[Ricci]

Originally Posted by swiftnfurious

See, if you drive your car well, it would look new after years even if its a Maruti. Swift is a car which got 5 STAR safety rating in Europe, but it had curtain Airbags and the likes. The problem [if it is called so] with Maruti cars are they are built pretty light to leverage on the FE. In case of a bad incident, the car will crumble [just try sitting on the bonnet or just push the panels with your palm]. But if you have all the safety equipments, the car should be safe! But in case of an accident, a Swift will definitely show more damage.

Alright, these aren't stressed parts unlike the monocoque, so I suppose the designer can skimp on them, but then wouldn't the thinner doors be less protective in case of side impact ? And since all cars are designed to crumple in order to absorb the energy, the bonnet/sheet metal would anyway need replacement after a significant crash. Since the Indian Swift doesn't have the curtain airbags , and some have conjectured that Indian market cars use cheaper grade steel , it does raise a few questions about safety.

I favour Marutis owing to the plentiful service centres and cheaper, easily available spares over others , but I am also interested in knowing the relative safety and cost of repairs vs other cars ,as a direct consequence of the said lightweight/thin sheet metal of Marutis.

[swiftnfurious]

Originally Posted by Ricci

...And since all cars are designed to crumple in order to absorb the energy, the bonnet/sheet metal would anyway need replacement after a significant crash. Since the Indian Swift doesn't have the curtain airbags , and some have conjectured that Indian market cars use cheaper grade steel , it does raise a few questions about safety.

I am not a technical guy, still want to put down my perspective on this.

Imagine if Maruti uses some good standard steel / beams in the sides of the car [which is invisible to users] to absorb the impact. Then I will consider this car to be safe because, though the thin sheets will be damaged easily, the major impact will be absorbed by the side impact beams there by making the car safer inspite of low weight & sheet metal. The same way if the crumple zones are working as per the design & safety ratings with thinner sheet metal, the occupants will be safe, but the car wouldn't seem to be safe after the incident [to others]! At the same time a car like Fiat, would NOT show the same amount of damage because of the heavier metal and will be safe to the same extent as well because of the safety stuffs below the metal.

And I doubt the safety ratings are given based ONLY on the number of Airbags and the likes. A fair share will be attributed by the components which are part of the chassis, body shell [under the metal] etc.

PS:: We [including me] always tend to judge the safety of a car based on the damage caused to the shape & outer shell and hardly bother about the components used for absorbing impacts or making the cage stronger. Many a times I come across situations where people walked out of the accident and such was the damage that the car left no impressions as to one could walk out of it alive.

[amalji]

Originally Posted by swiftnfurious

PS:: We [including me] always tend to judge the safety of a car based on the damage caused to the shape & outer shell and hardly bother about the components used for absorbing impacts or making the cage stronger. Many a times I come across situations where people walked out of the accident and such was the damage that the car left no impressions as to one could walk out of it alive.

+1. some of the main reasons for my fascination for Japanese cars are its lighter weight, better performance, and durability without compromising on stability. Add more weight and all those factors gets affected. So, people who need the thud sound when they close the doors should go for european/american cars, while the performance and durability oriented customers will go with Japanese/Korean. Japanese manufacturers should not try to be like europeans and europeans should not try to be like japanese. There is a market for all. :-)

[jingaboysr]

My booking of ZDi done in kerala last Nov is going nowhere! The dealer is now telling it will take 3 more months, and there is a huge delay for the Z variants and they get just 1 or 2 every month

Adding to that the hunt of bangalore RTO for out of state vehicles, I finally decided to look at other options AGAIN! Test drove Punto, i20 and polo. None struck all the chords but nevertheless, due to lack of other options, I almost decided to book the i20. And that's when my wife who works in Wipro called me yesterday telling that a maruti dealer (garuda) is doing a promo at their campus, offering 90% waiver of the waiting period Went ahead and made another booking for ZDi, with delivery promised "within" 2 months.
I still can't understand how they are able to do this, hope this is not a hoax. Fingers crossed.

[devil_klm]

I got a call from dealer saying silver color is available. Not interested for silver so still continuing the waiting. jingaboysr what is the price difference between bangalore and kerala?

[jingaboysr]

When I booked it, it was 7,06,XXX in Kerala. Now it might have increased to 7,2X, XXX. Bangalore booking was done at 8, 16, XXX. So it is close to 90-100k.

[Sridhar K]

@Jingaboysr
Per my dealer, MSIL does not give corporate discount on Swift like other companies but it seems that MSIL is now giving priority to corporate customers in their allocations. I was also promised similar time lines when I booked last month and keeping my fingers crossed.

[shashank.nk]

Originally Posted by jingaboysr

a maruti dealer (garuda) is doing a promo at their campus, offering 90% waiver of the waiting period Went ahead and made another booking for ZDi, with delivery promised "within" 2 months.
I still can't understand how they are able to do this, hope this is not a hoax. Fingers crossed.

I still have my Swift booking with them though i bought a Polo. I booked a ZDI in October from Garuda Autocraft (Bellary road) and my car is expected only in April. Like all other dealers they 'promised' a delivery by mid Feb or March, but when i inquired in Jan they said the earliest they can get it by is April.

There's a very good chance that this "90% waiver on waiting period"may be to dupe customers.

[Turbokick]

What a scheme ?!

Soon we will be seeing big advertisment pages of Maruti claiming

Diwali bonanza : Upto 90% off on waiting period duration for Swift diesel*



* Conditions apply

[nri199]

I got my first service of my Zdi done and I wanted to check the FE. I was shocked to get an FE of just 15! And that too with just about 40% AC . I used the full tank method to measure the FE. It was about 30 % highway driving and 70% city driving. I do understand that FE depends on the driving style (mine is neither sedate nor spirited, somewhere in bet). Is this not too low for the new Swift diesel, whatever the driving style?

[devil_klm]

Had been to the promo stall in wipro. It is from Bimal auto. Now the offer is only on LDI and VDI varients. SE told ZDI still have the regular waiting period(Might be they got enough number of booking by yesterday). I asked how you are managing to get this when all dealers are demanding a waiting period of 6 months. Answer was it is only for wipro employes.

[swiftnfurious]

Originally Posted by devil_klm

what is the price difference between bangalore and kerala?

It should be 7% additional to the Kerala rates - Kerala RT = 6% & Karnataka RT = 13%

Originally Posted by jingaboysr

And that's when my wife who works in Wipro called me yesterday telling that a maruti dealer (garuda) is doing a promo at their campus, offering 90% waiver of the waiting period Went ahead and made another booking for ZDi, with delivery promised "within" 2 months.
I still can't understand how they are able to do this, hope this is not a hoax. Fingers crossed.

Don't think it's anything proper! Should be some fooling around. I believe all dealers have quite a good backlog for V&Z variants. How can they prioritise delivery then ?

Originally Posted by Sridhar K

but it seems that MSIL is now giving priority to corporate customers in their allocations.

Those buying on a company lease? Or certain "MNC" employees alone ?

Originally Posted by nri199

I got my first service of my Zdi done and I wanted to check the FE. I was shocked to get an FE of just 15! And that too with just about 40% AC . I used the full tank method to measure the FE. It was about 30 % highway driving and 70% city driving.

What rpm do you shift gears? Try shifting at 2000 rpms, sedate accelerations, check tyre pressure & fill fuel from COCO [Company owned outlets] or very reliable pump for next two times & check again.

Originally Posted by devil_klm

I asked how you are managing to get this when all dealers are demanding a waiting period of 6 months. Answer was it is only for wipro employes.

So they are going to bye pass the rest of the customers to prioritize Wipro employees?? What's the logic behind that?

[deetjohn]

Originally Posted by nri199

I got my first service of my Zdi done and I wanted to check the FE. I was shocked to get an FE of just 15! And that too with just about 40% AC . I used the full tank method to measure the FE. It was about 30 % highway driving and 70% city driving. I do understand that FE depends on the driving style (mine is neither sedate nor spirited, somewhere in bet). Is this not too low for the new Swift diesel, whatever the driving style?

How bad is the traffic in the city? It will improve as the car clocks more KMs.

OT: Did they change the oil during the first service? I read that they are changing the oil now during the 2nd service @ 5K.

Originally Posted by swiftnfurious

It should be 7% additional to the Kerala rates - Kerala RT = 6% & Karnataka RT = 13%

The tax is 15.4%

[devil_klm]

Originally Posted by swiftnfurious

So they are going to bye pass the rest of the customers to prioritize Wipro employees?? What's the logic behind that?

There is something fishy in that.
It may be based on the calculations that Maruti will be able to clear the backlog soon. Or a tie up between Maruti and Wipro. SE did not give more details about that.

[nri199]

Originally Posted by swiftnfurious

What rpm do you shift gears? Try shifting at 2000 rpms, sedate accelerations, check tyre pressure & fill fuel from COCO [Company owned outlets] or very reliable pump for next two times & check again.

Thanks, Swiftnfurious, I am not sure i checked the RPM i shift gears in. I should check the tyre pressure post the service, just assumed it was the right one since it came from service.

Originally Posted by deetjohn

How bad is the traffic in the city? It will improve as the car clocks more KMs.

OT: Did they change the oil during the first service? I read that they are changing the oil now during the 2nd service @ 5K.

50% of my saily commute of 35 km is bumper to bumper and wait at signals. I switch off the engine at signals. Even wioth bumper to bumper traffic, it seems a very low FE for a diesel.

Regarding oil- they do change at the first servie for the diesel swifts. I was asked if I wanted synthetic oil- was not sure I should go for that, so refused. Any thoughts on that?