[sanjeevskartha]

Hello,

Based on your requirements I would suggest you go for the Alto K10.
Pros:
1. Small, peppy and easy to drive. Poweful engine , you will love to drive it. Super light steering is very useful in the city.
2. My K10 returned 19 kmpl on a highway+rush hour city drive with five adults,full luggage and no AC on. In better conditions it would have a much better mileage.
3. Well maintained Marutis normally have a decent resale value after 4-5 years so that should not be a worry IMHO.
4. 3.75 lakhs should be good enough to buy K10 VXi with central locking ,front power windows and fog lamps. Not sure about the limited edition though.

Cons
1. Quality of the ride w.r.t to the suspension is not really good. Bumps and indundations on the road are felt througouhly. You might want to take a test drive and compare it with your existing car's feel.
2. Space is at a serious premium. Five adults in the K10 is a very difficult prospect.
3. Interior build quality is no where near the Eon.
4. High speed driving is a nervous task in the K10. Steering is very light and hence you might not feel confident driving at 100+ kmph.

[misquitas]

If you were on the lookout for a compact 800CC hatch, which car would be your choice: the Alto800 or the Eon. Why?

Mind you, the car in question is the Alto800 and not the AltoK10, simply because the Alto800 is a closer competitor to the Eon in terms of its engine specs and capabilities.

There have been different opinions on the Eon and the Alto800 on this forum, with the occasional Alto vs Eon posts to spark off a debate.

For example ,

Needforspeed88 had this to say about the Alto800 vs Eon debate:

"I have always maintained mechanically the Alto is a much superior package. Just imagine the Eon's steering does not have a self centering action which can be so unnerving to a newbie driver. The gear lever vibrates enough to give you a good massage at traffic signals. The engine has poor low end torque and takes a gruff note when revved hard. How did Hyundai think people will buy Eon on looks alone ? On road mileage the Alto has an edge , NVH Alto has an edge. Price wise with the 800cc and the K10 they have all the bases covered. Service, after-sales and resale Alto has an edge. If you want to take on an established player and in this case the highest selling car in india, you have to at-least match the price if not under-cut it. Look at the Eon's plight , its laughable simply because it has directly hit its own siblings in i10 and Santro. alto is nearly selling five times as much as the Eon. Now imagine once the novelty factor wears out , Eon will have no place to hide. I mean a car launched with so much fan-fare and expectations has turned out to be market dud if u keep in mind the cost of the project and the segment it is competing in. If you want to be polite you can say , oh it will improve with time and all but what is the evidence ? The only way out for Eon is to keep the existing prices and plonk the four pot motor from Santro."

http://www.team-bhp.com/forum/indian...ml#post2668692

Sidindica had this to say about the Alto800 vs Eon debate:

"I think its too early to comment on Eon's performance since its only 4 odd months. When the alto was launched in 2000, it too was a flop for the first year. Only after 2 odd years and 3 price cuts plus repositioning the car actually started selling.

MSIL has 3 times the network than Hyundai and Hyundai has thankfully made corrections to the positioning by introducing the Dlite plus, era plus and magna plus models plus LPG.

As a package, the Eon is still better as compared to the prehistoric alto 800. Mileage: ARAI certified is 21.1 as compared to 19.8 odd for the alto. The alto uses 27 year old ancient F8 motor whereas the eon has atleast some better aged (if a bit old 1997 design) 800 cc epsilon motor, though both are noisy.

The Eon has space and modern safety features which the Alto just lacks. And the gear vibration is not that bad as its made out to be. Interior also the Alto is outclassed. The alto is so damn cramped compared to eon, and so is the boot space. Both cars have mediocre brakes though.

As a product, the Eon is still anyday better than the alto. Now its upto Hyundai to market it well and make sure that the absurdly high cost of service don't burn a hole in the owner's pocket."

http://www.team-bhp.com/forum/indian...ml#post2669114

Needforspeed88 had this to say about the Alto800 vs Eon debate:

* ARAI figures do not matter, what matters is figures you can extract in real life conditions. With that in Mind both the F8 and the K10 have an edge over Eon.

* Alto has better view from driving position.

* I have taken a test-drive of Eon myself and the Gear-stick does vibrate a lot and it is annoying at-least for me.

* Eon is based on the same platform as the Santro and so it is not an all new product as some people tout it to be. The clue is in the wheelbase which is identical for Santro and the EON. The motor is also more than a decade old and is not ground-shattering in terms of performance/Economy. Hyundai have done a crude job of three pot conversion and anywhere over the middle of the rev-range, you can feel the vibes clearly. In a nutshell EON is based on more than a decade old platform with the motor being a three pot derivative of a more than a decade old engine.

* Hyundai has to be applauded for providing safety features and Eon definitely has an edge over the Alto in this department.

* Value for money is something , nobody can predict but a fair conclusion can be drwan from the total sales. I mean Is Eon even a competitor to Alto at this point in time . See the street price of an Alto after discounts works out to be 30k cheaper than Eon variant to variant despite Hyundai sweetening the deal a little bit by adding features of one variant higher to the lower one. Money talks at-least in this segment and the company which offers the most competent product which is most cost effective sells.

http://www.team-bhp.com/forum/indian...ml#post2669138

While the Alto800 has not been reviewed by team-bhp, the AltoK10 has and it includes some comments regarding the Alto800. These inputs of the Alto800 are available at:

http://www.team-bhp.com/forum/offici...ml#post2010685

The Eon has been fully reviewed by team-bhp and it is available at:

http://www.team-bhp.com/forum/offici...ml#post2556378

It would be nice if there is a healthy (refraining from personal attacks) Alto800 vs Eon discussion on this thread as this would be of immense benefit to those confronted with the same What-should-I-buy (Alto800 or Eon) query.

Let the debate begin.

[swarnava.m]

Although I personally own an Alto 1.1 for the last 8 years, I have had enough experience travelling and driving around in the 800cc variant. Since apart from the engine, most specs are similar to my car, I can safely say that I shall chose an Alto anyday over an Eon.

Reasons:

1. MSIL service network. Undoubtedly, it is the best in the country. I say this in spite of having an i10 as well, and the service experiences are absolutely nowhere as close. Apart from being pocket friendly, Maruti has the best emergency service facility, and this is important to many people.

2. I don't understand how a new launch like Eon is very much different from the i10 or Santro. If I am not very much mistaken, this is more like a market gimmick to challenge the monopoly of the best-selling car in India.

3. Alto is a proven performer (of course I really don't need to say this), while the initial reviews about the Eon haven't been very impressive. I am yet to drive one myself, but having experienced a ride in a colleague's new Eon, I can't really say I liked what I say. I would definitely pick my 8 year old stud over the brand new Eon. I guess having the placard of the highest-selling car in India over many years is a testimony to this, as well as the fact that while a new variant has been introduced in the market (K10, and doing quite well, as a matter of fact), the old one has been retained, and is even set to replace "THE" car that defined the automotive market for the Indian man. It would not be a very wise decision to overlook this fact and go for the Eon instead.

[joslicx]

its the segment where every rupee counts.

voted for the maruti. from personal experience of owning both brands, maruti means peace of mind! in this case the alto is cheaper, and running it is also cheaper. its been in the market for long time so the long term ownership pains/pleasures are known. that is an unknown territory for Eon. Hyundai service costs are simply outrageous! for a single person or two people family alto is quite good. its only when u want to pack 3 in the back it seems small. but then Eon would only be marginally more comfy at the back. even the i10 i own feels cramped for three at the back.

i'd rather buy the spark or the estilo rather than eon,otherwise between the two it will always be the alto.

[techn0l0gist]

I'd choose the alto800 for the following

1. easy availability of spares over the counter = no dependence on expensive hyundai service , and to top it parts are cheap.
2. loads of options for servicing your car (compared to the few hyundai service stations - i guess there are two or so in Goa) - right from MASS's , independent garages to mechanics who work under a tree and even DIY - maruti will even sell you a service manual!
3. The Alto800 is a relatively simple car and there's nothing in it that can really go wrong - the F8D is absolutely reliable.

[mayankjha1806]

Voted for Alto, although i have not driven either of them but i have sat in both, and to me Eon feels fragile and sluggish from whatever i could feel sitting at the next seat.

Otherwise on the frontal looks Eon looks more modern and new.

[blue_pulsar]

Looking at i10 quality, I can only pity what an Eon could be like.

I'd pick neither of the two. My pick in that budget would be the Alto K10. Or may be the Spark.

According to me, this is what Hyundai has done:
1. Take a Santro, re-skin it, put a 1.2 and nice 'luxurious beige' interiors. You have a new car with a new name called i10. Price it at a segment above the Santro. 'Luxurious beige' interiors will fool the public thinking the car is 'luxurious'.
2. Take a Santro, re-skin it, chop off a cylinder and add nice 'luxurious two tone beige and brown' interiors. You have a new car with a new name called Eon. Price it at almost Santro levels and mess up mechanicals like vibrating gear and non-returning steering wheel. It was a little difficult to fool the pubic this time.
3. Take a Santro, add nice 'luxurious two tone beige and brown' interiors. Now you have one more car.

[DieselAddikt]

Voted for Alto800 for the reasons stated below:

1. Alto is more fun to drive than Eon. I have driven both and the observation is first hand.
2. Mileage would most certainly be good on Alto than Eon. I have never seen a Hyundai giving more mileage than it's competitor from Maruti.
3. We have a few Santros and i10s in our circle and i have observed that the service costs and accident repair costs are frighteningly expensive for a small car.

[DudeWithaFiat]

Originally Posted by sanjeevskartha

2. My K10 returned 19 kmpl on a highway+rush hour city drive with five adults,full luggage and no AC on. In better conditions it would have a much better mileage.

Wow. You stole most of the 'Pros' from my mouth. My vote is for K10 too. My colleague who travels from Trivandrum to Muvattupuzha (about 200kms- highways + bad roads with lots of turns + busy streets in between + AC on and off) every weekend says he consistently gets 20kmpl with his K10.

But, if space is your priority, I would say go for EON. Interiors of EON is miles ahead than Alto and very bright to look at.

[SkyWalker]

Eon may not be selling as much. But for me its clearly a superior package. Alto looks like a tin box compared to Eon. Inside, the difference gets much worse. Clearly Eon is a much more modern and sophisticated car compared to Alto.

Alto K series has an edge in performance, though.

What Hyundai needs is to get a small 3 pot diesel for Eon quickly. And watch the sales climb to 20K.

[rohan_iitr]

IMHO, it is not fair to compare Eon with Alto. I agree that both cars have an 800cc engine, but the similarity ends there.

The space, comfort, build quality and features offered in Eon are better than those in cars of a segment above. Unfortunately, most entry level customers / first time car buyers don't care about these things. Like many members have posted above, the sole criteria for such customer is cost of ownership (fuel efficiency, maintenance costs and after sales service).

I personally find Alto too cramped for me, even though I have an average height and built. Getting in and out of the driver's seat requires great acrobatic skills and my legs keep touching the steering no matter how I adjust the driver's seat. Slotting the 2nd gear requires you to brush your co passenger's thigh, which can be very embarrassing if the co passenger is a female. The car becomes very sluggish when the AC is switched on.

But like I mentioned above, first time car buyers learn to live with these minor flaws.

Eon is not targeted at cost conscious / first time car buyers. It is targeted at people who value quality, space and features, but don't care too much about performance. Before Eon, one had to buy a more powerful car if they wanted more space, better quality and more features. For the first time in India, Hyundai has provided a quality product to the entry level customer.

If I was in the market for an 800cc car, I would blindly pick Eon.

Last, but not the least, I feel Spark is the direct competitor to Alto, even though the cubic capacity of the engines are not identical.

Rohan

[Aroy]

In today's scenario I would not pick either. In my opinion the Alto K10 is a much superior package; even after taking into account its marginally higher price; and the era of older generation 800cc cars is on decline as people will want better performance and better AC. That is one of the reasons for the decline of the M800 and rise of the Alto.

[sumeethaldankar]

I would prefer a Suzuki motor over a Hyundai motor anyday given the fact the Alto's engine is more tried and trusted while the Hyundai's seem a newer version of it's old engine.In this segment tried and trusted is more important.

I guess the Eon make take a while to catch up once it gets accepted by consumers.I think even when the Alto when it was launched did not set the sales chart on fire and it's sibling the 800 still was king till the 800 was finally overshadowed by the Alto.

[TheARUN]

I would go with the EON. Sitting inside the EON will make you realize that the ALTO is from an altogether different generation. Higher variants of the EON are available with bigger tyres, so bigger tyres for the low end variant would be a logical swap. HYUNDAI has bet big on the EON, it's sure to throw all its muscle behind the EON and ensure that it does not fail. Case in point is HYUNDAI equipping the low-end variant with A/C, power steering and body colored bumpers

[Turbokick]

Between Eon and Alto 800 , Eon is the easy winner for the fact that Alto's 800cc engine itself is outdated and coarse if the people are very critical about Eon's Engine's mediocrity.
Gearbox is equally annoying in Alto and so is its open road performance.
Eon at least scores in terms of better style and engineering inside out.
Alto K10 would have made the situation interesting though.