[govigov]

Originally Posted by FrozeninTime

valet switch , fog lamp switch , adjuster for light
Attachment 435208

Which one is the valet switch and what is the purpose of it?

[FrozeninTime]

Originally Posted by aaggoswami

1) I have noticed a few A-star in my city with driveshaft issue cropping up. The lack of greasing or proper lubrication will give out noise like an old door opening ( faintly near to this ) when the steering wheel turned sort of metal pieces moving and brushing but not kat kat ( I hope I am making myself clear on what type of sound I am referring to in case of metal brushing ).

Best way to check is that make half steering wheel turn or full turn, keep the steering wheel constant and then accelearate. If kat kat sound is still coming, then its drive shafts or something else, but I doubt if there are other mechanicals that take higher stress.

If the noise is coming from lack of grease, then the noise will come even when the car is stationary and steering is moved. And if the steering wheel is turned when car is stationary and then accelerated if still the sound comes its driveshaft.

However, this could also be mixed with suspension problem of bushes, lower arm and greasing if the above two are eliminated.

@aaggoswami-The description you have given about noise is spot on (I was bit perplexed how to describe the sound).The sounds are very similar to old door opening and this sound is present even when steering wheel is turned and car is stationary.The same noise is present on turning the steering wheel when car is moving/accelerating.

When I gave the car 3 weeks ago for this problem I had to literally plead SA just to look at the vehicle.He initially said that there is no noise,later on further pleading he asked another SA to take a look at the car and he kept the car for observation.when I contacted him next day he said that there was lack of grease in steering column and also said electrical wires were loose due to which flicking problem of light occurred.He gave the car next day saying that everything was fine.

The problem is surfaced again and Its really pathetic to visit MASS again and again .This car was given for third service and they could not even grease required assembly or prevent or warn me if there is problem.Electrical problem has become worse now.The front suspension feels spongy when the car goes over speed breakers not over potholes.Sometimes accelerator pedal shivers when car is kept at constant speed.rear window partition now has lost its colour on both sides
Is drive shaft replacement ,suspension replacement covered under warranty?

The sad fact is that the car has done only 6000 odd kilometers in 1.5 years and problems coming so quickly in its life.The car is driven mostly in good roads and used by me and no one else.

What I suspect is that this car was used as a Demo vehicle because PDI was done in July 2009 and I purchased the car in September 2009.Also test drive vehicle at dealership was very similar to this vehicle(same colour).Its my fault that I did not do PDI inspection due to pre - occupation with work.

@govigov- Valet switch is used to programme some of the functions of Security system and it is the first switch from your left in the picture.

[govigov]

@fit, cool. I thought if you press that switch the car will be restricated to a certain rpm, like when you give the car for valet parking.

[Priyan]

Reproducing the same as there are some errors showing the edits on font size and color in the earlier one published, pls. remove the earlier one... thanks admin.


Interesting inputs from our friends on A-Star. Have purchased our A-Star Vxi for my wife in Jan'10 and it is 1 year old now.

Have gone through extensive search for a car with a budget of around 4L, test driven Alto, Estilo, Spark, Santro, i10 and finally decided on A-Star though we were almost convinced & confused about Spark and i10 till the last moment... Was once an owner of Maruti Zen’99 and had experienced the benefits of good power-to-weight ratio which gives u one of the best cars to drive one… and I was hoping that the A-Star will give such an experience with such big tyres, compact dimensions, etc..

Had my own share of bad experience right from the delivery:

1. Purchased from Khivraj Motors Chennai and I must say that it is one of the worst dealer from both purchase and service. It was an important purchase decision for my wife and the experience of taking delivery of a new car was horrible and disappointing. Car was not cleaned, had stain marks on the dashboard, no min. accessories assured by the sales executive... such an indifferent attitude by the dealer and I had to call in the right people and make noises to get the car cleaned and accessories put on the next day morning.. Unnecessary hassle; will never never recommend this dealer to any soul.

2. Right from the start, had been noticing jerkiness while pulling the car from 1st gear, excessive vibrations in the engine bay, low mileage and high road noise... took the car for a wheel balancing & alignment the very next day to an independent shop, regularly used for my car... which had reviewed the tyres and told me that the tyres are faulty; the tread in the centre is convexing or something like that. Had brought this to the notice of dealer Khivraj but was told by the SA that it is alright...

3. Mileage has been steadily dropping down; car gave a mileage of 14kmpl during the first 1 month of purchase, post service at Khivraj and 1st service at MSM, it was dropping and it came to 10.7 kmpl in city and highway mileage of 12.3 kmpl. Pls. note that (i) the car has been driven at normal speeds, no aggressive driving, extra care was given for the first 1000 kms drive-in, (ii) fuelling normally done at Chennai city’s BPCL Pure 4 Sure outlets, (iii) tyre pressure at 32 psi, checked once a week, (iv) parked in partially-covered car parking, (v) passenger load is hovering anywhere between 2-3 persons majority of the driving time.

Had learnt to live with the tyre noise, jerkiness & vibrations till a friend suggested me Maruti Service Masters (MSM) in Chennai, company jointly owned by Maruti. Having believed in my friend's experience, had approached MSM and sent the car for its 2nd free service and waited for them to help me understand and sort out the problem till the 3rd free service. With no sign of improvement, had sent an escalation note to all the email ids of customer contacts, top honchos of Maruti Suzuki and the relief came in when they instructed MSM to review the car properly and report back....

Voila' these chaps at MSM called me and spent almost half day in going through and diagnosing the problem including 70 kms road test... they agreed that the vibrations were due to slight improper seating of engine in the bay also resulting in some power loss, tyre noise due to poor quality of JK tyres and made manufacturer look into this, etc…

Vibrations were contained and almost nill now... no jerkiness (dont know what they magic they did) and all the 5 tyres were changed to Bridgestone from JK (hardly have heard anyone talk great about Maruti’s JK OEM tyres). This happened in July'10 and the car is in the best of condition till date. It gives a mileage of average 14 kmpl in city and 18 kmpl in highway, no more jerkiness, no vibrations and no tyre noise…

Though the car was majority driven in city, had taken few outstation trips including a trip to Kodaikanal… handling is superb on highways even in excess of 100 kmph and hill roads, awesome steering response on winding roads, decent braking quality.. have noticed that the car is at its best when driven at 60-80 kmph… ride quality improved dramatically post filling of nitrogen air and must do for this car which has harsh ride quality on bad roads. Car seat cover quality is not good, little scruffy and had to change to pseudo leather ones, with a .5 inch padding for driver and front passenger seats… with the increase driving seat, visibility is at its best, helps us in your driving decisions… added a good quality leather steering cover. We must appreciate the high ground clearance of this car, helped me wade though the water logged streets during rains without any hassle…

Still there are certain problems which Maruti should address… road noise filtering into the cabin in rough roads, engine noise insulation (characteristic of 3 pot engine), high revving of engine due to A/C load at standstill, day and night rear view mirrors, rear wiper and optimal usage of space (they should learn from Chevy/Daewoo on what they did to Spark/Matiz), steering or seat height adjust for drivers at 5.6” or 5.7”as the dashboard is set very high, reverse gear engaging problem (now has experience to slot it finely), bumpy ride quality, etc.

Also wish Suzuki gives as an option the 4 cyl. K10 Engine similar to their export models; this car would have made A-Star to top the sales charts… compact dimensions, broader wheelbase / tyres and power to weight ratio would have made this car a racing enthusiast delight…
We were almost on the verge of selling the car, thanks to the response of Maruti Suzuki and MSM, we are one of those happy customers for them. Will bet on Chennai MSM service quality and don’t mind taking another Suzuki product.

A-Star is definitely a good product to buy and it is truly an Alto-Star… much better the sibling Alto. Those aspiring for sub 4L, should definitely give this car a consideration… and if interior space is enough for them, it is worth buying.

Sharing a picture of our rainbow A-Star… I know I had written a long note, hope it benefits some.

[Daewood]

Originally Posted by Priyan

handling is superb on highways even in excess of 100 kmph and hill roads, awesome steering response on winding roads,

These are qualities which none of the sub 4 lakh rupee cars in India possess. Maruti has failed to market these USPs and many are not aware of what this small car do.
Instead of launching Estilo as "New Zen" they should have named this car as the "New Zen" and it would have been a big success.

[FrozeninTime]

In previous posts I had complained about noise, when steering wheel was turned. So, 3 days ago, I complained to Works Manager (Rana Motors) MASS about the recurring problem in My car even after showing to them (slight firmness did the trick). So he sent a mechanic who took a test drive of the car and noted the problems.

The car was kept nearly three days and problem rectified.
Problem - Left drive shaft was broken which was replaced under warranty.A free wash of car was done along with cleaning of interior.
Total cost = Zero (inclusive of Labour, VAT)

The car feels much better to drive now and I am very happy with the response of Rana Motors though slight firmness was required to do needful.

[karan1609]

Originally Posted by Priyan

Also wish Suzuki gives as an option the 4 cyl. K10 Engine similar to their export models; this car would have made A-Star to top the sales charts…

A-stars are shipped with the same 3cylinder KB10 (1.0L) Series engine around the world, be it Europe, Asia, Australia or the Nissan Pixo (same as A-star but with a Nissan Badging). There isn't any 4cylinder KB10 series engine. Or may be you meant to say that it should have been fitted with the 4cylinder KB12 (1.2L) series engine, which is currently in the Ritz.

[supremeBaleno]

@Priyan, sorry to hear about your hellish experience - glad that things have been sorted out now.

Originally Posted by Priyan

Also wish Suzuki gives as an option the 4 cyl. K10 Engine similar to their export models; this car would have made A-Star to top the sales charts… compact dimensions, broader wheelbase / tyres and power to weight ratio would have made this car a racing enthusiast delight.

Most of the buyers here would not be bothered about an additional cylinder. And the lack of a cylinder is not what is hindering sales of the A-Star. Pricing is on the higher side, leading people to go for other comparable cars which are slightly more roomier and have comparitively better interiors.

Originally Posted by Priyan

A-Star is definitely a good product to buy and it is truly an Alto-Star… much better the sibling Alto. Those aspiring for sub 4L, should definitely give this car a consideration… and if interior space is enough for them, it is worth buying.

I agree. Especially after using the A*-AT for the last 2 months and 1200kms. It is a perfect city runabout that is compact, safe, well built, a good handler and yet has amazing FE thanks to the K-series engine inside it. Another tbhp-ian gets 14kmpl in Blore with his A*-AT, which means the MT version would easily give 15kmpl. I don't see a car in the A-Star's peer group that can come anywhere close to this in FE. MSIL seriously needs to market this car properly.

[FrozeninTime]

Today I started my A - star for the first time after five days(I was in Bangalore and Chennai for some work) My mother said that she saw a puff of black smoke when I started the car and she also said that there was lot of odour coming from tailpipe of the car.What could be the cause of it?
I did PUC two and half months ago and emission levels was within normal level.

@priyan -The four cylinder variant of K series is not available in A- star is due to packaging problems in engine compartment of A- star.Also it does not make commercial sense to produce four cylinder variant of A - star.

[FrozeninTime]

There is a strange humming noise coming from my Maruti A- star since yesterday.The noise increases with speed of the car and does not increase with increase in engine RPM.The noise is still present even if air conditioner is not working.The car has covered just 7500 odd kilometers in 21 months(approximately) driven in mostly good roads.
Could this be a wheel bearing or engine timing belt problem?Any idea?

[Sankar]

Check the wheel bearing, had a similar issue in an old car i owned. Can you sense from which end of the car the sound is coming from?
7500Kms is not the time for the wheel bearning to go bad, but if the bearing seal failed it could.

[FrozeninTime]

Originally Posted by Sankar

Can you sense from which end of the car the sound is coming from?

The sound is coming front end of the car.In January the left front axle of the car was replaced.
The car is used mainly for short commutes and driven mostly in good roads and still these problems have surfaced.

Also a thud sound comes when whenever first gear and second gear is engaged and accelerator pedal has to be pressed quite so that car gets going.

[humveeguy]

Hi, Just wanted to check if the stock HU in astar has the option of enabling SUBwoofer from the menu or is it that, sub output is enabled all time. ?

cheers
humveeguy

[FrozeninTime]

In these two years of ownership,I thoroughly enjoyed my car.Since I have relocated to a new place and my parents would rarely be using it,I decided to sell the car.The car has covered some 8500 kilometers in these two years and despite some niggles it has performed well.It has taught me the many nuances of car ownership.But like your first love it is always difficult to say good bye to your first car but I am in way happy as the buyer is my relative and hope that the car will be well looked after.

@humveeguy -I don't think you can enable subwoofer from menu as there is no option of woofer in the menu.

[Priyan]

A* has higher than admissable road noise, may be due to low cost sound deafening materials used. The problem what I could sense has to do with wheel bearing... don't go by kms, it is possible. Sorry was not active for sometime, hope the issue is sorted.

Sub Woofer option is not possible in the stock HU of A* music system, tried checking this with OEM Nippon guys.

By now, she has done 25k kms, good car, put up on sale now, booked a swift zdi...