[abhi_k007]

i was looking forward to test drive the SX4 diesel avtaar for quite some time now so i landed to the nearest showroom of my area, since i was amongst the few first customers who arrived as soon as the gates to the showroom were opened, i was greeted in a graceful manner, i asked for the Test drive of the SX4 diesel and they sales guy happily agreed.

Looks:

Nothing new in this department, i feel maruti blew a golden chance of upgrading the SX4 and then launching it in the market to compete better with the likes of the VW's and the Hyundai's, the car looks muscular alright, but there is nothing great in the design.

Interiors;

Well this is the most painful area of all the maruti cars and the SX4 is no exception, she has the same plain old dash with a dull brown tint which makes it look more cheap, the plastic quality is tacky and the fit and finish of the car is below average, if you are looking for better interiors then please go for vento or the new hyundai verna, the SX4 does not excites me at all and it does not feels like a 10 Lac car at all.

Drive:

The car comes with the same 1.3 fiat engine under the hood, what's more annoying is that all the cars from the Ritz, swift and now the SX4 have the same engine, provided the size and weight of the car the engine seems to be tiny and low on power, the engine has been re-tuned by the engineers to make it work for the big SX4 and have added the VGT to enhance the power delivery, the power is now more linear and does not kick in like the swift or the ritz for that matter, the engine does suffer from the initial turbo lag under the 1800 RPM's and the car feel sluggish to drive but once past the 1800 RPM the puny engine starts singing and push this beast with great power, you will never feel that woosshh... feeling though, the acceleration is pretty linear in nature and takes time to build up speed, so if you are the one who likes to push hard and love speed this is not the car for you, the key to drive this car is just like all the diesel mills, keep her between the turbo range and you should just do fine, the car does generate some serious speed, took her to 120 and just when i was feeling great about the car, the puny engine started running out of breath past speeds of 130+ when we came back to the showroom i has this mixed feeling in my mind, the engine is superb but somewhere i feel that this beast deserve the 1.6 MJD engine to keep her in the leagues of the new cars which are defiantly eating up the market share of maruti.


+ve's:
1. Space
2. Big size car
3. Large Boot Space
4. Rear space is good.
5. Good fuel efficiency.
6. high ground clearance
6. maruti afters sales support

-ve's
1. lack the premium feel
2. very low on feature list
3. Build quality is below average for this class.
4. Engine does feel a little low on power.
5. The steering isn't amongst the best.
6. Turbo lag in the lower bands.


verdict:

It is a nice to drive and easy to maintain car being a maruti, but lacks the quality, fit and finish of a luxury car, there are no "wow" features offered, the engine does lag of power, people who just want a big car with a reliable brand and good resale value should go for it with there eyes closed, but for the young and more demanding customers who like to drive just for the pure pleasure of it and who look for new features and build quality should look at other models like the vento and the Verna Fluidic which are much better sorted out and looks good any day.

[Saanil]

I think Sx4 is losing out on the Market share mainly because of it being out-dated. Well its not completely outdated but then when you have new launches of Vento and Verna people will surely go for the new launches rather than stick with this one. I own a Petrol Sx4 (VVT version) and I think the car is good. Before the new launches, Sx4 used to do decent numbers but now with the diesel it is doing around 1.8K-2k (Correct me if I am wrong) mostly because of diesel. I think Sx4 definately needs a refresh - A new engine and Kizashi like interiors with aggressive pricing can change fortunes for Sx4. But I do not see that happening any time soon (No rumours or anything about this). Sx4 shares a lot of parts with Dzire/Swift/Ritz. There should be more premium-ness in Sx4 which it currently lacks. After the launch diesel avatar I think there have been only a few handful of ownership reports. Compare that to the number of Vento/Verna threads and you will see the enthusiasm for this car.

In the short term the diesel avatar is going to keep moving the cars out of the showroom but after that it definately needs a makeover.

[abhi_k007]

Totally agree with you, The SX4 is due for an upgrade and i think maruti should try to place it differently and away from the Dzire as the later eats up all the customer who look for SX4 but then settle for Dzire, all said and done the SX4 is still doing decent numbers thanks to the diesel avataar.

[Y@SH]

Agree with you, being an sx4 owner for three years and have to admit I hate it. The quality of plastics are poor, the FE is below average (im talking about the petrol), Uneven panel gaps. The only thing I like about the car is the engine. The sound of it when revved is exhilarating.

[mayankjha1806]

Originally Posted by Y@SH

The only thing I like about the car is the engine. The sound of it when revved is exhilarating.

And the GC, man the car is really like an SUV and one just not needs to worry about any speed breakers it just goes tall over them. What i also missed in Sx4 is space utilization, with the kind of space it has it should give a segment up cars run for their money but the space hasn't been used correctly.

How old is your Sx4 and, please start an ownership thread of the car as such there are very few Sx4 ownership threads.

[Durango Dude]

One thing you forgot to emphasize is, you can walk into this car. Ingress and egress is such a breeze.

[Y@SH]

Originally Posted by mayankjha1806

And the GC, man the car is really like an SUV and one just not needs to worry about any speed breakers it just goes tall over them. What i also missed in Sx4 is space utilization, with the kind of space it has it should give a segment up cars run for their money but the space hasn't been used correctly.

How old is your Sx4 and, please start an ownership thread of the car as such there are very few Sx4 ownership threads.

Yeah the GC is also great, class leading I guess. I dont care much when i drive over potholes and speed breakers!

My sx4 is a 2008 VXi model. This would be my first ownership thread, I will post it in the coming weeks. Also a DC Lounge-Innova whos ownership thread would go up in the coming weeks. Have no time these days so would take time. But ill surely post them both.

[Rajeevraj]

Originally Posted by Y@SH

Yeah the GC is also great, class leading I guess. I dont care much when i drive over potholes and speed breakers!

My sx4 is a 2008 VXi model. This would be my first ownership thread, I will post it in the coming weeks. Also a DC Lounge-Innova whos ownership thread would go up in the coming weeks. Have no time these days so would take time. But ill surely post them both.

My fav features are the ground clearance and the boot. I recently got a pre-owned SX4( detailed report here: http://www.team-bhp.com/forum/test-d...-page-2-a.html)

I think at this point it is a great 2nd hand buy since you can get great deals on it and since it is 4-5 years since it was launched more and more SX4's are starting to come into the 2nd hand market.

[abhi_k007]

Absolutely, the GC is the best part of the Car, you can actually walk into the car, and the big doors makes it feel roomy and spacious specially at the rear.

[abhi_k007]

have to admit, it is a great second hand buy, you really get some good deal on SX4 these days and they are easily available in the market, the best place to get them would be maruti true value outlets

[Saanil]

Can someone please tell me what are the current prices at which Sx4 is selling? I think there should be decent discounts on it as there is too much competition in this segment and Sx4 lags behind the competitors. I just wanted to get an idea about the price of Sx4 compared to its competitors. It would be great if someone can post the figures.

[Rajeevraj]

Originally Posted by Saanil

Can someone please tell me what are the current prices at which Sx4 is selling? I think there should be decent discounts on it as there is too much competition in this segment and Sx4 lags behind the competitors. I just wanted to get an idea about the price of Sx4 compared to its competitors. It would be great if someone can post the figures.

These are Bangalore On Road approx prices before any discount (From online site of Pratham Motors- A primary dealer in Bangalore)

Zxi MT : 9.61 lakhs
Zxi AT: 10.4 lakhs
ZDi MT: 10.68 lakhs

The petrol MT definitely has offers of minimum 50-60,000 as per paper ad's. Have not seen any discounts for the diesel.

Comparatively Fluidic Verna Prices are

VTVT SX 1.6: 10.17
VTVT SX (O)1.6: 11.01
VTVT SX(O) AT 1.6: 11.8

CRDI SX 1.6: 11.6
CRDI SX (O)1.6: 12.8
CRDI SX(O) AT 1.6: 13.6

Honda City:
1.5V MT: 10.52
1.5V AT: 11.38

There may be discounts on these when you go to showroom directly.

[getsriram]

I tend to agree with saanil and y@sh on the current status of Sx4. I too have a 3 year old Vxi. It does the job to its existing owners. But when it comes to new purchase, just compare the options available for the buyer.. its amazing. And surprisingly maruti has not even considered revamping its interiors to fight competition.

Just comparing the interior features with the new Verna makes one feel that the Sx4 is stripped naked. As saahil put it, the SX4 today does not give you that C segment feeling. Maruti, having positioned Dezire a tad below SX4 Vxi version should have continued with making SX4 a premium product (atleast from the feel point of it).

Coming to diesel. i believe there is no point being a cheaper product at this price range. Any purchaser who is ready to shell more than 10 lacs is not going to be bothered to spend an additional lac or so to get a much up market feeling Verna and which is supposed to be the best diesel in that segment.

So Maruti needs to learn that pricing can make a difference till B segment and when you move up the segments, it is features and performance that matter. That doesn't mean that you price a product just for the heck of it. But if Maruti can provide the car at a 1-2 lacs cheaper, then that efficiency and advantage should be used well to provide other gizmos inside the car which will make really competitive

[swiftnfurious]

Agree with most of you here ! For a 10L budget, SX4 is a shame ! I went for a TD and was immediately put off by the interiors. C'mon, its almost the same as a Swift which is 4 lakhs cheaper. When Maruti brings in the updated version, the first thing they might want to change will be the interiors & make it a class or two above the current one. As all of you said, I loved the GC too. And I guess suspension does a good job as well in this car. Mine was a short TD, so could not test it well. I neither was interested; seeing the interiors. This car doesn't hold a candle to the latest offerings in the C segments. I would prefer an Optra Magnum over this car in the same price bracket.

[Saanil]

Originally Posted by Rajeevraj

These are Bangalore On Road approx prices before any discount

Thanks a lot for the figures. So it is clear that price is not an issue with the average sales of Sx4. Its just that competition is way ahead. Somehow I get a feeling that Maruti really wants to set the sales chart on fire in this segment but have not been able to do so. I suppose even Baleno suffered the same fate. Can some one tell me how were the sales figures of Baleno when it was launched? Did it gradually die down because of strong competition or was it wrongly priced? I ask this because I never used to follow car industry when Baleno was launched. I think Maruti's baleno was a genuine attempt to gain market share in this segment. Please update me with Baleno's overall performance if possible

Originally Posted by getsriram

I tend to agree with saanil and y@sh on the current status of Sx4.

Originally Posted by swiftnfurious

Agree with most of you here ! For a 10L budget, SX4 is a shame ! I went for a TD and was immediately put off by the interiors. C'mon, its almost the same as a Swift which is 4 lakhs cheaper.

Personally I think an upgrade is a bit far away. Maruti are currently dealing with labour problems which is affecting their sales of New Swift. I think Maruti will be more worried about Swift rather than Sx4. I am not sure how long will the labour protests last. I think there was a news that Maruti is going to start the production of Sx4 and Astar in their new plant.

Maruti is really going through tough times. Swift is facing production problems. Dzire too is going to face strong competition. Alto will supposedly be facing heat from Hyundai's Eon. After Swift I think Maruti has a 7 seater to be launched. Then they shall be busy with Dzire CS. And then I think it will be Sx4's turn. I think we will have to wait for a long time for an upgrade. Although an interior revamp is a must, I think the exteriors also need to be changed.