I am writing this review after driving 14000km of swift vxi. I have listed out the review based on my research/experiences. Firstly let me list out the process of selecting the car when I bought in the end of 2008
Selection process
I wanted a hatchback car at 5L range and the choices were swift, getz, i10, chevrolet uva. I did not want to consider tata cars or ford cars.
According to me i10 is no comparison to swift in terms of looks, space in the car and the power. Same goes to chevrolet uva as well. so it boiled down to getz and swift. Getz has really smooth gear system but I found the power steering to be slightly worse than swift. The mileage of getz just sucks and also dishes out lesser power. swift gives you 87bhp at 11-12km/litre (based on a/c). If you put shell petrol, I have seen slightly higher mileage of 12.5-13km/litre.So after test driving both cars, I decided to go for swift.
swift diesel was very tempting, but the price difference between them was 1 lakh. The extra emi for the diesel car was way too much to be compensated by difference in the petrol and diesel prices. the break even happens after 3-4 years assuming normal travel. If you are travelling more than 12k km per year then diesel car should be the ideal choice.
Pros
a) I am 5’6 and I love the seat postioning, head room. leg room and the feel of the car in the drivers seat. Absolutely solid. I have a very clear view of the road and the instrument panel.
b) The pickup is just awesome. I leave most the vehicles behind in a signal/driving in highway. I have pushed the car to 150km in bangalore-chennai NH46 highway without any vibration at all. The car was just solid.
c) the power steering is just too good.
d) At 87bhp it gives you 11-11.5km/litre. On highways, I have seen 16-17km/litre. You may get higher mileages if you put shell petrol.
e) being a maruti car you have numerous service stations and cheap spare parts.
f) the rear space is pretty good with 3 adults sitting fairly comfortably.
g) bimal dealer is pretty ok. Maruti checklist/processes is very good. Japanese efficiency is clearly visible here.
Cons
a) The reverse gear is still stiff after 14k km. The mechanic says wait till 16k km. The other gears are really smooth.
b) Since I am a bachelor, boot space is not such a big constraint for me. For a family guy, you should prob pay attention here
Things to keep in mind while test driving a car
Test drive all the cars you may have in your mind. Do not be lazy, its going to be your hard earned money.
a) when you sit in the drivers seat make sure you are comfortable and are able to have clear sight of vision on the road without any obstruction.
b) make sure the instrument panel is clearly visible to you.
c) make sure you have enough head room and leg room in the drivers seat. I remember one of my friends test driving A-star was tall and was not comfortable at all.
d) check the handling of the car in terms of power steering and gear shift. check for noise in the car while idling.
e) make sure you take someone with you to check out the rear space.
f) bargain as much as possible in terms of price or accessories.
Final thoughts
create a spreadsheet/refer to the web for comparing key statistics for all the cars you may have in mind like length, width, height, clearance, power, mileage, boot space etc. I had made a down payment of 1L . I had taken the remaining amount as a car loan from SBI. Its 10% floating interest rate. I found SBI to offer the most competitive interest rates with cheapest processing fees and best foreclosure clauses. Now there are many cars in the 5L range. I hope my review will help you make a decision on your dream car.
best of luck and happy driving !!!