[Jignesh]

Originally Posted by funkyp

Thanks all for your suggestions. I am uploading a few pics of the scratches that pains my heart every time i see it

Hello Funky,

It feels bad to see above scratches on your beautiful car.

But the good news - these are just scratches on the upper color & no dents on the metal below. Paint workshops will have to color entire piece (panel) to get rid of these.

I feel you should just apply some color polish which are available at Car accessories shop. These polish will faint these scratches by almost 50%. Getting these panels re-painted will be a costly affair & to be frank, living (driving) in Indian cities, these scratches are bound to happen again in future. Infact it is a rare sight to spot a car without a single scratch on it's body.

Thanks,

[MetalBuff]

These don't appear to be scratches per se but, just the paint from the Rick that got rubbed over. Has happened a lot of times with me. What i do is run to my trusted mechanic and ask him to remove those with some "tarpeen oil" that they use. Damages: 0 bucks.

Days ago, a white T-Fort slightly kissed the 2left doors of my ride( God only knows why the sudden affection towards her elder sister ). Myself put kerosene on a cloth, rubbed the affected area gently and the white paint (similar to your case) vanished. To seal the affected portion, put a coat of Formula 1 carnauba wax and it's as if that never happened. Sparkling!!

However, may be incorrect in my deduction about the depth of the scratches. If they are deep, do get them sorted from a highly recommended painter as the the color though beautiful can be messed up quite easily and we don't want that to happen.

FrankMehta just got a beautiful paint job done to his civic's boot. You can PM him for details about the painter. As a start, do have a look at the last page of his thread wherein he has posted the requisite pictures.

Inspite of the scratches (which miserably fail to pull down the beauty of this blue girl), one hot ride dude. **whistles**

Cheers!

[funkyp]

its been long since i have updated the thread. The car has been doing great helping me much miles at a fast pace. i am close to my first milestone of 10k and the 3rd service, the experience of which i will update. Planning to stick to synthetic oil.

This update is about the conversion of the key remote to a flippy key

Its extremely handy and looks cool. dont know why the likes of maruti and honda dont offer it on their cars.

Anyways, glad its available off market. There is a popular vendor harison keys for doing the job based in panchkula, but you need to send your keys to him which i didnt want to do. It was also expensive at 1800 bucks + courier charges.

For those who own the OEM remote and key, its a very simple DIY process. you simply use the remote from one of the original keys and convert. Found a blank key shell on ebay for 1000 bucks. Ordered it, got the key cut locally for 100 bucks, assembled and voila i get a flippy for 1100 bucks!
there is a good video on youtube on how to assemble the key.

some snaps of the conversion attached. At the onset, the quality of the key feels great. Nice plastics, and the key maker said the key itself was good quality. Only dislike is the cheap suzuki logo. WIsh it was in chrome finish.

[funkyp]

10000km 3rd service update:

I have now munched 9700 joyous Kms. Since I will be unable to take the car for service in the next 10-15 days, I decided to get it serviced at this mark. After multiple reads of threads on the forum I made up my mind to go for synthetic oil. Called up 3 service centres and each used a different brand of 5w40 grade oil. My regular service centre Shivam motors only had castrol which I was not too keen on. They also weren't willing to let me get my own oil.

Shell helix ultra is what I wanted and sai service had it. Hence I went there for the service. It was my first visit there and I didn't know what to expect. It didn't start too well, as I had to wait for almost 30 mins before a SA attended me. Thereafter things were smooth. The job card was swiftly created and all my issues noted. I was given an estimate and a delivery times in 4 hrs. I was also offered an option to get mineral oil which I liked. Shivam had insisted on synthetic only.

The car was ready on time. Estimate lower than provided( cost of oil was told at 1100+taxes. It ended up as 1100 net ). The car cleaning was in progress. Was quiet through. The spare tires was removed and the boot also cleaned. These are small things I never saw being paid attention to at Shivam. Most small requests like headlight focus adjustment, some loose fender cover were taken care of. I even received an SMS telling me that the car was ready and the amount payable. There was no complaint of any rattling noise. The car has held up well to Mumbai treacherous roads.

Overall good experience at sai service borivali. It will now be my preferred choice for service.

It may be just psychological or the effect of fresh oil or the shell magic, but the 40 odd Kms I drove after the service, the car felt smoother and less vibrations.

[amitpunjani]

Buddy thanks for providing the update. Since my Sx4 (D) will be shortly due for 3rd service, it made me more curious to read your service details. The rest of the bill, looks pretty much in line just wanted to know was the air filter replaced?

In case it was not, i would suggest to replace it ASAP.

Thanks

Amit

Note from the Team-BHP Support: Please quote ONLY the relevant bits of a post. Quoting an entire long message inconveniences our mobile users

[funkyp]

Originally Posted by amitpunjani

Buddy thanks for providing the update. Since my Sx4 (D) will be shortly due for 3rd service, it made me more curious to read your service details. The rest of the bill, looks pretty much in line just wanted to know was the air filter replaced?

In case it was not, i would suggest to replace it ASAP.

Thanks

Amit

hey no the air filter was not replace. As per the service schedule, it is to be replaced only at 20k interval? Only cleaning was done.

Why do you recommend replacing it?

[amitpunjani]

Originally Posted by funkyp

hey no the air filter was not replace. As per the service schedule, it is to be replaced only at 20k interval? Only cleaning was done.

Why do you recommend replacing it?

Replacing airfilter at 20k in Indian driving conditions will be like a Crime. Max to Max air filter in diesel engine should be replaced 10K.

[funkyp]

Originally Posted by amitpunjani

Replacing airfilter at 20k in Indian driving conditions will be like a Crime. Max to Max air filter in diesel engine should be replaced 10K.

Thanks for that suggestion. Had the air filter replaced today. It was a quick 2 mins job once I had procured the part from the spares department.

The SA also said 10k filter replacement should be done but since Maruti doesn't mandate, they don't suggest the same.

The total cost was 260 including taxes.

[funkyp]

With the 3rd service and oil change done, it was time to take the car for a long spin. In-laws were in town and we headed to Shidri over the weekend.

It was one of the longest distance i have driven on the same day with the Mumbai - shirdi - shani signapur - Shirdi clocking a good 400 kms. It was a blissful drive as the road were relatively free of traffic until i turned off ghoti towards shirdi. There is a patch of about 40-50 kms which is on 2 laned road without dividers and not such good surface.

The car behaved impecaably on highway with excellent control. The tyre updrage to 195/60s shows its difference on drives like these. The twisty well paved run just before igatpuri are an absolute treat.

Most of the drive on the highway was between 100-120 kmph due to which fuel efficiency went for a toss, and there was a fair bit of wind noise. Even with yoko A-drives, I could hear tyre noise which could be down to the ultra thin window glasses maruti has choosen to use on the new swift.

Overall trip of about 675 Kms delivered 20 kmpl measured tankful to tankful with four adults on board and 2 medium sized bags.

Though with 4 people, the lack of rear seat leg space pinches a bit, the way the car drives and handles puts a big smile on your face

[pradyblr]

Originally Posted by funkyp

10000km 3rd service update:

Did you get the scratch removed as well?

[funkyp]

Originally Posted by pradyblr

Did you get the scratch removed as well?

no i didnt. Its not very apparent and have decided to live with it for a while. Will get it done when i give the car for a complete paint treatment/polishing sometime later at 3M or some other specialized service.

I Dont trust the service centre with such jobs.

[funkyp]

The long weekend towards end of march gave an opportunity for yet another driving holiday. having completed over 10k on the car i was falling more and more in love with it. i was itching to take to for one long drive after another.

early friday morning we headed out to ganpatipule. this is about 8 hrs drive from mumbai and the roads run through a lot of ghats. it was a fully loaded car with 4 adults on board and as much luggage as the swift's boot could hold.

the roads are primarily 2 laned and overtaking is difficult when there are heavy vehicles blocking the road. half the distance till mahad was a not so exciting drive. However, one point which i wanted to highlight is that overtaking was a breeze. the torque came in tons at the 2000 rpm mark and even short gaps were easy to fill.

post mahad, the roads were relatively free and loved driving on the ghats. the roads are butter smooth and this is where the swift comes to its own. the wider a-drive tires time and again make their advantage felt, be it the lower road noise or the superb cornering grip.

most roads for local sightseeing in ganpatipule runs along the sea and the sights are breathtaking. i would recommend this place to all!

Overall drove for 900 kms in 16/17 hrs which is one of the longest i have on a trip. Loved and and cant wait for another one.