Update after 50, 000 km. Moved from Bangalore to Gurgaon after driving the car extensively in Bangalore city and on highway since my last update.
The update on mileage is unchanged- an average mileage of 20 kmpl on more or less level roads and about 17 kmpl average when you have ghat sections like in Kumaon.
The car is a beautiful drive on all types of roads. Changed the tyres at 45, 000 km to Michelin Energy 185/70 R14 without changing to alloy wheels.
Only issue I can see is the clutch adjustment- I have had to spend on a clutch plate replacement due to wear of the clutch plate that resulted in some vibrations in the car. Once replaced, all is well. The other issue is that the backdoor trim tends to vibrate against the body and create noise since the sponge padding inside collapses after a while. this is easily rectified by removing the trim, sticking some additional sponge at key spots and replacing the trim.
Overall great vehicle and great value for money, considering what similar spare replacements would have cost in other cars (clutch plate etc.) On the service front, at Bangalore, I found Pratham Motors the best service station and in Gurgaon, I have used Pasco so far, which has been a good experience too.
Update after 42000 km
Well folks..., just wanted to let you all know that things are great with my Swift Vdi. I have driven it now through some more interesting terrain in Karnataka (Malnad- Jog, Agumbe etc.) and the vehicle still returns a mileage of 20 kmpl on the highway even with horrible roads and occasional ghat sections.
I have discovered that I achieve the best mileage on IOC normal Diesel- not HP, not BP, not even Shell (phew- thank God I don't have to pay INR 5 more to get 2 extra kmpl).
Until next update- Keep Driving folks!!
Update After 6500 km drive to Vaishnodevi
I just completed a drive to Vaishnodevi after the previous service. Completed a total of 27, 500 km nowin just 1 year. Sufficient to say that the vehicle handles like a dream even on such long drives. Very comfortable to drive over long distances and with it's enormous torque, can beat anything on the highway barring some of the real fancy cars.
Update after 20, 000 km at 4th Service:
I just completed 20, 000 km this week. It was completed with a 1700 km drive to Pune for attending my friend's wedding. Just gave it for service yesterday.
Even with the condition of the NH4 between Chitradurga and Hubli (horrible is an understatement for parts of this stretch of road), the car returned a neat 21 kmpl average across the drive with a high of 22 for the leg between Kolhapur-Pune-Dharwad. I was driving the whole stretch at a standard 105-110 (Engine RPM centred around 2, 500)
All I can say is... fultu paisa vasool gaadi. Worth every paisa I paid for it and continues to be a joy to own.
Bye for now.
Update after 17, 000 km:
*Hi All, Nothing much has changed after 17, 000 km. I have taken this baby on some drives involving climbing quite steep hills (for example- Gopalaswamy Betta near Bandipur). All other hatchback cars I saw (petrol or diesel) gave up at some stage with either insufficient torque to climb or with engine overheating due to constant driving in 1st gear. But not this baby. It just keeps going.
Some things I need to check in the next service are the gear train and a couple of low rattles in one of the doors.
will update you all after another few thousand kilometres. Bye for now
Update after almost 8, 000 km:
Hi All, it's now been 5 months owning this beauty. I've gotten more used to diriving it now, after having undertaken some more long drives and a lot more driving in Bangalore city. The city mileage is not as great as I have been told by some other friends of mine who own a Swift Vdi (I'm getting 14.5 to 15). But performance is a whole different story. This is truly a very driveable car, especially for a tall person like me. Sad part is that it's not so great for the person in the back seat, with the slightly cramped legroom
I have discovered that the back seat folks feel speed breakers and jolts a bit more in this car. But it's pure pleasure if it's just you and your wife/ girlfriend and the open road in front of you. You never ever feel tired, however long the road may be.
One gripe I do have is with the reverse gear, which I feel Maruti Suzuki could have done better with. Not that it's as bad as some of the older Indica models, but it's not as good as the rest of the car is. A little stiff at times and requiring multiple attempts at the gear shift.
I have actually grown to love the purr of the diesel even more, and kind of don't enjoy petrol cars all that much any more. :)
One piece of advice for new Swift drivers: There's a prominent blind spot in this car. It's on the driver's side pillar where the windshield meets the car body. If something narrow comes at you such that it is exactly in line with the pillar at approximately a 30 to 45 degree angle to the long axis of your car, such as a two-wheeler, a person or a cow, you would not be able to see it immediately. The chances of such an occurrence are small and you will however get used to it after a while though.
Customer Service: Imagine this.. Maruti has been serving customers from the times of License Raj- the days when Customer Service meant the service that a Customer provided to you in helping you fill your company's Bank Account. People from those days still swear by Maruti. It's only getting better by the day folks.. and I now belong to the same category. I will recommend a Maruti Swift to one and all for sheer peace of mind
Petrol v/s Diesel: The classical debate. I'll say only one thing to all you folks who say "If you do more than 80 km per day only then Diesel is economical etc."- it's crap. Pleas do go ahead and spend the additional 70k that the Swift Diesel will cost you. It will pay you back many times over in the short run itself- even if you run only about 20 km per day on a daily basis like me. Because, trust me, once you own a Swift, the temptation to take it out on a long drive every weekend will be too strong and you'll end up just finding excuses every weekend just to do that. My wife evn jokes that if my company wants to send me to Europe some time, I'll probably find a way to drive there.. not such a bad idea huh!!!
I am however planning a long drive across India- from Bangalore to Manali. If anyone has experience in this kind of drive, do comment and let me know your experience. Would be especially useful if you are a Swift owner.Until another 5000 km.. bye from me....
