Maruti 800 5 gears. Review on Maruti Suzuki 800

We bought a Maruti 800 through True Value showroom which belongs to the Popular group. We were planning to buy a the 4 geared vehicle which was priced @ 150000 and changed the decision when we saw this 5 geared vehicle.

Since this was our first car we thought 1 extra gear meant extra advantage!! It was priced as 180000. There was a delay in the delivery since they claimed that they will refurbishing the car. We were offered 3 free services and a guarantee for 1 year. We thought that this justifies the additional cost which we could have saved if we had bought the car through outsiders.

The car went really smooth within the city. Days rolled and we had planned to take the car to our native place which is around 200 kms away from the city. We were excited since it was our first car and we drove it ourself. The drive was smooth until we crossed the city limits. After crossing the city limits we increased the speed and touched 80kmph, after a few minutes of drive we heard a rattling noise from the engine, we stopped the car and checked everything, we couldn't find anything odd, since we were novice when it comes to maintenance. We again started the journey and after few minutes the engine started heating up, we suspected the oil level and poured engine oil (for which we had to walk few kilometers). After filling the oil we restarted the journey and this time we didn't accelerate much, even then the engine started heating. We went to local mechanic who said there is no coolant in the vehicle and we filled the coolant and thanked the mechanic and started the journey. Alas we had the same problem again, we had to call the maruti helpline and they assured to come and check the vehicle, but were few hours away from us. We had to end the journey in the middle and take the bus since the Maruti people towed the vehicle back.

Later they said the cooling fan's fuse had to be replaced. After that, we were using the car within the city and never had the heating issue, but whenever we went out of the city the car broke down and we had to run searching for the authorised service stations.

The main drawback is that the 5 geared vehicle had more of electronic functions. One local mechanic said that the 5 geared model was a failure model and is sold only by the true value outlets. The Maruti people had tested the engine before launching the Alto and made the necessary changes while launching the Alto.

Many of my friends are using the 4 geared vehicle and do not have complaints.If any of you are planning to go for a second hand car never go for the 5 geared version of Maruti 800.