[anup7649]

Mine is a >1month old SX4 ZXi, have done 2000kms on odo with 1200kms on highways. It has no rattles till now, am loving my car day by day w.rt. its cornering abilities and the way it takes off in any gear(especially after 2000rpm).
Have been getting consistent mileage of 11kmpl after 1st service in city with 100% AC. Got 14.5kmpl during my highway travel with spirited driving all through.

[gopinathann]

I have 20K on the odo and with 2 years I have got 1 or 2 minor rattlings not annoying though, and has been fixed during servicing.

[TarCruiser]

Hi, mine Sx4 Zxi has done 27K and is 22 months old. Till date I haven't observed any rattle. Yes quality is big issue, MSIL has lots of homework in this area .

No uneven panel I have observed but noticed few huge gaps
1. Gap between the bonnet, front grill and headlights
2. Headlights and front bumper

I compare same with NHC being parked in adjacent parking bay every day.

I have one major issue in my Car till date: The fan blower switch keeps running even under off position, matter refered to MASS, unable to resolve till date . Also the rubber beading in the doors are very poor quality, it gets sticky in rains. Dashboard area under the front glass has shine and irritates while driving under direct sun light.

[throttleking]

voted based on feedback from a friends, have driven sx4 couple of times and noticed it too.

Its my belief, if it is Maruti, it has to rattle. Doesnt matter if it is GV also.

Edit : one more thing, many maruti owners doesnt even know what is rattling. one of the guy i have met had a Swift, i got into his car and i said why there is so much rattling?, he said what is it? its normal, its so smooth. And trust me, i have seen many people like that.

Only an auto enthusiast is so bothered about rattling.

[KITE RUNNER]

Originally Posted by throttleking

voted based on feedback from a friends, have driven sx4 couple of times and noticed it too.

Its my belief, if it is Maruti, it has to rattle. Doesnt matter if it is GV also.

Edit : one more thing, many maruti owners doesnt even know what is rattling. one of the guy i have met had a Swift, i got into his car and i said why there is so much rattling?, he said what is it? its normal, its so smooth. And trust me, i have seen many people like that.

Only an auto enthusiast is so bothered about rattling.

IMHO, its' always nice to avoid to such 'sweeping' statements.

Well, Maruti has nothing to do with GV, being a CBU. If you have found that it rattles, the Japanese need to be blamed.

Since 1994 till early 2009, I myself have used three maruti cars (M800, Wagon R & Dzire Zdi). None of these have given me any major problems
even on bad roads & during extensive night driving.

Every brand has got it's own pros & cons and it seems senseless to blame a particular brand blindly.

Reliability & VFM are Maruti Suzuki's strengholds in the Indian scenario, the same being the priorities for majority of Indian car buyers.

[maglev]

Originally Posted by throttleking

voted based on feedback from a friends, have driven sx4 couple of times and noticed it too.

Its my belief, if it is Maruti, it has to rattle. Doesnt matter if it is GV also.

Edit : one more thing, many maruti owners doesnt even know what is rattling. one of the guy i have met had a Swift, i got into his car and i said why there is so much rattling?, he said what is it? its normal, its so smooth. And trust me, i have seen many people like that.

Only an auto enthusiast is so bothered about rattling.

Yes I agree! in most cases an auto-enthusiast is the one who's bothered about rattling, NVH, Vibrations, etc. This is NOT just with Maruti, but a majority of owners irrespective of the brand they own are ignorant to such stuff.
My own brother feels that the vibration in our 2 month old SX4 are normal where as for me they aren't.


But the fact that if its a Maruti, hence it has to rattle is incorrect, because any car, machinery or piece of equipment, etc may or may not produce the desired results as its not one but a multiple number of parts and components which are working at the same time. If they don't work in harmony then you will not get the desired results. period
All cars rattle the question is not IF they rattle, but When and Which part causes the rattle.

Originally Posted by rajneeesh

SLK, it is just that. Some people who do not own the car have created the perception that the SX4 rattles. In some of the cases the reason has been found to be the fitment od some acessory ( parking sensors for instance) .

Originally Posted by SLK

An interesting thing.

if one looks at the poll results,
most people who answered no rattles have sx4 as their car, in their profile.
many who claim one or two rattles have sx4, in their profile.
none who woted for the last two categories have sx4s as their cars in the profile at least.

Well, just an observation, maybe all have extensively driven the rattling sx4s.

Very true! I have recently bought an SX4 and I am yet to vote (will be voting post 5000KM)
A majority of people form perceptions/ preconcieved notions based on half and at times a quarter of the original information.


eg: There are a lot people who still say the CNG/LPG should not be used as it would damage the engine/ shorten the engine life, major drop in power, reduced Air conditioner effectiveness, explosions/fire, etc but how many of them have actually used a vehicle powered by alternative fuels Maybe: none. We've had a CNG powered fleet in the family 1 M-800, 2 Accents & 3 Esteems. We have not faced any of the above mentioned issues except a mild drop in performance.


My SX4 is about 2 months old, I have just faced one rattle. It was coming from the drivers side window. The rattle was not coming due to a fault at the factory. But instead it was caused due to faulty installation of the wooden door trims by the dealer himself. Two of the screws inside the door trim which holding the wooden trim panel in place were missing.
The issue I face with my car now is not rattles but vibrations, Irrespective of the fact whether the A/C is on or not, Once the engine is warmed up and the RPM settles between ( 0.7-0.8K RPM Band ) the car simply starts to vibrate. But since the car is new, There are no rattles at the moment just plain vibration.

Rattles occur when parts/ clips/ plastic pins are broken or loosely fit. If car manufacturers use screws all around then more than 80% of rattling issues would be solved. But screws being made of metal increase costs & plastic clips are cheaper. Hence the more expensive cars are lesser prone to rattles and have rattling issues much much later in there lifespan. This is the Reason as to why a Maruti starts to rattle, in a comparitively earlier phase of its lifespan as compared to others.

No part of a car rattles on its own. Only when it comes in contact with another part and the car vibrates do the rattles start this is true for broken/ loose clips and not the ones perfectly in shape which hold the plastic trims in place.
So if the door and other plastic trims in your car are fixed/ fastened using plastic clips then your vehicle will be more prone to rattling irrespective of the brand of the car. These clips have a shorter lifespan in our country India due to the fabulous roads we have, as well as incorrect ICE installations with inappropriate or no damping at all. Which in turn causes excessive vibrations leading to a larger number of snapped clips & hence the origin of the phrase "gaadi khadak gai hai" .



The Swift & the SX4 both use more clips than bolts. For each door Trim/ pad Maruti uses just 2 screws and 6 clips. These clips give up with age and the doors start rattling. Picture attached

On the other hand the Hyundai Accent is known to be rattle free for a long time because Hyundai uses 8 screws & 4-5 clips hence the car remains rattle free for a much much longer period of time.
(Check this comment: "Accent owners report that the build quality is better than most tinny Japanese entry-level cars, and stays rattle-free for a long time to come." Source: Team-BHP test drives / reviews)


The picture of the swift door trim below is used for explanation as it is similar to the SX4's in terms of construction and the number of clips & screws used.
The ones marked in white are the screws and the ones in red are clips.



Swift Image Source: http://www.team-bhp.com/forum/diy-do...ml#post1482003


Accent Image Source: My own car. All the marked points are screws as the clips are not visible from outside. Apologies for the different colours used.










P.S.: This is what I have learned over the past years, these are my thoughts, views and opinions. This post is not meant to offend anyone, under any circumstances.

[amit V8]

my dad's car is a March '08 model with no rattling. only there is a "dhak dhak" sound with the tyres, and that also felt sometimes.

[ACM]

voted here on the basis of the drive that i take to office twice a month with a office colleague who stays next door - when my car is out for servicing.

the car rattles bit but not too much.

[McLaren Rulez]

Originally Posted by SLK

if one looks at the poll results,
most people who answered no rattles have sx4 as their car, in their profile.
many who claim one or two rattles have sx4, in their profile.
none who woted for the last two categories have sx4s as their cars in the profile at least.

Well most owners would rather turn a deaf ear to rattles because it is their prized posession. On the other hand, a guy who doesn't own the car will be more unbiased. Can't see why anyone would want to "create a perception" that the SX4 is a bad car. People have better things to do than that.

[throttleking]

@kite_runner

i do not disagree with you about Marutis VFM and Reliability, thats the reason why Maruti sells so much.

But rattles are caused by poor quality plastic and fitment. I have owned WagonR for 1 year and was more than irritated all the time because of rattling issues.

[riteshritesh]

Mine is a July 2007 SX4 Zxi done around 34000 kms and I realised about this rattle only after reading this thread :-)
But as far as I remember, there are none, except for my drivers paraphernalia that keeps on making noise.
The only problem right from beginning was that of the clutch and accelerator sync in 1st gear with the A/c on.
I wrote to MUL and everyone under this sun and made them change the clutch assembly on 2 occassions but it never improved. Finally, I have learned to live with it.

[maglev]

Originally Posted by McLaren Rulez

Well most owners would rather turn a deaf ear to rattles because it is their prized posession. On the other hand, a guy who doesn't own the car will be more unbiased. Can't see why anyone would want to "create a perception" that the SX4 is a bad car. People have better things to do than that.

Well thats exactly the point that most owners would rather turn a deaf ear to rattles or any other ignorable issue because it is their prized possession. As you rightly mentioned a guy who doesn't own the car will be more unbiased towards that particular car as he/she would end up favoring his/her own car over someone else' irrespective of the brand whether its a Honda or a Hyundai.

[ACM]

Originally Posted by maglev

My own brother feels that the vibration in our 2 month old SX4 are normal where as for me they aren't.

All cars rattle the question is not IF they rattle, but When and Which part causes the rattle.

eg: There are a lot people who still say the CNG/LPG should not be used as it would damage the engine/ shorten the engine life, major drop in power, reduced Air conditioner effectiveness, explosions/fire, etc but how many of them have actually used a vehicle powered by alternative fuels Maybe: none. We've had a CNG powered fleet in the family 1 M-800, 2 Accents & 3 Esteems. We have not faced any of the above mentioned issues except a mild drop in performance.

My SX4 is about 2 months old, I have just faced one rattle. It was coming from the drivers side window. The rattle was not coming due to a fault at the factory. But instead it was caused due to faulty installation of the wooden door trims by the dealer himself. Two of the screws inside the door trim which holding the wooden trim panel in place were missing.
The issue I face with my car now is not rattles but vibrations, Irrespective of the fact whether the A/C is on or not, Once the engine is warmed up and the RPM settles between ( 0.7-0.8K RPM Band ) the car simply starts to vibrate. But since the car is new, There are no rattles at the moment just plain vibration.

Rattles occur when parts/ clips/ plastic pins are broken or loosely fit. If car manufacturers use screws all around then more than 80% of rattling issues would be solved. But screws being made of metal increase costs & plastic clips are cheaper. Hence the more expensive cars are lesser prone to rattles and have rattling issues much much later in there lifespan. This is the Reason as to why a Maruti starts to rattle, in a comparitively earlier phase of its lifespan as compared to others.

No part of a car rattles on its own. Only when it comes in contact with another part and the car vibrates do the rattles start this is true for broken/ loose clips and not the ones perfectly in shape which hold the plastic trims in place.
So if the door and other plastic trims in your car are fixed/ fastened using plastic clips then your vehicle will be more prone to rattling irrespective of the brand of the car. These clips have a shorter lifespan in our country India due to the fabulous roads we have, as well as incorrect ICE installations with inappropriate or no damping at all. Which in turn causes excessive vibrations leading to a larger number of snapped clips & hence the origin of the phrase "gaadi khadak gai hai" .

The Swift & the SX4 both use more clips than bolts. For each door Trim/ pad Maruti uses just 2 screws and 6 clips. These clips give up with age and the doors start rattling. Picture attached

On the other hand the Hyundai Accent is known to be rattle free for a long time because Hyundai uses 8 screws & 4-5 clips hence the car remains rattle free for a much much longer period of time.

The picture of the swift door trim below is used for explanation as it is similar to the SX4's in terms of construction and the number of clips & screws used.
The ones marked in white are the screws and the ones in red are clips.

Good Analysis Maglev

Regarding CNG/LPG - A colleague in my office actually went ahead and fitted a kit in his SX4 as a trial (but did not get the hole drilled in the body). He faced issues and had to have the kit removed. He was a satisfied user of the CNG in his earlier Santro, but the fitter mentioned the SX4 just does not do that well on the same fuel, maybe things have not improved - this was 1.5 years back.

Regarding pastic clips vs screws, yes do agree with you to an extent this is also the reason my tata safari rattles, they have too many clips (most of which break on refitment of any part and orginal clips are not easily available and the aftermarket ones break even sooner.) The safari doors rattle on this account. I guess from your snaps this holds true for the SX4 as well.

[himanshugoswami]

done about 2k so far and no rattles, but yes the leather on my seats does squeak when i take a sharp tun(on account of my weight transferring on the seats)

[iTNerd]

I have done around 20 K on the odo, and recently, took it to Leh with body skirts removed and had been through a whole lot of terrains and roadless patches.. and not a single rattle now.. what all I got is a dent in the front bumper