Need advice for a new driver: New Alto 800, used Alto or something else

A second hand Alto is costly where I live hence thinking about going for a new one.

BHPian royjitvish recently shared this with other enthusiasts.

Hello to all.

My knowledge about cars is limited, also I have recently learnt how to drive from a driving school. As I am a newbie, I want to buy an Alto 800 LXI which falls in my budget. A second hand Alto is costly where I live hence thinking about going for a new one. But recent news suggest that the Alto 800 is going to be discontinued after March 2023.

Therefore should i buy a new Alto 800 now or go for a second hand one? Also will it be difficult to get spare parts after it is discontinued?

If not, which car should i go for? My driving will be primarily on highways.

Can any one owning an Alto 800 provide the real world mileage and maintenance cost of the Alto 800 please.

Thank you for your suggestions.

Here’s what BHPian Asoon had to say on the matter:

Go for Alto 800, its a no brainer:

• This is the most reliable, cost efficient, and offers the best after sales service in the segment.
• Kwid does not age well and I have concerns over long term ageing (10+ years).
• Alto commands a high resale value, hence pre owned alto does not makes sense (this is a plus point if you are getting new and have plans to upgrade in future).
• There will no issues with spare parts, Alto | Maruti 800 have widest foot prints in India and 800 owners [discontinued 2014] have not face this problem. [We had an 1988, 800 which was with us till 2012 (no spare part issues)].
• Even if Alto is not there, 800cc segment will exist in India and Suzuki will have something here. There is a lot of part sharing in Maruti Suzuki cars this also reassures part availability.

Here’s what BHPian grshnehete had to say on the matter:

Alto in the used car markets are priced very high and there are reasons for that like very low maintenance & good fuel economy:

Its better to go with a new Alto.

As its a Maruti, there will no issues of spare parts, even if the production stops, as there are lots of Alto’s running on the roads and Maruti provides spares of their older cars.

Alto is not a highway car, but if you are going to use it on highways, please ensure to drive it around 70-80 kmph.

On highways, Alto can easily give you upwards of 20kmpl mileage.

I guess, annual maintenance should not be more than 7000 rupees.

Here’s what BHPian self_driven had to say on the matter:

If you have a flexible budget, stretch and go for the Tiago. There are various threads on the forum that highlight how a superior car makes more sense as one can hold on to it for longer rather than having to upgrade a less expensive car in 4-5 years.

As a beginner, it might not be obvious to you but Alto 800 has very bad highway manners. It is also too long in the tooth now. You can instead consider second hand Honda Jazz, Etios Liva, Figo and the like. These cars are from a segment above and will be much more suited for highway runs. Part availability could be, but maintenance cost is not a major concern with any of the popular models.

Coming to your point about fuel efficiency, Alto 800 will easily deliver in the range of 20-25 kmpl while other models I have suggested will probably max out at 20 kmpl on highway runs.

Here’s what BHPian rainmaster had to say on the matter:

Since you will be driving your car mostly on highways, I would strongly recommend considering one or two segments higher cars in preowned market. Between 4-5 lakhs, you will be able to get Jazz/Amaze, Liva, Figo or I20.

Altos are ok for city runs but will not recommend for highway drives. Most of the modern cars are reliable and you don’t need to worry about long term ownership as long as you stick to schedule maintenance.

Higher segment cars provides additional safety, driving experience and comfort during highway drives. You get more street creds and will not be a pushover on highways by fellow motorist.

Adding my 2 cents based on personal experience.

I had driven my Dad’s 800 on numerous highway trips and when it comes to my personal choice of picking up a car on a tight budget, opted for used car from higher segment. In 2017, I purchased 2010 Ford Fiesta top end model for 2.3 lakhs at 90k in odo, drove it for 110k kilometers in 4 years.Had safe and enjoyable highway drives.

You will be spending some additional money on maintenance when compared to new Alto’s maintenance but it’s well worth it.

BHPian royjitvish replied:

Thank you all for your inputs. I don’t have that much cash lying around for buying 2nd hand cars like Jazz, Amaze etc.

I will pay 80 to 90000 as down payment with maximum 4 lakhs loan. Thus Alto 800.

Today i got a call from a friend who works in Maruti, he told me that there is Rs. 50000 discount on Alto k10 LXI manufactured on 2022. Which brings down the price of Alto k10 to 480000.

And 15000 discount on Alto 800 MFD in 2022. Which brings the price to 430000.

Should I buy last year’s MFD vehicle with this discount?

If so, which one should i go for?

Here’s what BHPian rakesh_r had to say on the matter:

Since you would be using the car for highway runs, will suggest to buy the k10, will keep you happy in the long run as it has sufficient grunt for highway runs. Not that the 800 cant, but the k10 will be much more peppy.

Here’s what BHPian kvsneela had to say on the matter:

From my personel experience of owning a 2014 Alto 800 and using for highway drives , I can vouch for it. Having said that , it is true that cars like Tiago( but I don’t trust Tata in reliability front) has a better crash rating. Buying a used car is hit or miss and so it is better to go for new car in lower segment than used one in higher segment for peace of mind. Recently my brother got Alto 800 ( BS6) due to budget constraints and ok with the decision. ( He uses the car only for highways from Chennai to Pondy, Bengaluru,etc.,). Spares parts should be the least of concerns being a Maruti Suzuki even if they change the model. ( The 800 cc engine would continue in some form).

I don’t find any positives in going for K10 except for a slightly bigger engine but slightly expensive. Test drive 800 and K10 engines and decide.

Keyword: Need advice for a new driver: New Alto 800, used Alto or something else