[Rajeevraj]

Thanks all for the comments and wishes.

Originally Posted by W.A.G.7

Also any plan for a tire upgrade? But retain the alloys, they look good.

No plans as of now. The tires look good for another 10-15000 KM.

Originally Posted by hdnivara

Seems like you've built a good rapport with the sales guy at True Value.
Share FE figures once you start crunching miles.

Keep the thread updated and drive safe.

Yup he is a good salesman. Makes me feel good about the purchase and ensures everything is clear. Thats one key reason for buying 3 cars from him in the last 5 years.

Originally Posted by Habanero City

Does the car have a sunfilm, if so details please.
How are the tires for 28k run?

HC

No, just the factory fitted coating that comes along with the car. Will decide if an additional layer is needed after a couple of long drives. Tires are pretty good. DOnt see a need to replace in the near future.

Originally Posted by james

Just remember that even tough the car is high, the approach angle isnt that great! If you come down a hill onto level ground at anything more than 20kph, the bottom of the front bumper is bound to scrape the road.

Happy motoring!

Cheers!

Thanks for that info. I was assuming there is no way this can happen to the SX4. Ideal test case for this scenario is there in my apartment itself. The parking ramp is a short steep climb and most cars need to be carefull while climbing and coming down. Just the other day a new Fluidic Verna took off pretty fast and scrapped the rear bumper.

Originally Posted by souravc

A bit OT - since you are from Bangalore and have been owning a Maruti over the years, I thought I would ask . Would you by any chance know UM Cars (near KGA /Diamond District )? Are they still there ? Around 6-7 years back when I was in Bangalore , i used to swear by their service - had a pre-owned M800 which they helped keep free on any trouble at pretty reasonable low rates .

Yup I have heard about this one. I used to stay in that area. But moved out from there 3-4 years ago and now dont have the need to go to that area often. So not sure if it still exists.

Originally Posted by filcord

I suppose you still have the OE JK tyres? They should be good for anotehr 10,000 km at most.
When changing try Bridgestone, or the ones I chose, Yokohama ES501 Decibel. The difference will be obvious. The Yokos are super-silent.

Yes, currently have the OE JK tyres. Will keep this in mind when I plan for a tyre change. Thanks for the input

[indianv2]

Hi Rajeev,

Congratulations on your new acquisition. I am going to track this thread for sure . I can relate to all your emotions for the SX4 as I too love it. I have been in its awe ever since I drove it many many years ago. Though a resale dud, its true potential lies in its stance, ride quality (to an extent, I feel its suited for Indian roads), a rev happy 1.6L engine, and the Maruti badge. As for the issues while reversing, there are many aids that help reduce that to a large extent.

Also, in the pre-owned arena, it does come out as a car to watch out for. Pristine examples are not too difficult to find due to the low mileage that it offers. I feel that saving quite some bucks in purchase price (used SX4) gives you quite some freedom (of having about 2-3 kmpl lesser) with mileage.

I was told by my mechanic that SX4's range from 3.5 onwards in the used car market. A Chevy Optra comes second here (in terms of price) - but its a Chevy after all.

I am almost positive that the SX4 VVT would be my choice for upgradation a couple of years down the line.

Do keep posting your experiences with the beast.

Regards,

[V-16]

Congrats for the SX4 buddy. I have always also liked the SX4s looks. I know it doesnt appeal to everyone but somehow it looks well put together and has a very strong and sturdy profile. I had the chance of doing a Bombay-Poona_Bombay run in an SX4 owned by a very dear friend of mine and even drove the car for a while. I found it sturdy and composed but due to its high profile, while t eats bumps and is no bother to take it through craters on our roads, it came of the cost of handling, still not a major issue unless you like throwing her around the corners. If you do, better footwear and a stabilizer bar at the rear and front will make her stiff and good around the corners.

I hope you enjoy the car.

[Rajeevraj]

Just got back from a Kerala trip. This trip was the main reason as to why I was keen to buy the car as soon as I did.

The total trip resulted in me driving 1050 km with my new SX4. Update on the good, bad and neutral things I noticed after this trip.

This trip was always going to be the true test of the car. It would help clear the question as to whether this pre-owned buy was good in all aspects or whether issues not noticable during a test drive would pop up. And it was a perfect test. The trip included GQ High quality 4 lane highways, decent 2 lane highways, some very bad roads, a ghat section, and congested city driving. Below are the updates

Highways: Total Distance: ~500km

Good things:

• Excellent Highway car. Always felt stable.
• Cruised comfortably in the 100-120 Km/h range
• Great brakes. Gives the confidence to travel at high speeds
• Comfortable to overtake. Mostly done in 3rd/4th gear itself
• Tire Noise: As pointed out already in this forum, tire noise pretty high at high speeds.
• Gear shift: Noticed a difficulty in shifting down from 5th. Did not fall into fourth in a smooth motion. s this a known issue? Not sure if it was because I was not used to the shift pattern
• On twisting roads handling is a slight issue, that extra effort needed to pull in and out of corners at decent speeds
• Missed an arm rest and a dead pedal.

Bad/Uneven Roads: ~300 km

• Some of the roads were in terrible shape with large potholes and humps.
• No issues tackling these due to the high ground clearance
• The high stance also helped dampen the impact of these bone breaking roads.
• Able to maintain decent speeds on uneven roads without feeling any strain.

Ghat Section: ~30-40km

• Was able to comfortably pull 4 people and a trunk load of luggage. But due to it being a heavy car, needed to shift down to 2nd and sometimes 1st gear when taking the hairpin bends

City Driving: ~150km

• Did a lot of driving in Calicut(Kerala). Mostly narrow roads with very heavy traffic.
• Did not find any issues in driving around. Some very narrow interior roads were a little worrisome.
• Not a parking friendly city. So that was an issue in some places.

Other general observations

• Front/Back Seat Comfort excellent. Even after a 9-10 hr drive, we were all reasonably fresh
• ACC works great. Started with a cool 19 C when we left Bangalore to 33C in Kerala. In between fluctuations due to rains. Had set the ACC at 23 C and it worked perfectly fine. One key reason for remaining fresh
• Boot Space: Enjoyed the boot space of a sedan. For once did not have to impose any restrictions on my mother and mother in law as to what I could take back to Bangalore. Hence came back heavily loaded but still with some space to spare.
• Mileage: Got an overall mileage of ~13 kmpl which I thought was pretty decent considering the history of the SX4.
• Bluetooth: Missed the Bluetooth feature. Plenty of calls coming in while driving.
• DTE: Missed a DTE and real time mileage indicator. Considering that this car has a mileage on the lower side, this is a must have feature to enable the driver to adjust the driving style.
• Did a city run with 4 people in the back. How on earth you may ask.Well, one person was sitting on another lap. Point is that the car needs to have the height for this to be done. Which the SX4 has

Feedback from a preowned car perspective.

• Absolutely no issues due to the fact that it was a pre-owned car. I was worried about rattles and mileage and there were no rattles and mileage was as expected.
• None of my relatives realised it was a preowned car.

In summary I am extremely satisfied with my choice. This trip may have been
nightmare if I did not have this car for this trip.

Request to Moderators: Can you please help change the title to Preowned Silky Silver Maruti SX4 ZXI VVT comes home-1000KM report on page 2. Could not identify how to change it.

[Saanil]

Great thread mate! Sx4 is surely an under valued car in its segment. The new launches of Vento/Verna, Honda reducing their prices plus rising petrol prices are diminishing Sx4's sales. You mentioned that you are quite happy with the seats in Sx4. My experience is little different - I find the seats to be very firm and hard. Sitting on them for a long time leads to pain in the hip area - especially during bumper to bumper traffic. Sx4's strong points are : Good pick up, High GC, Maruti Service. I think its interiors are a bit boring compared to the competition but then it does the job. Enjoy your ride!!

[Y@SH]

Congratulations on the car! Its a steal. It is indeed a VFM buy.

[Rajeevraj]

Originally Posted by Saanil

You mentioned that you are quite happy with the seats in Sx4. My experience is little different - I find the seats to be very firm and hard. Sitting on them for a long time leads to pain in the hip area - especially during bumper to bumper traffic.

The long drive to kerala was a good test of riding comfort and I found the seats to be very comfortable. Not sure if the G-Sport seat covers contributes in anyway to better comfort. IN general during long drives my back tends to sweat a lot, but I did not have that issue also when driving the SX4. So it must be the seat covers. (or maybe the great climate control)

Other updates:

• Fuel Efficiency is still around 10-11 in the city.
• Due for its first True Value Free service next week.
• Back seat comfort well appreciated by family.
• Struggled a bit with parking in the crowded Bangalore Central Mall at Belandur.

Questions:

• Planning to fill Nitrogen in the tyres. Had done it for my Zen and did not find any major difference. Any benefits expected with SX4?
• What to install some sort of a Bluetooth mechanism that integrates with the car speakers. Is that feasible? What are the options?

[Rajeevraj]

Originally Posted by Rajeevraj

Questions:

• Planning to fill Nitrogen in the tyres. Had done it for my Zen and did not find any major difference. Any benefits expected with SX4?
• Want to install some sort of a Bluetooth mechanism that integrates with the car speakers. Is that feasible? What are the options?

Any inputs on the above 2 questions? I searched a bit on the bluetooth, but still confused on the options and cost.

[Rajeevraj]

Service Update:

So its nearly 3 months since I got the car. As per the True Value rules, first free service should be done within 2 months of purchase. Unfortunately I was out of town and missed this deadline. So finally last week, I took it for service. My choice of service center was Pratham Motors (Outer Ring Road). Ideally I should have taken it to Bimal(since I purchased from Bimal). But I opted for convenience. From previous experience i knew that Pratham would do the free service.

So on a Saturday morning I landed up at Pratham by 8am. Was attended to promptly. I mentioned it was a True Value car and I had come for free service. Service Advisor said no issues to do that and asked for service booklet. Unfortunately the Bimal guys had not given me that when I took delivery(out of stock or something) and told to collect it at the time of service. I said I did not have it but had the proof of purchase etc.. But that was not enough.

I had a feeling that they would not let a service get away from them. So I just waited while the Service Advisor decided what to do. Finally he called his boss and they said they would do it but would charge Rs500. I agreed to that. Next issue was the 2 month deadline. They said it could not be a first service as I had crossed 2 months. So it was called the 2nd free service. That was pretty much my fault. So did not argue with that.

I had no real issues with the car. He suggested and external and internal polish costing Rs1750 to which I said no. Suggested an AC duct cleaning. Told yes to that, but felt later it was not needed. Other than that Just asked to fill Nitrogen in the tyres. Also visited the accessory shop and got the car bluetooth kit they had. Its a small square device fitted near the visor. The wires are connected to the stereo system internally and power is also directly connected. Felt it was a good one. Cost was Rs3000. Will post a picture of that tomorrow. Seemed to work pretty well.

Overall pretty happy with the car. Mileage as expected is nothing great. And in a couple of instances had to take the car through very narrow roads. That was the only time felt the benefit of a small car over a big one.

A side note on Pratham Motors. They seemed to have revamped their sales approach. Few times I visited earlier to check out cars, I was not very happy with their approach and way of explaining. Seems greatly improved now. atleast 3 times I was asked if someone was attending to me when I was waiting for the Bluetooth accessory to be fitted.

[joelchandra]

Looks like its been quiet sometime that you have updated this thread. How is the SX4 doing now? Do you still have it and if yes, how has been your experience in the 48 months of you owning it?

[Rajeevraj]

Originally Posted by joelchandra

Looks like its been quiet sometime that you have updated this thread. How is the SX4 doing now? Do you still have it and if yes, how has been your experience in the 48 months of you owning it?

Had completely forgotten about this thread. Looks like I did not keep it updated.

I don't have the car anymore. I sold it in November 2013 after driving it for ~19K km. It was a lovely, solid car. Mainly sold it as I wanted to switch to an Automatic.

Personally I think it was a pretty under rated car and became known as a failure model mainly due to the brilliant Honda City (not sure of the generation) that launched few months after the SX4 and of course relatively poor fuel efficiency. It was solidly built, had a good motor and was a good performer in spite of being a heavy car. It was not very fuel efficient, but personally that did not matter to me. It's successor-the Ciaz, although is a fully loaded car and sells pretty well, personally I feel it lacks the character of the SX4.

Have not heard from the buyer since I sold it. Below are some pictures just before it was sold.

Note: Will be requesting mods to close the thread.

[joelchandra]

Thanks for the update. I have been using my SX4 since 2007 and it has been running like a charm. It has done about 70000kms now and I intend to sell it in another 2-3years