It’s been close to a seven month association with the Maruti Swift -- the overall experience has been less that satisfactory. From the outset, the car was plagued by manufacturer negligence and over confidence.
I picked up the top end ZXI version of the Swift back in December 2006 from Vipul Motors in Gurgaon. With its accentuated curves, stylish lines and peppy engine, it seemed the ideal vehicle for me to move up from a Hyundai Santro.
Within a matter of a few days, the door panels started rattling; the driver’s side seat started to squeak and other unusual sounds became more and more audible. I took back to dealership only be told that this car does suffer from these “build quality” problems. The blessing in disguise was that the dealership was a stone’s throw from my office – so making frequent trips for these niggling problems to be rectified didn’t seem a daunting task – I must have made close to 6 trips to the dealership.
From changing the window roll up and roll down motors to tightening other nuts and bolts – the dealership tried all in its power to resolve the problem, but it basically came down to lack of good quality materials and attention to detail. First the driver’s side seat was oiled, then the channels were replaced and then the seat was replaced completely – it took three visits to resolve the problem with the seat alone, causing a great deal of inconvenience to me.
To do a quick comparative, I went to a Maruti True Value dealership of Swift’s that were of one or two year vintage, and to my surprise, the problems that I experienced with a 2006 Swift were present in a 2005 Swift as well. Which essentially means, Maruti and Suzuki did virtually no upgrade and/or modification to the vehicle – this reeks of an apathetic attitude toward a customer. From this I can safely assume, nothing’s changed in 2007 either!
Is it me or is this an India thing?
Through all of this, I was wondering if something like this were to happen abroad, how would the dealer and manufacturer respond? My best guess is that after a couple of tries, the dealership would refer the vehicle to manufacturer for rectification or part replacement, whereas in India, a customer is expected to patiently bear the inconvenience while parts are first repaired and then replaced – is this justified, especially after having paid a small fortune for a vehicle that is a small car?
Overall, the ownership experience has been less that satisfactory