[abhi_tjet]

So the most elaborate thread of Pune MJD will come to an end. Yours was a beautiful ownership indeed. In terms of build quality and taking abuse, FIAT’s are second to none. Kudos for maintaining it so nicely.
Slowly but surely FIAT will definitely move out of roads. Best wishes for your new buy. I assume it’s not yet finalised.

[Guru_Shikhar]

What a wonderful thread coming to an end and I must appreciate how immaculately you have maintained this rocket.

This was one of the best products Fiat has given in India. One of my colleagues in office also drives a Punto since last 7-8 years with 1L+ km on odo and just denies to sell. He is going to be with her forever. Fiat magic!!!

This comes to next question what’s next in your mind? Many be a Slavia??

Thanks for sharing wonderful memories and experiences.

Cheers.

[kapilsharma80]

Having owned The Punto for close to 10 years and doing 1.16 lakh kilometres, I have no doubts to claim that this is one of the best Hatchback that ever graced Indian roads.
It was robust, safe, reliable and had a spirit of its own, which very few cars have. Said goodbye last year due to NGT ban & upgraded to Civic but still have the Punto hangover till date!

[Gannu_1]

Thank you so much CD for painstakingly taking care of the Punto for all these years and for this detailed ownership thread with all the logs of expenses.

Guess the Versys will be your companion for some time now. Eagerly waiting to hear what will take up the Punto’s space. Good luck to you and good luck to the new owner.

[casnov]

Punto was my first car and what a car it was. I sold mine at exactly 100k kms. Have some lovely memories of that car. The confidence it inspired to push it to really illegal speed limits.
The lovely lovely point and shoot steering and the high speed stability...Uffff I can go on and on about it and of course the timeless design. Even today it looks beautiful.

[evil_grin]

Originally Posted by CrAzY dRiVeR

But I've been hesitant to spend huge money over and above the resale of the Punto - to get much lesser incremental value in return.

The end of an era. Not just for your car but for the Punto in general. We aren't going to get such brilliant cars in the near future.

The only worthy upgrade is a Jeep Compass diesel MT. Given that you're very sensible with your money and new Compasses retailing for a princely sum, I expect that you'll end up getting a low run used Compass pre-facelift.

[CrAzY dRiVeR]

Thanks a lot for the warm wishes guys. Apologies for the delayed response. Had a lot going on, including the task of bringing the replacement home.

The upgrade from this -



finally came home today...

Jeep Compass Limited(o) Diesel MT in Galaxy Blue -

Originally Posted by mayukh42

Your car ownership thread was one of the major points for me to decide my first car, and was that such a great decision in hindsight!

Glad to hear you had a great experience with your first car as well! And wow - I'm glad if this thread helped in any way.

Originally Posted by StarrySky

A white Punto 90HP. It was my first car, and my heart always skips a beat when I see one, especially one as well-maintained as yours.

Congrats on the long ownership, and all the best for the next purchase!

Thank you! My heart will skip a beat whenever I see one too! My friend has sent a couple of images after she reached her new home, and I'm already missing her. Can only hope that by the time he is ready to move on, I don't have parking concerns anymore!

Originally Posted by nitinkbhaskar

Thank you sir for this amazing ownership thread.
This was the thread which pushed me to buy pre-owned 90HP Punto 3 years ago. Wishing that the new owner munches miles with this beauty and you find that perfect upgrade from this machine !!

Thank you sir! Hope you have fun with your 90HP as well. Please leave some pics occasionally, for those of us who have moved on! If you ever feel like you are not - take it out for a highway spin. Lol!

Originally Posted by Prashant1286

Wish you another splendid ownership experience of a new and effulgent car!

Thank you. Yes, was very difficult to part with the car - and my friends know how many showrooms I have visited over the past few years, in addition to experiencing multiple cars during the review drives. Somehow everything fell in place, finally.

Originally Posted by arun_josie

Even after 10 years and 2L Kms, it looks spanking new.

Thank you. I was sad to see your Linea leave before the 2L mark, but then - I have a lot more happy to see you munching miles even faster with the Compass. Glad I could follow the same path too!

Originally Posted by ghodlur

I remember you mentioning about booking your next car with heart, waiting for the announcement eagerly.

Wanted to book the next car with heart, ended with a FIAT heart itself, although for the longest time - I tried to convince the family for a 1.5 TSI DSG heart.

Originally Posted by vibbs

Oh curtains down on one of the most well known Puntos in the forum.
Hope your next purchase will keep you as satisfied as this one.

Thank you. Hopefully it should, considering its a big upgrade for me in almost every factor.

Originally Posted by mikeautherton

Have a 3+ year Evo with same colour and just reaching 14K on Odo.

My guess is towards the Compass.

Hope you have a lot more fun with the car. Please leave some pics occasionally, for those of us who have moved on! And yes, you guessed right! Finally decided on a Compass itself, upgrading my budget.

Originally Posted by rahul4321

My Punto Pure bought in 2016 has completed 30k kilometers and is currently being driven by my sister.

Hope you have a lot more fun with the car. Please leave some pics occasionally, for those of us who have moved on!

Originally Posted by theexperthand

Here is raising a toast to one of the best ever hatchbacks sold in India

Thank you, Anoop! Glad we all took a gamble and experienced this car - despite the car not being the best on paper back then! Glad we both upgraded at a similar time too - and both selected Multijet 2.0 options. I wish I could have considered the Harrier as well, but the Compass itself barely fits in our garage.

Originally Posted by Alfaholic

I take the car out once a month for a 100km drive just to analyze the decision of letting it go, and I have always been a happy man every time I get behind the wheel.

That's the secret! Haha! Wishing you a lot more miles of happy ownership.

Originally Posted by emmenhr

One thing from your narrative about the mileage intrigued me. An average of around 13 to 14 is way too less for a Punto. Which city did you drive it the most? My punto consistently gave me 17+ even in bumper to bumper bangalore traffic.

I used to get much better figures in Bangalore too! Trivandrum roads are just insane though - much lesser speeds and lower gears, despite way lesser traffic. And every journey involves a lot smaller distances (city itself is less than 1/5th the size of Bangalore), and a lot of idling.

In similar conditions, our Xcent AT returns ~8km/l.

Originally Posted by prash27

Nostalgia. I am also sailing in same boat, My Punto sport (90HP) has completed 09+ years & I am trying to sell it now.

I can totally relate! Very difficult to find a replacement, and the best bet is from the VAG group. Although not fully convinced by the India 2.0 products, I had almost zeroed down to those, till some things fell in place and I could upgrade my budget to include the Compass diesel.

[CrAzY dRiVeR]

Originally Posted by abhii176

My 2009 Punto 1.4 is now closing in on 13 years and the odo reading is ~161k kms.

I hope your next ride does live up to the Punto, very curious to know which car is going to replace your Italian beauty? (Could help me decide my next purchase as well )

I hope you have more fun with the car, though at some point we all have to move on! I finally ended up with a Jeep Compass as mentioned in the above post - and I guess, following the obvious upgrade path within the FCA lineup, though that was never my plan!

Originally Posted by nibedk

There recently isn't a like to like replacement for Punto nor an upgrade unless we consider Skoda/VW costing almost 3 times the cost we bought out cars for.

True. Hard to decide on the India 2.0 VAG products either, because the Polo looks more convincing when it comes to build quality. But overall, I'd still agree that the best bet is from VAG.

Originally Posted by anand.shankar

I replaced it with a S-Cross, apart from the Space its a downgrade in every sense.

My friend who picked up the Punto, is an SCross owner as well. The one other factor he really likes in the SCross is the power delivery - which feels better with lesser lag, despite sharing the same engine.

Originally Posted by theabstractmind

BUT! A big one at that! The pure mechanical bliss is unmatched!

Absolutely! Thats a big lesson we learned from this car as well! I booked a Punto after waiting 6 months for a Swift, but when upgrading this time - my wife had build quality and European feel on the topmost of our priority chart, with veto power added.

Originally Posted by abhi_tjet

Slowly but surely FIAT will definitely move out of roads. Best wishes for your new buy. I assume it’s not yet finalised.

Hope FCA doesn't do that - though quite a likely scenario five years down the line. The replacement came home today, Jeep Compass Limited Diesel MT.

Originally Posted by Guru_Shikhar

This comes to next question what’s next in your mind? Many be a Slavia??

Checked out the Slavia soon as it came out, but was not very excited about it. Among all three India 2.0 products - I feel the Taigun was probably the best bet, and may be Virtus would be too! That said, I could upgrade the budget at the right time as some factors fell in place, and hence included the Jeep Compass diesel on the top of my list.

Originally Posted by kapilsharma80

Said goodbye last year due to NGT ban & upgraded to Civic but still have the Punto hangover till date!

Civic is an emotion too! I still love the first one, and even the second generation is a rare breed of sedan for Indian roads! Too bad Honda isn't committed to the Indian market.

Originally Posted by Gannu_1

Eagerly waiting to hear what will take up the Punto’s space. Good luck to you and good luck to the new owner.

Thank you Gannu. I always wished I had the temperament to be a hands-on DIY guy like you are though! Wishing you a lot more years of fun with the Polo. You won't be able to find a diesel MT like that without significantly upgrading the budget, as I have found out the hard way now.

Originally Posted by casnov

Punto was my first car and what a car it was. I sold mine at exactly 100k kms. Have some lovely memories of that car.

Glad you had fun with the car. What did you upgrade to?

Originally Posted by evil_grin

The only worthy upgrade is a Jeep Compass diesel MT. Given that you're very sensible with your money and new Compasses retailing for a princely sum, I expect that you'll end up getting a low run used Compass pre-facelift.

You said it!

Whenever I considered the Jeep Compass in the past - it was always the base Sport version. (Diesel when launched, petrol when facelift was launched) and I found it difficult to convince myself. Found it even more difficult to convince myself of other products - and the ones I really liked were from TATA, Mahindra and VAG stables, with the former two being two large for my parking requirements. (XUV 7OO and Harrier Dark Edition would have given me sleepless nights otherwise!)

Ended up with a Compass itself in the end because, at the end of it all, it feels like the cheapest least-compromised (for India) car in this size and price bracket. Time for the #jeeplife now!

[Guru_Shikhar]

Many congratulations on your perfect upgrade. And I know there will be a detailed ownership report from you with timely and detailed updates

Have hundreds of thousands of miles with your new purchase.

Waiting for your thread.

Cheers.

[TheGearBox]

Congrats on the Jeep.

Would love to know how you zeroed in on it instead of the Taigun. I'm sure all will be revealed in an upcoming thread.

[abhi_tjet]

Originally Posted by CrAzY dRiVeR

The replacement came home today, Jeep Compass Limited Diesel MT.

A hearty congratulations! Logical upgrade from Punto/Linea. I assume Compass manual doesn’t comes in AWD. Any reason you didn’t opted for AWD apart from lacklustre drivetrain?

Our(me and my wife’s) needle stops at Compass whenever we discuss an upgrade from Linea. Inflated price tag of Compass notwithstanding.

[CrAzY dRiVeR]

Originally Posted by Guru_Shikhar

Many congratulations on your perfect upgrade. And I know there will be a detailed ownership report from you with timely and detailed updates

Have hundreds of thousands of miles with your new purchase.

Thank you! Will write a thread after properly getting to understand the car, because we are not in shortage of reviews on the Compass anyways.

Originally Posted by TheGearBox

Congrats on the Jeep.

Would love to know how you zeroed in on it instead of the Taigun. I'm sure all will be revealed in an upcoming thread.

Thank you. Compass over Taigun - was not that complicated, just the quality difference mainly! Although - if restricted to a 20L budget, i would have gone ahead with the Taigun only mostly.

Originally Posted by abhi_tjet

A hearty congratulations! Logical upgrade from Punto/Linea. I assume Compass manual doesn’t comes in AWD. Any reason you didn’t opted for AWD apart from lacklustre drivetrain?

Our(me and my wife’s) needle stops at Compass whenever we discuss an upgrade from Linea. Inflated price tag of Compass notwithstanding.

Price tag of the Compass feels really hard to digest on paper, considering the dimensions! But once you take a test drive and also experience the new facelifted interiors - things start to make sense. Feels a whole segment above, or at least, it did for me.

Reason not to pick up the AWD - EMI concerns. Was already a big stretch on the budget! I had started with XUV 3OO in 2019, Taigun in 2021 - before finally ending up with the Compass Limited Diesel MT in 2022.

[Prashant1286]

Originally Posted by CrAzY dRiVeR

finally came home today...

Jeep Compass Limited(o) Diesel MT in Galaxy Blue -

Congratulations CD!

Logical upgrade from the venerable Punto. The Compass is a lovely car, great dynamics as well. Wish you happy miles with the new acquisition!

[ghodlur]

Originally Posted by CrAzY dRiVeR

finally came home today...

Jeep Compass Limited(o) Diesel MT in Galaxy Blue -

Heartiest Congratulations CD. Was the most appropriate logical upgrade. For the lesser mortals like me the Jeep was way too much out of budget (OTR 28L), hence opted for the one with the Fiat engine i.e Harrier.

Wishing you many more miles on the road. Arun Josie will have some serious competition from you.

[CrAzY dRiVeR]

Originally Posted by Prashant1286

Congratulations CD!

Logical upgrade from the venerable Punto. The Compass is a lovely car, great dynamics as well. Wish you happy miles with the new acquisition!

Thank you.

Originally Posted by ghodlur

Heartiest Congratulations CD. Was the most appropriate logical upgrade. For the lesser mortals like me the Jeep was way too much out of budget (OTR 28L), hence opted for the one with the Fiat engine i.e Harrier.

Wishing you many more miles on the road. Arun Josie will have some serious competition from you.

Harrier would have been on the top of my list as well, if not for the additional size. I absolutely love that beauty, especially in Dark edition. And with the Hyundai TC automatic - an undeniably appealing combination indeed, at a VFM price!

Might not be very obvious from my garage pic, but the angle of entry - along with the size of the parking makes the Compass a very, very tight proposition. Harrier won't even make it inside. Same holds true for my parking slot in Bangalore.