[su1978]

It really pains to bid goodbye to a machine which is in the prime of its health and has held together without giving you any pains. I also have a Ritz VDI-diesel and its 7 years old now. Got this beauty in 2011 September. It has done 82000 kms till date. I would have loved to see my machine doing another 80000 in another 7 years. I simply love the great turbo boost that the car gives at 1750 RPM. The pollution levels are still very much within the prescribed limits. But the same draconian rules that forced you to part off with your beauty is not allowing me to keep the car for more than 10 years. I have one query here. The tax paid is for 15 years. So, ideally if the government wants me to scrap my 10 year old car, will they refund me the additional 5 year tax amount that they have collected from me? What are the other options available? Should i keep my car or exchange it with some boring hatchback which will not be so much fun to drive?

Yes, it still looks so great

[SS-Traveller]

Originally Posted by su1978

I have one query here. The tax paid is for 15 years. So, ideally if the government wants me to scrap my 10 year old car, will they refund me the additional 5 year tax amount that they have collected from me? What are the other options available? Should i keep my car or exchange it with some boring hatchback which will not be so much fun to drive?

I am told that new diesels are being registered with road tax being collected for 10 years instead of 15 - so one pays less tax on a diesel compared to a petrol. As for the government returning the tax amount for 5 years, I asked at the RTO, and they said they have no mechanism or directive to do it. One could approach the courts for the refund, I expect, but given the cost of litigation, it just might turn out to be losses rather than monetary gains.

The choice of keeping your car or exchanging it is solely yours, but yours being a BS4 vehicle, there may well be buyers from other states where it will be easy to register at this point in time. Both my Swift and Scorpio are BS3, and therefore cannot be registered in any of the metros. Guwahati is still BS3, and there are no issues with registering the Swift there.

Also note: The Delhi RTOs ask for information about which RTO in which state the vehicle is being transferred to, and address proof of person to whom the registration is to be transferred, before processing the NOC. I had to submit chiranjitp's ID & address proof. The NOC is issued 30 days from the date of submission of the application.

Unfortunately though, I had to go thrice to pick up the NOC form. On Monday (12 Nov), we went to Sheikh Sarai, to discover that the office had shifted to Sarai Kale Khan from 1st November. On Tuesday, we went to Sarai Kale Khan to discover that a holiday had been declared for Chhath Puja. Finally, yesterday, we managed to pick up the much coveted document from the swanky new office!

[Samba]

What a way to part with your car!

A 2,000km drive followed by handing over the ownership to another Bhpian!
Plus an excellent darshan (seeing a holy deity) at Kamakhya.

You cant expect anything better than this!

As-usual an engaging read with some nice pics. Rated 5*.

Two points from this travelogue-

40km/hr speed limit on that road in North Bengal is simply ridiculous!

The build quality of the new swift looks to be great! Even after hitting the cow it came out scratch less and dent less.

[SS-Traveller]

Originally Posted by Samba

As-usual an engaging read with some nice pics. Rated 5*.

Thank you. The pics are all from a mobile phone.

Originally Posted by Samba

Two points from this travelogue-

40km/hr speed limit on that road in North Bengal is simply ridiculous!

The build quality of the new swift looks to be great! Even after hitting the cow it came out scratch less and dent less.

Indeed, 40 kmph is certainly a ridiculous speed limit. However, it may be inferred that the West Bengal Traffic Police do not want people to test their vehicles' build quality against an elephant!

[Sutripta]

@SS - Re speed fines you were warned!

From the motorists PoV, it is best to think of todays West Bengal as the badlands! Initially it was only Calcutta, but now it is all of Bengal.

Regards
Sutripta

[SS-Traveller]

Originally Posted by Sutripta

@SS - Re speed fines you were warned!

Yes, repeatedly. By you, as well as many of the other Team-BHP Kolkata folks. Not that I was driving fast - the 40 kmph board was suddenly there in a 50 kmph zone. In retrospect, I am reconciling the amount paid in three ways:

1. There is no NHAI toll being levied on this section of the highway. I considered this to be a toll I paid to another authority. (Let's say, Rs.140 to traverse about 200 km from Siliguri to the WB-AS border);
2. I received information about there being no further speed traps ahead, till the WB-AS border, and could subsequently proceed at a decent speed. Which was far better and safer than being perpetually scared of irrational speed limits and driving at a pace that makes one drowsy (another Rs.140).
3. This was the beginning of Navratri, with Durga Puja just round the corner, and I fully expected to be stopped in WB by locals wanting to collect "pujor chanda". Nothing of the sort happened, except that the WB government collected Rs.140 from me!

[sayakc]

Your travelogues portray road trips like they should be portrayed. Dhabas, filling stations, the traffic. In fact many a times I have stopped by your Delhi-Kolkata thread just to read and see the photos of highways when I want to get a feel of highway travel.

I too drive a Swift (though not as extensively as I would have liked to) and feel that its great to drive on the highways.

Thanks,
Sayak

[nvldvr]

Wow. Only a true BHPian could do this. Driving 2000 kms to deliver your car to a new owner. Hats off and cheers.

[Jeroen]

Great story, great trip. Thanks for sharing. Quite the adventure!

Jeroen

[chiranjitp]

First of all thanks for sharing such a brilliant travelogue, coupled with some awesome photos and videos. It kind of felt like I was actually present in the car during the journey.

Originally Posted by SS-Traveller

I had been warned by multiple folks that speed cameras operate on the highways all over WB, and I was being very careful. I took too long to slow down at a 40 kmph board. 200 metres down the road, at a place called Poro, I was stopped for doing 51 kmph in a 40 kmph zone.

I had driven through the exact same route, from Siliguri via Coronation bridge to Alipurduar in 2015. In 2015, there were no speed cameras nor any speed limit, hence I could cruise at 100 kmph in our erstwhile Punto. Is the speed limit in place for the whole stretch? If so, then it is really stupid. I remember the roads were in really good condition, even traffic was sparse. Of course, I also didn't find any Elephants crossing the roads.

I am really glad to know that chiranjitp is taking good care of the car, and I expect it should serve him well for many thousands of kilometres, without any major expenses. Chiranjitp can tell more about the Swift now.

First of all let me give a small tribute to the outgoing car, a 2001 Zen VXi deluxe. I bought her used in February 2016 for my college runs with 90k km on the odometer. The car was in brilliant condition, especially cosmetically she was almost in showroom condition. Everything was in its place & working, including the OE Kenwood Cassette player. Simply put, she didn't feel like a 14 year old car.

Even mechanically she didn't let me down ever, never broke down on the road during her 24k km stay with me. I used to frequently do 440 km (Dibrugarh-Guwahati) highway runs in her. The compact dimension & responsive engine were a boon in our congested city roads, the light power steering also helped. I went to college in that car & have tons of memories with her, I hope the new owner will take good care of her.

So, why sell the Zen then? Even now, I can't think of one particular reason that made me sell her, it was kind of an impulsive decision to sell her, mainly fueled by my long time desire to own a first gen Swift. Then were a few problems with the Zen. First up was the AC, the AC of the Zen is really weak, it simply can't cool in summers, even the M800 has a better AC. For the last 1 year (after I graduated), she was only driven within Guwahati and driving in city traffic without AC is a bit tiring.

Next up was the engine, the car used to smoke a bit during startup & had a slight issue of oil consumption (though never needed a top up). Earlier this year I discovered that the engine head had some sludge formation. Then there was the age factor, she turned 17 this October. We already have a really old car in our garage (our 99 Omni) & didn't need one more old car. The Zen was long discontinued, so getting spare parts in the future would get a bit difficult.

Here are a few photos of the Zen:







Then there was my desire to buy a first gen Swift, I had wanted one since 2005. I still have the original Swift launch brochure with me, which I have kept since 2005. Then this particular car was the top end ZXi variant (with Airbags & ABS) and more importantly, it was owned by a DBhpian. So, in short this was kind of a one time opportunity to buy a first gen Swift. Special thanks to Dbhpian Leoshashi for connecting me to SSda (SS-Traveller), without you this deal wouldn't have gone through.

Special thanks to SSda (SS-Traveller) for passing on your beloved Swift to me & coming all the way to Guwahati to deliver her. I hope to take good care of her & hope the Swift will continue to run reliably. I have immense respect for the G-series engines, which have a reputation for being one of the most robust and reliable engines (from the Maruti stable).

As for the condition of car. I would say the car is in brilliant condition mechanically, at least I haven't found anything wrong with her. I must make a special mention of the clutch, the clutch is as light (light clutch is a boon for city traffic) as a brand new clutch. Cosmetically she looks a wee bit tired, maybe I will soon get some detailing done & put new seat covers. I have only driven her for a few hundred kilometers, my first priority is to get the registration number changed from DL to AS. From whatever little I have driven her, the 1.3L engine seems really punchy, and the front seats are really spacious. The Swift is also not a small car, from width point of view, she feels almost as big as our Ecosport.

Even after so many years it kind of looks funky & contemporary:







Swift clicked with the other two cars:

The choice of keeping your car or exchanging it is solely yours, but yours being a BS4 vehicle, there may well be buyers from other states where it will be easy to register at this point in time. Both my Swift and Scorpio are BS3, and therefore cannot be registered in any of the metros. Guwahati is still BS3, and there are no issues with registering the Swift there.

AFAIK whole of India moved to BS-IV from April 2017. Initially BS-IV was introduced in some Metros from April 2010 & in smaller cities (like Guwahati) one could register BS-III cars until last year. AFAIK for used cars, emission norms are not taken into consideration, as it is just a change of registration rather than being an all new registration. At least this is how it is in Assam, maybe in the bigger metros, rules might be a bit different.

[Leoshashi]

Originally Posted by SS-Traveller

As mentioned, I had been occasionally searching for a buyer for the Swift (as well as the Scorpio) for some time now, and Distinguished BHPian Leoshashi connected me to BHPian chiranjitp from Guwahati, who was interested in a first-generation Swift, as an upgrade from his Zen MPFi.

Originally Posted by chiranjitp

Special thanks to Dbhpian Leoshashi for connecting me to SSda (SS-Traveller), without you this deal wouldn't have gone through.

Have a funny incident to narrate here. While I had connected both of them, I had also advised Chiranjit to have a good look at the car before finalizing anything. Pretty normal I guess. But the next thing I hear is that he had already listed his Zen on OLX and before I could even discuss with him, his Zen was gone.

To be honest, I was pretty furious. While I didn't doubt DBHPian SS Da's claim that it was a nicely maintained car, I was worried about the scene, in case Chiranjit doesn't like the Swift. His Zen was also sold. And the next thing I hear, is that SS Da is driving all the way to deliver this car. That's when I realized this is not a normal car deal by any means, and I should better keep mum.

I am glad the Swift has found a loving owner, while being inside the TeamBHP family, and wish the same for his Old Zen.

Regards,
Shashi

[hok kolorob]

Parting with something you love and took care of beautifully for so long is heartbreaking but you had a dream ending. A great gift to yourself for the hard work you did for years.

Only yesterday I was telling in Kolkata TBHP WhatsApp group whose TL I always follow from Kolkata TBHP member and today you joined the list . Now I will have to find your old TLs!. I loved to read TLs my perfect companion when I have less work. Your videos are very helpful to understand the situation/condition. The cow hitting video could be used in our R3 group. Keep travelling and keep writing. Rated a well deserved 5 star.

[blackwasp]

Originally Posted by SS-Traveller

As mentioned, I had been occasionally searching for a buyer for the Swift (as well as the Scorpio) for some time now, and Distinguished BHPian Leoshashi connected me to BHPian chiranjitp from Guwahati, who was interested in a first-generation Swift, as an upgrade from his Zen MPFi. I shared photos and videos, we talked on the phone, agreed on a price and closed the deal. I promised him a car that would be delivered in mechanically sound and very roadworthy condition, and he could collect the car at Delhi when he came visiting in mid-October.

Frankly, this is the only reason I'm unhappy over the 15 year rule. You have maintained your car so brilliantly yet have to part ways with it for no fault of yours. However, I'm glad to see the Swift find a new home and that too with another forum member!

My wife solved the issue. Let's drive, she said. She had wanted to visit the Kamakhya temple at Guwahati for some years now, and we could go to deliver the car as well as visit the temple. As for me, there's nothing better to make me happy than a very long drive, and we had not travelled on any new routes in a long time. I told Chiranjit that I would deliver the car to him at Guwahati at my risk, and that it would be an acid test of the roadworthiness of the vehicle. He agreed.

Great stuff man! Nothing like it when family members propose something which we already have on our minds. Others might not be comfortable driving a car being sold such distance. This shows the confidence in the car as well as your driving skills.

NE has always been a part of my Wishlist and thank you for sharing this trip report. Looking forward to more of your travelogues.

[BlackPearl]

Wow! driving 2000 Kms to deliver a car at the doorstep of the new owner is fairy tale stuff. Good to see that it found a good home.
How was the feeling of driving a low GC car for such a long distance after being used to the Scorpio for 150K kilometers?

[ALTIMAed]

Hats off to you SSda, to have driven 2000 kms to deliver the car to the new buyer. Also kuddos to you to have got the essential work done to ensure you had a trouble free drive and knowing the fact that you have already sold the car.

This is exactly the stuff a DBhpian in made of.

A well deserved 5 * rating from my side.