[ghodlur]

The 1st Free service of the stallion done last saturday (why do they call it free whn the spares are still to be paid for) but had its share of the drama. Upon reaching the workshop and getting the SA assigned to take care of the Punto, the SA came up with a surprise saying the car isnt due for any service. I was like "Whatttt". The SA showed me that the warranty (normal) dates entered for my car in the Fiat records is from 5th Dec 2013 to 4th Dec 2016 although I had purchased the car in June 2013 (18th June being the deliver date). Holy Cow, Fiat is at it again, making mistakes. I showed the SA the tax invoice, manual where the warranty is mentioned and upon discussion with the workshop manager & CRM it was decided that the car would be serviced. The whole drama lasted for about an hour. The CRM agreed to get the warranty dates in the system rectified to reflect the correct ones.

Coming to the service, the usual was checked & replaced:
1) Engine oil 3.2lts - Rs 2127/-
2) Oil Filter - Rs 411/-
3) Fuel filter - Rs 2059/-
4) Air filter - Rs 199/-
5) Filtering element - Rs 402/- ( Can anyone confirm what this is??)

Total cost Rs 5198/-. At first seemed steep but realized its for the complete year & without labour cost.

Other jobs done:
1) Rear fog lamp replaced.
2) Rear left rattling sound resolved. It was actually the rear seat which was not perfectly placed in the position.
3) Foul smell from AC - The air filter was replaced
4) Brake pad checked and were good enough.
5) All fluids topped up.

Things which couldnt be done:
1) Engine guard painting - Workshop doesnt do this individually, it can be combined with the anti rust under body coating. I opted for getting this done from outside.
2) Left side front quarter panel plastic broken - The part isnt available with Fiat Thane unfortunatley.
3) Blue & Me upgrade - They didnt know the procedure nor offered to let me know it later either.
4) Rear suspension rubber pad crack - The part isnt available with Fiat Thane unfortunatley.

[arun_josie]

Originally Posted by ghodlur

The 1st Free service of the stallion done last saturday (why do they call it free whn the spares are still to be paid for) but had its share of the drama.

Wheel Alignment/Wheel Balancing not done? Is it not mandatory for the 15K Service?

Originally Posted by Sommos

My Linea was hit on the left side rear bumper by an Alto a few months back.
While the Alto did not suffer any damage except some scratches, my Linea's bumper went inside and cracked.

Even my linea got rear ended by an alto, it was on the right corner. FASS said replacement of bumper is required. But I got it repaired from a local shop.

Did you replace the bumper?

http://www.team-bhp.com/forum/bangal...ml#post3436208

[ghodlur]

Originally Posted by arun_josie

Wheel Alignment/Wheel Balancing not done? Is it not mandatory for the 15K Service?

Yes the WA/WB + tyre rotation is mandatory for the 15K service but I preferred to get it done from a known service provider. Somehow it didnt appeal to me to get the WA/WB at Fiat workshop. This is due at the end of this month.

[Sommos]

Originally Posted by arun_josie

Even my linea got rear ended by an alto, it was on the right corner. FASS said replacement of bumper is required. But I got it repaired from a local shop.

Did you replace the bumper?

No I've not changed the bumper. I got it repaired from the local shop.
On a different note, it is the "kala tikka" or black spot on my shining BNW Linea.

[arun_josie]

Originally Posted by ghodlur

Yes the WA/WB + tyre rotation is mandatory for the 15K service but I preferred to get it done from a known service provider. Somehow it didnt appeal to me to get the WA/WB at Fiat workshop. This is due at the end of this month.

Doing the WA/WB otside FASS will void the warranty, right? (Or) Are they flexible on this. What I heard was, WA/WB must be done at FASS.

[ghodlur]

Originally Posted by arun_josie

Doing the WA/WB otside FASS will void the warranty, right? (Or) Are they flexible on this. What I heard was, WA/WB must be done at FASS.

No, WA/WB is out of the warranty purview. I confirmed the same with FASS and they dont have any issues with the same being done outside.

One querry to all Punto owners - I guess the one year honeymoon period for my car is over as far as PUC is concerned. I need to get the PUC done. Is this to be done right after the year ends or after six more months from the first year anniversary?

Originally Posted by ghodlur

Is this to be done right after the year ends or after six more months from the first year anniversary?

You cannot argue with cops/RTO guys citing rules. Get the emission test done immediately and keep the certificate along with the vehicle documents. I have done it for my 6-month old XUV 500.

[sagarpadaki]

Originally Posted by ghodlur

No, WA/WB is out of the warranty purview. I confirmed the same with FASS and they dont have any issues with the same being done outside.

One querry to all Punto owners - I guess the one year honeymoon period for my car is over as far as PUC is concerned. I need to get the PUC done. Is this to be done right after the year ends or after six more months from the first year anniversary?

For new car emission certificate is valid for one year. So you need to get it done

[ghodlur]

Since the first service revealed that Fiat workshop isnt going to be of any help as far as the underbody protection is concerned, decided to get it done from 3M. Visited the 3M shop in Thane and got the 3M anti rust underbody coating done. The product comes with 5 yr warranty and two checkup/top ups per year. Along with that an UV protection done free which was nothing but usual wash + waxing. The entire process lasted for 3 hrs and costed me Rs 3.8K in total incl taxes. The staff at 3M were very helpful and proactive, took the vehicle immediately for the job and assured of a call when the job was over which they did promptly. All in all a wonderful experience. As usual Mr Shesahdri was in usual best.

Couldnt click of the underbody pics as there were cars waiting for the ramp usage. It was pretty crowded on a saturday.

While moving out of the 3M showroom enquired the cost of the 3M vinyl wraps, it was 300 per sqft. Was thinking of getting the red vinyl wraps for the OVRM's. Is this the correct cost?

[ghodlur]

An Update.

Visited the Fiat workshop for replacing the rear suspension rubber bushings which had been seen as gone bad in the first service but the workshop didnt have the spare in stock. Rubber replaced. Also clicked the pics of underbody anti rust coating recently done at 3M

During the visit met BHPians palitrana with hist T-jet and Rajesh4wd with his Punto MJD.

[ghodlur]

A correction in the previous post. It was Rahul4wd and not Rajesh4wd as mentioned. Apologies.

Got the Wheel alignment and balancing done for the Punto over the weekend at Premji's Tyre plus. Got the tyre rotation done too. Got a few doubts. the alignment report shows the initial readings for the front right toe and rear right toe to be way out of the normal. Curious to know what could have been the cause for the drift. The running has been mostly on the surfaced road and not on the broken ones. Experts can advise.

A closer look at the report showed that the vehicle selected was 1.4 Emotion whereas last alignment report showed 1.3 JTD 75HP/90 HP. Should I assume that this time the alignment was done keeping in mind the petrol engine? Would the readings be different for Petrol & diesel car?

Attaching the alignment report for experts to review and comment.

[ghodlur]

Got the PUC done for the car since it was an year after the car purchase. Costed me Rs 120 for the sticker. But somehow it was observed that most of the petrol bunks arent too interested in doing the PUC for diesel vehicles since it requires more time and people to do than a petrol car which is usually done in minutes. PUC for my car lasted for 20 odd minutes and needed two people. I got it done at the BPCL petrol pump at Majiwade, Thane.

[ghodlur]

Few issues cropping up regularly and some mysteriously vanishing too.

1) The driver side window make too much noise while rolling the glass up or down. I guess the motor must need some attention.
2) The radio FM channels keep auto tuning every 20 mins of playing. Yes recorded the timing and it was around 20 mins only. Any pointers
3) The door open indication flashed the other day and door auto locking function was disabled. Upon checking found the side doors OK but boot door was having the issue. Couple of times operations and the doors could be locked and so was the auto locking at 20kmph was working. Anything I must be doing for this or wait for it to happen next time.
4) The inner wind shield seems to be carrying a lot of smudge marks, dont know how it got there the first place. Very clearly visible when it fogs inside during monsoons. The regular car washer couldnt be that generous to clean the inner side of the front windshield. Any recommended ways to clean the smudges?

I am unable to use the dead pedal since it fouls with the clutch pedal. With my shoe size 10 I hardly get any movig space between the two pedals. Anybody with big foot and driving Punto facing this issue?

[arun_josie]

Originally Posted by ghodlur

I am unable to use the dead pedal since it fouls with the clutch pedal. With my shoe size 10 I hardly get any movig space between the two pedals. Anybody with big foot and driving Punto facing this issue?

I have a similar issue in my Linea. There is just one inch gap between my shoe and the Clutch pedal. The problem is, clutch pedal is at a higher position(little) and hence i am not be able to shift my leg horizontally from the foot rest to the clutch pedal. I have to raise my foot first by a inch and then move to the clutch pedal. Now I am used to it though.

[vibbs]

Originally Posted by ghodlur

A correction in the previous post. It was Rahul4wd and not Rajesh4wd as mentioned. Apologies.

Got the Wheel alignment and balancing done for the Punto over the weekend at Premji's Tyre plus. Got the tyre rotation done too. Got a few doubts. the alignment report shows the initial readings for the front right toe and rear right toe to be way out of the normal. Curious to know what could have been the cause for the drift. The running has been mostly on the surfaced road and not on the broken ones. Experts can advise.

A closer look at the report showed that the vehicle selected was 1.4 Emotion whereas last alignment report showed 1.3 JTD 75HP/90 HP. Should I assume that this time the alignment was done keeping in mind the petrol engine? Would the readings be different for Petrol & diesel car?

Attaching the alignment report for experts to review and comment.

Even my allignment report says Punto 1.2-18V, 1.4-16V.MY 12 (Customised). I dont know what that means. Attaching the report here. This was however done at the service center.

Originally Posted by ghodlur

Few issues cropping up regularly and some mysteriously vanishing too.

2) The radio FM channels keep auto tuning every 20 mins of playing. Yes recorded the timing and it was around 20 mins only. Any pointers
3) The door open indication flashed the other day and door auto locking function was disabled. Upon checking found the side doors OK but boot door was having the issue. Couple of times operations and the doors could be locked and so was the auto locking at 20kmph was working. Anything I must be doing for this or wait for it to happen next time.

I am unable to use the dead pedal since it fouls with the clutch pedal. With my shoe size 10 I hardly get any movig space between the two pedals. Anybody with big foot and driving Punto facing this issue?

I have faced this issue of FM going into auto tuning mode. I ve not timed it since it is not that frequent. Initially I thought it is probably due to low signal strength area, but I jad the same issue bang in the center of the city too. Happened about 5-6 times till now. It goes into auto tune mode and gets back to the same channel in 3-4 seconds.

I too had faced a lock issue. This was just 3-4 times. The doors would auto lock and simultaneously unlock too. After this happened, I could not open the doors even. Only option was to switch off the ignition and then open the door to shut it again. This had solved the problem. It has not happened for the last 10k Kms I guess.