An Ode to our Maruti Suzuki 800 at 100,000km

We bought a silver gray Maruti 800 in 2008. As I recall, it cost about 2.4 Lakhs.

12 years later it turned 100K on the odometer and this is a paen to India's first family car.

We live in a jungle village, so in order to get any supplies we drive roughly 5km of 1.5.lane roads with, until recently, some very rough spots in the surface. Our trusty steed has done this now for quite a while, without protest and little care.

As a North American, I have owned sports cars, two pickup trucks, two station wagons, one luxury car, one SUV and several motorcycles. None can compare to this trusty little squirt humming along on 3 tiny cyclinders, WITH A/C, by the way.

We have never crashed it, but of course, come close a few times. After all, this is India, the civilian rally country of the world.

The only major repairs/replacement we have done is to replace tyres, the McPherson suspension struts up front, one new radiator, just recently and a new head gasket. That is it! We change the air and oil filters regularly and we have had new upholstery installed 2 years ago. When you have a 42kg Rottweiler bouncing from one side of the car to the other to check out the scenery, it does tend to take its toll on the bench seat.

Since it was originally designed for city driving use below 800cc's to avoid the road taxes in Japan, horsepower is wishful thinking and it is most evident when you turn on the AC and you have to downshift, even on a moderate incline. 

However, Formula 1 race cars and our trusty 800 have something in common. Like the racing car, a very slight change in tyre pressure can make quite a difference in ride and handling, albeit you only sense less of a bang when hitting a small burp in the road and your vertebrae don't protest as much.

Just recently, they stopped manufacturing these little babies because nobody would allow them to be imported into their country. I wonder why? Is it the complete and utter lack of safety equipment? Although the seatbelts, if worn, will keep you in the car in a frontal impact so that you can become intimately acquainted with the looks of the motor, which will be sitting in your lap. 

Fuel efficiency in this auto is primarily defined by weight, when powered by a tiny 3 pot motor, so other practical considerations have to be ignored.

Still, I love this little car! 

It teaches you humility, because all those, comparatively monstrous, SUVs you encounter simply shoulder you aside as the runt you are. It teaches you to activate all of your senses, since that is the best anticipatory safety system you have, a physical one is not present, after all.

We went looking at a new car, mini SUV, van, etc., but not seriously. This little 3 banger will be around for quite some time, we hope, and eventually it will become our errand car and we will drive something a bit more modern. I am getting older, cataract surgery is coming up in July and I, and my back, have paid our dues. Still, it will be difficult to lessen our encounters with our well-loved, albeit somewhat painful chariot.