The 'Tempest' Comes home - My White Avventura 1.3 Emotion DI!!

Introduction:

My 2014 Fiat Avventura 1.3 Emotion DI arrived home on 13-Nov-2014 and was first Avventura delivered by KHT Fiat Caffe, Domlur. I am going to walk you through the initial ownership report of the Tempest.

Prelude:

It was September 2014 , i had sold of my red Chevy beat 1.0 LS tcdi and was in all set to move out of Bangalore. Destiny, however had other plans for me and my proposed move back to Delhi did not materialize (due to personal reasons) and i was stuck in Bangalore for some more time, and most importantly without a personal vehicle. Thus began my quest for a new ride which eventually concluded at Fiat Avventura.

The Car Hunt:

The requirements considered were:
1- Good solid build quality
2- Good handling, should not give a boat like feeling
3- Responsive steering, should feel connected to terrain
4- Should have driver's seat height adjustment as i am only 5'6"
5- A good AC and a proven engine
6- Should have Airbags (atleast 2), ABS and EBS
7- A new launch was prefered for the sake of novelty factor
8- Should not exceed 10L OTR Bangalore

With all these factors in mind, a test drive was taken for following cars:
A- Hyundai Elite i20: Good looking from rear, good space and loads of gadgets. The ride is improved over previous gen i20 and very refined diesel mill. The steering, however, didn't felt like an improvement. Build quality is good but still a notch below Europeans.Was impressed and kept it open as an option.

B- Volkswagen Polo TDI 1.5: Classic and timeless design. A well rounded hatchback with a solid build quality. Availability of Airbags across variants impressed. Ride is far better than older 1.2 TDI. One of the best looking steering wheels in the segment. One of my friend suggested against it as he owns a polo TDI and asked me to take a look at Fiat Punto EVO or Avventura.

C- Fiat Punto EVO: Was instantaneously bowled over by its looks. The black interiors of 90 HP suited it better than the interiors of 75 HP. Took a TD of both and found 90 HP lacking in city driving. Had made up my mind to go with Emotion 75 HP when SA offered me a drive of Avventura.

D- Fiat Avventura: Took the car for a longish TD. The suspension is one of the most sorted out for a car of this height. Felt better to drive in comparison to 90 hp Punto. Very low level of NVH in cabin. Throughly enjoyed my TD of 30+ KMS. and when the drive finished, i had made up my mind to book Avventura.


The Booking Process:

The variants considered were Dynamic 1.3 and Emotion 1.3. Dynamic however had no airbags and hence was eventually dropped out of contention. Family wanted a White shade where as i wanted Bronzo Tan. After much discussion, Vocal white was finalized and i checked with SA Prasad at Fiat Caffe. He informed that one White car is arriving in couple of days.

Took a written quote. The Total price quoted was 10,23,664 OTR. The breakup is as below:
EX Showroom Price: 8,37,245
Insurance : 31,033
Road Tax : 1,30,108
Handling Chgs : 8,000
RSA : 3,500
Ex Warranty : 11,278
Std. Fitment : 2,500

After some negotiations, the SA revised the Insurance quote to 24990 for a bumper to Bumper and agreed to give a discount of 12k including a corporate discount of 3k. Final figure quoted was 10,02,000 INR along with Usual accessories like foot mat, mud flaps and parking sensors. I needed a reverse parking camera but didn't manage to squeeze it in. Had to pay from my pocket to get it fitted.

Checked with my buddy who does the Insurance for United India and he gave me a quote of 20K for a bumper to bumper and a 20% NCB on my previous policy. Decided to go with them for Insurance.

Called up SA Prasad on 5th November and paid a booking amount of 25000 INR for the White Avventura. The vehicle arrived the very next day and i did a PDI. The remaining amount was paid on 10th Nov, Monday by a Bank Transfer and delivery was scheduled for Thursday 13th Nov.

The Delivery Day:

It was raining on 13th and SA kept me updated through phone on status of my delivery. Finally, went to showroom to take delivery at 5:00 PM. The SA, Prasad, walked me through a demo of car for around 30 mins and patiently answered all my queries. I asked the car to be cleaned once again and he promptly obliged. Finally at 6:30 PM, i took the delivery. The customary coconut braking was done and car was driven over 4 lemons as a ritual. From the showroom, the car was taken straight to Temple for Pooja and then visit to Petrol bunk for refueling.

And on the rainy day of Nov 13, 2014 "The Tempest" reached it's home at around 9:30 PM at Night!!!

--- Double Post Merged, Nov 27, 2014 ---

Some Pics taken on delivery Day:

 

Hey rahul,

let me be the first to congratulate your beloved Ride.

white is very good color,only matured buyer buys white,others seduced by flashy colors and suffer later to maintain it.

10.23 OTR reflects exorbidant tax in KA

 

1 Week/400 KMS Update:

Observed an issue with cold start in the morning, the Low engine oil pressure message would pop up and after shutting down the engine, it will only re appear next morning. Reported the issue to Fiat Service and they couldn't find anything. Cleaned oil pressure sensor and asked me to retest the issue next day. The fix didn't help and the issue was still there.

The Service Manager emailed the problem to Fiat along with a video of problem that i had recorded. 3 days later, got a call from service center that Fiat has dispatched engineers to fix the issue and they wanted me to leave the vehicle overnight during weekend. I was down with Dengue and requested service manager to arrange for vehicle pickup. He obliged and vehicle was picked from my place last Sunday. Tuesday morning, again got a call that the issue has been fixed and the vehicle was delivered to my place in the evening. I haven't taken a drive since then, however, my cousin has tested the issue and it seems to have gone completely. Also, as per him, the low end drive-ability has further improved since the oil pressure issue has been fixed.

I am happy that Fiat has taken a note of my complaint and fixed the issue without much delay.

 

Congratulations Rahul !!

 

@Ravi It does deserve a photo session. Since i am not keeping well for sometime, will definitely take it out for a photo shoot once i recover fully.

I don't have VIN number handy right now, but will try to share it by evening.

 

Finally here it is ! The Avvy! Hearty congrats Rahul. Wish you tons of happy miles with the new beast. Yes, we do need more pics Wish you speedy recovery. Happy & safe motoring

 

@Rahul Singh

Heartiest congratulations on the Avventura. The first ownership report on the forum. Pls do justice to the ownership thread by posting a lot more pics of the Tempest.

I seriously hope you didnt pay the handling charges. Also what does standard fitment consists of?

Get well soon buddy, theres a lot of driving to be done and be ready to receive some jaw dropping stares. Happy mile crunching and drive safely.

 

Congratulations dear.. this is the first Avventura review I read on tfi.. Enjoyed it.

Happy revving!

 

@ghodlur : Nope, i didn't pay handling charges. The discount that was offered to me consisted of waving the standard fitment and handling charges along with Corporate discount. Standard fitment as explained to me consists of OEM Mats, OEM MudFlaps and similar things. Although i am yet to get th emad flaps installed as they were not in stock at time of delivery.

--- Double Post Merged, Nov 27, 2014 ---

@punto_emotion : There will be loads of pics of tempest, i am itching to get out of bed and take it to some scenic location to get the pics shot, but alas, this will have to wait for another few days