[amit]

For a car that's 7 yrs old, the Palio still looks smashing! People on the road turning heads to take a second look is fine because they rarely see the car but I have owned it for almost 6 yrs and the car still makes me turn my head back for a second look, the car still looks fresh. So many years later it's still Admiration Guaranteed.



Of course, Fiat has enhanced the S10's looks by giving it a unique spoiler and side skirts that give the car a squat, lower look. The alloys are bloody fantastic - ever seen them when the car is being driven?



The front end is stong and muscular, narrow grille completes the effect. The headlights lens cover are prone to fading and moisture condensation - something that Fiat couldn't solve till the end of the life cycle of this model!



The best part of the rear are the tail lights which are called flame shaped tail lamps, I believe. The Stile's tail lamps are no match here.



The passionate designing continues on the insides. The dash is tilted towards the driver - I love that! , the red stitching on the leather wrapped steering and gear lever and the aluminium drilled pedals complete the hot hatch expereince. Yes, the dash design is where Fiat lost the plot or rather the accountant weilded his calculator at the designers. The plastics are hard and the design pretty ordinary showing none of the Italian design flair visible outside. The slot above the glove box for storage is ill fitting. I found the interiors dull and drab even in 2003 when I bought the car but surprisingly I haven't really gotten bored of them. Somehow they have managed to keep their charm. I have to say that the dash may look plain jane and the plastics may be rock hard to touch but the quality is top notch. It's very robust and it shows - 72,000kms later not a single rattle from anywhere. Bravo!



Don't be fooled by the odometer reading. The instrument cluster was changed on 15/10/2004 at 16,951 kms. Total kms driven is 72,073.

[sharma_sanjeevi]

WOW..!! Amazing pics Amit Bhai. You must have taken pains to maintain this beauty in pristine condition, it is almost in similar well maintained condition like Rudra's Chevrolet Optra.

Excellent style of stating your experiences with the beauty, regarding the Headlight issue, saw many Palio Headlights in same condition. Is it the BAD quality control issue at FIAT again

In the First pic that you posted today, the FIAT logo on the front grill is missing, are you also a victim of the logo theft spree which is currently going on in Mumbai ?

Cheers..!!
Sanjeev

[planet_rocker]

Superb ownership review. The HL fogging is so common - even my GTX's LHS HL is foggy. the fiat engineers couldn't fix it. but hey! it is like that only...

Rated 5 Stars.

[karizma_devil]

I had the pleasure of driving amit's car a few times ... its just too great , not even a single rattle !
Gears slot perfectly, interiors 9/10, car body 9/10 , tyres 10/10 !
Honestly i fell in love the first time i drove it !

But yeh true the car as stood the test of time, but hats-off to amit , he has maintained it really well!

I envy you man !

[amit]

The S10 was launched in 2002. 6 years later, the car is still the performance benchmark in India. Even in 2009, mid-size cars engines are at 1.6L. The Palio 1.6 makes buying a new car a extremely difficult decision since there is not a single car upto 10 lakhs apart from the Fiesta that can stand shoulder to shoulder with this car.

The 1.6L Torque engine has never ceased to amaze me since October 23, 2003. Power and torque are so well balanced and spread out that you can literally feel a relentless surge of power through almost all rpm's. Very rarely will you find the S10 falling out of it's rev range. The roll on and mid range are fantastic too. And the growl of the engine is something only the Italians could design. Even at 3,500 - 4,000 rpm the engine growl makes you want to push it further.

Gear ratio's are perfectly mated to the engine too. I believe the GTX comes with overdrive in 4th and 5th while the S10 gets overdrive only in 5th. Slotting of gears is good too and the throw's are short too. Though I have driven the Punto just twice, I feel that the S10's gear shifts are better.

Ride and handling were and are a segment benchmark IMO. In typical European fashion, the ride is a bit hard at slow speeds but it gets nice and firm as speeds build up. In fact, the ride is much better then my SX4 which tends to throw occupants all over the seats at slow speeds. The switch to Michellin XM1 also improved the ride marginally although handling did get dented a fair bit. I feel the car doesn't turn into corner's as well as it did with the original Bridgestone's. Michellin does advertise the XM1's as improving ride and it seems like they actually do.

Fiat got the stuff that matters right. Engine, gearbox, ride and handling are even today among the best you will find in B, B+ and C segment. Fiat has shamelessly designed the GTX and S10 to be driver focussed. They succeeded and how! If you want a car that will make you when you are at the wheel then the S10 it is.

[Perez]

amit, lovely ownership review you've got here bro. I had the pleasure of driving a fellow bhpians palio 1.1 lst week for close to 500kms and am still grinning from ear to ear just thinking of the sheer pleasure i had driving this beauty. Having driven only maruti cars so far, the italian engine's power,handling,engine grunt...heck, the whole car itself was an experience from a different planet by itself. So much so that i've started scanning the market for palio now, hopefully a 1.6 .

[vnabhi]

Originally Posted by amit

-
So here is the list of major services and repairs done after I got back from Canada. Amounts spent before that are on this thread I guess. Still going through my S10 service file:

Total amount spent on service and repairs : Rs.57,561. Add Rs.3000 for the new muffler.

Total amount spent on Tyres: Rs.32,400.

Total amount spent on service: Rs.92,961.

Round it off to Rs.95,000. I don't know if that expensive. To me it's not. I do agree that I have fussed over the car to some extent like getting decarbonizing done frequently (My SX4 hasn't been through that in 33,000kms) or changing headlights when I knew Palio headlights lens covers are prone to fading.

Maybe some people will think that the Palio is heavy on maintainence. I don't think so. I leave that call to you. The figures are listed here and like many things in life, this is also subjective. To a third person, spending 95,000 in 5 years and 72,xxxkms maybe expensive. I respect that thought. The reason I don't find these expenses high is because there is a monetary value to be attached to intangables like how a car makes you feel, the fun and pleasure you have while driving it. That is the area where the Palio GTX and S10 excel in. Attaching a monetary value to these things is something I leave to each individual.

If you ask me whether the Palio is expensive to maintain, my answer would be a emphatic NO.

Amit, your total maintenance charges of Rs 55000 for 72000 kms on the odo works out to 76 paise per km. Comparatively, my WagonR that has 50 K on the odo cost me Rs 17835 over the past 8 years (this excludes Rs 18000 on new tyres, stickering, auto cop, touch up,etc), and this brings the cost to 32 paise per km.

So for a common man, the S10 costs more than twice to maintain. Nevertheless, if I would have had an option for the S10 in 2001 , I'd still have gone for it.

[RX135]

Nice report, Amit, but then I was hardly expecting anything else in your report

BTW, where is the Fiat logo in front gone? Ripped off by vandals or just fallen off? I probably have spare Petra wheel caps having blue Fiat logo. I don't know if one can rip one off the wheel cap and stick it on your car.

That logo-less S10 front sticks out like sore thumb in an otherwise superbly maintained car.

I have heard comments that Palio design is showing its age etc. But to me, S10 still remains the hottest looking hatch on Indian roads.

P.S.: I am disappointed that you went for XM1. You should have opted for PP2. They are so much fun. Perfect compliment for a hot car!

[GTO]

Excellent report and car, you've kept her well. Take her to Pervez (Mazda Motors) to get the deep shiny yellow back.

The S10 was launched in 2002. 6 years later, the car is still the performance benchmark in India.

Similar case for the OHC Vtec, it's power to weight is yet unmatched under 10 lakhs. I'm holding on to my car for a long time too.

[amit]

BTW, where is the Fiat logo in front gone? Ripped off by vandals or just fallen off?

My logo was probably among the first victims of the 'logo lifting' trend. Initially I thought it must have fallen off but now I think it was flicked by these vandals.

I have heard comments that Palio design is showing its age etc. But to me, S10 still remains the hottest looking hatch on Indian roads.

Dated? No way! I agree with you. It's still the hottest looking hatch on our roads.

Amit, your total maintenance charges of Rs 55000 for 72000 kms on the odo works out to 76 paise per km. Comparatively, my WagonR that has 50 K on the odo cost me Rs 17835 over the past 8 years (this excludes Rs 18000 on new tyres, stickering, auto cop, touch up,etc), and this brings the cost to 32 paise per km.

There can't be any comparision to Maruti when it comes to cost of maintainence. There maybe n number of reasons for that (volumes, parts sharing etc etc) but the bottom line is that Maruti's are cheaper. No two doubts about that.

Take her to Pervez (Mazda Motors) to get the deep shiny yellow back.

Sadly, the car has been taken away from me. It was sold and driven away from me on June 17 - ironically, the same day that the Punto was launched!

[amit]

The Palio S10 has changed the way I look at European cars in general and Fiat's in particular. Many here think I am a Fiat fan but I wasn't always one. When the carb Uno was launched, I wanted Fiat to fail and go back because of the old design and technology that they were bringing here. Back then the Santro's and Matiz's were the new kids on the block impressing us with hi-tech terms like MPFI. Like many Indians, I thought Euro cars were to heavy and podgy to drive.

What made me change my opinion? A friend of mine bought a Palio 1.2 in 2002. The delivery was to be taken from Anuroop, Goregaon and the car was to be driven to Chembur. He wasn't confident of his driving abilities so I stepped in. The 1.2 impressed me with it's ride quality and handling. I had a Matiz back then. During the car buying process I took a TD of the GTX and was floored. That changed my opinion about Euro cars.

[extreme_torque]

@amit... so when is the GP coming to your stable? Why did you sold the S10?

[amit]

What makes a good car? A question that is very difficult to answer but let me try what IMO makes a good car.

- A car that's reliable. That wouldn't let you down anywhere anytime.

- A car that doesn't need to be taken to the service center often and just needs regular servicing.

- A car that puts a smile on your face. A smile, not just when you are driving it but even when you just look at it parked in your driveway.

- A car makes you want to drive it. When you come home, park your car for the night but want morning to come soon so you can go to work driving her.

- A car that makes you feel safe - even without safety features like ABS and Airbags.

What is the use of a fun to drive car if you are not sure about it working and running properly when you want it?

Has the Palio been like that? Of course it has! When I sold the car, even the bulb in the interior light was the original one that came with the car. So were the bulbs in the head, tail , fog and number plate lamps!

The Palio may have been a fun to drive car but it has served me well and has been cheap to maintain. It never let me down or left me stranded anywhere, anytime.

I am not a Fiat fan without reason. The car has impressed me and served me well. If I had to buy another Fiat, I would do it with my eyes closed.

[karizma_devil]

GTo can you give some more information about Mazda Motors.

[amit]

My S10 lives on on this forum. Varun has opened up a new thread and it will feel weird putting down my thoughts and feedback on that thread.

To all of you who read through and commented on this thread, I thank you for all the kind words and for sharing the excitement that I felt every time, I, as much as, looked at the car.