my little angel:'96 m800 my first car. Well, to begin with , my little angel is a white June 1996 maruti 800 std. As such it is type 1 and carb model with factory fitted catalytic converter(bharat 1 I guess).
I bought it a week ago as a used car from Varun motors –begumpet(true value outlet) ; but this car is a non-true value vehicle ,meaning they don’t offer any warranty or free services.Thats because according to maruti only cars after 2001 are called true value vehicles( also not more than 2 ownership transfers.). a. How’s the car?
Hmm.. to put it short: for that vintage , I must admit that it has been wonderfully maintained. There are a few dents and lots of scratches on doors but inside it is as good as any 3-4 year old vehicle (read 800).Before finalizing on this , I got a mech check it and he said it is absolutely trouble free,no mechanical repairs needed. Only some denting and cosmetic work (touchups) needed, along with replacement of a tail lamp assembly(its working but broken ). The tyres are all cross-ply type and 4 tires including stepney (spare tire) are Ceat Endura. Front left tyre is a JK jetspeed mfg. date is ’96!!!
Yes, it’s the original stepney being used still. Thread on all tires is uniform and has some 7-9 mm still left on it.
Oh, btw I did not mention the odo reading- it has run 46,624km by the time I took delivery.
That’s quiet low( I mean my bike has run the same amount of km in its 4 yrs of life. So in comparison, that’s quite low.) And it is genuine mileage as I found out later.
Pictures speak more than words but as I can’t post them now (no access to gallery yet) let me give detailed description of various aspects of the vehicle: b. Interiors:
1.dash is the same as type1 800-all electricals working, no a/c(std u see). Steering wrapped by some wire type of grip.
2.Door side panels have fabric insert and all four seats also have fabric upholstery- all factory standard. It seems in later models maruti discontinued fabric upholstery and gave only vinyl seat covers; cost cutting exercise.
Rear sit is split(50:50) , it comes handy when I need to move in some luggage.Even this feature is missing in latter models(not even in 5-speed variants).
3.Carpet looks neat and under the carpets there is no rust. Infact all the drain plugs are in place. (this impressed me ). It tells something about how well the owner has maintained it. I mean even in most 5-6 yrs old 800s I have seen drain plugs removed and some rust around them. Well, can’t help people who treat this little car badly just because they get it cheap.
4.Roof is not uniform (inside lining is showing off age) and it needs refurbishing some 12 months down the line.
5. Boot is very neat, stepney is having good amount of thread left on, no signs of rust under it. c. Exterior:
Nothing to write about here, on either side ,doors have good number of scratches and small dents(noticeable). The bonnet has some 2-3 small dents . One of the tail lamp assembly is cracked (by some hit I guess) but still in place and working well. Even hatch has a shallow dent but not noticeable normally.(this one I noticed only after delivery).
d. Engine: before delivery got it checked with one mech, after delivery also got second opinion, both confirmed that its in very good condition.The battery is Lucas Endura(does anyone know if its still in production? ). Working fine now(only small key turn needed ot start) but don’t know how long will it last. All mechanicals are stock, no modifications.
Rear suspension is leaf spring as it was for type 1. e. Tires:
All have good amount of thread left but they are all cross-ply.( I will change them in an year , once I pickup driving properly).One of the tyres is ’96 model that came with the car. I think it was unused stepney untill all the tyres got changed in 2003(as per date on the other tyres).
f. Underbody:
Did not check yet, I was sure it will be good , judging from above factors. A badly maintained car will show up in one or other cases. However wheel arches seem to be healthy.
I did not give much importance to dents and scratches as I myself will be experimenting with the vehicle . I was quite impressed by the care the previous owner has taken. g. Performance: I cann’t comment on this as am not that experienced, but personally am happy as I can start from 1st gear without pumping any gas. Mech however has test-driven and said pickup is as good as it can be.
Insurance valid till next June(it’s comprehensive and with 45% NCB .
PUC is also valid till Jan end. All transfer forms signed(including insurance transfer) . So, all documents are in place.
As for the FE , am yet to check it.
h. The negatives:Not many negatives but the general things like in any used car package:
slight window pane rattles, the window winding mechanism needs lubrication – well for that matter everything in the car needs lubrication- door hinges, steering joint , gear leaver bushes, seat sliding mechanism, etc.,. This is because of the car being idle for most part of the pervious 1-2 yrs (or more). I need to do all such kind of preventive maintenance to see that every moving part is properly lubricated. Will take care of it this weekend.
There is not even a stereo installed( ofcourse, i will go for a better ICE but for the time being I mean).
Even seats have no covers, the previous owner used it just as it was , no changes everything stock.
Tires are cross ply- not a big problem as it will do for my learning period.When I take the car to higher speeds , I’ll go for better ones.(an year latter).
There are visible scratches on all doors but I don’t care; inside(under the hood and roof as well) much more beautiful. i. Buying experience:
Well, actually buying a used car itself is a risky job and that too from dealers is even more risky. But I knew( just good rapport ) one of the sales guys at varun . He is soft spoken and honest, so I trusted him. I was looking for a used car to be my first car ( am new to driving and so did not want to spoil a new car). I called up this guy to know if any true value cars are available( he give a fairly honest opinion). So, he said this is one car which needed no maintenance(other needed small / major repairs). That’s exactly what I wanted as I can’t spend much time around for hunting spares or getting it repaired often.
They allowed a test drive( mech drove it) , am satisfied with the performance.
Finished other formalities. By the time I took it home it amounted to something like 58k (including tax and other charges). They got it cleaned and provided me a person to drive it home. One advantage with buying from these true value people is that documentation will be perfect(but you have to pay a little more). k. About the previous owner: While inspecting the vehicle at varun , I saw the papers and they read 2 transfers. So , I am the third owner(legally). But , latter(after delivery) I found (in car glove box) my cars pervious service sheet(on july 2nd 2007 at varun itself). Believe me, it read a reading of 46,5XX km. That means the car has run hardly about 100 km in 4 months. I doubted if the varun guys have meddled with odo. But then I found the owners phone number in it and called up. Came to know that he is a doctor working in a pharma company and he is the sole owner of the car since ’96!!! That’s a pleasant surprise to me.
Then what about the 2 transfers in R/C? He said that initially the car was in his company’s name and later it was transferred into his name. But he was not using it much as his company has given him another car. He confirmed that odometer reading is genuine as he had not used it much.
He was reluctant to sell the car but because his family needed a bigger car they had exchanged it for another new one. He was willing to help me with another information whatever I need.
Well, after that my car seemed more precious to me. While buying a used car and you know it was well maintained previously, you will adore it more.
I have driven about 30 Km so far ( just a week and am new to driving ). A few important reasons that prompted me to buy this car:
1.Being new to driving , my brain said a strict no-no to a brand new car ; no matter how tantalizing a new car smell might be.
2.For a used car, I don’t have much time to spend for its maintenance, so low maintenance became top most priority finally( I did not realize it when I began
Search for used cars)
3.I don’t want to take a loan for used car.
4.The lower the amount I need to buy a car , that much lesser is the risk ( I mean even if I mess up with the car- I will not feel that bad then).
So, this particular angel fitted the bill perfectly. I will keep this car forever (until it dies it’s natural death), this being the first car I bought with the money I earned.
This is my first ever review on anything and hope I have put it nicely. I intend that this will be helpful to who are searching for a used car(new drivers and m800 in particular).
Last edited by Samurai : 15th December 2007 at 00:31.
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