[IQBAL VEERJI]

Today at about 4.00 PM my Linea Emotion had a serious problem .
The engine was firing and car was OK but when I moved the car in first gear the car was moving but there was indication on LCD display CHECK ENGINE and engine malfunction yellow light came ON along with continouse buzzer sounding.
The car is 19 months old and I have extended warrantty ,tottally valid for 5 yrs.(according to my brothers son).
I called ON ROAD SERVICE and they said car will be taken to WORLI work shop on a flat bed truck , which will be there in 40 mints.

The truck did arrive and the car was loaded on it, and off we went to worli workshop.
At worli work shop it was 7 PM when I reached ,they immediately prepared the job card and asked about any thing else apart from this heating and engine check signal .
The left head light had moisture in it due to heavy rains,I told them about it,Then there was THUD noise, he said it will be taken care of.
Tomorrow he will inform me about what the problem is and when will I get my car back..
Posting some photos of car on and off the flat bed truck. All this for free ,no charges to me ....Wke up others brand cars and see if they can compare with them........THIS IS CALLED SERVICE MAN

[anupam00]

Agreed there might be a problem,

but the bottom line is Customer is cared for!!!

Keep it up Fiat.

Thanks & Regards
Anupam

[flycatcher]

Once I had a flat tyre on my Punto. I tried replacing punctured tyre with the spare but I couldnt remove the tyre as the nuts were very tight. I called up the road side assistance they came in about 20 minutes to my house replaced the stepney for free and left. The guy who came did not even take a tip from me. Had I told puncture at the time of calling the road assistance they would have arranged for that as well.

Kudos to FIAT!

[IQBAL VEERJI]

Originally Posted by anupam00

Agreed there might be a problem,

but the bottom line is Customer is cared for!!!

Keep it up Fiat.

Thanks & Regards
Anupam

Yes sir FIAT deserve this and also......others must follow them instead of thinking and asking the customer to do whatever and bring the broken down car to W/S on his expences of TOWING or TWO TRUCK.

[kaush666]

The after sales of FIAT India still continue to be a mixed bag. I haven't had a pleasant experience with them yet. I guess it depends upon dealers and the cities or stuff. But I've had totally bitter experiences in my 3 months of ownership. They haven't bothered to replace the AC belt which makes a squealing sound once the A/C is switched on or once the vehicle crossed 2.5k rpm. Every time I report the issue they examine the vehicle and they say the will replace it in the first service. I don't understand how a new vehicle could develop such an issue within the first couple of days of ownership. Seriously, how long would it take to order the part and replace it? A week or two AT THE MOST! They have been dodging me for the past 3 months and no luck yet. An email to Mangesh Kodalkar dind't help either. With the first service coming up next week lets wait and watch what they do. Till now my experience has been nothing short of frustrating. With horror stories of TATA-FIAT A.S.S lurking around FIAT has a big job on their hands. They must look into A.S.S if they want to pick up numbers. Lets wait and watch.

Cheers,
Kaushik

[Speed Pujari]

Re: Is a FIAT worth it ? With regard to the after sales service and customer care
@nikhil- to be very honest my answer is FIAT India is not worth it.

Fiat cars are good in terms of-
1. Handling.
2. Metal build quality (best in the class at least).

The only advantage with Fiat is that it is niche in the above two mentioned pointers.
BUT
They terribly wrong in everything else. I recommend Fiat to anyone if I am sure that he is not going to complain about the niggling issues and can grease his hands. But never recommend to one's whom you know that nothing is going to satisfy them other than Maruti/Hyundai.

For you the confusion is big and seeing the offer these days it is even worse.

you need to see what you want. The demerits-

1. MS- Bad build quality, poor handling. 'Bahut deti hai' attitude.
2. Hyundai- Same as above
3. Honda- Buy Silver without diamond carving at a price of Platinum. Lacks handling.
4. Skoda- Bad after sales, horror stories.
5. Fiat- A pinch of issues from all of above in addition to ahem!. you know.
6. Ford- Expensive A.S.S, but near fiat like handling in fiesta.
7. VW- Hell lot of confusion. They do not have their statistcal data ready to decide on the extended warranty figure. Issue list is a hybrid of Fiat and Honda.
8. Toyota- lacks that punch, 'pay more get more' , boring.

Now tell me what will you buy? None of them is 'Doodh ka dhula'.

But with Fiat I should say better to maintain distance if you are not an enthusiast.

[Ragul]

Well, I postponed my car purchase by a few years because I could not like any other car - except a FIAT Palio Stile maybe. But the horror stories on TBHP kept me off it (apart from suspicions about the fuel economy being in the 9kmpl range). I was looking at the 1.6ltr. Finally when I took the plunge, it was a Gypsy. If I had read or heard any reliable stories at the last minute about TASS service and FIAT quality improving, I would very likely have gone for a Stile.

FIAT certainly lost a customer in me due to their poor reputation in the market. I still admire every Stile that I see parked when I cross them on the streets.

--Ragul

[oxyzen]

Interesting quote!

Originally Posted by Speed Pujari

1. MS- Bad build quality, poor handling. 'Bahut deti hai' attitude.
2. Hyundai- Same as above
3. Honda- Buy Silver without diamond carving at a price of Platinum. Lacks handling.
4. Skoda- Bad after sales, horror stories.
5. Fiat- A pinch of issues from all of above in addition to ahem!. you know.
6. Ford- Expensive A.S.S, but near fiat like handling in fiesta.
7. VW- Hell lot of confusion. They do not have their statistcal data ready to decide on the extended warranty figure. Issue list is a hybrid of Fiat and Honda.
8. Toyota- lacks that punch, 'pay more get more' , boring.

1. Built quality is bad I agree but there are cars that are good handlers. Swift & Astar. Save the Kizashi. Infact, Alto & SX4 are also not bad when it comes to Handling. Not to forget the Old Zen & Esteem as well.
2. Built is bad? It is not that bad. Infact look at the interior built quality of I10/I20. Best in segment by a Margin. Handling- Definitely they need to gear up.
3. Honda overpriced. Absolutely yes. No second thoughts. Handling is still acceptable but not Bad.
4. I hope they are atleast trying to improve.
5. Fiat niggling issues, tell me about it. Changed master cylinder, slave cylinder, clutch plate only to find the new master cylinder is still defective. Next day horn stops working. Next day engine not warming up. Thermostat leaking.
6. Ford- Add to that quality issues and poor resale. And plethora of limited editions. Now overpriced NFS too.
7. VW- They dont even know that they dont have a Diesel AT. (read somewhere in the forum). I was offered Vento 1.6 after I asked for a DSG one. They dont know the difference between DSG and traditional slushbox (Vento AT). They said both are AT.
8. Boring definitely. Now they have 2 type of cars. First one offers decent quality at an exorbitant price (ALTIS). The second one comes with horrible quality but at a reasonable price. (ETIOS/LIVA).

Left out GM huh?
Lacks Handling. and somehow manages to goof things up. In beat the rear is made highly claustrophobic. The cruze inspite of being such a big car seriously lacks space.And all the better cars failed miserably. (Magnum and Captiva). Ironic.

[devil_angel]

I have the Fiat Palio 1.3 MJD diesel as one of my options to buy a used car. But reading some of the comments in this thread makes me reconsider this seriously. Is it not worth buying pre-owned? I'm an avid car lover but it will be my first car, so I don't want to be filled with niggles from a troublesome car.

[vinit.merchant]

Originally Posted by devil_angel

I have the Fiat Palio 1.3 MJD diesel as one of my options to buy a used car. But reading some of the comments in this thread makes me reconsider this seriously. Is it not worth buying pre-owned? I'm an avid car lover but it will be my first car, so I don't want to be filled with niggles from a troublesome car.

Your first car & you are only buying it because it is a diesel & (probably) is priced less than other options, think again. My advice is avoid it. I mean if you dont Love FIAT, you do not buy it.. niggling issues will always be there with the car.

[julupani]

Dont go in for the Palio. The problem with the Palio is not so much FIAT, but the fact that its too old now. Spares have always been a problem for the Palio, though its not much of an issue with the Punto and Linea.

Also, though you see this overall great treatment that FIAT gives out to its present customers, to the best of their abilities, there is a 2nd tier attitude given out to its Palio customers compared to the Punto and Linea customers.

Also, spares for the Palio will be less readily available and on the costly side I think. Though at least you wont have trouble of spares for the engine.

As a FIAT customer myself, I can tell you that FIAT customer service is more than good enough. In fact they tend to surprise you a lot, and are a lot more attentive to customer feedback or complaints than most manufacturers as they are trying hard to improve their image.

So, my point is yes to FIAT, but no to Palio. Though if you really love the Palio, which a lot of people do and with good reason, dont let it stop you from buying it. Just remember, it is a very old car with limited numbers on the road, being serviced by not the best after sales service providers out there.

Also, if you do buy the Palio, do take care of one other thing. Make sure you go to a service center who were with FIAT right through, before entering the Tata fold. These people tend to know much more about the Palio, and its eccentricities, than the Tata dealers who now sell FIAT too.

[download2live]

FIAT is worth it.
I have had my share of taking my car to different service stations to get niggles sorted out. And such has been terror that I have not yet written about the fix yet. Who knows it might fail after sometime and I have to eat my words again.

Will I buy a FIAT again?
Yes.

[torquecurve]

FIAT cars and their owners are a breed which does not believe the 'fill i, shut it, forget it' mantra. They are typically grease monkeys who like to spend time with the car, who get out of the car when they park it and look back at it to marvel at the lines at the design.
It is for people who rev up the engine just to hear the beautiful note that only a FIAT engine can make.
The ones with VVTI, VTVT etc are engines which are good but lack a certain character which FIATs have.
FIAT is a cult car brand and there are so many people who buy it just because it is a FIAT.
As for me - I have a Car with a FIAT petrol heart. The music it creates at 2200 rpm till 6500 RPM is something which I love to hear...

If you like to spend time with your love - Buy a Fiat

My Next car - A TATA or a FIAT - Two brands which are classic, old school and a cut above.

[julupani]

Well, our Fiat Punto has been a fill it-shut it-forget it car for the last 20months. No extra visits to the service people, with total service cost below 3k Rs till now, excluding the underbody paint coating which cost another 3k. A few minor niggles, rattling windows (fixed at 2nd service), minor noise from rear suspension(also solved) and 1 seat belt not retracting fully. Other than the 1 small scrape on one of the doors, the experience has been completely uneventful.

[vinay_ss]

Originally Posted by torquecurve

FIAT cars and their owners are a breed which does not believe the 'fill i, shut it, forget it' mantra. They are typically grease monkeys who like to spend time with the car, who get out of the car when they park it and look back at it to marvel at the lines at the design.
It is for people who rev up the engine just to hear the beautiful note that only a FIAT engine can make.
The ones with VVTI, VTVT etc are engines which are good but lack a certain character which FIATs have.
FIAT is a cult car brand and there are so many people who buy it just because it is a FIAT.
As for me - I have a Car with a FIAT petrol heart. The music it creates at 2200 rpm till 6500 RPM is something which I love to hear...

If you like to spend time with your love - Buy a Fiat

My Next car - A TATA or a FIAT - Two brands which are classic, old school and a cut above.

+1 to this ! i absolutely agree with your views, in terms of it not being a car for everyone. Its an indulgence and i cant think of a single day when i have parked the car and not glanced back to give it a second look.."stay there baby, i would be back soon" kind of a look. The throaty rev's of a Fiat's engine is to be experienced and get your adrenaline pumping. And then its all worth it.

Btw, i have owned a Petra, which gave me immense problems with no diagnosis for 1 year. But the communication channel with Fiat was always open. They finally asked the car to be left at a Pune dealership for the Fiat engineers from the plant to diagnose it directly. They diagnosed it to require a change in the head and did it FOC as a goodwill gesture (the bill was close to 70k with parts, labour et al), since i was going through the pain for a year, without diagnosis from their dealers in Bangalore,although car was out of warranty. As fate would have it, i picked up the car and was driving back to Bangalore and met with a head on accident, which killed the car. It was totalled.

Thereafter i have owned a Palio MJD, Adventure 1.6 and a Tjet. All of them trouble free and all of them well supported including the discontinued Adventure. Last year, my wife and me did a road trip from Bangalore to Ladakh in my Adventure. just before we left Punjab state to get into J&K, the accelarator cable snapped. I got support at short notice from a dealer and the car was ready with a cable installed in less than 4 hours. I think this was fabulous support, considering the bad A.S.S reputation that FIAT has.

All in all, i have no complaints against FIAT's service support in my last 8 years of ownership of the cars.