Before I begin I would like you to know I had Maruti 800 in past, I have Opel Corsa 1.4 GSi and now I have purchased Alto LXi (Silky Silver) on 28 June, 2007 from Chittosho Motor. The price of the car was 2.95 Lacs with 10, 000.00 discount. I paid around 8000+ for insurance and i’ve got the car financed from ICICI Bank for 3 years. The car comes with a 3 year standard warranty which is best in class I guess.
I got very impressed by the dealer’s effort because they offered me much more than any other dealer was offering and that also without asking. The dealer gave me 10K cash discount + Free Mud flaps, Foot mats, Temporary Registration, Number plates, 5 liters of Petrol and Puja (New car ritual). So overall i’ve got the car for 2.85 Lacs only. All the free stuff was offered by the dealer on its own which was not being offered by any other dealer when I was doing the survey.
Why I am satisfied with the dealer ? Because the dealer was too good. I was attended properly. I was informed of everything properly. Everything was professional and good. Thats about the dealership. So next time you plan to buy a Suzuki car then make sure that you visit Chittosho Motor, Mohali, Punjab if you live nearby ofcourse :-p (This is just my purchase experience, I will also write new review on service experience).
Now lets talk about the car. After driving Opel Corsa, I felt pretty weird when I sat in Alto but I started the car and took off from the dealership. I directly went to the tyre shop and got the tyres replaced with tubless ones for just 100.00 per tyre. Now I have all tubeless tyres in the car.
The manual said that drive properly till 3000 km to get proper mileage and thats what I am doing now. I have already drive the car 150+ kms in just 1 days of purchase. The car’s build quality is a bit poor but overall its good enough. The AC is also good. I have not taken the car more than 60 kmph so till now I have not noticed much load (as said in other reviews). The AC is quite effective and car is looking quite fuel efficient (that is what I have bought it for).
The next day I drove about 100 kms. and in the afternoon I decided to get some accessories for the car. I went to the shop and got a Steering cover (which was very much required), High quality Foot mats (now I have double in car. Both carpet type and rubber type), Wheel covers, High tone Horn, Cigg. Lighter (though I don’t smoke :-p just for charging my mobile) and Ambi Purecar Perfume. This all costed me Rs. 1200.00. Tommorow I plan to get Fog lamps which are just Rs. 400.00. I was very amazed by the prices of the accessories becuase Corsa’s foglamps costs Rs. 6500.00 :-O. So you can say that this car is quite cheaper in terms of spares and accessories. After putting all this basic stuff it is looking quite good specially the wheel covers gave it quite a good look. I will get Stereo, Power Windows, Central Locking and Seat Covers within few days which will cost another Rs. 20000.00.
Overall the car is running fine but the gears are a bit hard specially the 5th gear but as it says in the manual that they will get soft after some time so its kinda okay. The interior has detoriated I guess its just another step to reduce the cost of the car. The space inside is utilized properly. The place to keep stuff in the doors I like most becuase I had that in Corsa too so everything from my Corsa came in Alto where it should have been :-D
Overall if your are looking for a economy car with great fuel efficiency with inexpensive spares and accessories then look no further Alto is what you’re looking for. I have purchased the car to just drive in the city so car will mostly run 50-60 kmph which is good for me as I have just purchased it for that only. My sister was not in favour of purchasing Alto but now she has also changed her opinion.
The pickup is so-so though I don’t plan to race on road but its not good but not bad. The power steering is very very comfortable. It makes Alto a fun to drive car. If you an shell 20000.00 extra then I recommend that you definately go for the power steering version. Its very convinient.
Overall I am very happy with my purchase. I was comparing Santro, Alto and Spark. Some points about all of these one-by-one.
Santro: 1100 cc engine, Expensive service and spare parts. Lowest mileage in class. The sale team was way too slow to operate. They did’nt had the vision to detect the potential customer and was so-so. I did’nt liked the attitude of the dealer (becuase he is the only dealer in town ?! Maybe!)
Spark: Very very good car. Excellent build quality. Almost same mileage as Alto’s. Low cost of spares but high cost of accessories (if you can get from market :-p). No discount was being offered and prices was a bit on the higher side. Overall good car but I was looking for economy which was not in this car.
Alto: 3 dealers, Low cost of car. Best in class warranty, best in class mileage, low cost of spares and accessories. High availability of spares etc. Freebies bundled with car. Good experience at the dealership.
Overall conclusion: If you want to race etc. then don’t buy the car its not for you. This car is very very good if you can’t spend much on the car. Alto will not ask much. The warranty offered by company takes care of most of the things. Low cost of spares makes it even more easier. High fuel efficiency is the best part. Space is enough and its enough for a family. Alto is good family car which anyone can drive and have fun. :-)
Thank you.