I’m planning to keep this car as a long-termer. I’ll be going for a full restoration of the car as it progresses.
BHPian Vishnu Shaji recently shared this with other enthusiasts.
Before I jump the gun, a little bit of history on how I ended up with another Alto!
Back in 2002, My Family decided to sell off our unreliable Ambassador and get a new reliable car that can replace our Ambassador. Maruti was the only word in reliability back in the day, at least to us, and considering we had a very small budget back then we went to the showroom to get a Zen. Unfortunately, the sales representative had different plans in his mind. He convinced my family that the Zen is having a low roof line and the waiting period was around 2 months, whereas if you’re going for an Alto, which is supposed to be having a higher roof line and is surprisingly in ready stock. My dad opted for the 1.1 variant and again the sales guy stepped in by saying that the 1.1 was having low mileage comparing the 800cc Alto. We finally settled on an 800cc Alto LXI Spin Variant in a Cool Silver shade. All this was done just to make sure that the sales guy was achieving his target on time and all this information was irrelevant to me back in 2002 because I was just 8 years old.
Unfortunately, this is one of the few good pics of our first Alto. This was taken in 2006 at my native place. Dad sitting beside wondering what the hell is this guy doing
Fast forward to 2012, I got my Driving license and started driving our Alto. I initially loved driving this car around. We usually drive down to our native place often and went to Munnar and a few other places en route. Soon the car started to get boring for me. What more can you expect from an 18-year-old whose just into driving? At least the so-called wannabe enthusiast inside me started to get irritated with our beloved car.
This was Odo around 2012. 10 years done and barely touching 35K. A happy pic was taken when Dad sponsored a full tank!
To further exaggerate the situation Alto was very hard to drive with all 4 on board and AC. The car would barely move which again started an itch for a diesel car. Over the period I have grown to a 6-foot guy which further escalated the travel comfort for my mother, who used to sit behind me.
Garage mates circa 2013
Fast forward to 2013, we’ve got ourselves a new Honda Amaze Diesel. To be frank this car blew my mind. The 99bhp/200nm car was a huge upgrade compared to the Alto and the low-end grunt from the Diesel engine felt heavenly to me. Soon I stopped driving the Alto and whenever little time I drove the car, I just wanted to get rid of it. Yes, it really hurts now that it was me who pressured my family to get rid of Alto without knowing how much my Dad loved this car. It was the first car he bought with his hard-earned money. I wanted the alto to be replaced by a powerful petrol car and the itch made me go blind over my dad’s priced possession.
Soon, Alto was sold to our cousin and I got my hands on a 2002 Honda City Vtec. More on that later.
Fast Forward to 2022, the cousin we sold our Alto pretty much ill-maintained it. The saddest part is that you have to see your beloved car being treated poorly. By that time, I was having a huge wave of guilt as my father pretty much stopped using our cars after Alto was sold. Being a late learner to driving, my father was thrown out of his comfort zone when I was forcing him to drive the different upgrades that made way after Alto. The last nail in the coffin was our cousin calling me back saying Alto had its engine seized and needed my help to fix it.
This was the condition of our Alto in 2022
I was heartbroken to see the car in this state and I thought of buying it back and restoring it for my Dad. Even if my cousin gave it back to me for free, a restoration would easily cost around 1L+ considering the abuse this car has been going through. Keeping that in mind and the buried guilt inside me triggered me to get a better Alto and restore it for him. I always wished we had an Alto 1.1 and moreover my father wanted it back in 2002.
I must say this was one of my shortest searches for a car.
Likes
- 4Cylinder F10D instead of the 3cylinder F8D.
- Fewer vibrations considering it’s a 4cylinder balanced engine.
- The car doesn’t struggle to get a move on full load.
- Since it’s a Maruti, restoration won’t be a headache.
Dislikes
- Interior space is very limited, especially in the rear.
- A bigger engine means more fuel burned and hence less fuel economy.
- It’s an old car, hence the interior is basic.
Buying Process
I was on the search for an Alto VXi 1.1 all again. I saw many ads on Olx and almost all of them were VX 1.1. The difference between VX & VXi was that the VX doesn’t come with Power steering and Rear headrests and the VXi has both of them as standard. This felt strange for me because our Alto was an LXi Spin Variant and it had a power steering from the factory. At least this is what I came to understand while on the search. I saw an FB Marketplace AD saying Alto VXi 1.1 is for sale. It was around 5 km from my place and I immediately went to check the car. It was a park and sale and the dealer was a very clean person. He was not pushing me to get the car or forcing me to give him an advance in order to block the car. Initial impressions were good, but not great. The car felt mechanically in great shape and I instantly fell in love with the 1.1 engine. The car pulled effortlessly even with the AC on. But the car didn’t feel clean to my standards. I forgot the fact that I was buying an Alto. Almost all of them were bought as the first car, or most of them were bought as city cars or secondary cars for the runabouts. I left the place with a few pictures that I took for further reference. Later, almost a week later, after searching both online and offline for a cleaner car, I came to the understanding that, this car I checked out earlier is the cleanest it can get. I called Dilip, a close friend of mine to assist me to check the car once again on his presence. He instantly convinced me that this is as clean as it can get and go ahead with the buying process. The dealer was asking 75K for this single-owner car. I was ready to get the car at that price even though I thought of negotiating a bit. To my luck, the dealer agreed to settle down for 57K which made me close and secure the deal instantly. Money saved can be spent later in the restoration process.
Why Alto again? Why are no other cars considered?
This buying was more like a debt being paid off or guilt being settled for me. Years back, When I forced my dad to sell his Alto for an upgrade to a Honda City Vtec 2002 I forgot the fact that my dad learned to drive in his mid 30’s and he has his own fair share of hesitation. When I forced him to drive a longer and wider car all of a sudden, he was thrown out of his comfort zone. I was unable to understand the fact that he was forcing himself to adapt to the bigger car. It took me years to understand that he was avoiding scenarios where he has to take the car all out by himself. As years passed by, his driving steadily declined and that’s when I noticed that he is having trouble taking the sedans out. The city was sold all of a sudden and I bought a 2008 Ford Fiesta 1.6S to replace the city. He was getting a hang of the city and again I’m pushing him thinking that he will adapt. But it took me a few more years to understand that the confidence he had driving an Alto can only be regained with the same car. Even though I buy him some other car of the same size and width, I understood it isn’t gonna work for him.
Driving Experience
The car felt very peppy and quick off the line in comparison to the F8D. Although it felt quick off the line, the car doesn’t give you enough confidence at triple-digit speeds. You can instantly understand that apart from the better engine, everything else is shared with the 800cc alto. The seats are very basic and average. You can instantly feel the cheapness of the seats once you step in. Come on, what else can you expect from a 4L car back in the 2000’s. The car feels good on straight lines and is incredibly smoother to drive around, thanks to the 4 cylinders and the car won’t be struggling whenever you’re driving around with people on board and AC, A lethal combination for the F8D Alto’s I was getting around 11-12kmpl on mixed driving conditions. This is never going to be a highway car and hence these fuel efficiency figures are more or less going to be the same. The Odo was standing around 80K kms while I bought the car. I already put down 2K kms in less than 6 months. Weekly my runabouts will be around 25-50kms max for the alto. I personally love the First gen Alto compared to the facelift cars with the clear lens headlight. The older Alto had a Kei car vibe considering the later facelift ones. Alto originally came with 12″ Steel rims. It was shod with 145/80/12 section tires. The tires I got with the car 2018 make and fairly new. I have plans to upgrade the tires to 13″. Anything more will be overkill for a daily car. Alto came with a 5 Speed Manual Gearbox. 5 forward gears and 1 reverse gear. The gearshifts have a positive feel to them, but other than that, gear throws feel very basic. A refresh to all the bushes around the gear lever should enhance the experience if I’m not wrong. The suspension feels more on the softer side. This car was definitely built as a commuter car and it can be felt while driving. The car feels ok until you hit triple-digit speeds. Anything above feels floaty and not at all confidence-inspiring.
Difference between 800cc Alto & 1.1 Alto
- The biggest difference is the engine. The 800cc Alto is powered by a 47bhp F8D engine whereas the 1.1 is powered by a more powerful 62bhp F10D engine shared from WagonR of that era.
- F8D had a different instrument cluster compared to 1.1 which had the tachometer as standard.
I just love this Cluster compared to the older alto.
- The VXi had adjustable rear headrests as standard, whereas the F8D had fixed headrests. The disadvantage is your visibility through ORVM is hindered.
- The 1.1 had rear wash/wiper standard, which is a nice feature. By design, the rear glass will attract a lot of dust on a rainy drive.
First glimpse of the car. It was a park and sale and the dealer was a courteous and clean guy to my surprise. You can also see Dilip, my close friend checking the car in detail for me. He convinced me to get this car, as this was one of the cleanest Alto that has come up for sale in recent times
The right headlight was new compared to the left. Should be a small mishap because everything else was untouched
Yes, the car had a few scuff marks all around, but that was quite self-explanatory considering this was a 2002 car and the previous owner was an aged guy.
I was surprised to see the original invoice being kept intact. I was already convinced to get this car and this was the icing on the cake. Yes, you read it right, 3.9L on-road in 2002
Closed the deal then and there and bought my new old Alto home. It was one of the most satisfying purchases in recent times.
What’s in the pipeline?
I’m planning to keep this car as a long-termer. Everyone in my family loves this car. I’ll be going for a full restoration of the car as it progresses. I will be munching up miles in the meantime and will be dealing with any mechanical issues that might prop up during my ownership. Once the mechanicals is completely sorted, I will be moving for a full repaint since the car’s paint has its own fair share of blemishes. I have been searching in Boodmo for parts and to my surprise, almost everything is available in Boodmo. Stay tuned!
Keyword: Why I bought a used Alto VXi 1.1 after selling my dad's old Alto 800