[vigsom]

Introduction

This is yet again an attempt to showcase the abilities of the older Grand Vitara (2007-2014), and the car's ability to withstand the opposite of TLC which is no care . What is being briefly discussed here is a 2007-08 Grand Vitara MT that has borne the brunt of unforgiving climate, unforgiving traffic, and an owner that would practically use this as a "fill it - shut it - do not maintain it" car.

Background

We have had many great ownership reviews and experiences with this car

1. the mother of all reviews by Samurai
2. sudev's experiences
3. R_R's 1,00,000km in 10 years
4. prateekswarup's outliers
5. sridhar-v's first post on his Grand Vitara and the many updates
6. Styler's 2.0 Grand Vitara and 2.4 Grand Vitara plus many updates
7. HTC's acquisition from R_R
8. Jaggu's 2.4 Grand Vitara
9. Klub Class' 2.4 Grand Vitara

and

10. Grand Vitara looked after by your's truly

However, what I'm going to showcase here is something different - a car that was only used, used and used with very little care, yet soldiered on before being laid to rest!

[vigsom]

A 2007-08 Grand Vitara MT with the good ol' 2.0 liter engine

I'm not going to pen a long story about this car but am just keen to highlight some important points about this car's journey

* Kms covered till date - over 5,00,000km
* engine untouched
* only one ignition coil replaced, that too not with an original Grand Vitara ignition coil but a close equivalent from MGP
* AC compressor - changed once at approx 2,70,000km with a Sanden 709 (not sure but I remember seeing the pulley to be 7PK with the 5PK belt on it) with compressor low and hi side hoses modified to fit the Sanden, and the compressor mounting clamp modified
* AC compressor changed the second time via another retrofit
* evaporator core once, again with a retrofit
* AC blower changed five times
* brake discs changed twice
* brake pads changed five times
* clutch set replaced once around the 2,70,000km mark or so
* rear wheel cylinders and brake shoes - replaced once
* all sensors original; no error codes ever
* suspension stock
* paint stock
* headlamps stock
* windscreen stock
* brake booster and master cylinder stock
* front brake pistons stock

Now for the torturous bit

1. Engine oil was sometimes never changed for even 20,000km, but regular top ups would be done since the car would lose approx 1L engine oil every 10,000km
2. Brake pads - would sometimes be replaced by modifying pads meant for other cars with close dimensions
3. prop shafts - never serviced
4. drive shafts - never inspected/serviced
5. car would barely get washed/ turned in for preventive maintenance service; this was more of a "fill it, shut it, do not maintain it" example

The rarely cared for beast finally laid to rest

After clocking over 5,00,000km, I was told that the beast was finally laid to rest recently - not because the car was not capable of being used, but because the owner was told that the car needed new driveshafts in the front, new lower arms, new stab link rods, and parts were not available; with the car in the garage for an extended period of time, the owner had also given up, I guess.

The car was scrapped for some INR 50k. Although this is a sad end, one must give the car all credit for having been able to endure despite little to no care, yet keep going on and on for this long. Hail Suzuki Grand Vitara! Hail Japanese Quality!!

Goodbye!

[GTO]

Thread moved from the Assembly Line to the Tech Stuff. Thanks for sharing!

Going to our homepage today

[AKSarkar1]

This car was truly a gem! A close building friend of mine who owns everything from an Innova to a Mercedes W212 still uses his Grand Vitara as a daily driver. The car has come to become more of a family member to him since his son learned to drive on that car and now his grandson also uses it to get to nursery school.

While he does admit that the parts are a pain to source, he says that the driving pleasure is unmatchable, his trusty ol’ Grand Vitara happily chugs along his daily office runs of about 100 kms x5 times a week!

One of my biggest regrets even today is not being able to buy this car brand new in 2007 while I had the chance and instead going in for a Scorpio! Truly a once in a blue moon model this car was!

[saket77]

That is Japanese reliability for you. Amazing ownership experience.
I don't want to point the cliché, but then really 'They really don't make it the way they used to'

[abaliga]

Kizashi and the Old Grand Vitara are cars that were made for Europe and North America to compete against the Hondas and the Toyotas of the world, Suzuki did not persist like Hyundai did, story would have been different had they been aggressive with new generations and continued with such models for 1-2 decades even if it meant losing money, see where Hyundai was in the 90s and where it is now! What a machine! The engineering finesse that the Japanese had in the 90s and 2000s to deliver an automobile that could run trouble free without proper maintenance is astounding, hard to find such cars these days, Take a bow Suzuki for making Kizashi and the original Grand Vitara!

[blueather]

How could you not recommend Japanese cars over Europeans after reading these types of stories? These cars are such rugged machines.
I have a Korean diesel right now but I was really close to buying Jazz. Hope I made a good decision.

[amitverma]

Absolutely majestic. I have a 2012 Honda Civic with around 240k on the odo that I used to daily and do this with. Its been such a beautiful machine. Never have I ever doubted that its reliability. Although other newer cars have come up to take its spot for daily duties, but its still parked safely ready to turn up for duty if asked. Its just that I no longer want to drive manuals during the day traffic. But my point is, hail Japanese supremacy!!

For context, 240k on the odo and never did it ask for any suspension repairs. The odd engine mounts have been replaced twice though, but thats a known issue with Civics. In contrast my 530d with 70k on the odo is making weird whiny noises from the front right axle. It could be the axle or struts. Its going to be big. And I'm scared. Just 70k on the odo.

[svsantosh]

Dear Vigsom, Copy to the owner too,

500,000Kms is a lot even by Dubai standards where it is very very common to see a 200-300k Kms car on a daily basis. Heck, in my quest to find an affordable used car I hardly saw a 300k+ kms car. Yes, the summers are harsh and car either constantly does 120kmph or stuck in bumper to bumper traffic.

But, 500,000Kms in simply awesome and testament to the owner in part and the car maker in part for not abusing the knickers off the car. He used the car like it is meant to be, last a life time like a house, and eventually upgrade if it permits.

A very rare example in todays fast and furious world, where no one wants to have car beyond 100k kms!

[SoumenD]

The car was ahead of its time for India. Had Maruti persisted with it (brought in newer generations) am sure in current market it would have been one of the top contenders. 5L kms is a lot specially in Indian conditions. Rest in peace legend!!!

Originally Posted by blueather

How could you not recommend Japanese cars over Europeans after reading these types of stories? These cars are such rugged machines.
I have a Korean diesel right now but I was really close to buying Jazz. Hope I made a good decision.

And based on such stories & experiences I picked up the Jazz CVT knowing very well it will be discontinued and was barely selling a fraction compared to korean competition. Time will tell if the decision was correct or not, currently about to complete 5 years (barely run 23k kms though)

[yshvj]

We still have our Maruti 800 which my father bought in year 2000. He still daily drives it sometimes mixing it with our grand i10, has done approx 150k with it and he does not go easy on the cars. As we live in Rajasthan and having farms, she has seen a lot of bad roads and even no roads at all, has been driven aggresively for the most part of it 's life. It still runs perfectly fine without any engine work ever (touch wood).

[blueather]

Originally Posted by SoumenD

The car was ahead of its time for India. Had Maruti persisted with it (brought in newer generations) am sure in current market it would have been one of the top contenders. 5L kms is a lot specially in Indian conditions. Rest in peace legend!!!


And based on such stories & experiences I picked up the Jazz CVT knowing very well it will be discontinued and was barely selling a fraction compared to korean competition. Time will tell if the decision was correct or not, currently about to complete 5 years (barely run 23k kms though)

I've completed 15k kms in 14 months with my i20 diesel. Only problem I've faced was when rodents cut some wires in the engine bay. Cost me only 600 rupees from official service center.

[ritedhawan]

Originally Posted by vigsom

Introduction
This is yet again an attempt to showcase the abilities of the older Grand Vitara (2007-2014), and the car's ability to withstand the opposite of TLC which is no care .

The mileage number is huge and is testament to the reliability of Japanese car maker Suzuki. The Grand Vitara came in 2.0 L variant and later in 2.4L variant as well. When I came across examples of these many years ago, most of them were in white colour. Its well-proportioned, timeless design was something that would attract attention of those who would buy vehicles of its segment. I sometimes wonder, Why Suzuki which had a first mass mover advantage when it came to passenger vehicles sales did not pursue sale of vehicles in this segment by either sticking with these models and bringing their iterations, or bringing in new ones, etc. As far as I am concerned, they had nothing to lose, their reputation in terms of providing reliable, fuss-free cars was and continues to be intact.

Nevertheless, this cannot take away the fact that Japanese car makers whether we talk about Suzuki or others like Honda, Toyota. Etc in unison solidified this claim of providing reliable vehicles that could stand the test of times. As a matter of fact, pick any Honda vehicle of that generation of which vigsom is talking about (2007-2014), they were pretty much intact except that usual steering pump and steering rack issues and even those issues , one could circumvent it if you don’t want to replace those parts.