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-   -   Swift VDI+ABS or Fiat Punto MJD or New Fabia 1.2 Diesel. Edit- Booked Fiat Punto MJD (https://www.team-bhp.com/forum/hatchbacks/90867-swift-vdi-abs-fiat-punto-mjd-new-fabia-1-2-diesel-edit-booked-fiat-punto-mjd.html)

Mods, Please dont delete this thread as i am more confused in buying a car (Booked Swift VDI+ABS still want more options as i need the car earlier)

Hi Folks,

I wanted your help in deciding my new Car, I have booked Swift VDI+ABS, however the waiting period is huge(4 months). I need a car as earlier as possible

I have shortlisted 3 cars (all diesel since my daily commutation will be 40 KM)

1. Swift VDI + ABS (booked)
2. Grande Punto MJD Emotion or Emotion Pack
3. New Fabia 1.2 diesel ambiente

These are my shortlisted cars.

What i require:-

1. I am planning to keep the car for next 5 to 7 years for sure so Beautiful/reliable Engine is a MUST(since Swift 1.3 Diesel and punto MJD share the same engine of Fiat i chose it). we can anytime decorate the Car but the Heart cannot be created that perfectly hence a reliable, beautiful and Super enigne is a MUST
2. Since its for daily use i should not get bored
3. There should not be any pain in driving (i own a Zen 98 model already. i really get ankle pain after a 10KM drive :( )
4. Good reliablity


What i dont Know:-

1. Nothing about New Fabia 1.2 Diesel, Please explain if its worth
2. Punto MJD high speed and engine performace ( i heard that Punto MJD is not worth revv more than 4000rpm and produces huge noise after 3000 rpm - IS IT TRUE?). Please tell me the Disadvantages of Punto MJD
3. Mileage of the 3 cars ( Swift I know its 19~20 + in HW, what about others in City/highway)
4. i take the car on highways every month and its going to be 60% in city and 40% in HW so what about the Point 2 for Punto and Fabia


Guys i am really confused to choose, I need the car in less than a month (if the people choice is Swift then i will wait and manage with my older Zen)

Mods, please: Please Please dont delete this Thread and ask me to seach in the existing forum. I really like our Team responding and giving new views everytime and in every thread.

I really wanted to express many things but mind suddenly not working at all and not recollecting everything, so i will add in the thread

.....Magnanimousdude

Basic question first - did you test drive these three cars yourself ?

You could have a hundred recommendations, but since you are putting down your money - rather than just going by paper facts and recommendations, as a first step, please drive all of these cars that you are thinkng about and share your likings based on that.

Your test drive should be able to tell you about your question 1 & 2.

Also, both Punto and Fabia are fabulous highway cars - i dare say even better than the swift in terms of their dynamics, handling, high speed stability etc.

Nevertheless, Swift is Swift.
It has been the best selling hatch for a very long time now for all its worth.

Why not Figo TDCi? With Ford DNA it would be as much fun driving it and Ford India dealers seem to be more reliable than Skoda's.

But dismissing a car just on the basis of wait period is not good. You must evaluate what are your preferences. So evaluate them and test drive and then decide. I understand your eagerness to get home a new car, but remember you will have to live with it for next 7 years, so spend some time before you put your money.

All the best!

@jigbarai,

Yes i test drove the Punto MJD and Swift, I dont have to mention about the swift neither about the TD

1. When i test drive i was not able to take the car to HW and cruise above 3000rpm and i live in chennai and its not fesible otherwise i will have to spend the entire day in it :P (just for a Joke)
2. Fabia No Clues as of now when i went to the showroom i was said that the car hasn't arrive yet and the other showroom dealer said the car has taken for TD(waited for half and hour no use)

@anilisanil,

No No about the Figo becasue of its close Radiator and AD Compressor vents (prone to change afer the Hit). I love the Engine of Ford but the fact i denied figo is becasue of the above one. In chennai traffic the AC Compressor part close to the Bumper is very vulnerable for a daily HIT

I test Drove almost all Hatches, Punto, Swift, i20, (not interested in i10), Jazz, Figo, I dont want the Indica style(i hate it no offense) so i didnt go for Vista

Out of my testdrive i arrived to those 3 car (As i said earlier my mind didnt work when i framed it so didnt includes these details :D)

Seeing your post you seem to be less worried about the budget.
So i'll order the cars for you and hope that helps your decision.

Swift- good performance but low on quality and features
You'll get bored sooner compared to the other two.
Once the newlook swift comes, you'll start to get bored faster.
Sheer number of service centres does not guarantee good service.
Punto-Nice balance between performance and premium feel
Whenever you sit inside you'll feel happy and whatever tensions in office or home will just just be forgotten when you are with this Italian babe :)
Its got lot of potential for modifications and all the mods look more beautiful
Service centres are less but has probably the second most number of service centres after MS service centres

Fabia-Good performance. Premium feel. but the infamous A.S.S in the biggest drawback. Looks are subjective but I find this pretty similar to swift and very rarely does this get a second look.

My personal suggestion is for a 1.3 punto emotion pack or even the punto 90hp but your test drives and tastes will give you the best answer.
All three are good cars and remember- "NO CAR IS PERFECT"
Once you decide upon one car(for the second time now) forget about what others say. Its pretty similar to choosing your life partner. No matter what people talk, you should love her and stand by your choice :)

@hemanth.anand,

yes i understand what you say, i am goning to take the car under loan so doesn't matter about few K's. I understand Punto MJD is a best next to Swift but what about the Turbo Lag, that i have mentioned. In one of our TBHP long term Ownership it has been mentioned about the "Punto MJD is not worth revv more than 4000rpm and produces huge noise after 3000 rpm " - means you should not revv after 4000rpm thought it can go upto 5000rpm and there will be huge Engine Noise inside the car ( Does this Huge Noise make some problem to Engine??? means affects engine on contant run above the 3000~4000rpm?)

Probably i am much worried about this point only, i think the engine should be GEM, other decoratives can be added later or sooner!!!

what do you say?? do you own a PUNTO MJD? what about the Noise and turbo Lag and contact Run above the 3500rpm?

Fabia 1.2 TDI Test Driven

Hello folks,

Today i had the chance to test drive the New Fabia 1.2 TDI in my views

1. The new Fabia looks gorgeous than before
2. still the thud in door closing is there
3. unbearable Engine noise inside the Cabin ( Punto is Much better in this case)
4. LOL the car can find all the pot holes rather atleast i can feel it inside whereas this is not the case with Punto atleast
5. Otherwise the car is very premium. Just the Airbag is shipped with all the variants no other things. Not even All four door Power windows in Ambient model, only in top end model we get all the features but it cost around 7.7L in chennai Onroad which is again 70~90K less than the existing version which is a Plus for the people who love SKODA
6. I really doubt its highway performace in the case of engine noise now since i didnt have the chance to drive it there!. the SP claims its TOP speed to be 170Km/h but i doubt it for 1.2L engine it would really be killing the engine if you revv more than 120km/H :deadhorse



I am still in dilemma

Hi

Thought lot of people have already given their thought,here is mine

Go for the swift ,its worth the money,the city mileage is 14-15 for me ,note that i drive from adyar to nungambakkam ,which is always full of traffic and get chance for 4th gear probably once or twice.

Secondly service is too good.

Let me know where you booked the car,if its CARS i can probably help you get the car soon.

option 2: Figo - though your thought on the radiator is correct,i dont agree.it is not a flaw at all,lots of new cars come designed that way.
BTW why do you think about accident even before buying the car?


Option 3 : Polo - the car has superb build quality and drive,The Fabia has the same engine of the polo.last week i had enquired the rates for my friend and the difference between Polo and new fabia was 10-20k for the base model.

Option 4: Punto - good car,but frankly i didnt like the interiors.

Now its your choice !

Do you have any budget cap ? For 6.7 lacs (ex-showroom price) you can get the Ford Fiesta Tdci limited edition. You could also try for some corporate discounts on top of that. I have read that its a great car for city drive with good FE and its not that bad on the highway either. Though Ford's a.s.s. is known to be bad, i'm sure it would be better than Fiat / Skoda's a.s.s. Drop in at any Ford showroom and give it a TD.

To get all of these 04 points in a car is very difficult -

1. Are you sure? 5-7 years is a long time, see you booked swift and within few months you admit that you are not sure of your choice!
*It happens to many of us though.

2. hhmmm, even the best of things loses interest over a period of time, so what chance a car have !

3. Very difficult to confirm, for anybody. The new launches are hardly 6-7 months old, so only after few years anybody can seriously comment on the easiness of Accelerator Brake Clutch.

4. Pt.3 + Maruti and/or Hyndai as of today.

Some of the points in your post isn't clear - like maximum speed:how many times we drive or get the opportunity to drive (even with 60%highway with speed of 120km/hr +).

Solid built alone is not the sole criteria for safety - features like ABS, Air Bags also comes into picture.

What I am trying to say is...keeping your requirements (all the points) it would be better for you to look for other available options in the market today other than your choice of 03 cars.

And finally do not go with your booked car (its not that the car you booked isn't good etc) but the very fact that you yourself aren't sure implies that you won't enjoy it for the next 5-7 years more so when a new version launch is expected soon!

If I was in your position, I would have test driven other available cars and probably waited for the Etios and then take a call.

All the best !

I have Punto. I just went through your first post. Lazy me.

Here is what I have to say as owner.
I took Punto to 135 speed on Highway and the RPM was beyond 3000. And there was Engine noise in the cabin. Period. But how much more or less it is compared to other two shortlisted cars??
Well I have not driven Swift D or Fabia D at that speed.

The only way out is the hard way. Drive all three vehicles on highway at that speed.

I will end this short post with this: Life is short. Do what you want to do. Let the heart rule.

@AvonA7,

Thanks for your reply, i have driven almost all hatchbacks and i just skeptically think 120km/h might sound noisy with 1.2 TDI Skoda Fabia!

Your point is Purely practical

"2. hhmmm, even the best of things loses interest over a period of time, so what chance a car have !" - we all want the driveablity of HONDA + Handling of PUNTO + A.S.S of MARUTI. This can never happens, so Yes i am not sure about my choice since its not hard earned money but its going to be Hard earning money (LOAN :) )

Swift is an excellant car but the waiting period kills and the engine in swift is good not the full car itself, many fellow TBHPians commited and proved that it rattles and annoying. Many has many views...

MY heart now Pounds for Punto Diesel emotion Pack - since it has everything Same Fiat engine with all features. but i dont know about the mentioned point

"Punto MJD is not worth revv more than 4000rpm and produces huge noise after 3000 rpm - IS IT TRUE?"

magnanimousdude ,
I own a punto mjd e+ for more than a year now.
I am very curious about your question regarding revving above 4000 rpm - so I have a few questions for you. At which gear do you want to rev at 4k ? At 5th gear you would probably be nearing 135-140 kmph at that rev. Do you expect to drive at that speed consistently? If the answer is no, then stop worrying about it.

@milestogo,

Thanks for your reply, but i was expecting to drive atleast 130 km/h in GST from chennai where in the other cars will cruise on 140 on the same or so i thought the engine noise might annoy me. How about your top speed driven? and whatz Punto mileage city/HW?

@download2live,

Yes we have to test drive other one Fabia, Swift i had been with my friends car, not much noise inside the cabin but was there, just audible and by the way whatz Punto mileage city/HW?

I am yet to drive a fabia TDI, so cannot comment. Did you try the figo titanium TDCI? You can also check out the lower priced varints (magna/sportz) of I20 diesel.