[ash22]

WOW!
Congrats on owning the pocket rocket. The Free-Flow-Exhaust is cool.
Can you share your experience on installing the exhaust, cost involved?

I'm planning for a new car and with that decision, My current Alto will be my project car and installing FFE is on the cards.

[Night_Fury]

I hate the fact that they changed the interior colour. Mine is 2002 5 speed. Still going strong.


and I certainly would love to get a free flow exhaust but getting one in Kerala is inviting trouble

[KiloAlpha]

Originally Posted by blackwasp

...
I got my 2006 Maruti 800 on 9th Feb 2019. Here's my experience of the wonderful ownership of this small yet amazing car.
...

Congrats on getting what could be the perfect beater car home. I had one question - in you pictures of the dashboard, I noticed a fog lamp switch. It looked like an OEM switch, which fit perfectly in the slot and had a tell-tale. However, did not notice any fog lights, front or back. What is this switch used for? Did the previous owner install it, and if so, what does it operate?

[WhiteSierra]

WOW! This is a great buy for 50 K INR. Is the vehicle repainted or still on factory color? It looks brand new. Just get the interior cleaning (dashboard, door pads) and interior done (Seat covers and Vinyl flooring) and it will be good for another 5 years. I guess you can even fix a power steering pump source from a scrap yard for cheap! You could have even got a Maruti Zen with 5th gear and PS for 20K more in 2nd hand market! We have a beater car too, a pre-owned 2012 Wagon R LXI CNG, I posted regarding the same here. (Maruti WagonR CNG 3 lakh sales up!) It is absolute value for money and cheap to run and maintain for daily city use.

I'm looking forward for LeoShashi's reply in this thread, he will be happy and thrilled on seeing this for sure. His thread about his Golden Goose (The love of my life - A 2000 Maruti 800 DX 5-Speed. EDIT: Gets export model features on Pg 27) is an ultimate testament for maintaining a Maruti 800 in pristine condition. Wish you many beater but not broken miles on your M 800.

That free flow exhaust sound is sweet, I loved it!

[Cooltronics]

Wow ! Such a neat car
What you have got is an automobile marvel - one cannot stop praising and appreciating the Japs for what they offered in such a small space with unlimited practicality.

What is even better for you is that every single part is available at MGP and that too not too heavy on pocket - be it the full seats set, plastic trim set near foot well around the car, door pads, steering, lamps & of-course the mechanical components.
They wont last long so grab them and secure for your future

Parting with a latest pic of our 34 year old "winter car" !

[blackwasp]

Originally Posted by KiloAlpha

Congrats on getting what could be the perfect beater car home. I had one question - in you pictures of the dashboard, I noticed a fog lamp switch. It looked like an OEM switch, which fit perfectly in the slot and had a tell-tale. However, did not notice any fog lights, front or back. What is this switch used for? Did the previous owner install it, and if so, what does it operate?

I added some square yellow fog lamps. Sadly a taxi guy reversed into me when parked and damaged them. So had to change the bumper. Planning to get something similar done soon. You can read about it here.

[GrandTourer]

That exhaust brought back memories of NFS Underground 2 somehow. Amazing little pocket rocket.

One thing that I noticed: When a Maruti 800 could provide an INT setting for the wipers way back then, why couldn't Hyundai provide it on the Eon? It was always an annoyance in the Eon. That and night and day setting for IRVM being absent.
Sorry for the OT post.

[camaroZL1]

Congratulations, Blackwasp!

Such a beautiful joy to see, and that freeflow is just the icing on the cake. So, I managed to restore (resto-modded?) my Dad's 800 which we've owned since '98, but was idle since '09.

Managed to make it my daily since the past 2 weeks and it's so amazing to see that there are a few more like us trying to restore these cars.

Attaching my start-up video, because couldn't stop myself.

[Sudeep_Kimster]

Those fog lamps look dope.

I had my share of owning the Icon. Drove it 3years in Chennai.
Did many Chennai - Bengaluru trips.

But the memory that remains etched with it. has to be the 1330kms non stop drive I did from Chennai - Bhubaneswar (door-door).
An Epic 19.5 hour journey, non-stop (barring food breaks). Cleared my doubts what this tiny little car can do.

And as you rightly said this is an excellent city car, will waggle its tail around bumper to bumper traffic, and still come out unscathed.

Adding a few pics.

[UP!!!!]

This bring back so many memories of childhood.

We owned a Maruti 800 between 1999-2009. It was first car in the family with music player and before any drive, it was a big task to select the cassettes that will be played during journey.

PS - Loved the exhaust sound in the tunnel.

[sumeethaldankar]

Thats a nice buy. I plan to retire with a electric 800 ( in the distant future) one day. Your review brought back memories of my long held 800. I had a free flow too on my 800 till the cops chased me down and I had to part ways with the loud sound of the exhaust system. If possible get rid of the large end can as it will be a cop magnet in Mumbai. You could continue with the rest of the components though.

[ganesc]

Wow, awesome little car. This proves that a car need not be so powerful to be desirable.
Looks good and neat for its age. Tata Nano doesn't age this well.

I have never owned one but had driven many times and thoroughly enjoyed it. I wish they had left the interior black.

I was one among those who thought of getting a new one and storing it (when it was about to be discontinued) but never got to do it. I think it was only 2.6 or so lacs on-road when discontinued?

I always wanted to collect a nice piece 800, Omni, Nano along-with some other cars.
O.T: Wish Nano had a better sounding engine though. Can't they just get the 800 engine shoehorned into it?

Even now, looking for one but don't get this cheap down south. True-value/Olx always quotes over a 1.2 lacs for < 2007 for very bad examples.

[rulerofsun]

Got my DL on this car. So this is special. Thank you for the wonderful post. I never bought the 800 but I did buy the jelly bean Zen before the nomenclature of ZXI etc. came up.

[Kosfactor]

Originally Posted by ganesc

I always wanted to collect a nice piece 800, Omni, Nano along-with some other cars.
O.T: Wish Nano had a better sounding engine though. Can't they just get the 800 engine shoehorned into it?

Mk1 Omni, M800 up to '95 are good collectors items, dont come cheap at all these days. Tata fixed the sound in the GenX manual transmission models, I always wondered how it would sound with an acrapoXXch end can.

[varun560061]

Originally Posted by blackwasp

I got my 2006 Maruti 800 on 9th Feb 2019. Here's my experience of the wonderful ownership of this small yet amazing car.

Congrats on the buy. Looks very neat for its age!

As an 800 owner, I do experience whatever you have written

One must upgrade a booster for the brakes, it will help in improving the braking multiple folds. Doesn't cost too much (approx. 5k).

And if you plan to keep the car for long, it's time to stock the parts. When I was resorting my car a few months ago, I experienced difficulty in finding many parts. Try to get plastic/ cosmetic parts in stock (they won't cost much either, just some space).

Happy motoring !! I will be following this page..