Swift VDi ownership: A Running report

Eddy · 24th January 2009, 11:50

Geek: My wife is also starting to learn how to drive. A bit of caution. Swift D might be the worst car to learn in.
- Visibility is an issue
- The diesel torque is difficult to control for a newbie

GeekSrik · 25th January 2009, 10:27

i am planning to get her a Santro or i10 AT sometime in life when i get the money for it. i fully agree that torque is a big big issue. but that also makes it easy for them to leave the clutch and make the car go forward with ease. you can be rest assured that the car wont stop so easily

Eddy · 25th January 2009, 10:54

Quote:

Originally Posted by GeekSrik

you can be rest assured that the car wont stop so easily

And that will be the biggest problem for her. She will release the clutch, the car will surge forward. she will apply brakes. And then when she releases the brake, she would expect the car to be stationary or slow but the car will just race ahead thanks to the torque. She would have to be careful not to rear end the car in front.

All the best Geeky, and remember a lot of fights happen when husbands teach wives to drive

kuttapan · 26th January 2009, 02:59

Quote:

Originally Posted by Eddy

All the best Geeky, and remember a lot of fights happen when husbands teach wives to drive

You bet ! I almost got a divorce handed out to me(All my fault, I am too impatient and expected my wife to take to driving like a duck takes to water)

.

nukeblitz · 26th January 2009, 03:49

Quote:

Originally Posted by Eddy

Geek: My wife is also starting to learn how to drive. A bit of caution. Swift D might be the worst car to learn in.
- Visibility is an issue
- The diesel torque is difficult to control for a newbie

Learning on a swift D??? Scary...i think you should start off in a big open field of some sort. That's what i did. Gives time to play around with the clutch without other distractions. Like an incoming car or maybe even a stationary object...

Eddy · 26th January 2009, 11:42

Quote:

Originally Posted by kuttapan

(All my fault, I am too impatient and expected my wife to take to driving like a duck takes to water)

.

Mrs Kuttapan,

Please do not use his ID to post here.

Thad E Ginathom · 26th January 2009, 15:23

What one earth is scary about learning on a Swift D?

It would get my vote as an excellent car to learn on, as it is very forgiving of mistakes.

The diesel torque means stalling less often. It must be the only car I have ever driven which allows driving off in first gear, at least on the flat, without even touching the gas pedal.*

There is only one problem with learning on a Swift --- as I experienced when moving a relative's 800 the other day. I stalled immediately. I had forgotten how one has to rev a small petrol engine before letting out the clutch!

*OK... if you are very careful, you can probably do it in most cars. I drove a golf home once with a broken accelerator linkage --- but I was very glad it was less than a mile and all flat.

GeekSrik · 27th January 2009, 12:16

8:15pm. yesterday. took a u-turn near cmh-road:100 feet road junction @ indiranagar, straight into the waiting arms of a cop. reason, a new no-uturn board plonked in overnight unawares. my phone was also ringing and somehow i didnt pick it (presence of mind

). not that i usually talk at lengths, but generally i tell people i am driving and disconnect. blue and me, perhaps this is why you are required in every car.

cop asks for license, says 300 bucks is the fine. i say ok. cop says bring other docs, i say ok, confidently walk to my car only to realize i had kept those at home when autocop stopped working sometime ago. :( cant get worse. fold my hands in front of inspector, hear some crap from him about the honda accord accident a week back and how he was the local hero there.

i tell him i ll show the docs today morning. he says ok, and lets me go home - without my DL. go home to find emission cert is not there. today morning 9am sharp at police station, and he is also there, smartly at work punctually. i make emission before i leave my house, and show him, and he is ok with that (pssst ... its backdated by two days) - all my fault, lack of concentration in big bad benglauru.

clear up dues, back to office.

SOUM · 2nd February 2009, 11:51

Quote:

Originally Posted by Thad E Ginathom

I drove a golf home once with a broken accelerator linkage --- but I was very glad it was less than a mile and all flat.

Well, try it out on a Swift-D... The torque is amazing and would not require a "flat" to speak for itself. I park my car in the office basement lot and can effortlessly drive up the ramp with the 1st gear engaged and without bothering to touch the accelerator.

Thad E Ginathom · 2nd February 2009, 18:37

That is the nature of diesel

Fountainheader · 2nd February 2009, 18:46

Quote:

Originally Posted by SOUM

Well, try it out on a Swift-D... The torque is amazing and would not require a "flat" to speak for itself. I park my car in the office basement lot and can effortlessly drive up the ramp with the 1st gear engaged and without bothering to touch the accelerator.

The more I read such posts, the more I curse MUL for not coming up with a ZDi

GeekSrik · 3rd February 2009, 14:10

ok, cars done about 21,500 km and here I realize for sometime now there has been a diesel stink through my A/c vents. when people told me this i did not realize, but when i drove the xylo and sat back in my car, i could feel it myself.

also the pickup seems to be bit low now and I need to revv a bit to get back in shape each time. the torque is not helping as much as it did sometime back.

so i need to know how much it would cost to investigate a/c vents, and whether this and the sound of the diesel engine hum would be the reasons why my son used to puke.

pondering ....

Eddy · 3rd February 2009, 14:21

Quite possible geeky. We had an infant in the family who used to puke at petrol pumps due to the smell. Get it checked.

Has your FE dropped ?

GeekSrik · 3rd February 2009, 14:33

never checked my FE for a long long time especially after diesel prices dropped

GeekSrik · 8th February 2009, 09:15

ok guys, yesterday i happened to give the car for a full internal shampoo wash, and checking the diesel smell in the a/c ducts. and surprise, i even found that i was also a victim of the one-light-conked swift group :-) which is a very common phenomena all over the country one time or the other.

so the wash costed 700 + tax, the lights and some rungs, about 50 bucks, and while fitting my windtone horn earlier the guy has screwed up my car bonnet to have the lever go underneath the bonnet and not above. this costed me 100 to rebend to shape. and some more money for so called a/c checking which they told me that they never checked finally. it requires special apparatus and there is also a foam cleaning within the a/c duct which costs 350 bucks. it only seems to be a matter of money! 700 bucks for an internal wash, and i dont even think they did it properly going by the looks, freshness, and smell of the car inside. also, they screwed up my beads on driver seat and did not fix it properly, tugged hard at it, and i can see split nylon here and there which they tried hiding up.

is this the beginning of an end of a golden era of 10 yrs with green cars? i am seriously considering going to kalyani in bannerghatta road henceforth. they seem much more customer oriented and professional and are a bigger dealer than green cars in koramangala. i had given all my three marutis to green cars till now, but with swift, they seem to be losing interest or are too busy to do much. blame it on the times and available business otherwise! at the end of the day paid 1000 bucks for really no great benefit looks to be. they are saying investigating diesel smell from a/c without warranty will cost me 7000 bucks. so i said no for now. i ll have a word with kalyani on this.

that aside, here is a photo of the one-lighted-swift !

24th January 2009, 11:50	#901
Eddy Team-BHP Support Join Date: Apr 2007 Location: Delhi Posts: 8,521 Thanked: 8,361 Times	Geek: My wife is also starting to learn how to drive. A bit of caution. Swift D might be the worst car to learn in. - Visibility is an issue - The diesel torque is difficult to control for a newbie
	() Thanks

25th January 2009, 10:27	#902
GeekSrik Senior - BHPian Join Date: Apr 2006 Location: Bangalore Posts: 1,281 Thanked: 22 Times View My Garage	i am planning to get her a Santro or i10 AT sometime in life when i get the money for it. i fully agree that torque is a big big issue. but that also makes it easy for them to leave the clutch and make the car go forward with ease. you can be rest assured that the car wont stop so easily
	() Thanks

26th January 2009, 15:23	#907
Thad E Ginathom Distinguished - BHPian Join Date: Jun 2007 Location: Chennai Posts: 9,599 Thanked: 15,705 Times	What one earth is scary about learning on a Swift D? It would get my vote as an excellent car to learn on, as it is very forgiving of mistakes. The diesel torque means stalling less often. It must be the only car I have ever driven which allows driving off in first gear, at least on the flat, without even touching the gas pedal.* There is only one problem with learning on a Swift --- as I experienced when moving a relative's 800 the other day. I stalled immediately. I had forgotten how one has to rev a small petrol engine before letting out the clutch! OK... if you are very careful, you can probably do it in most cars. I drove a golf home once with a broken accelerator linkage --- but I was very glad it was less than a mile and all flat. Last edited by Thad E Ginathom : 26th January 2009 at 15:25.*
	() Thanks

27th January 2009, 12:16	#908
GeekSrik Senior - BHPian Join Date: Apr 2006 Location: Bangalore Posts: 1,281 Thanked: 22 Times View My Garage	8:15pm. yesterday. took a u-turn near cmh-road:100 feet road junction @ indiranagar, straight into the waiting arms of a cop. reason, a new no-uturn board plonked in overnight unawares. my phone was also ringing and somehow i didnt pick it (presence of mind ). not that i usually talk at lengths, but generally i tell people i am driving and disconnect. blue and me, perhaps this is why you are required in every car. cop asks for license, says 300 bucks is the fine. i say ok. cop says bring other docs, i say ok, confidently walk to my car only to realize i had kept those at home when autocop stopped working sometime ago. :( cant get worse. fold my hands in front of inspector, hear some crap from him about the honda accord accident a week back and how he was the local hero there. i tell him i ll show the docs today morning. he says ok, and lets me go home - without my DL. go home to find emission cert is not there. today morning 9am sharp at police station, and he is also there, smartly at work punctually. i make emission before i leave my house, and show him, and he is ok with that (pssst ... its backdated by two days) - all my fault, lack of concentration in big bad benglauru. clear up dues, back to office.
	() Thanks

2nd February 2009, 18:37	#910
Thad E Ginathom Distinguished - BHPian Join Date: Jun 2007 Location: Chennai Posts: 9,599 Thanked: 15,705 Times	That is the nature of diesel
	() Thanks

3rd February 2009, 14:10	#912
GeekSrik Senior - BHPian Join Date: Apr 2006 Location: Bangalore Posts: 1,281 Thanked: 22 Times View My Garage	diesel stink in AC and slight underpower feeling ok, cars done about 21,500 km and here I realize for sometime now there has been a diesel stink through my A/c vents. when people told me this i did not realize, but when i drove the xylo and sat back in my car, i could feel it myself. also the pickup seems to be bit low now and I need to revv a bit to get back in shape each time. the torque is not helping as much as it did sometime back. so i need to know how much it would cost to investigate a/c vents, and whether this and the sound of the diesel engine hum would be the reasons why my son used to puke. pondering ....
	() Thanks

3rd February 2009, 14:21	#913
Eddy Team-BHP Support Join Date: Apr 2007 Location: Delhi Posts: 8,521 Thanked: 8,361 Times	Quite possible geeky. We had an infant in the family who used to puke at petrol pumps due to the smell. Get it checked. Has your FE dropped ?
	() Thanks

3rd February 2009, 14:33	#914
GeekSrik Senior - BHPian Join Date: Apr 2006 Location: Bangalore Posts: 1,281 Thanked: 22 Times View My Garage	never checked my FE for a long long time especially after diesel prices dropped
	() Thanks

8th February 2009, 09:15	#915
GeekSrik Senior - BHPian Join Date: Apr 2006 Location: Bangalore Posts: 1,281 Thanked: 22 Times View My Garage	update on minor service ok guys, yesterday i happened to give the car for a full internal shampoo wash, and checking the diesel smell in the a/c ducts. and surprise, i even found that i was also a victim of the one-light-conked swift group :-) which is a very common phenomena all over the country one time or the other. so the wash costed 700 + tax, the lights and some rungs, about 50 bucks, and while fitting my windtone horn earlier the guy has screwed up my car bonnet to have the lever go underneath the bonnet and not above. this costed me 100 to rebend to shape. and some more money for so called a/c checking which they told me that they never checked finally. it requires special apparatus and there is also a foam cleaning within the a/c duct which costs 350 bucks. it only seems to be a matter of money! 700 bucks for an internal wash, and i dont even think they did it properly going by the looks, freshness, and smell of the car inside. also, they screwed up my beads on driver seat and did not fix it properly, tugged hard at it, and i can see split nylon here and there which they tried hiding up. is this the beginning of an end of a golden era of 10 yrs with green cars? i am seriously considering going to kalyani in bannerghatta road henceforth. they seem much more customer oriented and professional and are a bigger dealer than green cars in koramangala. i had given all my three marutis to green cars till now, but with swift, they seem to be losing interest or are too busy to do much. blame it on the times and available business otherwise! at the end of the day paid 1000 bucks for really no great benefit looks to be. they are saying investigating diesel smell from a/c without warranty will cost me 7000 bucks. so i said no for now. i ll have a word with kalyani on this. that aside, here is a photo of the one-lighted-swift ! Attached Images
	() Thanks

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