[Researcher]

Thanks a lot for this wonderful review, partly because I myself own a 2.5 year old pre-owned 2008 SX4 ZXi (non-VVT) myself for the last 30K kms out of the total 1 lac approximately. And I must say, I absolutely agree on all the points you have mentioned! I drove the AT model once and felt the steering was very light compared to mine (mine seems okay-ish to me, slightly heavy when slow, slightly light when fast)

Originally Posted by Dr.AD

..If you don't look back at your car after you park, you bought the wrong car.
..
(I did look back at her every single time, but that's just me.)

I still religiously do, everytime!

The SX4 is an experience beyond the "driving pleasure", which is BMW's forte.

I am going to title this as 'Cheap Thrills' and share with a cousin of mine who is on his second BMW.

[Dr.AD]

Originally Posted by tilt

Heheheheh, not fair, I named your car "Kasima" much before you named it Dusty

Haha. True. You named her Kasima much before I named her Dusty :-)

I well remember that Hyderabad drive when we went to meet the Hyderabad BHPians. "Follow me", you said - "your car is a Jetta, I cannot drive fast in this car", you said. Yeah right!

Yeah, that was one of the special drives. Every time I drive to Hyderabad now, I only think of that drive. It was that much fun!

Originally Posted by Researcher

Thanks a lot for this wonderful review, partly because I myself own a 2.5 year old pre-owned 2008 SX4 ZXi (non-VVT) myself for the last 30K kms out of the total 1 lac approximately. And I must say, I absolutely agree on all the points you have mentioned!

Thank you, and great to meet a fellow SX4 owner! Happy to hear that you are having a good time with the car.

I still religiously do, everytime!

Great! So I am not alone :-)

I am going to title this as 'Cheap Thrills' and share with a cousin of mine who is on his second BMW.

Haha. Yes, "cheap thrills" sounds like a good title, and quite an apt term to describe the fun with not just SX4, but with any good old car!

However, coming to that comparison with the BMW, maybe I should never have done that in the first place. BMW is quite obviously in a different league and an order of magnitude more fun than SX4 for sure. The only reason I even compared these two is just that my other car happens to be a 320d, and thus, it was only natural for me to compare my two cars with each other. Else these two are more different than apples and oranges.

[ron_9191]

Really loved reading your story about the "wrong" car. It cracked me up so many times considering the fact you tried your level best to think it looks alright, but it still looked ugly. I can relate coz I drive its big brother, the good old Baleno Vxi. I think you were really fortunate to compare it with a BMW and find out how bad the SX4 was, I haven't reached there yet. Until then the ugly duckling is going to be my darling on 4 wheels.

To me however the SX4, looked well... let me explain. Imagine a the HM Ambassador and imagine they gave the old girl a much needed lifts in the right places, you get the SX4 or something like it. I always feel it is a car HM should have made and called it the Ambassador. But there is something very true about the old Suzukis. Particularly the cars that came the CKD route to us through Maruti Suzuki. They may not be the most sought after cars out there but they will last a lifetime for you, no matter what you throw at it.

[Bibendum90949]

My friend had a SX4 and i've driven it a bit. The striking thing about this car was its ground clearance - a whopping 190 mm. I don't think any other Indian sedan had that kind of a GC. To put that in perspective, the cross over/suv Seltos is having the same GC. That was one of the rare Maruti cars which came shod with big enough (width and side profile wise ) tyres. If my memory serves me right it had MRF tyres.

[Dr.AD]

Originally Posted by ron_9191

Really loved reading your story about the "wrong" car. It cracked me up so many times considering the fact you tried your level best to think it looks alright, but it still looked ugly. I can relate coz I drive its big brother, the good old Baleno Vxi. I think you were really fortunate to compare it with a BMW and find out how bad the SX4 was, I haven't reached there yet. Until then the ugly duckling is going to be my darling on 4 wheels.

Thank you very much. Good old Baleno is a very nice car too. A rare car with independent rear suspensions! And quite a fun to drive car. Enjoy your car! And I think the old Baleno looks quite nice actually.

Originally Posted by Bibendum90949

My friend had a SX4 and i've driven it a bit. The striking thing about this car was its ground clearance - a whopping 190 mm. I don't think any other Indian sedan had that kind of a GC. To put that in perspective, the cross over/suv Seltos is having the same GC.

The Ground Clearance for ZXi trim was 190mm as you said, in the first version of SX4 (before 2009) in India. In 2009, they launched this VVT version, which I have, and in this, the ZXi has 180mm of ground clearance. This 10mm reduction in the GC supposedly improved the handling by a small margin. Thus, the post 2009 ZXi was improved both in the engine (by addition of VVT feature in the engine) as well as handling (by 10mm reduction in the GC and also some tweaks in the suspensions - but I am not sure of the latter).

So in nutshell, my car has 180mm GC. That is still good enough for all practical purposes, and I never even once reached a situation where I wished for any more clearance! Not even when fully loaded.

That was one of the rare Maruti cars which came shod with big enough (width and side profile wise ) tyres. If my memory serves me right it had MRF tyres.

Yes, the ZXi trim has 205/60/R16 size tyres (OEM size), which as you correctly said, was quite a good size by 2010 standards and much better than what the competition offered that time. Yes, this was a rare Maruti that was properly tyred! However, it was not MRF, at least not on ZXi (not sure what tyres came on VXi). The ZXi came with JK Vectras. Those were strictly average. Anyways, those are long gone for me. My car currently runs Micheline P3STs in the stock size (205/60/R16).

[HooghlyBoy]

These costs have been quite reasonable throughout the decade. As I said, the car needs nothing other than routine service, and even if something is needed on rare occasion, the spare parts are quite cheap.

I agree....It's a Maruti, Super Reliable and Easy to maintain and handles highways better than many of the present cars from the Maruti Suzuki Stable!!.

[momsonlydriver]

Well, my Sx4 has also turned 10 years. Thinking of writing a love post. It is yet pending a new rear bumper and dent fix at my rear right door. The steering wheel cover of mine is now has a tear and I'm looking for new mats too. Mine is completely stock and has no accessories. Seems like your is much more well maintained than mine.

I never fixed rear sensors in this car. It's such a shame that the visibility is very poor from inside. Hence my I have already done the reversing wrong at this. Also has been bumper to a pole. The bumper protrudes a lot more than normal hence protecting the tail lamps. This is not seen in new cars today.

[TheHelix0202]

Nice review, the way you are emotionally connected to cars is amazing.

IMO, the SX4 is quite a handsome car - in darker colours that is!

Besides, the SX4 was a cross-hatch internationally anyway, and yet it managed to pull off a well shaped sedan type derrière (only ruined by the ugly bumper).

There was this Oyster Blue one in our school, owned by a teacher. It had quite a ghastly bodykit on it, same as this one here:

[sureshkishore]

Enjoyed the detailed story of 'dusty'.

I am a huge fan of the SX4. We have an 07 Zxi within the family. My brother retained the car, as he is unable to find really good reasons to sell it. Still is quite comfy. Very spacious. And being a maruti, service is relatively economical.

I think the car looks handsome. Ours is pearl white and still looks grand.

Hope 'dusty' remains with you for several more years to come.

[nvldvr]

Awesome thread. That is exactly how I would like my cars to be maintained. Modern day cars are built to easily last a couple of lakh kms / 15-20 years, with timely maintenance and servicing. Just that our respected courts differ in opinion, and deem even well maintained cars non road worthy even at 10 years. :-( :-(

[Herschey]

THE TRYST

I am more of a reader than a writer and Team-BHP is one place where I spend a lot of my reading time, partly because of my love for automobiles (both cars and motorcycles) and partly because its just so interesting to read through other people’s life experiences; for it is in these experiences that we try and find inspiration for our very own journeys. Much similar to how RSUDARSANAN’s experience of owning a 320d became an inspiration for you to get one of your own 5 years later. As much of an excitement as it is penning down our stories, equally intriguing is the process of reading through & absorbing them and letting them form a part of our own experiences.

I too happen to have a very interesting tryst with the SX4 and the story goes way back to the year 2009. I had a 2003 Honda City VTec which used to be my daily driver and I was planning on a replacement. Since the new car would have been a daily driver of sorts, I wasn’t planning on upgrading to a higher class vehicle but was only looking for something within the range of around 12 lacs. And so my hunt for a replacement began.

OPTION 1: THE 2009 HYUNDAI VERNA

One of my friends had a Hyundai Verna Diesel and I got the opportunity to experience the car one fine day. Now this is not the earlier Fluidic Verna we are talking of but the cheese ball shaped Verna before the Hyundai fluidic design theme came up. While I had heard a bit about its performance, the actual driving experience left much to be desired. The steering and suspension setup was a complete downer but the braking felt ample for city driving. The seating wasn’t as comfortable though and the rear felt very cramped. Overall, the car was no match for the Honda City and was struck off the list within an hour of getting to know it.

OPTION 2: CHEVROLET CRUZE

I loved the way this car looked with its sporty proportions, had heard quite a bit about its performance, and seen the interior pictures which looked funky in a good way. So I decided to take a test drive. The car was pretty good if not great to drive, the engine was enjoyable, the seating though cramped was comfortable, and the pricing not all that over my budget at around 15.6 lacs on road Delhi. The engine was a little noisy though and the cabin wasn’t all that well insulated to stop all the noise from coming in. After a few days of giving this car a really deep thought and one more test drive, I realized that I wasn’t getting anything better than what I already had, especially for the price I was going to pay for it. That’s the day I realized that it was going to be a really tough task to find a replacement for the City and I am quite sure, a lot of people here who have owned the City Vtec in the past would have run through the exact same dilemma. The City Vtec was just too good a car, something that would spoil you so much as to make you feel that any other car in its category was nothing more than a compromise or even a downgrade of sorts.

THE LAST EFFORT: MARUTI SUZUKI SX4

Now one of my childhood friends who lived right across the street bought a new SX4 around the same time. He actually wanted to buy a City (he too loved the Vtec) but got a SX4 instead. That’s the first time I experienced the car and honestly, it felt like a pretty good deal. The cabin was pretty spacious and decently comfortable. The comparatively higher seating position, both at the front seats and the rear bench was much better than the low sprung City. The engine wasn’t as spirited but was decent enough. The car looked solid and even bulky in comparison to the City’s sleek looks. I drove the car for almost 70 kms (Delhi-Noida-Delhi) to get a better feel of the car. While the car didn’t exactly feel bad in any department, it didn’t excel in any either. I was somehow not able to connect to the way it drove as I felt something missing which is kind of hard to explain in words. To try and draw an analogy, it drove quite a bit like my Hyundai Santro; just that it felt a bit more bulky doing so since it was much more solidly built, and consumed more fuel in the process. The pricing was sweet and I came pretty close to actually buying one. It was quite a good car for the time and the price was too good to be ignored. The problem here was that I had been spoilt a bit too much by the City. Yes, maybe I had become a Honda fanboy.

THE END RESULT

My search for a replacement actually left me disappointed, so much so that I completely dropped the idea of replacing the City. I however sold it in 2011 to a gentleman who actually came to buy our Santro but fell in love with the City instead. Just one drive of the car was enough for him to quote a price which was too hard for me to resist and since I was anyways planning for an upgrade by this time, I let my beloved go with a heavy heart. It was and continues to remain my most beloved car, partly because of how good it was and partly because of all the memories associated with it.

THE ROMANCE

For some, they might be vehicles meant to get from Point A to Point B. But for others who are in love with them and appreciate them for their inherent beauty, they are emotions aptly named ‘Dusty’, ‘Silver Steed’, and a whole many more instead. I thank God for providing me with ample company of such emotional fools while I proudly say, Yes, I’m in Love!

[₹itzylove]

Congratulations Dusty for the 10th Anniversary.

Please do not call it an ugly looking car again and again, it's definitely not. Take a look at the pictures again, it doesn't look ugly in any angle. Even right next to cars thrice as costly, it still looks handsome to me.

Until Ciaz came in, this was the best looking car ever to me in Suzuki's lineup in India IMHO.

My Blacky (Ritz) is going to celebrate its 10th Anniversary in 15 days time, another most underrated car in Suzuki's lineup. This writeup of yours triggered a lot of good memories with my Blacky in 10 years.

[alphadog]

Dr. AD, thank you for a very nice post, replete with lots of good photos.
I have a fair amount of experience with the SX4, as it was my parents car for a good 7 years. I agree with all the points you have mentioned about the better qualities of the car.
I felt that the body roll and bumpiness was more than one expects from a sedan. Other than that the car was a good, sturdy highway mile muncher and even within the city limits it performed quite well.
I beg to differ on the ugly bit. Although it does not have the sleek sedan looks it is by no means bad to look at. But then looks are always subjective.
My parents simply loved that car. My parents had a driver most of the time and my dad would swear by the back seat comfort in longer drives and also the ease of ingress and getting out of car. Dad is a big MSIL loyalists and they finally gave it away and got a late 2018 Ertiga, but he still talks fondly abut the old SX4.

Cheerio!

[blackwasp]

Originally Posted by Dr.AD

So let's get that out of the way immediately. This car is ugly and I will never ever claim otherwise. But I still love it and love it even more now after 10 years of driving it, more so than ever before! This is not so much of a review, but more of an essay about why I love something so ugly, and why I cherish the decade-long memories with this car.

Lovely writeup there Dr.AD. The SX4 was one of the nicer sedans from the Maruti stable and had loads of space inside as well. I had a chance to drive the car couple of times and it was a no nonsense car that could reliably get the job done.

And you are right on the boot space aspect. Its big enough to be used for airport trips.

Wishing you more miles with her.

Cheers

[ron_9191]

[quote=Dr.AD;4789153]Thank you very much. Good old Baleno is a very nice car too. A rare car with independent rear suspensions! And quite a fun to drive car. Enjoy your car! And I think the old Baleno looks quite nice actually.

You're very welcome. The driving experience as well as the ownership since 2007 has been outstanding and you are absolutely right. The looks, that is a tough call. I bought the car for its brilliant G16B engine and the all independent suspension. I have done 100's of trips with it from Bangalore to Kollam (Quilon for the British Raj) my hometown. And I have never got bored of driving the car and not once it has broken down, given me headaches or anything of that sort. Unlike the most common complaint about the old Baleno and its petroholism, I haven't experienced that at all. She's been absolutely wonderful all these years.