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View Poll Results: Which car do you like??
Alto 94 31.86%
Spark 205 69.49%
Multiple Choice Poll. Voters: 295. You may not vote on this poll

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Old 25th June 2010, 23:28   #136
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Quote:
Originally Posted by supremeBaleno View Post
You wanted a reason for why someone would avoid Korean cars. FE it is for me. Same applies to American cars.
A bicycle best fits the purpose then !
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Old 26th June 2010, 12:41   #137
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Quote:
Originally Posted by HammerHead View Post
What difference does it make if these parts are of quality equal to that of Chevy/GM? Anyways no one will make you buy their cars on gunpoint!!
With the Chinese becoming the majority stake holders in GM India, I doubt it. So it will be Ching-chong Motor parts/products/quality all the way! Forget gun point, I will not buy it even on cannon point!

Quote:
Originally Posted by womanonwheels View Post
Alto is too common.
Why not the SAN Storm then? It is the rarest breed on the roads!

Quote:
Originally Posted by HammerHead View Post
Thanks for that information. I always thought that the price difference between Spark and Alto was never more than 25k for similar spec. variant.
It was not always so, but only after they were chastised by sales numbers in the peanuts region. Even during the period I am talking about, Sparks were priced equal to or above the Santro, but they started offering a discount of ~ 55k + 3 year maintenance deal. Sure enough, customers who had bought the car during the previous year were left with a bad taste in the mouth.
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Old 26th June 2010, 13:44   #138
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Spark is much better car than alto. Spark should be compared to santro, estilo and wagon r, not alto.
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Old 26th June 2010, 15:17   #139
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Gansan
If the entire "herd" in the forum decides to vote, that poll can go for a toss in no time!
No offense, Gansan-sir, but a poll on tbhp means nothing in atleast 95% cases - because instead of voting based on the question, everyone votes based on the 'herd' they belong to - Jap, Italian, American, Korean, German etc. This actually is one of the rare instances when the deserving car has won.

BTW, the Spark being better than the Alto does not take anything away from the Alto, just as the Swift being a better can than Spark doesn't make the Spark a useless car. Different people have different needs/budgets/likes and go for what suits them best. That's all.

Quote:
Originally Posted by Gansan
I have an affinity for Jap cars, not necessarily Maruti. Somehow Korean and American brands don't attract me.
While I used FE to support why such gut-instincts are not without basis, there is no need to substantiate our affinity. Some like Jap cars, others like Italian, some Korean and so on. To each his/her own.

Quote:
Originally Posted by Gansan
When I bought my Alto LXi in June'09, it was a round 3 lakhs on the road. A Spark with similar trim cost 20k more that time.
When you say 'similar trim' are you referring to LS ? If so, I am confused about the Spark prices now. As per Hammerhead and you, it seems like the LS is just 18-20K more than the Alto-LXi. But kiku007 has booked his LS at 3.57L. Alto-Lxi after all offers is 3.1L OnRoad as of last week. So this is a 50K difference, which IMO does not justify the few features that come on the LS vis-a-vis the LXi.

Quote:
Originally Posted by kiku007
Do you think that ABS and Airbags are the only safety features? Atleast when I look at Chevy and Maruti websites, I see that Chevy has some literature on Safety. For Maruti Alto I don't see anything worth mentioning apart from the Side-Impact beams.
With ABS and airbag, the Spark is definitely safer than the Alto or even a non-ABS/airbag Santro/Estilo/i10/WagonR etc. But given that no one really buys that trim level, there is atmost just a minor difference in safety between Spark, Alto or other cars.

And this is notwithstanding the literature, which just talks of hi-strength steel & a different welding technique, while the front-end design aids pedestrian safety (not occupant safety). You would see similar blah-blah on the Alto site too - collapsible steering column, side-impact beams etc.

Quote:
Originally Posted by kiku007
IIRC the Indian Alto was launched in India in 2000 and stopped being exported to Europe in 2004/2005 and the second generation Matiz (Spark) came in 2005. I believe that a newer car to be more safe. Do contest this claim if you may.
That is the whole problem. We believe that a newer car is better/safer, without any solid reasons. For all practical purposes, the Spark is the old Matiz that has been around for a decade.

Quote:
Originally Posted by kiku007
Throwing out old cars - Absolutely. Why have cars that are not relevant to the current days? Coming to the Spark. Like I said earlier, the second gen came in 2005. Do you feel it's not relevant to the current day?
Ofcourse it is relevant. For you (who have booked it), for my in-laws & for many others, it is a perfect fit for need & budget. Same way, the Alto (and even the M800) does it for many who are at a lower budget - a safer alternative to bikes/autos.

A person driving a Swift-Zxi might think the Spark is poorly built, without safety features and is partly right too. But that does not make the Spark irrelevant. Same way with the Alto. We all are at different levels of the car-chain. Actually, it is thanks to the Alto that Spark buyers are getting that good a deal. If Alto were not present, GM would not offer these huge discounts.

Quote:
Originally Posted by kiku007
You have brought Nano into the picture. My only knowledge on it is what I read on the net, books. Haven't got a chance to drive one. So not fair to speak about what it's worth.
Agreed. Please ignore the Nano part - that was just given as an example. Already there is a dedicated thread for Nano vs M800 - dont want to add here also.

Quote:
Originally Posted by kiku007
Had the M800 and Alto not been there, I reckon we would have seen more development activities on the small car market.
Expecting MS to withdraw the M800 or Alto since they are old is not going to work. No manufacturer would quit a segment where they have no competition. Instead, other manufacturers should try to break in to that segment and then we can see MS scrambling. The Nano has created competition. Hyundai is coming out with H800 which will hit MS where it hurts. Ford has a hit with the Figo - next step should be to have something in the 2-3L segment. Hopefully other car-cos will also come to this space where MS has a monopoly that needs to be broken. Will take time, but is bound to happen.

Quote:
Originally Posted by s3va
A bicycle best fits the purpose then!
Not when there are efficient Jap-cars around. Checkout the FE of the puny i10-Auto. A much more powerful ANHC-AT would give close to 10kmpl in Blore. The superior FE does not come out of thin air - needs R&D and improvement, which is effort-intensive compared to making the interiors beige.
And I am not too much into bicycles - please checkout a bike forum for the same.
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Old 26th June 2010, 16:50   #140
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Quote:
Originally Posted by supremeBaleno View Post
When you say 'similar trim' are you referring to LS ? If so, I am confused about the Spark prices now. As per Hammerhead and you, it seems like the LS is just 18-20K more than the Alto-LXi. But kiku007 has booked his LS at 3.57L. Alto-Lxi after all offers is 3.1L OnRoad as of last week. So this is a 50K difference, which IMO does not justify the few features that come on the LS vis-a-vis the LXi.
I forget the model name now, but it had only PS and AC with black bumpers. Came to 3.20 L after the 50k discount. So actual price was ~ 3.70 L for this variant and ~ 4.50 L for the highest one. When I showed the offer at office, a couple of colleagues who had bough the Spark just a few months earlier were livid!

May be the prices have moved north recently!

Last edited by Gansan : 26th June 2010 at 16:55.
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Old 26th June 2010, 17:15   #141
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ALTO for the win. As once you drive a maruti you always drive a maruti. I have been driving an ALTO for the past 3 years and I must say it's an absolutely no frills no issues car. Precisely the reason why I bought it.
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Old 27th June 2010, 13:19   #142
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Sorry for OT

Recently, one of my wifey's close friend came home. They wanted to buy their first car. They wanted to check on our Spark and so we went for a drive and came back. Her husband was quite impressed with our Sparky. They had also checked on Alto, Santro, Wagon R etc. The guy said most probably they will go for Swift.

Ultimately, they went ahead and bought M-800 !

Budget was not a constraint because both husband and wife are working in MNC, earning around a lakh per month.

Actually, he would have liked to buy Swift, but somehow they are not "ready" for Swift because wife is still learning to drive. All the other cars below Swift for him is a "compromise." He wanted a stop-gap car for the time being. And when they are ready for a Swift, all he has to do is walk into a Maruti Showroom and "exchange" his 800 with Swift or any other bigger/better Maruti at that time!

As for comparing Alto and Spark, here Harish owns both the cars and naturally there will be a curiosity among folks as to what is his openion about both the cars.

In the end it comes down to how much you are ready to compromise. If you can compromise a bit on space, a slightly better/bigger engine and then gain on FE, better resale value, Maruti brand etc, Alto definitely makes sense. Also, cute/feminine looks of Spark doesn't appeal to many guys and again to them there is no other alternative but Alto.

Quote:
Originally Posted by harishnayak View Post
OT @ Bombatt - I really liked your profile pic. Did you take it??
Yes ! I took separate pics of right and left "eyes" of my Sparky and then cut and pasted them on a black square background
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Old 28th June 2010, 22:01   #143
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Gansan
I forget the model name now, but it had only PS and AC with black bumpers. Came to 3.20 L after the 50k discount.
That is the PS model, a level below the LS version.

Anyway, I checked out prices of the Spark at Kerala and the list price for LS version is 3.95lakhs on which there is a 27K off, which brings the OTR to 3.67Lakhs. So, the price quoted by kiku007 seems to be correct - adding corporate offer etc that he got on top of normal offer.

@Hammerhead, I am not sure how you got the Spark-LS at just 18K more than Alto-Lxi, because from the prices in Chennai and Kerala, there is atleast a 50K difference.

BTW, Sunday noon was hectic with 5 back-to-back TDs for my in-laws. We started off with Maruti and TD-ed the Estlio, A-Star and Wagon-R.

While I felt the A-star to be the best of the lot in driving, the folks did not like the puny bootspace and comparitively smaller rear-space. They liked the funky looks of the car though. What disappointed me most was the driving seat, which was kindof sunken at the rear and tapering upwards to the front - is it like this in all A-stars ? Rejected.

WagonR - they were not much enamoured with the looks and dropped for that reason alone.

Estlio - had TD-ed it earlier also and only issue (for me - FIL being newbie driver, might not even notice) was the lack of punch when downshifting to 2nd. Otherwise, it ticked all other boxes.

Then to the Chevy showroom. Have to give these guys credit for keeping the showroom open on Sunday when most shops are closed on Sundays in Kerala - the MS TDs were taken with cars at the yard, courtesy the enthusiastic salesman.

The Spark TD car was quite old. Dont know if it was due to this or because of high expectations created by this thread - I somehow did not like the experience. Yes, better power than Alto, more space, but something was missing. Can't pinpoint what exactly it was though 2 points stick out in my memory - flicked the wiper stalk when I wanted to put the turn signal (this 'wrong' positioning is not there in Beat) and the centre part of the steering was kind of tacky - should have taken a snap. MIL and SIL rejected the looks (interior) - maybe because they compared against the brand-new in-the-yard Suzukis ?

Beat was not in the list, but SIL was floored by the funky looks and wanted to TD that also. Drove it (new TD car) and the difference in performance (over Spark and A*/Estilo/WagoNR) was there to be seen. MIL and SIL floored by the looks and space - interior & exterior.

All this while FIL was sulking inside the Swift, because he was against going to the Chevy showroom - he had mentally finalised the Estilo and did not want any changes. From the way my SIL was eyeing the Beat and knowing how she gets things her way, I wont be surprised if his apple-cart gets upset.

Last edited by supremeBaleno : 28th June 2010 at 22:03.
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Old 28th June 2010, 22:58   #144
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Quote:
Originally Posted by supremeBaleno View Post
@Hammerhead, I am not sure how you got the Spark-LS at just 18K more than Alto-Lxi, because from the prices in Chennai and Kerala, there is atleast a 50K difference.
At 3.6L they were offering following stuff.
Pioneer car stereo with USB and Ipod connectivity.
2 Sony speakers + Installation
Central locking
OEM art leather seat covers
Teflon coating
Under body coating with 5 years warranty
Wooden finish dash
Tank full of petrol (IIRC)

I don't have much idea how much above would cost as I'm not sure about the make and model of above stuff.
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Old 28th June 2010, 23:12   #145
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Quote:
Originally Posted by HammerHead View Post
At 3.6L they were offering following stuff.
Pioneer car stereo with USB and Ipod connectivity.
2 Sony speakers + Installation
Central locking
OEM art leather seat covers
Teflon coating
Under body coating with 5 years warranty
Wooden finish dash
Tank full of petrol (IIRC)

I don't have much idea how much above would cost as I'm not sure about the make and model of above stuff.
When was this?? A spark with all this at 3.6L is a steal!
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Old 29th June 2010, 18:29   #146
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Vote for "Sparky". Definitely a winner.. Though not comparable with Alto.
Though I owned a M800 earlier, I feel Maruthi make cheap cars (personal opinion). There is always a difference in the quality compared to Maruthi/Tata to other brands.
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Old 29th June 2010, 19:34   #147
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Quote:
Originally Posted by kiku007 View Post
When was this?? A spark with all this at 3.6L is a steal!
The offer was for the month of May and was later extended till June.
Here are the pics.
Attached Thumbnails
Alto-800 or Spark-photo0133.jpg  

Alto-800 or Spark-photo0136.jpg  


Last edited by HammerHead : 29th June 2010 at 19:40.
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Old 29th June 2010, 23:15   #148
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@sB - So what is it finally? Nice narrative on the process. Amazing, how much goes into buying that first car! Discussions/choices/opinions/its-the-family-car-and-everyone-should-be-happy! Did not hear anything about the choice of color.
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Old 29th June 2010, 23:37   #149
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Quote:
Originally Posted by HammerHead View Post
The offer was for the month of May and was later extended till June.
Here are the pics.

Guys, the above pics show how detailed the car is. Lot of attention to detail, and great fit and finish.

Now somebody show me an Alto, offering such goodies.

I always back the Spark.

You can never compare Alto to the Spark.
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Old 30th June 2010, 06:46   #150
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Quote:
Originally Posted by HammerHead View Post
The offer was for the month of May and was later extended till June.
Here are the pics.

Wow the car looks real chic ,wish they had a offer like this when i bought my spark. I'm sure the sales numbers would have shot many folds after this offer came into picture. The only expense i can see after this is alloys and a sun film to get the perfect look.
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