[rakesh_r]

Originally Posted by a4anurag

1000 kms in a day?! Hope that wasn't a typo!

With 1.5 years of living with the Ertiga, I can vouch for that car be it any kind of road and load (read luggage and passengers).

It'll keep you smiling at the end of the journey be it local stints, city commute, golden quadrilateral trips be it on comfort, FE and utility.

Anurag,how is the driver seat comfort as compared to the swift.I am looking forward to buy the Ertiga to replace my swift DI. I find the swift seats a bit tiresome for long journeys. Ineed a decent mile muncher for my frequent Kerala trips.

[a4anurag]

Originally Posted by rakesh_r

Anurag,how is the driver seat comfort as compared to the swift.I am looking forward to buy the Ertiga to replace my swift D.

Brilliant, the seat is at a higher level so visibility is fantastic. It feels like a owner of the road.

Go ahead eyes closed. I use the Ertiga only for driving comfort as legs are bent at the correct angle whereas in the Swift the knees point upwards.

I have been using the Swift since 1.5 years and 46K kms, one the driving position overall and feel good. Visibility is slightly less due to the small windows and along roof line at rear.

[paragsachania]

Originally Posted by rakesh_r

Anurag,how is the driver seat comfort as compared to the swift.I am looking forward to buy the Ertiga to replace my swift DI. I find the swift seats a bit tiresome for long journeys. Ineed a decent mile muncher for my frequent Kerala trips.

With a non stop 1500 kms drive last weekend from Bangalore to Ahmedabad and that is where the seating comfort comes into picture.

And no, this wasn't the first time - I did similar non stop in Feb, onward and backward with 1500 clocked in 21-22 hours. So this feedback isn't coming from just one drive (I am 6'3").

Seats are not too hard or not too soft. They are just about suitable for such long drives. It wont leave you with a pain in the wrong place that you need to get up often and adjust your position!

Wider than my WagonR and enough underthigh and back support although not sporty like the Honda City that hugs your back.

Overall, the seats are just about perfect.

Originally Posted by sumannandy

I am planning to buy a new car for long drives (1000+ kms per day).

For typical highway runs like the GQ, I must admit that its keeping me (and my family happy). After all, Bangalore-Ahmedabad twice in less than 3 months and that too in one leg (1500 kms) can't happen is its a torture for others if not me.

For my height along with good 2nd row space and comfort due to the seat design, I have had no complaints so far.

I thought of replacing my safari with another safari but ertiga mileage is really inviting, and your thread is also an inspiration to buy ertiga. I was wondering if Ertiga would be as comfortable as safari or may be better and keep you fresh after the long drives over bad / mix roads, considering it is a monocoque. Also is it posible to do around 120 all day in GQ?

I wouldn't want to compare the Safari here. Its a different car altogether. Body on Frame Vs Monocoque.

The Ertiga is has precisely car like driving manners - Wouldn't want to add anything more here then!

I cruise 110-120ish most of the times depending one merit or roads on typical dual carriageway highways. The FE part should not be your worry at all.

Here are few stats from my recent drive:

Rajkot - Thane - 720 Kms, one tank. The low fuel warning light came on around 690 kms and when I filled, it drank 40 liters.

Thane - Doddaballpura - Yelahanka - Bangalore - 1008 kms, One tank plus 1000 bucks at Haveri of which at least 12-15 liters still remain.

[paragsachania]

The 55,000 Kms update:

Usual office errands, one long drive to Gujarat covering almost ~4000 kms on the ODO meant that the 55K mark would reach in a short interval after 50K.

Again, I drove with wifey and daughter to Gandhinagar (1504 kms from home) in one go starting at 0430AM from Bangalore and reaching Gandhinagar at around 0300AM.

The drive this time was slower mainly due to weekend rush and too many breaks. To add to this, there were huge jams beyond Thane at Nalasopara that wasted an easy 75 mins for us.

Here are a few pictures to do the talking.

Bangalore-Ahmedabad Ring Road - Gandhinagar - Ahmedabad City Rounds - Rajkot - Chotila - Rajkot - Ahmedabad Ring Road - Vadodara - Thane - Pune -Dabaspet - Doddaballapura - Yelahanka - Bangalore


Trip Start:


The total round trip:


The return only trip meter - Rajkot-Ahmedabad-Thane-Bangalore:

Solo only return:
Although I dropped my family to Rajkot, I had planned to drive back to Bangalore Solo, just for the fun of driving and nothing else.

And no, I didn't speed nor drove my mind as I was alone. Instead, I drove very cautiously and managed to get some excellent average speeds without even exceeding 100KMPH (Not even on NE1).

This was what MMI Logged from Rajkot to Thane that I drove on Saturday:


This was what the Trip meter recorded for the same trip:


The fuel efficiency was something that didn't surprise me anyway:


I drove in similar pattern next day from Thane to Bangalore as well and again managed good FE:

And now the current Odometer reading:

I couldn't really pull over to capture 55000 when I was driving on the elevated section from Bangalore Airport last weekend. So Here's what the Odometer has to display as of today:

So 55,000 kms comes in around 1Y7M15D

Trips planned over the next 6 months

-Pune-Mumbai-Aurangabad-Shirdi - 2800 Kms
-Mandatory Monsoon Drive to western Ghats - 700 Kms
-Mandatory mega annual drive in September - ~5000-6000 kms (Planning the trip for now)

[arjithin]

Originally Posted by paragsachania

I finally mounted the Armrest onto the center console. You can notice in the below picture on how well the color of the Armrest unit almost meets to that of the Interior plastic shade of the Ertiga.

Parag, I bought the same item from same seller for my Ertiga, but the 2 base plates that came with the unit is black. I contacted the seller and they said they always send black base plates. Did you paint those to beige color by yourselves?

[a4anurag]

Originally Posted by arjithin

Parag, I bought the same item from same seller for my Ertiga, but the 2 base plates that came with the unit is black. I contacted the seller and they said they always send black base plates. Did you paint those to beige color by yourselves?

Beige armrest with the full set is available. The base plate and all other parts are of the same color as the armrest.

Do contact the seller again or else try some other seller.

[paragsachania]

Originally Posted by arjithin

Parag, I bought the same item from same seller for my Ertiga, but the 2 base plates that came with the unit is black. I contacted the seller and they said they always send black base plates. Did you paint those to beige color by yourselves?

No I didn't paint. These were beige as part of the package.

Originally Posted by a4anurag

Beige armrest with the full set is available. The base plate and all other parts are of the same color as the armrest.

Do contact the seller again or else try some other seller.

Most of the armrests sold these days advertise wrongly as beige and sell it. Reality is that many have received the beige armrest with black attachments.

Unfortunately the seller might not do much here.

[paragsachania]

Not really an update to the ownership but some high-fives!Happened yesterday when I was driving back from work:

[arjithin]

Originally Posted by paragsachania

No I didn't paint. These were beige as part of the package.

Most of the armrests sold these days advertise wrongly as beige and sell it. Reality is that many have received the beige armrest with black attachments.

Unfortunately the seller might not do much here.

Wondering what to do now. Sending this back is not an option. Do we get any beige color spray paints?

[Rajain]

@Parag....you are the real mile man. Its a lot of kms covered In the given time frame.

Full marks to the vehicle. It is indeed easy to run, maintain and manage.

Keep up the milecrunching.

Cheers

Rajain

[paragsachania]

Update:Noise from the steering rack followed by replacement under extended Warranty

Over the last thousand kilometers I had started to sense abnormal noise from the front specifically when taking on bad roads or taking over smaller potholes and speeds in excess of 20-30kmph.I carefully assessed the noise and could rule out the calipers and had my doubts on the Stabilizer Bar Bush or the lower arms.

Took the car for inspection to Surakshaa last week they acknowledged the noise and torqued all the suspension bolts including checking of the steering ball joints' condition.

The noise didn't vanish and as suspected earlier (I had hinted that I could sense that the noise is actually closer to the steering column).

After removing the suspension frame the steering rack was accessed and using the Steering Damper Adjustment kit the damper was tightened a bit and everything was fitted back, this for a "First time resolution", for the records that the customer had reported the issue and the ASC did attempt to fix it.

I suspected tightening the damper will hamper steering ability (effort from the driver) even if it reduces the sound and the same happened. For over 2 days it was a painful experience to drive to work and back as the steering had gone much stiffer and taking turns has become a pain. Even changing lanes at speeds in excess of 60kmph required efforts.

So on yesterday the rack was accessed again and the damper was loosened by a small degree and tested again. The noise was back and it was decided then by the ASC that the Steering rack has to be replaced under (Extended) warranty.

The rack was replaced and wheel alignment was done. However,I still visited Madhus this morning and got the alignment done again for my satisfaction.

The noise is completely eliminated now while the steering feels as good as before (no change at all as the OE Rack too was in good health in terms of Ball Joints except for the noise).

Here are a few pictures of the work in progress during the troubleshooting:

While removing the suspension frame to access the steering rack


Steering rack removed:

I couldn't be there to take pictures when the rack was replaced as I had to rush to work for a meeting taking a loner car. I got the Ertiga back late yesterday evening and have already driven around 60 kms so far with the new rack.

Known issue with the steering rack noise?
I probed with the Service advisor and nodded in assertive that mine was the 3rd Ertiga that underwent a rack replacement In the last 3 years for exactly similar symptoms exhibited by other samples. However, he also mentioned that this is not a regular affair.

Current Odometer reading:
The Ertiga has crossed 57,000 kms and will head for a 600 kms drive on next weekend apart from the usual errands.

[rakesh_r]

Any idea how much would the rack assembly cost. I fear my swift is suffering from the same problem.

[paragsachania]

Originally Posted by rakesh_r

Any idea how much would the rack assembly cost. I fear my swift is suffering from the same problem.

I am yet to do the formality of signing the satisfaction note since I got the car late on yesterday evening. However, I did ask the same question and was told that the price of the "Steering Box" (Rack+Ball Joint ends) is around 9500 INR.

[ILTDrive]

Originally Posted by paragsachania

Update:Noise from the steering rack followed by replacement under extended Warranty

I have the same issue with my dzire as well. Slow drive on bad roads, with the steering slightly turned towards the left and there is a lot of noise coming from the right side of the car and I do feel the steering vibrate as well.

[paragsachania]

Originally Posted by ILTDrive

I have the same issue with my dzire as well. Slow drive on bad roads, with the steering slightly turned towards the left and there is a lot of noise coming from the right side of the car and I do feel the steering vibrate as well.

Well in my case the issue was only the noise and not tilt or drag to any one particular side.

The noise was evident to some very specific cases such as :

• Exactly when the front wheels get into smaller potholes but not when the tires hit something higher than the current level they are (Like thicker/new layer of asphalt on new roads)
• Passing the block joints of flyovers

There was absolutely no signs of hardness or additional effort that I had to put to steer even when the noise was evident. This started creeping in only over the last few weeks of driving.

As a test, you may want to park the car on a flat (and not so rough) surface and with the engine off try to turn the steering wheel on both sides (half turn each side) and hear a "Tak-Tak" noise. This most likely will confirm the issue with the steering rack.

Also - Do not rule out everything else associated with the suspension like the Stabilizer Bar & Bush, Suspension Struts and lower arms and link rods too.

Ascertain that the above are in good health and then ask your ASC to look into the steering.