Team-BHP - Maruti Swift : Official Review
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Maruti has just launched ZXi+ AGS/AMT model versions in both petrol and diesel. It is now there on the website. About 47k increase in ex-showroom price over ZXi.


AFAIK, LED projector headlamps and the infotainment system are linked to the ECU/ECM so cannot be easily retrofitted.

My wife got her new Zxi on Friday. She thanks TBhp for the very useful official review, the 'how to buy a new car' articles, and the awesome PDI checklist, she used them extensively. I got to drive the car around quite a bit over the weekend as she was out of town.

The good: Good pull from each gear. Overall, the car feels quick and nimble. Looks smashing in Midnight Blue. The Red version is also great looking. Design should age well. Good features and little touches on the displays, buttons, etc. Steering wheel is nice. Good music system. Mirrors are usable. Ground clearance is not an issue even with 3 adults and luggage. Very positive dealership experience. Usable boot and space and comfortable seats for 4 adults (though, personally I'd prefer a smaller space and consequently, a car that was smaller at the rear, since most of the time this car will be single-person driven, but obviously that will not be the majority opinion). Compact enough for Bangalore city crawl traffic and gaps. Goes where you point it.

The bad: Steering feels a bit too 'light' and 'floaty'. Very cheap bits in the interior, appalling even, for a car that touches almost 8L on-road. I'm really worried that the glove compartment is going to crack, the rear door handles feel weak, the parcel tray is so terrible, the floor mats are the worst, they're awful! Why Maruti? Why?! The only analogy I can think of right now is buying a great suit, good material, expensive, sharp-fit, beautiful jacket, trousers and shirt, good shoes...and then accessorizing with the worst quality cuff links, tie, belt, socks and pocket square. I mean, why would you do that?!

My Swift ZXi+ has done over 4,000 kms. Mileage is a consistent 15+ inside the city with lots of idling [waiting for kid at school, for wife while shopping].

Has done one long drive [over 1,500 kms] and one of around 600 kms. Glad to say, that still no rattle or squeaks have developed. On highways, the economy was over 20 kmpl.

Ride is better than my erstwhile Ford Figo and for sure better than my 4WD S10. Handling or should I say the chassis composure is right there with the Ford, steering isn't that a delight but is okay.

Bad part is the plastics on door and the fabrics, pretty bad quality. They turn white and it takes effort to restore it. Plastics/trims are of the worst quality. Because I wanted something for local commutes, I didn't have much of an option.

The DRL's and the headlamps make it look premium and the Bosch chrome windtones [as accessory] do their duty nicely.

While I am satisfied, wish Maruti paid a bit more attention to the interior platics and build quality. This is one car which cemented Maruti's position and is iconic for the maker as well as for us.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Sheel (Post 4444673)
Bad part is the plastics on door and the fabrics, pretty bad quality. They turn white and it takes effort to restore it. Plastics/trims are of the worst quality.

Absolutely correct! Our car is barely a couple of weeks old and I can already see how badly those rear door handles are going to fade and look terrible in a short while. Really silly by Maruti to get most of the car right and ruin the overall effect with this sort of cost-cutting.

I had the opportunity to drive my friends swift ZDi AMT in Trivandrum. The drive was within the city and not longer than 20 kilometers. It was pleasant to note that the quality of the steering wheel and dashboard has improved greatly over the second generation (I currently drive a second gen Swift ZDi). Maruti has played it cheap when it comes to power window controls, wiper stalks and indicator stalks - all carried over from previous gen or maybe even older models.

The car felt lighter and more effortless to drive than the previous model. It rode well over rough patches on the road and the seating felt (did not verify using measurements) lower than the previous gen (l adjusted the seat height to the lowest point to check this) It came fitted with Apollo Alnac 185 sized tyres instead of Bridgestone Ecopia.

Coming to AMT, this was my first diesel AMT experience. Further, I am planning to replace my previous-gen swift with the new one and wanted to find out how good the AMT version is.

The creep function seems to be good. As soon as one slots the gear to D and lifts off the brake pedal, the car starts moving forward. I realized that the car blips the throttle a bit to give that extra shove to start moving - very thoughtful. I decided to drive the car using a light foot since the drive was within the city and the car was a brand new one. I was expecting the shift from 1st to 2nd to take place under 2k rpm, however with 2 people on board, it made the shift at aroud 2.1k rpm. Same was the case when it came to up-shift from 2nd to 3rd. 3rd to 4th change was at around 1.7k rpm. Could not manage to shift it to 5th during the drive.
I found that the downshifts were perfect, especially while slowing down suddenly or during sudden braking. I always felt that the car changed gears perfectly to suit the situation.

Swift Brake Issue:

Post my first service (or rather check-up) some rubbing and grinding noise started to creep up in my swift on applying brakes. When I reported this to the service centre, they said both the brake pads and brake discs have abnormal wear and tear and will be replaced under warranty. The service advisor himself is clueless about how this could have happened, however pointed out this is not a one off case. My car has just run close to 2000 km and in stock condition. Surely a bad experience, especially considering the hype surrounding Maruti reliability and service.

I do have my doubts on a foul play from the Service Centre, purposeful or not. Will be taking it to local workshop to verify the same.

Quote:

Originally Posted by xjosephjacob (Post 4456090)
Swift Brake Issue:
.

Happened the same with my car too around the same km mark. The SA said it was due to "inferior quality" of brake pads in my car and now maruti has addressed the issue in the newer lots. Since it was being done under warranty and the noise was very disturbing I went ahead with the change without any further questions asked.

Quote:

Originally Posted by xjosephjacob (Post 4456090)
Swift Brake Issue:

Post my first service (or rather check-up) some rubbing and grinding noise started to creep up in my swift on applying brakes. When I reported this to the service centre, they said both the brake pads and brake discs have abnormal wear and tear and will be replaced under warranty. The service advisor himself is clueless about how this could have happened, however pointed out this is not a one off case. My car has just run close to 2000 km and in stock condition. Surely a bad experience, especially considering the hype surrounding Maruti reliability and service.

I do have my doubts on a foul play from the Service Centre, purposeful or not. Will be taking it to local workshop to verify the same.

I do not think this is Swift specific. I am driving 2016 Ertiga and getting some friction noise (uneven grinding). Checked this with service station in Bangalore (last year) and Goa (in June) as well. Both places the answer was, some powder is separated from the brake pads causing all that noise. After both these visits the noise went off (they opened the brakeunits and cleaned) but it has started again. Uncertain about the real reason. Has Maruti started reducing quality of brakepads now?

Quote:

Originally Posted by xjosephjacob (Post 4456090)
Swift Brake Issue:
.


Quote:

Originally Posted by shreyak_ss (Post 4456139)
Happened the same with my car too around the same km mark. .

I too have faced this grinding sound on my mom's Swift 1.2 AMT a couple of days back. The sound occurs only on hard braking.The car is about 6k km old. Since my mom drives mostly(sedately) she has never faced this issue or never braked hard enough to induce the sounds.

I will be taking the car tomorrow to get the brakes inspected. During the 5k service they removed the brake pads and cleaned them, so I guess either new pads or both pads and discs are needed.
Could the sound also occur due to loose calipers?

@rambo1o1: thanks for the insight! i get the noise to under hard braking only. I assumed it was the EBD working. But I'll have it checked at the 5000 service too.

Loose caliper will rattle during driving so this may be a brake pad issue as posted by other T-Bhp members.

Quote:

Originally Posted by qr20de (Post 4456517)
@rambo1o1: thanks for the insight! i get the noise to under hard braking only. I assumed it was the EBD working. But I'll have it checked at the 5000 service too.

Loose caliper will rattle during driving so this may be a brake pad issue as posted by other T-Bhp members.

I had made an appointment yesterday with MASS regarding the noise. However when I started out in the morning I couldn't repeat the grinding noise. This noise was discovered 3-4 days back and it would occur mostly after a long drive (10km or more). If it rained heavily the noise would disappear.

Anyways, I go to Maruti and as expected, the grinding noise doesn't appear even after a 20km test drive 😠
Maruti has acknowledged that this problem is faced by swift customers but sadly in my case they need to hear that noise to diagnose whether a particular part needs replacement.

I will try and get this noise on record so that I don't embarrass myself again 😁

Its just some dust which has accumulated between the brake pads and the discs, sometimes even a stone, get it cleaned and you guys should be fine.

My wiper blades give an annoying squeaky noise when they retreat back after a wipe. Is there any tried and tested brand that's popular in this community, I could purchase online? Dealers nearby have mostly Chinese products.

Any tips reg this would give me an immense peace of mind, as I've planned a 2-week trip to the Western Ghats in the next 2 weeks and I'm pretty sure I'll be driving in the rain once in a while.

Guys, especially those who own the ZXI and higher variants with Auto Climate Control, do you notice a faint but audible whistling noise (cricket like sound effect) when you put the blower at its lowest speed ? In my case the noise is definitely coming out from the blower. It didn't exist at the time of purchase, but this is becoming extremely annoying nowadays, especially in the night drives. Service center guys said this is normal, and if I insist they shall open up the blower fan and check. I noticed this in a couple of other swifts in the service center as well.

Maruti reliability and fuzz free ownership experience is turning out to be a big myth- such poorly put together tin cans! Brake pad and disc already pending replacement, lots of rattles (running on typical post monsoon Kerala roads with lots of potholes), and now this- all in less than 2000 km. Both my Dusters in the garage that have run 1 lac km + doesn't rattle like this.

Heck the front doors need a firmer push to close interestingly because they so light and they tend to bounce back upon impact with the body !

My ZXi+ is due for its second free service and I am planning to get an oil change done. How much is the charge for an oil/filter change?

I know it isn't required, but it will not do any harm and I will feel less of guilt when the revs are over 5,000.


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