[condor]

Originally Posted by shashank.nk

.. but he's looking for 3.5 which I felt is on the higher side. .

3.25-3.5 was the quoted rates 4-5 years back when we got our A-Star. Ours is a 2011 model. These days it's in the 2.5 range, give or take.

Sometimes owners who have bad cars quote higher just to give the impression that the car is in excellent condition. These are the ones to avoid, and instead look for more realistically priced ones.

[shashank.nk]

Originally Posted by condor

3.25-3.5 was the quoted rates 4-5 years back when we got our A-Star. Ours is a 2011 model. These days it's in the 2.5 range, give or take.

Sometimes owners who have bad cars quote higher just to give the impression that the car is in excellent condition. These are the ones to avoid, and instead look for more realistically priced ones.

Yes, a 8 year old car at nearly 60% of the original price seems a bit much, perhaps its the fact that automatics being in demand and a new AT being almost 7L otr today that's resulted in this.

Also, is it tough to mange in rains since the VXi lacks both de-fogger and a rear wipe ?

[condor]

Originally Posted by shashank.nk

Also, is it tough to mange in rains since the VXi lacks both de-fogger and a rear wipe ?

Wife manages to drive it even in moderately heavy rains.

Extremely heavy rain ? any get difficult in most cars.

All the best with your search. Keep an eye out, and hopefully you will find a good one soon.

[mvadg]

Originally Posted by shashank.nk

Also, is it tough to mange in rains since the VXi lacks both de-fogger and a rear wipe ?

I think a rear wiper can be retrofitted.

Not sure if this was successful:
https://www.team-bhp.com/forum/modif...ruti-star.html (Fitting rear wiper to Maruti A-star)

https://www.team-bhp.com/forum/diy-d...aruti-zen.html (DIY: Adding a rear wiper to the Maruti Zen)

[shashank.nk]

Originally Posted by condor

Wife manages to drive it even in moderately heavy rains. All the best with your search. Keep an eye out, and hopefully you will find a good one soon.

Originally Posted by mvadg

I think a rear wiper can be retrofitted.

Thank you! I haven't tried any DIY recently so will leave it to the helpful folk at ASC or trusted FNG as my sister simply can't digest that the car doesn't get electrically adjusted ORVMs or a rear wiper and de-fogger.

If the Zxi had either de-fogger or a rear wipe, retrofitment should be possible, at-least theoretically.

[shashank.nk]

The silver 2013 car deal didn't go through as we couldn't arrive at a mutually acceptable price so went looking and found a gray 2013 A-star with 65k on the odo

During the TD I heard a grinding noise from rear right upon accelerating. This noise was only at initial RPMs while accelerating or when stopped at a signal with D-3 engaged. If I shifted to N when at a signal and revved the engine the noise vanished and wasn't to be heard at higher RPMs.

The ASC says its a loose silencer however I'm wondering if its something to do with the transmission since the noise in only when the gear is engaged.

Any inputs much appreciated!

[Aroy]

Originally Posted by shashank.nk

The silver 2013 car deal didn't go through as we couldn't arrive at a mutually acceptable price so went looking and found a gray 2013 A-star with 65k on the odo

During the TD I heard a grinding noise from rear right upon accelerating. This noise was only at initial RPMs while accelerating or when stopped at a signal with D-3 engaged. If I shifted to N when at a signal and revved the engine the noise vanished and wasn't to be heard at higher RPMs.

The ASC says its a loose silencer however I'm wondering if its something to do with the transmission since the noise in only when the gear is engaged.

Any inputs much appreciated!

Being a front drive, there is no transmission to the rear wheels.

So the reason is not transmission, but any of the following :

. Loose silenser as claimed, but it should not go while driving, and rattle more when going over bumps.

. Brake binding, may be due to water ingress plus long time not driven.

. Body rattle, but that too will not disappear.

[condor]

Saturday evening, around 6.30 - peak traffic time, also seeing extra traffic due to weekend. Wife calls me that the A-Star is not starting. Me & BiL were in my Storme, not far away. Reached and checked - it was the battery. She had switched off the engine due to the extra wait time and because of being at the line and first in que. When the signal changed, she tried to start but it didnt.

Got help from fellow motorists to move the car beyond the signal (was a bit of a task since as we started to move it, the signal changed for the other side and we had cross-traffic).

Called a battery shop who said he is coming, but got delayed due to rain near his shop. He reaches the signal where we are, and the skies open up again. Another 20 minutes wait for all the 4 of us before we got a chance to change the battery.

Got an Amaron Flo 35Ah, 30+30 month warranty for Rs 4.2k. The old battery was also an Amaron, and had lasted about 4.5 plus years. That instance too, the battery died in chaotic traffic. We had done a jump-start then and replacement was done a couple of days later. Fair life, I would say.

[ar@v1nd]

Originally Posted by shashank.nk

The silver 2013 car deal didn't go through as we couldn't arrive at a mutually acceptable price so went looking and found a gray 2013 A-star with 65k on the odo

During the TD I heard a grinding noise from rear right upon accelerating. This noise was only at initial RPMs while accelerating or when stopped at a signal with D-3 engaged. If I shifted to N when at a signal and revved the engine the noise vanished and wasn't to be heard at higher RPMs.

The ASC says its a loose silencer however I'm wondering if its something to do with the transmission since the noise in only when the gear is engaged.

Any inputs much appreciated!

Nice to see an active thread here on the A star automatic.

We bought a 2013 A star automatic (pre-owned) in late Feb this year. Purchase was primarily for my wife to help her brush up on her driving skills.

Our A star has this same behaviour. There's a kind of rattling/grinding noise from the engine/transmission when the car tries to pull from low revs. Typically this happens when upshifting to a higher gear at relatively lower RPMs. Once the RPM climbs a little bit or if the load on the car is reduced, this noise disappears. ASC just brushed this off saying this is common in the A star and Ritz automatic and that there is nothing to worry about.

I actually suspect the engine/transmission mounts. There is a fair bit of vibration on idle and when changing the gear from say N to D when the car is stationary, the car actually shakes. If I open the engine bay, I can actually see the engine shifting it's position (rotationally) when it moves from N to D or R. Will get this checked in the next service.

On the positive side, I'm very happy with the fuel efficiency. I'm getting an average of about 14.5 with mixed usage (about 40% of medium city traffic + remaining 60% of travel on the bypass road). This is better than what I'm getting on my Honda city petrol.

[Sumedik]

Hello, has anyone tried these NGK spark plugs on Astar AT?

https://www.ngkntk.in/ngk-high-ignit...y-spark-plugs/

Does this make any noticeable difference in FE/performance?

Also has anyone done any modification/upgrade to the suspension?

[kpzen]

Originally Posted by shashank.nk

The silver 2013 car deal didn't go through as we couldn't arrive at a mutually acceptable price so went looking and found a gray 2013 A-star with 65k on the odo

During the TD I heard a grinding noise from rear right upon accelerating. This noise was only at initial RPMs while accelerating or when stopped at a signal with D-3 engaged. If I shifted to N when at a signal and revved the engine the noise vanished and wasn't to be heard at higher RPMs.

The ASC says its a loose silencer however I'm wondering if its something to do with the transmission since the noise in only when the gear is engaged.

Any inputs much appreciated!

Most likely the rear parking brake cable is jammed. Had a similar issue and got it replaced in Mar'22.

[Sumedik]

Originally Posted by kpzen

Most likely the rear parking brake cable is jammed

In that case the dashboard Brake warning light should light up.

[Sankar]

Originally Posted by ar@v1nd

Our A star has this same behaviour. There's a kind of rattling/grinding noise from the engine/transmission when the car tries to pull from low revs. Typically this happens when upshifting to a higher gear at relatively lower RPMs. Once the RPM climbs a little bit or if the load on the car is reduced, this noise disappears. ASC just brushed this off saying this is common in the A star and Ritz automatic and that there is nothing to worry about.

It is knocking/pre-detonation and is there on the AStar and early Swift 1.2 when there is some load on the engine at low speeds. Its sensitive to fuel quality and an upgrade to iridium spark plug will reduce the knocking. There is nothing wrong to leave it as it is either.

Originally Posted by Sumedik

Hello, has anyone tried these NGK spark plugs on Astar AT?

https://www.ngkntk.in/ngk-high-ignit...y-spark-plugs/

Does this make any noticeable difference in FE/performance?

Yes it does make a small but noticeable difference, I've put iridium tipped spark plugs (NGK/Denso) in every petrol car i've had, including the current i10 1.2 AT. If there's a choice i suggest Denso Iridium over NGK.

Link Below:
https://www.team-bhp.com/forum/techn...ml#post2895824 (Iridium Spark Plugs-are they worth it?)

Originally Posted by Sumedik

Also has anyone done any modification/upgrade to the suspension?

Yes, H&R Lowering Springs on AStar (H&R Lowering springs from Germany for my Maruti AStar!)

[Sumedik]

Originally Posted by Sankar

Yes it does make a small but noticeable difference, I've put iridium tipped spark plugs (NGK/Denso) in every petrol car i've had, including the current i10 1.2 AT.

The Spark plugs I linked are not iridium, but conventional. It seems those are OEM anyway.

[Sankar]

Originally Posted by Sumedik

The Spark plugs I linked are not iridium, but conventional. It seems those are OEM anyway.

I saw the link and I assumed you wanted to know about iridium plugs because KR6A plugs are stock a-star plugs. They are ordinary spark plugs.