[Rahul Bhalgat]

Originally Posted by JithinR

I am looking for a car for my dad and am considering both new and used ones.

I can see a 2010 SX4 ZXi (Opt) run for 58,000kms (not verified) 2nd Owner listed near my place for about Rs. 2,35,000/-. Is this a fair price for this car?

From what I understand going through the forum the SX4 came with VVT later on in it's life. Is there a way for me to confirm if this one is equipped with VVT (I don't see the badge on the pictures posted and I have not contacted the owner yet). Was this mentioned in the RC card?

More important though is my concern on whether this engine has proved reliable in the long term (if i remember right then its the M16A? I am not really good at grasping technical aspects of a car) and are spare parts still available for the SX4 (especially for this engine)?

Hi JithinR,

As Dr.AD has posted, the VVT badge is located on the fender, on both sides. Another sign to identify SX4 VVT is the alloy wheels. Pre VVT SX4 has alloy wheels with 5 spokes. SX4 VVT has alloy wheel with 10 spokes. VVT isn't mentioned on the RC card.

M16A engine is proven and reliable in long term. You shall get the parts for another 10 years easily; there is adequate population of SX4 in India though mostly concentrated in big cities.Considering that it's production was stopped in 2017, the spares shall be available for 15 years after that. The gearbox is common with Diesel D'zire. Many other parts are common with Swift.

When I wanted to change the suspension lower arms of my SX4, they were costing around 6500 each. SX4 lower arms have Japan part numbers. On T-BHP, I discovered that SX4 lower arm is common with Swift 1st generation, though with a different part number. And Swift lower arms cost Rs. 1500 each. So I bought a pair of Swift lower arms at Rs. 3000 instead of Rs. 13000.

Price of Rs. 2.35 lakhs appears to be fair to me provided the car has been maintained properly. Check the car for past accidents, check the past service history.

[Dr.AD]

It had been a long time since I got a proper cleaning done on this car, especially the interiors. It is a true beater that gets washed once in a while. In general, I keep the interiors clean anyways, but just that the interiors had not been properly attended to in a long time.

Finally last weekend decided to get a proper interior cleaning done at 3M. Drove to the 3M HSR Layout Branch, and opted for something called "Germiclean" or similar - it is basically their interior shampooing package. The 3M guys did a very good job. Totally happy with their service and professionalism!

Also got basic wash on the outside. The external surfaces have a few scratches now (inevitable after 10+ years in Bangalore traffic and the many interstate drives), and I might soon get the whole car repainted. Therefore I did not spend on any external polishing at this time.

The car at 3M HSR Layout:



Interiors after a proper shampoo treatment:



The seat fabric and in general all interior plastics are still in good shape:



The dashboard plastics are still pretty much in good shape:



The backseat is quite spacious and comfortable, and now quite clean too:


The beater car continues to do her job without any fuss. And now that it is even cleaner on the inside, I feel like going on a long drive in this car. Will surely try to drive this more now in the new year!

[Dr.AD]

First breakdown, but all is well!

Finally, after more than 10.5 years of driving this car, I had the first breakdown! Thankfully, it happened in the main city area and it was easy to handle to situation. Maruti service responded very well and ensured I had a smooth experience.

I had driven to Cubbon Park for a morning walk a couple of weeks ago, and the car was fine, as usual. While returning from Cubbon Park, while I was driving on Mission Road, all of a sudden (the car was driving absolutely fine till then), a loud hitting sound started from the front right side. It was quite loud and it looked like some hard object had come under the wheels and hitting the engine from underside. It was scary! I pulled over safely to the left (luckily there was enough space for me to pull over and wait), and switched off the car. I came out and inspected the wheels, and I could see nothing wrong. I tried to start the car, and it started normally, but again with the same loud noise. Further, in minute or so, a strong burning smell - clearly the smell of rubber burning - occupied the whole cabin. I felt that it may not be safe to be in the car, switched it off again and came out of the car. I opened the bonnet, but could not recognize what was wrong. Luckily, no visible smoke as well. The burning smell lingered for a while and then disappeared.

While standing outside the car, I started searching on my phone for Maruti service centers nearby, and after a couple of calls which were redirected, finally reached the right number at Mandovi Motors, Wilson Garden service center. They said they will send someone right away, and game me the number of the mechanic who would come to attend my car. I called that mechanic, shared my location, and he said he will be there in 30 minutes. Knowing how typical RSA works in these situations, I was mentally prepared for a long wait. I even started attending office calls and did not even realize when the 30 minutes passed. However, to my pleasant surprise, almost exactly in 30 minutes, a yellow Maruti Omni pulled over next to us, with two mechanics jumping out to attend to my car! 10/10 to them on timeliness!

I explained to them what happened. One if them cranked the engine, then opened the bonnet, and instantly found the root cause of the breakdown. The AC compressor belt had snapped and that was causing the loud hitting sound as the broken belt was hitting everything around. And the broken belt was causing burning smell too. He simply removed the broken belt in a couple of minutes and told me that I could safely drive the car without AC compressor! I was so happy to know that this was not a major issue.

However, I did not want to drive it home in that state anyways. So he suggested we drive to the service center and get a new belt immediately. That made most sense, and I agreed. Just to be safe, he said he will drive my car. I sat in the car and he drove the car and me to Mandovi Motors in Wilson Garden.

My car at Mandovi Motors:



A Service Advisor there attended to us swiftly. Unfortunately, they did not have AC compressor belt in stock. He said it will take one day to procure it, and was very polite and even apologetic for the delay. He even suggested that I could safely drive the car home (only issue would be AC would not work), and I could come back the next day for belt replacement. However, I decided to leave my car there and pick it up next day after the belt replacement. He agreed.

Next day, I got a prompt call that my car was ready, and in the evening I went there to pick up my car, and it was indeed ready on time, ready for me to drive away.

The total bill, including charges for road side assassinate? It came to just Rs. 1,284! I was again pleasantly surprised! Fantastic and prompt service by Maruti. I just can not imagine any other service could have done anything better in that situation. 10/10 marks for Maruti and Mandovi Motors for this service experience!

After that I did one "test drive" for about 150km on a highway to make sure the car is fine. And it was fine!

With that happiness, I decided to give the car a well deserved wash. I usually avoid automatic car washes, but on this occasion, and given that this car already has plenty of scratches and paint damages, I decided to try an automatic car wash. There was no fear of this car wash causing any additional damage on the already damaged paint!

Car getting washed:


And finally, it was time for Wheel Balancing and Alignment. Of course, it goes without saying that Madhus is the place where I do all WB/WA work (or in general any wheel/tyre related work) on my car.

My car at Madhus Tyre Center, Wilson Garden:



As always, Madhus did a fantastic job! Great work and great service! Since the car had been relegated to the role of a beater, WA/WB was long overdue. Not that there was any specific problem of alignment, but just that it had been a while. And after this fresh job at Nikhil, the car felt much nicer to drive back.

Thus, finally, the car is back in top shape and felt all ready for a long drive, if needed. I decided not to treat her just as a beater car anymore, and with the car in good shape now, I decided to do a long drive in this car! More on that later!

[paragsachania]

All is well that ends well Doc. Thankfully it was just the compressor belt and it happened while you were in town.

Originally Posted by Dr.AD

and instantly found the root cause of the breakdown. The AC compressor belt had snapped and that was causing the loud hitting sound as the broken belt was hitting everything around.

Was this not inspected and replaced during the periodic service? I make it a practice to check the condition of the belts myself (AC/Alternator/Water Pump etc) quite regularly for signs of visible cracks and unusual hardness which are hints that the belts will give up soon.

Can you check what is the interval for replacement of belts and also ensure any other belts (few cars use more than one belt for other components) are also inspected and replaced, including the very important timing belt as well?

By the way, Wilson Garden Mandovi was where I got my first free service done for my WagonR in 2006 as I used to work at EGL (office location) and this was the nearest reputed workshop then. Even during those days where online feedback and social media didnt exist to the extent that they are today, the advisor was professional to explain me about hard water marks on my windscreen and how to prevent it and also how to properly engage in reverse gear each time one faces that krrrrr...or hesitation while engaging the reverse gear.

[Dr.AD]

Originally Posted by paragsachania

All is well that ends well Doc. Thankfully it was just the compressor belt and it happened while you were in town.

Thank you Parag. Yes, luckily it happened in the middle of the town with plenty of service support nearby, and happened when I was not running for any urgent commitment.

Was this not inspected and replaced during the periodic service? I make it a practice to check the condition of the belts myself (AC/Alternator/Water Pump etc) quite regularly for signs of visible cracks and unusual hardness which are hints that the belts will give up soon.

Can you check what is the interval for replacement of belts and also ensure any other belts (few cars use more than one belt for other components) are also inspected and replaced, including the very important timing belt as well?

No, no warning of any sort was given to me by the SA in the last service. The last full service of the car was done in June 2020 (during the lockdown), and since then, the car had run for only about 600km before this incidence! I had asked them to inspect everything that time, and they reported to me that all was well and good enough to take the car on any long drive I wanted. Honestly, that time, for the first time in my ownership experience, I had a below average service experience from Maruti. The SA gave an excuse that due to lockdown, many of the expert technicians had gone to their hometowns and they were working with makeshift technicians. It could be true; I gave them the benefit of doubt. But somehow that service experience was poor.

Thanks for reminding me now. I will get all belts checked and replaced if necessary before any further long drives. I will also check the replacement intervals mentioned in the manual.

By the way, Wilson Garden Mandovi was where I got my first free service done for my WagonR in 2006 as I used to work at EGL (office location) and this was the nearest reputed workshop then. Even during those days where online feedback and social media didnt exist to the extent that they are today, the advisor was professional to explain me about hard water marks on my windscreen and how to prevent it and also how to properly engage in reverse gear each time one faces that krrrrr...or hesitation while engaging the reverse gear.

Ok, great! I had never been there before. But this time I called them up and went there simply because this was the closet service station to where my car broke down. I am glad it all worked out well. They were polite and professional.

[Dr.AD]

Originally Posted by Dr.AD

I decided not to treat her just as a beater car anymore, and with the car in good shape now, I decided to do a long drive in this car! More on that later!

As I mentioned above, I decided to start using this car for occasional long drives too. Since I started leaving the car idle for long times, I started noticing a few minor issues coming up. I felt the rubber parts, seals, gaskets get harder with long idle times, and every time I drove the car after say a gap of three weeks, I felt it got rougher and I noticed new rattles. Further, during the recent wheel balancing at Madhus, I was told that the tyres have developed some minor flat spots. That is also caused by the long parked times. In general, I felt the health of the car was deteriorating since I stopped using it regularly. And now that it is fixed and healthy again, I plan to use it more regularly to keep it in the healthy state.

With that motivation, I did my first long drive in this car after what seems like ages! I took this car to Coorg for a weekend drive. It was an interesting experience, almost nostalgic one for me, to drive this car on the highway again. The simple NA petrol engine, which requires a good amount of revving to keep it "on the boil" for those fast highway sections, the simple but sweet 5-speed manual gearbox, and almost no electronic gadgetry to play with, make driving this car on a highway a pure and simple fun. The car gets loud at high speeds (the engine note is loud but lovely - I really like it; and the bulky shape generates lot of wind noise too), but I think that is part of the fun. It is never a boring experience. I had total fun and enjoyed my weekend with this car in the hills of Coorg!

Let me share a couple of pictures.

On the beautiful roads of Coorg:



Parked at the destination. An overnight trip for the car after a really long time:



And finally, not a car photo, but could not resist sharing a sunrise over the lovely hills of Coorg:

[HooghlyBoy]

Originally Posted by Hamza123

My dad owes the sx4 as well. 12 years old and around 90k kms. Well past it’s prime but still looks great when it comes back from a wash. Only issue he has faced is slight colour fade on the roof. He has the orange rust colour not sure what’s it called. It’s easy to maintain and rattle free as you mentioned.

The Maruti brochure names the Colour as French Eclair. I also have the same. It's still in mint condition.

[vigsom]

Originally Posted by Dr.AD

I took this car to Coorg for a weekend drive. It was an interesting experience, almost nostalgic one for me, to drive this car on the highway again

Great of you, Doc, to have enabled "Baby's Day Out" for Dusty (your sx4). I am still surprised at how the AC belt failed. Maybe there were cracks that weren't noticed. However, I hope all is well with the compressor and I hope the pulley isn't running jammed.

Originally Posted by HooghlyBoy

The Maruti brochure names the Colour as French Eclair. I also have the same. It's still in mint condition

I think the colour that you're referring to is called Sunlight Copper. This has a tendency to fade out when exposed too much to sunlight.

French Eclair is a dark brown fade-proof shade - featured in the second edition of the sx4 (late 2009-2012).

A French Eclair sx4

[Dr.AD]

Originally Posted by vigsom

Great of you, Doc, to have enabled "Baby's Day Out" for Dusty (your sx4). I am still surprised at how the AC belt failed. Maybe there were cracks that weren't noticed. However, I hope all is well with the compressor and I hope the pulley isn't running jammed.

Thank you vigsom. I never inspected the AC belt myself (nor do I have the skills to assess the conditions of it even if I inspected it), and the service center guys never warned me of any impending issues either.

Anyways, all is fine now. The car is running fine since then and there is no issue. Just that my car usage has in general come down (due to working from home and close to zero business travel/no face to face meetings). And for my weekend travels, I take the other car. Thus, again I am finding it hard to drive the SX4 regularly. It gets parked for a week at a time. That is my only concern. Other than that the car is doing fine now.

[HarshaSwift]

Great Review!! Huge fan of your long solo travel to konkan coast sir. I would like to explore the konkan coast on my own with my car(Drogon) someday.

[nvldvr]

Originally Posted by Dr.AD

That is my only concern. Other than that the car is doing fine now.

Hi Dr AD.

Thanks for the nice thread.

I am contemplating buying a used 2012, 77k run (with records) black Sx4 Zxi.

The car will be used as the 3rd car of the family, for some intra City runs, and occasional long highway runs.

The reason why I am looking at used sx4 is that at this price point (2-3 lakhs), I will not get a safer car. And safety is a priority for me.

Would you recommend this.

Any specifics you feel I should check?

Thanks in anticipation.

[Dr.AD]

Originally Posted by HarshaSwift

Great Review!! Huge fan of your long solo travel to konkan coast sir. I would like to explore the konkan coast on my own with my car(Drogon) someday.

Thank you very much.

Originally Posted by nvldvr

Hi Dr AD.

Thanks for the nice thread.

I am contemplating buying a used 2012, 77k run (with records) black Sx4 Zxi.

The car will be used as the 3rd car of the family, for some intra City runs, and occasional long highway runs.

The reason why I am looking at used sx4 is that at this price point (2-3 lakhs), I will not get a safer car. And safety is a priority for me.

Would you recommend this.

Any specifics you feel I should check?

Thanks in anticipation.

Yes, I would recommend this. SX4 is a very robust car and 77k km is not too much. If the car is well maintained, there would be absolutely no issues to worry about at that mileage. In my case, whatever issues (like the AC compressor belt failure that I mentioned) I faced, happened after 120k km and that too when the car was idle for a long time. And even then these are extremely simple issues which any mechanic can fix at cheap rates. Spare parts are quite cheap and nothing is really expensive to fix or replace.

I have recommended used SX4s to a few friends and nobody has regretted that.

The only drawbacks would be bare-bones interiors and lack of any comfort features or any gizmos compared to cars of today. However, since this would be the 3rd car in your family as you mentioned, this should not matter. The ride is a bit stiff and can be a bother on some occasions. But again as a 3rd car this is not a major issue.

It is perfect car for city runs, airport runs (can swallow a lot of luggage) and even occasional long distance trips. It is fun to drive this on bad roads where this car is totally at home.

However, I can not comment on the price since for such old cars, the price varies a lot on the condition of that specific car and lot of other factors specific to that situation. I have no idea what is a fair price of my car either.

So keeping aside the price (you can take your own call on that), mechanically speaking, I would say this is a good deal.

[nvldvr]

Originally Posted by Dr.AD

Thank you very much.


Yes, I would recommend this. SX4 is a very robust car and 77k km is not too much.

So keeping aside the price (you can take your own call on that), mechanically speaking, I would say this is a good deal.

Thanks a ton for a very clear recommendation.

Sx4 is checking all the boxes for me. I am getting a 2012 Zxi variant at around 2.5 L, which I feel is a reasonable price for a well maintained car.

Will check the car out over the next few days, and if all goes well, will look to seal the deal.

Regards.

[Dr.AD]

Originally Posted by nvldvr

Sx4 is checking all the boxes for me. I am getting a 2012 Zxi variant at around 2.5 L, which I feel is a reasonable price for a well maintained car.

Will check the car out over the next few days, and if all goes well, will look to seal the deal.

Ok, great. I do not know what is the "fair" price for a used SX4, but just objectively speaking, 2.5L sounds like a decent deal. I agree with you that it is hard to find another car in 2.5L that is as versatile and as good as SX4. It is indeed a great car for 2.5L.

Just make sure mechanically it is sound and there are no obvious issues. A thorough check by an expert mechanic and an equally thorough check on service history and all documents would be great. And if it comes clean out of all that, then it would be a great buy for sure.

[abirnale]

Just now I stumbled upon this thread AD SX4 was a great car fr me too when I had it. I outgrew its need and unable to keep two cars at home, I had to get rid of my silver steed after putting a lot of heart and soul in her. I think this car was responsible for luring me into the SUV world - the GC and the ability to go almost anywhere was instant click with me. I never hesitated to take her to my village, farm or into the unknown.

You have kept the car in perfect shape and its still a great beater car (how we change definitions right? Once this was "first" love car!). Wish you many more care-free and enjoyable miles on this car