Team-BHP - FIAT Palio 1.2 NV Sport EDIT

Hi guys,

Writing a review of my Palio 1.2 NV Sport. I hardly use my car as the traffic is high in Pune and it takes me 25 min to reach my office for which my bike takes 10 min. Mainly use it for occasional long drives and at times when I feel like ripping her at midnight.. I hope it will be informative for all of you.

Car Make: FIAT
Car Model: Palio 1.2 NV Sport
Running: 6500 KM
Year of purchase: Apr 2005

About my car: I bought it after goign through few reviews on the Net, talking to few guys having this car and then of course for pure passion about brand FIAT. Tried getting it in Apr on the occasion of my mom's birthday. But thanks to FIAT management, as I got it at the end of Apr. Those guys were not sure about the pricing after Bharat 3 norms. My car was the first to be rolled out of FIAT as a BS 3 model. I got this information from a known guy working with FIAT that time. I was pissed off due to the delay in getting the car. I got couple of phone calls from the FIAT guys asking to wait for some more time or otherwise they are happy to pay me back all my hard earned money I put on booking.

So after the first shock from delay in delivering my baby, I got it finally after 3 weeks from the date of booking. Hmmmm, so finally I was able to get my hands behind her wheel after a long wait. I was a bit disappointed as I could not get it on my mom's bday.

Driving experience: It was pure "Wow" factor. I had driven only a Zen before that too when I was learning driving. So it was much much different experience from driving a Zen and driving this tank. I never felt so secured inside any other car than my Palio. So I started taking her out on outings and man it has got tremendous handling abilities. The steering is so accurate at any speed. It is one of the best steering feedback I have ever got from vehicles I have driven till date. It is real fun to unleash this beast on highways as it prefers highways than a city traffic. Max I have clocked is 155 KMPH, it was rock solid. On that drive one of my friend was continuously pepping his head to get an idea of how fast we are doing.. He said he never felt scared or even did not recognize that car is actually doing 150+. What a handling.. I have taken curves at 70+ KMOH pretty easily. Never felt like losing the control.. The only downside of driving experience I personally feel is to take her in bumper to bumper traffic. It has hydraulic clutch and it should be pressed fully before changing the gears. Being it a Sport model, it has got stiff suspension setup. You wont feel bad roads at moderate speed but then at low speed you can feel every bit of a pothole. But then this suspension setup provides it a good stability at high speeds. Inside cabin I always feel secured and it seems rock solid. However I have observed that at night the OEM headlights are not great performers. I am planning to shift to 100W Phillips Rally bulbs soon. It has OEM 4 alloys and 1 regular tyre. I have got 14' 175/65 Bridgstone on mine. I has good grip on road but somehow I feel they produce some noise. I would be upsizing them to 185/195 profile soon for a killer look.

Fuel economy: Well not much bothered about as my running is not that great. I am getting 11-13 KMPL in city without AC. After using AC the average drops down to 10-11 KMPL. On highways with AC all the time I have got 15 KMPL. On a trip to Mumbai with 20% AC I have got 17.85 KMPL. So overall I am happy with these figures.

A.S.S. : I have always given my car to FIAT only dealer from where I bought it 2 years back. The overall experience has been very good. Those guys are very polite to talk to both from sales and from workshop. I always prefers to go into the bay while they service my car but never ever they asked me to wait at lounge. I prefer totalk to the guy who works on my car for servicing. A a cup of tea with his has always worked well. Though the workshop is not very clean but I have seen those guys handling cars very well. No mess ups during test rides, driving inside service bay etc. I would rate my dealer as 8/10.

Insurance company (National Insurance): Well this is the part nobody wants to deal with. Unfortunately i had to deal with them twice. May be now they would start calling me with my name next time I visit them:. First it was few guys playing cricket in the parking space when a ball hit my car's windshield. A thin hair crack on the windshiled and a big burn in his father's pocket. I asked his father to pay 800/- as an adjustment towards the insurance. Well I got my car delivered in 3 days. My dealer has a tie up with the insurance comapny and settled everything very quickly.

The second was when a As*hole manian bike rider banged my rear right door. It was a scary impact at about 40-45 KMPH. Well I was stunned for a moment.. He was driving around 70 KMPH on a busy street where I was taking a U turn and every vehicle except him was waiting for me to take the
turn. My right rear door got a big big dent. Took it to the dealer and he promised to complete the work within 3 days. That maniac paid me all the insurance adjustments + this year's insurance hike because of that accident. I know I am lucky that I got it.. I did not do anything extra nor I am any DON's relative :Cheering:.

Overall ownership: It has been fantastic. I always get the exclusivity of driving a Palio.. Thanks to FIAT and their marketing. It is a wonderful car and a real sad demise of such a wonderful car because of ignorant parent. I will keep it for another 3 years and then will go for Linea if it gets launched ever. I love to take my beast on highways and burning the rubber. No doubt FIAT makes great cars and do worst marketing. The last ad I saw from FIAT was back in 2003 and recently a Stile ad. I dont know how a car maker can rely on mouth publicity and expect people to buy their products and believe in them. I guess these days their only customers are passionate FIAT enthusiastic and FIAT company employees. A common man will never take FIAT seriously if they do not work on A.S.S. Personally I never had any problems and I pray other FIAT owners should not end up in trouble.

Thanks guys for being patient and going through my review. Will update you once I clock 10000KM , may be after another 3 years......

Cheers

Update: 3rd service done at 8500 KM

Hi Guys,

I had gone to B U Bhandari (Pune) for my car's 3rd service. I hardly drive my car as my office is just 3 KM from my place and taking car makes me sick as it takes me 20 min to cover this 3 Km strech. My total running is 8.5K in 3 years, now you can imagine my usage . Ha but it would be a real steal when I will sell it.

Now to the point, I was at BU Bhandari at 9:30 AM sharp. There were around 15 cars in line for servicing. Out of which only couple of FIATs. It took 35 min for FIAT adviser to attend me. It was disturbing but then it was not that lady adviser's fault. They had a heavy workload in FIAT section because of already flowing cars for servicing. So that lady attended me at 10:05AM. She was good to talk to. She listened to me thoroughly and noted down all the points. Then she asked me to come down at 5:30 but then I told her that I will be here only as I want the car today and do not want any calls saying car is not ready and blah blah. She smiled and took my car to the service bay. So I went to the customer waiting area and got myself tortured by a "Aditya Panchoili" film.. Pathetic movie.. :D. After an hour this lady come to me and asked me to join her for the under-body inspection of the car. She looked a bit tensed. This made me felt like I am talking to a doctor in a hospital. Then the mechanic showed me that there is a leakage at the near the oil sump, under engine. He told me that the oil is leaking from the crankshaft assembly and I need to fix it ASAP though the leakage is marginal. He said it will take him 2 days to fix it as he need to open up the assembly and something called timing assembly and blah blah.. Another reported issue was drive shaft rubber cover has got a small hole. He said I will replace it whenever we will fix the crankshaft oil leakage. I will be going to Mahabaleshwar and Kolhapur in near future so asked if I can come after 2 weeks and he said ok. Now after this they started working on my car. I returned back to watch the movie and get myself tortured again :).

At 2'o clock I went for lunch. Had my lunch and came back to the FIAT service bay area. Then went to Sameer Ajgaonkar's (Team-BHP member) cabin and had a long chat with him. Then I 3:30 saw my car in the wash area. I was hoping to get my car at 4 but then the service adviser came and told me they have found a new rattling sound and they are fixing it. So finally at 5:30 PM I got my car ready. Service adviser came and explained me the bill and all particulars. I paid my bill and thanked Sameer. There are couple of things I got done which is not the part of the 3rd service. At 5:45PM I left BU BHandari with a smile on my face. Overall a pleasant experience. Thanks to Sameer for his help and making sure everything is up to the mark.

Following are the particulars:
1. Oil filter 79/-
2. Fuel filter 126/-
3. Bardahl engine tuneup and flush 422/-
4. Bardahl special duty 422/-
5. Petrol engine oil 3 ltr 572/-
6. Standard checks- screen wash (Labour) 80/-
7. Check A/C system 0/-
8. Minor service - every 5K 650/-
9. Standard checks- consumable products 100/-
10.Misc - All do settings -rattleing etc 300/-
11.Misc -FR LH, RH door noise removed 200/-
12.Engine starting problem 0/-
-----------------
3320/- Including taxes

Now the Bardahl engine tuneup and flush is for flushing the engine and removing the carbon particles. It cleans up the whole engine system. Bardahl special duty is a liquid which improves the viscosity of the engine. This is not part of the 3rd service so if we take it out, 3rd service bill is about 2400/-. I was facing a starting problem since few days. I was not able to crank the engine at times but rarely... They checked the system but found nothing. Anyways so this is the overall report. I am very satisfied with their service.

Following are the charges for the pending items:

1. Crankshaft oil leakage:
part 140/-
labour 1200/-

2. Driveshaft rubber cover
part 300/-

I will do this in couple of weeks time. Will update you on the same. Sorry for the long reading.

EDIT: In my last trip to Kolhapur, car has given me 16.83 KMPL (With 40% AC and speed of 90-100, with couple of >140 runs for 5-10 KM). Total running 510 KM and took 30.3 ltr petrol. Have done it tankfull -to - tankfull

Thanks
Abhijeet
1.2 Sport/8.5K/Pune

Hey guys,

Here I am with 10000 KM mark.. It took me 3 years to cross this mark.. :Frustrati

So following are the updates:

Run: 10022KM

FE: City 12-13 without AC, 11-12 with AC
Highway: 16-17.8 without AC, 14.5-15 with AC
Best FE extracted 17.8 KMPL on mumbai tripby driving in
80-90KMPH speed

1. Ride and handling: Straight line stability is like god's envy.. Many times touched 145 KMPH but no sign of loosing control... Enjoyed it while had been to konkan... All winding roads and me cruising at 50-60 on ghat roads... Cornering is a bit worried factor with stock Bridgestone S322. Have not used car extensively so not planning to go for wider tyre before I burn the current rubber to an extent..

2. Build: Last time when I serviced had a rattling problem in rear door glass.. It was because Jay-Vijay guys did not do good job when they replaced the right rear door.. BU Bhandari guys have successfully removed it.. So far no rattling from dashboard as of now... Interiors are old but looks solid and are ergonomic.. I hate new interiors colors though.. Mine is all black..

3. Engine: Since I had done Bardhal engine tune up, I can see performance of the engine has improved.. Now engine is more rev happy.. I can feel the difference even when I switch on the AC. No drop in engine performance as it used to be before the engine flush and tuneup. It costed me 1600/- for engine flush and tune up and done it as BU bhandari at 3rd service 8500 KM..

4. Tires: Using Bridgestone S322 since 3years. Came as OEM. It is 175/65 R14 with FIAT alloys. Cornering is not great with this tyre. Straight line stability is good though. Noise is not that much once you roll up the windows.. They are ok-ok tyres though. Alloys are too good. I have not faced any problems with them. Looks great when in 40-50 speed. Spare tyre is not alloy wheel.

5. Repairs and accidents:
a. Had windshield changed for 10K. My expenses 500/-
b. Rear right door changed for 10K. One bike maniac collided..
He paid the insurance difference if 3K.
c. Wipers gone bad: Changed the OEM syndicate wipers to Bosch.
Performance is not improved as I was expecting. Changed for 350/-.

6. Insurance: Changed from National insurance to oriental insurance. As a new customer they charged me 9900/- for this year.

7. Service: Till last year, car always serviced at Jay-Vijay. Did not face any problem with the service. I bought it from Jay-Vijay and it was nice a experience. Since this year shifted to BU Bhandari. Recently got 3rd service done at their service center. Fellow TBHPian "Turbosam" is working with BU Bhandari and he takes care of my car whenever I am there. He is looking after FIAT division in BU. 3rd service was done nicely and all the problems I asked to fix are in fixed now. Will be visiting them shortly for the crankshaft oil leakage problem.

8. Misc:
a. Facing starting problems recently. The reason according to few TBHPians is starter motor. Will update once it is rectified.
b. In last service it is rectified that crankshaft oil leakage. BU Bhandari quoted 1200/- for the repair. 300-400 for part and rest as labor.
c. Driveshaft rubber wrap gone bad. Will cost 300/- approx.

Overall, I enjoyed each KM of it clap:. Its a pleasure to drive Palio on highways.. Never felt any stress even after driving 300KM at a stretch.. I am short 5'4", so never faced problem of steering rubbing against laps.
I am one totally satisfied customer of FIAT abd their legendry *** . Awaiting for Grande Punto and Linea.. Either of them will be my next buy...
Thanks for going through lengthy update...

Cheers
Abhijeet

Update at 17000 KM and 4th Servicing

Hi Guys,

Got my car serviced at BUB at Wakad Pune. Reached the center by 9:15 am and the car was attended in 15 mins. After explaining everything to the service adviser, she told me that I might not get my car by today due to heavy workload. I was shocked as I had taken prior appointment but then I told her I will talk to Sameer (FIAT technical incharge in BUB) and will sort it out. Things I wanted to do in this servicing are:

1. Change engine oil from mineral to Selenia synthetic.
2. Get rear wiper fixed
3. Get the right rear door rattling fixed
4. Regular servicing

Then I had a quick discussion with Sameer and asked him to see if he can deliver my car by 5pm. I told him I would like to see when the guys would change the engine oil. Then I proceed to the lounge which is well kept and has pile of auto and bollywood magazines. I went through all the auto magz and read every Punto and Jazz drive report. Finally at about 12 those guys started servicing my car. My presence may have bothered the serviceman and I could hardly help :). Sameer personally attended the car and thanks to him for that. He is the only reason why I still go to BUB. Its almost 50KM from my place (To and Fro). I had a small dent on the front bumper which I got while one lady in Omni could not do the half clutch and came back on my car which was still good 5 ft behind. It left a small dent on the bumper which Sameer removed on the spot when the car was on the hydr jack.

After lunch finally the BUB guys changed the engine oil. I was just making sure they put the right Selenia synthetic oil. Sameer inspected the existing oil and said the engine is in good shape and no dust has made its way into the engine oil. Then he explained my how KnA filter at times pumps dust into the engine bay. Also he explained me the working of cold air intake and showed me the throttle and engine temp on the ECU examiner attached to a car.

After the servicing was completed, myself and Sameer went for a test ride. He was pretty impressed by the car and engine smoothness. Overall I am satisfied by the service. The car was delivered to me at 4:15pm (Again thanks to Sameer). The bill came to 3K and below is the rough breakup:

1. Selenia 3 Ltr synthetic engine oil: 1800/- (610/- per liter)
2. Servicing - 650/-
3. Oil filter - Do not remember (Not more than 200/-)
4. Fuel filter - Do not remember (Not more than 200/-)

Observations:
The car has become smooth after shifting to Selenia. It has become more rev happy now. Then the gear has become smooth, I wonder why though. The rattling noise is as of now not present. BUB asked me to come down if it appears again. Wash was good this time, certainly better than the previous visit. I will check out if the engine oil change has any impact on the fuel efficiency in the coming days.

Finally at the end, I am very happy about the servicing experience. BUB has always been good and I hope they will keep on improving. Overall I am very satisfied withe the servicing.

MODS: Could you please change the title to: Update @ 17K KM?