SX4 was surely put to best use during its entire ownership years and this is perhaps one of those Marutis that was built better than most of the other cars from their stable.

Thank you very much, Parag!

I have had many memorable trips driving the SX4, more precisely during the monsoons and can totally relate to your experiences you have shared.

Nice! Yes SX4 is a good car for the monsoons. Somehow monsoons brings out the best in such cars, which thrive in such conditions and prove their utility at such times.

Wishing you memorable trips and off-roading on your new steed. I am sure you will have more interesting experiences to share with this one.

Thank you very much. I am also hoping to get some interesting experiences with Thar. Let us see.

Originally Posted by indrangiri

My SX4 also served me faithfully for 12 years from 2008 to 2020 and I had to let go after around 110K on the odo. Well built car with the mileage in city being the only downside

Nice!

Dr. AD, Congrats on your new Thar 4x4, that will go further to places where SX4 would have been a stretch !! Happy cross country motoring !!

Thank you very much!

Originally Posted by Lovecars

Hi Dr. AD
Reading by your post reminded me of my SX4.

Nice! Thanks for sharing this.

Originally Posted by sandeeprawat

As a proud owner of 2011 Sx4 myself, just couldn't resist replying to this thread. Congratulations! What a wonderful journey. Looking forward to reading your new journey with new dusty.

Thank you very much!

I also plan to upgrade my ride to Thar 4x4. No plans to get rid of my Sx4 though. I feel this beast is still in its golden age.

Nice! Sure, it makes sense to keep the SX4 as long as you can still use it.

Even in my case, initially I had decided to keep the SX4 anyway, even after buying Thar. It was not strictly a replacement plan at first. I bought Thar just as an additional vehicle for weekend fun. However, later I realized that with almost no city driving or weekday driving (my only driving now is the weekend driving for fun, where both 320d and Thar will play different roles now), there is a good chance I will not use the SX4 at all. There was a good chance the SX4 would remain unused in my parking lot for months, and that sure is a recipe to ruin a perfectly working car. I wanted to avoid that (ruining the car) at any cost, and hence, with a heavy heart, decided to sell the SX4.

[Oppanna]

What a brilliant thread and car this was! I was closely following this thread and even today whenever i see a SX4 on the road my heart says i need it!

In a way i am sad that the car has been sold but on other side happy that it has gone to someone who values the car and will be used and not parked to die!

Happy driving with your Thar and looking forward to read some travelogues Doc.

[Dr.AD]

Originally Posted by Oppanna

What a brilliant thread and car this was! I was closely following this thread and even today whenever i see a SX4 on the road my heart says i need it!

Thank you very much Oppanna!

Happy driving with your Thar and looking forward to read some travelogues Doc.

I am hoping to start road trips in Thar soon. With Thar, I am hoping to have a different kind of road trip experience. I would like to drive to more off beat places and tackle more challenging terrains. We will see if that happens any time soon, but surely I will keep sharing my experiences in this forum.

Thanks again for your kind words!

[sandeeprawat]

Originally Posted by Dr.AD

Thank you very much Oppanna!

I am hoping to start road trips in Thar soon. With Thar, I am hoping to have a different kind of road trip experience. I would like to drive to more off beat places and tackle more challenging terrains. We will see if that happens any time soon, but surely I will keep sharing my experiences in this forum.

Thanks again for your kind words!

Compared to SX4 how do you find Thar. I know it's not a straight forward comparison. I recently took a test ride (petrol red) and could feel even small stones in road moving my steering. Along with entire car throwing me around this steering feedback sort of put me off. Just trying to understand if it's more of my sedan to SUV transition or its unique That attributes Haven't driven SUVs before except Scorpio N for a short distance which didn't give me this feeling though.

[Dr.AD]

Originally Posted by sandeeprawat

Compared to SX4 how do you find Thar. I know it's not a straight forward comparison.

You are right that it is a not a straight forward comparison. The two are very different vehicles. SX4 is a sedan with high ground clearance, whereas Thar is a tall body on frame SUV. The two behave very differently and both have their pros and cons.

I recently took a test ride (petrol red) and could feel even small stones in road moving my steering. Along with entire car throwing me around this steering feedback sort of put me off.

True that the Thar ride and steering can feel totally weird at first. But it is not that bad, at least in the 2023 versions of Thar. The ride in Thar is definitely much worse than SX4. Regarding steering, I actually like the Thar steering more than SX4 steering. SX4 had a very lifeless, dull, vague electric steering that gave zero feedback. Thar steering is a hydraulic steering and to the other extreme - it gives excessive feedback as you rightly pointed out. But out of the these two options, I would prefer excessive feedback than no feedback. Of course, the optimal middle point would be the best, but sadly, neither of these two cars offer that. That is where the cars like BMWs shine. They offer just the perfect steering feedback!

But again, after about 2 weeks with the Thar, I have got used to both the bumpy ride and the steering with excessive feedback. I was expecting brakes in Thar to be quite bad too. However, thankfully, I find the brakes in my Thar to be not that bad at all. I am totally fine with brakes on my Thar. I do not find that much of nose-dive on braking that is so talked about among Thar owners. Maybe the latest 2023 Thars have these things sorted out, as some say.

Overall, once you get used to these basic issues (ride quality being the primary issue), then Thar is a wonderful vehicle. If you plan to drive on bad roads and to remote areas with very poor infrastructure, then Thar is a wonderful vehicle. And of course, if you plan to do proper off-roading, then Thar will shine in that too.

In summary, I would say that after having gotten used to the basic limitations of Thar and gotten over those, I am now liking it a lot and looking forward to some drives where I will exploit some of the strengths of Thar.

[sandeeprawat]

Originally Posted by Dr.AD

13 years, 137,000km, and Sold!

Feels like end of an era for me.

I finally sold this car after using it for close to 13 years (July 2010 to May 2023), and after driving more than 137,000km.

Pretty basic question, what is the optimal rpm range to gear shift in SX4? I almost always shift close to 2-2.5K. Not sure why probably I shift as soon as engine starts making some sound.

Was reading a few other threads and feel like I am shifting too early. Any thoughts? Should I be enjoying the engine revv music at much higher rpms (3-4 or evn 5K)?

[Dr.AD]

Originally Posted by sandeeprawat

Pretty basic question, what is the optimal rpm range to gear shift in SX4?

I do not think there is any single optimal shift point as a definitive answer to your question. It depends on many factors, such as your driving style and preferences, driving conditions (congested city traffic vs spirited highway drives) etc.

I do not follow any specific rule as such. Depending on my mood and driving conditions, I shift at different RPM bands. On the highways, I love driving spiritedly and there I would not upshift under 3500 RPM. I often kept the SX4 engine "on the boil" at about 3500 to 4000RPM range, and I enjoyed that engine in that zone.

I almost always shift close to 2-2.5K. Not sure why probably I shift as soon as engine starts making some sound. Was reading a few other threads and feel like I am shifting too early. Any thoughts? Should I be enjoying the engine revv music at much higher rpms (3-4 or evn 5K)?

Below 3000 RPM, the engine is quite dead, and if you are shifting below that, you are not using the engine anywhere close to its potential.

During city drives the answer would vary a lot depending on one's driving style. But at least on the open highways, I would say enjoy the high RPM band of this engine.

[sandeeprawat]

Originally Posted by Dr.AD

Below 3000 RPM, the engine is quite dead, and if you are shifting below that, you are not using the engine anywhere close to its potential.

Thanks a lot for the precise answer. I'm sure there are many like me who don't revv high due to fear of negatively impacting mechanics of our car. All of us for sure will benefit greatly from this answer and enjoy our vehicle much more (albeit with reduced fuel efficiency )

[sandeeprawat]

With this new insight drove for ~60KM with a more spirited driving style. It opens up new world of possibilities for me. Wasn't aware SX4 is capable of such aggression and able to produce beautiful music with its engine lol. It was a lot of fun, but of-course also required more attention and braking skills.

Thanks for sharing your experience here.

Btw my car interest seems to be aligning with yours lol.
I have the same upgrade path in my mind for my future rides (Thar, BMW 3 or 5 series sometime in future).