[speed crusader]

Greetings to all TBHP members! I have recently joined TBHP and thought it would be interesting to combine a long-term ownership report with a small introduction. So here goes...

I stay in Gurgaon and I have a Nov 2007 black SX4 VXi. I bought the car for 6.75 lacs on road in Delhi and spent an additional 50k on leather interiors and ADDO alloys, both from the dealer. In hindsight, it seems I could have had a better deal if I had bought these from outside, though I have no complaints with the performance of either. I have driven the car for 62,000 kms and the following is an ownership report:

General feel – The car is well designed ergonomically and I don’t have to slide in and out of the car; the seating position is a high one and very comfortable. The seats are such that one feels well ‘caressed’ while driving. Pedals are conveniently placed and spaced. The steering is adjustable one way and is easy to handle. Overall the driver has a comfortable position and can drive long distances. The longest I have done is about 9 hrs non-stop from Chail to Delhi. Back seats are also comfortable with adequate leg space; I am 6’1” tall and when I drive, there is still ample space behind me

Driveability & Performance – My driving is mostly city driving with the occasional road trip. The car is an easy car to drive in the city, with a very light steering and a responsive engine, though the car could have done with a bit more low speed acceleration. The ground clearance is a godsend given the road conditions in Delhi and especially in Gurgaon, that too during the rains; the car cruises over bumps and potholes where the likes of Optra and City have to slow to a crawl. Also, on mountains this is an advantage on bad sections. On the highway is where the car really is a pleasure to drive with performance including acceleration in the high rev band better than at the low end (my opinion). One thing lacking is weighing up of the steering at high speeds, which could have made highway driving a blissful experience. I usually do not drive over 110-120 because of unexpected cars/animals/people on our ‘highways’, but have on occasions driven upto 140-145, with scope for another 25-30 kmph increase I felt. It is at speeds in excess of 110-120 that a heavier steering response would have been appreciated. The suspension setup is more than adequate but not as good as the Honda City (an extra 2 lacs in cost). I get a mileage of about 12-13 kmpl in the city with the AC on and about 14-15 on highways. The OEM music system is pretty good for an OE setup

Maintenance, issues and costs – I have had ZERO engine issues with the car. I have however, had to get the following changed:
1. Clutch plate @55,000 kms – Cost about 3.5k – This i feel was due to the way i used to drive when i was really frustrated with the traffic; changing into 3rd gear at 70 kms to overtake/ intimidate. I have since stopped this practice
2. Brake pad at @50,000 kms – Cost about 3k – Normal wear and tear
3. Beam connecting the shockers in the front – Cost about 13k – Repeated driving over bad roads, at times at high speed resulted in a small bend in this beam. The car was still driveable but on tight turns this bend used to scrape the body, so I got that changed
4. Motorised side view mirror – Cost 1.4k – A local bus took this off my car during rush hour at IFFCO Chowk in Gurgaon. I was surprised at how cheap this was. The service center told me that for a wagon r the motorised mirror costs 6.5k!! It is also very cheap compared to other brands’ cars
5. Wipers – Cost Rs 300 – After 3 years, I thought it would be advisable

This is all I have had to change in the car. I am surprised the original tubeless Bridgestone Turanza’s are still going strong with another about 15000 kms in them, though I plan to get them changed at the 70000kms service and I will stick with the Turanza’s. In all the services, I always get the wheels aligned, balanced and rotated, which I think has added to their life. I have however, had to get tubes put in 2 of the tyres because one night about 2 years back at a friends’ place in Rajinder Nagar, right opposite Ganga Ram, some fool decided to puncture 2 of my tyres with something real nasty because the holes were as thick as my little finger. This is a very common practice in alot of parts of Delhi, god knows for what reason!!

Overall Assessment

The Good – Value for money, the ground clearance, cheap spares & maintenance and driveability
The Bad – Serious blind spots due to A pillar. Have to be cautious at roundabouts. Feels a little underpowered at times, especially on mountains. View from rear view mirror is limited due to the rising panel behind the rear seats.
The Ugly – NONE!
The desirable – A 2 litre engine would have done wonders for this car, but would have cost more with duties and taxes.

I have no plans on selling this car ever. For one, with the new VTT and diesel engines, I will not get much resale value and second there is nothing wrong with the car at all!! At the back of my mind I have this thought of getting the engine turbo charged and the suspension and chassis strengthened, but that’s all for a later date

So thats it about the car!!

Now a bit about me. I am 30 years old and stay in Gurgaon with my wife. My parents and in-laws stay in Delhi. I grew up in Lucknow and learnt driving at the age of 13 on an ambassador with the gear shift near the steering. While growing up, I have driven the ambassador, padmini, omni, 800, gypsy and esteem extensively. My first car was an Indica V2 DLS, which I drove for 52,000 kms in 25 months. I loved the car. I personally feel it was a brilliant car for its time and cost. Now I have the SX4. After getting married almost 4 years back, we bought a second hand wagon r for my wife. We sold the wagon r and bought the Scorpio MHawk, SLE 2 months back. That also is an easy-drive car given its size and a pleasure to drive

I am going to Leh in the Scorpio on 9th Sep, coming back 24th Sep. I will update on that later.

Look forward to interacting with all of you more often

Regards

PS: I do not get to check TBHP very often so will likely take time to reply to queries/suggestions/comments/questions

[ghodlur]

@Speed crusader,

Let me be the first one to welcome you to T-BHP and congratulate you on completing 62K on the SX4. I guess its been an amazing long association with the car and can see you have crunched sufficient mileage too. Before finalizing the SX4 had you test driven other cars too, how do you compare yours with the other cars?

BTW we need more pics of your mean machine. Good to know that your ride is serving you well.

[speed crusader]

Hi Ghodlur. Thanks for welcoming me on this forum. I had an Indica V2 which I bought because I used to travel between Delhi and Gurgaon each day, a round trip of around 75 kms, and needed a car low on fuel cost. Then I changed jobs and moved closer to home and thought I could buy a petrol car which was also more refined than the V2.

Surprisingly the only car i test drove was the Logan, which I didn't like much. I did not even test drive the SX4. My cousin had one and he used to go on and on about what a value buy the SX4 is, and given that there was no other sedan in the price range (and my budget), i just went for it as a sort of blind buy I would say...and almost 4 years later, I do not regret my decision one bit!! It has been a long and satisfying association. I will click some pics of the car; I have not clicked any yet

Regards
Crusader

[vigsom]

Welcome aboard,SpeedC

That is a lovely machine you have ; the dark colour would warrant a lot of labour to keep the car clean.

Except for the suspension lower arms and the clutch plate ,sx4 parts are pretty reasonably priced ; and you'll be smiling on seeing your bills.

Congratulations on the SLE as well ; and enjoy your journey with t-bhp

[filcord]

Great write-up. There are very few long-term experiences posted here, and as a recent SX4 purchaser I feel reassured.
I agree that the low-speed pickup is inadequate, even though I have the VVT engine. I was used to the Baleno, which I had for over five years, where would gun the engine in any gear and the machine would shoot off like an arrow.
I've now discovered that ance you get the revs up, the engine has plenty of pep in it. It'll take me some time to adjust I suppose.

[rkbharat]

Nice. SX4 is definitely a value for money car I have driven mine foe 53K Km on some of the rough terrains, Including Ladakh and Kinnaur. I am perfectly happy with it

So we have three things in common

1. We both live in Gurgaon
2. we both have SX4
3. We both leaving for Ladakh on 9th Sep

[rajneeesh]

Originally Posted by rkbharat

Nice. SX4 is definitely a value for money car I have driven mine foe 53K Km on some of the rough terrains, Including Ladakh and Kinnaur. I am perfectly happy with it

So we have three things in common

1. We both live in Gurgaon
2. we both have SX4
3. We both leaving for Ladakh on 9th Sep

You can add another point. Both of you had an Indica prior to the SX4. The Ladakh bug seems to have bitten you nice and proper. Wishing you both a safe and enjoyable trip and demanding a great travellogue when you get back.

[rkbharat]

Originally Posted by rajneeesh

You can add another point. Both of you had an Indica prior to the SX4. The Ladakh bug seems to have bitten you nice and proper. Wishing you both a safe and enjoyable trip and demanding a great travellogue when you get back.

Wow, good one, I loved my Indica the core of my heart

Yes bitten nice and proper . But no more Ladakh for next couple of years.

May be NE and Bhutan

[rajneeesh]

I just hope I can take time out from work and family for such a trip. Beginning a fresh innings with a new company tommorow, so the next few months will be tight. NE and Bhutan sound too good to be true.

Originally Posted by speed crusader

I am going to Leh in the Scorpio on 9th Sep, coming back 24th Sep. I will update on that later.

Nice report, speed crusader. My Linea will also be leaving Bangalore on the same night to Leh via Srinagar!

[speed crusader]

I would like to thank all of you for such a warm reception to the forum. Cheers folks

Originally Posted by rkbharat

Nice. SX4 is definitely a value for money car I have driven mine foe 53K Km on some of the rough terrains, Including Ladakh and Kinnaur. I am perfectly happy with it

So we have three things in common

1. We both live in Gurgaon
2. we both have SX4
3. We both leaving for Ladakh on 9th Sep

@rkbharat me taking the manali route, would be spending the 10th in Manali and spending a not so fast 3 days from manali to leh. Have a HR 26 number olive green scorpio with a roof mounted carrier and I presume from your Avatar that you have a silver SX4; we might just cross paths if you taking the same route

[F150]

Nice review SC. Sx4 looks good in black. And your car gave you a trouble free ownership which almost all maruti's do.

Motorized side view mirror – Cost 1.4k – Does this come standard on SX4 ?

Did you encounter any steering rack issues during these 62K Kms ?

[speed crusader]

Originally Posted by F150

Nice review SC. Sx4 looks good in black. And your car gave you a trouble free ownership which almost all maruti's do.

Motorized side view mirror – Cost 1.4k – Does this come standard on SX4 ?

Did you encounter any steering rack issues during these 62K Kms ?

Hi..yes 1.4k is the cost at the authorised service center. I had been sulking for 2 days thinking about spending a possible 5-6k on this, but I was pleasantly surprised when I found out the cost i might have to spend an additional 500-600 on getting a mettalic paint job on it; all mirrors come in matte black finish and have to be painted to match the body colour

No steering rack issues so far though I have heard a few complaints about the steering on the SX4 being 'hard' but i guess that may be either due to the a faulty rack or where the pinion attaches itself to the rack, the shaft, the steering arm or the steering itself. Personally no problems on that count so far

[mayankjha1806]

Originally Posted by speed crusader

Maintenance, issues and costs – I have had ZERO engine issues with the car. I have however, had to get the following changed:
1. Clutch plate @55,000 kms – Cost about 3.5k – This i feel was due to the way i used to drive when i was really frustrated with the traffic; changing into 3rd gear at 70 kms to overtake/ intimidate. I have since stopped this practice
2. Brake pad at @50,000 kms – Cost about 3k – Normal wear and tear
3. Beam connecting the shockers in the front – Cost about 13k – Repeated driving over bad roads, at times at high speed resulted in a small bend in this beam. The car was still driveable but on tight turns this bend used to scrape the body, so I got that changed
4. Motorised side view mirror – Cost 1.4k – A local bus took this off my car during rush hour at IFFCO Chowk in Gurgaon. I was surprised at how cheap this was. The service center told me that for a wagon r the motorised mirror costs 6.5k!! It is also very cheap compared to other brands’ cars
5. Wipers – Cost Rs 300 – After 3 years, I thought it would be advisable

Congratulations on a nice, economical to maintain car. I was surprised too looking at the prices of repairs and replacement of parts.

Clutch plate for 3.5K is really good and don't worry about driving style as 55K is a normal replacement time frame clutch plates go bad. My Baleno ones went bad at 55K as well.

Beam connection shocks usually last close to 70K and i guess the bad roads the car was driven on did take a toll on the longevity of these. Other than that all the other expenses are in normal range.

[tabrez02]

Nice to read the long term review, however one thing i would need to point out is that about your opinion on the lagging of hilly driving, I have never felt this and i have traveled much in the the ghat sections along with 4 in the car and luggage, the engine power is very much adequate and most of the time the gear would be 3rd, Rarely i go to 2nd.

However in your review you never talked about the air filter cleaning or changing, I would suggest you to change it every 15K kms if you drive in dusty roads and that makes a lot of difference in the power of the car and i would suggest you to change the wiper blades every year to protect the windscreen from scratches in long term.

Good reveiw once again and i hope my car also will do such thousand kms, currently it is only 22k in 2.5yrs.