[Amartya]

Originally Posted by ByDesign

Did anyone read these articles? Palio owners, do you know how true this stuff is? They're pretty old too.

Palio owners smile :-) Spares get cheaper | Indian Cars & Motorcycles Blog

Fiat Palio may be revamped, relaunched in India in 2010 | myCarQnA

Fiat Palio 2011 coming to Auto Expo in India | Indian Cars & Motorcycles Blog

Spares had indeed become cheaper. I am not sure if the Palio is covered in Autocar's parts basket comparo, but consider picking it up from the newstands.

However, the launch of a new Palio looks like an impossibility to me.

[ByDesign]

Originally Posted by Amartya

Spares had indeed become cheaper. I am not sure if the Palio is covered in Autocar's parts basket comparo, but consider picking it up from the newstands.

However, the launch of a new Palio looks like an impossibility to me.

Yup, I read the articles, apparently Fiat's 5 year plans has no Palio on it anywhere!

[Amartya]

Originally Posted by ByDesign

Yup, I read the articles, apparently Fiat's 5 year plans has no Palio on it anywhere!

When are the next round of test drives happening?

[ByDesign]

Originally Posted by Amartya

When are the next round of test drives happening?

Well I'm in office this saturday (today), and I'll be applying for the car loan this week, I've applied for my PAN card etc, had a word with the bank guy and he said I should be able to get it.

I'm not going to do any new major decision making now, I've narrowed it down to the Palio and the Anniversary Ed. Indica Safire. I'll be deciding once I have some time with the showroom man. I'll probably book the car then and there again. Next week fingers crossed! Will I drive a fiat legacy home? Or an all Indian hatch with interiors like an alfa romeo!

[sdp1975]

Originally Posted by ByDesign

I've narrowed it down to the Palio and the Anniversary Ed. Indica Safire. I'll be deciding once I have some time with the showroom man.

I'm pretty sure you'll bring a Fiat home LOL, your heart's set on it.

But anyways it's gonna be a sleepless weekend for you I guess.

[ByDesign]

Originally Posted by sdp1975

I'm pretty sure you'll bring a Fiat home LOL, your heart's set on it.

But anyways it's gonna be a sleepless weekend for you I guess.

Very kind of you! Hehe, but no it's going to be a sleepless week for me! I'm getting as much input as I can from owners, T-bhp etc. Last week and then the final day will come!

[funkykar]

What a dilemma you are going through. I have been MJD'd today. I decided that I want a diesel hatch/sedan yesterday evening. Started researching and found about Stile dropped prices. Without a second thought, I booked it today morning. Its a Fiat Palio 1.3 SDX, Furnace Red color.

On other cars, one may feel the necessity of ABS, airbags and so and so. For Palio, you feel confident that you dont need in the car, other road users need.

I have been a ardent Fiat fan since ages and own a few good old Fiat 1100's

[ch.nathan]

Originally Posted by funkykar

Without a second thought, I booked it today morning. Its a Fiat Palio 1.3 SDX, Furnace Red color.

Congrats funkycar!!

Originally Posted by funkykar

On other cars, one may feel the necessity of ABS, airbags and so and so. For Palio, you feel confident that you dont need in the car, other road users need.

I agree Palio is strong car with great ride-handling balance.
But absence of ABS and Airbags is definitely a drawback. If not Airbags, atleast ABS is an absolute necessity nowadays, whatsoever.

[funkykar]

^ Thanks!

I completely agree with you! Now that Palio never came with Abs and airbags, cant help it. Atleast driving one wont make you feel insecure in the mind

[gemithomas]

AFAIK Palio Was the First car in India that came with ABS and Airbags. Its just that no one really wanted them at that time

[funkykar]

^ My bad. I now stand corrected. I was so focussed on the Diesel variant that I forgot about the other varient that had these features.

[gemithomas]

Just went through the whole thread. Bad i missed out seeing this thread earlier and missed out being part of your dilemma. I've got a few questions. Not sure if you have mentioned this and i missed it.

1. Why is the Beat out of the race
2. How much running per month are you expecting and on what kind of roads (highway/city)

I would not really recommend a Palio to anyone now. That too the Stile variants. Good you decided against it. I know how hard it is to say no to a FIAT car like that. But sometimes its important to say no.

[ByDesign]

Originally Posted by gemithomas

Just went through the whole thread. Bad i missed out seeing this thread earlier and missed out being part of your dilemma. I've got a few questions. Not sure if you have mentioned this and i missed it.

1. Why is the Beat out of the race
2. How much running per month are you expecting and on what kind of roads (highway/city)

I would not really recommend a Palio to anyone now. That too the Stile variants. Good you decided against it. I know how hard it is to say no to a FIAT car like that. But sometimes its important to say no.

The Beat was the first car I TD'd and I liked it. The dealership wasn't very professional with my queries or patient with me so that drove me away. Other than that, it's a rather squashed car for space, including the boot. The acceleration wasn't quick either, it was long drawn and smooth.

I had posted my monthly driving requirements earlier. 45 kms a day for approximately 20 days a month not counting weekends! I'd say it should be within a 1000 kms a month. I'm not too bothered about FE. It's all city driving, but I know i'll be driving into the mountains for an occasional holiday, and I really would NOT want the car to stall on me or conk out then. So reliability is a major issue for me.

I wish the palio was out of the race my friend, I'm still dreaming about that car. While I wait for my PAN card (applied last week) for my bank loan to work out, I just keep looking more and more at these cars. As far as value for money, features and refinement goes, its the Indica 2nd Anniversary Safire all the way. Next is the Palio for the Fiat build and beautiful engine. 3rd is Punto, for it's mature drive quality and feel. Looks too, but again, looks don't matter to me. 2nd TD this saturday! Will keep you posted, and if my PAN arrives tomorrow or before Saturday, I'll try and book the car during the coming week.

[ch.nathan]

Originally Posted by gemithomas

I would not really recommend a Palio to anyone now. That too the Stile variants. Good you decided against it.

I was just wondering when did the Palio go of this list.

Originally Posted by ByDesign

I wish the palio was out of the race my friend, I'm still dreaming about that car.

It is still in the race - to ByDesign's garage!! Whether it's going to win or not - we'll come to know soon..

[CliffHanger]

Ok.. Here are my 2bits from my experience with Tata Cars.

Everything looks so rosy about the car when it is delivered from the showroom. But things start to show up once the car does a bit of running.

Rattles, squakes, part failures and what not; all start to come up one by one. When you compare these with those of cars of other manufactures, I would say the onset of all these issues are much much earlier in a Tata car. And when you compare the probability of occurances of all these issues, I would say it is almost 1 for a Tata car. This is a major factor to be considered on owning a car and I suggest you not to overlook this.

Now, comes the next important aspect of owning a Tata car - The A.S.S.
You take your car which is 70% ill to a TASS. They make it 90% ill and give it back to you. And this is going to happen for Palio too. So make your heart aware of all these things.

To sum it up - Don't let the bells and whistles influence your decision, the car may end up being a devil in an angel's disguise.

Hope I've helped you a bit to arrive at a decision !