[jagzrk]

Having owned a Tata and a Honda vehicle, I can tell you that I will buy a Maruti even at whatever premium they demand just for the maintenance / service part of it. Nothing more. Maintenance is a VERY big part of car ownership and having owned these other two brands it hurts to see pockets getting emptied every now and then while people I know with Marutis maintain theirs at fraction of the cost.

The upfront premium paid does not seem like a lot at this point of time.

Edit: Even the premium of 1.5 lac is too less when we compare service costs. The maintenance incurred in my Tata and Honda vehicles is multifold that.

[rdst_1]

It's very simple. You live in a capitalist country where any business is allowed to sell their product at the price they want.
If it was a socialist setup the government would have controlled the profit margins and you would have gotten a price more in line with the production costs.

In a capitalist economy, the responsibility lies in the hands of the customer. We bought Fiat Palio in 2002 when many others were comfortably buying Hyundai Santro and Maruti offerings. Based on our 16 years experience I would buy a Fiat again. But when you visit forums like ours you see that maintenance issues are more with other brands. Still, people who do their research properly make much better choices rather than the millions who just want to go with a safe choice and which has always been Maruti in India, especially since it had such a headstart in selling modern machines in India.
Building a well engineered product and selling it are two different things. A road side seller may be making better chinese but still people will pay much more at a restaurant for the same dish.

[blackwasp]

I will list down the current prices, ex-Delhi (Petrol / Diesel) -

Swift
Base
Rs. 4.99 / 5.99 lakh

Mid
Rs. 5.87-6.49 / 6.87-7.49 lakh

Top
Rs. 7.29 / 8.29 lakh


Polo
Base
Rs 5.41 / 6.93 lakh lakh

Mid
Rs. 6.10 / 7.84 lakh

Top
Rs. 7.01-7.24 / 8.55-8.78 lakh


Elite i20
Base
Rs. 5.34 / 6.73 lakh

Mid
Rs. 6.00-6.59 / 7.31-7.83 lakh

Top
Rs. 7.12-7.91 / 8.36-9.16 lakh

I'm guessing out of this, only the Polo and Swift come with standard airbags and ABS. Noticing the pricing, only the Petrol Polo makes a case for itself against the Swift, but the again, personally, I will choose the 1.2 K series any day over the 1.0 petrol in the Polo. In case of diesels (out of the three), I will probably pick the mid variant Polo.

[navdeep.rana]

Originally Posted by jagzrk

Having owned a Tata and a Honda vehicle, I can tell you that I will buy a Maruti even at whatever premium they demand just for the maintenance / service part of it. Nothing more. Maintenance is a VERY big part of car ownership and having owned these other two brands it hurts to see pockets getting emptied every now and then while people I know with Marutis maintain theirs at fraction of the cost.

The upfront premium paid does not seem like a lot at this point of time.

Edit: Even the premium of 1.5 lac is too less when we compare service costs. The maintenance incurred in my Tata and Honda vehicles is multifold that.

Swift diesel's average service costs around less than Rs 5,000 i think (although some of my friends have told me it touching close to Rs 7-8000 sometimes). VW Polo would cost around Rs 10,000 but it is also done at 15,000 kms. Hyundai i20's service costs under Rs 8,000 for major service and around 3-4000 for ever minor service (major & minor occurring on every alternate 10,000 km mark).

So basically, you are ready to pay Rs 1.5 lac more hardly to save Rs 2-3000 for every service. That means you will have to at least get 50 services done (1,50,000/3000 = 50), which means, drive the car either for 5,00,000 km (considering the service interval to be 10,000 km), or own it for at least 50 years (1 service every year= 50 services in 50 years) to even out the 1.5 lac premium paid out up front.* Also which at the end of 50 years, with interest rate of minimum 6% would cross the principal amount by three times.

[jagzrk]

It's not as simple as you make it sound. There are part costs involved as well with regular service. A brake pads change will cost nearly 10K for Honda in my city. Suspension upward of 40K. Wheel bearings 15K + 5K labour compared to 3K in Maruti. Steering rack 60K. These are more than 8 times Maruti costs. Service is not just filter and oil change.

[navdeep.rana]

Originally Posted by jagzrk

It's not as simple as you make it sound. There are part costs involved as well with regular service. A brake pads change will cost nearly 10K for Honda in my city. Suspension upward of 40K. Wheel bearings 15K + 5K labour compared to 3K in Maruti. Steering rack 60K. These are more than 8 times Maruti costs. Service is not just filter and oil change.

Okay considering all these things, Maruti's service might be much cheaper. But since you are considering every scenario of part change and repair, we should also consider safety right?

You have named price for every car part but what if God forbids someone meets with an accident. Not saying other cars will always protect you, but one would have better odds of surviving in a safer car. How much for a human life in that case?

Have you ever thought why Maruti's spare parts are cheaper when compared to others? Something is cheap because it misses out on quality. Its not like they are putting the spare parts of same quality like the competition and still selling it about 1/4th of the market rate. It could be because the spare parts are actually of cheap quality is why they are cheap.

What Maruti does with their spare parts, it should do it with their cars also.

[jagzrk]

On a segment comparison for Maruti, the spare parts of a Tata Nano cost more than Swift. Surely, Nano doesn't offer superior safety.

Also, do you really think a Honda Brio or even Polo is leagues ahead of new Swift? Its a different story that the old Swift was sadly compromised for Indian customers while the euro spec was loaded with safety. In that case, I'll agree with you. There's no price for human safety. Going back on my own words, Leave alone premium even a discount will not and should not make anyone buy such a car.

However, I stick to my side of outrageously high part costs of many manufacturers though. It's like they make 99 percent profits just selling parts.

[abhishek46]

You have spoken only about the Diesel.

If you compare the petrol power plant, the Swift/Baleno wins hands on.
A major chunk of the sales come from Petrol power.

[Skyline_GT]

Being a Swift owner for the past 4 years here are my two cents on why the Swift costs so much despite lagging in so many departments when compared to other cars in the same segment.


1) Performance- It isn't the fastest hatchback in the market today but when you combine the robust yet unmatchable torque and acceleration from a relatively feeble 1.2K mill with the price at which it costs along with the rest of the car you cannot really complain.

2) Mileage- Suzuki over the years has honed the skills to extract maximum efficiency by tuning their engines by giving a right balance of both economy and power

3) Reliability- While every car has a lifespan after which it begins to give problems however one must not forget that the less complex the car the more easier/cheaper it is to fix it.
Swift being more less complex mechanically compared to the likes of Polo and Punto
We still see first generation Swift's chugging along happily on our roads more than any 5+ years old Polo's and Punto's

4) Value for Money- Thanks to it's simplicity Swift is relatively easier on the pocket both to maintain and run. Not to mention excellent A.S.S support and inexpensive spares available.

I would conclude by saying that, Swift isn't definitely better built than the Polo/Punto but it's built to last.
It also isn't the fastest hatchback but it's the most fun to drive car at the price you pay.
It's not the most spacious and yet it swallows all the family luggage just fine.
For a country that lives on "Kitna Deti Hai?" MS has given us the "Swift" which in my opinion justifies the true meaning of "More Car per Car"

As for the price they are selling it now, well it has been explained better in the posts above. MS is milking it's cash cow and we can't blame the poor Swift for it

[navdeep.rana]

Originally Posted by jagzrk

On a segment comparison for Maruti, the spare parts of a Tata Nano cost more than Swift. Surely, Nano doesn't offer superior safety.

Also, do you really think a Honda Brio or even Polo is leagues ahead of new Swift? Its a different story that the old Swift was sadly compromised for Indian customers while the euro spec was loaded with safety. In that case, I'll agree with you. There's no price for human safety. Going back on my own words, Leave alone premium even a discount will not and should not make anyone buy such a car.

However, I stick to my side of outrageously high part costs of many manufacturers though. It's like they make 99 percent profits just selling parts.

Yes of course my friend Nano has much better quality than not only just Swift but also of Maruti's much more premium Nexa offering Ciaz.

Picture speaks a thousand words.



You still believe other wise? Well that's the beauty of democracy right?. We can Agree to disagree!
Although I have posted just one picture, I can post a whole lot of library if you want me to.

[jetsetgo08]

Originally Posted by blackwasp

I'm guessing out of this, only the Polo and Swift come with standard airbags and ABS.

Just a small correction, I think the upcoming i20 has ABS, Airbags as standard in all variants, albeit at the expense of some other features.

[Dr.Naren]

Originally Posted by navdeep.rana

Yes of course my friend Nano has much better quality than not only just Swift but also of Maruti's much more premium Nexa offering Ciaz.

Picture speaks a thousand words.

It's high time people stop concluding various things just by seeing few accident pics.

I don't understand the logic behind this thread. The thread title itself is wrong. The cars mentioned don't cost the same.

[navdeep.rana]

Originally Posted by Dr.Naren

It's high time people stop concluding various things just by seeing few accident pics.

I don't understand the logic behind this thread. The thread title itself is wrong. The cars mentioned don't cost the same.

It's not few pictures sir. Internet is flooded with them showing Maruti's build quality. And plus, all the three cars does cost same. Please check ex show room prices for all the cars on carwale or somewhere. I didn't started this thread without doing proper homework.

Also one of my friend bought Baleno last year. While fixing the car perfume on the dashboard, we noticed the dashboard where we were placing it went inside at that spot just because of the little pressure that we applied on that area. Stop defending against true facts.

And it's not "high time" when people stop "concluding" after watching few pictures? How can you even say something like this? It's high time that consumer becomes aware about getting cheated on safety. It's someone's life you are talking about here. Being a customer yourself (I reckon), stop misleading other people against the importance of safety dear Sir.

Talk on the basis of facts and have some respect for human life.

[bhavik.1991]

I agree with Dr. Naren
Swift is cheaper than the other cars mentioned in the thread.

People buy what they like, their choice might or might not be rational. Mankind has already wasted millions of hours on such discussions. (Ex. iPhones vs Samsung/OnePlus/Google flagship products). If you think you can rationalize people by such discussions, I am afraid it's just waste of everyone's time.

[Dr.Naren]

Originally Posted by navdeep.rana

Being a customer yourself (I reckon), stop misleading other people against the importance of safety dear Sir.

You have claimed Nano has better build quality than Ciaz, that means more safer? Who is misleading people? Do read about NCAP crash tests too instead of searching for accident pics