[JustCause]

@ harish

Your thread is the by far the most exhaustive one as far as Alto is concerned.I had been watching this thread closely since the last 2 months especially the accidental repairs that you mentioned.My Alto insurance is about to expire in about 50 days and I would like to know what Insurance company provides cover to your car (I'm currently on New India Assurance). I too service my car in DD motors Mayapuri and I agree,they need a little supervision/chiding to get the work done as per our demand.

Your travelogues have the most enticing scenery and go well with the less typed matter.

I am keen to install an ICE system and would like to know if Grey market units at Karol Bagh are any good.

I am also planning to go to KAKA this weekend for the K&N stock replacement filter(or should I?).

That Fat FFE must surely belt out FIRE when you race the engine.

Your thread is a source of inspiration to newbie modders like me.

[harishnayak]

Thanks for following my Thread and my TL. New India Assurance is good as i used it for 2 years with no problems in reimbursement at all.

the ICE in KB need to be scouted properly before you go for it.BE CAREFUL.

Go for the K&N and the FFE if you're ready to face the criticism from the NORMAL world ( as generally people comment about the FFE w/o any knowledge about it ).

Do PM me if you need more details or feel free to post it here for everyones enlightment

[Utopian]

Harish, Which car would receive better grades with respects to the transmission(gear shifts), spark or alto, considering you have both in your garage??

[harishnayak]

I think alto is better as Spark's transmission is noisy..i was aware of this even when i bought the Spark. However , if you talk about the gear know positioning and size i think spark is better positoned and convenient to use.

[harishnayak]

Since i got the bumper repaired i've been getting a squeaking sound from the right front side..this mailny comes when the car is on the lower gears. It definetely sounds like a job not well done by that guy.

Planning to get it fixed tomorrow.

[harishnayak]

Today's my cars 4th B'day..Yipee!!. The car has successfully beared the brunt since last 4 years with me.

There's nothing new that i plan to gift her today but maybe a nice Internal RVM with a broader view and Opel type head rests soon.

The car has clocked 82402 kms as of date averaging out to around 20500 kms/Year and almost 3 months in garage in total.

Looking forward to spend many more years with you girl , happy b'day once again.

[Utopian]

hey!! happy birthday Alto....hope you are having a great time with Harish.

[harishnayak]

Originally Posted by Utopian

hey!! happy birthday Alto....hope you are having a great time with Harish.

She says Yes and Thanks.

[JustCause]

Happy Birthday Harish's Saccha Humsafar.

I feel it is one of the most pampered Altos in the forum. My baby's birthday is coming in June & I am in the process of choosing an appropriate gift.

[sada]

Harish, there can be no better person than you to clarify my doubt! Since you own both Spark and Alto, what is the difference in mileage between these two cars? Also, it is a general impression that except for the mileage, Spark is the better of the two - do you agree with this? Please enlighten on the boot space between these two cars as well.

Now that I have gone ahead and booked the BS-3 Alto (delivery on May 16) after having a look at the BS-IV Alto, i have a question to you with regard to the engine overheating issues in Alto - I know of two instances where brand new Altos had overheating issues climbing uphill - as you have done 82k kms in your Alto, should I be worried about this problem?

Thanks in advance for your reply!

[harishnayak]

Originally Posted by JustCause

Happy Birthday Harish's Saccha Humsafar.

I feel it is one of the most pampered Altos in the forum. My baby's birthday is coming in June & I am in the process of choosing an appropriate gift.

Thanks for your kind words dude. I pamper it with whatever resources i have and will keep doing it till i decide to depart with her ( which i don't foresee for atleast coming 2 years.

Originally Posted by sada

Harish, there can be no better person than you to clarify my doubt! Since you own both Spark and Alto, what is the difference in mileage between these two cars? Also, it is a general impression that except for the mileage, Spark is the better of the two - do you agree with this? Please enlighten on the boot space between these two cars as well.

Now that I have gone ahead and booked the BS-3 Alto (delivery on May 16) after having a look at the BS-IV Alto, i have a question to you with regard to the engine overheating issues in Alto - I know of two instances where brand new Altos had overheating issues climbing uphill - as you have done 82k kms in your Alto, should I be worried about this problem?

Thanks in advance for your reply!

Here are the answers to your questions based on my ownership experience of both cars

Since you own both Spark and Alto, what is the difference in mileage between these two cars? - Alto with AC in city gives me upto 18.5-19 kmpl and 20-21kmpl on hwys with 2-3-4 passengers and Spark gives me 12-13kmpl with AC on in city and max 15-16 on the hwys with AC on

Also, it is a general impression that except for the mileage, Spark is the better of the two - do you agree with this? - Although this is a debatable topic but i agree with the fact that spark is AMAZING in terms of comfort , features , driveability , looks and overall feel. I'm not sure if you know that i did a cross country trip on my spark and did not feel even a IOTA of tiredeness or slackness ( http://www.team-bhp.com/forum/travel...lhi-spark.html ). Having said that besides good mileage and reliability there is nothing much that i would advocate for in a alto unless you get power windows , nice ICE ,alloys and other accessories. I've done REEEAALL long drives on alto too and it is definetely less comfortable compared to spark

Please enlighten on the boot space between these two cars as well. - For a frequent road traveller like me alto takes the cake as i feel that spark has less boot space and the dynamics don't allow you to accomodate bigger bags/suitcases.


Now that I have gone ahead and booked the BS-3 Alto (delivery on May 16) after having a look at the BS-IV Alto, i have a question to you with regard to the engine overheating issues in Alto - I know of two instances where brand new Altos had overheating issues climbing uphill - as you have done 82k kms in your Alto, should I be worried about this problem? - Congrats on your booking. I haven't heard of these issues and neither have experienced them. My car has done Manali/Rohtang thrice with AC on and 4 passengers with non stop driving on the hills for 4-5 hours.

Hope this information helps you , also looking forward for your ownership reports and pics of your new ride..Enjoy.

[harishnayak]

Here's a small photo shoot that i did yesterday morning as she wanted some attention.

The next Service is due and i'm just not getting time to get that done so thought of pleasing her this way. Although the car was dirty but thought i'll click anyways.

Hope everyone likes these pictures.

[sada]

Thanks a lot, Harish, for your detailed reply. I actually wanted to ask you these doubts before deciding on Alto, but could not as my internet was down! Now that i have got answers for my doubts, i have no regrets on booking the Alto as mileage is a very important factor for me; I don't have to worry about using the AC as and when required! I really feel sorry for those who buy bigger cars with less mileage and suffer in hot, humid conditions without switching on the AC!

I will definitely try to post my ownership report with pics - though I am a Team-BHP member since 2007, i have still not tried uploading pictures in the forum - also, more than 4 to 5 travelogues are pending!

[harishnayak]

Originally Posted by sada

Thanks a lot, Harish, for your detailed reply. I actually wanted to ask you these doubts before deciding on Alto, but could not as my internet was down! Now that i have got answers for my doubts, i have no regrets on booking the Alto as mileage is a very important factor for me; I don't have to worry about using the AC as and when required! I really feel sorry for those who buy bigger cars with less mileage and suffer in hot, humid conditions without switching on the AC!

I will definitely try to post my ownership report with pics - though I am a Team-BHP member since 2007, i have still not tried uploading pictures in the forum - also, more than 4 to 5 travelogues are pending!

Kool. Looking forward for your ownership report and the TL's .

[harishnayak]

Got the car Serviced on Monday. The car had done 82976 when i reached DD motors Maya Puri.

Last Service was done at 73000 kms in Dec'09 end. Although i had few complaints in the last service but this time it was handled very professionally an i was quite satisfied with the service.

There were no complaints in the car.it was just a regular service with all the oils and filters changed along with the coolant and the wiper cleaner liquid.

The advisor was trying to do a upsell by asking me to get the radiator flushing , engine decarbonisation , brakes cleaning etc etc but i know that these things do not add anything to the cars health.

After waiting for 3.5 hours i got the delivery of the car however a lover that i am i kept on going to the service bay to check on the proceeding to make sure that everything was being done properly and also to take a few pictures ( which is my hobby ).

My only concern were the TAR marks near the front tyres which i got during my trip to Mc leod gunj last year and they were refusing to budge from there. This time i literally had to shout at them that i wanted those marks out from my car no matter what. The poor guy ( in the pic ) spent about 30 mins extra on removing it and now the car looks spic and span. I tipped him Rs 20 for the work which would have costed me a lot of money otherwise ( which i was avoiding )

The total bill was Rs 3600 and no worries for next 10,000 kms ( hopefully ). Here are few pics that i took during the course of the waiting period there.