[Auto freak]

Originally Posted by gemithomas

I had an Adventure which i used to take to the Service Centre at the slightest hint of a niggle..

I now have a Ford Figo. I dont just dont bother mentioning about the niggles to the A.S.S. Other than periodic maintenance mentions in manual..

85K worth of parts within 30K is quite a lot!
Sometimes it's our excessive love for our cars, that makes us think too much about all these faint squeaks and noises and imagine it could lead to some serious issue.

I've always not bothered about these tiny issues until the next service. Sometimes have not even reported a few minor issues at the scheduled service, like my front right door handle that at times refuses to open at the first pull and demands another one.

I highlighted this at the 5K service but the SA sort of tried to avoid taking it up, he tried to convince me that its normal and that I should learn to operate it properly! :-P i left it there and have started living with it. It is perfectly operational, just that sometime in the early morning I'll have to pull the handle twice! I'm fine with it

At times, looking at my friends and fellow forum members frequenting to the service centre to fix all minor issues asap, i used to wonder if I'm being bad to my car. But I'm reassured by your reply that I'm not. Its only the issues that really need immediate attention and relate to the health of the car that will be attended to right away. :-)

Originally Posted by Jetta_Volkmann

Congrats auto freak on the punto 90hp.

Wow, you drove all the way 2 times from chennai to my place only for service and ghat ride. That is awesome. Don't forget to alert me when you visit Salem next time. Lets catch up.

Drive Safe.

Thanks a lot Jetta_Volkmann!
Will sure alert you the next time I head over to Salem. We'll catch up!

I like long lone drives on the highway and find every excuse for one. With the new 'diesel' car I could give into this urge more often and that's why 23K in 10 months. :-P

[Auto freak]

It's wedding season here and there's one to attend almost everyday!
A close friend was getting married at Coimbatore last weekend, so took Tigress on a drive with a couple of friends.

Took vellore - Krishnagiri - Salem - Perundurai - Coimbatore route while going and the return was via Coimbatore - Palladam - Kangayam - Perundurai - Salem - Ulundurpet - Chennai as we had to pick up a friend from kangayam.

The drive was nothing short of awesome. Here are the trip stats for the entire trip including runs within Coimbatore city.

Total distance: 1137.4km


Average FE: 16.5Kmpl


At Rama's cafe on Salem - Ulundurpet road


Had another friend's wedding to attend at Chennai today. That meant off from work and a free second half! Used to get the oil and filters changed.

Its ahead of the service schedule but still I wanted to try out the Mobil Delvac 1 fully synthetic given all the hype around it. Had ordered a 5L can from 99rpm.com last week along with new air and oil filters.

Delvac1 5W40 Fully Synthetic


Oil change under progress!


Initial impression with the Delvac 1 is extremely positive. The car feels a lot more smoother (or less harsher if I should term it so for a diesel car :P)
It feels like the engine is a little more happier.

[a4anurag]

Originally Posted by Auto freak

Initial impression with the Delvac 1 is extremely positive. The car feels a lot more smoother (or less harsher if I should term it so for a diesel car)
It feels like the engine is a little more happier.

Congrats on the fluid change. What is the period that you are going to keep this oil in the engine for? I mean what is the engine oil change interval that you will follow for this Delvac?

I need a few observations from you after the car clicks around 8-9K kms after this oil change. The reason I am asking is that I have been using Shell and Castrol (this is from the 80K service) synthetic from the time my car was given for 20K kms service and now it is at 99,973 kms. The thing is that the engine feels smooth till 8500-9000 kms after the oil change but later on there is slight higher harshness from the engine so is it the same with all oils or a problem with the Shell and Castrol that MASS use.

PS: The last picture with the hood open on the ramp, Your car looks fantastic. Good going.

Anurag.

[Auto freak]

Originally Posted by a4anurag

Congrats on the fluid change. What is the period that you are going to keep this oil in the engine for? I mean what is the engine oil change interval that you will follow for this Delvac?

Thanks Anurag! I plan an oil change every 7.5K km against the factory recommended 15K.
But this time it would be shorter. Car is over 24K already and I'll have to take her to service by 30K. FASS will drain this oil then and fill in Selenia semi-synthetic. :(

I plan to run the Selenia for 4~5K and then switch to Delvac again. So my 7.5K plan may not exactly work out.

Originally Posted by a4anurag

I need a few observations from you after the car clicks around 8-9K kms after this oil change. ...... now it is at 99,973 kms.

Will keep the thread updated about experiences till 30K for sure.
8-9K running might happen only with the next round of oil change at around 34~35K.

You are nearing the magical 1L mark!! Congrats in advance

Glad you liked the pic! She's so unclean today after the long drive in the rains

[nidhin0816]

The Grande Punto 90Hp Sport is a stellar machine with superb handling and suspension system.

Whenever i drive my friends 90hp sport it just simply blows me away

Wish you million miles ahead.

[a4anurag]

Originally Posted by Auto freak

Thanks Anurag! I plan an oil change every 7.5K km against the factory recommended 15K.
But this time it would be shorter. Car is over 24K already and I'll have to take her to service by 30K. FASS will drain this oil then and fill in Selenia semi-synthetic.

Are you facing any issue with the car?

If No, then why don't you ask FASS not to drain the engine oil as you have just changed it ay 25K kms. Try telling them this and lets see what they say.

No harm in trying.

OT: Completed 1 L kms today!

Anurag.

[Auto freak]

Tigress is just back home after a regular weekend drive to hometown. The odo stands at a little over 26K.

There are quite some updates to post. But the first one is this sad sight that greeted me when I took the car cover off one evening.



I do not have a proper parking and the car is parked out in the open. I was told some random newbie driver trying to parallel park his car left my Tigress with this scar :(

Took her to a nearby garage where they do tinkering and painting and got her back to shape in 3 days. The work done was pretty good but I had to let go of the 'Sport' sticker on the hatch door

Originally Posted by gemithomas

The Black Grill definitely looks better to me.

Originally Posted by a4anurag

Black Black Black all the way. No doubt in it

Originally Posted by a4anurag

Seriously talking buy the Active grill and get it installed. Then of the stock grill, get it painted by keeping it side by side. Keep this as a spare for future use.

Originally Posted by mohitk1993

The black-grilled Punto looks awesome. As others have suggested, get the Active grilles from the Fiat guys and keep the silver ones for the future. This way, you could also swap them anytime you get bored of the look

And its finally done! the black grille!
Was off on a weekday and had nothing to do. Got reminded of the black grille and went to RDC Fiat to check if they had it in stock. To my luck they did!
I got the entire set of upper and lower grilles, the Fiat logo and the multijet badge. Got them installed there. Costed me 2300





The Spoiler
When the grille fitment was being done, I enquired the RDC stores if they had the Punto OE spoiler. They did have and it was priced at 4100, lesser than what it used to be! I immediately bought it. It was unpainted and I was told that they wouldn't be able to support me with the painting and fitment.

The OE spoiler's fitment has been slightly modified by Fiat. Earlier it used to come with 2 studs that demanded drilling of the top of the boot lid and securing with nuts.

But this new one, had nothing. It came with double sided tapes to cover the entire surface that would come in contact with the boot lid.

Here is the unpainted spoiler


Double sided tapes supplied with the spoiler


Got the painting done at a friendly garage in my home town on Saturday and did the fitting myself (just align and stick!).


Another photo session
And Sunday morning with Driv3r and his Bulgarian brother also in town, we ended up clicking! Here are a few pics

[a4anurag]

Originally Posted by Auto freak

And its finally done! the black grille!
Was off on a weekday and had nothing to do. Got reminded of the black grille and went to RDC Fiat to check if they had it in stock. To my luck they did! I got the entire set of upper and lower grilles, the Fiat logo and the multi jet badge. Got them installed there. Costed me 2300

Congratulations Auto Freak.

The car looks fabulous and very simple and not a overdone feel.

One suggestion to you: Does Fiat have the rear hatch badges in gold colour type like how it is in the Indica Vista?! Hope you get my point! How would that look on the car?

And if possible do something to that silver looking door handles too!

Just a thought. Don't flame me for making me also get the car modded

Anurag.

[Auto freak]

Thanks Anurag!

Originally Posted by a4anurag

One suggestion to you: Does Fiat have the rear hatch badges in gold colour type like how it is in the Indica Vista?! Hope you get my point! How would that look on the car?

Yes! I remember the golden badges on the anniversary Vista. Don't think its available for the Punto though.
And don't you think it will look a little 'bling'? :-D

Will sure think about the chrome handles if something has to be done

[a4anurag]

Originally Posted by Auto freak

Thanks Anurag!

Yes! I remember the golden badges on the anniversary Vista. Don't think its available for the Punto though.
And don't you think it will look a little 'bling'? :-D

Will sure think about the chrome handles if something has to be done

Try and photoshop a picture with the modifications and post here. Lets all see how it could look!

Bling.. Depends on how you define it. Lol.

Anurag.

[TheHkrish]

Originally Posted by Auto freak

Tigress is just back home after a regular weekend drive to hometown. The odo stands at a little over 26K.

There are quite some updates to post. But the first one is this sad sight that greeted me when I took the car cover off one evening.

Its Ok Auto freak, it hurts to see the car even with a smudge. Let me congratulate you on this very very impressive machine.

I have a punto 90Hp as well, not in running condition after a slight run of bad luck. This little fellow is nothing short of a tank.

Congrats again bro

[Auto freak]

Originally Posted by TheHkrish

Its Ok Auto freak, it hurts to see the car even with a smudge. Let me congratulate you on this very very impressive machine.

I have a punto 90Hp as well, not in running condition after a slight run of bad luck. This little fellow is nothing short of a tank.

Congrats again bro

Thanks a lot bro

I read through your thread. The incident was indeed very saddening. But how your beloved tank saved both of you by taking it all on herself is truly awesome.

Thanks to Fiat for the exceptional build and no cost cutting by compromising safety even in a country that doesn't insist too much on it!

Your Punto will soon be back to her full glory giving you miles and miles of happy n safe drives with you!

[DRIVE_ADDICT]

Hi AutoFreak, Your car looks awesome with minimal yet beautiful mods. Taking the car all the way down to Salem for service and a solo Chennai-Yercaud round trip showed the love you have on your car. Your handle stands / suits for you. :-). My family and budget doesn't allowed the Punto :-( so living with Figo for now.

By the way Could you please share me the details of the gloss wrap roof? Where you have done and what cost?

[Auto freak]

Originally Posted by DRIVE_ADDICT

By the way Could you please share me the details of the gloss wrap roof? Where you have done and what cost?

Glad you liked my car Drive_addict

Got the gloss wrap done at 'US Sticker shop' in Anna Nagar. Its on the road right next to Yessi Yessi super market on the 3rd avenue. Costed me 2.5K

[Auto freak]

It's time for that update I've always wanted to post!
The stock alloys are gone and OZ is in!

The wheels are OZ (Envy) 15" 98 PCD running the same stock tyres that are good to go for another 7~10K kms.

The alloys are pre-owned, used for around 6K km. They have been taken good care of and are as good as new. Many thanks to my friend and BHPian DRIV3R who took all the pains of sourcing them, checking them out more than once and even getting them collected for me!
It came with the whole set of hub centric rings, lug bolts and original boxes.

Drove to Bangalore on Sunday morning and got them fitted!
My initial observation is that the car feels just fine with them. No abnormal vibrations at speed.

The track is now a wee bit wider given the slightly higher offset of this wheel.
That translates to what I feel to be better straight line road holding and a slightly heavier steering in corners taken at higher speeds.

Some pictures clicked on the way back.











Service Update:
On a less exciting note, the third service is done!
The odo stands at 31250 now.

All the fluids and filters have been replaced. And yes, my Delvac1 has been drained and its now the regular Selenia in my oil sump :( . Wheel balancing and alignment was also done totalling the bill to 9800. A mild rattling in the front left door is also claimed to be sorted. Am yet to pay a keen ear to it though.

Service was done at RDC, Chennai. Wanted to drive to True Sai, Salem even this time.
But what held me back was that the odo was already over 30.5K and driving to Salem would add another 350 to it. Was concerned if FIAT would find that an issue as the schedule is at 30K.

What delighted me was that I could take the car to RDC Fiat just before noon after only a phone call at 9 and get it back by 5 in the evening with all servicing and washing done! Fiat sure is improving on service.