<p>I had bought my Alto LXi in October 2007, and it has been driven more than 10k. I had chosen this car after comparing a few ones like:- a) Wagon-R (rejected because of crude gear-shift and price) b) Santro (rejected because of percieved high cost of maintenance) c) Spark (rejected because of suspect after sales support) d) Zen (rejected because its a truely horrible car) e) Indica Zeta (rejected on the basis of reviews read) I stay in western Pune, and drive my car in highway like conditions for 60% of times and 40% of times in city like conditions. Some observations about the car:- 1) With my driving pattern, I had been getting an average of 18.5 - 21 KMPL consistently (inlcuding driving with AC on) 2) Handling of the car is amazing. For its size, the car feels much more sturdy than it may look. You can depend on the car while on long trips, and on bad roads. (I had once driven it more than 700 kms without stop) 3) Never buy any accessory from the service center. Anything you get as a genuine accessory, you may get a better material outside at 1/3rd the cost. 4) The enigne noise has been quite audible since I bought. Maruti service center says that its normal, however, the enigne noise is louder than even an Maruti-800 5) Unlike popular belief, the maintenance has not been low. My three free services had already cost me over 3,500. If you insist on just paying the labour, all you get is a car-wash. (So, better pay up what they ask for, or else...) 6) Maruti service for this car is not good. I get jerks moving from second to third gear, and the rear seat squeakes when there is passanger load in the rear seat. Complaints to service center does no good, since they don't know how to get that right 7) The built in head-lights are pathetic. Don't drive around on highways with it, and a decent fitment outside. (Would cost you around Rs 800) 8) When driving in a scenario which requires you to apply brakes often, do not use AC. Apart from draining out power while picking up, or on speeds, the car breaks bhave nastily if the AC is on. 9) The car is best driven with the rear passanger seats empty. (Yeah... the lack of power beings to frustrate you if the car is fully loaded) 10) If in Pune, stay away from Sai Service if you intend to buy/service a maruti product. In a nutshell, its a nice car for a small, economy concious family. If you can stretch a bit more, i10/Santro should be it. Actually, I would strongly recommend a Santro because of its brilliant packaging and value. You may get a pre-owned almost new Santro for the price of a new Alto. I heard A-Star (with a 1 litre engine) is going to replace Alto soon... Perspective buyers better wait for that.</p>