[vnabhi]

Originally Posted by Floating Axle

My observation is Maruti ASC charges increases as the vehicle age. ASC also tempt customers to upgrade their vehicle.

You betcha! They did call me a couple of times asking if I wanted to exchange the vehicle, for which I said 'No' firmly! Looks like lots of A.S.S. guys are interested in a well-maintained WagonR. Even Ford A.S.S was trying to talk me into selling the Waggie!

As regards dashboard rattles, it seems to have been fixed, except a very minor one from the driver's corner, but I am willing to live with that.
One thing I forgot to mention was the minor rattles from the rear boot door, which only a rear passenger can notice. I'll try to get that fixed a bit later.

By the way, in another 30 days, Ol' Faithful will complete 12 years!

[vnabhi]

The car was flawless today when we ventured out amid mild rains for dinner at Begumpet. Everything was working fine when I drove it after nearly a month.

On the return, my daughter drove us home, and I had the pleasure of observing new shops and hotels that sprang up in the recent past. The pickup is as good as it was when it was new, and the AC is still fine, though on the original gas. The odo is a wee bit over 66 K, as we eagerly await Ol' Faithful's 12th birthday this weekend.

Overall, it has been a very satisfying ownership experience.

Next thing on the cards is WA/WB/WR, as this was done a little over 10 K Kms back.

[Simple_car]

Originally Posted by vnabhi

Overall, it has been a very satisfying ownership experience.

Next thing on the cards is WA/WB/WR, as this was done a little over 10 K Kms back.

Dear vnabhi sir,

Firstly, may I be the first one to congratulate you for almost completing 12 years with this awesome car?
Hell....CONGRATULATIONS sir

If you don't mind, can you tell me how do you protect the car from rust. Usually, cars from factories don't require anti-rust treatment for 7 years on an average. After that do you have to do an antirust coating every five years?

Anything else you have to do to prevent rust?

Thanking you,
Simple_car

[vnabhi]

Originally Posted by Simple_car

Dear vnabhi sir,

Firstly, may I be the first one to congratulate you for almost completing 12 years with this awesome car?
Hell....CONGRATULATIONS sir

If you don't mind, can you tell me how do you protect the car from rust. Usually, cars from factories don't require anti-rust treatment for 7 years on an average. After that do you have to do an antirust coating every five years?

Anything else you have to do to prevent rust?

Thanking you,
Simple_car

Thanks @Simple_car. Yes, it has been a very satisfying ownership experience, so much so, that I am shooing away ideas from family members to look for a replacement. I'd rather spend less than 10 K a year on maintenance, than pay an EMI of 17 K every month.

I've put anti-rust coating only once, when the car was less than a year old. I don't see any tell-tale signs of rust anywhere. But if I were living in a coastal area, I'd have gone for it once in 4 or 5 years.

While on this, I have a question for WagonR F10 owners. How is the F.E.? We get only 10.5 to 11.5 in Hyderabad city driving, and this is mostly when it is used by my daughter and wife. When I drive, the FE ranges from 11.5 to 12.5, probably because I switch off at signals, and use AC only when needed.

Is this FE normal? When the car was new, the FE used to be around 13.5 to 15, but that was on nearly empty roads in Vizag Steel township.

[mobike008]

Originally Posted by vnabhi

Is this FE normal? When the car was new, the FE used to be around 13.5 to 15, but that was on nearly empty roads in Vizag Steel township.

Its is quite normal as I too have seen as car ages the mileage goes down a tad bit. Having said that, Santro and Wagon R are notorious for low FE considering the size of their engines

i would say 12.5kmpl in city is a good average for a 12 year old Waggie

[bblost]

Originally Posted by mobike008

Its is quite normal as I too have seen as car ages the mileage goes down a tad bit. Having said that, Santro and Wagon R are notorious for low FE considering the size of their engines

i would say 12.5kmpl in city is a good average for a 12 year old Waggie

My 04 Wagon R has done 76500 kms.

It regularly returns between 13.5-14.5 kmpl.
I fill 35psi instead of the recommended 32 psi.

But then again my commute route is not the regular traffic filled city roads.

[vnabhi]

Originally Posted by mobike008

Its is quite normal as I too have seen as car ages the mileage goes down a tad bit. Having said that, Santro and Wagon R are notorious for low FE considering the size of their engines

i would say 12.5kmpl in city is a good average for a 12 year old Waggie

Thanks. That rests my doubt.

Originally Posted by bblost

My 04 Wagon R has done 76500 kms.

It regularly returns between 13.5-14.5 kmpl.
I fill 35psi instead of the recommended 32 psi.

But then again my commute route is not the regular traffic filled city roads.

I'm sure I'll get the same FE, or even better, if I use the ORR daily to work.

[anky]

Originally Posted by vnabhi

Thanks @Simple_car. Yes, it has been a very satisfying ownership experience, so much so, that I am shooing away ideas from family members to look for a replacement. I'd rather spend less than 10 K a year on maintenance, than pay an EMI of 17 K every month.

I've put anti-rust coating only once, when the car was less than a year old. I don't see any tell-tale signs of rust anywhere. But if I were living in a coastal area, I'd have gone for it once in 4 or 5 years.

While on this, I have a question for WagonR F10 owners. How is the F.E.? We get only 10.5 to 11.5 in Hyderabad city driving, and this is mostly when it is used by my daughter and wife. When I drive, the FE ranges from 11.5 to 12.5, probably because I switch off at signals, and use AC only when needed.

Is this FE normal? When the car was new, the FE used to be around 13.5 to 15, but that was on nearly empty roads in Vizag Steel township.

My alto lxi 2004 which I sold last month gave me a consistent fe of 11.5 to 12 . In Mumbai traffic where forth gear was rarely used . All with ac on . 30000 kms . Total . Never failed me even once . Although maruti service started becoming more and more expensive .

[vnabhi]

Ol' Faithul completed 12 years today! With the odo hovering around 67300, it still holds itself well. I just cannot believe that so many years have flown behind. I still remember the day I went with my family to take delivery!

I missed taking it for a drive to work today as I was a tad busy with the go-live of our project, but my daughter did justice by taking it for a spin.

I'll update the maintenance cost over 12 years in a few days. Thanks for your patience.

[vnabhi]

Yesterday, a strange thing happened. My daughter returned in the evening saying that the Waggie's indicator lights were not working, and that she'd had a tough time driving home. It was strange to me, as the car was bullet-proof on its electricals for the past 12 years. Only a couple of rear lights and one headlamp was changed so far.

Despite it, I was kind of unshaken, as I felt it would be unreasonable to expect the car to go on forever without any niggles. So I went to the basement and inspected it, and yes, the indicators were indeed not working. All other lamps were working fine. So I suspected a fuse issue and took it to the accessories shop nearby.

The guy from the shop first switched on the emergency lights soon as I stepped out, and lo behold, they were working fine. He then used the indicators and they too were blinking from the outside. I told him that the green arrows inside were not glowing, but he told me to take a look, and they too were blinking.

I felt he had some kind of magic touch, so I thanked him and drove back home. All signals were working fine even today, per my daughter. I find this kind of strange. Any clues from fellow members will be of great help.

Around a year back, I had a strange issue of my Fiesta's headlamps coming on at a petrol bunk though the switch was off. But soon after that, it got set right on its own! Looks like some 'lights bug' is haunting me every monsoon.

I'm happy that all's well that ends well.

[bblost]

I once had the side indicator working intermittently. Turned out a rat had partially chewed a part of the wire. It was causing the connection to go haywire.

The wire was chewed just about the shock struts.

[paragsachania]

Originally Posted by vnabhi

It was strange to me, as the car was bullet-proof on its electricals for the past 12 years. Only a couple of rear lights and one headlamp was changed so far.

7.5 years, 209500 kms and similar observations as you. All Electricals intact and on stock wiring. I may have changed the Headlight bulbs at least 5 times till now owing to a lot of night drives all through the years that passed by. Brakelights (right side) was changed just once while Parking lights at least 3-4 times. The tail lamps on both sides are still on stock bulbs.

In fact not even a single bulb from the High Mount Brake lamp is fused, neither faded or has become weak which I have normally seen in today's cars become pinkish over time(Not referring to rear Fog lights).

Overall, zero niggle till day and its too difficult to get away with it for all the reliability the boy's exhibited till now.

Wish you many more years of happy revving on the Tallboy

[vnabhi]

Thanks Imran and Parag for your clarifications and wishes. To be honest, I'm finding it difficult to even think of a replacement. All new hatchbacks have poor low end torque (even the Swift with its famed K12M), and the ones that are good (Polo TSI) are way too expensive.

And Parag---nobody can beat your record of ownership. Keep munching miles!

[bblost]

Originally Posted by vnabhi

Thanks Imran and Parag for your clarifications and wishes. To be honest, I'm finding it difficult to even think of a replacement. All new hatchbacks have poor low end torque (even the Swift with its famed K12M), and the ones that are good (Polo TSI) are way too expensive.

And Parag---nobody can beat your record of ownership. Keep munching miles!

Please test drive the Toyota Liva TRD Sportivo petrol and get blown away by its low end torque.

Ex Showroom price is 6.2 and if your requirement is

1. torque
2. reliability
3. space

there is no alternative.

[vnabhi]

With Skoda horror stories increasing in this forum, we had a heated debate with some Skoda fans over maintenance costs being unusually high on cars from the Skoda stable.
Someone who owns a Skoda gave a thumb rule of 8% of the cost of the car as maintenance cost every year over a 7-year old ownership. Agreed, it will be initially low, but he felt that 60% cost over 7 years should be a reasonable expectation.

This set my mind spinning as I felt that was way too high. So I got down to my excel sheets and prepared the maintenance cost of the Waggy over the past 12 years 4 months. Here are the details:

The car cost me Rs 4.04 lacs on road in July 2001. So far I've spent Rs 62423 over service and maintenance (including new tyres, 2 batteries), Rs 16300 on add ons like seat covers, body graphics, ICE, etc, and Rs 4500 on paint touch up/ denting jobs. Touch wood, no accident claims so far!

Details are in attached spreadsheet.

So by ignoring the accident costs and extra add ons, the cost over 12 years comes to around 15.5 % !!

Beat that, Skoda owners!! You guys need to learn a thing or two from this. Of course, it is not fair to compare at Waggie with a car from two segments above, but thought it would be nice to post this data.

WagonR Maintenance Record.xlsx