[mclaren1885]

Originally Posted by sridhar24

There is absolutely no problems with the Swift. As others have already said its the drivers who cause the accidents.

Originally Posted by Path_Finder

Again I would think the drivers are the cause and not the car.

Originally Posted by blue_pulsar

As jaysmokesleaves says, its the drivers.

Originally Posted by BaCkSeAtDrIVeR

Basically, inexperience / bad judgement of vehicle size / width, and the enthu which comes from a good handling!!!

Originally Posted by jaysmokesleaves

Cars are not prone to accidents. The drivers who drive them are.!!

Either most of the guys saying its just the drivers haven't driven the swift extensively in city and on highways or haven't driven other modern cars a lot before driving the swift. The swift IMHO is odd shaped. It has a lot of blind spots, in traffic how ever experienced you are you will definitely be surprised with that odd biker (even a car) spring up a surprise on you. And it happens quite often (compared to others cars like baleno, zen, elantra, cedia, lancer, OHC, palio etc). Its a lot to do with the way the swift is shaped, make no mistakes about it.

Before people take off on me, I own a Swift Vdi, I myself have driven around 25,000kms on it. I own a baleno and I have driven around 50,000 kms on it. Then add to it another 30,000kms on my zen, indica, friends cars like elantra, octavia, palio, OHC, lancer etc. All this in just the last 4 years.

[BenjiRoss]

Well, the Swift may have a few drawbacks due to its shape, but my 2 cents here:
1. There are more swifts on the roads - therefore the illusion that swifts are more scratched and dented
2. After I got my first scratch on my new car I actively looked at every car for scratches and dents and i seem to get the opinion that just about any and every car had at least one obvious scratch or dent - from M800s to Skoda Octavias.
Again - just a personal observation in a smaller city called Trichy!

[Parm]

its the driver sitting inside the swift which is the main culprit!

roads are not killers..........speed is!

machine is not the killer.......driver is!

cheers:

[F50]

Did someone say Swift? Oh Boy!

I own a Swift Vdi and its has done 8700 kms. Yesterday a taxi came diagonally from second lane and scratched my car's rear left wheel arch. You have to be very careful while driving Swift always keep additional 2.5 inches of gap when moving along with other cars unless you are unlucky like me.

Coming to the build quality, a day back I got my car ICEd and front doors were damped. When I checked the tin I was even more disappointed and thought that this car might not survive a heavy crash. I thought Cerelac Cans are more strong. Rear doors are like cardboard.

Whole car is pathetic. The only thing I like is the engine, the handling and gear shifts, it ends there. The build quality, the rattles, the plastic is rubbish. Im not as confident about me walking off in a heavy accident as I was in Santro. Hyundai is much much better. I will never buy a Maruti again. Period.

[mclaren1885]

Originally Posted by F50

The only thing I like is the engine, the handling and gear shifts, it ends there.

Drive the getz crdi and you will hate the swift engine (dud with dead revvs from 3,200 rpm) even more. Handling is a complete no on stock tires, even with upgraded rubber its a bit front end heavy compared to its petrol counterpart. But then that petrol swift doesn't seem powerful to begin with to me. Gear shift? Must agree with you on that one. The best part about the car is that if you have your girlfriend, dad, mom, aunt or anyone shouting at you, you will hardly be able to hear them over the rattling sound .

[blue_pulsar]

Originally Posted by F50

this car might not survive a heavy crash. I thought Cerelac Cans are more strong. Rear doors are like cardboard.

I absolutely agree that the sheet metal is too thin. But haven't we seen Swift accidents where the occupants came out unhurt even though the car was smashed. The outer sheet metal does not determine crash safety of a vehicle, does it? I think the Swift is a pretty safe car for its segment.


And regarding bumpers, many bikers have hit my bumper from behind, especially when I'm the first to stop at the signal. My rear bumpers are very much fine and properly aligned. May be I'm lucky, but still..

[akshay4587]

Be it flared wheel archs or anything else,i dont think you can blame any car for its design to be a cause for accident/crashes

99% of the times the cause is the nut behind the wheel be it any car

[TOR]

Originally Posted by F50

Im not as confident about me walking off in a heavy accident as I was in Santro. Hyundai is much much better. I will never buy a Maruti again. Period.

Do have a look at the Euro NCAP test results for the

Hyundai Santro(Atoz)

and

Suzuki Swift

-you would be better off crashing in the Swift!(hope that is never ever the case).

[harry2223]

swift was basically a european model .i have seen swifts in europe but they are of much better quality than in india . these are prone to accidents due to there extended width and improper judgement.but i think indica is first in the line in improper judgement

[F50]

Originally Posted by TOR

Do have a look at the Euro NCAP test results for the

Hyundai Santro(Atoz)

and

Suzuki Swift

-you would be better off crashing in the Swift!(hope that is never ever the case).

Is the build quality of European Swifts and Indian Swifts the same? I dont think so.

Look at the amount of airbags: Driver+passenger+side body+side head+driver knee.

98% of the Swifts seen in Mumbai are either scratched or dented or both (include mine too) Very few of them are clean. There are many parameters to it like:

1) the way you drive
2) the place you park - someone comes and scratches it, you cannot blame the design nor the driver.
3) Vandalism - You cant do much about it.
4) others - Example - I fear school kids the most. They are in their post-school-playful-mood, they keep swinging their empty water bottles. Bang! A dent! Or they'll pick up a twig or stick and joyfully walk home scratching all the parked cars. Or they pick up a stone and do the same.

[anachronix]

The Swift has a lot of blind spots where the driver behind the wheel needs to be extra careful.

IMO the rear wheel arch is the main culprit!

Will the Swift survive a crash? Well, thats a different topic to be started on the whole of MSIL Cars!

PS: Kindly dont compare the Euro NCAP ratings for the MSIL cars. They dont even have the vague idea about safety for their cars!

[watashi75]

I have quite a few scratches and dents on my swift. The earlier scratches were because of driver mistake, getting used to the size and shape of the car. But even now with 20K on this car I get scratches occassionally. So everything cannot be attributed to driver's mistakes.

When I come to think about it, none of these scratches or dents happened at high speeds. It was either at traffic stops or crowded residential areas when the car was still or moving at less than 10 kmph. There is something about the shape of the car which fools even the bikers and autos to come closer. In case of Mercedes or Skodas the same biker who would stay back 1 feet would be almost falling on my car. Besides the fact that the Swift is a highly maneuverable and quick car and other guys don't seem to realize that.

Is the Swift prone to accidents? It is about the same as other cars or probably even less because of the good brakes, EPS and handling. Is it prone to scratches? Yes, definitely!

[dskumar]

Originally Posted by kkdelhi

The bumpers are probably one of the worst kinds seen in automotive history. Am I going overboard with this statement? Ok, make that 'one of the worst among the current premium hatches'.

Mind you, I have owned Swift for 18 months and never had a scratch on the sides, but bumpers...(sigh)...they are made of the thinnest plastic you can imagine. Probably the only sore point in an otherwise wonderful car.

Very True and I fully agree with you. When the Other Premium Hatchbacks are having a good quality bumpers, the quality of Swift is the poorest of the whole lot. This will result in a dent even for a small hit, where as the same small hit in any other car might result only in a small scratch.

[raj_5004]

i also feel that the swift's build quality is really tinny and flimsy, as in, the body panel and bumpers. a slight brush with any vehicle causes a dent in the car.

[F50]

Originally Posted by raj_5004

i also feel that the swift's build quality is really tinny and flimsy, as in, the body panel and bumpers. a slight brush with any vehicle causes a dent in the car.

Another friend of mine owns a Swift and his parking lot is very cramped so he has to be careful while taking it out. One fine day, a zen was parked a bit off the usual place, touch and go situation types. He took it a bit sharp and the zen's (plastic) bumper hit his car just after the left rear door ends. This touch at less than 1 kmph resulted in a 'DENT' yes a dent!

If plastic at less than 1 kmph can cause a dent, imagine a metal contact above 40 or 50 or 60 or even more!