[Leoshashi]

Maruti 800 will surely rule our hearts and roads for years to come. It definitely has its shares of faults, but is there a perfect thing on this planet earth?? I guess not!!!

My dad owns a M800 DX 5 Speed bought in March 2000. It is now my daily drive as dad has now moved onto bigger cars.
It has an emotional attachment for us since it was our 1st new car. It has been absolutely hassle free and has costed us peanuts to maintain it. As of today, it has done exactly 2,48,811 kms.
Today took her on a long drive of 182kms. It consumed exactly 6.77L petrol for tankful. Got an awesome mileage of 26.88kmpl(without AC,mixed driving conditions). My friend's CBR 250 returned 28kmpl and he was pissed about it. The only care I took was that my throttle inputs were gentle, no extra efforts or stunts were undertaken. Other than that average speed was about 80-90kmph almost all the time.

I am overexcited today with my car's mileage, hence won't be able to write much. Leaving all members with pics of my car to drool. It still wears its original paintjob and only external mod is front grill chrome(ciaz effect ) and blackened B pillars












Regards,
Shashi

[josejoseph]

Originally Posted by Leoshashi

My dad owns a M800 DX 5 Speed bought in March 2000. It is now my daily drive as dad has now moved onto bigger cars.

Hey Shashi,

Thanks for posting these pictures. Reminds me of my first first. I had the exact same car in same color like yours.

I did really pamper this car. Put on better tires, lights, stereo, tints all around, seat covers, etc. Sadly, had to let her go in January of this year because my father was finding it difficult to drive without power steering.

I'm very sure that in the coming days, just like the SS-80 this car will also become a collectible. Agreed this car doesn't have the modern safety features or creature comforts. But it does drive very well with lots of energy and fun. This is one of the best cars from Maruti. So keep enjoying your drive.

Enjoy your drive.

[Kumar R]

Our 1986 four-speed M800 booked in 1984 and delivered in Mandovi Motors Bangalore (that sticker is still there!). Going strong on 1.8 lakh kms. Only major part change was a half-engine replacement in 2008. Till date it has never been repainted, polished or waxed. Except the exterior lights and bumpers, pretty much everything is "original". The FE is poor (about 10 I think) but it's great for city driving, especially at 1st and 2nd gear crawls.

The car was my father's upgrade from a used premier padmini. He waited 1.5 year during booking and another six months to shift the delivery point to Bangalore. A favourite story of his is how he was offered a premium almost equal to the value of the car by an eager buyer but refused. In my school days in Bangalore it used to attract a lot of attention on the few occasions I was picked up from school and I remember how friends (and their dads) would want to inspect the car and turn the futuristic knobs and stalks - only outdone (in my smallboybrain) by the 118NE (but that's another story). It's traveled all over Karnataka, Kerala, T.N., Goa and A.P. Much less since shifting to Kolkata.

Unfortunately there's a lot of rust buildup not evident from the photo and many rust holes in the chassis and soon I'll be handing it over for body work.

[directinjection]

Originally Posted by Kumar R

Our 1986 four-speed M800 booked in 1984 and delivered in Mandovi Motors Bangalore (that sticker is still there!). Going strong on 1.8 lakh kms. Only major part change was a half-engine replacement in 2008. Till date it has never been repainted, polished or waxed. Except the exterior lights and bumpers, pretty much everything is "original". The FE is poor (about 10 I think) but it's great for city driving, especially at 1st and 2nd gear crawls.

Congrats for owning the classic! Try changing the carburettor to improve FE. Doesn't cost much!

Is your vehicle registration is still valid? As per my understanding, private car registration can be maintained for 5 more years after the first 15, subject to vehicle inspection & fitness. What's the scene like in Kolkata? Ever faced any issues?

[saket77]

Originally Posted by Leoshashi

Today took her on a long drive of 182kms. It consumed exactly 6.77L petrol for tankful. Got an awesome mileage of 26.88kmpl(without AC,mixed driving conditions). My friend's CBR 250 returned 28kmpl and he was pissed about it.

Great Shashi. Amazing FE you two clocked together. Looks like you have gone for a minor facelift of your car since we met last. BTW, which road is in the pictures?
Wishing you great miles ahead.

Regards.

[arnabchak]

Amazing FE Shashi.

M800 is the original FE king and ARAIs be damned.

This little frugal car ruled Indian minds and heart for so many years.
Had Maruti continued producing the M800 with some interior changes and in compliance with efficiency norms, I have no doubt that M800 would still have figured in the top 20 list.

I remember the importance of this car especialy in smaller towns:

" Uncle ne gaadi kharida".

That's it. The statement completes. No questions asked about model.

That is a given. It has to be a M800. Only question asked:
"Kaunsa colour hain?"

That was the impact this car had. Its a legend in its own right!!

[Leoshashi]

Originally Posted by saket77

Great Shashi. Amazing FE you two clocked together. Looks like you have gone for a minor facelift of your car since we met last. BTW, which road is in the pictures?
Wishing you great miles ahead.

Regards.

Just the chrome touch to front grille, inspired by Ciaz. It was a DIY.
The road in pics is the Ring road, approached from Hatia side.

Regards
Shashi

[Kumar R]

Originally Posted by directinjection

Congrats for owning the classic! Try changing the carburettor to improve FE. Doesn't cost much!

Is your vehicle registration is still valid? As per my understanding, private car registration can be maintained for 5 more years after the first 15, subject to vehicle inspection & fitness. What's the scene like in Kolkata? Ever faced any issues?

Thanks, and yes..a carb change is on the long list of bits and pieces earmarked for replacement. I've invited two mechanics to come have a look and survey the car for a price estimate. But if that takes time I might get the carb change sooner. To be honest that figure of 10 is quite old - it may be better but my father is paranoid about fuel theft and as a result we keep only about Rs 500 worth of petrol in the tank at any given time - makes it difficult to calculate FE.

The registration is valid till 2017. My father recollects that the original registration issued in 1986 was valid for 20 years and it was renewed twice for 5 years each, both times in Kolkata. As far as he remembers there was no trouble with renewals but there's some worry about the 2017 renewal.

[Leoshashi]

Originally Posted by directinjection

Try changing the carburettor to improve FE. Doesn't cost much!

Also get the accelerator cable checked/replaced. This is one factor which brought the mileage of my car from 15's to 26.88kmpl. I suffered a lot for about a year due to sticky accelerator cable, and the fact that this being a 5 speed car, which is quite rare and its parts are even rarer!!!

Originally Posted by arnabchak

Amazing FE Shashi.


I remember the importance of this car especialy in smaller towns:

" Uncle ne gaadi kharida".

That's it. The statement completes. No questions asked about model.

That is a given. It has to be a M800. Only question asked:
"Kaunsa colour hain?"

That was the impact this car had. Its a legend in its own right!!

You made me nostalgic. M800 in standard version, predominantly in red and white colour was the only car I saw everywhere while I was a child. My understanding was-Ambassador is for offices, Jeeps for Mines, Premier Padmini for old uncles and M800 for families!! And if by chance anybody happened to own the 1000/Esteem/Cielo, the he is a superstar. This was my definition of cars, when I was hardly 6 and the only thing I could draw back then was a car which was nothing more than 3 boxes joint together, two wheels and a beacon on top !!!
When our Golden 800 DX came home, 800 was still the default choice for cars. Cars with AC were considered a luxury in the city dad was posted then-Singrauli. But after a year, the situation changed and streets were flooded with Santros, Matiz, Indica ,Wagon-Rs and more.

Regards,
Shashi

[saket77]

Just read an awful news that the first Maruti 800 to be delivered in India to Mr. Harpal Singh in 1983, about 32 years ago, is rusting away and on the verge of disintegrating completely because of no maintenance and care.

According to the article, after the death of Mr. Harpal Singh and his wife, the car has been parked outside their house in Green Park, South Delhi. His two daughters, who also live in South Delhi with their families, are unable to maintain the car.

I fail to understand that how expensive it would be to maintain a Maruti 800, but the good thing is that probably the family wants to give away the car to Maruti for free so that it can be restored and put up for public display with Mr. Harpal Singh's name on it.

Source: http://auto.ndtv.com/news/india-s-fi...-family-756456

[volkman10]

Remembering the Iconic M800

On this day - 14th December in 1983 the Iconic Maruti800, that changed India's auto landscape forever, launched by then PM !

In an elaborate ceremony held in New Delhi on 14 December 1983, then Prime Minister Indira Gandhi handed over keys of the very first car to Mr. Harpal Singh, who won the ownership rights through a lucky draw. The original 800 was based on the Suzuki Fronte SS80, but a modernized version using the body of the second generation Alto (SB308) was presented in 1986.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maruti_800

Pic- ACI

[volkman10]

Maruti 800 remembered - 33 years ago and changing the Auto Landscape in India!





Link

[aveemashfaq]

Maruti 800 maybe dead in the eyes of the companies. But it lives and still goes strong in my mind and in my home. Here is my maruti 800.







And here is all that I have done to it.
http://www.team-bhp.com/forum/diy-do...00-budget.html

The problem now is that the car is of full demand in my locality all credits due to people who want to learn on a cheap, inexpensive car and then shift on to a bigger and most expensive new car. But since the value of the car is around 20,000 - 30,000 no one is interested in getting it refurbished well and using it as daily driver, except for the 18 year old kids who want their cars in NFS style. And they all go for second hand parts for replacement. And with no demand and ceased production, stocks of spares are slowly dying out. Except for the commonly used parts, no other parts are available. Perhaps in 5 years, even these stocks run dry and then there will be nothing left.

So sad because the car is the king of driveability, low cost maintenance and mileage. You can drive it at 30 kmph in 4th gear as well without engine knocking. I regularly use Maruti 800 for commute and I get 21 kmpl in city and 25 kmpl on highway. Service bills do not go into 5 digits ever even if there were a major replacement. Insurance cost for me is 2500rs. No other car can even dare to reach this kind of loyalty to owners.

The irony is that maruti 800 was launched as a cheap car for the masses and even during it's death, it remained as the cheap car for the masses. Despite the fight put up by Alto or Nano or Eon, they could not reach the same level so convincingly as 800 did. It is a legend in it's own rights.

[Williams_f1]

Hi,

Great to see some well maintained 800s here, we have a white '99 model at home done just 35k KM till date, the car is very dear to us and will hold on to it for a long long time.

Is the spare parts issue common to all 800s or specific to the pre '98 models?

For us, we faced a problem with the Fuel indicator, it was difficult to find a new one, finally my mechanic managed to fix the current one itself.

With age something or the other keeps failings though not very often and often very cheap so it is not a problem.

The fun part is with the compact dimensions, direct steering, peppy engine and being cheap on the pocket it is perfect and if you speak to my mech who has been working on 800s for 30 odd years, he will convince you that it is perfect and there is no need to upgrade to any other car!

Thanks.

[Aroy]

I feel the same legacy has carried over to my Alto K10. Slightly peppier engine and rear coil springs make the ride smoother, every thing else remains the same - cheap to maintain and rarely requires attention.