Maruti Suzuki Swift Dzire @ 37000kms, 3.5 years

prashant316 · 19th May 2012, 23:56

Hi, this will be my first review post on T-BHP so please excuse me of any mistake that i make and do let me know of the same so i can get better.

So getting back to the topic, my dad wanted to buy a new car (petrol) back in early 2009. We started off by looking at a long list of cars but finally boiled down to 3:-

Hyundai Accent Executive
Maruti Suzuki Swift Dzire
Mahindra Renault Logan (Mahindra and Renault were together back in the time)

And this is how we arrived at the decision of buying the Dzire - we did not want to buy Logan even though it was more sturdy and had a good drive because of the clouds over the M&M and Renault partnership (especially after having booked 2 cars earlier whose companies had shut down, namely Peugot and Matiz).
The Accent was dads most preferred choice but was not available for a buy in CSD as it had just launched then.
Thereafter left was Dzire. And Dzire it was in White colour. Even though i was against it, somehow i just did not like the car. But dads decision was the final word and in came the car.

The car was bought from Ahmedabad (Dad was posted there then) with a Gurgaon registration.

I personally had not even seen the car till after about 8-9 months and 5-6k kms as i stay in Delhi. I went to Ahmedabad taking a weeks off and planned a trip to Mumbai with my parents. And yes, we (read I) were going to drive down to Mumbai

It was a total of 1500 kms of driving from Ahmedabad to Mumbai and back which included the amazing expressway drive of Ahm-Baroda + the beautiful highway and city driving.

I noticed one thing on the highways that the car has 2 stages of power delivery - the first surge of power comes after crossing 1900RPM, the second comes after crossing nearly 2900 RPM. In between at 2300-2900RPM it feels a little sluggish, but after which it gathers momentum quite rapidly. This is only evident prominently in the 5th gear.
Apart form that i felt that the car could have done with much better tires (the tires were OEM from JK) and probably better brakes. But overall it was a great trip with the car doing great. And I fly back to Delhi.

Cut to June 2010 and my dads posting had come to Allahabad. He was getting an office vehicle there and i needed a car for my office use. Especially as our 12 year old trust Matiz had started giving me problems like stopping unexpectedly in the Delhi traffic causing queues of traffic behind me. Also, my dads monthly running in a personal car was going to be not more than a 100kms a month and mine was going to be atleast 10 times more. Hence the decision came to give me the Dzire.

I got the car at nearly 12000kms. I still looked brand new. And i loved it (mostly because i got a new car). Make no mistake, i am no fan of a Dzire.

Since i have got the car, I have majorly been driving it in the city itself with two major trips - one to mussorie and the other to Rishikesh.

Apart from that I have participated in the Maruti Suzuki Autocross 2011 with this car 9yes, i am a huge motorsport fan), where i stood 6th in my category with only Swift's ahead and behind me. I could have probably been even in the top 4 had i not made a silly mistake in my final run. Anyways, that day did take a toll on the car and the tyres were screwed. But i wasnt too disappointed as i never really liked them anyway. But the tyres still had life left in them so decided not to change them for a few more thousand kms.

Apart from this, the car met with an unfortunate accident when a high speeding Indica rammed into the back while I was at a traffic signal. Major damages - had to get the chassis realligned and had to get the bumper replaced. Cost - Rs. 12000 (did NOT get it done from Maruti)

The first 4 free services (free ones) of the car were done in Ahmedabad so I would not have any details for them. But since the time the car is with me, following are the service details:-

5th Service - from Marketing Times, Okhla @ 20000kms
Service Quality - Good
Customer experience - Very Good
Total Cost - nearly Rs. 10k (dont remember the exact cost).
The reason for high cost is that i opted for Sythetic Engine oil (Rs. 4400 approx.) and that some spares needed to be changed (customary from Maruti at 20k kms.)

6th Service - from Marketing Times, Okhla @ 30000kms
Service Quality - Good
Customer experience - Very Good
Total Cost - nearly Rs. 6k (again, dont remember the exact cost)
This service did not include engine oil change as synthetic oil need to be changed only at 15k kms.

7th Service - from Motorcraft, Noida @ 35000kms
Service Quality - I expected better
Customer experience - Very Good
Total Cost - Rs. 10482
This service was majorly for the engine oil change. But with the onset of summers i also opted for an AC service. Bad decision. Apparently Maruti charges Rs. 4000 for an AC service, which i could have gotten done for Rs. 1500 from outside

.

Likes about the car:-

Hefty boot space
pretty responsive engine (this one has the old esteem 1.3 l petrol engine)
Awesome legroom and headroom inside
Cheap Maruti spare parts
Its a cheap entry level sedan that will suit most Indian family needs

Dislikes about the car:-

The tyres - Definitely reccomend an upgrade, they squeal at even the slightest of spirit shown by the engine.
The brakes need to be better, my pulse goes faster whenever i need to emergency brake
The flimsy boot - feels like its made of recycled coke cans
I cant find my perfect driving position, majorly because of no steering adjustment and seat height adjustment
Quality of plastics and few other things - they start to rattle very soon
The body roll - Its hard to believe its derived from the iconic swift

Aftermarket installations on the car:-

Footmats (at the time of buying)
Gear Lock ( very important in my locality, especially as there has been a theft attempt on the car)
New Radio antenna (the OEM one was stolen)

Current problems of the car:-

Rattling noises here and there
Door lock creeking sound from passenger side door whenever activated
The major one - The bearing of the gearbox is making strange sounds. I showed it to Maruti and the SA said that the gearbox needs to be opened and if they open it they will replace the entire set. Cost - Rs. 6000 + labour. And my car is not under warranty anymore :(. Anybody know how this can be resolved?

Summary:-
Yes, I have assaulted the car in Autocross, scratched around with it (pretty hard to avoid in Delhi), met with an accident and was even attempted to be stolen. But the car still holds itself together well apart from the rattles here and there as mentioned above.

I sincerely believe that this car is only for families who would want to drive without much enthusiasm and require decent amount of boot space and seating space. It does that job well.

And now that MSIL has launched this car for commercial purposes as the Dzire Tour, I feel it will do really well since it is comfortable enough with low service costs and not to mention the iconic Fiat MJD engine.

Thats all for my review, will post a few pics here. Your feedback / suggestions / questions / clarifications are most welcome.

19th May 2012, 23:56	#1
prashant316 BHPian Join Date: May 2012 Location: Manali Posts: 261 Thanked: 593 Times	Maruti Suzuki Swift Dzire @ 37000kms, 3.5 years Hi, this will be my first review post on T-BHP so please excuse me of any mistake that i make and do let me know of the same so i can get better. So getting back to the topic, my dad wanted to buy a new car (petrol) back in early 2009. We started off by looking at a long list of cars but finally boiled down to 3:- Hyundai Accent Executive Maruti Suzuki Swift Dzire Mahindra Renault Logan (Mahindra and Renault were together back in the time) And this is how we arrived at the decision of buying the Dzire - we did not want to buy Logan even though it was more sturdy and had a good drive because of the clouds over the M&M and Renault partnership (especially after having booked 2 cars earlier whose companies had shut down, namely Peugot and Matiz). The Accent was dads most preferred choice but was not available for a buy in CSD as it had just launched then. Thereafter left was Dzire. And Dzire it was in White colour. Even though i was against it, somehow i just did not like the car. But dads decision was the final word and in came the car. The car was bought from Ahmedabad (Dad was posted there then) with a Gurgaon registration. I personally had not even seen the car till after about 8-9 months and 5-6k kms as i stay in Delhi. I went to Ahmedabad taking a weeks off and planned a trip to Mumbai with my parents. And yes, we (read I) were going to drive down to Mumbai It was a total of 1500 kms of driving from Ahmedabad to Mumbai and back which included the amazing expressway drive of Ahm-Baroda + the beautiful highway and city driving. I noticed one thing on the highways that the car has 2 stages of power delivery - the first surge of power comes after crossing 1900RPM, the second comes after crossing nearly 2900 RPM. In between at 2300-2900RPM it feels a little sluggish, but after which it gathers momentum quite rapidly. This is only evident prominently in the 5th gear. Apart form that i felt that the car could have done with much better tires (the tires were OEM from JK) and probably better brakes. But overall it was a great trip with the car doing great. And I fly back to Delhi. Cut to June 2010 and my dads posting had come to Allahabad. He was getting an office vehicle there and i needed a car for my office use. Especially as our 12 year old trust Matiz had started giving me problems like stopping unexpectedly in the Delhi traffic causing queues of traffic behind me. Also, my dads monthly running in a personal car was going to be not more than a 100kms a month and mine was going to be atleast 10 times more. Hence the decision came to give me the Dzire. I got the car at nearly 12000kms. I still looked brand new. And i loved it (mostly because i got a new car). Make no mistake, i am no fan of a Dzire. Since i have got the car, I have majorly been driving it in the city itself with two major trips - one to mussorie and the other to Rishikesh. Apart from that I have participated in the Maruti Suzuki Autocross 2011 with this car 9yes, i am a huge motorsport fan), where i stood 6th in my category with only Swift's ahead and behind me. I could have probably been even in the top 4 had i not made a silly mistake in my final run. Anyways, that day did take a toll on the car and the tyres were screwed. But i wasnt too disappointed as i never really liked them anyway. But the tyres still had life left in them so decided not to change them for a few more thousand kms. Apart from this, the car met with an unfortunate accident when a high speeding Indica rammed into the back while I was at a traffic signal. Major damages - had to get the chassis realligned and had to get the bumper replaced. Cost - Rs. 12000 (did NOT get it done from Maruti) The first 4 free services (free ones) of the car were done in Ahmedabad so I would not have any details for them. But since the time the car is with me, following are the service details:- 5th Service - from Marketing Times, Okhla @ 20000kms Service Quality - Good Customer experience - Very Good Total Cost - nearly Rs. 10k (dont remember the exact cost). The reason for high cost is that i opted for Sythetic Engine oil (Rs. 4400 approx.) and that some spares needed to be changed (customary from Maruti at 20k kms.) 6th Service - from Marketing Times, Okhla @ 30000kms Service Quality - Good Customer experience - Very Good Total Cost - nearly Rs. 6k (again, dont remember the exact cost) This service did not include engine oil change as synthetic oil need to be changed only at 15k kms. 7th Service - from Motorcraft, Noida @ 35000kms Service Quality - I expected better Customer experience - Very Good Total Cost - Rs. 10482 This service was majorly for the engine oil change. But with the onset of summers i also opted for an AC service. Bad decision. Apparently Maruti charges Rs. 4000 for an AC service, which i could have gotten done for Rs. 1500 from outside . Likes about the car:- Hefty boot space pretty responsive engine (this one has the old esteem 1.3 l petrol engine) Awesome legroom and headroom inside Cheap Maruti spare parts Its a cheap entry level sedan that will suit most Indian family needs Dislikes about the car:- The tyres - Definitely reccomend an upgrade, they squeal at even the slightest of spirit shown by the engine. The brakes need to be better, my pulse goes faster whenever i need to emergency brake The flimsy boot - feels like its made of recycled coke cans I cant find my perfect driving position, majorly because of no steering adjustment and seat height adjustment Quality of plastics and few other things - they start to rattle very soon The body roll - Its hard to believe its derived from the iconic swift Aftermarket installations on the car:- Footmats (at the time of buying) Gear Lock ( very important in my locality, especially as there has been a theft attempt on the car) New Radio antenna (the OEM one was stolen) Current problems of the car:- Rattling noises here and there Door lock creeking sound from passenger side door whenever activated The major one - The bearing of the gearbox is making strange sounds. I showed it to Maruti and the SA said that the gearbox needs to be opened and if they open it they will replace the entire set. Cost - Rs. 6000 + labour. And my car is not under warranty anymore :(. Anybody know how this can be resolved? Summary:- Yes, I have assaulted the car in Autocross, scratched around with it (pretty hard to avoid in Delhi), met with an accident and was even attempted to be stolen. But the car still holds itself together well apart from the rattles here and there as mentioned above. I sincerely believe that this car is only for families who would want to drive without much enthusiasm and require decent amount of boot space and seating space. It does that job well. And now that MSIL has launched this car for commercial purposes as the Dzire Tour, I feel it will do really well since it is comfortable enough with low service costs and not to mention the iconic Fiat MJD engine. Thats all for my review, will post a few pics here. Your feedback / suggestions / questions / clarifications are most welcome.
	() Thanks