I just got a Swift ZXi Silky Silver. Here's a brief on why I bought the car and also a warning to avoid Vitesse, the dealer who sold me my car in Mumbai.
I evaluated the Santro, Wagon R, Swift, Getz and Palio. Didn't bother to try out the Indica because all the auto mags rate long-term quality as suspect. And Swift (IMHO) has the highest safety rating among all these cars. Check https://euroncap.com/content/safety_ratings/details.php?id1=1&id2=213 (of course, the Swift in India doesn't have seat-mounted airbags and head curtain airbags).
Santro and Wagon R were trashed because they are truly small cars without a high degree of safety.
Palio is an awesome car, but the problem is with Fiat, not the great cars that it makes. I was especially interested in the Palio D (which is regarded as better than the Palio 1.2). Fiat refused to even give me a test drive on the Palio D, saying if I wanted to buy one, I'd have to buy one without a test drive. And of course, Fiat's after-sales service is legendary--few things in life can raise your stress/BP levels as Fiat after-sales service. Plus, they don't offer the ABS option--the dealer said the company has stopped it. I decided I have enough stress in life as it is, and decided to forget the Palio.
Then the Swift and Getz. I test drove the Getz first. Nice car, but nothing amazing--it's super smooth and handles well and is great for the city and has more space than the Swift. But its pricing is daylight robbery and I didn't quite like the Hyundai dealer I visited. I visited the showroom on Sunday, March 26 and I was keen to know if Hyundai could get my car registered before Mar 31 since taxes in Maharashtra were going up (would make a difference of around 20K). They said a flat no.
I visited Maruti on Monday evening (27th) and the first Swift I drove was a complete disaster. But they were honest enough to admit that the car was just back from an accident and when I told them there was no way I'd buy a Swift based on that drive, they offered me another car, which was a whole different animal.
As far as looks are concerned, it depends on your point of view, but I think nothing beats the Swift in terms of looks, though Palio comes a close second. Swift is supposed to have decent mileage because of is engine, which is the same one used in the Esteem, but improved upon by Maruti Suzuki engineers. Now, lots of others will give you crap about why this is bad because the engine is old, but experts will tell you that what matters is the reputation of the engine and quality. And none can disagree that the Esteem 1.3 litre engine is absolutely amazing. As far as resale goes, no one can beat a Maruti, although Hyundai does come a close second. But remember, that is largely for the very successful Santro, NOT for the not-so-successful Getz (where mileage is bad too). In fact, on a cost-to-cost comparison, the Getz comes out very badly. The 5 year EMI on my ZXi is around Rs 9.7k a month with around Rs 78k down payment. On a mid-end Getz, the EMI came to 9.5k with a down payment of around 60K. Therefore for just 30k more (EMI diff of 200 bucks and 18K difference in downpayment), I get a car with alloys, electronic climate control, ABS, airbags, security, etc, etc. There's just no comparison with these features. Hence it's easy to imagine why I quickly waved the Getz goodbye. And even when I considered leg room, I think the diff between Swift and Getz is marginal, though the boot of the Getz is definitely larger and the 60:40 split seating (like Wagon R) is an excellent touch too.
ABS is a great option. Lots of folks will tell you (the Maruti dealer himself told me this) that ABS is not really all that useful unless you drive on wet roads and on hilly roads. But hey, in Bombay we have three months of wet roads and its even worse in South India. And who doesn't wanna head to the hills for some awesome drives? They think higher prices will scare prospective buyers away from the Swift to other larger cars and hence downplay these great safety features. Ditto with airbags--I don't think anyone whose life was saved because of the airbag has regretted spending the extra on them. And there's also a good reason why foreign safety regulations mandate airbags.
Also, here's the final argument: The Swift has won many awards, but I was most impressed by the ICOTY. This is no run-of-the-mill award. All the top auto journalists in India came together to evaluate the cars nominated and just check out the competition........
From Autocar India April issue:
The first Indian Car of the Year Award has just been announced. Almost all Indian Auto magazine Editors and their second-in-commands (including Editors/SICs of Autocar India, Business Standard Motoring, Top Gear, Car India, Overdrive and The Auto Magazine (the jury had a cumulative experience of around 150 years in driving and evaluating cars) got together for a couple of days recently to evaluate the Hyundai Sonata Embera, the Hyundai Tucson, the Skoda Laura, the Ford Fiesta, the Maruti Swift and the Toyota Innova.
Here's what Autocar India says:
''The ICOTY award is unique in the sense that it's an independent, non-profit jury, wherein the publications themselves fund and organise the award. The evaluations involved a 150-km drive over varied surfaces and points were awarded immediately after the drive. While specific points were taken into account, what the eds and their men looked for was the overall driving
experience''
And the winner? ''Folks, pat the Maruti Swift on the back one more time.''
The report goes on to say: ''...the Swift popped up at the top on nearly every jury member's list. What also appealed to the jury was the fact that the car packed itself with credentials on the drivability and economy fronts, and it was solidly built too.'' The Innova came a close second.
ell, Swift is a great car, but dealers are the fly in the ointment. I purchased my Swift ZXi from Vitesse in Bombay. While they were great before the sale, they completely changed colours immediately afterwards. They promised me delivery on a Sat when I visited their office on a Wed--they said they had got the loan disbursement, etc. But when I visited on Sat, they refused to give delivery, stating they hadn’t yet got the disbursement!!! After a lot of fighting, they finally agreed to give me my car, but I soon discovered that one part of the door handle was missing!!!!
I told them this at 4 pm, when the car came into their delivery bay, but even at 6:30 pm when the car keys were finally handed over to me, nothing was done. Finally, they promised that they’d change it on Monday, but as I write on Tue evening, they still haven’t even called me. The handover process was ridiculous too--very perfunctory and very little was explained--they just seemed to be eager to go home.
The accessories they installed were even worse. I was promised a leather steering wheel cover, but was given a tacky one that costs less than Rs 50 in accessories shops. Ditto with the mats, etc.
Moral of Story: If you are purchasing a Swift, avoid Vitesse like the plague.
