My Bro's Maruti Suzuki Alto 800


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Buying Process

Few months ago, my bro decided to buy a new car considering the amount of dust in the streets of bangalore while riding on bike. And also, since now he has a baby now. So, the dilemma of choosing the car began.
First, we decided to go for a second hand used car for under 3 lakhs. He wanted to sell the car in 2-4 years since he always preferred a big better vehicle but couldn't opt them coz the budget was a constrain. So, considering the amount of resale value & trustworthy workhorse in the market, we zeroed it down to MS Alto. The search began & found a lot of cars in the market. But we as a family wasn't much interested in second hand cars especially becos we never know how the car was treated by the previous owner.
As a result, the idea of getting a second hand used vehicle was chucked & we started checking new cars which fit under the budget of max 4 lakhs.
Nano - was considered but weekend highway drive was nearly impossible in it
Alto 800 - Good Proven Vehicle. As we owned one earlier. We found it satisfiable! The new looks though was a huge let down.
Hyundai Eon - Better looking & better interiors. My bro really wanted to take this one. The performance was a bit let down. And also, wasn't much interested in a Hyundai atm.
Honda Brio - my bro didn't like it at all. Was very disappointed with the looks & the interior design. I suggested him to go for a test drive. And tadaa, the magic happened. He felt it really smooth to drive with enough power but I had a bit bumpy ride at the back. Also, the base model EMT costing almost 5 lakhs on road was way out of our budget.

Other than these cars, we really didn't consider anything else. After a bit of research, we thought of going for the Alto 800 since it was a proven vehicle. And the resale value being a MSIL was also good. So, went straight away, booked a Granite Grey Alto 800 & paid the advance.
We had an option to take the 2012 model for a 6k discount. The 6k discount wasn't justified to me for a 2012 model. So went for the new stocks which was going to arrive in a week or so. On 20th April 2013, we received the car from the dealer at about 4:30pm. It was a February 2013 model. Here are the accessories list:
Underbody coating - Rs 3000
Teflong coating - Rs 3500
Floor mats - Rs 1200
Seat cover - Rs 4500
Mud Flap - 350
Total - Rs 12,550 (After discount - Rs 8700)

Initial Impressions

The car looked way better than expected. I feel the Alto 800 looks best in Granite Grey colour.
The interiors looked really good than the earlier model. The plastic on the dashboard was infact almost of the same quality of the old model. The speedometer also looked good in the new avatar. But what really let me down is the door panels. Earlier model had hard plastic but here it is just a cardboard piece covered in a cloth. It feels worse than before. The power window position is also at a really awkward place. It might take time to get used to it. The gear lever & the steering feels a lot better to hold. The seats still isn't comfortable. Not at all suitable for long drives.

Now the performance part. When compared to the old alto. The performance of the vehicle is a whole lot better. With A/C the engine pulls the car even on 3rd gear on inclines. This is a huge boon actually. The car responds well if driven in a spirited way. Or else, it takes time to build speed.

What I was more than disappointed was the roof. Its actually a thin sheet. On heavy rains, it makes a lot of noise. It annoyed me a lot.
Also, MSIL need to provie Left hand mirror as standard. Its quite hard to get it. Had to visit 2-3 dealers to get one.
Other than that, I don't have much complains. If people ask me, whether to go for this car. I will surely tell them to consider the eon too. I feel its more VFM barring some facts.

Other Accessories

Installed a new Pioneer music player with 250-watt single speaker on 4 doors. The effect/bass is good but wasn't much impressed with the sound experience. The car needs a better sound insulation IMO but it isn't bad though. I just compared to the VW Polo at my house which has got a comparatively lesser watt speaker & better experience. Afterall, I can't expect much from a sub 3.5lakh vehicle. :tongue:
Also since the left hand door key doesn't come on the Alto now. Had to get a new central lock system too. Got a brand named Falcon for 5400 including free parking sensors with 5 years replacement warranty. The total bill came to about 14.5k from a aftermarket shop!

The car is now with bro at bangalore. So don't see it much often now! [:(]

NOTE: I know I suck at writing things. :tongue:

Here are some pics posted below when NEW..
 

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Thread Starter #2
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Re: My Bro's MS Alto 800

Continued...
 

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Re: My Bro's MS Alto 800

First of all congrats to your bro. and Alto 800 indeed looks good on grey color. Btw. did your dealer gave any free accessories? I got Floor mat, Mud flap, Idol, Steering cover and perfume as free. And MS took 1150/- for undercoating with 5 years warranty brand is Liqui Moli.
 
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Re: My Bro's MS Alto 800

Congrats on your Alto. Wish you many happy miles ahead.

Any reason buying the car in KL and using it in BLR? Before you say the higher tax amount, I would caution you, if RTO guys catch you no amount of documents (fuel bills, toll recepits, PUC) will matter. They will make you cough up the tax+fine. Now a days they are keeping data from toll gates (KA entry point) in Blackberry.

Just last week one of our known colleague was fined and taxed for his 9 month old Verna. He had to pay 1.6L tax+ 50K fine.

Just ask your brother be careful.

Cheers,
Anshuman
 
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Re: My Bro's MS Alto 800

Convey my regards to your Bro

Alto 800 looks nice in this shade.

Happy miles ahead
Thanks.

First of all congrats to your bro. and Alto 800 indeed looks good on grey color. Btw. did your dealer gave any free accessories? I got Floor mat, Mud flap, Idol, Steering cover and perfume as free. And MS took 1150/- for undercoating with 5 years warranty brand is Liqui Moli.
Well, didn't get any free accessories. All were bought. I know we could have got it but I wasn't there at the buying process & no one asked about that! [frustration]
All I got was a 3850 INR Discount.

Congrats on your Alto. Wish you many happy miles ahead.

Any reason buying the car in KL and using it in BLR? Before you say the higher tax amount, I would caution you, if RTO guys catch you no amount of documents (fuel bills, toll recepits, PUC) will matter. They will make you cough up the tax+fine. Now a days they are keeping data from toll gates (KA entry point) in Blackberry.

Just last week one of our known colleague was fined and taxed for his 9 month old Verna. He had to pay 1.6L tax+ 50K fine.

Just ask your brother be careful.

Cheers,
Anshuman
Well, tax was one of the reason to buy from KL. The vehicle wouldn't be serving him for long, so after 2-3 years he might bring it back to KL. Also, in his new work project, he might need to go abroad few times. So that time, the car would be staying in KL itself. That were some reasons!
Anyways, he already got it registered. I'll tell him to be careful! [:)]
 
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Hey congrats on your car... the pictures look great and the colour is really very nice..
I'm from Mumbai and the monsoons here are quite bad, however despite the heavy rains ive never felt the roof to be noisy...
 
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Hello everyone !!!

After clearing final year exams of MBBS my dad traded our 15 years old M 800 for an alto 800 [:D]
I got 13 inch plati alloys fitted the very same day...
here are some pics
 

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Hello everyone !!!

After clearing final year exams of MBBS my dad traded our 15 years old M 800 for an alto 800 [:D]
I got 13 inch plati alloys fitted the very same day...
here are some pics
Welcome to TAI, Congrats on your Alto.
Why is the 1st picture upside down. [confused]
 
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@doctor: Nice looking alloy. So, you didn't change the stock tyre right?
Btw. check my thread as well
http://www.theautomotiveindia.com/f...uti-suzuki-alto-800-lxi-ownership-review.html
Dada I had to change the stock tyres.
On the day of delivery I drove the car to nearby "tyreshoppe" where they exchanged my stock MRF tyres with Continental tyres.
Exchange prices
Each Rim 300 INR
Each tyre 1500 INR
I had to pay 18 k more for those 4 plati rims + continental tyres.
You can compare the size difference in the pic where the alto is parked with m800
 

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@Doctor: With alloy your Alto is looking very nice. BTW. did the ground clearance increased or decreased from stock Tyre? If you ask the main reason why Alto800 looks awkward from some distance because of massive ground clearance.
 

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