[neofromcapone]

This is the ad fro the Punto, not the one with Yuvi, this ad makes you want to fall in love with the car.
I have no idea what Fiat India is thinking, play safe.But if you dont play to your strengths, who do you blame for failing.
I fell in love with the Uno, because of the ad.

Fiat, IMHO the car is great and the brand positioning of the i20 is the an example

[nurni76]

Originally Posted by jaykc78

Hi,

This is my first post here thought I have used a lot of useful information here.
I am planning to buy a diesel hatchback car and have zeroed in on 2 cars i.e

Fiat's Grande Punto Multijet and Hyundai's i20. I am confused which car to go and is expecting guidance from all of the team-bhpians.

I live in Bangalore and have a 2003 Santro now and travel 30Kms a day to my office and home. I like to travel atleast once in a month outside Bangalore for maybe around 300 KMs.

In my opinion it has to be i20. It looks better, interiors are superb compared to the poor plastics fit in Punto. The CRDi of i20 is also very powerful. Since you already have the experience of owning a santro, i20 A** will be perfect for you. Fiat's A** still leaves a lot to be desired, though they are improving fast.

[GR8NATIVE]

punto punto all the way .I was in this dilemma for about two months .loved the punto but was worried about after sales ... finally went for the punto ... I have always owned a hyundai -santro accent santa fe ...love their cars but i think punto is an entirely different beast...

[Amartya]

Originally Posted by nurni76

In my opinion it has to be i20. It looks better, interiors are superb compared to the poor plastics fit in Punto. The CRDi of i20 is also very powerful. Since you already have the experience of owning a santro, i20 A** will be perfect for you. Fiat's A** still leaves a lot to be desired, though they are improving fast.

Did you even read his requirements? Before jumping the gun about interiors and interior quality, did you read that he travels 30kms daily and that he takes the car out of Bangalore quite often?
The What Car thread is not about personal biases, it's about the best car one can recommend for the person. In this case, it is clearly the Punto.

Not a single other car in India (hatchbacks) can offer the kind of effortless mile munching with great ride and handling like the Punto. If you read SidIndica's review of his Punto's interiors, they are much improved. So the i20 makes even less sense.

jaykc78, go for the Punto 1.3MJD Emotion Pack in a colour of your choice. You won't be disappointed.

[nurni76]

Originally Posted by Amartya

Did you even read his requirements? Before jumping the gun about interiors and interior quality, did you read that he travels 30kms daily and that he takes the car out of Bangalore quite often?
The What Car thread is not about personal biases, it's about the best car one can recommend for the person. In this case, it is clearly the Punto.

Not a single other car in India (hatchbacks) can offer the kind of effortless mile munching with great ride and handling like the Punto. If you read SidIndica's review of his Punto's interiors, they are much improved. So the i20 makes even less sense.

jaykc78, go for the Punto 1.3MJD Emotion Pack in a colour of your choice. You won't be disappointed.

Yes absolutely, it is not about personal biases and I have no bias towards either of the cars. I am only sharing my experience having driven both the cars. It is also strange that you are saying about daily drive of 30kms as a point in favour of Punto. i20 is absolutely great to drive on free roads. The only thing against it is a less responsive steering compared to Punto, but Puntos engine is no match for a free road sprint to i20. Ofcourse when one travels more than 30kMs daily, interiors is what really matters. The comfort in the car is a critical parameters and i20 scores heavily over Punto including interior space. Unless budget is a constraint, Punto makes less sense. i20 Diesel is a fantastic overall package

[Amartya]

I just ate a massive slice of humble pie. Apologies for those accusations, I can see that they were not true.
Even though I would still recommend the Punto, I can see clear reasons behind your recommendation now. Let me see if I can explain why I said that the 30kms and the trip outside Banglalore were in favour of the Punto. I rate the Punto's ride and handling miles ahead of the i20, having personally driven both of them for extended periods of time. So although in terms of outright power, the i20 Crdi is better, throwing the ride and handling into the equation balances it out.

I can see your point about the interiors too, but the latest reports suggest that the interiors are significantly improved on the Punto, so while they may not be to Hyundai standards, they are no longer as that bad. So the extra money you pay for the i20 may not be justified.

Apologies once again, it's embarrassing to accuse someone of something and eventually been caught for the same offense, in this case, jumping the gun.

[sdp1975]

Originally Posted by jaykc78

Hi,

This is my first post here thought I have used a lot of useful information here.
I am planning to buy a diesel hatchback car and have zeroed in on 2 cars i.e

Fiat's Grande Punto Multijet and Hyundai's i20. I am confused which car to go and is expecting guidance from all of the team-bhpians.

I live in Bangalore and have a 2003 Santro now and travel 30Kms a day to my office and home. I like to travel atleast once in a month outside Bangalore for maybe around 300 KMs.

I drive about 30 km daily in Bangalore trafiic on my Punto. About 700 km of city + 2000 km of highway cruising per month. Quite comfortable in a Punto.

[nurni76]

Originally Posted by Amartya

Apologies once again, it's embarrassing to accuse someone of something and eventually been caught for the same offense, in this case, jumping the gun.

Absolutely no issues. After all it is this healthy debate that makes this forum what it is.

[shuvadips]

He would be driving to reach from point A to point B and he would not be racing his car so Punto deisel should be the car. It as great exterior looks, average interiors and very good stability.

i20 diesel is also a superb car but I believe it is overpriced.

[BMW-X5]

I have voted for Punto. To me I20 design was familiar. I used to rent out a PEUGEOT 307 for my weekend drives when I was in Dubai in 2003-2004. I used to love that 307 to a Corrola or Sunny. 307-2003 Model

[//M]

I have voted for the Punto 1.3 MJD. Even though the Punto is not as well-equipped as the i20, it is quite a good car and the Italian looks are to die for. I own a Santro Xing and I'm quite happy with Hyundai's A.S.S but still Punto scores more compared to any other car in the segment for me.

[avinashpai]

I voted for the Hyundai i20 Crdi and now I feel quite the traitor. You see the i20 Crdi is my new car. But I also own the FIAT Palio and am a great fan of the Punto. I quite like the 1.4L Punto but found that 1.3L MJD engine does not do justice to the great ride and handling that the Punto provides. How I wish that had a souped up engine with a wee bit more of space in the rear bench. I would surely have bought the Punto instead of the i20 then. But the Punto MJD is a great car as well - no mistakes about that.

[PaddleShifter]

Originally Posted by GR8NATIVE

punto punto all the way .I was in this dilemma for about two months .loved the punto but was worried about after sales ... finally went for the punto ... I have always owned a hyundai -santro accent santa fe ...love their cars but i think punto is an entirely different beast...

Hi team-bhpians. This is my first post on team-bhp. Always wanted to be a member of this prestigious forum.

I'm in the same dilemma. I want to buy a petrol hatch. I've always loved Punto and was certain of getting 1 for myself in coming few months but today I went to see i20 and was impressed by the interior space and quality.

Ex-Showroom Chandigarh:
Punto 1.4E = (5.41lacs)
Punto 1.4E+= (6.05lacs)
i20 Sports = (5.31lacs)
i20 Asta(O) = (6.18lacs)

I like Punto's looks, center console but only Emotion pack has USB port and audio controls. And that too, a USB port which is not associated with the head unit and only the driver can change tracks(from steering controls) if using USB pen drive for music. There's no point using CDs in this world of USB. Changing the Head Unit will spoil the looks of the dash.
i20 on the other hand has USB/AUX & everything one can ask for. Steering controls even on i20 sports. Plus lots of other gadgets to play with(except the Blue & Me).
Although I've voted for Hyundai i20 1.2, i can't get my mind off the Grande Punto.

Punto looks better, better ride quality and handling etc. but i20 isn't too far behind either.

I would love to go for Punto but niggles and after sales service is a concern for me. I've been reading team-bhp for the past 2 months and I've come to a conclusion that Fiat's A.S.S. is a bit inconsistent. Should I go for a Fiat anyways or should I stick with hyundai? I can't change my car every year.
I started with our M800 with 9000 Km on the ODO that we bought in Mar2000. It has 14500 kms on this day after 7 months. Anyways, both i20 and Punto are way superior than what I'm currently driving so I should be satisfied with either of them.

BUT, Better looks, style, ride vs Better A.S.S., good looks, ride. If you were in my place what would you select/compromise on?

Kindly give your opinions.

[aa_asif]

No doubt Punto is a car with Rock solid build and stability.

But here goes my story:

I went ahead and booked i20 CRDi this time for not repeating the same mistake where I drove around a Lancer SLXd which came with solid build quality and amazing dynamics but with no power.

As Pirelli says: Power is nothing without control (but whats the point in having alot of control without power )

[Amartya]

Originally Posted by aa_asif

No doubt Punto is a car with Rock solid build and stability.

But here goes my story:

I went ahead and booked i20 CRDi this time for not repeating the same mistake where I drove around a Lancer SLXd which came with solid build quality and amazing dynamics but with no power.

As Pirelli says: Power is nothing without control (but whats the point in having alot of control without power )

Congratulations, but I would still suggest that you test drive the 90HP Punto. It was a very pleasant surprise.