From buying an Accord to Getz to finally a Palio S10

[sahakar]

Just being back from the US and getting totally spoiled by driving a fantastic Toyota Avalon for last 3 years, I had made up my mind to go for a secondhand Honda Accord after getting back to Bombay.

Logic of getting an Accord was automatic gears and a powerful engine which I could CNG. Since I travel 60kms daily, had decided for sure to only go for a secondhand car whatever the temptation be for a new car.

I started TDing a few Accords in the 5 to 7 lakh range on weekends while I used a cousin's Wagon R for my daily commute.

I got pretty much used to the Wagon R and enjoyed the way I could zip in and out due to its small size. Even started enjoying the manual gears. Unfortunately (or fortunately) that started getting me thinking on giving up on getting the Accord for my daily commute.

So next I started looking for a small big car and the perfect fit being the Getz. Again did a TD on a new Getz and some old ones. Was pretty close on buying one then something came up.

My uncle was leaving for the US for a year and wanted to get rid of his Palio S10. It was a 5 year old car, average condition and he wanted a lakh rupees to get rid of it.
It got me thinking and I decided what the heck let me go for it. No issues if it turns out to be a lemon, wont lose much moolah. And so from nowhere I got myself a Palio S10. I had owned an Uno 10 years back and had enjoyed driving it.

My plan was to spend another lakh on the car including getting it CNGed and then use it for my daily commute.

The first week was good with the car. Enjoyed driving it and woah the acceleration was great. Then suddenly one morning when I tried to start the car, it wouldn't fire up. I thought I had it coming and was kicking myself for going for a 5 year old car.

So now got it towed to Anuroop and it turned out good old rats had eaten up some wiring. I had a sigh of relief but got me chastened as I didnt want this to happen to me during my commute.

Got the entire car checked and did all the following work at Anoorup and Fortune in bits

- Cleaned injectors and got them refilled
- Engine decarbonised
- Front bearings replaced
- Alternator belt replaced
- Power steering belt replaced
- Tension pulley for A/C replaced
- AC belt replaced
- Engine oil flushed and put in Castrol Magnatec as interim option. Will move to synthetic after 6 months
- Coolant flushed
- New Yokohama 185 tyres
- New windscreen and wiper blades

Following changes are pending
- Changing Air filter to Green Storm. Although debating whether I should go for this or not.
- Installing iridium spark plugs
- Installing projector headlights
- Changing speakers. Will keep the original music system as I anyway use an FM transmitter with my iPhone.
- Paint job and remove a couple of dents. Will do once the rains end.
- Getting a lamda CNG kit installed. Although I enjoy the petrol rush of this car, I think I owe it to myself to save petrol money and also reduce pollution.
- And finally after 6 months get a thorough check done once again to see if anything else needs to be replaced.

My only grouse with the Palio are the utterly rubbish brakes.
Else it a fantastic car to drive and have already done around 2000km in 3 or so weeks I have had it with a trip to Lonavala included.

I am looking for feedback on where in Mumbai between Bandra and Malad should I look at getting the paint job and CNG installation done.

[khan_sultan]

Sahakar, welcome to the S10 club. You have got yourself the best possible deal and VFM performance/drivers car at this side of 2L.

Good that you got the things that you mentioned done/rectified. S10 will pep up your daily drives like nothing.

I bought one 6 months ago and love every day of driving the S10.

BTW, I got the Green Storm done in my S10. You can read the post here and make up your mind.

Congrats again buddy.

Cheers,

[mjothi]

Congrats Sahakar. So actually its upgrade from Uno to S10 in India
You did get it at a good price I guess. Happy driving. Enjoy it.

[rudrah]

Congrats on your S10!

Btw...whats the tyre model and profile and how much did it cost you?

Cheers!
Rudrah

[Lalvaz]

Congrats on your buy! The Palio has always been a favourite on Team BHP, and you are sure to enjoy many miles of driving pleasure especially after the work you've gotten done.

Drive safe! How do you manage traffic in India after driving in the US? Any scary near misses yet?

[snaronikar]

Congrats on your buy. Thats a pretty competitive price you have got. Now if you spend around a lakh (as you have mentioned), it will become as good as new (i feel). You may keep for another couple of years and then sell it off.

[amit]

Congrats on buying a fabulous car for yourself.

Got the entire car checked and did all the following work at Anoorup

Is Anuroop still servicing Fiat cars? Where have they re-located to? I found Anuroop to be the best Fiat service center in Mumbai.

[GTO]

100 horses for a lakh rupees! Can't get more of a bargain than that. How many kms has the previous owner logged up? Pictures would be nice too.

[gods-envy]

congrats on your new car buddy
and welcome to the Palio club
the S10 is a great car, 100 horses under the hood.

The only drawback, like how you mentioned is the horrible brakes.
Maybe you can consider upgrading them in your service.

Anyways, take good care of the car and drive safe

[iceman7]

Sahakar, bro congratulations on your purchase and Welcome to the PALIO family. A S10 for a lakh is a deal.

A suggestion though, go for LPG instead of CNG. I run a Palio and have LPG fitted onto it, and its running effortlessly and hassle free. Am not sure CNG does any good to the engine, only a few cost savings.

Correct me if i am wrong, but, isn't CNG more suited for diesel vehicles.

LPG, i think is the way to go.

Also, even i am planning to get projector lamps for my ride. If you come across any, please PM me the cost.

Cheers, cheers:

[finneyp]

Congrats on your S10! Have fun!

Hope the braking improved post tyre change to Yokohama!

[PankajP]

Congrats @Sahakar.

Though I own Palio Stile 1.6, I admire Palio S10 a lot. Its just looks stunning.

Take care and drive safe

[sahakar]

Originally Posted by rudrah

Congrats on your S10!

Btw...whats the tyre model and profile and how much did it cost you?

Cheers!
Rudrah

Its Yokohama 185/R14 and cost me 13k for all the 4 tyres including wheel balancing and nitrogen. However, I was lazy to go back and refill nitrogen and hence now have normal air in it. Will put in nitrogen again when I go for a long trip.

[sahakar]

Originally Posted by Lalvaz

Congrats on your buy! The Palio has always been a favourite on Team BHP, and you are sure to enjoy many miles of driving pleasure especially after the work you've gotten done.

Drive safe! How do you manage traffic in India after driving in the US? Any scary near misses yet?

I think I have a near miss everyday. There's always a rickshaw or two wheeler popping all around or a truck wallah thinks he is a Ferrari and suddenly jumps to the fast lane on the highway when he should only be traveling on the leftmost lane.

I thought maybe keeping distance between the car in the front would help me avoid any near misses but instead I have all other car wallahs trying to get into the open space ahead of me and I nearly rear ending them.

Hence, now I realized that here too like the US traffic is in waves. U have one wave of traffic then for like 10 secs no other car following you. So I either try and stay ahead of the wave or let a wave pass me so that I have the least amount of cars around me. I do this on the highway.
On the internal roads its always bumper to bumper traffic so no issues having an accident there. I just make sure to accelerate after the car ahead of me is atleast a car length away as the Palio accelerates like crazy.

As for driving in the US, you need to very alert due to the high speeds and always stay in lane. In some respects I think driving in India is easier but chaotic. Especially as most of the cars around u are underpowered here and with a car like the palio u can easily overtake them from where ever u want to.

[sahakar]

Originally Posted by amit

Congrats on buying a fabulous car for yourself.



Is Anuroop still servicing Fiat cars? Where have they re-located to? I found Anuroop to be the best Fiat service center in Mumbai.

They have relocated to Kachpada, Malad. They are next to Spectrum motors (Maruti ***) there. By the way the owners of Spectrum and Anuroop are the same.

I even felt that even though them looked unprofessional as compared to Fortune, they did a better job.