[GSMINC]

My Maruti Swift VDI crossed a lakh kms a fortnight back, just a few days before its 2nd birthday.
Here’s a report on the wonderful time (with a few nitty gritties) I had with this car

My Requirements & Buying Experience: I had a Hyundai Santro GS (2003) zipdrive topend model, was very much satisfied with it having driven around 1.4 lakh kms over five years, but being a petrol car (no doubt fuel efficient), it was quite costly for my kind of running around. A rough back of the envelope calculation showed that I would have saved more than a lakh rupees if I had used a diesel/LPG car, I had just cleared the car loan & was enjoying the relief of not paying the EMI anymore. But as they say, fate intervened, One fine sunny afternoon, was passing by a Maruti showroom, was just wondering what might be the value of my 1.4lakh km run santro, drove in for a valuation.

The Maruti TruValue guy, checked the car, put the car on neutral, started the engine, opened the bonnet, checked for any accidental damage & offered me Rs.2.30lakhs without even driving it. But one hard look at my santro forced to drop the whole idea, got sentimental I guess. After a fews day when I went to fuel up, once again the back of envelope calculation cropped up on my mind. Well, fate having tickled my posterior, discussed with my wife over phone (she was at her mom’s place, recuperating after our baby was born). Next day my brother-in-law (my wife’s brother) calls me, if I were to sell my car, he would buy it.

He land up at my office in 1 hour, gives me a cheque for Rs.2.5lakhs, asks me to keep the car for a few weeks while he goes to a driving school (he was pretty desperate, his wedding was fixed, he wanted to show-off/impress his in-laws), As a kannada proverb goes: naayi hasidhitthu, koolu halasitthu (the gruel was rotten, but the dog was hungry).
With Rs.2.5lakh cash in hand & santro still with me I started scouting maruti showrooms for Swift Vdi.

All the 6 maruti dealers in Bangalore were quoting 3-4 months waiting time. A cousin of mine worked in Sagar Automobiles, a quick word with him, booked the car, a few phonecalls to some well-connected people to put a kind word on my behalf & lo behold the car was delivered in 15 days, on 21/july/2008, a gleaming sunlight copper Swift VDI.
Since there was a demand for Swifts (it still has I guess) nothing was given as freebies, forget accessories like cigarette lighter or seat covers, one had to pay for mudflaps & floor mats

Damage to the wallet: The car costed me 5.94 lakhs on road, after fixing other things (OE ZXI alloys, Michelin tyres, ICE, 3M sunfilm, 90/100 headlights, ciggie lighter) the total damage was just shy of Rs.6.50lakhs.
The car is costly at this price, but with government (central/state/localbodies) eating almost half of the on-road price as various taxes, one cannot blame Maruti for that.

The Verdict after a lakh kms: The car is a real value for money, one just cannot stop smiling while re-fueling, it has consistently given around 20-23kms/litre on highway runs & around 16-18 in cityWith its WRC roots the car is pleasure to drive with its great ride & handling characteristics. The OE tyres are skinny, but a tyre upgrade really brings out the best in this car

The Engine is a real gem; I guess much has been written about it in tbhp, need not elaborate further
The seats are very comfortable for long drives, but an option for side-arm rests & lumbar support would have been welcome
The car was a real looker back then, but now with 3lakh swifts on road, it doesn’t turn heads anymore. I have driven the car across 21 states in India & it had never given me a problem till date, no break-downs.

I was planning to start a non-profit web portal to promote old/ancient & renowned temples & over the course of two years travelled across the country for this project & also on my work, this car has never let me down, not even once.It has seen Tirupati atleast 25 times(once a month), Sabarimala 4 times, Jyotirlinga Shiva temples trip, one GQ drive & list goes on. When I launched my site epoojaonline.org on 14th April 2010, I realised that the car was a major contributor for the project

The car is cheap to maintain, spares are reasonably prices (with a few exceptions like Diesel Filter/Exchance Filter), Maruti authorized is pretty efficient, even though they don’t have much knowledge on Diesel cars, especially EGR valve cleaning etc, Maruti customer care is great, one phone call/email will have the service guys running behind you, even an unsatisfactory car wash feedback is taken seriously.
If maintained properly the car would serve well for many years to come
I had taken 4 years extended warranty & have till date changed the clutch assembly, front power windows motors, front brake pads, one headlight assembly under warranty; I feel the warranty cost is pretty reasonable if not downright cheap.

Great Tyres: The best thing in this car is the Michelins tyres(XM1+ 185/70/R14) they have run for a lakh kilometers including two punctures & can still do another 10k kms, am simply amazed, upgrading to Michelins was one of the best decisions I have taken, great tyres, good grip & handling on wet & dry surfaces.

What I don’t Like: rattles, as one bhpian said rattles are a free accessory with every maruti purchased, rattling started just 3 months after purchase.
Build quality is nothing to write home about, Infact my old santro after 5 years of usage was still in good condition, I don’t think Swift would last the same way after 5 years. For instance the floor mats have worn in just 2 years

Stingy maruti is unabashedly milking the swift’s popularity, no mud-flaps, floor-mats is unacceptable, low fuel warning indicator which is a standard feature is Swifts sold abroad is omitted here.
Delicate front bumpers cant stand the slightest impact, one minor crash & out goes the bumper & radiator not to mention the fog lamps & horns.
The brakes are insufficient for the diesel version, they lack enough bite for sudden braking situations, they may be adequate for the petrol version though.

The Wipers wear out faster, changed to Bosch wipers but am not happy with them either, waiting for someone on tbhp to give feedback on Bosch Aero-twin wipers before changing them.
Rear visibility is very poor, but a skilled driver can overcome that in a few weeks, might be difficult for a novice though.

The car had one accident on Rajastan-Gujarat Border & was repaired in Maruti dealers Kiran motors, Ahmedabad, Thanks to all the good souls on Tbhp who helped me through it. I wont name them, Guys, you know how indebted I am to you all.
Overall I am a happy cutomer. Though there are more choices in the diesel hatch market now, I have taken a 5 year loan & would use to till 2013, with another lakh or two kms on the Odo.
Pictures of the car coming soon.

[adnaps]

WOW !!! 1 lakh kilometers in 2 years !!! That is a lot of kilometers in two years

[VMG]

1L in two years is Great.

I went thru you epoojaonline.org site; it is very good and lot of information about our temples. I have sent about your website to my friends.
Excellent work done. God bless you.

best regards

[kkg]

e

The car was a real looker back then, but now with 3lakh swifts on road, it doesn’t turn heads anymore.

It still is. BTW their are more than 5 lacs of these on the roads not 3 lacs.

Great Tyres: The best thing in this car is the Michelins tyres(XM1+ 185/70/R14) they have run for a lakh kilometers including two punctures & can still do another 10k kms, am simply amazed, upgrading to Michelins was one of the best decisions I have taken, great tyres, good grip & handling on wet & dry surfaces.

What? One lac kms on a single set of tyres. Unbelievable.You deserve some applauuse for this . How many times you changed your brake pads?

[Lightening-Fast]

1,00,000 kms. Thats 5 zero's. Man thats a lot of driving in a year. I am sure you pushed your car to the limits. Waiting for the snaps. Dont forget the michelins

[hvkumar]

What I liked more about this thread more than the car review is the reference to your "1000 temples" - that is the big difference! That is a great show. We want to hear more about your drives to these 1000 temples in 21 states. Why not open another thread for that?

[kpzen]

How the hell did you squeeze out 1lac kms from a set of Michelins ?? (x5)

1lac kms in 2 years is a lot of driving.

[Fordmanchau]

GSMINC, wonderful report.
two things amazed me as everybody said here already
1) 1 lakh Kms in 2 year!!!! too much of driving man, how did you manage it??amazing
2) 1 lakh kms and more you squeezed out of your Michelins!!! again, that's called "milking" man . You squeezed a lot more from those tyres than their money's worth. again, i must say, it's amazing, shocking and surprising!! hehe!!
and as HVK sir said already, do open a seperate thread and write about your journeys to the different temples.

[epicenter.rulez]

this is how a swift has to be driven. great feedback brother. simply great!!!

[sdp1975]

Well written LTOR GSMINC.

Please open another thread on the temples you have visited, I believe you have visited almost all ancient temples in this part of the country.

[teefosi]

Kudos for driving a lac in 2 years indeed that's a lot of driving. Your website is pretty good and the concept is very unique and also makes it easy for people who cant visit these temples. I am sure you must have collected a lot of blessings by visiting these temples.

And the Bosch Aero-twin wipers are excellent as compared to the normal viper blades, even I am using the same on my Swift VDi and they are pretty good.

And good wishes for your website.

[anshurao]

WOW!!! 1L kms in two years is awesome. It would be nice if you have details of major repairs/parts replaced over the last 1L kms.

[Jaggu]

Woaaaaaah! That's a lot of kilometers! Glad to know that the swift has treated you well. I read warranty replacement of clutch? How and when was it done and how much has it lasted after and before that?

[rakesh_r]

Holy smokes 100000km in 2 years.I guess you might be spending most of the time in your car than at your house..By the way glad to know the swift held up good.

[GSMINC]

Originally Posted by kkg

e


It still is. BTW their are more than 5 lacs of these on the roads not 3 lacs.



What? One lac kms on a single set of tyres. Unbelievable.You deserve some applauuse for this . How many times you changed your brake pads?

They are boring to me nowadays

Originally Posted by Lightening-Fast

1,00,000 kms. Thats 5 zero's. Man thats a lot of driving in a year. I am sure you pushed your car to the limits. Waiting for the snaps. Dont forget the michelins

Photos coming up soon, my PC at home has conked stored all the oictures in them

Originally Posted by hvkumar

What I liked more about this thread more than the car review is the reference to your "1000 temples" - that is the big difference! That is a great show. We want to hear more about your drives to these 1000 temples in 21 states. Why not open another thread for that?

Sir, working on them

Originally Posted by kpzen

How the hell did you squeeze out 1lac kms from a set of Michelins ?? (x5)

1lac kms in 2 years is a lot of driving.

Frankly kpzen, I am myself astonished, for me, tyres usually last around 50-60k kms. These michelins are mazing, all I have done is religiously rotate & align the tyres every 3,000kms, balance the wheels every 10,000kms, there is enough tread left for another 10k kms.

Originally Posted by Fordmanchau

GSMINC, wonderful report.
two things amazed me as everybody said here already
1) 1 lakh Kms in 2 year!!!! too much of driving man, how did you manage it??amazing
2) 1 lakh kms and more you squeezed out of your Michelins!!! again, that's called "milking" man . You squeezed a lot more from those tyres than their money's worth. again, i must say, it's amazing, shocking and surprising!! hehe!!
and as HVK sir said already, do open a seperate thread and write about your journeys to the different temples.

Shocked myself, Michelin has just got a life-long customer in me.

Originally Posted by epicenter.rulez

this is how a swift has to be driven. great feedback brother. simply great!!!

thanks a lot, I have just climbed a small hillock, You have conquered Mt.Everest sir.

Originally Posted by sdp1975

Well written LTOR GSMINC.

Please open another thread on the temples you have visited, I believe you have visited almost all ancient temples in this part of the country.

Was just wondering if moderators would concurr with your idea, what if they think that I am promoting another website(even though it is non-profit one)

Originally Posted by teefosi

Kudos for driving a lac in 2 years indeed that's a lot of driving. Your website is pretty good and the concept is very unique and also makes it easy for people who cant visit these temples. I am sure you must have collected a lot of blessings by visiting these temples.

And the Bosch Aero-twin wipers are excellent as compared to the normal viper blades, even I am using the same on my Swift VDi and they are pretty good.

And good wishes for your website.

Thanks, BTW how much do these wipers cost,

Originally Posted by Jaggu

Woaaaaaah! That's a lot of kilometers! Glad to know that the swift has treated you well. I read warranty replacement of clutch? How and when was it done and how much has it lasted after and before that?

Thanks Jaggu, Your thread was one of the reasons for me buying this car, you just have no idea how much I learned about cars from Tbhp & particularly about Swift VDI from your thread.
The clutch release bearing was not tightened properly which lead to fluid leakage & release bearing damage, I insisted on a full clutch assembly replacement & after some dilly-dallying they obliged.

Originally Posted by rakesh_r

Holy smokes 100000km in 2 years.I guess you might be spending most of the time in your car than at your house..By the way glad to know the swift held up good.

Now you are quoting my wife