[kuttapan]

I used to drive around in a friends Palio. Once, on my way to nandi hills, a kid tries to cross the 6 lane highway with his cycle, loaded with some sacks. I see him, he sees me and then he stops dead in his tracks, bang in the middle of the road.I stamp on the brakes, but the Palio takes ever so long to stop and the car's bumper just kisses the cycle, tipping it over. Thank god the kid was alright, but I lost the braking confidence in Palio after that. I thought it was because of brakes of that particular car being bad, as most other cars would have stopped at least a car length before. I know my Swift would have.

Moral of story - When driving a Palio, be prepared to brake early, and even then, pray to God that nothing tries to cross your path.

[rao_battula]

Originally Posted by kuttapan

I used to drive around in a friends Palio. Once, on my way to nandi hills, a kid tries to cross the 6 lane highway with his cycle, loaded with some sacks. I see him, he sees me and then he stops dead in his tracks, bang in the middle of the road.I stamp on the brakes, but the Palio takes ever so long to stop and the car's bumper just kisses the cycle, tipping it over. Thank god the kid was alright, but I lost the braking confidence in Palio after that. I thought it was because of brakes of that particular car being bad, as most other cars would have stopped at least a car length before. I know my Swift would have.

Moral of story - When driving a Palio, be prepared to brake early, and even then, pray to God that nothing tries to cross your path.

Very Generic statement. I have been driving my palio for last 3 years and 4months. Clocked 46K. Had lot of close shaves. But It always stopped where I wanted to be and It saved 4 of my friends lives at 120 KMPH.

-BSR

[hrsraghav]

Hmmm on saturday, i was driving My Adventure at around 60 Kmph, and a cyclist came on the way.
I braked hard, and yaa the brakes do responded a bit, i mean the initial response of brakes is normal, but with that reponse you expect the car to stop at certain distance. And to my horror, the car was still moving, somehow i just managed to stop before the cyclist. But as i was in traffic so just by extinct i instantly watched the rear mirror, and within a fraction a motorcycle rammed into my Adventure. I took the car to side, the plastic bumper has plunged inside at the right corner. Its an area of just small than a palm, 6-7 inches in Diameter.
Now anything out of shape in my car, i can't tolerate it. Unless and untill it is recovered in its original shape, i will be restless till then.
So first thing i do was I called Vivek Automobiles in Delhi, asked for the prices of rear Bumper, I was told that there are two bumpers, one inner and one outside, and he said to most probability only the outer one will only be replaced, and its price is Rs. 8000.
Phewww 8000 rupees for a rear bumper, that too when its not colored. Its just uncoloured black natural plastic.
I dont know what to do, some guys have told me that it can be put back into shape, and no need of replacing it. I will be visiting few garages today to asses the options.

[tsk1979]

hrsraghav, bumper can indeed be repaired, try going to the small denting/painting ships. They will put a blowtorch nearby the bumper to soften it and then slowly mold it back into place.
They can even weld bumper cracks.

[hrsraghav]

Originally Posted by tsk1979

hrsraghav, bumper can indeed be repaired, try going to the small denting/painting ships. They will put a blowtorch nearby the bumper to soften it and then slowly mold it back into place.
They can even weld bumper cracks.

Ok what is better option,
To heat the bumper and seshape it in its original form
or to put pressure on the defromed part and push it back to original form.

Few people say tht by heating the original shape is not achieved, Its like moulding a new shape.

[tsk1979]

If you simply push the bumper back into shape, it will crack. Heating done is mild heating, not really melting. So its not new shape, its just that a hot bumper can be more easily be forced back into shape.
Make sure you go to a good shop, as its easy to botch this job.
Ask around your area for independent workships.
Infact many tata workships do this bumper back into shape for you.
For example while reversing my indica it got struck in a pothole.
I tried to get it out, and revved hard, the car jumped out, and hit a sharp iron railing like object which bent the bumper and there was a small hole in the tailgate.
both were ready to repair the hole as well has bring the bumper back in shape.
finally went with Automobile sterling because their body shop is pretty decent.

So go to a big Tata dealer(I suggest Dhingra), and ask them that you are not claiming insurance, but you want repair. The mechanic himself will come and look at the damage, and tell you whether they can repair it or not.

[hrsraghav]

I went to Orix (TATA and FIAT service center).
The guy there told me, that they need to remove the bumper heat it up and then also it won't regain its original shape. He said it will cost Rs. 500.
Will have a visit to Dhingra in evening

[rao_battula]

Originally Posted by hrsraghav

Hmmm on saturday, i was driving My Adventure at around 60 Kmph, and a cyclist came on the way.
I braked hard, and yaa the brakes do responded a bit, i mean the initial response of brakes is normal, but with that reponse you expect the car to stop at certain distance. And to my horror, the car was still moving, somehow i just managed to stop before the cyclist. But as i was in traffic so just by extinct i instantly watched the rear mirror, and within a fraction a motorcycle rammed into my Adventure. I took the car to side, the plastic bumper has plunged inside at the right corner. Its an area of just small than a palm, 6-7 inches in Diameter.
Now anything out of shape in my car, i can't tolerate it. Unless and untill it is recovered in its original shape, i will be restless till then.
So first thing i do was I called Vivek Automobiles in Delhi, asked for the prices of rear Bumper, I was told that there are two bumpers, one inner and one outside, and he said to most probability only the outer one will only be replaced, and its price is Rs. 8000.
Phewww 8000 rupees for a rear bumper, that too when its not colored. Its just uncoloured black natural plastic.
I dont know what to do, some guys have told me that it can be put back into shape, and no need of replacing it. I will be visiting few garages today to asses the options.

Sorry to hear this. I think you can get it repaired if it is less than of palm size. Insurance guy pays 50% for plastic parts. you will end up in paying more than 4K + 1000 for bumper. 3K paid by insurance guy and will lose your no claim bonus which would be around 2K ( just a figure). I would advise you try with good local repair shops and see if it repaired. If not, you can claim it one or two months before expiry of your insurance.

Adventure bumper is strong. Once Alto hit from left side at around 20 KMPH and result in a very small dent that repaired. Second time a scooter guy and hit us with a big thud sound. we could found a small scratch.

No comment on spare parts.

BTW, my car is back from garage and doing good. The reason for the accident turned out to be air lock in the brakes which was cleared during repairs. It run over 45K and I believe brakes were not serviced properly as I never complained about them except last time. But mechanic convinced me that this is normal. Next time, I will insist on my car's behaviour. I believe I am the best judge as I have been driving it for more than 3 years.

Total costs incurred: 37000. 22.5K is paid by Insurance company and I had to shell out remaining money. It took nearly 2 and half weeks to get the car back.

-BSR

[directinjection]

Originally Posted by rao_battula

TATA has increased them recently. Bonnet use to cost 3.2K now it is 7K. Headlight used to 1800 now it is 2150. Bumper cost was 3000 with all painting and now it is 4100.

-BSR

It's true that Tata has jacked up the prices of FIAT spares. Earlier (in 2006) many Palio parts used to cost lesser than comparable Indica parts. Now they cost much more. The logic given is that FIAT cars are positioned above Tata cars. However, I feel Tata is just not interested in selling Fiat cars and given the weak bargaining position of Fiat India can dictate the terms. If Tata is serious about selling Fiat cars, why dosn't it sell and service them at all Tata outlets? Overpricing Fiat spares is just another way of ensuring that the Fiats don't dent Tata sales. After all, if you look at the specifications, Fiat and Tata car range is mutually competitive rather than complementary.

Originally Posted by speedzak

Does Tata have the right to do that? ie.. Increase the rates without Fiat's concern?
I don't think so.

Yes, it has the right to do that. In the Fiat-Tata tie-up, Fiat is just the manufacturing vendor and the entire marketing, sale and service is handled by Tata alone.

[kkumarm]

Hi,

I have owned the Palio ELX 1.2 for around 4 years, its been a pleasure owning and driving this car. Lately I went in for an overall servicing as listed below;

1) Change of the original rear suspensions
2) AC servicing
3) Oil and other fluid changes as per the normal servicing norms(5000 Kms)
4) Change of belts
5) Change of wheel bearing in the front rhs wheel


attached below is the cost incurred by me with the various breakups, please do let me know if the cost incurred is in synch with the market or i have paid more.

Thanks and Regards,

KKM

[black12rr]

Hello guys .

One of my colleague has a pristine palio 1.6 GTX and he is unable to source front calliper bolt .The threads on the bolt are gone .
He has tried several places and unable to source it .

Any place were he can source this bolt in Bangalore ? .Or any place we can import from ?

[comfortablynumb]

Originally Posted by black12rr

Any place were he can source this bolt in Bangalore ? .Or any place we can import from ?

Has your friend checked with these guys?

http://www.team-bhp.com/forum/mumbai...le-mumbai.html

Cheers,
Vikram

[sydras]

Pardon my ignorance on the subject but don't the authorized Fiat Service centres have such an item in stock?

Has Fiat completely abandoned the Palio while they still continue to do business in India? I'm just wondering what the reason could be. (They haven't as yet gone bankrupt like Daewoo. So, was wondering how they get away without supporting their legacy products.)

[blrboy]

Team,
I met with an accident hitting an electric post frombehind, thus damaging the trunk from center through bumper, there is dent in the trunk peeling the paint and as well damage to bumper.

Currently it is in FastCars , Bannarghatta road, bangalore. For repairing it they are estimating around 14K. From where can I get the spare parts to replace the trunk and rear side bumper and what would be the approximate price.