[raj84]

Finally I have got the green signal from the Team-BHP Moderators to post. A big Thanks to them as I was waiting impatiently to post my thread.
I had booked my Bright Red Swift VDI(ABS) from Popular Automobiles Trivandrum on July 2nd 2008. But I was able to post only now.


How It all Began

I have never had a car in my home before. Also I was not good at driving even though I had taken a license. It was 6years back that I learnt to drive a car but never ever did I get a chance to drive one after that.
It has been two years since I got my first job and felt this was the right time to buy a car.

Which Car to Buy?

This was the easiest part. I was hooked to the Maruti Swift and never minded whether it was good to drive or own.The looks alone was enough for me. Also it would be a matter of pride to own one with a set of good alloys. No other cars were considered(since my budget would not allow me to go for Sedans.Else it would have been SX4).VDI was decided as I drive 750Kms/month and cannot afford more than Rs 2500/month on fuel

Which Colour to Buy?

This was the difficult part. I was confused between Pearl White, Sunlight Copper and Bright Red. Pearl White looks stunning and is now the most preferred colour in swift. Sunlight Copper made the car look expensive and hence looked good. Bright Red has always been a great colour on Swift and it is the colour that comes to my mind when I think of Swift.
Finally decided to go for Bright Red, even though it was very common and not metallic, as it was the colour of Ferrari. A Red Swift on a good set of alloys would look like a Ferrari

Strange Facts

I have never driven a Swift before simply because of the fact that I still have not become used to driving a car. Simply put, I only have steering control but the process of chnging gears is still something that I have to mentally prepare and execute. If anyone jumps in fromt of the car, I would start looking at the clutch and brake but still be calculating on my mind as to what I should do to escape this situation. That was my situation at the time of booking the car.

Now I have started going for a driving class to refresh my driving skills. Now I feel OK, even though still I am a bit doubtful about whether I would be able to do a proper run-in of my Swift do to my lack of experience in driving. Can anyone here tell me if my lack of experience would prevent me from getting a good mileage(18-20kmpl) from my beast?


Who else to buy with me

I had my friend and colleague with me to buy the Swift. We booked the car on the same day, together. He initially booked Silver VDI with ABS , but later changed to Pearl White. Good decision indeed but with an additional delay.

What are we( me and my friend) doing nowadays

We dream and dream on getting our cars but still waiting just like any other Swift Owner during his purchase. We were promised delivery on AUgust 15th initially and now that has been changed to September 10th.Now getting mentally prepared to hear from the sales guy that it would go beyond October

The only solace is reading Team-BHP everyday and reading all the posts on Swift.

The wait continues.....

[raj84]

Uploading the photos of the swift owned by a friend of mine. It looks great with the Aura Alloys. I will be fitting an alloy like this one in my Red Beast

[raj84]

Hi Friends,

An update on the everlasting waiting period. Checked with the dealer for an update . They are now asking me to pay a sum of atleast 25000/- . They say they will assure delivery in 35days if I pay the sum(I had booked for an amount of Rs 3000/- only). But this they should have told me at the time of booking and not now.Also since I cannot spare 25000 at this moment I am not paying the amount. Decided to wait as there is no other options Seems like I may have to wait till November :-(

Any good news friends?,on the waiting period of Swift VDI ABS(in Trivandrum especially).

By the way how is friend's blue swift?

[snaronikar]

VDI with ABS, the delivery is always beyond 3 months. (Earlier it was 6 months). Looks like MSIL & there dealers will never learn. Your friend's car looks cool. Do update this thread regularly.

[mtnrajdeep]

Hi Raj84

I will be getting delivery of my Swift VDi with ABS sometime in the next week or so. In spite of booking through Leaseplan and getting the car under the corporate quota, I was still made to wait for a little more than 4 months! The car was booked on April 14th and only last week I was told that the vehicle is in transit, but a little delayed because of the heavy rains along the route. The dealer told me that he had delivered VDi's to people who had booked after me, but since I have booked an ABS model, it will take atleast 4 months. So I guess you should be prepared to wait for about 6 months, which is what they quote here in Bangalore!

[gowda79]

Guess you need to wait for a long period and the 25K which they have asked you is for the premium amount which you need to pay extra to get your vehicle early.

25K is the extra money you will be paying.

[raj84]

Now things seem like I will get my car on New Year only. 6 months waiting period for a car is too cruel and Maruti is having a monopoly advantage here. I have been waiting for a long period to see the Tata Indica V3 get lauched, just to have the Swift waiting period reduced. But Tata have really spoiled a good opportunity by delaying V3 by such a long term. V3 will definitely pull some buyers away from Swift, especially if it comes loaded with Airbags and ABS. This would have ensured that I get my swift faster.

Maruti will increase production from October onwards.But still that wouldnt have any effect on the delivery of my car

There are many reasons why waiting for my car is really frustrating.

1. This is my first car and the first in my family.My parents are eagerly awaiting a ride in their son's car

2. I have to travel 34 kms everyday to work(to and fro) on bike. The roads are really miserable and it is causing me back aches.So the more the car gets delayed, the more pain I have to suffer

3. I have booked a parking slot in my Office building and I am paying 750 per month, since there are only few more slots available. I dont want to lose a slot by the time my car arrives. So I am wasting 750 every month without having a car to park.

4. A car shed has been built in my home and that too is awaiting a car

4. The interest rates are increasing almost every month.Hence by the time the car is ready my EMI would have gone higher.

5. Travelling by bike on rainy days to office is a nightmare. Would have got fully drenched and would have to work with wet clothes


So all these things I will have to suffer for many more month it seems :-((


Will keep you all updated

[GreenmachinE]

Can you try the dealers in smaller towns, they have considerably shorter waiting list as not many takers for B+ segment cars. Get it temporarily registered there and get perm registered latter. Bit of a hassle but you can easily shave off a few months or if lucky get it the very next day if they have any booking canceled.Try calling all the dealers of towns, cities in your state and see if you are lucky.

Here in Salem the waiting for Vdi is some where around two months compared to close to 5 -6 months in Chennai. Undead got his 'hard to get Getz' crdi in this fashion and we got our MJD in 'two' days , for a diffrent reason though.

[karanraheja]

So Maruti still has a hangover of the wait period ! Man when will they get over it ! Raj whatever happens do not pay any amount to get the delivery faster.
If the dealer does assure do get in writing from him.

PS: Lenso alloys seems to be quite common in Swifts now a days.

[Fountainheader]

Raj,
I can understand what you are going through right now. I too was planning for the Swift D, but am not really ready to wait for eternity to drive the vehicle. Going for the Zxi instead.

All said and done, the wait would really be worth it.

OT: Wont EMI rates reduce when the RBI decides to cut interest rates later ?

[lohithrao]

Hey raj thats sad, why don't you buy the palio diesel instead?

[TOR]

Originally Posted by raj84

3. I have booked a parking slot in my Office building and I am paying 750 per month, since there are only few more slots available. I dont want to lose a slot by the time my car arrives. So I am wasting 750 every month without having a car to park.

4. A car shed has been built in my home and that too is awaiting a car

I can understand your sentiment very well.Had booked a Dzire VDi from Indus on the 17th of April and today is exactly 4 months since then.
My predicament is that i exchanged my Santro at the time of booking(as i was going out of country) and so am without a car since the past 2 months!
I use rent a car services in between and the amount has come upto 22,000/-

According to the dealer i shall get my car by this month end but thats verbatim of what they said in April/May/June/July!!

Its deplorable on Maruti's part to do something like this!!

Only upside is that my friends are amazed to see me in different cars all the time.
Cars rented till now - Santro xing/Scorpio/Alto/Wagon R/City

[raj84]

Could have tried small towns. Heard Swift VDI with ABS will be available in 20days from Kollam. But since I am dont want to take risk, I am sticking to Popular Automobiles for the sake of better After Sales Service.

Karanraheja, as you said, I will not be paying any more additional amount.

ZXi was a good option.But the diesel economy does not allow me to go for a petrol. Else I would have loved to buy the Zxi. I will have have to spend 2500/month if I buy VDi. If it is ZXi, I will end up paying more than 4000/month.But even ZXi will have a big waiting period I guess. What is the waiting period for it Fountainheader?

Palio is a very good car as far as Rigidity, build and high speed stability is concerned. The susupension is also great. But the exterior and interior looks have now become old. The main reason for buying the Swift was its looks.But many people are now buying Palio MJD. The engine has become such a huge hit. Great work by Fiat!!!

TOR- Your situation is more worse than mine and I can understand how you would be feeling now, after 4 months of waiting. Hope you get your car atleast this month. What colour have you boooked?

[TOR]

Originally Posted by raj84

TOR- Your situation is more worse than mine and I can understand how you would be feeling now, after 4 months of waiting. Hope you get your car atleast this month. What colour have you boooked?

Well i have booked 'Silky silver' - dealers have promised an update today! Hope its good news.

[madhokritesh]

On a lighter note Thats good in one way cause all Rent A Car drivers must be knowing u by now LOL