[Dr.AD]

As the oft-quoted line in this forum goes, if you don't look back at your car after you park, you bought the wrong car.

My Maruti SX4 is my wrong car by this definition. It looks ugly. I does not make you look back after you park it. Well so to speak. (In reality, being passionate about whatever car I get to drive, I did look back at her every single time, but that's just me.)

In all 10 years of owning it, and 123,000km of driving it, it never looked beautiful to me. Not even when I tried my best to look at it with a parent's unconditional love. It still looked ugly.

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.

Before we proceed further, here is a picture of Dusty - the name I gave her after a week-long monsoon drive in 2016 in which she was covered in mud and dust - on the Konkan coast in 2016, in my most memorable solo drive ever!

With this introduction done, let me summarize the key points based on my 10 years with this car:


What I like:

• Amazing reliability. In 10 years and 123,000km, not a single moment of trouble! And this includes many drives in some tough conditions.
• Amazingly simple and easy to maintain. In 10 years, apart from a new clutch after 93,000km, all it needed was routine oil changes and other routine stuff. Zero headaches, zero stress!
• Smooth and refined 1.6 NA petrol engine. Loves to rev at 4k rpm all day and sounds nice. Loves long drives!
• 103bhp power, which is not too bad for a 2010 mid-budget car.
• Excellent brakes! Surprisingly good actually. I found the SX4 brakes to be at par with many much more expensive sedans.
• Simple and smooth shifting 5-speed manual gearbox.
• High (180mm) Ground Clearance, and SUV like high seating with great visibility all around. Perfect car for bad roads. Can be driven almost like a mini-SUV. Speed breakers are not an issue even when fully loaded!
• Good high-speed ride quality. Surprisingly, the body roll is not as bad as the high center of gravity would suggest. The body roll is well within limits!
• Great practicality. Spacious interiors and good boot space too.
• Perfect ergonomics and simple, clean layout in the cabin. No quirks anywhere in the interior.
• For a 2010 car, a good set of features (2 airbags, ABS, automatic climate control, 16" alloy wheels, powered everything etc)
• Very comfortable seats - both front and rear. Well contoured, spacious, and perfect sitting position for long drives.
• Surprisingly, a Maruti that does not rattle. The car is still mostly rattle-free!
• Again, surprisingly, very solid build quality for a Maruti. It never felt flimsy or light, and even after a decade, it is still in a tight shape, and still ready for a long drive anytime!
• A perfect highway mile cruncher!

What I don't like:

• It looks ugly. Well, I have said that enough times already. I promise this is the last time. In 2010, for C segment sedans, the benchmark for design and looks were set by Fiat Linea, which was the main competitor to SX4 that time. Linea looked so beautiful. SX4 does not even come close to being called good looking.
• The engine with 103bhp and 145Nm is just about adequate for my driving needs. Feels slow on the highway. It can certainly do good highway speeds, but can reach there only after an eternity! However, it was still better than its main competitor that time, Fiat Linea, which offered a 94bhp, 1.4L petrol engine.
• The steering feedback is strictly average. Much worse than Fiat Linea.
• The driving dynamics is strictly average. Again, much worse than Linea in this too.
• Below average fuel economy for an economy car.
• No fancy gadgets, no electronics to play with, no MID, no bells and whistles.
• At slow speeds and on bad roads, the ride quality is bad. Too bumpy.

Why I love it:
Back in 2010, I bought this car primarily for its reliability and practicality. I wanted to do highway drives without having to worry about the car (something that I sorely missed on my 2002 Fiat Palio before this - that car was fun on the highways but also a bit of a pain and something or the other kept on going wrong all the time). And that is how this story started. The car was great for going anywhere, anytime, with almost SUV like capabilities. Of course, by that, I don't mean off-roading, but I mean it could tackle any bad roads without much worry. And the added bonus was cheap and easy maintenance. With every single highway drive, I started liking the car more and more. And without me even realizing it, the car became a part of my family and became an integral part of all my driving plans.

What helped me further was that to begin with, my expectations were low and requirements were simple. I knew I was not getting a fancy car in my limited budget in 2010. I knew it was an economy car or at best a mid-budget car (by 2010 standards). And for that mid-budget car, it still had a good engine that I was happy about, it had all basic features I needed on the highway drives, and it was comfortable enough for those day-long drives that I often did. Although I now feel the engine power is just adequate, back then in early 2010s, it felt more than enough for my needs and I could easily maintain good highway speeds all day.

Then started my solo drives with this car. I always believe that the bond between a man and his machine grows strong only after a few solo drives. And I did plenty of those in this car. The car became my companion. The car became a part of all my experiences and all my memories.

In the past 10 years, I also did numerous team-bhp meets and drives with this car, and the car shares all those wonderful memories with me.

The one quality that stood out in all these times and all these drives it that it never let me down. And with that trust that got built, it feels like a fortress to me. I feel absolutely safe and at home when I sit in this car. The car is sort of my comfort zone. It is my own personal space with some very nice memories. It is a feeling hard to explain in words.


Life as a beater car, and why I still love it:
In 2018, I bought a BMW 320d (https://www.team-bhp.com/forum/test-...ar-update.html), and that became my primary car for highway drives (and pretty much most other drives), and the SX4 got relegated to a beater car role. Several funny things happened with that change. First of all, I suddenly realized how slow the SX4 was. I also realized how poor the handling was. And how poor the ride was. It is funny how these subjective opinions change based on circumstances and based on what one's benchmarks for comparison are. (And jokingly, this is one more reason why I called the SX4 the "wrong car". Because the BMW has now become the "right car". Again, this is surely just a joke.)

However, at the same time, I started appreciating the other qualities even more - the ability to go anywhere and everywhere as an example. The BMW does not like to go on really bad roads. The BMW does not like water logged streets and mud-filled potholes. Further, I need an assurance of a good parking spot wherever I take the BMW, and valet parking is out of question with the BMW.

The SX4 handles all these situations with a smile, and without breaking sweat. It does not care about bad roads or potholes, and it is not even a little bit afraid of water logged streets or mud-filled potholes. It loves those monsoon downpours. It does not mind getting parked by a valet.

After a few tense moments with the BMW, I really started appreciating these qualities of the SX4 even more, and fell in love with it all over again! While with BMW I enjoy the drive, with SX4 I enjoy the journey! The SX4 is an experience beyond the "driving pleasure", which is BMW's forte.

So beater car or not, I still love the SX4 and will continue doing so. I can't believe it has already been 10 years. The car is still in very good condition. Even now, apart from regular oil changes, it needs nothing more! I can still drive it on the long interstate highway drives, and it is still comfortable enough and practical enough for all my basic driving needs.

[Dr.AD]

Selection and the buying process, and the early days with the car:

My search for a new car lasted for almost a year before I could make my mind to by this SX4. That thought process and the buying experience is detailed here: https://www.team-bhp.com/forum/test-...ar-update.html

Going down the memory lane, here are some very first pictures of the car, when the car was just a couple of days old:










A close friend of mine had a Palio 1.6 back then. We both were so proud of our cars, and both of us thought 1.6L and more than 100hp was a big deal. It surely was for us, back in 2010. Here is a picture of our 1.6L cars that that we were so proud of once upon a time:

[Dr.AD]

Modifications and Accessories over the years:

My expectations from this car were basic, and the car more than met these. The fundamental principle for existence of this car was "simplicity and reliability". Thus, I did not really do any real modifications. Accessories is probably more apt term for whatever changes I did to this car.

The very first thing the car got was a leather wrap on the steering wheel at Stanley. Such a simple thing which we take for granted today. But back in 2010, this felt like a major achievement to me :-)



I had a MapMyIndia personal navigation device that time. Google Maps was in nascent stage in India in 2010, and this device was my proud possession:



One of the things which needed modification was the headlights. The stock headlights were quite poor. So I switched to Philips Rally 100/90W bulbs and accordingly changed the wiring harness too:






I also installed these Hella DRLs:






In 2015, I got this TPMS from Aliexpress, and this is one of the best purchase decisions. Works very well, even today!



And finally, the major "upgrade" for me was this Android headunit, again ordered from Aliexpress. It is specifically made for Suzuki SX4, and fits very well. At that time I was not sure about how long this would last, but I am happy to report that it has lasted all this time without any issue. It works well even today with absolutely no issues whatsoever!



Torque Pro app running on the Android headunit:



My favorite Torque Pro Layout:

More details of this Android headunit are given here: https://www.team-bhp.com/forum/car-e...aruti-sx4.html (Review: Android Head-Unit in my Maruti SX4)


Coming back to interiors, I installed 3M Nomad mats in the car at one time:


Unfortunately, the color did not match well. Further, sadly, the fit was not that great, and the mats kept on sliding around all the time. The driver side mats also got torn soon by constant rubbing against the driver's shoes. Overall, a disappointing experience with these mats. I threw them away in a couple of years.

Luckily, I found much better mats (and at half the price compared to 3M mats!) at a local accessory shop in my neighborhood. These mats fit perfectly fine and I am happily using these mats for sometime now:

[Dr.AD]

Maintenance and Operation Costs:

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.

On one front the car is not very cheap is on fuel economy. the 1.6L NA engine is not great foe fuel economy. I started tracking the fuel economy in 2013 using an app, and the data since 2013 is plotted below (all measurements are tankful to tankful, since the car does not have any MID at all anyways):



In bumper-to-bumper Bangalore traffic, I often got around 8kml. On some occasions, especially after 2015 when Bangalore traffic became ridiculously bad and my daily commute was complete bumper-to-bumper traffic, I even got 6km/l, as you can see in the above plot. On the highways, I usually got between 12km/l and 14km/l, and on some rare occasion when I drove very sedately, I even got 18km/l. And on some highway drives when I drove very spiritedly, I got just 9km/l.

What matters more to me than fuel economy is the range, which is important for my long highway drives. Thankfully, the car has a 50L tank, and even with 12km/l, I still got a 600km of highway range. This was good enough for me and thus, I did not really have any complaints on this front too.

Regarding paid servicing, I switched to synthetic oil after 20,000km, and including the cost of that oil, the typical service costs (at every 10,000km internal) were about Rs. 10,000. This has been quite reasonable and consistent throughout the decade. The only major component that ever needed replacement was clutch, which was replaced at 93,000km mark.

The plot below shows my service and repair costs every year:



2017 was somewhat an odd-year in my 10 years of ownership pattern. In 2017, I did several Bangalore-Pune drives (some 8 round trips) due to changed nature of my job, and that meant that I clocked much higher than usual number of km in 2017. That year, I did three major services - 90k, 100k, and 110k km services, and also the change of clutch (at 93k km) happened that year. That resulted in the highest service cost in 2017 as you can see in the plot above. However, even then, the total yearly cost (which included 3 major services and a new clutch) is sill about Rs. 35k. That shows how reasonable the maintenance has been.

The total cumulative service cost over 10 years and 123,000km is Rs.1,52,770. I believe that is very reasonable, and given the current state of the car, I feel confident it will remain so even in the future.

The service costs, as expected, correlate closely with my yearly running. My highest yearly running was in 2017, which was about 26,500km that year (due to many Bangalore-Pune drives). And then, in 2018 it drastically reduced, because the SX4 became my second car, and it reduced even lower to a nominal 2,300km in the entire 2019. The yearly running is shown in the plot below:





The car was serviced at Pratham Motors in Bangalore throughout, and I always had a great experience there. This is of course not surprising for Maruti, and as expected, overall customer care experience has been fantastic. The service advisors are courteous and knowledgeable, the quality of work done is usually good, spare parts are available easily and at reasonable price, and usually the car is returned on time. Overall, as expected, I am happy with my Maruti service experience throughout the 10 year period and I have zero complaints!

During one of the routine services, they even cleaned my engine bay so well that I could resist taking a picture and sharing it with my friends. Here is that picture of a clean engine bay:




Tyres: The car is currently running on Michelin Primacy 3 ST (P3ST) tyres in 205/60/R16 size, which is the stock size. The tyres are great and the ride quality as well as grip improved a lot with these tyres over the OEM JK Vectras. These P3ST are of course well known on this forum, and I need not say anything more.

[Dr.AD]

Memories from various drives:

As I mentioned earlier, the fond memories of so many drives over all these years are what makes this car so special to me. Some of those drives were family drives, some with friends, and some solo drives. Let me take a trip down the memory lane and share some of those special moments here.

Parked in a homestay in Wayanad, KL, which was the very first outstation drive for this car (2010)



Another photo from the same Wayanad drive (2010)



That is me driving the car through the Western Ghats (2010)



At a beach resort near Calicut, KL (2010)



At yet another beautiful resort in KL (2010)



At Bekal Fort, KL (2010)



Another photo at Bekal Fort, KL (2010)



At a beach near Udupi, Karnataka (2010)



View of the Karwar beach from the passenger window while on our way to Goa, (2014)



On way to Goa for a monsoon drive (2014)



On way to Goa, in Chorla Ghat (2014) And this was a solo drive, by the way.



On way to Goa, in Chorla Ghat (2014)



On way to Goa (2014)



At Hampi, KA (2014)



Another photo at Hampi, KA (2014)



Back in Wayanad, KL (2014). This grassland was the designated parking lot at this resort, and the SX4 did not mind that.



At my favorite coffee shop between Chikmagalur and Charmadi Ghat in Karnataka (2016)

The next few pictures are from my most memorable solo drive, which I did in the monsoon of 2016. That drive is detailed in this travelogue: https://www.team-bhp.com/forum/trave...karnataka.html (My monsoon solo: 2000 km & 7 days of wandering through Konkan, Goa and Western Karnataka)

That was a solo drive through some challenging conditions, including some massive amounts of rain and even some flooded areas which blocked my roads and forced me to explore some unknown side-roads. The SX4 handled all those challenges quite well and I developed a special bond with this car in those 7 days of solo wanderings. The car became my true trusted companion in that drive, and that trust is still unbroken!

On the way to Fort Panhala, MH (2016)



In Amba ghat, MH in monsoon (2016)



Another shot in Amba Ghat (2016)



The Amba ghat continues to charm me and my car (2016)



At Malgund Beach (MH) in monsoon (2016)



My favorite photo at Malgund Beach (MH) in monsoon (2016)



Waiting for a ferry near Jaigad, MH (2016)



And then on that ferry (2016)



At a temple on seashore in MH (2016) - Mini-SUV characteristics required to reach this spot!



Another photo at the same spot (2016)



On the scenic Aarey-Warey Road near Ratnagiri, MH (2016)



On the famous and scenic Mumbai-Goa Highway (2016)



On the iconic bridge on Terekhol River, which is the border between Maharashtra and Goa (2016)

As I already mentioned, this monsoon drive in 2016 earned the name "Dusty" for the SX4.

[Dr.AD]

Drives with fellow bhpians and team-bhp meets:

A big part of my drives are our usual team-bhp drive meets as well as some impromptu drives with my fellow bhpian friends in Bangalore. Just as we are friends and know each other for several years, our cars are friends too and equally well known to each other. My SX4 remembers many of these cars fondly, and these group drives have a special place in my memory too. Again, taking a trip down the memory lane, sharing some of those moments here.

Dusty, in her very first team-bhp drive meet, and even I met the fellow bhpians for the first time (2013)



In her maiden team-bhp drive (2013), during a quick regroup on the side of the road, Dusty admiring the beautiful 320d of RSUDARSANAN, which proved to be an inspiration for my own 320d five years later!



On a lunch drive with fellow bhpians (2013). The other SX4 is Abirnale's "Silver Steed".
A bit sad note is that none of the other three cars (other than Dusty) are in our group now. All sold, and owners moved on to fancier rides!



At Avalanche Lake, Ooty in another team-bhp drive (2015)



With the team-bhp gang at that picturesque lake (2015)



Almost invisible in the convoy (at number 4, if you look carefully) led by Abirnale's Orange Cheetah, while returning from a team-bhp drive to Kerala (2015)



With friendly bhpian cars at an overnight drive meet in Kabini (2015)



Pretending to lead the pack during a team-bhp drive to Galibore (2016)



At the parking lot at Jungle Lodges and Resorts, Galibore (2016)



Returning from Galibore (2016). Roads like these are not even a matter of concern for Dusty (although several much lower slung sedans in the group also managed this quite well, so this wasn't a big deal after all)



At a team-bhp drive meet at a resort near Udupi, KA (2016)



Lunch stop while returning from that drive (2016)



A very special and memorable drive to Hyderabad, to meet fellow bhpians from Hyderabad. Dusty here with Tilt's Jetta and RSUDARSANAN's 320d, - the three cars that drove all the way from Bangalore to attend the Hyderabad meet! (2016)



At the famous Chamraj Tea Center (TN), during the "Anniversary Drive" to Ooty (2016)



Parked with friendly bhpian cars at Ooty, during the "Anniversary Drive" (2016)



Once again in the company of the 320d, Ooty (2016)



With Tilt's Jetta at the Shettihalli Church, KA, while on a 'mileage drive" (2016)



Once again, hanging out with the 320d during team-bhp drive to Hampi (2016)




At Lalitha Mahal Palace Hotel in Mysore, with the team-bhp gang, during yet another Ooty drive (2017)




On a breakfast drive, which turned into an impromptu full day drive, along with the 320d and the Jetta (2017)



During the same impromptu day drive, at an even more impromptu break at a picturesque spot near Krishnagiri, TN (2017)

[Dr.AD]

Back to today, in the role of the "Beater Car":

Today, Dusty is still going strong and I enjoy driving her whenever possible, although her role is now relegated to that of a beater car.

One area where Dusty scores over the 320d (and which is an important point for the beater car) is luggage space. The 320d, especially with the idiotic space saver tyre kept bang in the middle of the trunk, has not much luggage space to talk about. In contrast, Dusty has 500L on boot space on paper, and in practice, can swallow a lot of luggage with ease. On a couple of occasions, where I had to carry some family members and their massive luggage (from international trips or wedding trips for example), it was Dusty that came to the rescue.

Below is one old picture again from 2010, but that shows how much luggage Dusty can swallow:



Although she is now a beater car, I still care enough to give her a nice wash once in a while at my favorite detailing place:



At the end of the last year, we took Dusty to a weekend drive with out friends, because they had a lot of luggage (from their international flight) to carry, and it was again Dusty who could do that with a smile. To wrap up this decade long story, here is a parting shot of Dusty on that weekend trip at the end of the year 2019:

[Aditya]

Thread moved out from the Assembly Line. Thanks for sharing!

[V.Narayan]

Congratulations on maintaining your car so well. Dusty is a nice cute affectionate name. All cars should have names. Shouldn't they :-) Wishing you many happy and safe miles ahead .

My beater car is Bugs Bunny - a red Honda Jazz that completes 10 years in a few weeks. It gets driven by all the kids, both the drivers, does the utility runs daily, kids take it out for their dates (!!), they all learnt to drive on it, crashed it badly twice ...but yet it goes on and on.

PS: Doc I hope you talk to your car and pat it. Psst! - I do.

[Dr.AD]

Originally Posted by V.Narayan

Congratulations on maintaining your car so well. Dusty is a nice cute affectionate name. All cars should have names. Shouldn't they :-) Wishing you many happy and safe miles ahead .

Thank you very much.

My beater car is Bugs Bunny - a red Honda Jazz that completes 10 years in a few weeks. It gets driven by all the kids, both the drivers, does the utility runs daily, kids take it out for their dates (!!), they all learnt to drive on it, crashed it badly twice ...but yet it goes on and on.

Wow. Nice car and a nice name! I am sure your whole family has memories with Bugs Bunny. And these memories eventually make the car special. After using the car for so many years, unless the car is a lemon to begin with, mostly the list of features and specifications fade away in the order of importance. What becomes more important is the relationship we share with our cars and the memories we have with the car. This is exactly why Dusty is special to me.

PS: Doc I hope you talk to your car and pat it. Psst! - I do.

haha. Yes, I will. Thanks again for all your kind words!

[dileepcm]

What a memory-line ride! Well written with details on point. A friend/colleague of mine had exact same model while we were working together in Chennai back in 2011-12. He was relatively new to driving back then and I had the golden opportunity to keep driving his SX4 on many long drives through out TN and KA. Highways in TN were good back in the days and it was a lot of fun driving around Pondi, Madurai, Nagercoil etc and eating a lot of good food.

Originally Posted by Dr.AD

At yet another beautiful resort in KL (2010)

Looks like Nalanda Resorts near Nileshwaram

[PearlJam]

Excellent writeup, AD!

Originally Posted by Dr.AD

Amazing reliability. In 10 years and 123,000km, not a single moment of trouble! And this includes many drives in some tough conditions
...
Then started my solo drives with this car. I always believe that the bond between a man and his machine grows strong only after a few solo drives.

And this is much more important than what people give credit for. When you're in the middle of nowhere, it's getting dark, it's raining, there's no phone network, and it's unsafe to stop, you rely much more than 100% on your car to see you through. The only thing that stands between you getting stranded vs reaching safe, is your car. At that time, handling, power, steering feedback, etc all become immaterial and superfluous. And nothing builds your trust more than seeing your car deliver the above, again and again. Constant niggles takes the whole fun out of the overall ownership experience, besides always leaving you with a nagging doubt about reliability.

Originally Posted by Dr.AD

First of all, I suddenly realized how slow the SX4 was. I also realized how poor the handling was. And how poor the ride was. It is funny how these subjective opinions change based on circumstances and based on what one's benchmarks for comparison are.

But that's always how it is! When you get a better driving machine, the older one feels terrible when you go back to it. That's why I never test drive cars unless I can afford to (and indend to) buy it

Originally Posted by Dr.AD

I started tracking the fuel economy in 2013 using an app, and the data since 2013 is plotted below

Nice app. Could you please let us know which one?

[Hamza123]

I beg to differ the car is really handsome! Sure it’s no Italian beauty like the Linea but come on it looks butch and macho in its own right.
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.
Congrats and wish you many more miles ahead

[Dr.AD]

Originally Posted by dileepcm

What a memory-line ride! Well written with details on point. ....
Looks like Nalanda Resorts near Nileshwaram

Thank you. And yes, you are absolutely correct! That is the Nalanda Resorts!

Originally Posted by PearlJam

Excellent writeup, AD!

Thank you.

And this is much more important than what people give credit for. When you're in the middle of nowhere, it's getting dark, it's raining, there's no phone network, and it's unsafe to stop, you rely much more than 100% on your car to see you through. The only thing that stands between you getting stranded vs reaching safe, is your car. At that time, handling, power, steering feedback, etc all become immaterial and superfluous. And nothing builds your trust more than seeing your car deliver the above, again and again. Constant niggles takes the whole fun out of the overall ownership experience, besides always leaving you with a nagging doubt about reliability.

You said it very well. I agree with you 100% on these points. I have actually gone through pretty much the exact same situations you described, and when this car brought me back safely every single time, that is what lead to developing this special bond. Yes, as you said, in those situations, the reliability of the car is more important than anything else.

I had a Fiat Palio before this SX4, that was exactly the opposite. That was a good car to enjoy the handling and driving dynamics, but it left me stranded on more than one occasion. A close friend of mine also had a Palio (photographed above in my post), and that left him stranded on a couple of occasions too. And even worse, it left us stranded together once! In 2009, we were driving to Ooty together (4 people in the car) in his car, and it got overheated on the 36 hairpin bends to Ooty, and we had to pull over and stop in the middle of that stretch of the forest. It was a nightmare to manage that situation. So yes, that kind of a car can never give you the confidence to take on a solo drive in the middle of remote forests.

A bit off-topic, but this is where I truly love the BMW 320d. That is almost as reliable as the SX4, and also has all the right qualities like great handling and driving dynamics. That car combines driving pleasure with reliability, and hence I jokingly call it the "right car", in contrast to this "wrong car". :-) Just that it had its limitations, like any other car has.

Nice app. Could you please let us know which one?

This is an app called "aCar", which is now bought by Fuelly. Here is the Google Play link: https://play.google.com/store/apps/d....acar&hl=en_IN

However, the plot I showed is not directly out of the app. I exported the app data into a CSV file, and then generated my own plots using Excel :-) The plots directly out of the app are not very nice. They are good enough for you to see the trends, but the formatting is quite poor and not good enough for sharing with others.

Originally Posted by Hamza123

I beg to differ the car is really handsome! Sure it’s no Italian beauty like the Linea but come on it looks butch and macho in its own right.
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.
Congrats and wish you many more miles ahead

Thank you. Beauty is in the eye of the beholder. So yes, I can imagine how someone can say the car looks good. And yes, I also agree it looks butch and macho. Maybe I was a bit too harsh in my comments.

Actually the Suzuki SX4 hatchback, which is also an AWD hatchback sold in North America (2006-2014) was a very good looking car. The SX4 in India is a sedan version of that design, and the looks a bit weird with that bulbous rear end. The SX4 hatchback is a many times better looker.

Here is a picture of that hatchback version sold in the US, which looks so much nicer:



Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Suzuki...NHTSA_rear.jpg

[tilt]

Originally Posted by Dr.AD

Before we proceed further, here is a picture of Dusty - the name I gave her after a week-long monsoon drive in 2016 in which she was covered in mud and dust - on the Konkan coast in 2016, in my most memorable solo drive ever!

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


Cheers