I bought the Maruti Alto Lxi about a month ago. Though there were quite a few features that I wanted, I was on a tight budget.
So on the price premise began my search. Of the small size cars, I compared all on the bases of the features that they offered, and the impact in terms of price difference. In a range of similar/same features, I found 4 cars to my suiting. They were the Alto, the Indica Lsi , the Corsa Sail and the Fiat Palio. The Sail and the Palio went totally out of reckoning due to the phenomenal price difference. then came the fight between the Indica and the Alto.
There already being an Alto in the family, I wanted to try some other car. But I realised that I’m paying about 35K more for more power, but lesser mileage. Our past experience with the Alto in terms of mileage had been excellent.
However , in this past month with the new car i’ve been experiencing just about 11+ per litre. Wonder if new cars give lesser mileage in the initial days? (Today 6 months later, I’m getting 13.5 a litre. Not bad aint it?)
The first thing that I liked was the choice of colors. They do not have just the staid colors, but also some sporty ones. My ideal choice would’ve been the lovely green that corsa sail offers, but budget constrains me.
Then what I loved was the size. It’s small, and trust me you can actually zip and zoom even in city traffic. The convenience and ease of a two wheeler and the comfort of a four wheeler.
Once my decision was made, I finally bought the Alto Lxi. However, being a high demand vehicle, the waiting period was 22 days, which is way too long in these days. Anyway, now I’ve been cruising around the city and driving the vehicle day in and day out and now I realise its finer pros and cons.
Let me start with Power: I must say it lacks in this area. But for a regular ’within the city’ driver as me, it is not a major bother. Especially on steep inclines, it does become necessary to turn off the AC. But otherwise, quite adequate.
Then the Air Conditioning : This is Unbeatable. Superb, sooper cool Air conditioning even at least level.
Space and Comfort: Dont put any special cushioned seat covers and you find it spacious, else it could get a little cramped for 5 people. Comfort is great for driving. It has a very comfortable hand rest at the drivers side, perfect for resting your elbow while driving. Head space is also quite good.
Other Features: I miss the Tachometer in this Alto, but the digital odometer is a good feature. Driver side fuel Lid opener is a great feature for lazy bums.
The stereo Space provided was big and so my CD-cum-Cassette Player fit in fine. Cup holders help for small change, and cassettes more than any cups. Boot Space is large and roomy, and a full person can comfortably sit there in case you have an extra seat vying to sit in the car ;-)
I spent about 15K more to make up for features such as central locking & security and Power windows and some more that I wanted but were not available in the car originally. All in all, it’s worked out to be a good buy for me.