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Old 5th October 2014, 01:28   #421
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75,000 kms.

A thin line between genius and insanity - Fiat Grande Punto 90HP - 2,00,000 km up! Edit: Sold-imageuploadedbyteambhp1412452386.800840.jpg

Quote:
Originally Posted by JoseVijay View Post
Congratulations on the 75K mark. The Punto looks great after cleaning and detailing. I still wonder why you thought of giving it a paint job. Was the mark on the bonnet so bad? How did they remove the mark?

The mark looked like a permanent residue of bird poo and looked very ugly to say the least. I tried my usual DIY with Meguair's ScratchX and the results suggested that the effect on the paint might be deep.

Also came to know that a friend had similar issue and required a repaint to get it back to stock condition. Hence that thought was there in the mind- although I never consulted any workshops to clarify this.

It was removed with their 'diamond cut' compound and a simple swipe of the brush. Was surprised that they didn't even require the rotary polisher machine to rub it off!
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Old 17th November 2014, 07:27   #422
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re: A thin line between genius and insanity - Fiat Grande Punto 90HP - 2,00,000 km up! Edit: Sold

Issues faced + Service Experience #12 - Brake pad change and mini-service @ 68,000 kms.
Service Satisfaction - ***--
Service Centre - Vecto Motors, Bangalore.


Changed the brake pad and also the discs this time around. Could have avoided the discs change as I found out later. The service advisor sounded not so confident about retaining the discs and for the moment - I thought its a better thing to do. Anyways - the total costs came to around 8,400/-

Air Filter - Rs 174/-
Filtering Element - Rs 358/-
Wiper Blades - Rs 541/- each.
Brake Pad set - Rs 2882/-
Brakes Shoes - Rs 1961/-

Labour charges for brakes - Rs 750/-
Labour charges for filter replacements - Rs 100/-
Labour charges for headlamp bulb replacement - Rs 25/-

Issues faced + Service Experience #13 - Scheduled Service @ 75,000 kms.
Service Satisfaction - ***--
Service Centre - Vecto Motors, Bangalore.


One star reduced for the poor job done on wheel alignment. Dont know why I asked them to do it in the first place. The tyres were put back in reverse direction of rotation - noticed as soon as I hit the road due to the increased road noise felt inside the cabin.

Another point reduced for charging around 600 rupees for cleaning the brakes in spite of telling them that I did the brake pad and shoes replacement only a few thousand kilometers back. Too bad I failed to notice this in the bill before paying up though!

Link rod for the front suspension, along with the bush for the rear suspension had to be replaced as they had taken a beating thanks to our good road surfaces. Total service costs came to around 10.5k.

Labour charges for Link Rod - Rs 168/-
Labour charges for Coil Spring Bush - Rs 112/-
Labour charges for brake cleaning - Rs 609/-
Paid service charges - Rs 1668/-
Wheel balancing and alignment charges - Rs 786/-

Engine Oil - Rs 1920/-
Oil Filter - Rs 411/-
Filtering Element - Rs 410/-
Fuel Filter - Rs 2059/-
Air Filter - Rs 210/-

Part prices for air filter and filtering element seems to have gone up recently.
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Old 15th December 2014, 11:23   #423
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80,000 kms

Yet another milestone - 80,000 kms completed in 2 years, 9 months & 4 days.

A thin line between genius and insanity - Fiat Grande Punto 90HP - 2,00,000 km up! Edit: Sold-img_2235.jpg

There has been nothing to report throughout this period, with the car running like clockwork. However, the starter motor seems to be edging towards the end of its life, and might need to be repaired / replaced soon, very soon.

Coorg -

Went to Coorg for the first time last month, and it turned out to be quite an adventure with google maps sending us on a jeep trail inside few coffee estates, even though another proper road was available on the other side of our destination - Victorian Verandaz homestay at Coorg.

It was one of the most hair-raising drives with the Punto. Roads were extremely narrow, with only just about enough gap for the car, had huge potholes and the boulders and needless to say - had no tarmac. Even had freshly laid sand at some inclines, where i would have never been able to get traction back if the momentum is lost. Missed a proper 4*4 SUV. No range for mobile phones either incase we got stuck!

However - Punto with its 185mm clearance managed with a struggle. The hosts at the resort had a surprise hearing we made it through that wrong road with a hatchback!

A thin line between genius and insanity - Fiat Grande Punto 90HP - 2,00,000 km up! Edit: Sold-img_1937_800.jpg
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Old 13th January 2015, 14:11   #424
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re: A thin line between genius and insanity - Fiat Grande Punto 90HP - 2,00,000 km up! Edit: Sold

Just completed my first solo long drive in the Punto 90 last week. And needless to say - she didn't disappoint. Drove from Trivandrum to Bangalore continuous for 11 hours and 15 mins, with only one 15 mins break to speak of! After almost 770 kms of continuous driving - was not tired and had the energy to clean the house (which was closed for almost a month) and go out with BHP'ians for dinner.

Some trip statistics -

Total Time - 11:15 hours.
Total Travel Time - 10:54 hours.

Total Distance - 769.3 kms door to door.

Average Speed - 70 kmph.
Max speed ~ 100 kmph. Was cruising at 100 for most of the time.

Fuel Efficiency (MID) - 20.3 kmpl.

Approx amount spent of fuel - Rs 2150/-
Approx amount spent of toll - Rs 727/-


My only gripe though was the absence of cruise control - a rarity in the segment even now - forget 2012. Decided that my next car should have cruise control. Those long straight highways in TN sure deserve a rest for the right foot.
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Old 13th January 2015, 15:02   #425
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re: A thin line between genius and insanity - Fiat Grande Punto 90HP - 2,00,000 km up! Edit: Sold

Quote:
Originally Posted by CrAzY dRiVeR View Post
Drove from Trivandrum to Bangalore continuous for 11 hours and 15 mins, with only one 15 mins break to speak of! After almost 770 kms of continuous driving
Hot damn, that is a lot! Seriously, I would never be able to drive such a long distance alone. How do you guys manage to convince your parents/wife about this?

BTW what route did you choose? Via Tenkasi - Madurai - Dindigul or another one?

And just a 15 minute break? Did you have your breakfast early and leave and break for the lunch/tea? You Sir, have a lot of endurance! I give you that!
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Old 13th January 2015, 15:21   #426
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re: A thin line between genius and insanity - Fiat Grande Punto 90HP - 2,00,000 km up! Edit: Sold

Forgot to mention the timings in above post. It was from morning 4:15AM to evening 3:30PM, on Sunday - the 11th of Jan 2015.

Quote:
Originally Posted by Gannu_1 View Post
Hot damn, that is a lot! Seriously, I would never be able to drive such a long distance alone. How do you guys manage to convince your parents/wife about this?
Wife had to stay back with my parents for some personal work. And I needed the car back in Bangalore for my daily 60 kms commute. There was no workaround, or so I insisted.

It also helped that BHP'ian nkrishnap visited us two weeks ago as part of his solo drive. http://www.team-bhp.com/forum/travel...bangalore.html Helped convince parents that these sort of drives are normal these days.

Quote:
Originally Posted by Gannu_1 View Post
BTW what route did you choose? Via Tenkasi - Madurai - Dindigul or another one?
Took the known route without much experimentation since it was my first solo drive, and Monday was a regular working day. Trivandrum - Nagercoil - Madurai - Dindigul - Salem - Hosur - Bangalore.

Quote:
Originally Posted by Gannu_1 View Post
And just a 15 minute break? Did you have your breakfast early and leave and break for the lunch/tea? You Sir, have a lot of endurance! I give you that!
Had a light breakfast of 3 idlis early in the morning at 4AM. Original plan was to take a small parcel for breakfast. I had that parcel of 5 idli at 10AM somewhere between Madurai and Dindigul. Also - plan was to stop at Shoolagiri for lunch - but I felt good enough and decided to continue non-stop to Bangalore.

PS - I'm no idli fan. Just that they are easier for taking parcels.
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Old 13th January 2015, 17:54   #427
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re: A thin line between genius and insanity - Fiat Grande Punto 90HP - 2,00,000 km up! Edit: Sold

Quote:
Originally Posted by CrAzY dRiVeR View Post
No more hunting. Managed to pay the Bangalore LTT for my 2 year old Punto, which came close to a lakh.

This is going to be one long ownership report.
CD, was finally able to read your ownership log. Congrats on the 80k.

Were you able to get the NOC from TN RTO? I wanted to get for my Figo, but was told that the processes have changed and the incurred costs will go north of 8k.
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Old 13th January 2015, 17:58   #428
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re: A thin line between genius and insanity - Fiat Grande Punto 90HP - 2,00,000 km up! Edit: Sold

Quote:
Originally Posted by satan's_valet View Post
Were you able to get the NOC from TN RTO? I wanted to get for my Figo, but was told that the processes have changed and the incurred costs will go north of 8k.

I think he was able to. And he also ended up paying the road tax for KA.
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Old 13th January 2015, 18:03   #429
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Quote:
Originally Posted by ampere View Post
I think he was able to. And he also ended up paying the road tax for KA.

I have paid the LTT for KA (which does not require a NOC, thankfully) .

But re-registration requires a NOC where I have a hit a road block now.
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Old 13th January 2015, 18:41   #430
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re: A thin line between genius and insanity - Fiat Grande Punto 90HP - 2,00,000 km up! Edit: Sold

Quote:
Originally Posted by ampere View Post
I think he was able to. And he also ended up paying the road tax for KA.
Quote:
Originally Posted by satan's_valet View Post
CD, was finally able to read your ownership log. Congrats on the 80k.

Were you able to get the NOC from TN RTO? I wanted to get for my Figo, but was told that the processes have changed and the incurred costs will go north of 8k.
Quote:
Originally Posted by satan's_valet View Post
I have paid the LTT for KA (which does not require a NOC, thankfully) .

But re-registration requires a NOC where I have a hit a road block now.
Thanks for reading.

And no, I haven't taken the NOC yet. There is an outstanding loan that will get closed this March. So I was hoping to remove the hypothecation as well along with the NOC.

Re-registration is always a headache. But why do they require money now? As per the earlier process- A police NOC was required to be submitted to RTO along with a thousand other papers they request. A lot of running from pillar to post, but money wasn't involved.

Can you please explain the new process?

@Ampere: Paid road tax for Bangalore without the NOC from Chennai. Need to re-register as well since the car might be retained for a long term.

Last edited by CrAzY dRiVeR : 13th January 2015 at 18:44.
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Old 13th January 2015, 23:36   #431
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re: A thin line between genius and insanity - Fiat Grande Punto 90HP - 2,00,000 km up! Edit: Sold

Quote:
Originally Posted by CrAzY dRiVeR View Post
Thanks for reading.

And no, I haven't taken the NOC yet. There is an outstanding loan that will get closed this March. So I was hoping to remove the hypothecation as well along with the NOC.

Re-registration is always a headache. But why do they require money now? As per the earlier process- A police NOC was required to be submitted to RTO along with a thousand other papers they request. A lot of running from pillar to post, but money wasn't involved.

Can you please explain the new process?

@Ampere: Paid road tax for Bangalore without the NOC from Chennai. Need to re-register as well since the car might be retained for a long term.
I am not exactly sure on the details though, but I guess the 8k has something to do with RTO fees. The police NOC is still required and the vehicle has to be produced to RTO along with the papers to obtain the RTO NOC.

I am checking with an agent through whom I got my RC hypothecated. I will update here as soon I find out something.
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Old 4th February 2015, 01:47   #432
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A thin line between genius and insanity - Fiat Grande Punto 90HP - Now 80,000...

Issues faced + Service Experience #14 - Engine Oil, Oil Filter and Air Filter Change @ 83,000 kms.
Service Satisfaction - *****
Service Centre - Vecto Motors, Bangalore.


Such a service was not mandatory, but I have decided to stick to a 7.5k kms interval for the engine oil change rather than the company recommended 15k kms.

Costs remain the same as before-

Engine Oil - Rs 1920/-
Oil Filter - Rs 411/-
Filtering Element - Rs 410/-

Nothing to complain about the quality of service either as the work was attended in due time even though I did not have a prior appointment. Did not request for wash or any other services as well.


There are a few dashboard rattles that have crept in recently, and looks like the finish has not been upto factory standards ever since the dashboard was opened up for a/c work close to the 45k mark. Has survived close to 30k kms of rough roads before protesting though! Will need to get it re-assembled once again during the 90k scheduled service.

Last edited by CrAzY dRiVeR : 4th February 2015 at 01:49.
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Old 4th February 2015, 01:52   #433
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re: A thin line between genius and insanity - Fiat Grande Punto 90HP - 2,00,000 km up! Edit: Sold

Hey crazy driver,
Since your 90hp is doing a higher mileage, I would recommend you replace timing chain every 40,000 kms. This is what my friends in the UK are doing.
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Old 4th February 2015, 08:07   #434
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Re: A thin line between genius and insanity - Fiat Grande Punto 90HP - Now 80,000...

Quote:
Originally Posted by CrAzY dRiVeR View Post
but I have decided to stick to a 7.5k kms interval for the engine oil change rather than the company recommended 15k kms.
Kindly share the rationale behind this. Since when did you opt for oil change at 7.5K kms? Are you still using Fiat preferred Selenia or moved on to Mobil Delvac.

My friend's Punto is nearing 60K kms and he would like to know whats the approximate charges for the timing chain replacement job?
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Old 4th February 2015, 09:21   #435
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Re: A thin line between genius and insanity - Fiat Grande Punto 90HP - Now 80,000...

Quote:
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Hey crazy driver,
Since your 90hp is doing a higher mileage, I would recommend you replace timing chain every 40,000 kms. This is what my friends in the UK are doing.
Not necessary. Sticking to 60K kms with regular checks on the Oil state and level will just do fine. Ensure the airfilter is not clogged too.

Quote:
Originally Posted by ghodlur View Post
Kindly share the rationale behind this. Since when did you opt for oil change at 7.5K kms? Are you still using Fiat preferred Selenia or moved on to Mobil Delvac.

My friend's Punto is nearing 60K kms and he would like to know whats the approximate charges for the timing chain replacement job?
I believe the rationale behind the 7.5K kms drain interval being the engine oil being semi synthetic and higher running in the city.

The timing chain replacement should cost around 11k including labour and it would cover the timing chain, chain pads, tensioner, gasket and a few other parts.

Last edited by nkrishnap : 4th February 2015 at 09:37.
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