Buying experience of Palio 1.6, about to lose a customer?

[roms]

Bad experience there. But I tell you what, go ahead with the booking. The car is worth the trouble. And, the service provided by Shaman auto is pretty good. Infact, you can safely assume that these guys will serve your car well enough throughout your car's ownership period. Atleast they've managed to keep a difficult customer like me reasonably happy for the past five years.

[Jaggu]

You wait further and will land up with additional excise duty thanks to 1.6 lit which is more than 1500 cc limit.

[architect]

Vidushak,

I am assuming you did all your research before choosing Fiat and writing out that cheque for almost 5 lakhs! If you didn't, and you are expecting an ownership experience at par with Maruti / Hyundai / any other, you are likely to be very disappointed. I hope that didn't sound rude.

Originally Posted by Jaggu

My personal opinion, take delivery but request if they can atleast take the interest on payment made and adjust it towards the price hike.

See technically any booking (even if its full amount paid), is subjected to price fluctuation (upwards or downwards). Yeah only some manufacturer/dealer will take into consideration interest amount at certain % for the money paid up, and locked up during the waiting period.

AFAIK, you have to pay the prevalent price of the car on the day your bill (or tax invoice) is made. The date of booking doesn't matter. So if you read the fine print, it would have been mentioned there.

Originally Posted by Rahulkool

i will say go for it ..... i have gone thru' all this but still when i floor the 1.6 i forget everything , if you really like the car wait a few more days for it , it will be worth the wait .....

there is some trouble with A.S.S. but the way my case was handled by the TATA after a very lousy start it was really good, i am impressed by their attitude

TATA after sales service can be quite good and caring if you escalate issues once or twice with them and give them a shouting once, as far as I have seen with my friend's Indigo.

You can go for any other car as well, as long as there is a 100 bhp hatchback with the same features for less then Rs 6 lakhs!

Regarding your specific problem, let me add that even if you wrote out a cheque for the full amount for a Swift Diesel or a Dzire or a Getz Diesel, you could still have a long wait and some missed deadlines too. I had left the Maruti showroom after I was told: "Swift Diesel, min 3-4 months, no TD car available, we get enough bookings without that!"

No bashing on that, please!

Bad B.S.S. could be because of the company, the dealer or a combination of both. If you can, figure out where the trouble is. If its with dealer, forget about him once you get the car or cancel the booking. Go to someone else.

Originally Posted by phamilyman

Calm down bro.

Your life is what you make of it. You either get pissed, or get even.

Hop over the PUG at Yahoogroup and junta will help.

PUG might help, although I suspect Messrs Virani and Kodalkar give prompt replies only to select mails and tend to give standard auto-replies to others, but no harm trying!

[1100D]

Go for it. You liked the car, you waited for it, dont punish yourself for the fault of others. Now if you have other readily available choices offering the similar characteristics as the Palio 1.6, go ahead, cancel it.

[phamilyman]

Agree to Jaggu. Most importantly, your anger would just cost you some 20-25000 now

What I think is that the dealer probably misbooked it initially, and is passing the cost of the mistake to you. That said, no time now, just take it man. and bargain there and then!

[sirajbose]

In my opinion, if you "really" liked the car, go get the car. Its the car you will be living with for the next few years, not the sales people at Tata -Fiat.

Lets face it, excellent and proactive customer service in India is still picking up and will take quite a while. E.g. In the US (year 2000), all the electricals on my Hyundai Elantra just powered off for 5 seconds within 2 weeks of buying the car. Although I could restart the car right away, I took it to the dealership the next day. They promised to go through the car with a fine tooth comb however it would take 2 full days. In the interim, they gave me a Hyundai Sonata with a full tank of gas to drive till my car was ready! Now that is customer service.

Comparitively, I had a horrible experience buying my Santro 3.5 years back, however, post that I have just loved the car and A.S.S. has been preety good - and I never needed to go back to the sales people again - well till I decided to buy the Verna - and guess what - its deja vu all over again! Guess some things never change.

[drpullockaran]

Originally Posted by phamilyman

Agree to Jaggu. Most importantly, your anger would just cost you some 20-25000 now

What I think is that the dealer probably misbooked it initially, and is passing the cost of the mistake to you. That said, no time now, just take it man. and bargain there and then!

The dealer never misbooked according to me. They never made a mistake. They just rolled your money which is the practice among many unscrupulous dealers all over India and with many car manufacturers except those that give higher interest than bank interest rates for a period crossing the normal waiting period.

If you are sure the car is a brand new piece without any transit accidents take it. Pay your neighbourhood automobile painter and take him with you if you want to be sure that the car has not been repainted. For all you know the car may have come early but was in repairs because of a transit accident. All the brand new cars that has been bought in our family has been ones where I have personally seen the unloading of the incredibly dusty car from the transport truck coming from the factory except for my GTX which I picked up from the main south India yard. The day I picked up my GTX I had a choice of choosing from 11 GTX models and 3 S10's from the yard. Colour was not an issue as I was agreeable to any colour as long as the engine fired at the first crank and was the most silent of the lot.

Yesterday was the first day that the car has been in for repairs and that too for a 20 minute job of tightening the steering damper freeplay nut. Its going to be 5 years old on June 23rd without a single mechanical fault in the intervening period except for the wiper blades. This is probably because I personally change all the fluids myself with help from my family. I still have the service coupons with me which came with the car. The least you can do is to be with your car when its being serviced upon just like you would be at the hospital premises if your child was being operated upon. I know the car is inannimate object without feelings but you never can be sure can you(kidding).

[khan_sultan]

Bad experience buddy. However here are my 2 cents:

1. Palio 1.6 is a GEM of a car. I have a S10 and am in love with it. Having said that, i dread the FIAT A.S.S even though I have had no issues so far. The apprehension is purely based on the perceptions that have been formed based on not so pleasant experiences of fellow FIAT owners.

2. What are your options if you cancel the booking? Will you buy the Dzire? That also has a waiting period of at least 2 months.

This sad experience will be soon forgotten, however the car you choose will make you relish/regret your decision everyday. So choose your car carefully. In my opinion choosing the car is not just about listening to the mind but also to the heart.

[vidushak]

I did my research before zeroing in on manufacturer, product and the dealer. So, i was mentally prepared to face hurdles, but did not realize the quantum of it given my ability to ignore, forgive and forget.

What other options do I have under 5 lac? (for great pulling power, easily carry family of 5, decent boot, pleasure to drive). Actually, I can easily afford few more lacs (on loan) and go for sedan. But, the way fuel prices are going, my idea was go for sub-5 that would be as close to sedan and use the saved money for fuel. What's the point in owning a car when you have to look at bank balance every time to drive it?

Anyway, my wifey wants to go ahead with the booking. Initially, she was very keen on sedan. Palio interior space and boot impressed her, it felt as big as a sedan.

[vidushak]

I have decided to go ahead with the deal. Thanks to all for advice and comments.

[architect]

Originally Posted by vidushak

I did my research before zeroing in on manufacturer, product and the dealer. So, i was mentally prepared to face hurdles, but did not realize the quantum of it given my ability to ignore, forgive and forget.

Everybody's said it. The unpleasant buying experiences are easily forgotten, but the car stays with you. In my case, I have an RTO registration with my name mis-spelt and the cubic capacity of the engine written as 1148 instead of 1248! It's here to stay and I simply don't have the time or energy to get it changed.

Originally Posted by vidushak

What other options do I have under 5 lac? (for great pulling power, easily carry family of 5, decent boot, pleasure to drive). Actually, I can easily afford few more lacs (on loan) and go for sedan. But, the way fuel prices are going, my idea was go for sub-5 that would be as close to sedan and use the saved money for fuel. What's the point in owning a car when you have to look at bank balance every time to drive it?

OK, but I think driving a 1.6 will be affect the pocket even more than many of the sedans. I don't think a 1.6 would give more than 10 kpl in city driving. If running cost was critical, why didn't you go for the SDX? Anyway, now that the car is there, enjoy the drive.

[aaggoswami]

Running cost of Palio 1.6 will be not that low.
Under 5-lakh, its only Swift and Getz that match your requirements.

[finneyp]

Originally Posted by aaggoswami

Running cost of Palio 1.6 will be not that low.

How can you say that? Do you own a Palio 1.6!

1.6 gives a FE of 10-11 kmpl in City and 15-16 kmpl on highways.
If he really needs a mileage car, he would have gone for Palio 1.3 MJD.

Other costs just includes routine service every 6 months - changing Engine oil, oil fiter etc.
Nothing beyond that!

Vidushak, Sorry to know abt your not-so-pleasant buying experience!
But, once you drive the 1.6 beast, you will forget all that & enjoy the sheer driving pleasure it offers!
Congrats & have fun!

[aaggoswami]

Originally Posted by finneyp

How can you say that? Do you own a Palio 1.6!

1.6 gives a FE of 10-11 kmpl in City and 15-16 kmpl on highways.

No, I dont. Driven 1.6 S10 for 165 + 165 kms X 2d asy on relatively traffic free Suarashtra highways. So I drove it 660 kms give or take 10kms. Calcultated the FE using tankful to tankful method daily. The first time it gave me approx 14 with 2 people on highway at 100-105. The next day again ti was 9 kmpl in rush( was getting late to pick guests at A'bad station and they were coming from Allahbad). Here went on to touch 170 on speedo.

Our Baleno if driven in same manner ( this includes passangers) gives 16.25-16.75 and 11-11.2 when high speed cruising.



OT :
Both of them are 1.6 engines and I would be using Baleno to compare.
Observations about 1.6 engines:
1) Palio 1.6 gearing is lower than Baleno.
2) Engine feels more responsive, but is not good in high end regions ( rpm) like Baleno.
3) Out right performance is not as good as baleno.
4) Fantastic midrange. Slightly better than baleno. I owe it to lower gearing.
5) Not good for consistent cruising at above 155-160. Top end is not that good. Baleno is better and can keep above 165 in 5th with more ease than palio 1.6.
6) Palio engine more responsive in midrange in top gear. Baleno is not as responsive in top gear in midrange.
7) I found Baleno clutch better.

The above is what I have observed and are my views. Again no hard feelings.

[arajand]

vidushak
My experiences with booking/buying the Palio 1.6 are exactly similar to yours. The people at Tata seem to have the unenviable job of lying to Fiat customers. The process becomes more painful to all parties involved when a 1.6 is in question because the customer has carried some out research or has gone through a lengthier mental process than the usual. So there is a jarring contrast between customer expectations and the same old-same old type of unimaginative replies Tata salesmen give to every question. Which I am sure must be satisfying many of their taxi stand customers (Sorry about this Tata vehicle owners - I've seen this happen many times over already)

Firstly there was the same timeframe promised. Then the usual extension by another week. Then the same further delay.

In my case too, at no point were they able to produce a transit order.

As I've already mentioned elsewhere (The 1.6. How I bought a Fiat car), a tire puncture was 'discovered' during delivery. And the next day, I discover that there is no windscreen washer fluid in the car. My toolkit doesn't have a hook (as described in the manual). I did the PDI myself, the salesman was wandering around the showroom elsewhere.

My booking woes are not yet over. There is some problem with the insurance. The dealer has promised to look into it though.

The overall feeling you get is: "There is something wrong. Why should this happen? Especially after coughing up lakhs of rupees?"

What is wrong? Why is it like this? I am unable to diagnose.

Maybe Fiat should try a Maruti-Fiat alliance.

I think you made a good decision to stick to the car.