May 24, 2006 02:07 PM
26630 Views
(Updated May 24, 2006 02:07 PM)
I think that its a very expensive mistake I have ever made too.
When I first thought of buying a car, ALTO was not in my list at all.
All I had in my mind was if its Petrol Car, its Hyundai Santro, otherwise Tata Indica.
However I made a mistake of listening to others.
One of my friends suggested that I should think of either ''performance or mileage'' and but should not expect both. Also he suggested that if you are looking for a small car better go for Maruthi. What he meant was Marithi 800.
Since my dad already has a Santro, my family members suggested to go for a different car.
When I visited the maruthi showroom, I liked the good looks of Alto and good A/C and finally after 3 weeks of thinking, I finally decided to go for Alto(costly mistake). The difference between the on-road cost of Alto and Santro XL is very high, so is the value for money.
Let me list down some of the Pros and Cons
Pros
Looks Good
Better A/C than Maruthi 800.
Cons
Noise while changing the gear. You will be able to feel the gears rubbing even when you fully press the clutch.
A/C setting is bad. Makes a lot of noise that I will have to increase the volume of the audio player if I increase the fan speed. At full fan speed, you cant hear the person sitting next to you :-(.
The worst part is the rattling noise you hear from the front. Believe me, the noise is more than that of Diesal car. When I enquired about this to the Service Personnel, he said the noise is common in Alto when you drive in slow speed with a higher gear.
However you can hear the noise even when you drive at 50kmph at 4th gear, which is not slow for 4th gear.
Switch on the A/C and you hear more noise. Now-a-days I rise the audio player volume, so that I dont hear the noises.
The door opens in stages. When you open the door you can feel that it pauses at two stages. Both the front doors has this problem. Although the doors were lubricated in the first service, I could still feel the jerk when opening the doors.
Only two people can sit comfortably. If you have two more passengers, they will have to adjust in the back seat, since they will not have enough leg space.
While overtaking, I have to switch off the A/C and fully press down the accelerator. Bringing down the gear will only give you a heavy jerk.
You have to play a lot with the clutch and gear change is often required. I have not faced this problem, when I used to drive my dad's Santro. The Santro is a older model(not Xing) and Santro XING with ERLX performance is still better. While Santro is improving, why is ALTO degrading.
With all these troubles, I was convinced by the person who took feedback for the Service, to give a rating of 8. I was given a choice of only 8,9 or10. Later I realized the rating was from 1-10.
I bought the Car on Feb2006. I am planning to sell it off and go for a better car.
This time I will not rush.
