I bought a Maruti Suzuki Swift VXI a couple of months ago. The car handles well, thanks to the power steering. The engine is surprisingly silent and vibration-free: even with the airconditioning on, in city traffic you sometimes think the engine has cut off. The engine is powerful; you hardly feel the drag when you turn on the airconditioner. The car is roomy and has a decent amount of luggage space. The upholsterly and cabin design are good too.
What is I don’t like about the car is the poor view, both in front and to the rear. It took me several days to be able to reverse the car at one go from my garage, though I have been driving for almost two decades and am considered a skillful driver - by my wife, at any rate.
The side view isn’t great, either. You sink into the seat and have to crane your head to look out. The car was reportedly designed for six-foot Caucasians. It would have been nice of Maruti to offer height-adjustible seats for all models, but no that is available only for the top end ZXI.
I would have expected Maruti to be a little more generous. Imagine paying an on-the-road price of almost Rs 5 lacs for a car and finding that the plastic tray behind the back seat (which covers the luggage space in the boot and keeps the airconditioning from dissipating) is optional at extra price. The power control buttons for the windows appear a little crude, compared to the Santro. Would it be too much to expect car manufactures to retain manual levers on doors even if the car has central locking and power windows. People have been known to get stuck in their cars when the electric controls fail - - some people reportedly even died suffocation in the Mumbai floods last year on this score.
I am also told by the early buyers of Swift that the doors begin rattling after some time. Apparently, the wide doors offer quite a bit of free space after accomodating the glass and electric window motor.
Incidentally, I discovered that Maruti Udyog has a novel way of disposing of customer feedback which they solicit at their web site: an automated response thanking you for your feedback and promising to revert soon - and then a deafening silence. Wonder how they keep winning those customer satisfaction surveys year after year. JD Powers, are you listiening?