[mail4ajo]

Originally Posted by BlackPearl

We have a 2004 alto and it is still going strong at 40 K on the original clutch.

Clutch life heavily depends on driving style and traffic conditions. But certain production batches had a genuine issue and died out prematurely. From what I heard it was acute in the 2006-2007 batch.

Originally Posted by JMaruru

yes, itz of 2001 vintage and the model is LX.

I guess you meant manual steering and not PS because LX was and is still manual steering.

[JMaruru]

Originally Posted by mail4ajo

I guess you meant manual steering and not PS because LX was and is still manual steering.

Correct. LX comes with manual steering. I would like to know, is there a way to upgrade to EPS ?

@vid6639 : Sorry, i meant manual steering.

[Heman]

Does Alto have a low warning fuel indicator?

[Technocrat]

No Alto doesn't have low fuel warning indicator.

[Dieseled]

Originally Posted by mail4ajo

I was told by a Maruti territory service manager that it even got into cars from 2006-2007. Maruti never openly accepted the fact, maybe due to fear of a recall, considering Alto happens to be the largest selling car. I suspected mine to be one of those. But after 26K+ kms of hard chennai driving, I dont have major issues with clutch except for some tightness compared to the new feeling. Squeaks and rattles is all what is bothering me.


Did Alto come with a Hydraulic PS ever?

I just sold my 2005 Jan Alto a month back , I had the exact same problem , the clutch worn out after some 25K + Kms . I discussed the same with some of my colleagues and one of them too had a similar problem so I guess its an inherent issue with the Altos.

[Heman]

I was just checking the Final Invoice (the one which has all the details of the chasis & engine numbers, the one which we get on the day of the delivery.) The amount on the Invoice is 20,000 less than the price sheet (which containes prices for all the cars, shown at the time of enquiry) they have. i.e for the Maruti Alto, I got an Invoice of 253000 (ex-showroom) and the price sheet had a price of 274000 (ex-showroom).

Does it happen at all Maruti Delaership or am I an exception ?

[Technocrat]

Well the printed price it the price without discounts. Did you get any discounts on the car? If yes then thats the reason for the difference

[Heman]

Originally Posted by Technocrat

Well the printed price it the price without discounts. Did you get any discounts on the car? If yes then thats the reason for the difference

Yes, I did get discounts worth around the same amount.

Thanks for the clarification.

[akroy]

ODO - 39117
My Insurance renewal was due on 16th Feb and I had to go to Surakshaa on 14th Feb to renew it, So decided to complete the 40K service as well. Called up Lokesh three days back and he told, its better to complete the service as you are anyway coming down.

Meanwhile Arindam (Arindamray) also wanted to accompany with his Zen (he had some GearBox related checkup due). We reached Surakshaa by 8:30AM.

All Oil changes were done (except the Engine Oil which was changed at 35K).
As usual cleaning and polishing were done to perfection. Thanks to Lokesh, my K&N filter was also cleaned (for free !!)

Total Charge = Rs 3550 (Items - 1807.29 + Tax, Labour - 1350 + tax)

NOTE: MODS PLS update to 40K service

FE Chart as follows:




Abhi

[BlackPearl]

Looking at the excel sheet it feels that the cost of service of your alto is higher than that of my baleno. Is the cost of service higher in Bangalore than Calcutta.

[akroy]

Originally Posted by BlackPearl

Looking at the excel sheet it feels that the cost of service of your alto is higher than that of my baleno. Is the cost of service higher in Bangalore than Calcutta.

Dont know BP !! only 20K and 40K service costs more. Other services cost me less than 2K. The amount is more because of additional stuffs like Brakes, Decarbs, Injector cleaners etc.
Simple service cost like Brake cleaning, Oils, B-R-A. What all is done in Alto is done in a Baleno during service. It should cost more as the quantities are more.

In some cases you are seeing higher costs because of the items not service (I bought 2 packs of Barhdal injector cleaner as well in that total (Rs660), use semi-synthetic oil, NGK spark plugs which costs more. PLus engine decarbs.)

BTW, the breakup of the 40K service is as follows (you can judge based on it):
Cost of Items
1) Balance Weights - 175.7
2) Gear Oil - 522.5
3) Coolant - 208.89
4) Brake Fluid - 266.67
5) Spark Plug(3) (NGK) - 439.83
6) Clip, FR fender lining - 9.72
7) Knob, Inside Lock - 2.28
8) Clip (MudFlap knobs) - 2.10
9) Consumables - 70.0
10) Diesel - 3.60
11) Wheel Weights - 106.0
---------------------------------
Total - 1807.29

Labour and Services
1) Paid Service - 575
2) FR-RR Brake Cleaning - 180
3) Caliper greasing - 90
4) Brake bleeding - 80
5) Wheel Balancing - 200
6) Wheel Alignment - 175
7) Emission Test - 50
8) Clutch Play adjusted - 0
----------------------------------
Total - 1350

Abhi

[BlackPearl]

The paid service is less. My 40 K paid service was 675 and yours is 575. Are they different for diferent makes or different for different for different cities. Anyway, I think the other things that you mentioned made the cost of service higher for the alto. Morover I never changed engine oil from the service center, so that cost was different. So overall I think the cost of service for the baleno is higher than alto but not by much.

[tripsme]

This thread's been a real beacon on Alto. Being an Alto owner since Nov-07, I have found a depressing issue in my car which is otherwise superb.
The car started off by giving 15.5 kmpl in city driving in Mumbai east/harbour side (wadala - Colaba) but after 1 month I got 1st free service (Sai Service Lower Parel) and the mileage slipped to 13kmpl - all at 30% AC.
SInce then I have tried to tell these ppl at every single service and still mileage remains stuck at 13-13.4kmpl - 30% AC
Highway mileage is ok - I have got 19kmpl - 21 kmpl max always
Pls help out what to do to get it back to 15-16 as I can see Alto should easily give atleast 15 and it was giving??!!!Is it possible that these ppl do some tinkering with fuel injection etc. to keep mileage low to help the engine longevity etc....???

[mail4ajo]

I have been seeing oil spills around this marked area. Is it the steering motor? Also some oil marks on the area where the suspension struts connect to the engine bay. I hear soft "thuk thuk" noise when I turn the steering at idle. Any idea what is wrong?

I have used Zak's engine bay as reference (Zak, please excuse).

[Vid6639]

Get your brake line changed. That area in red is the brake master cylinder and brake booster.

Alto has EPS i.e. electrical, so no power steering fluid.