[gods-envy]

JVH, There seems to be a Photo Session Bangy meet on the 6th September.
Hope to see you there with your latest babe

Check this for more details
http://www.team-bhp.com/forum/team-b...t-bangy-5.html

[rmonie]

JVH, Congratulations & welcome to the Fiat owners gang! I am sure you will enjoy many pleasurable driving kilometer in the red beauty.

[JVH]

Originally Posted by gods-envy

JVH, There seems to be a Photo Session Bangy meet on the 6th September.
Hope to see you there with your latest babe

Check this for more details
http://www.team-bhp.com/forum/team-b...t-bangy-5.html

Thanks for the link and the invite!

Unfortunately, I'm tied up this weekend and cannot spare the time It's disappointing to miss a meet so early since I joined T-BHP quite recently. Hopefully I'll make it next time.

[lohithrao]

JVH, Congrats thats a good price you got the car for How are the tyres?

BTW recently even i bought a Palio Adventure

Also its a KA 19 reg in Mangalore....

[Sidz]

Excellent buy JVH!!
Believe me the 100 horses will give you oodles of fun everytime you turn on the ignition. With a Palio GTX, you make your own fun

I miss the dark dashboard in my Stile 1.6 Sport. They come in a beige tone now

Looking at the seats in your ride, I plan to change the seat covers for my baby too

Happy driving!!

[JVH]

Originally Posted by lohithrao

JVH, Congrats thats a good price you got the car for How are the tyres?

BTW recently even i bought a Palio Adventure

Also its a KA 19 reg in Mangalore....

Thanks Lohith!

Well, the tyres need replacement after 1-1.5 K kms. I'm planning to do it early next year since I'll not be using the car much and besides i'll be off for an onsite assignment for a couple of months.

The previous owner is a Mangalorean but working in Bangalore right below my company. Lucky to have found him

Originally Posted by Sidz

Excellent buy JVH!!
Believe me the 100 horses will give you oodles of fun everytime you turn on the ignition. With a Palio GTX, you make your own fun

I miss the dark dashboard in my Stile 1.6 Sport. They come in a beige tone now

Looking at the seats in your ride, I plan to change the seat covers for my baby too

Happy driving!!

Thanks man! Looks like the car has already made an impression that you are ready to change the seat covers

[Rahulkool]

wow thats really nice dead

car looks really good ......

[roms]

Originally Posted by JVH

Thanks guys! It does feel really special to be a GTX owner.

Amit and Gods-envy - It is Nov 2001 model alright and the original colour was Tangerine. The first owner got it painted metallic red and the logo job is also his effort. The service guy missed telling me this. I asked whether this could be an accidental vehicle because of the repainting and his answer was negative.

Good looking car there.At first glance it does feel like the later generation Sport 1.6. But as you've mentioned, the owner has repainted the car and replaced the old FIAT logo with the new one. There is also this other thing, the fenders. If you look carefully, there is a distinctive crease running along the length of the fenders. Now that, my friend was available only on the S10s and the later gen 1.6 sports, and not on the GTX. So, either the car has recently undergone a shunt, hence the fenders have been replaced with the newer ones from 1.6 Sport. Either that or the owner is a keen observer and had a liking for the changes made for the 1.6 sport, and has made the detailed changes accordingly.

[gods-envy]

roms, I had a 1.2 sport 2005 model and i have the fenders like the one that you mentioned.
Was it supposed to come on them or you think the previous owner changed them as well?

[roms]

Originally Posted by gods-envy

roms, I had a 1.2 sport 2005 model and i have the fenders on them.
Was it supposed to come on them or you think the previous owner changed them as well?

Frankly I have'nt noticed the fenders on the 1.2 sport. But because the 1.2 sport and 1.6 sport look identical, probably one could expect the 2nd generation "NV sport" models (post 2004) to have that crease on the fenders

[JVH]

Its about time the thread got updated. My sincere apologies for this big gap. I had to leave the country last October and returned only in Feb 09. Have roughly covered 9k kms during the 13 months (8 months effective) after the car's acquisition. Had purchased the car when the odo read just over 69k and now it is has reached 78k.

First of all, let me start by listing down whatever I have spent on the car barring the fuel expenses.

@ Greentracks, 1st Sept 2008

13k during the first service immediately after purchase. Some of the major spares replaced were
Timing belt - Rs. 1038
Belt stretcher - Rs. 1752
Brake pad - Rs. 1096
Labour expenses for Timing belt and stretcher - Rs. 950

Rest of the expenses were on upholstery cleaning, wheel alignment and balancing, door beadings and the other usual routine stuff. I felt it was on the expensive side specially the labour costs and the experience was average. I never took the car again to Greentracks. Nothing against them but I found a much better alternative in Hariprasad motors.


Super Tyre Tec, 26th Sep 2008

Upgraded the rubber to Michelin XM1+ 185/65 R14. Bought them at Rs. 3060 each, 4 in number. Got the wheel alignment and balancing done as well. Received a Tubeless tryre puncture kit free on mentioning Team-BHP.

Filled Nitrogen on all 4 tyres at 30 psi.


@ Hariprasad Motors, 23rd Feb 2009

AC Thermistor - Rs. 1100 + Rs. 500 (Spare cost + Labour)
Seat Knobs - Rs. 150
Paid inspection - Rs. 900

No fliuds or consumables were replaced since everything was done by Greentracks a few months ago. The only reason for this servicing was pro-activeness from my side since the car was idle for nearly 5 months. I found the Hariprasad guys much more professional and excellent in daignosis. They were quite honest too in stating problems which they didn't know or couldn't solve. This is no way a state of the art garage or a service centre and many will be put off by the laid back style and the clumsiness. But they get the job done and leave no room for complaints.


@ Hariprasad Motors, 25th July 2009

The performance had dipped for some unknown reason and I could hear considerable noise specially during acceleration. Took the car to the Hariprasad folks. Silencer was cracked near the center courtesy of a recent trip to Coorg. The chief mechanic also noticed that the reverse and 5th gear were not getting slotted properly. A metallic screeching sound could be heard. I had ignored it thinking the gear bracket would require greasing but he argued there was something wrong. And right he was. Gear bracket had gone kaput specially the mount which controls the reverse gear. Got it replaced promptly.

Silencer welding - Rs. 300
Gear lever bracket - Rs 850 + Rs. 300 (Spare + labour)

On the way to Hariprasad, I also bought Mobil 1 synthetic engine oil from a wholesale dealer Speedaway near JC road.
10W40 @ Rs. 775 per litre. Quoted cost was Rs. 800. Why the reduction? Again Team-bhp
The engine oil was replaced @ Hariprasad free of cost.


@ Hariprasad Motors, 14th Aug 2009

The front doors opening/closing was creating the irritating kat-kat-kat sound. I had mentioned and complaained about this in the last service but post-poned to get it rectified. The door stoppers were the culprit. Replaced them.

Door stoppers - Rs. 2 x 540 = Rs. 1080
Labour - Rs. 400

I don't know exactly but it was sometime just after the Punto launch. Right tail lamp was cracked and had to buy a new one. Hariprasad didnt have them and so paid a visit to Concorde motors, Mysore road. Bought the tail lamp @ Rs. 900. Also bought the missing 100 16V emblem for Rs. 40.

These are all the expenses I can recall. This is already a long post. Thanks for reading.

In the next few posts, I'll jot a few observations of the car and my wishlist for further mods.

Mods - Could you please change the title to something appropriate like Used GTX report - update @ 78000 kms?

[planet_rocker]

why did you replace the timing belt at 13K? Was it required?

wish you many more miles - how about couple of recent pics? Take care and drive safe.

Edit: .. 69+13K ??

[JVH]

Most of the driving of 9k kms was done on highways during my trips to my hometown Belgaum. The other trips were to Coorg and Mysore. I rarely drive the car on weekdays since I commute using my company bus. On weekends, the first thing I do after getting up is head towards the car. I don't have to tell you guys how the next few hours will pass. No No not with the car. But with your other half . She thinks I love the car more than her. Sigh! Women don't understand, do they?

Anyway, here are my observations

• A true blue highway car. I have never ever felt any strain or aches after long drives. The car is planted beautifully and driving position is excellent. Passengers don't complain either
• Beautiful handling. Steep curves @ 100kmph are easy. Really easy. I know Punto and Fabia are much better but this is a car which 8 years old. Enough said!
• 100 horses!!! I believe this is also the reason one can enjoy this car on highways so much
• Even after 8 years, it still doesn't rattle except if you have coins all over and your boot is messy with improperly kept tools.

I must tell you that a used FIAT car was not welcomed by my parents, friends and colleagues. The perceptions have changed gradually and my parents are now even thinking of upgrading to Linea.

Things which I would have liked

• FE. I know one cannot have a wishlist of 100 horses and a great FE, but it really pains to see the fuel gauge go down so drastically.
• Brakes. Not good enough. Believe me, it really scares you when you are at a significant speed.
• AC. It is not effective enough. Atleast compared to our Swift.

I really cannot think of any other defects of the car. It serves my purpose, widens my grin whenever I drive it and has never ever let me down.

The A.S.S might not be the best, the average reliability may not be as good as the Japs but who cares as long as the car is keeping me happy. Touchwood!

All I can say is a used GTX/S10 is bang for the buck. It is really hard to find one in a good condition though. My initial idea was to use the car for 2-3 years. But now am not so sure

Thanks for reading guys. They were really long posts.


Edit - @ Planet. The timing belt was replaced at 69000 kms in a servicing which cost Rs. 13000. I hope it is clear now

[Gilead]

Nice to see you enjoying the car so much.

Originally Posted by JVH

My initial idea was to use the car for 2-3 years. But now am not so sure

You should get yourself the Punto T-Jet is it ever comes out.

[JVH]

Originally Posted by Gilead

You should get yourself the Punto T-Jet is it ever comes out.

I'm all for it.

This could be the only possible upgrade to a GTX/S10 in the hatch segment.