[F50]

In 1989 we bought our first car, Fiat Padmini. Fiat was special, first ever car in the family. Fiat served us for 12 long years and over 120,000 kms. We scraped her in 2001.

In 1999, we decided to buy another car. I don’t like Maruti. Daewoo and Hyundai just entered Indian markets with Matiz and Santro respectively. I had full faith in Santro while family was inclined towards Matiz. I won!! Santro was very special to me; I learnt driving on that car and also accompanied me throughout my teens. It was nicked as “Scuderia Jaguar” by Aditya and Dippy. Scuderia for my love towards Ferraris and Jaguar because it was a dark green colored Santro. Tall boy served us for 9 years and 92,000 kms.

Come, April 2008 – it was Shopping Time!!
We had very weird choices to select as our next car.

Criteria:
1) Dad – Easy to drive, Easy to park. And no second hand cars.
2) Me – Bigger, more powerful.

First we came across a 2003 Honda City. Mindblowingly clean. 5 years and she ran genuine 33,000 kms. And she was as smooth as butter. But everything just ended there. Due to payment issues we had to drop it and the idea of second hand cars.

Options: Hyundai i10, Hyundai Getz, Maruti Swift, Hyundai Verna and Honda City.

New Honda City was just months away, made no sense to go for that. We were getting a very good deal on Hyundai Verna. But somehow dropped the whole segment and decided to go ahead with hatchback itself.

Hyundai Getz was finalized. Test drive and the formalities was the only thing remaining. Delivery promised in 1 day, any color. Better space, powerful and easy to drive. Everything was perfect!! Getz it is!!


Errr NO!!

My father was discussing about his new car with his friend who happens to own a Getz. He cautioned him that he is getting only 5kmpl in city conditions. It was a driver driven car. The ‘5 kmpl’ tag was alarming for father. With him at the wheel it won’t give more than 6-7 kmpl. Our daily drive includes 40 kms and plus whatever I drive. And petrol prices accelerating as fast as the car it forced us to re-consider our option.

Mumbai’s regulars like NC, Ravi, Drifter met at Aditya’s place for drinks and dinner. They suggested having a look at diesels. I had no issues with new age diesels. Nice, we have a totally new category to look at. Getz Crdi, Swift DDiS and Dzire was just a week away.

Getz Crdi waiting period was minimum 3 months. We had already sold our Santro and couldn’t wait for 3 more months. And was costing very high. So sadly it was out. Next Sunday we decided to visit Vitesse. We test drove both the Swift Vdi and Dzire Zdi. Family liked the Dzire and was ready to live with the shape and a diesel car. We worked all our payment options, loan, EMIs.
So there it is, Maruti Dzire Vdi, bigger, powerful and it’s a diesel!!

I have mental block against Maruti. But this time I was keeping quiet just because of the lovely diesel engine.

Token amount for White Dzire Vdi was sent. The waiting period was around 2 months but we had that sorted out. Delivery in 1 week! The shape is really weird nothing seems to match but I was not thinking much about it.

Errr NO!!

One day later, I was searching our then temporary car Opel Corsa. I saw a Golden Dzire entering the Airport parking lot. Dad said “It’s hideous. It was not looking so bad in the showroom.” I was laughing all the way to home.
Next day we cancelled the Dzire booking and asked to go ahead and put the money on Swift Vdi.

So the finally finalized car – Pearl Arctic White Swift Vdi.

[F50]

I visited the yard at Taloja, outskirts of Mumbai. It was an adventure in its own term. With the Team-Bhp PDI List on my mobile, I checked each and every point carefully. There she was, my White Mischief.




It was Saturday and rain god announced the arrival, in a grand way. It was raining cows and buffaloes. Somehow managed to find a cab and reached Vitesse, Worli. We had asked for our car number to end either in 4 or 7. I called few people before asking them to send for registration. Result? I got a number in the new series and a very nice number too – 14.
Signed few documents, paid for extended warranty and we were good to roll. Maruti gave the pooja kit. We quickly finished the rituals. And we were off! Filled fuel, felt really strange saying – Sada Diesel instead of the word Petrol. We went to a temple at Shivaji Park for another traditional pooja which we did to Fiat and Santro so how can we miss out on the Swift?

Following are the pictures at Vitesse and then at the temple.




Why I hate Maruti?

Swift Vdi was 5.71L OTR. We had booked it before the price hike.

1. Mats - There were no mats. How much decent rubber mats cost? Rs 500? But being Maruti ufff.
2. Rear Wiper – No rear viper. Our Santro had a rear wiper and it was very useful. Driving in the rains was so so so terrible.
3. Keyless Entry – I thought they would provide this atleast.

Many more things but I cant crib about everything, right?

Tires
As the car was on its way to Mumbai, I had long long chats with Ishan about which tires to put on. This wasn’t easy as well. I decided to go for 15 inchers, as the car will be shared by parents.
BF Goodrich G Force – One of the best looking ones. But the ride quality was harsh. That’s what few people told me.
Yokohama S Drives – I saw it on Dippy’s car, loved it. But sadly was not available in 195/60s. So the only option was 205s, V-16 and souljah are the ones running on the same tire. No touching or anything. Still confused.
Michelin XM1+ - I guess this was it. As I had decided that we are going for 195/60/R15 we had very less options. This was one of them.
Michelins MXV8 – The most boring looking tires. But comfort levels are awesome.
It was between XM1+ and MXV8s. Ordered the latter.

Rims
After long looks at them and going through many designs, HR was decided. These 15 inchers look like 14s on the car. Here is the pic





Rear spoiler, mats, arm rest, mud flaps and sun film were added few days later.

And this is how White Mischief looks right now.





OK now vote of thanks:
I would like to thank the Support Team for guiding me through the decisions which kept changing like British weather.
Also, other members like Souljah, MC Mayank etc whom I was in touch via PMs. (sorry if I missed out on anyone)
Ishan Tyrewala – Of course.
Jaggu for being the M.A.S.S – Maruti after Sales Support.

Thanks Himanshu for the pics (last two)


Coming up - 1000 kms(1st service) and 5000 kms(2nd service) report.

[abhiram7912]

thats a really sweet looking swift. and very nice allots and they look good. if u donot mind how much did they cost ? and is there a ZDI in swift diesel like ZXI in petrol version or just VDI ?

Thanks
Abhi

[aah78]

Hey! Car looks great. Don't worry, Marutis really aren't bad cars!

You'll have a tough time keeping her clean in Mumbai though.
You're right, the 15-inchers do look smaller in the pictures.

What next? Over to the ICE section?

[iraghava]

Excellent! Finally she's out in the open eh Priyanka! Have fun!!

[speedzak]

Wow! Very nice and cute looking mischief that is.
Congratulations. Wish you long'n long happy times with the Maruti.

[benbsb29]

@F50 : Thats the irony of it all. A Maruti hater goes on to buy a Maruti. Congrats on the new car, and hope your ownership experiene changes your perceptions of the company.

One suggestion : Please get rid of that number plate which is currently on the car, and opt for high security plates, else get a number plate done with a better font. The current font looks hideous!

[F50]

Originally Posted by benbsb29

@F50 : Thats the irony of it all. A Maruti hater goes on to buy a Maruti. Congrats on the new car, and hope your ownership experiene changes your perceptions of the company.

One suggestion : Please get rid of that number plate which is currently on the car, and opt for high security plates, else get a number plate done with a better font. The current font looks hideous!

I had no option but to buy a Maruti. Hatchback with diesel powerplant. Palio and Tata was out for obvious reasons. I had to compromise. Even today, I will recommend Swift after Getz, which you'll find out in next report.
Yes im changing the number plates.

[HappyWheels]

'No' to 'Ok' to 'Yes' on Maruti!

That is one good number that you got. I guess you were lucky since two digit number would have fallen under fancy numbers and would have cost you a premium!

Happy motoring, F50!

[white_vdi]

Congrats F50!!!!
thats a great buy and everybody here knows it...
post some pics from the side also...
ride safe and enjoy!!!

[nishantgandhi]

Congrats on the car F50! Nice alloys. Please mention prices for the same?

Originally Posted by F50

Errr NO!!

My father was discussing about his new car with his friend who happens to own a Getz. He cautioned him that he is getting only 5kmpl in city conditions. It was a driver driven car. The ‘5 kmpl’ tag was alarming for father. With him at the wheel it won’t give more than 6-7 kmpl. Our daily drive includes 40 kms and plus whatever I drive. And petrol prices accelerating as fast as the car it forced us to re-consider our option.

I would slightly disagree with that figure here. I own a 2005 model Getz. However, I still get a comfortable 9-10 kmpl with AC in city condition and about 12 kmpl on highway. I was alarmed, to say the least, at these figures as I had heard Getz gives around 12-14 kmpl (or more) within city. However, I was told that a such figures are not too bad considering the bumper-to-bumper driving conditions in Mumbai.

[bhp]

congrats on your new ride priyank..
i also own a similar car now in red with abs and similar rubber

[suman]

Priyank, congrats on the new car, looks lovely with those alloys & in that color

Nice thread title too!

[theMAG]

Congrats Eff! Now get some nice tints for that long-cherished privacy need of yours.

[abhinav.s]

@F50, congrats on the white swift. The alloys dont really look like 15" in the pics but the last 2 pics take the cake since they make an already good looking car, even better! Happy motoring!!