I have no idea on how to start this post properly. Let me begin saying that I have been in love with Maruti 800s since I can remember. When my family finally had the fortune to buy a car, father was hell bent on buying a Maruti DZire, rather than an Alto K10 (which I was absolutely in love with).
Fast forward to 2017, my brother (team-bhp handle nightfury) finally turned 18. Initially, the plan was to buy him a scooter, until both of us interrupted the conversation and suggested going for a Maruti 800. But we were not okay with any Maruti 800. It had to be a Type-I or Type-II 5 Speed (As most of you reading this can guess, the 5 speed mania was started by my dear friend who goes by the handle LeoShashi). If a suitable 5 speed was not found, we would fall back to a nicely maintained Type-I. We were okay with a six month period for the search because, it had to meet certain criteria. On top of being one of the above two mentioned models, it had to be properly maintained, company serviced, oil changed at regular intervals, not enthusiastically driven and not modified. We set the conditions, and both of us went back to our daily chores.
I have the problem of wasting my time on OLX, searching for cars that I love. Once the search began, the time spent on OLX increased many fold. On of those searches, I found a green Maruti 800 5 Speed, which passed the 15 years test and was still mostly in it's original paint. The seller claimed that the car was company serviced, and only 31000 km run. A message to seller showing our interest was sent without a delay, and the call was made within 15 minutes. I bombarded him with all my questions, relating to the condition of the vehicle and the interval at which the vehicle was serviced. And he answered all those questions satisfactorily. I then arranged a meeting with him the next Friday evening and said I would come to him and inspect the car personally.
One thing I must make clear to all of you is that, I am not an expert when it comes to cars and most of my knowledge is theoretical in nature. I have never owned an 800 nor my friends, let alone a 5-Speed. So I was apprehensive of my abilities to judge the car. Luckily, I had a solution in mind. I pulled up dozens of webpages on identifying cars that are in a bad condition. Then I messaged LeoShashi himself for some solid advice, and I was relieved to get an instant reply on the things that I should worry about. Combined with the knowledge selflessly shared by Shashi and the World Wide Web, I created the following checklist of things that to look out for when inspecting the car.
- Odometer alignment
- Modifications
- Interior wear
- Footwell
- Engine bay
- Battery condition
- VIN, Engine and chase No
- Cowl rust
- Body seal
- Mid cross member
- Rear cross member
- Underbody rust
- Suspension leaks
- A pillar condition
- Antenna hole rust
- Glass panels and frame
- Body
- Paint consistency
- Wheels
- Tyre wear consistency
- Cold start blue smoke
- Idle speed variation
- Engine noise
- Shifting quality
- AC
- Straight line braking
- Pulling
- Body rattle
- Suspension
- Steering wheel vibration
- Spare wheel condition
Once the list was made, I started visiting several second hand dealerships around Trivandrum to judge the general quality of second hand Maruti 800s, which were up for sale. The trips provided me with fun and confidence I never felt in several years. Some of the dealerships were clueless about what Type I and Type II were. None had 5 speed models in stock, and the 4 Speed carburetor and fuel injected models that were shown to me were in terrible condition. The engine bay and interiors looked like people held slush and grime fests inside them
. The under-bodies were literally rusting to pieces. I was so shocked by the condition of these cars that I forgot to take pics. Fantastically enough, one SA was very eager to sell me a battered 80,000 km run 4 speed Maruti 800 for Rs. 80K, all this without even a test drive.
After several lengthy days, "The" Day came and I went down to see the vehicle. After all that negative experience with those dealerships, when I finally saw the car, I was pleasantly surprised to say the least. With a lot of help from Shashi (for which I can never thank him enough), I bought the car the very next week.
Without further ado, Let me present you with the pictures