Saying an emotional goodbye to our wonderful Maruti 800 after 23 years

It was indeed very sad to let go of such a perfect car, one that had given us so many memories over the years.

BHPian Pulkit99 recently shared this with other enthusiasts.

Hello everyone,

My dad had a pristine 1999 Maruti 800. We have had that car with us for over 23 years. Sadly, early this year we had to sell the car.

We had been living in Shillong for over 12 years now, and it seemed like the perfect place for us. The weather was perfect, the people were great, and there was a certain calm and quietness in the place. But in 2020, my dad retired and we had planned to move to our hometown in Lucknow that year itself, but then covid happened, and we were happily stuck in Shillong.

We stayed in Shillong for another year or so before we eventually decided to move to Lucknow.

When the thought of moving came to our mind, the only problem that remained was that we could not take the car with us. There were many reasons which contributed to it.

The hardest part for my dad was to let go of the car. He always told us that he had treated and raised this car like he would raise a child and this car had reciprocated the same. It never gave us any trouble, took us to the remotest part of India, and was still going strong. It was indeed very sad to let go of such a perfect car, one that had given us so many memories over the years.

Please note that unlike other parts of India where the Maruti 800 is not in demand, in Shillong it's quite the opposite. Maruti 800 has always seen a good and healthy demand. Even the last Maruti 800 that was rolled off the factory floor was headed to Shillong. This is the reason why we decided not to put the car advertisement on any social media platform or any other platform. We only shared some pictures of the car with some close people and almost all of them were interested in the car.

One of my college teachers wanted to have a look at the car as she was considering buying it for her sister. They asked us to bring it to the Maruti workshop where the car went through a thorough inspection. The people at the shop were also quite impressed with the car, as even after so many years, the engine was working properly, the pick up of the car was quite strong and there was no sign of rust on the body panels. They came back to us and gave us a price for the car. My dad agreed to the price without even negotiating. He said that the priority for him was that the car should get a good home.

We actually had not thought that the car would be gone so soon, we thought that the car would be with us for a few more days, but when we took the car to the showroom that day and things happened so fast and in no time the car was gone. End of the day we were both sad and happy. Sad to let such a wonderful car go and happy that she had found a good home, where she would be taken care of in a way that we had taken care of.

In all the whole experience that we had with the car was just wonderful. In the 23 years of the car with us, we never had 1 breakdown of the car, the engine was never repaired for anything, the body panels were all original, the paint was all original, and only a few parts were changed / replaced over time.

Since we have shifted to Lucknow, we have been nagging our dad to get another car for himself but he said that he prefers to travel like a king now as cab operators like Ola / Uber are available at a click away.

Here's what BHPian shancz had to say about the matter:

The best way for such a well-maintained car is to find it a new home where it would be utilised the best, like in your case.

A friend had to scrap his 24-year-old M800 due to the registration renewal being too costly an affair and hence selling wasn't an option although people were very interested in purchasing the car.

Saw the pics of the scrapping and was heartbreaking to see the almost new engine components.

You guys made the right call and on time.

Although not asked, on a side note, the Ignis is a good upgrade to the M800 or the Brezza for a changeover to city+highway roles in the MSIL stable as of now.

Echo your Dad's intent on his "king" approach. Folks in my family have echoed the same sentiment post-retirement partly aided by the ever-increasing traffic chaos.

In all likelihood, the current cars we have will live their maximum legal life and will be the last cars we own.

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