[sudeepg]

Originally Posted by Dr.Naren

It is Verna 1.5 turbo MT
PS: S-Cross is not sold yet, if not sold right now the car will be retained for ever

Congratulations on your new car. It looks sweet!

I'd say keep the S-Cross for a while if you can. It will help you appreciate the 202 HP Turbo diesel vs. your new Turbo Petrol and appreciate/experience both turbo-charged cars side by side.

Given the vast experience and time you have spent, it will be worth hearing your feedback on these two turbo-charged cars.

[Dr.Naren]

Originally Posted by sudeepg

Congratulations on your new car. It looks sweet!

The car actually looks much better in person, love the starry night shade

I'd say keep the S-Cross for a while if you can. It will help you appreciate the 202 HP Turbo diesel vs. your new Turbo Petrol and appreciate/experience both turbo-charged cars side by side.

Given the vast experience and time you have spent, it will be worth hearing your feedback on these two turbo-charged cars.

Stage 3 wolf tune is better than factory, very linear and mature power delivery. Verna 1.5 Turbo MT also delivers the power in similar manner. Stay tuned for more details

[2xSamurai]

Dear Dr Naren and other distinguished bhpians,

First of all apologies for hijacking this thread.

I am in the process of buying a new car.

We do have a 2011 model Swift VDI with 1.6L km on the odo. But need one more car. I was thinking of something a bit more fun to drive, because honestly I can't imagine buying one more car for the next 6 - 7 years and by then I don't know what will be the situation of Petrol & Diesel.

My budget is not that great. Around 8L is what I have in mind. For that budget, brand-new cars that are fun to drive are out the window. I need to have a car that can be fun to drive + a family car. Since I travel mostly with my family. My yearly run would be around 7k - 10k max.

While I was searching for potential used cars in team-bhp forums, I came across the 1.6 S Cross as suggested by GTO and other distinguished bhpians. I have test-driven S Cross once, the petrol variant and I fell in love with it. It was last year but I didn't go through with purchasing it, since I did not feel it was VFM.

While searching for S Cross 1.6 user reviews I got this thread. Please guide me on 2 things.

1. Is it a good idea to buy a used 1.6 that has done 70k km as of now? It's the second owner and he says the car is in mint condition with Authorized Services.
2. If so, what should I look out for while checking the car (specific to S Cross 1.6)?

Any and all input is greatly appreciated.

Thank you guys.

[scorpian]

Originally Posted by 2xSamurai

Dear Dr Naren and other distinguished bhpians,

1. Is it a good idea to buy a used 1.6 that has done 70k km as of now? It's the second owner and he says the car is in mint condition with Authorized Services.
2. If so, what should I look out for while checking the car (specific to S Cross 1.6)?
Any and all input is greatly appreciated.
Thank you guys.

I think i am qualified to answer this as i have been through very similar situation as yours.

Is the 1.6 a good buy, the answer is YES but with some conditions that apply.
1.6 scross came in very limited numbers, the mechanics available to repair this at authorized MASS is as good as not available, atleast here in goa when i had the car briefly for few days.
The scross timing belt requires some expertise to be replaced, in goa they had no clue how it had to be done.
If you have access to a good mechanic like engineering exponents then just go for it.
The flywheel availability is problematic.
I purchased a used scross 1.6 which very next day started jerking and losing power,it was repaired but then started smoking continuously. The power loss issue was experienced by previous owner as well and it had stayed for repairs atleast four times at mass along with engine noise being listed as a frequent complaint.
I had to return the car back as i started losing confidence in future repairs, comparatively the 1.3 MJD is so common that almost any mechanic can perform repairs on it.

Like i said its a great car, but just confirm with mass the history of the car and keep a option of a very good experienced FNG.
It has great mod potential, a simple remap will keep you very very happy.

[ninjatalli]

Originally Posted by 2xSamurai

While searching for S Cross 1.6 user reviews I got this thread. Please guide me on 2 things.

1. Is it a good idea to buy a used 1.6 that has done 70k km as of now? It's the second owner and he says the car is in mint condition with Authorized Services.
2. If so, what should I look out for while checking the car (specific to S Cross 1.6)?

Any and all input is greatly appreciated.

Thank you guys.

1. Definitely, a good idea. I purchased a ~5.5Y old 1.6 that had done 86k kms. Nearly 20k+ kms & 2+ years later, the car is running absolutely fine. But do your homework. Considering this is via a owner and not a dealer (bonus points!), make it clear that you'll require a full detailed check up at a Maruti service center or a FNG that is known to have technicians that understand and have serviced SCross 1.6 in the past.

2. Irrespective of the year it was manufactured, the car will be in the range of the larger maintenance ticket items - timing belt/setup change, clutch repair/overhaul and suspension overhaul; this is apart from normal wear & tear (tires, battery, etc.). Get those things checked; I doubt the previous two owners would have done the timing belt or the clutch work; so keep the costs of those in consideration when you negotiate.

3. Go for proper long test rides. Take an informed friend and/or a trustworthy mechanic if possible. Ask for past maintenance & service records (my car's previous owner shared all the records soft & hard copies, even had the records of diesel bills); past accident records (current NCB should give you a good indication). Any doubts/ suspicions coming up in conversations with the owner, you should drop it and move on.

And lastly negotiate well. You are the 3rd owner of a moderately well-run car that is no longer in production and parts are not abundantly available (for instance like your current Maruti).

[2xSamurai]

Originally Posted by scorpian

I think i am qualified to answer this as i have been through very similar situation as yours.

Is the 1.6 a good buy, the answer is YES but with some conditions that apply.
1.6 scross came in very limited numbers, the mechanics available to repair this at authorized MASS is as good as not available, atleast here in goa when i had the car briefly for few days.
The scross timing belt requires some expertise to be replaced, in goa they had no clue how it had to be done.
If you have access to a good mechanic like engineering exponents then just go for it.
The flywheel availability is problematic.
I purchased a used scross 1.6 which very next day started jerking and losing power,it was repaired but then started smoking continuously. The power loss issue was experienced by previous owner as well and it had stayed for repairs atleast four times at mass along with engine noise being listed as a frequent complaint.
I had to return the car back as i started losing confidence in future repairs, comparatively the 1.3 MJD is so common that almost any mechanic can perform repairs on it.

Like i said its a great car, but just confirm with mass the history of the car and keep a option of a very good experienced FNG.
It has great mod potential, a simple remap will keep you very very happy.

Thank you scorpian, for this.

I was also having the same doubts.

Okay. As of now, at the area I'm staying. There is no reliable MASS or a good FNG that can work on this car.
A 100kms away from my place there should be, but that's not a smart move I guess. Since I'm planning to use her as my primary family car.

And I am no expert on cars. I know the bare minimum. I can't figure out little niggles until they become prominent.
I do take care of my cars regularly with the help of MASS.

Originally Posted by ninjatalli

1. Definitely, a good idea. I purchased a ~5.5Y old 1.6 that had done 86k kms. Nearly 20k+ kms & 2+ years later, the car is running absolutely fine. But do your homework. Considering this is via a owner and not a dealer (bonus points!), make it clear that you'll require a full detailed check up at a Maruti service center or a FNG that is known to have technicians that understand and have serviced SCross 1.6 in the past.

2. Irrespective of the year it was manufactured, the car will be in the range of the larger maintenance ticket items - timing belt/setup change, clutch repair/overhaul and suspension overhaul; this is apart from normal wear & tear (tires, battery, etc.). Get those things checked; I doubt the previous two owners would have done the timing belt or the clutch work; so keep the costs of those in consideration when you negotiate.

3. Go for proper long test rides. Take an informed friend and/or a trustworthy mechanic if possible. Ask for past maintenance & service records (my car's previous owner shared all the records soft & hard copies, even had the records of diesel bills); past accident records (current NCB should give you a good indication). Any doubts/ suspicions coming up in conversations with the owner, you should drop it and move on.

And lastly negotiate well. You are the 3rd owner of a moderately well-run car that is no longer in production and parts are not abundantly available (for instance like your current Maruti).

Thank you ninjatalli, I did read your ownership review completely. That coupled with suggestions from GTO and Dr Naren's review of the car is what drove me.

I do know the amount of hardwork you and Dr Naren had put into your cars. And frankly I don't have the budget or know-how to do it. Let alone good FNGs near me to even if I wanted to. It was just a wild goose chase to own something as powefull as a 1.6. All that I have driven that I could say powerfull is my Swift.


Side Note:

I did contact the seller. But there were a few red flags. So I was highly sceptical about going through. But like a kid at the candy shop I didn't want to let go of the idea of not getting the 1.6

Firstly the current owner works at NEXA. The first owner was his boss. Ok these were acceptable.

The problem:

He had facelift the car to the latest one with the chrome grill and projector headlights. So he had changed the bonnet, headlights, grill and front bumper. Did a complete repaint of the car excluding the top.

I did ask multiple times whether it had any major accidents but he said no.

There is no point in checking the service history since he works at NEXA right?

So I didn't know what the heck to do.

Now I feel at peace.



I am glad that you guys replied. It was a real eye opener. Even though the 1.6 is a great car. It's just not practical for my use case I think. I am glad I can sleep well tonight. For a few days I was going through OLX and team-bhp like a crazy person.


My yearly run would be around 7k kms. 4k highways and around 3k in cities. May be I should try getting something that runs on petrol.

[arighna.dutta]

Originally Posted by 2xSamurai

1. Is it a good idea to buy a used 1.6 that has done 70k km as of now? It's the second owner and he says the car is in mint condition with Authorized Services.
2. If so, what should I look out for while checking the car (specific to S Cross 1.6)?
Thank you guys.

I own a pre-worshipped 1.6 for a while now and have been thoroughly enjoying it, have done 45k+ kms in last couple of years, so here are my views and answers to your questions:

1. It is a very good idea to go for it, it is a strong YES from me.
Don't believe what the owner has to say about the condition of the car, do your due diligence.

2. What to check:

Without getting into details like what components and regular items to check in a 1.6, I will first emphasize on the fundamental checks which can help in reducing the risks of ending up with a lesser 1.6:

- I will very strongly recommend to go for only those 1.6's which got very detailed service history with Maruti Suzuki (MS). If its a 40k driven 1.6 with inconsistent service history vs 1 lac kms driven with detailed service history car, later will be my choice; provided service history has no red flags.

Reasons for stressing it out for a 1.6 with a very detailed service history from MS:

a. Well documented service history will have the repair jobs and complaints from the owner captured, that could give you a fair idea regarding the possible issues with the car and what to anticipate for upcoming maintenance jobs.

b. Even if the owner has taken it to best of the FNGs, most of the times, there is a lot left to desire w.r.t procedures followed. Don't be surprised if you find these top FNGs don't care to even hang the brake calipers with proper support during certain jobs. The primary issues might get addressed very well, but there are high possibilities of some other issues to crop up in the future. A half decent Nexa service will be following many of the procedures which generally eliminates quite many human errors that can happen otherwise. Talent cannot replace SOPs all the time, at least in the automotive field.

c. MS after sales service doesn't always cost less, but it is not really that expensive to look out for FNGs to lower the maintenance cost, neither the costs of the parts are that high except few regular components - tell-tale sign the owner has tried to cut cost.

NOTE: it is not a generalization, not stating that FNGs are bad in general. There are quite a few possible reasons when it is better to reach out to FNGs, w.r.t 1.6, I myself have done it too, but there are very few reasons to do so.

d. You can be very sure about the genuineness of the car's ODO reading, else you are left to the owner's words, which never to be believed.

The above suggestions have been very much applied to help couple of my friends to pick their 1.6s and indeed we have dropped 40k kms done 1.6s with lack of service history and opted for 1 lac driven 1.6 with detailed service history and the ownership experience has remained satisfactory and consist with my friends too.

So, service history will cover/highlight most of the possible points to be checked, apart from that having the car scanned after driving it for a while should cover the rest. We don't have to delve into much more technicalities, however you will get quite many pointers on possible issues to look for from the existing ownership threads.


Remember, we just don't buy the car, we buy its service history along with the car and we don't always shell out premium for the car but for its service history.


Edit: noted that it has got a facelift job done, if you can access the detailed service history, please check if along with facelift components any other body shop repair job for structural damage is done or not. And don't give up on the possibilities of owning a 1.6. As you already own a 1.3 swift, you might already have a fair idea about decent MASS nearby. With some effort from your end and the MASS guys, they can also do a fair job of maintaining a 1.6.

Cheers

[2xSamurai]

Originally Posted by arighna.dutta

I own a pre-worshipped 1.6 for a while now and have been thoroughly enjoying it, have done 45k+ kms in last couple of years, so here are my views and answers to your questions:

Thank you arighna.dutta, for your insights. I will surely look out for 1.6s.

Not sure about going forward with the one that I have shortlisted now.

Since both the owners worked at NEXA and the first one was a GM or so, I think it would be possible for them to hide the fact that there was work done on the structural part of the car. Could possibly hide it from the Service history as well. His asking price is 8.15L. And I'm pretty sure that there wouldn't be any NCB left. Since he has even repainted the whole car. Also, I don't think any kind of warranty would be left. Also, my spidey senses are throwing some warnings.

Anyway, I will try to check the car out. It's not near me that's also a problem. 145km away.

What would be a decent price for a 6-year-old car with 70k on the odo and is the 2nd owner?

[CrossLife]

Originally Posted by 2xSamurai

Since both the owners worked at NEXA and the first one was a GM or so, I think it would be possible for them to hide the fact that there was work done on the structural part of the car. Could possibly hide it from the Service history as well.

If it was owned by NEXA GM, STAY AWAY!! . High chances that it was used as a testdrive car. Look out for an Individual owned 1.6.

[2xSamurai]

Originally Posted by CrossLife

If it was owned by NEXA GM, STAY AWAY!! . High chances that it was used as a testdrive car. Look out for an Individual owned 1.6.

Thank you CrossLife,

Noted. Should I even bother test-driving it?

[CrossLife]

Originally Posted by 2xSamurai

Thank you CrossLife,

Noted. Should I even bother test-driving it?

Yes you can. But be aware of the things. Look out for any abuse on the interior trims. You can even compare this with other cars even if it is a 1.3 variant.

[2xSamurai]

Originally Posted by CrossLife

Yes you can. But be aware of the things. Look out for any abuse on the interior trims. You can even compare this with other cars even if it is a 1.3 variant.

I asked him if it was a test-drive vehicle. He said there were 2 vehicles and this was one of them. He claims it's not abused or anything.

I asked him if there were any structural work done on the car. He said no such things were done. It was a simple facelift and nothing more. He said he will give me the service history to check.

Also, everything was done on NCB so no NCB left.

He is urging me to come and drive it. He says once you drive it all your doubts will be gone. Not sure what to do. If I have to test drive it, I'll have to travel 150 km. Really confused now.

[scorpian]

Originally Posted by 2xSamurai

I asked him if it was a test-drive vehicle. He said there were 2 vehicles and this was one of them. He claims it's not abused or anything.

I asked him if there were any structural work done on the car. He said no such things were done. It was a simple facelift and nothing more. He said he will give me the service history to check.

Also, everything was done on NCB so no NCB left.

He is urging me to come and drive it. He says once you drive it all your doubts will be gone. Not sure what to do. If I have to test drive it, I'll have to travel 150 km. Really confused now.

Share the service history here, a lot of us will be able to have a look and guide you.
Go for the test drive you never know you might get a good one.
Atleast you won't have a regret that you didn't check it out once.
Negotiate.

Regards
Manoj Chandwani

[ninjatalli]

Originally Posted by 2xSamurai

I asked him if it was a test-drive vehicle. He said there were 2 vehicles and this was one of them. He claims it's not abused or anything.

Move on. Test drive vehicle are always abused. And this one has 10s of thousands of kms of test driving on it. Stay away.

[rakesh_r]

Originally Posted by 2xSamurai

Thank you CrossLife,

Noted. Should I even bother test-driving it?

Test Drive vehicles are abused in and out, even parts swapped out for testing, who knows. The asking price is way too much for a second or third owner car.
As an ex-1.6 owner, i guess I am in a good position to comment.
The car is totally un-Maruti when it comes to build quality, but still has places where they have compromised. I owned a White Alpha 1.6 for 6 years, drove for close to a Lac before selling it off to Spinny who gave me a very decent price. Its a gem of a car, handles and drives like a typical European, doesn't feel Japanese at all. Engine has oodles of torque, can keep up or even beat the daylights out of cars that cost twice.
Coming to the cons, the biggest concern is availability of spares (Powertrain specific) plus the expenses. I know quite a few owners (including) me who kept critical difficult to get spares like Oil pressure switches, clutch assembles, Turbo IC hose etc since the downtime is simply high. Last time, i remember seeing a car on the ramp for more than a month awaiting for Clutch parts, although I am not aware of the current scenario.
I got my Timing Belt replaced at the service centre, and mine was the first car on which they had done such a job. But my supervisor and his team carried out the entire process by referring to the service manual and adhering to the procedure to the "T".
It's a wonderful car no doubt, but do consider the "riders" that come with it.