Jun 29, 2007 12:03 PM
8112 Views
This is my swift review after one year ownership of it. As soon as I saw the pictures of the car in auto magazines, I zeroed down on it looks similar as Mini-Cooper. I bought a ‘Red’ swift from ‘Pratham motors, ORR, Bangalore’on Mar’2006 (my kid likes Red very much, we liked Black or Golden yellow though). The dealer is committed and delivered the car in 5 days. Oh man, believe it, Pratham has stack of cars, they took me to their backyards and they had Swifts lined up with all models & variance and they asked me to choose the color. I couldn’t believe my eyes.I have clocked 20, 000 KMs now.
My car is getting serviced from ‘Mondovi motors, BG Road, Bangalore’, as their service station is close to my home. Mondovi is providing very good service and their executives have patience to listen our problems. The car has decent features such as power steering, tachometer, seat belt warning, headlight buzzer, key warning buzzer, child lock, theater effect lights, front and rear fog lamps, head light height adjustment, rear seat head rests, removable ashtray, remote fuel lid opener and 5th door opener.
I was asked to go for under chassis and outer Teflon coat. I did that, but I was not sure if it is needed. I asked dealer to install ‘company recommended security system’, because I was suggested by my mechanic that company system could just get ‘plug’, instead of tampering the wirings by the third party security installations. I added a ‘digital-clock’ on dash as it was not part of the Vxi package. I would be happy if I have adjustable front seat belts and rear side washer & wiper as optional. Dealer charges more..The power is excellent, 1300 CC MPFi engine with 87 bhp with 4 Cyl. It is sturdy in high speeds. I didn’t feel any vibrations on top speeds. I managed to get 15 KM/L on HW trips with A/c and 90-100 KM/Hr speed and I am getting 10-11 KM/L inside city in Bangalore traffic.I also tested my car with 70 KM/Hr on a long drive, you don’t believe it, I got mileage of 20 KM/L. I didn’t repeat, as it needed a lot of patience to do it and don’t want to miss the fun on 4 way HW. The Horn is pathetic as all other Maruti cars.
My wife told that it was like bike horn. Trust me, no one gives me way. The worst part is there is no place under hood, to fix the extra horns. The gear box is sleek, but not smooth as I expected. It is lil bit hard. I am getting problems while changing gears from 2nd to 3rd. This might need some improvements.The car comes with disc brakes in front and drum brakes in rear. If you are ready to stretch a bit, I would suggest you to go for ABS in Vxi model for additional safety. Otherwise the braking is good enough.
The car has good leg space at Front seat. I didn’t feel to stretch even if I drive 300 KM continuously. I didn’t get a chance to sit at back seat. But according to my parents and father-in-law comments, they are pretty happy and comfortable with the rear seat space on long trips. Boot is good enough to accommodate four persons luggage. I don’t expect more space in a hatch-back. If you are specific about the boot space, it is not a car for you. If company provides a boot lamp or at least wiring, that would be good.
The car comes with 14 inch rim and tubeless tyres (165/80). I wanted to exchange with alloy wheels, while I took the delivery. My calculation was Rs 7000 against show room price (SRP) Rs 11000.Tyres - 4 x 1000 = Rs. 4000 & SRP 4 x 1500 = Rs. 6000, Full wheel covers - 4 x 500 = Rs. 2000 & SRP 4 x 750 = Rs. 3000 and Four Rims - 4 x 250 = Rs. 1000 & SRP 4 x 500 = Rs. 2000. But, the dealer offered me just Rs. 5000/- and they couldn’t give me the break-ups. So, I decided to use company fitted one and change to alloys after 25K KMs.I got screwed up with speakers by the third party car decors. Trust me all four are duplicate and the output of those are very pathetic. When I drive long trips I couldn’t hear audio properly, all the glasses rolled-up though. If I increase the volume, my wife or whoever sits behind complaints about the high volume, that disturb them. No improvements, even if I switch the audio to front speakers.
One of my friend (owns audio shop) checked and told I got cheated. I saw they fixed they took out from the ‘Pioneer’ boxes. I am still wondering how it happened! Now I fixed JBL original speakers. The audio quality is excellent.I got a clue from my friend. 6He says roll-up all the glasses and play an original CD with low volumes and increase very slowly to high volume. The audio output should be crystal clear. But still I am not able to make out the difference between original and duplicate. I would suggest you to go for authorized distributor or dealer with bill and warranty, it is bit costly though.
When you fix sun control films, I would suggest you to go for better UV protect one, rather cheap or dark one. These films would reduce the load on your car A/c during peak summer. The films are costing from Rs. 4000 on wards. Well, let us see the issues, I am facing after 20K KM. #) I feel that the ‘front’ suspension mounts are gone. I am hearing some ‘lak lak sound’ from front on uneven mud roads.#) Body rattling is there when I travel on village roads. Does anyone have this problem?#) I noticed that the pick up is slightly reduced in my recent long trip. Do I need to change better air filters? #) I was asked to go for some imported filters (costs 3500/- approximately) to improve mileage and pick-up. Is it worth?Verdict: Excellent car with the good safety features and ride quality.Review writing is an art, I might not be good in expressing that. But I tried to cover as much as possible to help my fellow MSiens. J
