@hueblue
Many thanks for the encouraging words. First of all let me say that I'm a complete layman when it comes to cars. I bought the Cultus for office use but was unsatisfied with its performance. For over a month I was being mislead by the suzuki mechanics but along came a friend of mine who took me to a local mechanic who fixed my problems in a jiffy.
HUEBLUE, you car happens to be Korean and also EFI if I'm not mistaken. So it would be wise if you took this car to an experienced mechanic. You definitely have a pick problem and it needs to be rectified quickly. I haven't driven Santro or Alto so I can't give you my opinion on their pick performance. I'm planning to sell off my cultus after accumulating 10,000kms. The car is having other problems such as rattling sounds from dashboard, creeking seats etc. The latest thing I discovered was the rain water seepage inside the vehicle, door rubbers coming off, and water leakage from underneath the dashboard when the A/C is turned on. I have so far accumulated 2900 kms in this car. Can't wait to see the back of it for good.