Point taken! BNW Fiat Grande Punto 1.4 Emo PK

6/5/2010, a date that will stay etched in my memory forever. This is the day I was finally united with my gorgeous car, the Fiat Grande Punto!

This might turn out to be a long post, but, I can't write it any shorter. My love with the Punto began when it was launched India last year. I was hooked on to TeamBHP and used to extensively research on Swift, UVA, etc etc. I also used to checkout posts about the Supercar sightings in India. There was a plan to change our beloved Maruti 800 Car since a couple of years. The gem served us for 11 long years. In those 11 years, we covered just 30K kms, that's how limited our use was.

Anyways, coming back to the point, I fell for the Punto the first time I saw her. Then there was GTO's extensive review and then those heart-pulling sightings of this beautiful car on road. Trust me when I say this, everytime a Punto went by I would ogle and start shouting, "Punto Punto Punto". And my friends would say, "Haa bey, marr jaayega kya ab"!

I would religiously follow every new thread about the Punto on this forum to get an idea about the vehicle. Somehow, I made up my mind that this is the car I wan, though my parents would suggest a Wagon R or a Santro. But, I wanted to make a statement, and a pretty bold one too!

Come April 2010, we had made up our mind to dispose off our M800 due to it's incessant trouble. Though it was repairable, spending another few grands on a Car that you are eventually going to sell in a couple of months didn't make any sense. We began to try to sell off this car. A few Garage owners quoted 25K as the car was a Dec '93 model, 17 years old and in 'not so good' condition. My Dad asked me, "Start looking for a new Car. How's Wagon R and Santro?". I was flabbergasted. I told him that they were good, but I wanted something bigger. There were 2 cars in my mind, an Accent or the Punto.

The Accent was rejected right there as we had parking constraints.And apart from the looks, I was not a big fan of the Car as it was outdated and it would be difficult maneuvering the long car through A'bad's senseless traffic. So, I suggested Punto. I also told him that it was a Fiat and there was a bit of disbelief on his face.

Dad: "I've never seen that car"
Me: "Well, there are a few in A'bad, but it's not a popular choice as it's a Fiat"

The next couple of weeks, I tried looking for the Punto on every road we drove in Ahmedabad, but, there was no Punto in sight. (whenever you need them, they are nowhere in sight). Finally, I found one outside an auto accessory shop when we were returning from Church one day and I stopped so that Dad could just have a look around. It was a Dark gray Punto, Emotion variant. He liked it, but added "Do we need such a costly car?". And then, I explained him the history and the Pros of Punto. (Thanks to TBHP)

Finally, I got a go ahead from him. Off to Cargo Motors S.G. Highway, the only dealer of Punto in Ahmedabad. Here's where everything starts to go wrong. I had read about the lousy Fiat dealers on TBHP, bit it never occurred to me that I would be a testimony to this fact.

It's probably the first week of April when me and my friend, around 7.30 PM go over to Cargo Motors and it's already closing time. There were just a few cleaners. A Tata salesman took pity on us, explained a few things about the car and gave us the brochure and price list.

Next stop Planet Hyundai, as I was also remotely considering the i20. Hyundai was beaming with people. It looked like a shopping mall. There were more staff than customers. The moment we entered, a Sales executive attended us and promptly showed us the car, inside out. I was pleased, but I had shortlisted the Punto.

Next day, I go to Cargo at 7 PM, the Sales Manager Mr Kalpesh attended us. He explained about the prices and other details. When I spoke about the features and other technical aspects of the car, he offered us a deal. There was a Nov '09 BNW Punto at their other showroom on Ashram Road. He told us that he could work out some cash discounts and assured that the car is in Mint condition and we could check it out any time we liked. I agreed to take a look. The coming weekend, I went to their Ashram road showroom alongwith 2 of my Auto expert friends, Yash And Navneet. We checked out the Car. It was perfect, apart from the AC which was not exactly cooling. We mentioned it to him and checked the car inside out. Everything else was perfect.

A couple of weeks went into negotiating the cash discount on the car and finally we agreed upon 30K. During this time, I had a first hand experience of the lax and lousy attitude of the staff at Cargo motors. I felt as if they were buying the car from me. No follow-ups, no communication, every small detail was reminded by me. I called them up atleast 23 times and they called me up just once to confirm whether my Loan had cleared. That's the amazingly pathetic staff of Cargo motors, Ahmedabad. However, I had decided that I will not let go of this beautiful car just because of this morons. A few more PDIs and we were all set. I was accompanied the next time by one of our family friends who has a Transport business and was also previously a Mechanic at Fiat's workshop, long back. He was a great help!

Finance took some time as my my first loan was rejected by Axis bank, though they conducted verifications more voraciously than most of our Detective agencies. HDFC came as a boon. Through one of my friend, Danny, who is a DM there, I got a good deal and the loan was sanctioned within a couple of days.

A week before the deliver, we once again visited to check the Car as it was readied and brought to the main showroom on S.G. Highway. The car was ready. I took a testdrive. The glovebox was loosely fit, which I knew was a FEATURE of the 2009 Punto and I asked the Sales person, Mr Tushar to get it fixed. He argued that it is not defective, I told hm that I knew that it was a problem with the 2009 Punto, but I want it fixed. Period. Another minor issue was that the right indicator did not cut off itself when you straighten the steering. The LHS indicator worked perfect. That was also noted down.

Come 6th May, the D day. Me, Dad, Mom and Paulson (Family friend and Auto consultant) come to the showroom to get the Car. The M800 was given in exchange. We were quoted a value of 20K for the car and a 10K exchange bonus which was much more from what we were getting outside.

The paperwork began. A few signatures, and then comes the first problem. There was a document mentioning that we were aware that the car has no Temp Number and we are taking it on our risk. For anything that happens to the car before the Temp Reg arrives, the dealer and the Insures will not be liable. I refused to sign. I told them that if they knew before a week that I am taking the car today, why was the Temp number not arranged? They had no answer. I refused to sign on the document.

I then ask for Form 20. (I had decoded the chassis number from TBHP forums, but had failed to check the chassis number before.). The Sales Manager, Mr Dave told me that they did not have the Form 20 right now, it will available during registration. However, the chassis number was available on the invoice. I double checked and found that those buggers had been lying to me. It was actually a Sept 2009 car and not a Nov 2009 car. Though it was not a deal breaker as we had checked the car inside out, I fumed and gave him a piece of my mind. And the lame excuse he comes up with is 'I told that the car is Nov 09 model as it came to our showroom in Nov'. We had quite an alteration and I almost lost my mind. But wait, there was more.

Paulson goes on to inspect the car and calls me up. When I reach there, the RHS indicator problem has not been solved. Another problem, there are almost 7 hairline scratches on the RHS rear door. The delivery personnel explain that those are just dust marks and they will disappear after cleaning. We ask him to prove it and he gets some dust remover cream and some polish and they keep on rubbing the spot for some 15 minutes. No luck! Again, I gave them a piece of my mind. The Sales manager comes running and I tell him that I can't take the delivery of this Car. It has scratches, the problem of the indicator still persists and to top of it, the front wiper are, the black fiber has some white paint spots, minute ones. Apparently, a car was being spray painted in the workshop and my car was just next to it. Luckily, they managed to get it cleaned.

They were in a hurry to get the delivery done as they never imagined that the delivery would go awry, but I took my time. A salesgirl approached me for the customary delivery pic but I refused. I asked her to bring me the Customer Feedback form first and filled it up to my heart's content (I am not sure it will make a difference though). Footmats and Mudflaps were promised to me but the mudflaps were out of stock. The Sales Manager apologized for the problems and ensured that he will get it fixed the next time I get the car there. The AC was chilling, atleast that was done!

Hesitantly, I managed to get a delivery pic taken and we drove off at 7:15 PM from the showroom with my brand New Punto.

Till date I have always felt the urge to smile at my Car and just gawk at it's beauty. My friends call it the 'Bundo', as my mom first pronounced it with a strong Mallu accent.

It's indeed a beautiful car and I have managed to drive it below the 2500 RPM, though I always feel the urge to shoot off. The noise as the RPM needle rises is exhilarating.

I don't understand why the 2nd gear is given. It manages to do nothing.

20km/hr at 3rd and 4th gear is a boon.

The strong built cabin and the orange lit cabin at night is amazing.

Sexy alloys and fat rubbers adorn this beauty.

The rear window is very constricted. I manage to scrape the rear bumper during parking this Sunday and my heart skipped a beat.

The BlueMe comes in handy sometimes.

The Stereo is strictly average and I plan on upgrading the speakers soon.

Haven't kept a tab of the mileage yet as I am yet to fiddle with the different features.

The car is now approaching it's first service as the 3 month period is already here. Have managed to clock just about 1200 kms as yet.

Managed to get a small dent on the car side panel (bottom) just behind the front LHS wheel due to a photoshoot gone wrong! :A

You can find more details about it here: http://www.team-bhp.com/forum/test-driv ... ost1943052

Anyways, I love my car and everytime I drive it... it's just a feeling of :wow !!

I can't seem to upload the pics rite, so I guess, I will just pate these links here. The rest of the pics of our so called photoshoot are in the TeamBHP link above! :up

http://www.team-bhp.com/forum/attachmen ... k-logo.jpg

http://www.team-bhp.com/forum/attachmen ... ntedit.jpg[

 

Congrats on the ownership Tom, have a long lasting drive with your beauty. My story is almost similar to yours and my adventure started last Nov here in Bangalore. Booked Palio 1.6 with upfront 1lac adv last Nov and waited for a month only to hear they don't have stock and discontinued and it made me furious..for having dragged me a month...put off with this episode I was still following the Punto threads where ever possible...decided to get one by Feb 2010 @ Prerana but preferred different branch this time...they had Nov 09 Black version and offered 30k..but decoding the chasis # pointed out it was Oct'09 version..now I really gave up on Fiat ...yelled at those guys and took back my 50k advance...went to VW and booked a Polo in Palace cross showroom but still my heart was itching for Punto...while I waited waited waited for Polo to come, my RE Bullet expert pointed out to KHT Motors whose GM is his customer and he had contacts in ICICI too (for loan)...rushed to showroom and Feb'10 Black was available...booked Punto for the second time and started the loan process (got cleared in 5 days time)... by March, I had my Polo cancelled and acquired my Punto before April... phew..it was tiresome, night mare, frustration...and what not !! heck, every time I ignite my Punto, it just brings the smile and I've done 3k so far and loving every bit of it !!!!
I can only conclude, "not everyone can own a FIAT easily and not everyone can depart from FIAT easily" ...happy Punto-ing !!!!

 

Congratulations and best wishes, tom, on owning a Punto. Your encounter near the lake is an unforgettable experience.

You can upload the photographs here directly.

 

Wow.. that was quite some experience while taking delivery of your beauty..!
But atlast, you are smiling and that is what it is all about.
Congrats and welcome Tom

 

Thanks a lot guys. I have since then decked it up with 3M stickers Platinum series that cost me Rs. 3800. Put on some TBHP stickers and a few doorgaurds. Apart from that, the car doesn't need anything. Emo PK is that loaded. Just waiting for my first service in a couple of days. ::T

 

"Apart from that, the car doesn't need anything. Emo PK is that loaded"

U bet..I only got a lengthy USB connector cable + car cover ( 400 Rs in all) and have never spent anything more other than filling gas !

 

Ok. First service done at 1373 kms.
Experience: Worst
Dealer: Cargo Motors A'bad (S.G Highway)
Date: 12th August

Dropped my car in the morning, 10:30 AM. Left all the tools and other removable items at home. No major faults in the car. I just asked them for a check on the suspension for a slight noise, faulty number plate light and the front RHS door handle as they were a bit stiff. The service Advisor, Vraj, a teenager asked me to call for status updates during the day.

I started calling the Service center on all the phone numbers available since 1:30 PM. No response. Around 4:30 PM, after trying a lot calling the CRM, I finally called the showroom and they connected to me a receptionist at the Service Center. I asked her to enquire about the status and she told me that the CRM will call back. 1 hour later, I call in again and inform the receptionist that I haven't yrt received any update. She talks to someone in the background and tells me that the car is in Washing area and it will take almost 1.5 hrs for it to be ready.

However, I decided to drop in early owing to my previous exp with Cargo Motors. Midway, I receive a call from them that the car is ready. I reach the Service centre. The invoice is ready. I was charged just Rs 55 for the bulb replacement. I informed them that I wanted to inspect the car. A guy accompanied to me to my car. It was clean. The moment I reached near the car, one of the cleaners informed the guy Service advisor, 'Window me kuch problem he'. I was all ears. He checked the windows, the rear RHS Power window isn't functioning. Everyone around had no clue. Furthermore, a doorguard that I had stuck on the rear RHS door was missing. I was furious. :firey

I asked them for an explanation and they were looking at each other for answers. The brought in a Mechanic who removed the door panel and started working on it. He hastily got it all together and disappeared. The Power window started working. However, the glass was ill-fitted. Apparently, it was 6:30 PM, their closing time. I demanded that the Mechanic be called back. Unfortunately he had left.

I asked the SA to to call the CRM. I explained to the CRM the issue and also mentioned the door-guard to be missing. He acknowledged the window issue but brushed the Door guard issue saying that it might have come off during their wash.

He asked me to leave the car and come the next day. I didn't like the way he replied, so I walked into the showroom and complained. The Sales Manager talked to someone in the Higher-ups and they instructed the CRM to resolve all my issues. I went back to the CRM's office and fortunately, the GM was also present there. Another frustrated Vista customer was giving him a piece of his mind.

After 15 mins, he asked me what can be done. I told him that I am taking the car and I want it to be picked up, fixed and dropped back. He agreed and ensured that it will be done on Monday.

Today is Tuesday. Yest he informed that we reschedule it to today. Today, he has no workers, so he requested me to reschedule it to tomorrow. Let's wait for what happens tomorrow. :A