After the Zen reached home it became dad’s daily driver since Ambassador and 800 was used by grandparents. The car ran miles and miles without a single hiccup.
BHPian Vinith7979 recently shared this with other enthusiasts.
Beginning
Hello BHPians hope everyone is doing well and this is my long term ownership review and restoration of my 1999 Maruti Suzuki Zen Classic.
The Selection Process
Back in 1997 we had an Ambassador Diesel with Isuzu engine,Maruti 800 and Zen MH410.In 1999 my dad wanted to upgrade the zen by the time the car had completed 40k kms.
Cars Shortlisted
1. Fiat Uno.
2. Maruti Suzuki Zen Classic.
Dad actually booked the uno and due to the long waiting period,he cancelled it and left with no other options he choose the Zen again but this time the zen classic.
Workhorse
After the classic reached home it became dads daily driver since Ambassador and 800 was used by grandparents. The car ran miles and miles without a single hiccup. Dad single handedly drove the car for 175k kms.
The Zen
Yes you all may think this is a VX, actually around 1lakh km mark the front bumper got damaged and the ASC said that the classic grills are imported from japan and hard to find so better go for the VX grills so the car was fitted with VX kits. I still feel atleast the rear lights could have been left with the classic’s.
Restoration
Almost 20 years and the car was still running good, but the car started ageing the steel rims had little rust but the body was in pristine condition with minor Scratches.
In 2018 I decided to restore the car and dad agreed to do the same as we both have no idea of letting the car go. During the time the car had completed 232k kms.
Parts Replaced During Restoration
1. 2 Headlamps and parking lamps
2. 2 front indicators
3. New Side mirrors
4. 2 New tail lamps
5. Instrument cluster lights
6. 2 new front discs and pads
7. New drum brakes
8. Steel rims changed to Neo Alloys with yokohama earth 1 rubber.
9. New Seat Covers. stock seat is still clean and new as it was always with the covers on.
10. New roof liner
11. Pioneer audio with usb,aux and cd player. The stock kenwood casette player gave up after restoring the car.
12. Under body antirust coating.
13. The side door trims came with white cloth material, changed them to grey leather.
14. The engine and the power window motor was untouched.
15. Three new wiper blades including rear.
16. New Sun films with 50%.
17. New clutch plate and 5th gear teeth.
The Rear
Rear looks simple and elegant and yes it has rear wiper with washer.
The Side Profile
The Jelly Bean Design and the alloys looks matching to the cars design according to me.
The Alloy
155/65 R1
The Instrument Panel
Almost 242k done. Still gives a mileage of about 16 without A/c and 14 with A/c on.
The Dashboard
Simple and elegant with those wooden finishes [classic exclusive].
The Door Trim
Notice the new leather trim and power window switches for driver and passenger with lock function. [classic Exclusive].
The Engine
Carburetor engine with no problem till date, recently changed 4 new spark plugs and carburetor was cleaned, coolant flushed and added new.
The car still crosses 100 kmph easily.
Conclusion
Zen is one lovely car to own, i still enjoy driving it on the weekend. I also learnt to drive in this car, purely mechanical and the speakers are still the old ones which are pioneers and they work well till date.
The car is still being maintained at Maruti Asc and now its perfectly alright and the asc says the car is good for another 1 lakh kms.
The Zen is always a lucky charm for us so it will be in our garage forever
We still use the stock key and the spare key is untouched till date.
My suggestion is anyone who owns any car for more than 10 years try to keep it within your family as it posseses lots of old memories and will be a piece of history in future.
Thank You.
Keyword: 2.4 lakh km with my 1999 Maruti Suzuki Zen