[a4anurag]

Originally Posted by devil_klm

Any suggestion on break pads? MGA pads are priced at 1500/- and labour charges.

Ohh. Get OE brake pads and change it yourself rather than giving it to MASS where they charge 500-600 as labour.

[aaggoswami]

Last Saturday, I had a trip to Nadiad in my Swift. Somehow, the top end pull has gone down from earlier. Checked the engine oil, it was less just about the lower hole in dipstick.
My trust on Kiran Motors has gone down. My odo reads 102XX kms. and car was barely serviced 600-700 kms. ago. Engine oil level cannot come down so fast, if it does, the engine should give more indicators like power-loss and black smoke, which does not seem to be case.

Called up Amar Motors, barely half a km. from where I work and its the place from where I had purchased my car. They have shell 0W-20 oil which retails for Rs. 429/litre. Damage to pocket should be around 2000 Rs. if I go in for Shell oil along with new oil filter. Dont know if thats synthetic oil. Shell oil retailing at petrol pump recommends 5W-40 which will cost Rs. 52XX/- for 3.5 litres. Confused, but will stick to 0W-20 for my car as its mentioned in manual. Shell guy told me that Shell Oil is recommended by Maruti so warranty will not be affected, dont know how authentic it is.

Has anybody used 0W-40 in petrol Swift ? I would like to stick to synthetic oil, the Rs. 429/litre oil is mineral one I think. Would like to take a chance, but afraid of warranty lapse.

On another update, went back to 90/100W setup. Bulbs are Osram Rally, but Philips rally bulbs are best. Might opt for Hella 90/100W bulbs which retail for Rs. 600 at Jalaram Accessories, Vadodara. Its for future. High beam is marked improvement over Xtreme vision+, low beam not so. Might need setting, but I will stick to this set up. Wiring dressing needs some looking into.

[Sherlocked]

Originally Posted by aaggoswami

Last Saturday, I had a trip to Nadiad in my Swift. Somehow, the top end pull has gone down from earlier. Checked the engine oil, it was less just about the lower hole in dipstick.
.

Please check for any signs of oil leakages. In my case oil was leaking from the oil filter as they hadn't tightened it well just after the service. Thank god that I had spotted oil drops where the car was parked just two days after the service and took the car to MASS. If it had been late the car would have suffered engine damage because of the mechanic's incompetency.

[humyum]

Originally Posted by aaggoswami

Last Saturday, I had a trip to Nadiad in my Swift. Somehow, the top end pull has gone down from earlier. Checked the engine oil, it was less just about the lower hole in dipstick.
My trust on Kiran Motors has gone down. My odo reads 102XX kms. and car was barely serviced 600-700 kms. ago. Engine oil level cannot come down so fast, if it does, the engine should give more indicators like power-loss and black smoke, which does not seem to be case.

Called up Amar Motors, barely half a km. from where I work and its the place from where I had purchased my car. They have shell 0W-20 oil which retails for Rs. 429/litre. Damage to pocket should be around 2000 Rs. if I go in for Shell oil along with new oil filter. Dont know if thats synthetic oil. Shell oil retailing at petrol pump recommends 5W-40 which will cost Rs. 52XX/- for 3.5 litres. Confused, but will stick to 0W-20 for my car as its mentioned in manual. Shell guy told me that Shell Oil is recommended by Maruti so warranty will not be affected, dont know how authentic it is.

Has anybody used 0W-40 in petrol Swift ? I would like to stick to synthetic oil, the Rs. 429/litre oil is mineral one I think. Would like to take a chance, but afraid of warranty lapse.

On another update, went back to 90/100W setup. Bulbs are Osram Rally, but Philips rally bulbs are best. Might opt for Hella 90/100W bulbs which retail for Rs. 600 at Jalaram Accessories, Vadodara. Its for future. High beam is marked improvement over Xtreme vision+, low beam not so. Might need setting, but I will stick to this set up. Wiring dressing needs some looking into.

Did you check the oil level after the car was stationary for a few hours and on a level ground?

[bhavik.1991]

Originally Posted by aaggoswami

Last Saturday, I had a trip to Nadiad in my Swift. Somehow, the top end pull has gone down from earlier. Checked the engine oil, it was less just about the lower hole in dipstick.
My trust on Kiran Motors has gone down.

As suggested by other guys, please check for the signs of oil leakage.
And Kiran motors... well, I have been dealing with those morons for almost 6 years now. Once, they forgot to fit the rod that holds the bonnet in its housing (don't know exact terminology for the rod ) and it created a big hole into the rubber housing of a pipe across the engine(again don't know which pipe it is, IC pipe maybe?) due to the extreme heat it catches during high speeds.

[aaggoswami]

Originally Posted by Sherlocked

Please check for any signs of oil leakages. In my case oil was leaking from the oil filter as they hadn't tightened it well just after the service.

Originally Posted by humyum

Did you check the oil level after the car was stationary for a few hours and on a level ground?

Originally Posted by bhavik.1991

As suggested by other guys, please check for the signs of oil leakage.
And Kiran motors... well, I have been dealing with those morons for almost 6 years now.

The car was parked on level ground, barely 40 feet from where my office desk is. It was parked from 8:40 AM to around 1300 hrs. I can firmly chip in the timings are the first one is the time when I reach office and second one is when my lunch break ends ! That should be good enough time to check the engine oil level.

Amar motors is worse than Kiran which is what I have found. Somehow, a good FNG will have to be hunted for after 2 years. The warranty clauses are way too stiff I feel. Kiran Motors do not agree to super slow wipers in my Swift. My Wagon R has faster wipers ! My friend's experience in Kataria has gone down too.
Might get Shell oil from Amar motors along with filter and change the oil myself. Its a Himalayan task though for me.

[swiftnfurious]

Originally Posted by aaggoswami

...Might get Shell oil from Amar motors along with filter and change the oil myself. Its a Himalayan task though for me.

Understanding that your car was serviced just 600 kms back, you can easily get the oil change done by a FNG and still have the warranty in-tact. Nobody can deny you the warranty (except for the grade of the oil) as you have done the oil change as per the service interval in a MA$$.

I'd request you to check the oil quantity after draining out. My friend's Captiva had the oil level go down pretty rapidly (once we topped almost 5L or so) and no oil leakages were to be seen. Finally it was diagnosed to be an oil seal breakage or so and the oil was getting inside the engine.

Don't intend to scare you, but jJust thinking loud; please do check the quantity of oil drained and once you change it, have a regular check on it please.

[humyum]

Originally Posted by aaggoswami

The car was parked on level ground, barely 40 feet from where my office desk is. It was parked from 8:40 AM to around 1300 hrs. I can firmly chip in the timings are the first one is the time when I reach office and second one is when my lunch break ends ! That should be good enough time to check the engine oil level.

Amar motors is worse than Kiran which is what I have found. Somehow, a good FNG will have to be hunted for after 2 years. The warranty clauses are way too stiff I feel. Kiran Motors do not agree to super slow wipers in my Swift. My Wagon R has faster wipers ! My friend's experience in Kataria has gone down too.
Might get Shell oil from Amar motors along with filter and change the oil myself. Its a Himalayan task though for me.

You know this is SO STRANGE. I am wondering this negligence is of epic proportions. I mean, an engine seize at high rpms due to engine oil starvation is just on the cards with such little oil.

You should not let this pass, go to the service station and get it in writing from them that if something happens to the engine in the next 50 thousand kilometers, you want a new engine.

[aaggoswami]

Originally Posted by humyum

You know this is SO STRANGE. I am wondering this negligence is of epic proportions. I mean, an engine seize at high rpms due to engine oil starvation is just on the cards with such little oil.

You should not let this pass, go to the service station and get it in writing from them that if something happens to the engine in the next 50 thousand kilometers, you want a new engine.

Originally Posted by swiftnfurious

Don't intend to scare you, but jJust thinking loud; please do check the quantity of oil drained and once you change it, have a regular check on it please.

Finally, got the oil changed to Shell. Called up Amar Motors and asked if they could get the oil changed at my home. It was done. They were pretty clueless with which oil they are using upon probing they told me that they are using HX-8 0W-20 engine oil. Damage to pocket is around Rs. 2000/-. Guy came home where my Swift was parked. Mom kept a watch on him. Oil was changed. Just back from a 10 km. drive and what a difference ! Its even more refined, super refined on the road.

I did call up Kiran motors and they told me I can drive the car as long as Oil indicator on dash does not come up. But their response was bring the car here. They did a nice service on Wagon R, but I will be closely watching Swift's oil level from now on for abnormal drop.

I am attaching image of oil which had supposedly done around 1000 kms. after oil change.

[govigov]

Originally Posted by aaggoswami

I am attaching image of oil which had supposedly done around 1000 kms. after oil change.

I am not able to judge the size of the container. How many liters of oil do you reckon is in there?

[mustang_shelby]

Tribute and Goodbye to my friend of 10 years and 100,000 kms – My 2006 Swift VXi



This is a tribute to my Swift VXi 2006 which stayed with me for 10 years and 100,000 kms, and recently I had to let it go because we acquired a new car. Ideally this would have gone in a Long Term Ownership thread, but I don’t have one since I became a T-BHP member only last year and it wouldn’t have been possible for me to create a high quality detailed ownership log at this stage of the ownership. Therefore, I am posting a short log of my experiences and impressions gathered during this ownership.

Why Swift:
Back in 2005, I was a bachelor going around in Bangalore on my trusty bike. The need for a car had not been felt so far. Then my brother shifted over to Bangalore, when he got a job here. We began considering a second vehicle, but then my company sent me abroad for a few months, and my brother could use my bike in the meanwhile. But the idea of getting another vehicle had been ignited. While I was abroad, Maruti Swift was launched in India and it looked unlike anything that existed in the Indian market at that time. It looked truly like an international car, and reminded me of the Mini Cooper in no small measure. And I daresay it looked better than the Mini Cooper to me since I felt odd how its headlights jut out of the bonnet. Swift’s headlights gelled nicely with the hood line and looked pleasing to my eye.

Heart was sold on it. Now the mind’s turn.

Why a car and not another bike? Because we could do long road trips in a car. Swift had the same proven 1.3L engine as the Esteem, so engine/mechanical reliability wasn’t a concern. We had a ’99 Zen back home in Delhi, which was running flawlessly, so trust in the Maruti brand was high. Wide ASS network of Maruti meant we could go anywhere without worries. Mind was convinced as well now.
Chose the VXi variant since that fit in the budget.

Thus on Jan 26, 2006 an Azure Grey Swift VXi came home. I was still abroad at that time, so the car was registered in my brother’s name and he took care of all delivery formalities.

How she looked when she was brand new:


Over the years, the car was put in all kinds of situations: good roads, bad roads, no roads, tall speedbreakers, very long drives, hot weather, cold weather, rainy weather, and it handled everything with aplomb. The longest road trip we did in it was Bangalore-Chennai-Vishakhapatnam (~1200km one way) and on the way back we drove at a single stretch without an overnight break. It was a 20 hr drive with only 2 meal breaks and a few tea/bio breaks. The Swift just kept going, no drama. On another trip, it climbed the Masinagudi ghat to Ooty with 4 adults and luggage without any issues.

The car looked good, and it was great to drive as well. It was an extremely reliable car, and gave us no trouble at all during the entire ownership. It was also very frugal to maintain.

What I liked about this car:

1. Looks: Absolutely smashing when it came out. Very modern and international profile. Iconic boomerang shaped tail lamps made it stand out from a km away in the night. Clear lens tail lamps in the later facelift made it look even better. Even 1 year later, the car still turned heads. Gradually though, the Swift became ubiquitous. Even today, I would say the design does not look dated.
   
2. Reliability: We never had a breakdown in the car. There was no niggling/unresolvable issue. There were just no niggles, period. It just kept going like clockwork with regular annual services. We did have to push start the car one morning when the OE battery (which was past its useful life) gave up without warning. But that was it.
   
3. Power: An 87 bhp hatch in 2006 was quite a thing. If I recall correctly, the Honda City (non Vtec) at that time had 77 bhp. I and my brother were quite psyched about having 10 more horses than the Honda. The car didn’t feel short of power, and had enough grunt to keep very respectable speeds on the highway. On undivided highways, if you wanted a very quick overtake, then switching off the AC helped a bit. But it wasn’t one of those cars that made you choose between having power and having AC.
   
4. A/C: And on that note, the AC was a proper chiller. Even on a hot Chennai afternoon, fan speed 2 or 3 would be enough to keep you cool.
   
5. Handling: Swift is a great handler, no nervousness around fast corners, very predictable in its behaviour and the precise steering complements its handling. No wonder it has won so many rallies.
   
6. Gearbox: Very user friendly. Short throw and sure slotting. Minimal effort needed to slot. Rarely, if ever did I miss slotting a gear correctly.
   
7. Engine: Smooth engine with linear power delivery. On idle, it was almost inaudible. On higher revs, it had a pleasing note. Did I mention this engine is one of the favorites for modifications? After 10 years of use, the engine didn’t seem to have lost any power.
   
8. ASC: Experience with the Service Centers was overall very positive. I always got it serviced at one of the dealership ASCs, never felt the need to go to an FNG. I never had to take any service appointment, just showed up at a decent time in the morning and the car would be ready in the evening. Parts were easily available, and did not face a scenario of having to order and wait for parts. I had a couple of instances where the washing guys used pressurized water in the engine compartment, and a complaint made the service guys scurry to fix the issue. On another occasion, the service center mistakenly carried out a full annual service whereas only a 6 monthly checkup was needed. I noticed it 6 months later and complained, and the service center adjusted the bill amount from the superfluous service towards the next service. I see why Maruti’s ASS has an excellent reputation.
   
9. No rattles: I have read so many accounts here of rattling Swifts that I can only wonder how mine did not have any. Not even a squeak. It was totally quiet. This was a biggie for me. The car had seen its fair share of bad roads, being in Bangalore. We did not baby the car, but did not abuse it either. Just drove it normally. Perhaps the 1st gen Swift was built with better quality. Maybe other 1st gen Swift owners can comment on their experiences in this regard.
   
10. Interior quality: Although the interiors were all hard plastic, they were of good quality and did not show any wear and tear at that age, as you may see in the pictures below. The interiors also held up pretty well, and it was hard to determine the age of the car.
    
11. Ground clearance: Big boon in Bangalore. Deep potholes, bad roads, tall speedbreakers, it did not scrape anywhere.
    
12. Turning radius: The short turning radius was again a big boon in city. Fewer 3 point turns -> happy driver. Made others jealous.

What could have been better:

1. Interior space: While the exterior dimensions of the car seemed ample, somehow they didn’t translate to ample room in the interior. The front row had great leg room, but the back seats had just about ok. High windowline also reduced the amount of light coming in and made the interior look smaller than it was.
   
2. Boot space: At the lower end of the spectrum compared to others in the segment. Significant gripe this one.
   
3. Dashboard layout: It wasn’t very practical, so to say. A lack of cubbyholes to keep things like coins, phone etc. WagonR VXi of the same model year fares much better here.
   
4. Equipment: There were some significant omissions in the VXi variant: electric ORVM adjustment, rear defogger, tilt steering. All these were present even in WagonR of that model year. Considering that Maruti was re-using significant parts from Esteem, including the engine, I believe they had scope in the pricing to add these. The lack of rear defogger particularly bugged me during rainy drives.
   
5. Low end grunt: It didn’t do too well in the 2nd gear speed breaker test. You had to either wait a bit for revs to rise, or shift to first.
   
6. Tyres: The stock car was definitely under-tyred. When I upgraded from stock JKs in 165 to Goodyear GT3 in 185, it was a revelation. Not only the handling improved significantly, the braking performance got better as well.
   
7. Outward visibility: Low seating coupled with sloping bonnet made it difficult to judge exactly where the tyres or extremities of the body were. Took a bit of practice.
   
8. Aerodynamics: Now this would be nit-picking. The iconic shape of the Swift that gave it that character was also quite un-aerodynamic. When reaching speeds of 110-120+ kmph you would feel a certain amount of wind resistance and strain. At the same speeds in the Esteem (which had the same engine), this resistance was not noticeable. For us, this wasn’t an issue since we rarely touched those speeds. 100 kmph was our comfort zone.

Fuel Efficiency
City: Back in the day when Bangalore was not so crowded, I used to get about 14 kmpl with A/c. Recently, I was getting about 12-12.5 kmpl in B2B traffic.
Highway: About 16 kmpl when maintaining speeds of 100kmph. I got 18.5-19 kmpl when occasionally tried maintaining 80 kmph with gradual acceleration. Both with A/c.
We rarely drove with windows down, so can’t comment on FE without A/c.

Part replacements:
Stock clutch replaced at 55,000 kms. Replacement was going fine at 103,000 kms and looked good for another 5-8k.
Stock JK tyres replaced with Goodyear GT3 185/70/14 at 55,000 kms and then with Michelin XM2 185/70/14 at 96,000 kms.
At 80,000 kms rear LH and RH bearings (only LH was gone, but replaced RH also since part was low cost and no additional labour was needed)
At around 90,000 kms, driver’s door lock needed to be replaced. One strut on the hatch door also went bad, so both were replaced at the same time.
At 100,000 kms, the gear knob cracked and was replaced. (I see that many owners had the exact same issue at 100k kms).
In addition, wear and tear components like brake pads, suspension bushes etc were replaced regularly.

Now for some pictures.

She traversed through roads like these:


To take us to places like these:


And made me feel like this:


These were no problem for her:


Sometimes the journey was the destination:


Some interior shots from her last day with us:


Art leather seats had good visual appeal, but always led to a sweaty back


Some exterior shots from her last day with us:




Last odometer reading:


A parting shot:


She did everything we asked her to do, and never let us down. She was our partner in creating some of our best memories.
Goodbye, my dear Swift. I wish my next car is as reliable and lovable as her.

Thanks for reading through my rambling post.

[a4anurag]

Originally Posted by mustang_shelby

Tribute and Goodbye to my friend of 10 years and 100,000 kms – My 2006 Swift VXi

That is an sweet and excellent report buddy on your beloved car!

If I can ask, what is the replacement for the Swift?

[mustang_shelby]

Originally Posted by a4anurag

That is an sweet and excellent report buddy on your beloved car!

If I can ask, what is the replacement for the Swift?

Thanks. Its the one that you are planning too: XUV 5OO. I went for W6 AT variant.

[a4anurag]

Originally Posted by mustang_shelby

Thanks. Its the one that you are planning too: XUV 5OO. I went for W6 AT variant.

I am still confused between the XUV 5OO W10 and S-Cross 1.6L Alpha. I am tilting more towards S-Cross now a days.

[mustang_shelby]

Originally Posted by a4anurag

I am still confused between the XUV 5OO W10 and S-Cross 1.6L Alpha. I am tilting more towards S-Cross now a days.

S-Cross 1.6 is a great choice, especially if you don't need 7 seats and SUV body type.