[FanaticOnWheels]

Our Palio's combinational switch conked off a few months ago, and we had made numerous calls to the dealers in and around Chennai, and not suprisingly, none of them had it. They referred some dealer in Assam who had stock, and my dad got his office guys who were based there to get it for us.

As luck would have it, the switch turned out to be a Siena fit :(. It had the headlight controls on the left and the wiper controls on the right.

Anyways, coming to the experience :

As soon as I entered the premises, I was given a slip (gate pass). Was signalled to drive on, wherein I was directed by a gentleman who asked me to park it amongst an array of other cars which were there for their own services/issues.

The gentleman came up to me, and asked me for the nature of my visit. Told him that I've got a part that I want you to fix. He then took me inside, and asked me if I had spoken with anyone earlier. I said yes, My dad spoke with your CRO Mr Shiv Sundar yesterday. He then directed me towards Mr SS, with whom I had a brief talk. Mr SS then asked for someone to come and attend to me.

The man arrived in ten minutes, we both went to the car, and I pointed the issue out. He took the combinational switch from me, asked me to remove any expensive stuff from the car, and then drove it straight into the service station.

I then went back to the lounge, which was OK. The AC was quite good, though the hall was more or less filled with cabbies. I was then called by the same gentleman, who said that the part is not the one they needed.

I was taken to the bay where the car was being worked on, and asked the mechanic to try and make atleast the headlights usable. He managed to get it done, though the switch rotates freely in its slot.

I then went to meet Mr Samuel to finish off the proceedings, and he seemed to be a nice gentleman as well. He said he would order it if I wanted the part. I said I'll ask my dad and get back. I was done there, so told him the same, and he signed on my gate pass and gave it to me. I then drove back home.

I wasn't charged a single rupee.

I think FIAT and TATA are not doing such a shoddy job after all. It was all decent, I was never made to wait. 3-4 mechanics immediately came and had a look at my car as soon as it was taken inside.

I am, however, most disappointed with FIAT for not stocking up on the Palio's spares. She is a wonderful car, and completely forgetting the Palio owners just because the Punto has become their new success is not right. There are thousands of Palio owners who need spares, and all of us cannot afford to wait for 1 month just for a switch!

I did see a couple of red lineas, one had STEALTH written on its boot, and the other one was badly rear ended. There was a dark blue coloured Petra (1.6) next to my Palio, which was being serviced as well.

Any BHPians own the above?