Got my Dzire Sovereign Blue VXI on 4th June 2008

[sharma_sanjeevi]

Purchase Decision:
============

Planned to take a Company Leased Vehicle, so basically the purchase was to save on the Income Tax , me and my wife started the search for different options, the cars on my mind were (Swift, Palio, i10), at that time Dzire was not launched, and i saw pictures of it on different forums, and felt that it is an awkward looking car as many of you may have experienced by the pictures when they were published.

I was looking for a Petrol variant as my running is less than 500 Kms per month, so diesel variant was out of the criteria.

I was more inclined towards the Palio 1.6 due to it's looks, features and a 100 BHP Fiat Engine in that price range, but my wife was not interested after she saw the interiors of palio, so it vanished from my wish list as i have to be at my home, and against the wish of the home minister you cant be there ). i10 i didnt like the car as it is an upgraded version of santro (personal opinion).

Then we considered the Swift and we both agreed upon it, and i started to ask for the formalities for the Company Leased Vehicle for the booking.

Within the mean time on 26th March 2008, Dzire got launched and on 28th March, my wife insisted to see the vehicle in reality, i was already apprehensive for it as far as the looks were considered (personal opinion), went to SK Wheels showroom, had a
first glance of the vehicle and i was bowled over by the sheer looks of the car, the rear was looking very good, and the front as you all know it is our regular swift the only change is the new grill with chrome inserts as far as the front of the car is concerned. There was no petrol variant for the test drive, i had already driven swift in the past, so thought that it is the same engine and the performance is almost same. So after seeing the vehicle instantly thought of booking it, but due to some personal reasons there was a delay in the booking and i booked it on 29th April.

Booking the Vehicle:
=============

Booked the Vehicle (VXI Variant, Metallic Souvereign Blue) through Vitesse on 29th April, the Leasing Company, which provides the company leased vehicles for our company, they told the waiting period of 3 months and after two days they told that the
waiting period is Six Months, i blasted them and told them to cancel the booking right now, and warned them that i will take the matter to higher managment of the company that they are making false promises for the delivery date, as they told the initial
waiting period for 3 months and now 6 months.

After the argument, the manager of Leasing Company told me that they will raise a PQ (Priority Quota) request to maruti, as they get a special quota from maruti, and will be able to deliver the car in a month, i was thrilled, atleast i bought down the waiting
period from 6 months to 1 month, i was still skeptical of the promise they made for 1 month, i told them to give it on mail, they gave me, i was surprised.

After a week of the argument, i received a call from the manager of the Leasing company, that the dealer has infomed them that the my car has been despatched from the Maruti factory and will reach in a two weeks time to Mumbai, me and my wife were
very much surprised, then i thanked that guy and now the wait starts )).

Dealer gave us a call on 24th May, that the car has arrived, and i can take the delivery as and when i wanted, at that time i was out of the city for my company's work, so i told him that i will be taking the delivery on the 4th June, as i will be back in mumbai
on 3rd June.

Delivery of the Vehicle:
===============

Reached the dealership around 11:00, completed the formalities, checked the vehicle according to the checklist provided by TBHP, it was all fine and the whole process of
the delivery went very well, the staff of vitesse was very cooperative and professional. Received a 5 Litre coupon for the petrol and some goodies and chocolates for my 2 year old kid from the dealer.

First impressions of the Vehicle after driving it for 152 Kms:
======================================

1. Pickup: Was very good, and the response from the Engine was superb, no noise and it was quite smooth, the performance i felt was almost the same as the Swift petrol. And there was a minimal or negligible drop in performance after the AC is
switched on.

2. Brakes: Very precise and accurate, i heard there was some issue with the brakes in Dzire, i didnt experienced it, may be as and when i clock more Kms, i may come to know, but at present the brakes are fantastic.

3. Gear Shift: Was very smooth and the gears slotted in very well, the only problem i encountered was that the 5th & the Reverse gears were a bit hard, will it get solved after running more Kms, or do i need to bring it into the dealers notice, please
advise??

4. Stability & Ride Quality: At the speed of 80 Kmph(is the max is stretched it, as it is in running in period) the vehicle was very much planted and felt very stable, and on the patchy roads of Mumbai, the suspension handled the potholes with aplomb, so
satisfied on that front.

5. AC: Cooled the Cabin very quickly, the Fan Speed was on 2, and after sometime, i lowered the fan speed to 1.

6. Rear seat Comfort: The angle of inclination for the back seat is different on the Dzire as compared to swift, so it gives a bit more thigh support and the rear seat felt quite comfortable, though the legroom is same as the swift, wished they would have
increased the wheelbase to create more legroom at the rear.

Styling of the Vehicle (Exterior & Interior):
===========================

1. Exterior: The best part of the Vehicle is the Rear styling, it is awesome and looks very good, i love the peeled off look of the tails lamps and raised part of the boot, earlier when i saw the pictures, i thought it is ugly ) (personal opinion).

The chrome grill in the front looks great and gives the vehicle a feeling of a high segment vehicle (personal opinion).

All in all the Exterior styling is great and looks pleasing to my eyes, wished they would have changed the front part also just to give it a distintinctive look from the swift.

Fog Lamps are a Nice touch, Kelyess entry is a very good feature.

2. Interior: It is the same as swift, the difference is that it has a Integrated Stereo system with 2 Speakers in front and 2 in the rear tray which houses the high mounted stop lamp.

The instrument Cluster is white lit & Chrome surroundings look pleasing to the eyes. Bottle holder pocket in the rear doors, cup holders etc. are the useful touches which they have provided.

The Steering Wheel is Small and Sporty and gives a good feeback and is precise as far the steering feedback is concerned. The Dashboard looks nice, it is same as the swift, wish they could have used the dashboard space well and also the glove could have been a bit spacious, it seems to be small.

The Center Armrest is a very useful feature which they have provided, when there are only twon occupants then it is very useful, and if there are three occupants in the rear then you can fold it up and the best part it dosent protrude for the third person in the middle, like it does in the SX4 (no offence meant for the SX4 owners).

Mileage:
======

I had not calculated yet, but will do after i clock say around 300 Kms, by the Tank full to tank full method, i got a full tank when i took the delivery, so didnt get much time to drive, experts please throw some light on measuring the mileage part, is the Tank full
method the right or you people suggest some other method, please comment.

Summing it Up:
==========
All in all a great value for money vehicle within this price range and the feature which it provides. some good service backup from tried and test maruti, i own a maruti 800 already, so on the service point of view i can say that.

Accessories which i installed:
==================

1. Art Leather Seat Covers.
2. Floor Mat set.
3. Leather Steering Cover.
4. Garware Sun Film (Front, Back and Windows)

Some of the Cons are mentioned below, which felt can be improved: (Personal opinion)
================================================== ====================
1. Quality of plasitcs on the Dashboard, Interior door trims & the Front Grill, you can press it by hand and it feels flexible.

2. Gear Shift 5th & Reverse is not smooth, may be it gets smoother as i clock more Kms.

3. Rear Visibility is limited due to the high boot (Planning to get the reverse parking sensors installed), experts please suggest the make if any specific, also while installing does the installation tampers the wiring, as it may have the warranty void, please
suggest.

Shortly Posting the Snaps of the car..!!

This is my First review, so please excuse me if i had made any mistakes, i will keep all of you updated on the various aspects regularly, and please do point out if i am wrong somewhere and waiting for the responses and suggestions from the experts )
till then take care and happy Driving..!!

Sanjeev

[vvvinod]

Congrats sharma_sanjeevi ,

do post some pics

[prince_pervez]

Congratulations sharma_sanjeevi on your new ride!!
Please post some pics.

[sharma_sanjeevi]

thanks guys, i will surely post some pictures, as i am a newbie, please guide me how to post the pictures..

[prince_pervez]

Originally Posted by sharma_sanjeevi

thanks guys, i will surely post some pictures, as i am a newbie, please guide me how to post the pictures..

Here you go sir. Just follow the steps and fast!

http://www.team-bhp.com/forum/announ...-team-bhp.html

[abhinav.gupta88]

Excellent Write up dude
Congrats for the new purchase
Hope to see pics soon
Any mods like Ice coming soon?

[sharma_sanjeevi]

thanks for the kind comments mates..!!!

thanks pervez for the help in uploading the pic.

the photo shows camera date as 1st dont go by that, as the date was not set

here comes the pic, which i had taken at the time of delivery, more pics i will post soon of the exteriors and interiors..!!

[sharma_sanjeevi]

Here comes Pic-2..!!

[Jaggu]

Congratz on your new car, i like the color on dezire. I guess they should offer the same color for swift also, would look good.

[ashish22]

sharmaji congrats for your new car and after reading your review i have started appreciating the rear of this car, it does look good.

[sharma_sanjeevi]

hi friends,

wanted to know that, does Dzire has low fuel warning indicator?, i searched the soft copy of the brochure but couldnt find it.

aside, i can see a "pump icon" on the bottom of the fuel gauge, will it be lit or it is in the ZXI variant?

[Autocop]

Congrats Sharmaji for your purchase! Nice pics.

A few interrior pics please!

That 80PS engine is really sharp and silent.

What is the FE you are getting?

[sharma_sanjeevi]

Originally Posted by Autocop

Congrats Sharmaji for your purchase! Nice pics.

A few interrior pics please!

That 80PS engine is really sharp and silent.

What is the FE you are getting?

Thanks Mate, i will definitely post the interior pics soon, the fule efficiency i measured with the Tank full-to-Tank full method it is coming around 12.7 Km per litre on 95% AC on, i hope this is going to improve further after second service.

The Engine is 87 BHP & it is quite a silent unit..very much rev happy, though i had not crossed the 2000 RPM mark, as the car is in running in period.

Can you tell me, that is there a low fuel warning light there in Dzire, as i searched the catalogue for features, i couldnt find it, but when i look at the instrument cluster i can see "Petrol Pump Icon" near the fuel gauge, will it be lit when the fuel is low or this feature is in the ZXI variant, need your advice on the same.

regards,
Sanjeev.

[ankit.jhamb]

Originally Posted by sharma_sanjeevi

hi friends,

wanted to know that, does Dzire has low fuel warning indicator?, i searched the soft copy of the brochure but couldnt find it.

aside, i can see a "pump icon" on the bottom of the fuel gauge, will it be lit or it is in the ZXI variant?

nope,sadly dzire doesnot have a low fuel indicator,the "pump icon"you have specified will be having an arrow on left side,to show that the fuel lid is on the left side.
this is one thing maruti has missed in all of their cars

[sharma_sanjeevi]

Originally Posted by ankit.jhamb

nope,sadly dzire doesnot have a low fuel indicator,the "pump icon"you have specified will be having an arrow on left side,to show that the fuel lid is on the left side.
this is one thing maruti has missed in all of their cars

Hi Ankit, thanks for the information, i will check out the "arrow" which you specified.

Hope you must be enjoying your ride with Dzire..