First a background: Time for an upgrade from my 14+ year old M800 to a new car. It was a good upgrade from a guy who used to sit in rear seat of the now prehistoric fiat. It served me well with occasional repairs for the last 11years which have now become frequent. It now rattles and has lost even it’s stability. It’s no more fun to drive even though the engine is still very strong. It’s space is just enough when I pull the seat all the way back as I am 6.1 in height. You see, I’ve never sat in a BIG car except my friends OHC and my god, it was spacy and fast. Wish I could afford it.
Present: Finally my dad has agreed to part with it but have to still figure out the big question, WHICH CAR? . Keeping in mind with my small budget I have short listed down to two models. It would be either a new Alto or a used Esteem. I know it’s not fair to compare two cars from a different segment but you will understand as you read on. I am only considering cars from the Maruti stable now because of their low cost maintainance\spares and availability compared to others. I’ve ruled out the Wagon R not just because of it’s looks but also because the body role/ stability at high speeds and safety issues.
The following would be my requirements/usage:
i) The car would be driven by me and my dad (50:50). He’s 64.
ii) We would be keeping it for another 10-14 years.
iii) Usage would be mostly in Mumbai city with a few night drives by me on weekends and occasional highway driving max to three times a year. Each trip would be not more than 200km (Pune/Gujrat) each way.
iv) Usage will be about 200-250km max in a month on an average. (My M800 has done 52,000 in 14 years and had bought it at 14,000km)
v) About half the driving will be done while four people sitting inside.
I also have a few questions which would be great if anyone can answer…
Q1 Does the alto have same space as the M800?
Q2 Will it be a wise decision to go in for a Alto with LPG fitted considering the low usage of the car?
Q3 Is it safe to install an LPG tank in a small car, I’ve heard that it could blow up incase another car bumps in it from behind at a good speed. Is that true?
Q4 Is the difference between maintanice / spares cost between these two cars a lot?
Q5 Is it the right time to go in for a new car when Maruti is expected to lower the price of the cars when nano hits the roads. I also heard they are coming up with A-Start & Splash. I don’t know when and I have no idea about the specs.
Right now I am more tilted towards an used Esteem as I think Alto won’t be much of an upgrade Vs my Dad who thinks alto would be cheaper to run and easy to park. We will be visiting the dealer on the coming weekends.
Require inputs from you guys.
Thanks in advance.
Present: Finally my dad has agreed to part with it but have to still figure out the big question, WHICH CAR? . Keeping in mind with my small budget I have short listed down to two models. It would be either a new Alto or a used Esteem. I know it’s not fair to compare two cars from a different segment but you will understand as you read on. I am only considering cars from the Maruti stable now because of their low cost maintainance\spares and availability compared to others. I’ve ruled out the Wagon R not just because of it’s looks but also because the body role/ stability at high speeds and safety issues.
The following would be my requirements/usage:
i) The car would be driven by me and my dad (50:50). He’s 64.
ii) We would be keeping it for another 10-14 years.
iii) Usage would be mostly in Mumbai city with a few night drives by me on weekends and occasional highway driving max to three times a year. Each trip would be not more than 200km (Pune/Gujrat) each way.
iv) Usage will be about 200-250km max in a month on an average. (My M800 has done 52,000 in 14 years and had bought it at 14,000km)
v) About half the driving will be done while four people sitting inside.
I also have a few questions which would be great if anyone can answer…
Q1 Does the alto have same space as the M800?
Q2 Will it be a wise decision to go in for a Alto with LPG fitted considering the low usage of the car?
Q3 Is it safe to install an LPG tank in a small car, I’ve heard that it could blow up incase another car bumps in it from behind at a good speed. Is that true?
Q4 Is the difference between maintanice / spares cost between these two cars a lot?
Q5 Is it the right time to go in for a new car when Maruti is expected to lower the price of the cars when nano hits the roads. I also heard they are coming up with A-Start & Splash. I don’t know when and I have no idea about the specs.
Right now I am more tilted towards an used Esteem as I think Alto won’t be much of an upgrade Vs my Dad who thinks alto would be cheaper to run and easy to park. We will be visiting the dealer on the coming weekends.
Require inputs from you guys.
Thanks in advance.