[mustysekhon]

Geolandar G93 which is OEM is best for highway and multi use. I have used G93 & Michelin and finally settled on Geolandar AT-S but that's for a different reason altogether. AT-S as suggested above is decent for dirt tracks etc but not good on speeds above 100 - poor traction, and have noise.

[Nikhilb2008]

Hi Samurai,

The LAtitude Cross is actually quite a durable tyre. I'm surprised you are expecting only 22k out of it. I know some people with Scorpios who have got upwards of 1 lakh on the Latitude Cross.

Anyway, please be comfortable with whatever tyre you choose. IF you like the LTX A/T2, then go for it. It's one of the best tyres you could choose.

Yokohaam Geolandars are good as well but have a slightly softer sidewall. Keep that in mind.

[Samurai]

Originally Posted by Samurai

Until 40,000Kms of usage, the MRF Wanderer tyres were looking as if they have done only 10K or so. But the wear has suddenly increased, like a 40 year man suddenly hurtling towards baldness. I am shocked at how much wear has happened in the last 2-3K kms. I was planning to wait until the tyres turn 50K, but I don't see a point in waiting.

Yesterday I was talking about Shiradi ghats with Vidyut, and it suddenly occurred to me why the tyres wore out so fast in the past few months.

The Shiradi ghat now has concrete pavement with grooves. Since August or so I have been driving on this road and I could feel the punishment on the tyres. Never realised it would take such toll on the tyres.

This means I shouldn't bother with any soft compound tyres anymore. Better to stick with MRF Wanderers which is cheap and can resist wear better than the rest.

[tsk1979]

Originally Posted by Samurai

This means I shouldn't bother with any soft compound tyres anymore. Better to stick with MRF Wanderers which is cheap and can resist wear better than the rest.

I would recommend continental cross contact AT if you also plan to do mild offroading and trail driving regularly.

[sridhar-v]

Originally Posted by tsk1979

I would recommend continental cross contact AT if you also plan to do mild offroading and trail driving regularly.

The Continental cross contact has a good reputaion for off-road use. How well will they behave during standard highway driving - particularly for noise and handling?

[tsk1979]

Originally Posted by sridhar-v

The Continental cross contact has a good reputaion for off-road use. How well will they behave during standard highway driving - particularly for noise and handling?

Slightly noisier than H/T tires. So on a jeep with low amount of insulation they can be annoying, but no major issue on SUVs with good insulation.
As for tarmac braking, a hard compound tire will always have poorer performance as compared to a soft tire irrespective of brand.

[rattanw]

Originally Posted by sridhar-v

The manager of MASS, who is the resident expert on grand Vitaras, has been helping out in trouble shooting and is aware of the condition of the car ever since I got it in May 2015. Last week, after my trip, he drove the car. He also noticed the change in drivability and was impressed with the difference the iridiums have made.

The model of plugs is NGK IFR5J11. It costs Rs. 1001+taxes each, through MASS,

I have been struggling to get my GV serviced here in Hyderabad. I went through your posts and the scanned copy of service bills - thank you very much for attaching those. Based on your experience, I decided to get Iridium spark plugs and full synthetic engine oil. Along with regular servicing, I am also looking to replace the front brake discs and brake pads. I went to Varun motors for the routine service + brake related job. Here is my not so pleasant experience so far.

Having dealt with Maruti spare parts guys on previous occasions, I knew that parts like brake pad and discs would not be in stock, so I had those ordered last month. To avoid any delays, I got the part numbers through Maruti and told the parts dealership specifically what part numbers to order. Went through this extra bit of trouble because with Grand Vitara its never a simple matter of telling them what you want. The parts were delivered earlier last week. Up until this point the experience was very good - I ordered parts, they kept me informed, and finally delivered the parts to my home.

Day 1, 04 Apr - Varun Motors, Gachibowli, Hyderabad.

I reached in there in morning about 9:30 am. Got hold of a service advisor who inspected the brake pads and told me that the brake pads delivered to me are not the right size. I had a quick look and he was right. Checking the part number, I realized the part number doesnt match what I asked for in my order. Quickly called up the parts dealership and they acknowledged the miss. They assured me that correct part will be sent to me tomorrow, 05 Apr. Well, 05 Apr came and went and there is still no sign of receiving the part. So the brakes job is on hold at this time.

Coming back to regular servicing, I asked the SA (supposedly one of the senior guys) to put synthetic engine oil only (0W40) and Iridum spark plugs and gave him the part numbers for those two items. The 'Senior SA' comes back after 30 minutes to tell me that no one has heard of Iridium spark plugs!! I showed him the T-bhp thread on my mobile and he said he will check all dealerships. He also said that they do not have oil filter and air filter in stock, along with Transmission oil. Now this was becoming very strange. How can a premium service outlet not have these parts in stock? At this point, I sent an email to regional parts manager at Maruti copying the dealership and parts dealership as well.

Later in the day I followed up and was told that they have received all parts except the brake pads. Knowing them, I asked them to read out the part numbers on the individual boxes to me. This made the SA chicken out and he again told me 'will call you back sir'.

Day 2, 04 Apr

Day spent waiting for the correct parts to arrive. In the evening, I called the SA once again. He once again assured me that all parts have arrived and he can confidently tell me part details. Well guess what, the first part he picked up was spark plugs. He then starts telling me ' sir, these are NGK, what you asked for'. Apparently he was not able to read out the part number so I asked the price. Turns out the price of this spark plug is Rs. 196 plus taxes, so no way this is Iridium spark plug. Trying not to lose my cool, I politely asked him the status of other parts. Next up - engine oil. Turns out they dont have full synthetic engine oil in Hyderabad anywhere, and SA keeps on telling me semi synthetic is very good. At this point with nowhere to go, I just ended the call.

Wrote a long email to Maruti regional manager after this conversation bringing to his attention the sad state of affairs. Yet to hear back from him. Hope he can help.

My question to you is that were you able to find the parts without difficulty? How was your experience with the service center folks. Since you know the service center manager well, I can speak to him to courier me the spark plugs from Pune (I will pay the shipping cost of course). I know its different city and all, but If I can get some information on parts availability from your known contacts, that would be very helpful.

At this stage, my GV has run more than 10,000 kms since last service. I do not want to wait too long to get it serviced. Though I keep checking the fluids, yet I better get this done as soon as possible. Any help will be much appreciated.

[vigsom]

Originally Posted by rattanw

My question to you is that were you able to find the parts without difficulty?

My experience with Maruti's after sales spares support has been third class - first when I had to order a rear left brake cylinder for my Versa sometime in 2008/09 and next with my GV in 2014 when I ordered an air filter.

I eventually sourced the brake cylinder from KBX(Robert Bosch Chassis Systems).

For the GV , the air filter took 45 days to arrive.

For your GV I will recommend the following:

1.Castrol Magnatec 10w40 API SN (engine oil)
2.NGK plugs - get them from your local ngk distributor.If they don't have iridium plugs just get BKR 6E plugs and get the technician to adjust the gap to 1.1mm .BKR 6E is a common plug and will be easily available.

I have found my GV's engine silky smooth with this combo.Performance and FE is also acceptable.

Trust my word on this.I buy spares myself and get all maintenance done under my supervision at my FNG. Never had to visit ASS so far.

[sudev]

Writing in after a long time with mixed bag.

On one hand the product is still one of the best for ruggedness and capacity to take abuse. Right now Desert Strom rally is going on and the top two guys are driving GV.

That said availability of spares even with MSIL is becoming a problem as product is now eight years old. There were two more vehicles that were to participate but could not get spares in time. Most of the rally tuners find it easy to get parts from Dubai.

Lastly drove the car yesterday after a gap of five months. It was on loan to a friend who had his vehicle stolen. Felt great.
Even though odo on my car showed 245000 yesterday I loved the feeling of tight handling and hardly any rattling.

[sridhar-v]

Originally Posted by rattanw

I have been struggling to get my GV serviced here in Hyderabad. I went through your posts and the scanned copy of service bills - thank you very much for attaching those. Based on your experience, I decided to get Iridium spark plugs and full synthetic engine oil. Along with regular servicing, I am also looking to replace the front brake discs and brake pads. I went to Varun motors for the routine service + brake related job. Here is my not so pleasant experience so far.
===========

At this stage, my GV has run more than 10,000 kms since last service. I do not want to wait too long to get it serviced. Though I keep checking the fluids, yet I better get this done as soon as possible. Any help will be much appreciated.

My MASS is particularly good. Also I have a good rapport with the SA. I have also faced a lot of short delivery, miss-delivery episodes. But the SA tackles it at his level. I had given him over a month to accumulate all the parts required for the last major service.

The recommended synthetic oil as per their system is Shell Helix 5W40. Alternate was Mobil 10W40, but a lot of our members have opined that Shell is better. They flatly refused to use Mobil 0W50 that I had asked for. So possibly that is the reason your MASS are claiming non-availability. I was hesitant at first, but detailed tech survey of literature convinced me that they were right. 0W40 or 0W50 is needed only if you are doing extreme low temperature (10C and lower) driving.

Re Iridium sparks it was quite a surprise to get them as SA had initially said they were not available.
I had enquired re buying for a forum member, based in Mumbai. My SA said he would have to order it on their centralised system and that if he could get it any MASS could get it. So your MASS should be able to order. The part no. is "09482-00549" (Spark Plug NGK IFR5J11 Rs. 1000.89). You will have to be very patient while arranging for these. Do not use the 6J plugs as they run hotter and may result in knocking.

Oil filter, if I remember correctly, is common with SX4. (Sudev can confirm).
Part no on my bill is 16510-61A31 (Filter Assly Oil Rs. 494.44).

Air filter has to be ordered on the system. Part no. 13780-65300 (Element Rs. 756.44).

Front brake pads 55200-65J11 (Pad Set Disc Brake Rs. 5176.89 - both wheels were changed).

Re changing the fluids, 10,000 kms is correct interval for normal oil. It increases to 15,000 for synthetic oil. But you can stretch for a couple of 1000 kms without any issues.
Get the Shell Helix synthetic oil & Oil Filter and sit on their heads to do the change.

All the best. let me know if you nedd any help re the spark plugs.

Ps. - all prices are basic. Taxes extra.

[rattanw]

Originally Posted by sridhar-v

My MASS is particularly good. Also I have a good rapport with the SA. I have also faced a lot of short delivery, miss-delivery episodes. But the SA tackles it at his level. I had given him over a month to accumulate all the parts required for the last major service.

===============

All the best. let me know if you nedd any help re the spark plugs.

Ps. - all prices are basic. Taxes extra.

Thanks for your replies. I have been following up with the parts dealership and Service center guys since today morning. Finally something seems to be moving. Just little while back they confirmed that brake pads are now received at the service center. It turns out the parts dealership manager told one of his friends who stays nearby service station to carry and deliver the part for me. Good initiative but sour after taste still remains.

Regarding the spark plug, the debate is still going on,

[rattanw]

An update on my endeavor to get my GV serviced and brake pads / discs replaced. Over the last few days, this has become at least a part time occupation for me, with multiple calls with various people and time spent online and visits to the service center.

So finally yesterday, after 25 - 30 phone calls in all directions, to Maruti's regional parts dealer and service center folks, I finally managed to get the correct brake pads sent to service station. After confirming the details, I went to service station in the afternoon. Due to the entire debacle around availability of components for servicing, I decided to break the entire work in to two parts - brake related repairs on same day and servicing later.

The process starting with opening job card, etc was smooth, at least no challenges there. The service center folks were fairly quick. I left the vehicle there at approx. 1 pm and checked back at 3 pm, by which time the repairs were complete. SA told me that vehicle will be ready by 4:30 pm as he needs to take it on a longish test drive to pump the brakes. Sounded strange but at this stage I am used to strange.

Here are some pictures of the used brake pads and discs













At this stage, servicing is pending. Due to paucity of time and public holiday on Friday, I think will get this done next week. Another interesting episode happened here. During my visit to service station I decided to go to parts store and verify availability myself. I started giving the part numbers of missing parts to the parts manager starting with Iridium spark plugs, turns out Iridium spark plugs are available, but need to be ordered in advance and will take approx. 10 days. They agreed to place this order for me. Next up, checked Shell full synthetic engine oil through part number search and they have that too. Strange the SA was claiming that full synthetic engine oil is not available in entire Hyderabad whereas turns out that they have it in their backyard. At this stage, now they have all parts available for essential servicing, barring Iridium spark plugs which will take 10 days to arrive. Keeping my fingers crossed!

Anyway, I took a verbal commitment from them that all these parts will not go missing again.

[rattanw]

Mods, I am sorry for back to back posts, however this is a different issue. Though if you feel merging is necessary, please go ahead and do so.

Off late I have been facing some niggling issues with my GV. My previous posts regarding servicing and brake work are all here. This time, its regarding one more part - glove box opening lever which broke as my little one thought its a toy and tried to pull it in all directions. I got it examined by couple of workshops, however since its a plastic part, no chance of any repairs. Replacement is the only option.

Anyway, placed an order along with the brake disc and brake pads and the part was delivered last week along with other parts. Now, I didnt pay much attention but during my visit to service center two days back when I took the part to get it fitted, I was shocked to see that though the part overall fits, it has a lock installed along with two keys. The service center guys claimed that lock cannot be taken out and the entire thing fits as one unit, in which case I will have a separate key for glove box. I have no clue of this as I have never faced this situation before. Since the original lock is still there in glove box, I thought I am ordering only the plastic casing which includes the lever and that original lock will be retained. Any ideas anyone. Here are few pics

[sudev]

GV glove box comes with lock but since this is inside the car leave it unlocked

[Sheel]

Is there any alternative to the GV, in diesel, as per existing owner/s?

Thanks