[Jaggu]

But seriously, what you have posted are things which you can set right over a regular service. Try getting the contact details from The_Mag for the SA at Mandovi or try getting in touch with Sachin at Nexus if thats closer to you.

[GeekSrik]

Jaggu I have tried both already, and they have not yielded great results. The padding experiments at Sachin's was really not worth it. Sorry to say, but I am not greatly satisfied and this is my opinion after the spend that I had.

I am more and more tending to believe that one can't do much to correct a fundamental flaw in design which Maruti has successfully introduced - the RATTLES. So much to the extent they are saying its how the car is and nothing can be done about it - each time I take it to the service center.

[Jaggu]

Well then if you have tried everything nothing much we can do i guess.

I suggest you buy an Altis or Innova and be happy, nothing comes close to the plastic build and its longevity in our indian conditions.

[shibujp]

Hey GeekSrik,

Did you get the EGR valve cleaned? it is actually supposed to be cleaned every 30k as per the manual. I got it cleaned at 55k and it definitely made a difference to the power delivery.

Too bad to hear that you are falling out of love with your car.

Drive on,
Shibu.

[Eddy]

^^ Very good point.

Do get that done Geeky. Costs only 1200 or thereabouts.

[gemithomas]

GeekSrik. After selling my Fiat Adventure and getting the Figo. I too feel i'm going through your same phase of "what should a car actually be?"

The Figo is good at almost everything that you would need from a "car". But after the adventure i guess i'm not satisfied with just a car!!

Hope you fall back in love with the DDiS. Like suggested try out the EGR valve cleaning. And just ignore the rattles. Just tune yourself to hearing that just as you hear the engine running and the tyres rolling. I know its difficult but could not think of anything better

[Jaggu]

He will soon be driving around in a super smooth jap sedan, i guess

[gemithomas]

Originally Posted by Jaggu

He will soon be driving around in a super smooth jap sedan, i guess

The recall giant?

[Jaggu]

OT: ^^ Who knows or maybe the tinny reliable car lol. Let' see what he decides

[Manu0611]

I've done almost 16K on my VDi. The next service is due at 20K as per the manual. As my car has done almost 6K since the last service, I'll going for an oil change this weekend. Is there anything else that I may check or get done at this point?

[rajswiftvdi]

I have done service at 15k, two weeks ago. You can ask for 5 point service, which cost around 300/- labour charge.

[GeekSrik]

Hmm ... this is what happens if i start hating my car to the point that I stop writing about it. So I thought let me actually write about it a bit. I serviced the car with mandovi motors in JP nagar since a friend here suggested they solve the rattles. I was skeptical about the whole thing and they accepted car for full service.

My total bill was about 5200 odd bucks. oil change, filter change, fog lamp gone bust, rattle "improvement" by replacement of all door clips, and what more not!? clutch replacement i decided against it now since that was another 7-8k of money. after the service i picked it up and what do i discover? - the rattles that I told them to solve seem solved, but they also introduced a brand new one, on the dashboard - one that occurs even if would drive on the airport runway (read silky smooth road)

Then comes the real challenge to this car. a trip to talakkad, via malavalli/maddur/mysore highway. upto maddur car behaves like a gem. after malavalli, the car decides to show what its made of. or not made of on the contrary - QUALITY. There is practically no road for about 10 odd kilometers. This is enough for the car to shake all the occupants thoroughly. But my car went a step further. It made all the occupants DEAF too. deafness caused due to poor quality plastics and parts. oh boy, i will never forget this trip for sometime to come.

bang on the middle of the highway i get a DOOR OPEN red light. whoaaa? door open? me thinks not so. then all of a sudden all blinkers go on by themselves, then the cabin lamp as well. the next thing i think of is what if all the doors fall off by themselves? sometimes things disturb you quite a lot. to leave you perturbed. I call up maruti, they ask me to travel backwards 20-30kms to mandya town. me not in mood to do that. next is what? i call up an old autocop reference mobile number. now this is a godsend. that man still works for autocop and he still answers the same phone number. its not like these loan agents who give you loan and change the bank after that.

he asks me to go to positive terminal of the battery and pull out something that will disable the CL system. sorry i am called geek. but thats w.r.t computers. not cars. i dont know battery related stuff and NO- i am not comfortable pulling out stuff. we still have a day's outing to complete in jaladdhama resort and also a drive back to bangalore. no way. then i remember one more thing. there is a connector plug below that dashboard which connects CL to the main electrical system. The guy asks me to hear for a tuck tuck sound after pressing middle key on remote and unplug from there this connector. aah, yes now this sounds geeky and familiar to me. so I do it. and the damn thing stops. forever. for good. deathly silence. my main door small lock lever is gone. all this while i never replaced it so i had to only use central lock (CL) to lock it. now that CL is disabled, i had to manually lock all doors, except driver side one. So i continue driving with 3 locked doors and my door lock open (though door itself was shut). pretty risk if i drive too fast.

now on the way the door open light keeps going on, and the cabin lamp still continues to spook me out.I am pissed off that I paid 6.2 freaking lacs for this vehicle. i manage to reach the resort and to now lock the car i reconnect CL under the steering and lock it up. again unlock it remove connector and drive back to bangalore and lock it up again at home during night. all this accompanied by the soothening (or deathly dance) of the rattlesnake throughout the 100 odd kms of drive. everyone names their cars these days on t-bhp. i must also do so. from now on i ll call my swift this: RATTLESNAKE. actually this is an insult to the reptile honestly. if my car rattles, the snake will run away. thats a better way to put it.

now i decide to give the car to green cars to solve the damn dashboard rattle. you know the problem which was "introduced" newly. just fresh for me to get irritated all over again. that one. i ask green cars to just rectify that and the driver door lock for safety reasons. total bill is about 1800 bucks. majorly for the latch costs. now atleast the manual lock works. i am back to key and lock again. no remote, no central lock nothing. had enough of these after market accessories that interfere with the car's electrical system. fact is ever since i bought my car and spent a year with it, i have stopped listening to audio since my head unit pioneer decided to DJ-fy my CDs on its own.

my insurance of 7k is due by month end and the target date for me to go for another car is also the month end. yes, you would have started observing my query under sedan section of whatcar on what to go for next. a certain moderator babu here is assisting me day in and out. his phone keeps alarming him 24 x 7 thanks to my inquisitiveness about cars. so what can you expect from me next? how about closing of this rattlesnake thread? oh yes, why not! or perhaps change it from a running report to a rattling report? time will soon tell. and a new story may begin again. call it rebirth, or a new life altogether. without rattles. with just peace of mind. Watch out.

note to mods: i ll indicate when you can close this thread, until then let it be :-)

[harshavardhan]

Geeksrik, its really surprising to read about your problems regarding rattles. Since you are contemplating a change, just buy an Innova V version. You will not regret your choice.

[GeekSrik]

This is the beginning of the end for my swift. Today I bid a rather uneventful listless goodbye to a car that I loved the most until today. Before I spell out further, a bit of kind words to the classy car.

Maruti have truly done a wonderful job on the fiat engine and the tuning is spot on to give you the roller coaster effect at 1.7k rpm on each gear. The thrills this car has given me, some great hits and near misses, the drag races, the safe drives with family, the stability of the michelins and years of great driving on some of the best and finest roads in bangalore - i have enjoyed this car to my heart's content.

There is no car that will beat this in acceleration, and the pulling ability atleast in hatches. If you know the right times to change gears, you can spook anyone anytime when they least expect it. The roar of the engine under your leg, the invitation to be revved, and the large roomy cabin to give you a top notch view of the road you are about to eat up was such a welcome break from the rather underpowered 1.2 engines offered by other cars of yesteryears.

Furthermore the quest of a non FIAT car having a FIAT engine was only satisfied with ease by the swift, which is one of the reasons I bought it, but definitely NOT one of the reasons I sold it speaks reams about what an engine tuned perfectly can offer. With loads and loads of customization possibilities, the Swift has proven to be the most dynamic car in its category until recently.

More than acceptable mileage, with great highway drives, even at 75bhp, this car was a gem in handling aspects. For a couple of trips I did to mysore with this car, and to chennai, there was nothing more I could ask for.

I do not want to talk about the negatives since its manufacturer and car specific. Sometimes even batch specific. Rattes, bad rear space, bad boot space are some of the things to speak about. As for accommodating 5 people, well the 5th guy is always an unwanted guest in any car even if its a luxury one!

After having two claims on insurance, and since I was getting a good amount, and a pending insurance renewal, it was reasons enough for me to think again. Three years and thirty five thousand kilometer munches on, it was time for a possible change. Due to circumstances, due to affordability, due to many other things life brings about.

So here I am at this juncture, having to let go of my Rattle Snake (as i had earlier named it) which I have painstakingly maintained with a daily wash until its last ownership day with me. I changed two jobs in between, I had a baby, I even changed my home. The swift has been part and parcel of some of the most important turning points in my life so far. The best part is I part with it with happiness for what it has offered me - a great engine. If only FIAT could have marketed, serviced and sold their own cars all by themselves they would be true rulers of the automobile country !

Many thanks to all of those who wished me when I bought this baby and were with me during this journey of three years. I will be back shortly with more perhaps on a different thread, but for now I am taking this week off. Choosing a new car in 2007 vs choosing one in 2010 was a vastly different experience for me. And that is the basis for my next story. Its not just about a car, its about what runs through the mind to meet what you need and own it.

Till my next thread, a request to mods: Please do not close this thread until sometime when I intimate again.

[Thad E Ginathom]

Three years and thirty five thousand kilometer ... and a 1150-plus post thread.

Quite a journey!