[azeemhafiz]

Originally Posted by carboy

What were symptoms because of which you changed the clutch at 18k, 55k & 75k?

18k, the car broke down while i was driving and needed to be towed and then the clutch was replaced.
55k - I have had high vibrations / Shutter from the clutch while changing gears and the clutch was near absent. Also the rev count would shoot pretty high when you clutch in to change gears (Foot completely off the accelerator)
75k - Clutch vibrations still present, Service Advisor has asked me to change the clutch. Havent yet, but the change is inevitable

[Fornax]

Originally Posted by azeemhafiz

...today almost 5 years later here are the list of problems i've seen...
1. Paint Quality...
2. Rattling...
3. Stock Tyres...
4. Build Quality...
5. False perception of cheap maintainance...
Moral of the story: I'm not buying a Maruti again, I'd rather go to work moonwalking.

That's a real sad story. It would be highly beneficial for other members to know, whether these complaints were reported to M.Suzuki, and if so, what actions (if any) were taken by M.Suzuki (not Bimal Motors)?

I have experienced first-hand how poor-quality service centers drag the long-term performance of a car, and would've changed the service center within 1 or 2 unsatisfactory services. Any specific reason that you stuck with the same service center despite these grievances?

Further, #1, #2 & #4 fall under the purview of consumer protection act, you may wanna consider that route, if you are convinced about the shoddy product you received. Make M.Suzuki pay for your loss, both actual and notional.

[WhiteKnight]

Originally Posted by azeemhafiz

5. False perception of cheap maintainance - Maruti is cheap to maintain right? Wrong. They are bloody expensive to maintain.

Maruti maintenance is cheap because of three reasons.

1) The spares are available in the open market. They are not kept as nuclear secrets, like some other manufacturers

2) Due to the same reason, there are number of independant garages that could do the maintenance at a lower cost.

3) The are multiple options of service centers available. If you are not happy with one, you could try another.

Morale that would have saved you lot of money- Change the service center as soon as you smell something fishy. If you keep going back to the same guy, you paint yourself as an easy bakra.

[Zero Cool]

I had the front bonnnet and rear bumper of my car repainted at a MUL authorised station. costed me just 5 grands.

5 years ago my accent had a few parts repainted and the bill was 25k. they took 6k just to paint the rear bumper.

[METISWHG]

I have a swift dzire vdi and sticking on to it only coz i have to wait some time to afford a Cruze. my experience with Maruti has not been a very great one - between Maruti and Hyundi Service (had a getz before and now have a i20), i dont see a huge difference.
My biggest issue with Maruti is continious rattles with my Dzire, and even with the wagonR that my parents own. wish someone could solve them on a long term basis.

[azeemhafiz]

Originally Posted by WhiteKnight

Maruti maintenance is cheap because of three reasons.

1) The spares are available in the open market. They are not kept as nuclear secrets, like some other manufacturers

2) Due to the same reason, there are number of independant garages that could do the maintenance at a lower cost.

3) The are multiple options of service centers available. If you are not happy with one, you could try another.

Morale that would have saved you lot of money- Change the service center as soon as you smell something fishy. If you keep going back to the same guy, you paint yourself as an easy bakra.

Originally Posted by Fornax

That's a real sad story. It would be highly beneficial for other members to know, whether these complaints were reported to M.Suzuki, and if so, what actions (if any) were taken by M.Suzuki (not Bimal Motors)?

I have experienced first-hand how poor-quality service centers drag the long-term performance of a car, and would've changed the service center within 1 or 2 unsatisfactory services. Any specific reason that you stuck with the same service center despite these grievances?

Further, #1, #2 & #4 fall under the purview of consumer protection act, you may wanna consider that route, if you are convinced about the shoddy product you received. Make M.Suzuki pay for your loss, both actual and notional.

Most of my complaints are directly against Maruti Suzuki and not against the dealer. And Yes i have exploited atleast 5 different service stations. The build quality is poor, paint quality being poor, non reliable parts are the grey area

And yes, I have raised this with MS and they have a relationship manage call you and nothing more. I know of a lot of swifts with the same problem <A lot of them> If you want to paint some one as Bakra's, it would be quite a few who bought the car more than the one's who went back to the same service station

[carboy]

Originally Posted by azeemhafiz

18k, the car broke down while i was driving and needed to be towed and then the clutch was replaced.
55k - I have had high vibrations / Shutter from the clutch while changing gears and the clutch was near absent. Also the rev count would shoot pretty high when you clutch in to change gears (Foot completely off the accelerator)
75k - Clutch vibrations still present, Service Advisor has asked me to change the clutch. Havent yet, but the change is inevitable

I am not an expert here but I have read quite a few times on t-bhp that for clutch shudder, the fix is to let the air bleed out of the clutch system. If any of the experts can explain this process it would be great.

Other than that, clutch replacement is one of the most frequent scams run by the service centers - http://www.team-bhp.com/forum/techni...-overhaul.html

Other than that, there are quite a few threads about Bimal motors on this forum.

[WhiteKnight]

Originally Posted by azeemhafiz

The build quality is poor, paint quality being poor, non reliable parts are the grey area

And yes, I have raised this with MS and they have a relationship manage call you and nothing more. I know of a lot of swifts with the same problem <A lot of them> If you want to paint some one as Bakra's, it would be quite a few who bought the car more than the one's who went back to the same service station

I was replying to the specific point you raised about Maruti maintenance being costly. It is not- compared to competition.

Drop in quality is the primary issue we are discussing on this thread. I agree that the new generation Suzukis are not up to the mark when it comes to build quality. May be it is due to competition moving the bechmark a notch higher.

Originally Posted by carboy

Other than that, clutch replacement is one of the most frequent scams run by the service centers

It is. I do not know what fancy these guys have with clutch

[azeemhafiz]

Originally Posted by WhiteKnight

I was replying to the specific point you raised about Maruti maintenance being costly. It is not- compared to competition.

Drop in quality is the primary issue we are discussing on this thread. I agree that the new generation Suzukis are not up to the mark when it comes to build quality. May be it is due to competition moving the bechmark a notch higher.

Totally agree. I think you have nailed it perfectly well. I think competition has moved a notch higher, and yes if it weren't for competition we may have never realized. Kind of takes me back to draw parallels between Maruti Suzuki and BSNL, Time has moved on and they have not geared up.

Agree with you one billion %.

[Fornax]

Originally Posted by WhiteKnight

...
Drop in quality is the primary issue we are discussing on this thread. I agree that the new generation Suzukis are not up to the mark when it comes to build quality. May be it is due to competition moving the bechmark a notch higher.
...

Didn't Swift / SX4 set the benchmark by offering Alloys, Air-bags and ACC in segments that would rarely see such features? So who is really setting the direction here?

[p'arth]

Originally Posted by Fornax

Didn't Swift / SX4 set the benchmark by offering Alloys, Air-bags and ACC in segments that would rarely see such features? So who is really setting the direction here?

That was in the pre-2005 era. The industry has moved on very fast and post 2005 there has hardly been an innovative offerings from MS.

Probably the 2011 Swift may change that.

[Zero Cool]

Originally Posted by p'arth

That was in the pre-2005 era. The industry has moved on very fast and post 2005 there has hardly been an innovative offerings from MS.

Probably the 2011 Swift may change that.

swift was launched in mid 2005 and sx4 in early 2007.....how can it be the PRE-2005 era????

also till the onset of 2009 swift and sx4 were still the only one in their segments who were offering such loaded cars.

industry certainly has moved on but we can expect maruti to bring back the cutting edge with the newer model of swift.

[p'arth]

Originally Posted by Zero Cool

swift was launched in mid 2005 and sx4 in early 2007.....how can it be the PRE-2005 era????

Ok let me change my term to PRE-2007 era ... does it help change today's equation?

Originally Posted by Zero Cool

industry certainly has moved on but we can expect maruti to bring back the cutting edge with the newer model of swift.

Thats my point too

[sam_sant2005]

Originally Posted by GTO

• Poor build quality
• Persistent (and significant) rattles in first couple of thousand kilometers.
• Interior part quality sucks
• Uneven panel gaps
• Parts falling off
• Low refinement and vibrations
• Poor NVH (e.g. Horn is too loud on the inside)
• Clutch failures

Did we ever have a complaint about lack of refinement in a Japanese engine (SX4 a tad coarse at high rpms). Heck, Jap engines are inherently supposed to be revv happy. And what about the low rpm throttle response of Swift petrol?

Has anyone paid attention to the boot lid of the DZire? It is so damn fragile that it feels just like a damn wafer. Is this what we have come to expect of Maruti Suzuki?

Maruti quality has taken a massive dive, there aren't any two sides to this. Whatever happened to the blind trust that we had in MUL? Did any 1998 Esteems have the complaints listed above (poor build, uneven panel gaps etc. etc.). They are going downhill…no doubt. And they better do something about it before its too late to recover.

We say that Maruti / Suzuki cannot succeed in the 8+ lakh segment because of brand? HOGWASH. Its because their cars simply don’t have the sheer quality, refinement or finesse that customers from this segment want. You think the NHC is overpriced? Well, I can see where the extra 1.5 lac rupees has gone. Does the GV *feel* like a 15 lakh piece of machine from anywhere? Any guesses on why it has flopped in the market? At the risk of sounding like a broken record, does it have the quality befitting of a 15 lakh price tag?

These lapses have changed my perception of Maruti....and I know I am not alone here. Below 4.5 lakh rupees, their cars rock. Above that is where they need to work. I won't deny that the Swift / SX4 are great cars, and kudos to Maruti for offering a great diesel (1.3 JTD), ABS, Airbags etc. and a value-driven price. But the need of the hour is sheer quality.

Its quite a surprise that I missed this thread of yours for so long. And hat I feel like mentioning here is still, 3 years down the lane, Maruti is further going down. They have lost (Will soon loose) the hatchback and sedan market to Polo and Etios (or even Manza) very soon. I don't expect the new Swift's (+ Dzire if any) to do any good. The kind of attitude I have come across in Maruti Corporate side is also not too good either. Service network is the ONLY thing to go for a Maruti car as of today except may be the Alto and Wagon R to me. Above that Maruti is dead or near dead.

[Chetan_Rao]

Aren't we customers to blame too? I see so many among us who buy Maruti cars just because they have a wide-spread (not necessarily better, there's a difference!) service network.

If we buy a car based solely on how many service/repair centres the company has, what does it say about us? Why does service quality/availability for our vehicle become a bigger requirement than vehicle quality itself?

Why don't we go for better products with fewer service centres, considering you'll have significantly less issues with a better quality vehicle, and won't really need a service centre at every nook & cranny?

P.S. My family was a Maruti customer for nearly 2 decades, and we've had 4 different models from them at different points of time, but we finally moved on to other products, when it became obvious that things aren't going to change anytime soon. Yes, there aren't as many service centres as we may like, and we need to travel a bit further to get service for our cars now, but I'd take that any day over putting up with a car that just annoys the hell out of me everytime I get behind the wheel, just so I can leave it at the neighbourhood, friendly MUL A.S.S. when it develops a fault or needs pampering.