[Saucyboii2007]

Greetings to one and all currently reading this post. This is my very first ownership thread ( Well, more like partly my dad's and partly mine ) so I would like to apologise in advance if my post may have improper formatting.

This thread will cover the buying plan, purchase, initial impressions and all the things covered as much as possible in full detail, including service costs, on-road experience, etc.

Chapter 1 : The Idea of a Family Car

The year is 2013, the times when petrol didn't cost nearly 100₹/litre and the world seemed just so much more bright, promising and positive. My parents were looking for an upgrade from their trusty, good old reliable 2004 Hero Honda Passion Plus which was slowly losing the " new bike " lustre and after yours truly was growing up as a kid , the emerging need for a car truly became even more noticeable than before.

My mom was adamant that we needed our ' first big purchase ' to meet the following requirements :
- Reliable brand and car.
- Easy to maintain with okay-ish specifications.
- Economically viable with good fuel efficiency.

Since my mom's brother, i.e, my uncle had already gotten his hands on the newly released Swift Dzire, my parents decided it would be best to consider Maruti Suzuki cars.

Here are the cars that were considered during the decision making part :
1) Toyota Etios - Was a strong contender but ruled out due to the expectation of higher service costs and a potential lack of service centers in the immediate vicinity.
2) Maruti Alto - Initially considered as an option but later ruled out due to dated looks and commonality.
3) Maruti Swift Dzire - Ticked all the right options but the extra boot space didn't seem to justify the price tag.
4) Maruti Swift - Checked all boxes similar to the Dzire and we made up our mind on the spot.

Having made up our mind, we rushed to the nearest Maruti Suzuki dealer ( Popular Motors Vedimara ) and immediately made a booking with 1000₹ downpayment .

Initially, we were allotted a Grey Swift VDi by the dealer. My mom was okay with it but Dad remained firm in his decision and decided to wait till we got a petrol variant in stock.

By October 20th ( Coincidentially my birthday as well ), we received information that the car had indeed reached the dealership lot. My parents didn't really have much clue about PDIs and I was too young to be taken seriously so PDI checks were out of the question haha.

We decided to take the delivery of the car on October 30th, 2013 and oh boy, I still remember that day clear as ever. It was a huge deal in our little household of 3 as our first car was gently welcomed into the household!
(Welcome to the family, Dear 0751 - A Pearl Metallic White Swift VXI (Type I ) Manual !)

Attaching pictures below :
1) Our car at the dealership with a temporary number plate awaiting delivery.
2) Yours truly being excited to explore the car on the night of the delivery!

[Saucyboii2007]

Chapter 2 : The Initial Impressions!

Right off the bat, let's get started with the things we've noticed about Pearl!

Pros
- Can seat a family of three comfortably and has a decent ride, although body roll is slightly present and ride is not as firm as that of a Volkswagen Polo.

- Runs well at highway speeds with a decent ride that is a bit more towards the softer side.

- Excellent Fuel Efficiency figures that reached upto to 17.5km/L in the first few months! ( Currently standing at 15.4km/L due to occasional highway driving and usual commute < 5km distance daily.)

- Service costs are easily manageable and most parts are ready available. A solid aftersales support is seen from both OEM and aftermarket viewpoints.

- It is very much reliable even without much TLC ( Time, Love and Care). I believe this plays a part in why the Swift has a massive fanbase and is popular among newbies looking for a first car.

Cons

- Rear trunk gate / bootlid loading bay is positioned too high for loading heavy objects into the trunk.

- Rear bumper design makes it prone to easily getting scratched by surrounding objects.

-265 Litre bootspace sometimes happens to be inadequate for trips to hometown which range from 2-weeks to 2 months for a family of 3.

- K12M NA petrol engine struggles on climbing inclines with a full load ( 4 passengers + boot full of luggage ) and feels breathless on the highway when attempts were made to surpass the 90km/h mark.

- Rear C-pillars create a concerning blindspot.

That's all for now, signing off with a pic of Pearl chilling at Wayanad the other day.

[Saucyboii2007]

Chapter 3 : First Trips, First Dings and much more to come..

As we finally received the car, we invited all of our close family and friends to the then recently opened Lulu Mall at Cochin as a treat on having finally upgraded to a car.

My dad was proud of himself for finding a chance to put his driving license to good use and all went well until a certain late November evening.

The time was almost 7:00 PM. We were done with purchasing all the goodies we'd needed from thr stores and exiting the underground parking of the mall onto the NH47 route. As we take the exit and climb upwards, we are forced to stop mid-incline.

A Maruti 800 had stalled one car ahead of us and it was holding back the rest of the cars who were getting impatient at this point. The MPFI Zen ahead of us nearly rolled back, alarming my dad.

Then.. suddenly, a biker on a dull red Yamaha RX100 comes flying through the small gap between our car and a Celerio adjacent to ours, scraping a ton of paint down to the metal off the side of our Pearl

The biker immediately fled the scene and we waited until we reached a clear spot to pull over and check for the damage ( which was then later fixed with a ton of sanding, putty and repainting on that specific section every 2-3 years ).

So, that was only one of the handful major incidents that Pearl has survived. More such instances will be described in detail in later chapters.

And yes,I just realised that I didn't mention the fuel efficiency and usage patterns properly so here you go :

- FE ranges from 16.0 - 17.5 km/L with very sedate driving ( ≤2000 RPM when driving, moderate acceleration, mix of small roads and highway driving.)

- FE ranges from 13.0 - 15.8 km/L with brisk driving ( ≤4000 RPM occasionally, short term commute routes ≤5km, city driving with rush hour traffic, high A/C load and lot of idling, especially since Post-COVID19 time period ).

Lowest FE figure ever recorded - 13.0 km/L ( Dated June 2021)

Author's note - Most printed receipts of service costs, part numbers, etc. have been lost for good, however,I will certainly try to add as much details as possible.

Yours Truly, signing off with a recent pic of Pearl after grocery shopping session

[Aditya]

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