[cranky]

Originally Posted by vivekshukla

unless you are very very careful while breaking the rivets to avoid any breakage to the plastic frame of the speakers.

With the quality of the stock speakers being what they are, I wouldn't bother with being careful.

I replaced mine with a set of Hertz Dieci coax in the back and a Focal component set up front, running off the stock HU. More than sufficient for what I needed to hear.

I was hoping Fiat would have updated the speakers. Apparently not.

[Ricci]

Originally Posted by Charioteer

I consider it technically impossible that the ride and handling will not be affected by using the GC kit.
If you are not redistributing part of the car's weight - shifting from higher side to the lower side, then, just propping up the car will result in the raising of the Centre of Gravity.

Exactly what I was referring to , simply raising the car would result in CG being raised and affect the handling. A test drive in the city likely wouldn't bring out the handling changes , but for those who have driven the 2012 enough and not found any perceptible change in handling - did the suspension feel stiffer than the older model ?

I visited Pandit for a look and quote on the Punto and Linea. What's the OEM audio quality like ? The head unit cannot be replaced with an aftermarket unit from what I gather, only the speakers. If the factory fitted unit conks out (out of warranty period), do I have to fix a new unit but only the same Fiat specific one only ? That is bad.

I also got this from the sales guy - the passenger side airbag can be disabled via menu (said it doesn't turn off/not deploy if the passenger seat is unoccupied or passenger seat belt not buckled , it has to be switched off), this contradicts what I read here and what I would expect , since one could easily forget to turn it back on when there is a passenger !

The sales guy also said, that if only the driver side airbag deploys, and not the passenger, the cost of replacement is much lower , ~20k and the entire dashboard does not need to be replaced. I am sceptical about this claim - anyone confirm this ?

Looks like the time is ripe to start my own "What car" thread

Starry Sky : Thanks for VIN thread link !

[cranky]

Originally Posted by Ricci

What's the OEM audio quality like ?

If you aren't particularly fussy, the OEM HU is not that bad.

Speakers are useless. Change them out and you will be able to tolerate the system.

I have ~6L worth of home audio equipment, and am very fussy about sound, but in the car there is simply too much ambient noise for me to bother about sound quality.

As long as I can listen without being tortured I'm OK with most car systems. The stock speakers did not even pass my (low) expectations from the stock system.

[DRIV3R]

Encountered the so called 2012 Punto today and I must say, am hugely disappointed due to the following reasons.

• Dealer attitude
• Improper fit and finish
• Poor plastics

First had a look at the active variant in that new shade of blue, thought the plasticky feeling would stop there, but I was shocked when the Emotion too felt the same. Below are few pics which may tell what am talking about.

BTW, encountered the new Swift ZDi too today and what a change it was. Dealer experience was excellent, no fuss over anything and no 'you are not buying a supercar' attitude. Thumbs down to Fiat for their sub-par dealerships and QC.

[sanjaymugur]

these are components of the UPGRADE kit

Front Shock Absorber Right, 1 Unit
Front Shock Absorber Left, 1 Unit
Front Bump-Stopper L and R, 2 Units
Front Stabilizer bar, 1 Unit
Rear Shock Absorber L and R, 2 Units
Rear Spring Left and Right, 2 Units

for me the FRONT BUMP-STOPPER LEFT & RIGHT & the changed stabilizer rests the case with effect to change in handling, brilliant work FIAT,keep it UP.

[hiren.mistry]

Originally Posted by DRIV3R

Encountered the so called 2012 Punto today and I must say, am hugely disappointed due to the following reasons.

• Dealer attitude
• Improper fit and finish
• Poor plastics

First had a look at the active variant in that new shade of blue, thought the plasticky feeling would stop there, but I was shocked when the Emotion too felt the same. Below are few pics which may tell what am talking about.
.

where are you based? Can you share the name of the dealer please?
Contrary to your experience I've had quite a wonderful time with the 2 dealerships here in Bombay.
I've had atleast 2 test drives each from Wasan Tata (borivali) and Om Sai Motors Kandivali. The SA was polite and courteous and got the car home whenever I called for it and once on a moments notice.

Agree that the plastics are still not up to the mark but I guess some things will never change. Finally decided to go ahead with Om Sai as those guys are known to me.

[prkothan]

Post deleted by the Team-BHP Support : We do NOT permit any posts that are blindly biased in favour of a brand. Keeping your contribution objective is key to forum participation.

We advise you to keep your posts extremely neutral going forward.

[Charioteer]

Originally Posted by DRIV3R

am hugely disappointed due to the following reasons.

• Dealer attitude
• Improper fit and finish
• Poor plastics

Wrong parameters that you have chosen to judge FIAT!

Originally Posted by DRIV3R

Thumbs down to Fiat for their sub-par dealerships and QC.

This breed of FIAT dealerships is becoming lesser by the day. I have visited five different FIAT dealerships in four different cities over the past 5-6 months and not once have I got a service which can be rated anything less than "top class".

Of course, if you walk into a showroom with an air of disdain for the car company, it is more likely that you will be cold shouldered!!

[CliffHanger]

Originally Posted by DRIV3R

Encountered the so called 2012 Punto today and I must say, am hugely disappointed due to the following reasons.

• Dealer attitude
• Improper fit and finish
• Poor plastics

BTW, encountered the new Swift ZDi too today and what a change it was. Dealer experience was excellent, no fuss over anything and no 'you are not buying a supercar' attitude. Thumbs down to Fiat for their sub-par dealerships and QC.

Driver, there are a lot more to a car than what you've listed. I booked my 2nd Punto and below is my rationale why I did that. First, I'll try to address the issues you listed and then I'll mention why I did not book the Swift

• Dealer attitude -While I agree that the dealer experience is not consistently above par, I do like to mention that there has been a vast improvement and a sincere effort from Fiat to improve the sales & service experience. They really are fighting it hard to serve you better and that's why you read all the news about new Fiat sales and service centers. Give credit when it's due. Also, you might have had a better response for Swift, but I wasn't even answered properly when I went for a Swift TD.

• Improper fit and finish - No car has a 100% exterior fit and finish. But what matters is how strong the mechanicals are. Having owned a Punto for 50,000km I can bet you that no car in its segment has stronger mechanicals than the Punto and that's one of the reasons I booked a Punto again. It is absolutely rock solidy built. I don't even want to consider a Maruti for a comparison here.

• Poor plastics - Again this is one of the most futile and ignorant reasons to reject a car. Plastics are expected to conceal things and for nothing more. Btw, Punto plastics are hard, I wouldn't call it poor.

Ok, now let me tell you why I did not book a Swift.

• Tin Can Build - You are going to spend most of your time in the car and not in the dealer's place. Now, tell me which is important. The dealer attitude or a strongly built car? Which one would you prefer - A nice talking sales personal or your Life? No, Fiat car waiting for parts is a thing of past.

• Extremely Over Priced - If there is one car that is over priced by close to 1.5 Lakhs and still sells well, it would have to be the Swift. At least the i20 offers a 90HP engine. But Swift takes the cake by a huge margin.

• Quality - You call a Punto a lesser quality product. Yes there are a few areas where quality has been compromised and those areas are all cosmetic, but there is absolutely no compromise on all the core essentials of the car. Check for Anshuman's or Mandeep's thread on how well their cars are behaving even after clocking some huge miles. Whether it is a core essential part or a cosmetic part, the first thing I notice in a Maruti car is cost cutting. Check out the thickness of a Swift's window, I wouldn't want my car's window shatter on my face even on a slightest impact.

• Ride comfort and highway manners - I don't want to delve into this as a lot has been said already.

• There are still lots and lots more, but I would like to stop it here. Because just these above reasons are enough for me to chose a Punto over Swift.

I would request you to re-look into your priorities while considering a car. There is a lot of difference between how a T-Bhpian looks at a car and how a normal man does. Your priorities fall more towards the latter's style of prioritizing.

[carrerastrax]

Prkothan, this is a strong reaction from a Fiat lover, and my opinion is that it's uncalled for. Nothing's wrong in all that you said, just unnecessary to challenge someone's gut. I'm awaiting the delivery of my 2012 Linea Emotion and a sub-par dealer experience is what I've encountered so far. I've rejected a vehicle with fit and finish issues, during my PDI, a couple of days back. In the end, though it's only a small part of the larger truth, saying these products have poor fit and finish isn't untrue.

Apart from other personal preferences, Fiat's are bought mostly by people who can distinguish between a good and a bad drive/ride. And it's really difficult to explain in a minute why one would choose a fiat. A smile is what I give out these days, after unsuccessful attempts to convince people of immense value quotient that these products offer.

I've test driven all the competitor sedans (except the rapid) at this price range/segment and my experience with Hyundai was simply the best. And considering that the fluidic verna has a 6-7 months wait time, was the cherry on the cake, as I was expecting a 'buy it or get lost, we've got a wait list anyway' attitude. I think Fiat India has a long long way to go with respect to customer service and product fit and finish.

[Soccerfan]

Originally Posted by DRIV3R

Encountered the so called 2012 Punto today and I must say, am hugely disappointed due to the following reasons.

• Dealer attitude
• Improper fit and finish
• Poor plastics

First had a look at the active variant in that new shade of blue, thought the plasticky feeling would stop there, but I was shocked when the Emotion too felt the same. Below are few pics which may tell what am talking about.

BTW, encountered the new Swift ZDi too today and what a change it was. Dealer experience was excellent, no fuss over anything and no 'you are not buying a supercar' attitude. Thumbs down to Fiat for their sub-par dealerships and QC.

Whats the issue in the first pic?? I am not able to find. also the Punto plastics finish maybe bad, but they are strong enough and will last. In my 2.5 year old Punto no plastic part has broken/fallen off. Odo is at 44K now.

[getmahendra]

Everything that is necessary to say has already been said about Punto vs Swift, but there is something worth mentioning here.
I am buying a Punto and wanted to sell my existing Vista Safire till the day I visited Maruti Showroom. I have never been a Swift fan but my disliking grew after I became more and more aware of dynamics of automobiles. This time I casually went to a maruti showroom simply to have a look at the new Swift. No one entertained me at the showroom during my entire stay and my exit also went unnoticed but the real disappointment was the car itself. Apart from cosmetics nothing ever impressed me in the outgoing Swift. It's the same in the new Swift as well. I didn't find any space anywhere in the car. After this when I sat in my Vista, I felt like a king and dropped the idea of selling the car right at that moment. I wouldn't get much for the car anyway.
What really disappoints me is that Maruti cars get undue attention because most of us Indians are brand loyal. We buy cars without knowing anything about them.
Having said that I do not mean Maruti does't have good products but other manufacturers don't have bad products either. They still only dream of having the pie of the auto market as easy as Maruti.

[bruiser]

Even though I own a FIAT, I agree with Drivr here. If you guys take a closer look at the pics, you will see what he really meant.
And to be fair to him, he isnt talking about the engine or the mechanicals.
Give him a break fellas .

Its a forum where people get together to share their opinions, so lets not be too hard on a guy cos he doesnt like Brand X or Brand Y.

[StarrySky]

Originally Posted by DRIV3R

Leave alone personal experiences.

Ok, so let me understand this correctly. Your own personal experience matters enough to be put in this thread. Yet, when others post their personal experiences, you want them to leave those aside and generalise:

Originally Posted by DRIV3R

It's a no brainer that FIAT and good A.S.S don't go hand in hand, given the big picture.

[DRIV3R]

Originally Posted by StarrySky

Ok, so let me understand this correctly. Your own personal experience matters enough to be put in this thread. Yet, when others post their personal experiences, you want them to leave those aside and generalise:

You got it all wrong.

Given the big picture, meaning, overall, right? Please read my original message again and get back. Show me one sensible BHPian who can claim that Fiat A.S.S is any better than Maruti A.S.S overall.

Coming to my personal experience part, since this is a thread relating to the 2012 so-called upgraded version, I posted about what I saw and what I still don't like about FIAT here. The new soft touch plastic is a hogwash with regards to the Punto atleast. Any arguing Chennai Fiatian/BHPian can join me anyday to VST Motors and experience exactly what i experienced. Anybody game?

Fiat Punto owners and FIAT patrons need not take it so seriously or personally. Punto is a great car and it's FIAT's unfocussed strategy and alliance with the wrong partner which is spoiling it's image here, in India. Learn to digest facts, guys. Don't react like kids.