The People's Car???. Review on Maruti Suzuki 800

The People's Car started off as a private project by Sanjay Gandhi to provide Indians a car at a cost of about Rs. 5,000/-. Never mind that it never took off, Suzuki took it up. Result, the Maruti 800. A car that was priced 10 times as high as initially planned. A car that was definitely not the people's car. A car that drew admiring looks from almost everyone, then. Well, no one is complaining really: thousands of products were initially positioned incorrectly, and lakhs more will continue to be. Most Definitely...

The important thing is to bounce back quickly, after all! The entry of this car in the early 80s gave Indians a choice, finally. It also gave them access to contemporary automobile technology, rather than WW II technology. It also resulted in Maruti Udyog Ltd. quickly emerging as India's top car manufacturer and the Maruti 800 itself becoming ubiquitous on our roads.

From the 80s till now, the 800 has gone through quite a few re-designs: the first was a major body redesign that increased interior space quite significantly. The second change was a superficial body re-design that accomplished nothing practical (or impractical). These two re-designs were pro-actively done at a time when the 800 was right on top, with respect to market share.

The third and most recent re-design has resulted in improved suspension, supposedly better looks (although I still prefer the earlier look), MPFI and a 5th Gear! Major, isn't it? But the times were different too: the Santro and the Indica were slowly eroding into the 800's share...

What was happening here was that although the Santros and Indicas were placed at higher price points, consumers were increasingly willing to pay the few extra tens of thousands of Rupees for these cars. Kudos to Maruti for spotting this trend early enough and acting on it! Some of this vision would have done good to their Zen/ WagonR/ Alto too, though...

With all these improvements in place, the 800 is as good as new now. MPFI and 5 Gears have given the car excellent mileage, while retaining its peppy pick-up. Suspension is more suited to our kind of roads now.

As I see it, the Pros of the Maruti 800 are;

1. Wide Sales/ Service Coverage Well, this comes with every Maruti car: wherever you may be in India, there is this friendly neighbourhood Maruti-certified (!) garage...

2. Value for Money At the price you pay for the Maruti 800, you get the windshield and front Bumper alone of the Lancer. Well, maybe the rear bumper as well, I haven't checked out the latest parts prices of the Lancer anyway...

3. Low running cost Whether mileage or cost of spares, this is the fairest car on the streets.

4. Excellent Pick-up You'll be amazed at just how peppy this car is, in spite of just 800 cc engine capacity!

And the Cons of the Maruti 800 are;

1. Body Rattles The body of the Maruti is very, very light. This gives it the pick-up and great mileage. However, the body also begins to rattle within two years of purchase.

2. Poor A.C. In case you live at a place like Delhi and you drive a lot during summer in day time, forget it: this car is not meant for you. Or, just park the car in direct sunlight for 30 minutes, with the windows fully rolled up. Switch on the A.C. and try driving: you'll not get even the slightest whiff of cool air for hours afterwards! Apart from ineffective cooling where the temperature is 40+ Deg. Celsius, the A.C. also drains a lot of power from the engine. The moment you switch on the A.C. in the Maruti 800, you are in a different car: a car that crawls. Gone is the peppy pick-up, although the mileage does not drop too drastically.

3. Engine Overheating My first car was the then-ubiquitous Premier Padmini. In 1994, I got my first Maruti 800, which I drove till 1996. Then, I got my second 800, which I drove till 2000. Neither the Fiat, nor my current Santro have given me any engine overheating problems, as my two 800s did. Its also not that I maintained the 800s badly. I am personally inclined to think that the engine cooling system is rather inadequate for summers like Delhi's.

4. Uncomfortable over long hauls I had developed a continuous pain in my brake-walla leg, driving 26 Kms at a stretch everyday from Nehru Place to Gurgaon. The week after I got myself the Santro, the pain disappeared completely! No, new pains have not replaced it either!

In the final reckoning, the Maruti 800 is definitely the car for you, if: