[JoshMachine]

Originally Posted by dass

Excellent Review. Being a new owner of the Dzire your ride is a morale booster on having made the right decision. Keep us posted on more updates.

The cleaning products you have mentioned above, can these be brought online?

The Dzire, for many people including me, is just the right car to drive, own and have fun too. This is evident in terms of its strong resale value in the used-car markets and its No.2 position in the March'13 car sales report.

I am sure the cleaning products can be bought online and in Bangalore too. If you refer to the thread on car polishing & detailing in TBHP, you will find many references.

Happy Dziring!

[MadHawk]

Dear JoshMachine : Excellent review and fabulous pictures. Being a dezire owner myself and reading your 50K update is truly a morale booster . I am glad that you replaced the original H/L bulbs with the Philips one as I personally felt that the original bulbs didnt provide enough throw on the road.

I have been using the Sythetic Mobil 5w-40 and though it makes the engine sound louder it does feel much smoother . Also I found that adding a normal K&N replacement filter made the car even more peppy post 2000 RPM .

I need to urgently replace my Michelin's that have gone after 35k . Thanks for the Brake Booster info as I will definitely ask the MASS to look into it at the 40k Service.

[JoshMachine]

Originally Posted by MadHawk

Dear JoshMachine : Excellent review and fabulous pictures. Being a dezire owner myself and reading your 50K update is truly a morale booster . I am glad that you replaced the original H/L bulbs with the Philips one as I personally felt that the original bulbs didnt provide enough throw on the road.

I need to urgently replace my Michelin's that have gone after 35k . Thanks for the Brake Booster info as I will definitely ask the MASS to look into it at the 40k Service.

Thanks MadHawk.
I am just echoing and sharing my feelings - glad that it also gives you a feel- good factor.

For the brake booster, go ahead and put a query on http://www.marutisuzuki.com/contact.aspx mentioning the reason and the dealer you want the problem to address to.
Maruti takes this section very seriously (these days).

Let me know if you need any further information on the same.

[ku69rd]

Congrats on your whip reaching the coveted 50K mark. How has the service/maintenance been for you? Were you faced with any major service bills?
Also you mentioned that you replaced the tires at 40K mark, felt that it was too early to change. Was it usage or sheer frustration and want for better grips made you do it?

[ankurvirmani19]

Congrats buddy for the 50K mark on the India's favourite engine.
Well written along with much needed pictures. The vehicle looks neat and well maintained.

However any particular reason for not using synthetic oils for your car?

[goandude]

Great write up and pics of your ride. 50k in 3 years is quite a bit of driving. You have maintained your car very well and the efforts show.

I have a 2009 Dzire and have made similar mods to the car like you have, head lights upgrade, rear parking sensors and steering cover. But the most significant mod I have done is damping of the front doors and a change of speakers. Boy what a difference to the SQ.

What material have you used for upholstery? and does it get very hot in Pune sun?

[JoshMachine]

Originally Posted by ku69rd

Congrats on your whip reaching the coveted 50K mark. How has the service/maintenance been for you? Were you faced with any major service bills?
Also you mentioned that you replaced the tires at 40K mark, felt that it was too early to change. Was it usage or sheer frustration and want for better grips made you do it?

Thanks ku69rd.
Let me share the details hoping that this is what you were expecting.

Total servicing/running repairs cost till date = INR 27,500 (asked for the entire history of servicing schedule from the dealer, he gave me the file from the Maruti DMS system)
Servicing schedules = 3 free + 4 paid services
Total cost of servicing schedules for 4 paid services = INR 23,000

So, I have serviced the car every 7000 km or so and the average bill has turned out to be approx INR 3,900.

As for the tyres, the stock MRFs started disintegrating rapidly once I crossed the 35,000 km mark and it was a question of just when I would change them. I pulled on for another 5,000 odd km before I replaced them.

So it was a mix of various factors - the tyres were wearing out, braking was getting impacted, ride quality had deteriorated and there was just too much tyre noise on highways - I HAD to change the tyres.

[JoshMachine]

Originally Posted by ankurvirmani19

Congrats buddy for the 50K mark on the India's favourite engine.
Well written along with much needed pictures. The vehicle looks neat and well maintained.

However any particular reason for not using synthetic oils for your car?

Thanks Ankur. Have had a tough time keeping the car clean with a growing family

Regarding synthetic oils, I did try it for some time but later discontinued it. Reason being - first was the high cost factor and second was the absence of a direct, tangible benefit which I could relate to and justify the high cost over a period of time.
And now in hindsight, I have experienced over 50,000 km that benefit : cost ratio for the regular oil is far greater as compared to the synthetic oil.

[JoshMachine]

Originally Posted by goandude

Great write up and pics of your ride. 50k in 3 years is quite a bit of driving. You have maintained your car very well and the efforts show.

I have a 2009 Dzire and have made similar mods to the car like you have, head lights upgrade, rear parking sensors and steering cover. But the most significant mod I have done is damping of the front doors and a change of speakers. Boy what a difference to the SQ.

What material have you used for upholstery? and does it get very hot in Pune sun?

Thanks goandude.
Well, for the record, the 50k km have been completed in 30 months - courtesy the daily 55 km total commute to office and back home! And you have the weekend city travel extra, add to that the long weekend trips around Pune also.

You have damped the front doors - can you share more details like cost, outcome etc.? Also, is you Dzire petrol or diesel driven? What variant?

My car's seat cover material is the fabric - rexine mix type...neither too leathery feel nor too cloth-like feel. This has a dual advantage - the seats don't burn your behind when you step inside on a hot day; and the seat covers can be cleaned with the normal washing detergent. No special treatment required to keep them spic and span.
Because of this practical approach, I have been able to tend to them quite regularly and result, as you said, shows.

It gets very hot indeed in Pune, specially in the summers. And if you don't find a closed/shade parking slot, then it takes a toll on the car - be it the paint, the dashboard plastic, the seat covers etc.

[goandude]

Originally Posted by JoshMachine

You have damped the front doors - can you share more details like cost, outcome etc.? Also, is you Dzire petrol or diesel driven? What variant?

You can read about this and see the pics on my ownership thread here http://www.team-bhp.com/forum/long-t...ml#post3060506
[/quote]My car's seat cover material is the fabric - rexine mix type...neither too leathery feel nor too cloth-like feel.
[/quote]
Never heard of fabric rexine mix. does it have a brand name or any web link to it?

[Loud]

JoshMachine, Congrats on covering a milestone in your DZire. Wish you clock the double of that soon.
A friend of mine got a similar DZire VDi (Silver) when he had ample budget to get the SX4 VDi easily. Why? He said that DZire offered almost EVERYTHING that the SX4 offered, including cabin space, then why waste more bucks. He is still a happy owner like you and says that will never regret his decision of going for DZire over SX4.

Anyway, very nicely written up review. Rated it a well deserved 5 stars.

[JoshMachine]

Originally Posted by Loud

A friend of mine got a similar DZire VDi (Silver) when he had ample budget to get the SX4 VDi easily. Why? He said that DZire offered almost EVERYTHING that the SX4 offered, including cabin space, then why waste more bucks. He is still a happy owner like you and says that will never regret his decision of going for DZire over SX4.

Anyway, very nicely written up review. Rated it a well deserved 5 stars.

Thanks Loud
Dzire vs SX4 - well there are features that are loaded in favour of each car, like the extra 15 bhp power in SX4, the boot space in Dzire (prev gen model) and so on..I guess its a matter of personal selection based on priorities and the overall brand/model perception which tilts our final buying decision.
Having said this, am sure your friend will not be disappointed by the decision he has taken!!

[JoshMachine]

Its been quite some time since I posted an update on my "celebration".
The odo now shows 85,000 km. And the biege beauty is just over 4 yrs old.

Few things I have been observing and wanted to share:-
1. The overall F/E still hovers around 19-20 km/l, with almost 90% A.C in both city and on the highway
2. Have changed the car shoes at the 80k mark - this time got the Michelin XM2, resulting in even better road grips and ride quality as compared to the previous Aceleres
3. The clutch and the gear shift have the same crisp, confident response
4. The Philips Extreme Vision headlamps (replaced almost 2 yrs ago), have now started "dimming" a bit. Perhaps need to change them again?
5. Overall cost of maintenance has slightly gone up - earlier the scheduled servicing visits used to suffice. But since the last 10k kms or so, I have had to visit the workshop for in-between service visits also for reasons including suspension (front) noises, door squeaks, horn repair etc.
Out of these, the one related to suspension has concerned me the most. And partly the blame lies on the inefficiency of the M.A.S.S - Sai Service located at Hinjewadi, Pune. The Service Advisors over there have simply not able to figure out the problem after 3 visits in the last 2 months. The original problem started with a "thud" noise coming from the right front suspension, heard when driving over paved roads. But now after 3 visits (comprising replacement of the balacing tie rods, strut / bar OH etc.) the noise is still persistent.
I have put in a complaint with Maruti on their service feedback website, let's see what happens next.

Apart from this, my overall ownership experience continues to be "celebratory" - courtesy the solid reliability factor and the no-fuss service provided on those frequent long trips with family and friends.

As the odo moves near the 100k mark (will get to it in the next 6-7 months probably), I am wondering whether it will be prudent to continue with leveraging the fantastice diesel F/E, or look at new options. Maybe the cost of maintenance and the future aging will have bearing on this thought-process.

[JoshMachine]

Just to update on the complaint raised with Maruti,for the suspension noise...
The dealer indeed contacted me promptly and this time round, put a "Senior" service advisor to look into the problem.

It seems after few trials, the source of the noise identified was the loose caliper assembly, which they replaced.
They charged me for the part but didnt dare to ask for labour charges.

Before I give the feedback form, I have made it clear to them that I will wait for couple of weeks or so.

[arun_josie]

Originally Posted by JoshMachine

Apart from this, my overall ownership experience continues to be "celebratory" - courtesy the solid reliability factor and the no-fuss service provided on those frequent long trips with family and friends.

Totally agree with you. Its a very reliable machine coupled with fantastic network. I could see that even taxi market preferring Dzire tours.

I would say, keep it till its trouble-free. Don't change just because it hit the 1L Kms mark.