[architect]

Originally Posted by nkrishnap

How I wish I can pick an MJD up for a reasonable price and keep munching more miles

If and when you find a used Palio MJD, it will be priced reasonably, that's for sure! However, be very sure to check its service history. There have been some problematic vehicles and this is the car where bad maintenance can cause irreparable damage to the engine.

[vikasb]

An excellent and balanced review @architect.

Ok let me put a question to you
Would you consider buying another FIAT?

[architect]

Originally Posted by vikasb

Would you consider buying another FIAT?

Difficult question to answer.

From my personal experience, Yes.

But how can I ignore so many other people's bad experiences, especially hrsraghav's adventure waiting for 8 months for Palio-specific parts? How do you account for the guy in Pune who's driving a Punto with the words "I have changed 4 sets of tyres in one year of ownserhip due to suspension issues" written on his windscreen?

[jagan0677]

@ Architect: Congrats on 2years of your Stile MJD.

Detailed Review. I believe it does justice to the car. Wishing you and your car more happy miles!

Whats your take on the paint quality?

Cheers

[Bubby]

Hey Jagan,

The paint quality is good, mine is Nov 2008 Carbon Black SDX, done 37000kms, the paint quality is really good, thought I do give it a good wax every month and it looks and feels as goos as new.

Cheers.

[.anshuman]

@Architect: Does FIAT recommend to use Synthetic oil in Palio MJD?

[vikasb]

Originally Posted by architect

Difficult question to answer.

From my personal experience, Yes.

But how can I ignore so many other people's bad experiences, especially hrsraghav's adventure waiting for 8 months for Palio-specific parts? How do you account for the guy in Pune who's driving a Punto with the words "I have changed 4 sets of tyres in one year of ownserhip due to suspension issues" written on his windscreen?

That's true
On the other hand there are 2 threads where Punto and linea had major accidents and the inmates came out unscathed.

Today my cousin who stays in Yamunanagar told me that we would like to go ahead with the punto which i recommended him sometime back.
But today i recommended him a maruti on having thoughts about spare part availability in the small town

[tortoiseNhare]

Originally Posted by architect

Difficult question to answer.

From my personal experience, Yes.

When I bought the Palio MJD in late 2008, what I had been scouting for was a car with acceptable looks and performance at the lowest possible price point, in a trim level having some features that I considered important. I had long been a TATA fanboy and I believed that the taking over of sales and service of Fiat cars by the Tata group would be the panacea to all ills plaguing Fiat in India. At that time I did not take into account the not so encouraging resale value of their cars and nor was I aware of the passion quotient associated with the Fiat brand cars.

If I am to buy a car today (hatchback) I will go for the Ford Figo Titanium with my eyes closed, with the same kind of considerations that I had back in 2008 but a couple of extra features having crept into my must have list.

[architect]

Originally Posted by jagan0677

Whats your take on the paint quality?

After umpteen scratches, one set of bumper repainting (front and back) and one set of repainting for bottom quarter repainting of the left side, the paint quality is clear in the photos.

The car has had only one wax polish, usual cleaner cleaning which is bad, and stands in the sun and dust 24 hours a day because the commonwealth games construction has made the whole city (and especially my office, where the car is parked day and night, because I walk from home to office) into a construction site.

Originally Posted by .anshuman

@Architect: Does FIAT recommend to use Synthetic oil in Palio MJD?

No, the Palio MJD has a 7500 km service interval, so no synthetic oil. One may use it, though, and many TASS offer the same.

Originally Posted by vikasb

Today my cousin who stays in Yamunanagar told me that we would like to go ahead with the punto which i recommended him sometime back.
But today i recommended him a maruti on having thoughts about spare part availability in the small town

I almost never recommend a Fiat to anyone and if I do I make I warn them and also give them a Maruti alternative. Recently I made a friend buy the Figo TDCi instead of Punto MJD because he couldn't afford ABS airbags on the Punto and I wanted him safe.

I shudder to think of anybody going through Harish Raghav's Adventure experience after buying a Fiat on my recommendation.

Originally Posted by tortoiseNhare

When I bought the Palio MJD in late 2008, what I had been scouting for was a car with acceptable looks and performance at the lowest possible price point, in a trim level having some features that I considered important. I had long been a TATA fanboy and I believed that the taking over of sales and service of Fiat cars by the Tata group would be the panacea to all ills plaguing Fiat in India. At that time I did not take into account the not so encouraging resale value of their cars and nor was I aware of the passion quotient associated with the Fiat brand cars.

If I am to buy a car today (hatchback) I will go for the Ford Figo Titanium with my eyes closed, with the same kind of considerations that I had back in 2008 but a couple of extra features having crept into my must have list.

When I bought this car, it was the only alternative to the Swift Diesel at this price. There was no Vista then.

Thank God I didn't get influenced by the ACI test which proclaimed the Indica Dicor was a better buy than the Palio MJD (primarily because it was RS 53,000 cheaper). Even today, there are lesser Indica Dicors on the road than Palio MJDs, and the wonderful experiences that two of my friends are having with the 1.4 L Tata Dicor engine makes me thankful!

[rudrah]

Originally Posted by architect

I shudder to think of anybody going through Harish Raghav's Adventure experience after buying a Fiat on my recommendation.

Siddharth, we all FIAT lovers know that the Adventure has been discontinued long back all over the world. Plus the vendors supplying the parts have also decreased because of which the critical spares issue cropped up for all Palio/Adventure owners.

Atleast the Palios are still running in some countries and hence we have the benefit to get the spares. I'm sure if it was a Palio car than a Advy, Harish wouldnt had suffered so much.

With recent meet with Ravi Bhatia, FIAT VP Commercial, he assured us that they have reconnected with the vendors internationally to provide spares for older FIAT cars. The spares division is also now separately handled at Pune plant. So the problem of mismatch spares when ordered will be minimized.

And yes, I still do not have yet have that confidence to recommend a FIAT car but trust me they are doing their best to reach out ot the customers and their problems resolved asap which even TATA do not care about. I still suggest FIAT as a option

[architect]

Rudrah, the interesting thing about Harish Raghav's Adventure is that he was waiting for so long for the Palio-1.6-specific parts, not the Adventure-specific parts. You might as well go through that whole thread again. Even now, his front seat (again a Palio-specific part) has not been replaced.

[tortoiseNhare]

Architect, is your Pulsar getting any attention of late, I mean, after the entry of the Palio into your life?

[architect]

Originally Posted by tortoiseNhare

Architect, is your Pulsar getting any attention of late, I mean, after the entry of the Palio into your life?

Well, my Pulsar is with my cousin who has barely put in 5000 km on it in two years (I had put in 40000 in 3 years). It is a better arrangement because I was spending upto Rs 3000/- per annum maintaining it while I was doing barely 100 km a month.

Your brother just called me. I have discussed your parts issue with him and will do my bit to help him. For the moment I've asked him to enquire at Dhingra Motors and ABS Motors, because he is too far away from my place. If that doesn't work, I will source the same stuff from Samyak for you.

[tortoiseNhare]

Originally Posted by architect

Your brother just called me. I have discussed your parts issue with him and will do my bit to help him. For the moment I've asked him to enquire at Dhingra Motors and ABS Motors, because he is too far away from my place. If that doesn't work, I will source the same stuff from Samyak for you.

Thanks Siddhartha. I saw ABS Motors from outside in my last visit to GGN. Looked very upmarket in comparison to our Abhishek Motors.

[.anshuman]

The ABS motors showroom may look upmarket but they offer terrible support at their Service station. Please avoid.

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