9000 km (in 145 days) report on the palio 1.9d

[sivadas]

Very nice review creme.
Looking at the 2nd and 3rd pictures posted by you, initially I thought you are posting pictures of 2 different cars . The shade appears much darker than other pictures. Lighting conditions I suppose . May be Rudra can throw more light on this.

[typeOnegative]

Originally Posted by sivadas

Very nice review creme.
Looking at the 2nd and 3rd pictures posted by you, initially I thought you are posting pictures of 2 different cars . The shade appears much darker than other pictures. Lighting conditions I suppose . May be Rudra can throw more light on this.

I think that Hazel Grey is a two tone paint. That is why you see different shades.

[typeOnegative]

And I forgot to add - Cream is back with a spectacular bang. Nice report mate!

[cream]

yes typeO, you're right on the hazel grey colour - in the sunlight, it looks a little dull - but in the dusk and the moonlight - it has this beautiful soft glow of lavender blue - just like in the picture...

of course, i'm constantly fidgetting around with the settings of my digital slr, and these colour changes would also be due to some experimentation with settings i know nothing about - r_s...are you listening?

and typeO, i'm back - thanks also to your phone calls and keeping in touch - i guess that's what a good forum group is all about - the right connections!

[Rudra Sen]

Originally Posted by cream

r_s...are you listening?

If that's me...yes, I'm listening. I would prefer if I can get your SLR information through PM. Don't want to go off topic here.

Put your questions also...If it's me who you're addressing to

[hell_rider]

excellent report cream ....

thats a useful bunch of information for prospective palio buyers. well presented and to the point.

by the by....please update on status of your car post-jul 26 floods.

[cream]

still in the workshop - trying to get sunil jomraj's good offices to sort out the problems so that the car feels like new - otherwise, will be terribly disappointed

[hrag]

Originally Posted by cream

Maintenance:

Total maintenance cost Rs0. the mandatory oil / filter change at 7500kms cost me what it was supposed to.

That was a very nice report.

Could you please clear my doubt about the total maintenance cost? You say it is zero. Does that mean FIAT does not charge for oil change?

I know Hyundai don't charge for the oil in the warranty period. Tata does.

If you can please post the oil charges as well, I feel it would provide a better picture. Just for comparison purposes, my Indica LSi 1st service at 5000 km cost me nothing. The 2nd service at 10000 km cost me Rs. 1334 including tax and surcharge. This included charges for wheel balancing (315), oil filter (88), engine oil (460), fuel filter (289) and waste cloth (14).

[cream]

hi hrag,

fiat did charge for the oil change at 7500 kms, which cost approx rs750, but the car wash and other stuff was free of charge.

since there were no problems of non gauranteed things, like lights and stuff, the total maintenance cost has been 0.

oh yes, i did do the wheel alignment and balancing - but not from the service centre, that cost me rs450 as well, but really, that's part of the deal - you gotta pay for that, i guess.

Hyundai doesn't charge for oil in the gaurantee period - that's cool!

[aseem]

Did you get the creaking noises inside your car fixed? I find the cabin noise to be the most irritating thing and its often hard to fix.. let me know how it goes as I am experiencing the same in my Swift.

[cream]

aseem,

the creaking noises are now passe - not because they got fixed, because the car drowned in water on 26/07. waiting for it to get serviced - 25 days now...

maybe all those creaks will get washed away!

[aseem]

Sorry to hear about your car. But hoping that the noises go away. By the way how is FIAT *** dealing with your car. Heard about them giving discount.... but are they giving timely repairs as well?

[cream]

hi aseem, sorry for the delayed reply...

fiat guys at anuroop seem very courteous, but my car is in the garage since 30th july - and no work has started yet. personally, i'm not too gung ho about anuroop's service standards...

[ivor]

Hey,

Great report. I myself was very interested in Palio D, considering I do Powai to Nariman Point and back (around 60 kms) every day. Unfortunately, despite contacting one Tata-Fiat and 2 Fiat dealers (including Anuroop), I realised they just weren't interested in selling the D. Shaman (now a Tata-Fiat dealer) said they'd take at least a month to begin selling the D. Both Angad and Anuroop refused to return my calls, and when I finally insisted on speaking to someone in Anuroop, they gave me the price (around 5.28 on road), but said there was no way I could have a test drive since Fiat no longer has any Palio Ds for test drives in Bombay. That was the last straw for me and convinced me it was no longer worth pursuing Fiat.

I've since booked the Swift ZXi and for around 5.3 I am getting a car with alloys, electronic climate control, ABS, Airbags, etc.; with 3 years warranty and extendable to 5 at a modest extra payment. Fiat also told me they no longer offer an ABS option. I figured out the running costs too didn't exactly make a difference since the petrol/diesel cost diff is only 12 bucks now and is expected to further narrow. Also, since the Swift returns a city mileage of around 12, and considering the much longer warranty, the Swift seems a good bet.

Bottom line however, I may seriously considered the Palio D even though it doesn't offer a lot of what the Swift offers, and despite knowing about Fiat's terrible *** if I could have at least had a test drive. It's a pity though Fiat isn't the least interested in selling what definitely is an awesome car!

Anyways, thanks once again for the report and here's hoping that you get your issues with Fiat Service sorted out. Of course, if you wanna reduce your blood pressure and stress, you should consider moving back to Maruti or check out Hyundai's Getz, which is also a great car, but horribly pricey and lacks a lot of features as compared to the Swift. Plus of course, there's the Aveo hatch coming--heck, the future definitely sounds exciting!

- Ivor

[nevertouchme]

Hey Cream,
That was most impressive.
Great Shots too...

Tell me about the periodic oil change schedule? is it 7500KM? or 10,000KM? Guess Diesel Option na, 7500KM??

Jai