[rajshenoy]

Nice review, I guess you surely maintain a daily dairy .. you described 2 yr old incidents so well.

I own a 2007 Vxi as well and completely happy with my car. Though my usage is not as much as you, i have so far managed about 32K on the odo. absolutely no complains and car still looks new.

Like you also mentioned, i am still running my stock JK tornadoes and they still look like they have more than 40% life left. So I will have to wait for hunting my next set of wheels(no regrets though)

[noopster]

Thanks raj. I have maintained detailed records of every service or repair performed on my cars. In fact I was getting increasingly worried that I might lose all that data so decided to get it online and not have to worry about it!

I would recommend you switch to Yoko A drives or Michelins as soon as possible. Perhaps you can squeeze 10K more out of your tyres but don't let them see another monsoon. Trust me you will love the difference.

[Abhi_Automobile]

Hey buddy, nice review. Keep her in good condition, will ya!

Tremendous similarities with my preferences and repertoire (of cars).

*I have a red Swift too. 2006.
*I have an old Matiz at home, which nobody drives. 2001
*I have a Beat LS at home. 2011 .
*I'll most probably buy a Vento TDI Highline as soon.
*My next purchase will definitely be D segmenter. I mean, C segmenters are great value, but none of them have any sense of premiumness that you will find with a Jetta/Laura (or even Civic) . In fact, I am still toying with the idea of going for the new Jetta (if I can afford one)

BTW, very interested trend: A lot of Vento owners are previous Swift owners. I guess its a natural progression. Vento has all the things that we loved about Swift but does away with some of the glitches we all hate. For e.g. Swift is dynamic, so is the Vento (somewhat). Swift has good image, so has the Vento. Swift has good engines, so has the Vento.

On the contrary, I just see too many tbhpins going for a Verna after Swift (or maybe I'll be proved wrong soon). ((All)Hyundai cars are exactly opposite of what the Swift is.

Enjoy your ride!

[noopster]

Abhi, I do think cars are a reflection of a person's personality so it's really not that big a suprise that certain "types" of people tend to buy the same car! I also noticed the trend of Swift owners opting for Vento after a number of us (naveen.raju, myself and some more) made the transition.

You're dead right about us being in synch car-wise: I consider the Matiz to be just about the best VFM car ever launched in India (my best friend sold his for 60K when Daewoo went under and I gave him hell for it!) and the Beat (esp Diesel) is one I wouldn't mind picking up as a city cruiser.

Thanks for stopping by!

[noopster]

Quick update: my friend who is using this car these days has taken care of a nasty bruise on the rear bumper that was caused when I reversed into a gate pillar trying to squeeze into a tight parking space at my parents' in Mumbai. He also got rid of a few ugly scratches on the side that he'd caused when taking the car of its arking space in his apartment.

He did this at a small body shop at Sus Road (near Balaji temple circle). Originally planned to do it at Tune Up Plus but got pissed off by the guy's attitude apparently (don't ask- my friend is temperamental himself and tha's all I could get out of him!)

Car looks good- need to take and post some pics of it someday soon, problem is I don't see the car much these days!

[Abhi_Automobile]

Hey buddy!

Saw you ever so slightly cringe about the rising fuel (oh sorry 'petrol') cost. We all do..I do it all the time.

Any plans to balance out the balance sheet? One of my friend got his car converted to CNG and is having a blast. I drove the car and found it to be 'ever so slightly slow'. I'd say a poorly maintained car running on petrol will also offer you similar performance.

Thinking about CNG conversion? OR exchange for new ZDi maybe? Or are you getting a new 5 - series

[noopster]

Bah no! I am quite happy with the Swift thanks. My friend who's currently using it is all set to emigrate again which means we will be a two-car family soon! Wifey has promised she will drive the Swift on a daily basis. I plan to get her hooked on the Vento so that I can mod the Swifty and use that as my primary again Will start haunting the mods section soon!

Other updates: have installed some cool Rockford Fosgate speakers (door rounds in front and ovals on MDF tray at back)- they sound good but I hardly see the car these days let alone do a lengthy audition! Cost 8.4K at my FNAG (friendly neighbourhood accessories guy). Took Navin's and other ICE gurus' advice before going ahead- quite happy with the results.

Have asked my friend to take some good pics of the Swifty (he is an awesome photographer)- let me remind him again

[noopster]

Ole Swifty is getting ready to rejoin the garage. Now I need to find a place to park her!

Summary of the changes that have taken place recently (I just got all the receipts today):

• Panel and rear bumper repainting- Jul '11- 3500/-
• Clutch replacement and overhaul- Sep '11- 4444/-
• Right hand side fog lamp not functioning- Oct '11- replacement for 1300/-
• Rockford Fosgate speakers installed- 8400/-

Some body work and a 70,000 km service will probably get done by tomorrow: estimated cost: 11,000/- (seems a trifle high)

Will post more pics once all this is done.

Am thinking of some mods on this once she's mine again.

• K&N filter
• Cold air intake (is it the same as above?)
• Some cool seat cover options (am on the OE fabric- any low cost options to faux leather, which I hate, are welcome)
• An amp? Have not had a chance to audition the new speakers thoroughly but the output seemed a little disappointing when I heard them on occasion
• Tuning box? Is it even worth it?

[k_nitin_r]

I drove my sister's Swift LDi yesterday, which has covered over 65,000 km and runs quite well. It has an Autocop power window setup (hooked up to the Autocop security system) that went bust so it's awaiting repairs (Autocop personnel aren't available for 3 days because of the holiday season; we had a technician come over yesterday and asked us to drive it in on Monday). Apart from that, it hasn't had any break downs yet.

I plan to drive it on the highway for a quick trip to Pochampad and back this weekend for a better assessment of the car. It's the second hatchback I drove (the last was a Zen that I drove for about a month) so it took a while to get used to while reversing. After driving the Esteem, I did feel that visibility was more obstructed by the A-pillar on the Swift than on the Esteem so I had to lean forward to see traffic on both sides when entering crossroads.

Originally Posted by Swanand Inamdar

Change the clutch at 25K? Hmm, never been given that advice by MAS till date. Have owned 4 cars from their stable, and for none was I asked to change the clutch.

Same here. I have a 7-year-old 2004 Esteem Di that hasn't needed a clutch change. My sister's Swift LDi didn't have its clutch changed either. I do manage to start without touching the accelerator on 1st gear like one other poster mentioned so I guess that is a very crude way to say, "Yes, my clutch is fine."

Originally Posted by noopster

Thanks raj. I have maintained detailed records of every service or repair performed on my cars. In fact I was getting increasingly worried that I might lose all that data so decided to get it online and not have to worry about it!

You ought to put up a blog about your car. I'd be visiting your blog and posting comments on it and I'm sure a lot of other folks here would be doing so as well. You can set one up at WordPress.com or BlogSpot.com, and if you want to have a custom setup, drop me a PM.

I remember all of the repairs performed on my car but don't have a record of every service visit because I usually hand over the keys to my brother-in-law when I need to fly out and between the two of us, we do manage to service the car frequently enough because we haven't had any breakdowns yet. Twice we had an oil change with under 1,000km between oil changes because we didn't know the other had just serviced the car - and, yes, a blog would have helped there .

[quadbike]

Whats the F.E in the city ? By the way I love your alloys, I have a Sparkle Blue i20, I may go for those when I change my O.E rims/wheels.

[noopster]

Thanks quad. I get around 13 kmpl in Pune city. Highways 15 easy.

Matte black alloys look awesome on any shade but very few people pair them with a dark coloured car. I did- and it worked! So should you

It's almost a year now that Swifty got relegated to second car status and I am now toying with the idea of selling her off. Taking some opinions from people that I trust. Will update shortly!

[noopster]

A nice pic of my Swifty taken by the friend whom I had lent it to:



After debating the pros and cons, looks like this car is here to stay. I don't have the heart to let it go for 2 point something lac after spending so much money and time over it. Petrol prices be damned - I love this car!

[k_nitin_r]

Originally Posted by noopster

Matte black alloys look awesome on any shade but very few people pair them with a dark coloured car

I think black matte alloys go better with a dark colored car - they go well with black or dark cherry red. I don't know if navy

Originally Posted by noopster

I don't have the heart to let it go for 2 point something lac after spending so much money and time over it.

Re-sale values for cars in India are quite low. It's mostly a buyers' market. The only cars that don't lose value are the 5+ year old cars that are mostly depreciated. If you have the space to keep a second car, you should probably keep the car.

[arindambasu13]

Originally Posted by noopster

I don't have the heart to let it go for 2 point something lac after spending so much money and time over it. Petrol prices be damned - I love this car!

Nice pic and good decision. The Swift in its petrol avatar was one of the original hot hatches, and you have here one of the more exclusive colours (which was later discontinued) coupled with some awesome alloys too. The G13 engine was always great to drive, rev happy , and superb performance and handling as well. And of course petrol cars are in a league of their own in terms of the FTD factor, no matter how much the frugality and practicality of the DDIS engine is talked about.

And oh. Since a similar blue colour has made a comeback on the 2011 Swift, I opted for the same on my K12 VVT version. And slapped on some alloys as well with some fatter rubber. Here is how she looks. I call her Suzie- sounds like a hot babe, just what she is!

[noopster]

Been a loooong time since I updated this thread. After buying the Vento in Jan 2011 the Swift has been relegated to city drive use only. It has become the preferred commute vehicle of the missus. Current odo reading stands at 79,500 km.

A very annoying groaning sound had developed from the steering especially at low speeds. Showed it to a couple of MAS guys and also a local garage recommended by Moralfibre. All recommended a complete suspension overhaul costing 20-25k. It is an 8 year old car and I was hesitant to spend that kind of money especially since these guys didn't even open the car before pronouncing their diagnosis!

Finally took it to Tune Up Plus, an independent garage in Baner that comes highly recommended in Pune Tbhp circles. Asked member Amey to come along and he kindly obliged. Decided to do the crucial 80000 km service as well.

Car is now back from the workshop where it spent a couple of days. The groaning noise turned out to be a damaged stabilizer bar which needed to be replaced. The suspension was fully checked and the shocks and bushes declared to be in good condition. Brake pads were nearly worn so those were changed. Alternator and AC belts were replaced, oil and air filters changed, oil (mineral) changed and wipers replaced (new set including wiper motor).

Cost came to 9300/- which I thought was very reasonable. Around 1000 each for the service and wipers, 2000 each for brakework and suspension fix and the rest the cost of engine oil, filters etc.

Car feels like new now. Abhijit Lonkar who runs TUP suggested I change the tyres which are now at 3yrs+/28000 km. I have been using 185/70 R24 Yoko A drives which have got hard with age though tread is still OK. Plus the interiors are looking drab so planning to put some nice light fabric covers soon. Wifey is quite happy driving this-she specifically refused to 'upgrade' to a grand i10 diesel when offered- so may toss in an amp to go with the Rockford Fosgate speakers it already has installed. The car lacks ABS and airbags so we don't do much highway/long distance driving in the Swift any more. But it is a helluva car with one sweet 1.3L G engine that always sets my pulse racing. After this last service it is quieter, smoother and more peppy. Some dings and dents on the bumpers but those cannot be helped in this country.