FIAT as I didnt find anything better!!

[nishant_kingpin]

Heres a story of how this cost conscious Diesel car buyer changed his mind to buy a more expensive, performance petrol car at a higher price.

2 Indica's and an Indigo later, I wanted to gift my brother another Indigo exchanging my current Indica in the bargain (Currently I own the Indica and Indigo both 2003 makes). My brother has his birthday on the 17th and we decided on the 16th of May to surprise him with a new car as a gift. Autolinks where we have been customers for sometime now suggested we wait for an upgraded Indigo with a CRDI engine due in sometime. This however did not really suite our requirements, we checked out the Turbo Indica but did not appreciate of the NV (Noise & Vibration) levels.

So what all did we have in the around 5 L budget to replace the Indigo LS was the question. To be frank and respecting individual opinions, I have not been a real fan of the Maruti garage and the only car that they come close to my expectations on is the Swift which too happens to be stripped. Talking about others, there are some real practical options in the market on this budget but none that excited me. That's when the thought of checking out the Palio came to my mind. Being a TATA customer since '99 also helped look in that direction with the FIAT, TATA collaboration. So we headed to A-One Motors to look at the Palio.

Earlier: The Palio 1.6 was one car that I had heard accolades from a lot of owners and believe me when I uttered the name infront of couple of office colleagues, here's the verbatim "Palio 1.6 se better car exist nahi karti is segment mein" Pardon the vernacular but it translates to "There's no car that betters the Palio 1.6 in its segment." This thought kept ringing my ears for a long time and I was out to challenge the same on a test ride.

Checked out the car and liked every bit of it. Throttle response, Comfort, Ergonomics, Aircon, ride quality etc. Details will come in a little later. Now that we had the car in our mind we thought it would be better if my brother checks it out too. This was different from an Indigo which by default would have had acceptance for it.

Now my Bro walks into the showroom, he LIKES the Yellow Palio 1.6 sitting in the showroom showing off its glory but DOESN'T WANT TO BUY it. He takes a test ride but DOESN'T WANT TO BUY it. What's wrong with this guy....He's got his eyes set on something else or what. He's stuck to buying Palio's bigger brother. What's that....He's stuck to getting Adventurous now. He drives it and is now like those heavy bulls in the middle of the road not wanting to listen or budge. Major car buying decisions like Resale and consumption figures fall on deaf ears. "If you are giving me a choice THIS IS IT, else do as you please"

Finally we got the RED DEVIL home paid Six plus and became proud owners of cadre of cars which are different from the mundane. FIAT Adventure 1.6 it is.

Now for what I felt when I had checked out the car while looking at the Palio. Great car, excellent looks I want it but....out of my budget. I kept away from it so that I don't get attracted to its high appeal. However if my neighbour had it, I would have burned in envy . Now to give you guys a feel of the vehicle. I am sure there are not too many reviews on this car so here are 2 cents of what I felt about the Adventure:

End of Story and Here's the Car..............

Looks.........

To summarize an SUV hiding within a station wagon coat. This is the department I was floored and so was my family. To share a perspective, any buyer walking into the showroom would definitely ask about the adventure. If you are buying the adventure then colour RED will be high on your wish list.

The first thing that catches your attention are the tyres. These are original factory fitted Pirelli 165/80 R 14 that come as standard on this car. (Prone to getting stolen). The tyres play a major part in enhancing the ride height by 20mm which helps its off road capabilities a great deal. From the front the four lamps two of which are integrated in the bumper and two are placed with the bull bar create the appeal. The scratch proof panel in greyish black oozes quality and injects the macho look into the car which is already complemented by the tyres.

Smooth flowing lines, thin panel gaps, strong roof rails, side steps etc complete the feeling that this car ha real good looks. Personally I felt the rear could have been a little better but now too it is better than most cars in the class.

Interiors..........

This was one are I had a mixed opinion about. Space, comfort, air conditioning are great. Rear thigh support was lower than the Indigo but was OK. Interiors give a plasticy feel however ergonomics are good. Controls are placed close for reach and the dash has been molded to be close to the driver. I am not sure why Fiat chose to separately locate the rear window operating buttons on the middle console when the front windows have them on the door.

Boot Space was massive and that was something that had to be. This is a car which is bigger than the Palio and broader too. Long wheel base increase cabin space. The shoulder room, headroom is worth a compliment too. With a 1.3 Ton Aircon I could easily feel the AC blow the heat out in seconds. This was much much faster than my Indigo I went to the showroom in.

Test Drive.........

While discussing about the Palio with a senior Tata employee he mentioned if you want cars with great quality FIAT is what you should choose. He however clarified that this did not mean that Tata cars had bad quality just that comparison wise FIAT had an edge. Yes this car rakes of quality from the word go. Be it NVH all departments it just wants to floor you down. With or without AC, I drove the car at 120 in second gear with ease. The Rev counter seems to be running to achieve the high numbers and the car responds to each blip on the accelerator.

Drove at below 20 in the third gear, the car just easily pulled up the needle with 5 men in the car...{Ranging from 75 to 90 Kgs in load }

The Adventure is expected to deliver 10 - 12 KMPL in city with easy driving and between 9 - 10 if driven by me heh he!! These numbers are known from another existing Adventure owner.

Safety..........

This is a solid car which oozes safety with the four pillar outlay, bull bars and lots of accident protections going into it. Auto fuel cut of in case of crash, fire absorbing material under the hood, locks for bonnet to avoid it getting into the wind shield, side protection apart from the solid steel cocoon you are sitting in are some worth highlighting. Interiors feel secure and that is a standard for both the Palio and the Adventure. This is the most important factor for me while deciding on a car. Probably explains Tata cars for last 7 years to a degree.

Summary..........

I remember, this car when it was launched, came with a price tag of ~8.5 L and now the same car without ABS costs 6.15 L. We also while investigating found some other facts like lowered spare costs and reduced costs being Tata prerequisites before signing the treaty with FIAT. Thus lower price tags and spare parts have become the order of the day and availability of these is no longer going to be a problem.

This was one car which attracts attention as it moves. While my brother drove back home in the new car, I followed him on the Indigo. Smiles, oogles and stares were common and some road users drove dangerously close to the vehicle trying to read the name of the manufacturer and the model. This was the feeling I term as "Priceless".

FIAT TATA alliance has taken out the A.S.S problems FIAT struggled with. To prove to customers that these cars deliver good mileage, dealers are doing fuel tests. I did not have time for anything of that sort but got my figures from other sources. In the past years, I have seen well maintained FIAT owners are amongst the happiest of the lot and the cars have low number of problems anyway.

Anyone who considers going in for the adventure should remember that this car currently has low resale value as the concept of SUV station wagons is still not understood here. The future may be different however this is that exists today. FIAT I know is to launch 2 new cars in the coming time within the same setup too but an upgraded Palio is not on cards as per the information.

Considering the positives, negatives now after about 2 days with the car I get the same feeling I bought this FIAT as I didn't find anything better!!

Note from the Team-BHP Support Staff : This topic has been moved to the appropriate section.

We thank you for your thread, and would appreciate you taking the effort to post in the correct section.

[typeOnegative]

Hey dude/moderators, this should have been in the reviews section.

Awesome choice Nishant. I missed out on buying the Adventure by a few months. Damn! :(

[jkdas]

Nice writeup and congrats on your new buy!

Pix ! PIx . wanna see how the red one looks

[himanshugoswami]

congrats!
Wish I had a brother like u

[Sush]

Originally Posted by himanshugoswami

congrats!
Wish I had a brother like u

I second that.. :-)

Its indeed a solid car.

[prabuddhadg]

Originally Posted by himanshugoswami

congrats!
Wish I had a brother like u

Just my sentiments. I await your next round of responses to the adventure.

[prkothan]

Wow!. superb review. Yes, really FIAT Adventure rocks. Lets hope FIAT can revive and bring Grande Punto, Alfa Romeo etc.

[khaadu75]

Hey , CONGRATS on a gud buy !!! Even I feel that Fiat cars are really good but its their re-sale value and after sales service ( THEY SUCK ) that rightly stops people from trusting Fiat !! Anyways u enjoy ur new ride and waiting for a detailed review on it ...

Cheers

[balenopower]

Dont have second thoughts dude...one long drive in it and u'll know wht teh car is made up of...gr8 wagon gr8 choice...pics and report pls

[nishant_kingpin]

Thanks MODs for shifting the thread to the appropriate section.

Thanks typeonegative, jkdas, himanshu, sush, prabuddhadg, prkothan, khhadu, balenopower. And yes as most of you pointed out too its an mazing car and in the right affordability segment. I am hoping the TATA allaince takes care of the Service and spares problem.

But for now I am enjoying the "Priceless" feeling of being stared, followed, envied etc. to the max . Yup pics are coming in soon!! Thanks again team.

[vivek.singh.73]

Congratulations on your buy !

I am also a great of Adventure sports but alas the sad state of affairs at Fiat last August did only to dissuade buying this car and go for Marina.

I wish I knew that tata is going to take care of ***, hopefully I will get my hands on this one sooner than latter.

All the best and pls. do post your review of owning and driving this monster as soon as you can.

Congrats again !

Vivek

[deepakhon]

Congrats on the beast. I am infact evaluating b'ween Adventure and Fusion for the mid of next year buy. I have read various reviews of both of them here. Hoping that you would add to them.

Also, looks like there are subtle differences b'ween the old Adventure and the new Adventure Sport. Do let me know if you have any information about that.

[DRC]

Congrats on your brothers' new ride.

I have to agree with everyone else, after having a first hand experience, that the Fiat resale values are very low. But that only helps you to continue to drive an excellent machine.


BTW, I faced many problems initially when I bought the car. But I never had a problem with the spares, somehow. May be I was too loud to face the problem.

[the real Big B]

Hey Boss,

Although got first-hand review from you... however, the rightup is gr8. Hope to get a ride soon on the monster.

[neoonwheels]

Great choice.... I also fell in love with this beast but had to settle down on Palio 1.2 NV Sport... In red color it looks awesome.. Post some pics very soooooooooon