Maruti Alto K10 Long Term Ownership Review - The Boss Of Small Petrol Hatchbacks.


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Well this is my 3rd review and I feel this is the best time to write a review for my Small Rocket "The Maruti Alto K10 LXi.

The car is a rocket and I can call it a BOSS of small petrol hatches and my car is also shouting that it is the Boss. See the picture to believe.

The Review

Back in 2011, I wanted a car for my family in Hyderabad and decided that it should be a small car. The main contenders were the Alto and Eon (newly launched). My mother and brother visited the Maruti and Hyundai Showrooms and came back with the details of Alto K10 and Hyundai Eon.

So it was my turn to confirm which car, so I decided that I will take a test drive and confirm.

TEST Drive: -

Hyundai Eon: New launch. Great interiors (in this price bracket), Premium feel, Refreshing looks but (a Big BUT), the Engine is lethargic. Since i already own Santro Xing I was expecting the Eon to be zippy but I was going to be dissatisfied. During the Test drive the car refused to Zip through and took its own sweet time. The car was sluggish, I knew it had only 800 CC but I was expecting at least a zippy engine from Hyundai stable. So even though I was inclined towards Eon I had to refuse it.

Maruti Alto K10: I Never heard about it so did not expect anything great. Since I had a not so satisfactory experience with Hyundai Eon, I was damn sure that the Alto K10 would be worse than Eon. I was under the impression, if Hyundai could not provide a zippy car then no way Maruti can. But it was "Surprise Surprise" for me. Sat in the car and started the Engine, I was still unaware of the danger lurking beneath the hood[anger]. These were the sequence of experiences i went through ( Slot in the gears > Press the Accelerator > Woah Woah Woah What a pick up, what an acceleration > Urrghhh need to stop to avoid collision, the car is at 80 KMPH in no time > Thank God! it stopped). The next thing I did was to look at the Sales guy and said "Are you sure this is a Maruti product?" [:D] > SA said, This is the K Series Engine" Sir!). I was like saying sorry to the small rocket after getting out for really underestimating [frustration] the power this car can generate. That test drive changed my perception about Maruti making only sluggish and fuel efficient cars.

So Alto K10 it was and confirmed it to my Brother who booked it and completed the other formalities.

The Purchase:

The buying process went smooth.I had to settle for Alto k10 LXi model since that was the only readily available model and maruti plant was going through some strikes and dealer was not sure when the new stock with VXi models would come from maruti. The Freebies i got
1. Front Power Windows.
2. Cash discounts of around Rs 25000.

The Ownership experience

The car has completed 18055 Kms till today. The car is extremely zippy and reaches 80 KMPH in no time after which I have to slow it down. Even on highways the car is really quick. I have driven it on Highways and City roads and the performance, FE are amazing. I am getting around 17 KMPL with sedate driving.
No major manufacturing issues so far. Got all services done from same workshop (A.S.S).

The car is cramped for 4 people on board and a little spacious for 3 on board and very spacious for 2 on board. The AC is a chiller in no time. The clutch is on a heavier side. The Brakes are fine and do their job.

I personally feel, since this car is capable of achieving quick acceleration, there should be an optional ABS from Maruti.

Build

The Build is strong but Quality is poor. The Panel gaps are inconsistent and some panels do not align properly. The A.S.S guys also could not do anything. The Rear left door has to be closed with force else it does not close properly (seems to be a design issue).

The Engine

As I already described the car is a rocket. Once thing to mention is, since it is a 3 Cylinder mill, it makes a lot of noise. The NVH levels are OK (only manages to reduce the harshness of sounds but does not filter them) but you can hear wind and traffic noise.

Verdict
All in All this is a great car in 4 L category. The Maruti brand, Quick acceleration, Zippy Engine are the selling factors for this car. And yes it is the BOSS ( IBOSS) of small petrol hatches.

Additional Accessories

1. Autocop Remote Central Lock with Ignition Cut Off.
2. LED Fog lamps.
3. Roots horn.
4. Art Leather Seat Covers.
5. Rear Spoiler.
6. Alloys Wheel (set of 4).
7. Teflon and Under body Coating.
8. Vinyl Matting.
9. Alpine Amplifier with Pioneer 2 Way Sub Woofer.
10. Rear parcel tray.
11. Reverse parking Sensors.

Here are the pictures of my Rocket.
 

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Joined
Nov 16, 2012
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Hey Suman your little Alto looks great as a fellow k10 owner I completly agree of the way the little engine pulls and pulls and completly shocks you initially. Here is a pic of my car

 
Joined
Nov 5, 2016
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Nice review there man! And I completely agree with you, it's a fun to drive hatchback with cracker of an engine. Mine has completed 50k kms and I can say it has a bullet proof reliability, just a few rattling noises here and there but nothing that worries me. A few questions for you:

1) From the pics you posted, I think you have upsized the tires a bit. Can you please share the size of the tires as I am thinking of replacing the stock tires in my car?
2) Since a long time, my car has a problem of vibrations on idle with varying degree on different days, especially during night. It only increases with AC and the vibration comes in steering wheel, seats, doors etc. I have got it checked from few mechanics with little success so far. Have you noticed similar behavior with your car as well?
 

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