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Old 4th December 2011, 18:17   #166
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re: Long Term Review - Fiat Punto EP 1.3 - EDIT: 165,000 kms up

hi guys,
the car crossed 101000 a couple of days ago.
The review is still pending.
Stuck with loads of work. Please be the nice people you have been and bear with me for a little while more.
In the meanwhile, may i please request the moderators to change the odo reading to 101000 kilometers?
Drive safe all of you, and always wear a seatbelt.

Mandeep
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Old 6th January 2012, 19:59   #167
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re: Long Term Review - Fiat Punto EP 1.3 - EDIT: 165,000 kms up

Hi ER,
I have been eagerly waiting for an update. BTW i would like to thank you for such a wonderful ownership thread , it is a must read thread for all the buyers in the market who are considering GP .
Your thread was one of the main reasons why I went for GP,it gave me a lot of confidence in the car apart from the official review.
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Old 14th January 2012, 21:36   #168
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re: Long Term Review - Fiat Punto EP 1.3 - EDIT: 165,000 kms up

Quote:
Originally Posted by scofield View Post
Hi ER,
I have been eagerly waiting for an update. BTW i would like to thank you for such a wonderful ownership thread , it is a must read thread for all the buyers in the market who are considering GP .
Your thread was one of the main reasons why I went for GP,it gave me a lot of confidence in the car apart from the official review.
hi scofield,
thanks for going through the thread.
the reason for not putting pen to paper is just the lazy me.
the writeup is almost ready and all i need to do is upload it here.
will do it once the car goes in for the 105000 service on wednesday.
its already crossed that figure and as it is parked, the odo reads 106119.
drive safe, always wear a seatbelt.
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Old 16th January 2012, 11:20   #169
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re: Long Term Review - Fiat Punto EP 1.3 - EDIT: 165,000 kms up

Mandeep bro,

I have been following this thread right from its inception and am really really impressed. I also own a GP and this thread has helped me a lot in lot of ways; so million thanks.

I have a question, is it necessary to get tyre rotation done at 15k service or is it subjective to certain factors?
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Old 26th January 2012, 14:15   #170
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re: Long Term Review - Fiat Punto EP 1.3 - EDIT: 165,000 kms up

Quote:
Originally Posted by epicenter.rulez View Post
hi guys,
the car crossed 101000 a couple of days ago.
The review is still pending.
Stuck with loads of work. Please be the nice people you have been and bear with me for a little while more.
In the meanwhile, may i please request the moderators to change the odo reading to 101000 kilometers?
Drive safe all of you, and always wear a seatbelt.

Mandeep
I have been following your thread since long and its been really informative .
One thing i want to know about the fuel additives give at tata motors for punto mjd .I have bought one bottle but have not used it .
regards
praveen singh

Last edited by Amartya : 27th January 2012 at 05:07. Reason: Fixed the quote tag. Cheers.
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Old 9th February 2012, 14:47   #171
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re: Long Term Review - Fiat Punto EP 1.3 - EDIT: 165,000 kms up

Hi Gaaij,
Without giving those lazy and lame excuses, may I please present the rest of the story from the 84000 kilometer mark?

Ok, here goes..but first of all, a request to the mods to please update odo reading to 110000 kilometers please.

So the car was somewhere northwest of the 84000 kilometers and every day I laid eyes on her, I had mixed feelings. The scars of the battles with the moronic traffic, the affect of asphalt on the tires, the broken windshield, starting troubles, irregular idling, reduced pickup, everything was taking its toll on the overall beauty and magnificence of the most beautiful car in India. Something seriously had to be done about this. The dents had to be removed, the car had to be touched up, the glass had to be changed, the starting trouble had to be sorted out, the irregular idling needed to go back to regular, the pickup needed to be sorted out, but first, a check on the bank balance.

Finally after a couple of days of abusing the car in the same condition, found out that I had enough money to get the car back to its old glory. Talking to Hem, my very close friend and another die hard Punto fan and owner, we decided to head to Ahmedabad and crash land at Vishal’s workshop to get the car done up.

The rains were on but those furious downpours had gone down to infrequent showers. Ahmedabad would be still better. Throwing caution to the wind, one fine balmy day, we headed off to Neighborhood Motors, Ahmedabad. The plight of the car had already been discussed with Vishal and we’d be getting another car to use for the time it took for ours to get back into fine fettle. It would be an otherwise stock Punto Emotion with Bilsteins, alloys and A drives. We were more than happy and immensely grateful for the arrangements.
Reaching Ahmedabad without any incidents, we dropped at the workshop to leave the car there for the test drive and other estimating work and headed off to a sumptuous and a much needed lunch. Coming back to the workshop, the estimates had been prepared and we settled down to the game of finances. A lot of nicks and scratches and some major denting and painting on the doors needed to be done. About 10 pieces of the car needed to be painted and the final figure was put to around 25000 rupees with a Smartwax job included, which meant that the car would be detailed inside out at no extra cost. Agreed.

The idling issue was not diagnosed because it happened only when the car was started for the first time of the day and neither could the starting problem be diagnosed immediately. The car needed to cool down and the same would be checked up tomorrow. The tires needed replacement as one of them was almost balding while the other three were in serious competition with each other to take the title of the most decrepit tire of the light year.
Although the V550s had done their job excellently, I wanted to shift over to a softer set of tires. I was in love with the stiffer side walls of the V550s but then the comfort thing had to be thought of for dad who also used the car frequently and always had this thing about ride comfort. Another thing was that even though the 205/60s had performed brilliantly, we decided to go back to the 195/60 stock size just to get that old rollover back. We would have to compromise again with the ground clearance issue, but that wasn’t something that was going to matter a lot. Vishal’s logic was simple, the lower the ground clearance, the slower you will be on bad roads. Agreed and sealed. So off we went next door to his Yokohama shop to check out what we had in store for the Punto. A drives, S Drives, C Drives and V550s were all available in the 195/60 section. Checking out the tires one by one, we shortlisted the A drives and the C drives, but confusion still ruled the roost. I desperately wanted to go for the C drives but I wasn’t sure how they would perform. Of course they were very good tires, but then I wanted to make the right decision.

Vishal again came to my rescue. His car was shod with A drives and while we were going to drive his car for the days to come till ours was ready, we’d have a firsthand experience with the A drives. If they suited us, we could go for them, the C drives would only be better. Agreeing, we decided to keep the tires as the last job and would be fitting them once the car was out of the paint shop. The windshield would be taken care of by insurance. Another discovery was a slightly bent alloy wheel and I was worried about it, but Vishal wasn’t. He had a guy who could true up the wheel up to 95 percent accuracy and the rest would be taken care of during balancing. The charges would be nominal. Anything less than the replacement of the alloy was nominal for me. Relieved, we finalized 10 days for the car to be done up and keeping a cushion for a day or two of the detailing job and other problem sorting, we took the Bilsteined Punto and headed back home.

While I am at it, let me also tell you my experience with the Bilsteins. Puttering around in the city traffic to come out on the highway, the car felt neutral. The only change was a slightly harder steering wheel. It was only while crossing the speed breakers that the car felt different. The front didn’t jiggle around and the rear didn’t bottom out like on the stock car. The car even felt taller and going over some bad patches with protruding stones and small rocks was not an issue at all. The car just felt slightly stiff and the vibes came back to the steering wheel and that was the only part where I found the drive uncomfortable.

It was only during the highway run back home that the true characteristic of the Bilsteins surfaced. The cornering (though no sharp turns on the Ahmedabad – Valsad patch) was amazing, with the car not even batting an eyelid when being cornered and passing over the undulations of the tarmac at 3 digit speeds. The straight line drive is also good but the real fun of the suspension is when the car is flicked around on sharp corners. The road from home to office does have a couple of such turns and I had a big smile on my face every time I went around them at speeds considerably more than the stock car. The one thing I noticed was that the A drives were not much fun to drive the car around on. On rainy days, high speed cornering was a tad hair raising and scary with the car aqua planing on the bends. Even the balding V550s had performed better. After a couple of more similar incidents, I decided to chuck the A drives. My car would run on the C drives.

Amidst all this fun, time passed so fast that it was only when I got a call from the workshop that the car was ready and only awaited my tire selection that I came to know that we had used this baby for 10 days. Feeling happy that finally my car would be back with me, I called up Hem to tell him to be ready to move to Ahmedabad in a couple of days as it would take me that time to arrange the money part.

Two days later we were back on the road to Ahmedabad. Calling up the workshop around Baroda, we intimated the guys there to get the car washed and ready, free from all glitches to be inspected out in the sunshine. They said it was already done and they were just double checking to make sure that nothing happened at the last moment.

I had a picture of the redone car in the back of my mind, but nothing had prepared me for what I was about to see at the workshop. As we negotiated the traffic and entered the S. G. Highway corridor, my hand started sweating a bit and I had cold feet. My tummy felt as if the butterflies in there were dancing to the tunes of Beegees singing Stayin Alive and I was a bit uneasy, making it difficult to concentrate on the traffic.

Taking the service road for the workshop I parked the Vishal’s car right next to a gleaming new, Bossa Nova White Punto. A glance to the right also showed that this car had smoked tail lamps. Appreciating the details, we went down to the workshop where Vishal stood fidgeting with a Fiat key. After the customary hugs and welcomes, chai was served and then it was time to inspect the car. Strangely enough it was nowhere to be seen inside the workshop nor outside on the ramp where usually the inspections were carried out. A couple of questions along these lines to Vishal could not attract any answer from him and he changed the topic both the times. I started getting apprehensive. Maybe the guys had crashed the car during a TD or maybe the job didn’t turn out to their expectations or maybe they had screwed up somewhere. A sinking feeling started developing in the pit of my stomach, when suddenly Vishal stood up and announced that it was time to inspect the car, after which we’d be getting the car new shoes.

A chill went down my spine and with a nervous shuffle of feet we queued to climb down the staircase of Vishal’s mezzanine office and go check the car out. While I wondered why we were climbing the ramp up to ground level to see the car when it should be around somewhere, he stopped right next to his car, his hand on the roof of the new white Punto. This car didn’t even have number plates and I envied the guy who’d bought the new one.
Tossing the keys he was holding to me, Vishal asked me to unlock the car and get in. Something familiar in the rear windshield of the new car took me by surprise. It was my car. Duly dented, painted, interior cleaned, detailed, smart waxed and outshined. My jaw dropped to the floor and my tongue rolled out of my mouth as I unlocked the car. Hem, taking my tongue for a red carpet welcome (slightly faded to pink) opened the front left door and stared inside. Rolling my tongue back, careful not to bite it with my teeth and locking my jaw back in place, I went around the car a couple of times, just to take in the simplistic beauty of this hot hatchback. It looked even better than the day I had bought it and the thought made me a bit emotional. Opening up the door,

I noticed that they had taken care that even the doors had been aligned and set properly taking only a slight tug on the handle to unlock it. The insides were a sea of black and grey. The black, blacker than black and the grey, richer than grey. The leatherette seats were cleaned and conditioned, the foot wells, vacuumed and cleaned, the dashboard and instrument cluster, the door panels, cleaned to a nice sheen, showing the sign of the love and care the detailing guys had put in. Popping the bonnet, another surprise awaited.

The entire engine bay was clean and shiny with not even a single trace of oil or fuel vapor visible anywhere. Grinning from ear to ear, I slotted the engine hood back and checked out the rest of the car. Even the black plastic lining which holds the windshield washing nozzles had been scrubbed clean and polished. The entire car gave out an aura of being treated to the best possible limits. The paintjob was superb and the repainted surfaces blended so well with the original paint, it was impossible for one to tell one from the other. The smart wax guys had superbly detailed the entire car and the original paint shone in full glory of the magnificent white it is. Even the radiator and intercooler grille slats had been cleaned thoroughly and shone silver. The only sore points were the balding and ageing tires. We’d have to finish the tire selection immediately.

Going back to the workshop, I thanked each and every guy who had or had not worked on the car and we headed off to the tire shop next doors. Wait till you drive it, was all Vishal warned me of. I just couldn’t wait, but first, the tires. Even Vishal agreed that the A drives were not very good wet weather driving tires and welcomed my decision to go in for C drives. Taking out 4 tires, we asked the guys to change them, balance and align the car so that it would be ready for test drive. While, balancing, I was also shown the repaired rim which according to them had been a very good job. Only the drive would tell whether something had actually been done.

An hour and four chais later, the workshop guys came in and announced that the tires were done and the car was ready for TD. I started getting jittery again and asked Hem to take the first drive with me sitting sidekick. He slotted the key into ignition, turned up the power and waited for all the tell tale lights to go off. Cranking it to life, I couldn’t believe it. The car started immediately and settled into a thrummy idle. The needle stayed steady at the 900 mark and the only sound was the valve clatter and the muted bassy note of the Remus. Blipping the throttle only helped in sending pleasurable vibrations right from the soles of my feet to the tip of my longest hair. Rolling the car out and onto the road we sped off for a nice long TD.

The ride quality of the C Drives was something totally different than what I had in mind. The car ambled over the road in a stately fashion, making mincemeat of the small irregularities and filled potholes. The tire noise, though slightly higher than the V550s was still not noticeable at low speeds. After a lengthy one way drive, it was time to change drivers. Hem, a very good driver usually was holding the car in and I was having a hard time understanding why he was doing it. Anyways, adjusting the seat to my settings, I let the clutch in and shifted to first. The car just jumped out of its skin. The rev-band was smooth and as I put the car through the paces, I slowly began to understand how hard the guys at the workshop would have worked to give the car its performance back. My appreciation for them increased many fold raised to infinity. They’d also taken care of the slight body rattle and now all we could hear was the car running.

Getting back to the workshop, we came to know that the guys had not only serviced the K & N, but also the EGR while they were de carbonising the engine. Totally happy with the job on the car, we settled the bill which came to around 45000 including the tires and everything else and bid adieu to Vishal and gang for a race against time to get home. The 350 kilometers were covered in just less than 4 hours with the tacho needle always hovering above the 120 kph mark. Anyone who would’ve noticed the two idiots in a Punto, going like a bat out of hell would’ve thought we’d lost it. The smiles were plastered on our faces till we reached home and realized that our cheeks were paining and we were unable to see properly which led us to the conclusion that we’d been smiling ever since leaving Ahmedabad and due to that, our eyes had squinted causing the reduction in vision. The car would start munching up miles from tomorrow again.

While all you wonderful people settle down to go through this, I am furiously typing the rest of the story till today. I’ll also be answering to all the questions put on the forum in my next post, hopefully in a couple of hours or so. The only reason to put this on the board is that I don’t want the review to be unnecessarily long (which I think it already is) and boring.

Thanks guys, drive safe and always wear a seatbelt.
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Old 9th February 2012, 14:59   #172
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re: Long Term Review - Fiat Punto EP 1.3 - EDIT: 165,000 kms up

Great review there Mandeep! Even my newly bought Punto wears Yoko C-drives. I'm yet to experience their performance but they look just awesome, better than any other tyres.
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Old 9th February 2012, 16:00   #173
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re: Long Term Review - Fiat Punto EP 1.3 - EDIT: 165,000 kms up

Thanks a lot Mandeep for the detailed review. But please post some pictures. It is totally unfair on your part to hide away your beast from us, especially after the paint job and new shoes. Please bring on the pics.
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Old 9th February 2012, 16:00   #174
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re: Long Term Review - Fiat Punto EP 1.3 - EDIT: 165,000 kms up

Mandeep, now the only thing missing from this wonderful report is the pics of your lovely mile cruncher.
Now please be sport, click some good well deserved pics of your Punto and show it here to the world.
Don't deny your Punto the fame it deserves!!
Your write up was exciting. I was grinning ear-to-ear myself!! Thanks!
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Old 9th February 2012, 16:23   #175
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re: Long Term Review - Fiat Punto EP 1.3 - EDIT: 165,000 kms up

The next day, the drive to the factory was fun filled with the car performing the way it should. The tires felt amazingly good and the steering felt lighter. The corners were tackled with aplomb and it was with great regret that I pulled myself out of the seat once I reached the office. The evening was a different story altogether. As darkness fell, I switched on the pilot lights and then the headlamps and the fogs. All in fine fettle. As I approached a truck from behind, I, according to my habit, pulled in the headlight lever for a long and then a couple of short dipper flashes. It was during the long pull that I suspected something was wrong. The lights just flickered and wouldn’t stay on continuously. Even when the uppers were selected, the lights flickered and died out. Fortunately, I have been accustomed to driving with the dipped beams and use the uppers only during passes and that, I managed to get home.

Next morning, a call to Bawa at the authorized service center was enough to set an immediate appointment. Reaching the workshop, mine was the second car brought in and as all the well known and now friendly mechanics flashed their smiles, Bawa assigned an electrician to the car. Ten minutes later, the verdict was given. The Headlight/Windshield switch was faulty and needed replacement, under warranty of course. My second switch, the first had failed similarly during the initial days of owning the car. An hour later the job was done and with a complimentary wash, I was off to office. It being daytime, I couldn’t check whether the problem had gone or not. But the same problem happened while coming back from office again. Calling up Bawa, he asked me to get the wiring harness checked. Since it was an aftermarket fitment for the 100/80 all weathers, I went to the accessory guy and told him the problem. He was courteous enough to let me know that this had come up in a couple of other cars also and he would gladly change the entire harness to be confident once and for all and that too free of cost. I couldn’t thank him enough and the guys did a good job of it, getting the car ready in less than 20 minutes. Swiping the stalk forward and backwards, found the lights working AOK.

Thanking the guys again, headed home, happy. It all went well for the entire week after that and one fine day, it happened again. This was enough to get me mad enough to think that now I had to get my hands dirty.
So the next day being a Sunday, when we usually take our cars for washing, I decided to inspect the wiring. The switch was new and so was the wiring harness and the relay. That only left the fuse box to be checked. Flicking on the headlights and putting the stalk to the upper setting, I started going through the fuses, gently tapping them and pushing them firmly to see what reaction I got. It was during one such tapping that the lights flickered to life and went out. Tapping that particular fuse again, the same thing happened and if I held it firmly, the lights would stay on. Finding a bit of sandpaper and removing the fuse, I cleaned up the contacts. Before fitting it back in I decided to air out the fuse box and managed to get out around 10 million tonnes of dust and I think a couple of dinosaurs, 13 cows, one mule, 3 dogs and 1 sheep out of there. Pushing the fuse in firmly and closing the fuse box, I checked the lights again. They glowed innocently unaware of anything. The problem hasn’t resurfaced and it has strengthened my belief in the saying that “if your horn doesn’t work, do not start by dismantling the engine”
Then came the 90000 kilometer mark when the car had to go in for service. It was a regular job and nothing untoward happened. The regular maintenance was carried out and the guys (being the great people they are) recharged my Air conditioner gas complimentarily. The front brake pads were replaced and the car washed and wiped squeaky clean. As instructed, they did not polish the interiors.

Then the car crossed the 100000 mark and I was happy.

Off late, around the 103000 kilometer mark, I had started feeling that the car was again acting up on the start and idling part. The clutch was feeling quite hard and the gear changing was becoming difficult. I had to pull the stick out of the shifting gate and manhandle it into the gears I wanted. Putting the word in Bawa’s ears, I again got an appointment for the next day and the diagnosis turned out to be a sticky gear shifting cable. They would try to get it changed under warranty or it would be a 6000 buck exercise. Preparing for the worse and crossing my fingers, I gave the go ahead. Evening found my phone ringing and it was Bawa who had called to inform that the car was ready. The bill was zero. Somehow or the other he had convinced the Fiat guys and the service center management that no other car was doing these kilometers and they could learn a lot about the Punto maintenance from this car provided they were ready to offer a respite on some of the repairs. I don’t know how the point got across but the cable was replaced free of cost. Also replaced was a rear damper, under warranty of course and the door garnish for all the four doors, which too was under warranty. Bawa told me that only one of the garnishes had gone rusty but he sent a mechanic to the accident section to collect all the garnish strips he could find, took out the four best damaged and rusted ones and asked for warranty on all four which got approved. Not only that, one of the door gaskets was slightly torn which also was replaced. Grinning from ear to ear and not being able to thank the guys enough, I left for home. The gear changes though not very smooth were better than before. The clutch remained hard and even the start and idle issue was pending but that would be seen in the next service which was only 2000 kilometers or 10 days away.

The honeymoon lasted for about 500 kilometers. The gear shifting became painful and the clutch hardened to an extent that I started having a feeling that my left leg muscles were developing more than my right leg muscles. The constant effort for the clutch movement was finally taking its toll. It was a pain to shift gears while trawling in the city. A couple of times, the engine check light had also appeared while starting the car but had vanished when the car was shut down and restarted again. All these things had me concerned but I liked Bawa’s logic that everything could be taken care of in the service, why waste money twice. I just couldn’t wait for the 2000 kilometers to end and even though the service indicator showed a thousand kilometers more, I decided to put the car in for service at the 105000 mark. But it was not to be. I had to go out and by the time I was back, the car odo showed that it was almost 300 kilometers above the service interval. Calling up Bawa, I fixed the service schedule. He would pick the car up the next day and call me after checking it. Agreed.
I took the Thunderbird to work and the phone started ringing as soon as I parked the bike at office. Bawa. Starting trouble was due to one glow plug acting up. He had sent his guys out in the workshop to find a spare one and had warned them not to return empty handed. The vibrations were due to the bash plate touching the body and worn out stabilizer bar bushes. Ditto action for that. The bash plate would be straightened out in a while. They would also service the EGR (complimentary again) and do up the doors and other body rattle stuff (complimentary again) but the car would only be given back the next day after checking the clutch and gear problem. Agreeing to it I put the phone down.

Bawa called me back in the evening. Everything was done and ready but the prime suspect in the clutch case was a problematic slave cylinder. Luckily a new retro fitment slave cylinder had just arrived and my car would be the first one it would be fitted in. The gear problem was worn out clutch/pressure plate assembly but that would only be known once they open up the gear casing. Telling them to go ahead I headed for home.
The next day, Bawa called up even before I started for work. The clutch plate was cooked and so was the pressure plate. The fingers of the clutch plate were digging into the pressure plate making the clutch action harder and making it difficult to change gears. New assembly would put me back by 4500 plus labor charges which he would try to ADJUST. He also told me that there were two clutch assemblies available. One with the release bearing costing 7500 bucks and one without the release bearing costing 4500 bucks. Since he had already SOURCED a release bearing from god knows where, we needed the cheaper assembly. The car would be ready by evening and he would deliver it home.

The service bill came to a healthy 12000 odd bucks with all the sham thrown in. The labor on the clutch replacement was halved to around 1200 bucks. Good for me. But I still hadn’t driven the car. I would do it tomorrow morning.
The next day, I got up early and got ready. The reason being it was winters and the roads would be empty for a short while more. That would give me enough time to check how they had built up the car this time around. Breakfast done and taking the keys of the car, I headed downstairs with the same mixed feelings I had when getting the car back from Ahmedabad. Unlocking it, I sat in the car, doing a visual inspection to judge if anything was amiss. Except for a slight dust on one corner of the dash, nothing else was to be commented upon. Also visible in the rearview was the smudge of a hand, right in the middle. Would have to take care of it. As is my habit, I usually depress the clutch when starting the car even though it is in neutral gear. This time my foot went all in. For a second I thought that the guys had screwed it up and the clutch had failed. But then the pedal also came back up. After doing this for a dozen or so times, I remembered that this was the new retrofitted clutch and believe me when I say that it was amazingly soft. Better than the action of a new car. The doors had all been cleaned around the hinges and sprayed with wd40 or something of that type. The locks all oiled and well greased. Squeaks and rattles? Only the TD would tell. Turning the key in the ignition and firing up the engine was another pleasant surprise. The car had smoothened out and not only started instantly, it also idled happily. Gears shifted alright for a stationary car. It would be different while driving.

Slotting the gear into reverse, I let out the clutch. The car just hopped backwards. Scared that I had done something wrong, I braked and tried again. The car sprang backwards again. A light shone in that teeny tiny brain of mine. Everything was new now. Backing up the car slowly and pointing its nose in the right direction, I shifted to first and let the clutch out again, a bit cautiously this time around. The car ran so free; it was hard to believe it was the same car that it was before the service. It seemed eager to rev and I decided to let it have its head. The 86 kilometers to office just went by in the blink of an eye and as I entered the gate of the office, I sat there contemplating that there was not a single naya paisa that I had spent on the car which had not been justified.
Drove a friend’s car back to back with this one and could immediately tell the difference. His car had done only 18000 kilometers but this baby felt a lot smoother at even after crossing the tonne mark. The suspension setup has become slightly softer and I may finally shift to those Bilsteins I was dreaming about if I can afford them. If I can’t, there is still no love lost. The mileage bit, even with the blown clutch, bad tires, a vagabond glow plug and various other odds and ends including dirty filters has been consistently in the 19 – 21 range.

I decided to annoy a couple of friends yesterday and after tanking up and resetting the trip meter made home at a consistent 70 -80 kph mark. The mileage figure hovered just north of 24.8 and when I showed my buddies (both Punto owners) the photo I had clicked, I heard the world’s most unbelievable and invented on the spot expletives. The kinds that make your ears bleed if you were not prepared to hear them.

I am heading to Ahmedabad most probably tomorrow morning and by the time I am back, the odo would’ve happily crossed the 111000 mark.

To all the guys out there, who had the patience to bear with my stupidities, a big thank you.

And now to answer all your questions:

@ kpzen: clutch was stock till the 105000 service. The timing chain setup still is.

@ architect and tornado: No mention of the timing chain replacement in the service schedules but the service guys say it would set me back by 20k if i want to get it done. How do i decide if its necessary to get it done?

@ chethan25: I sincerely hope that you would've bought the Punto. Congratulations if you did.

@ autocrat: shift to 100/80 all weathers by osram. Brilliant bulbs in all conditions. You may want to go in for an HID install. While others are all praise for it, i dont find them advantageous unless done up with a projector setup.

@blueblooded: hows your punto doing? The additives do work. I used System D from the dealership once but was not much impressed with the result. Better is the Wurth one.

@ sheetumanu: Tire rotation with every service is good. If you munch up miles like me, then you need to reduce the interval to 10k.

@ cliffhanger: The Yoko C Drives feel like they have been handcrafted for the Punto. I've seen almost all the tires around, JKs, Bridgestones, Michelins, MRFs, and their entire ranges. No other tire compliments the Punto like the C Drives do. One amazing tire.

@ h14 and Fordmanchau: Photos soon. If i dont turn lazy again.
Thanks for the compliments.

Drive safe guys, always wear a seatbelt.
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Old 9th February 2012, 18:28   #176
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re: Long Term Review - Fiat Punto EP 1.3 - EDIT: 165,000 kms up

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Originally Posted by epicenter.rulez View Post
@ autocrat: shift to 100/80 all weathers by osram. Brilliant bulbs in all conditions. You may want to go in for an HID install. While others are all praise for it, i dont find them advantageous unless done up with a projector setup.
.
Do you have to get any relay or new wiring for these or are these just kinda plug and play?
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Old 9th February 2012, 20:23   #177
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Quote:
Originally Posted by ishlinea7260
Do you have to get any relay or new wiring for these or are these just kinda plug and play?
Hi ishlinea,
A better wiring harness would be a good investment. Recently philips have come out with a decent setup. I have the same on my car and it takes around 15 minutes to fit. Costs around 1200 with bulbs.
If its a linea you have, the harness would be different as the linea uses two different bulbs.
Hope this helps.
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Old 9th February 2012, 22:28   #178
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re: Long Term Review - Fiat Punto EP 1.3 - EDIT: 165,000 kms up

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Thanks a lot Mandeep for the detailed review. But please post some pictures. It is totally unfair on your part to hide away your beast from us, especially after the paint job and new shoes. Please bring on the pics.
+1. You have made a lot of us drool with the report of the re-paint job! And left no pics.

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Originally Posted by sheetumanu View Post
I have a question, is it necessary to get tyre rotation done at 15k service or is it subjective to certain factors?
I wouls suggest to do a tyre rotation every 5K kms if you want to extract the maximum life out of your tyres. My regular tyre shop walla told me that there could be a 20% extra life if you rotate it every 5K kms.

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Originally Posted by epicenter.rulez View Post
Then the car crossed the 100000 mark and
You are the same guy who clocked a 2 lac kms on a Swift right? Looks like your Punto is ready for another 1L kms now! I should say that this has more to do with the way you have taken care of her; servicing it at the right times. Have to compliment your service guys too!! I can see a lot of passion from your words. And the mileage you are getting, Awesome! Keep the reports coming, please do add some pics for us as well!

Wanted to check, how does the cost of service @ 1L stand for both Punto & Maruti ? From a service expense perspective, which is lesser till 1L kms?

Last edited by swiftnfurious : 9th February 2012 at 22:30.
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Old 11th February 2012, 11:51   #179
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re: Long Term Review - Fiat Punto EP 1.3 - EDIT: 165,000 kms up

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Originally Posted by swiftnfurious View Post
+1. You have made a lot of us drool with the report of the re-paint job! And left no pics.



I wouls suggest to do a tyre rotation every 5K kms if you want to extract the maximum life out of your tyres. My regular tyre shop walla told me that there could be a 20% extra life if you rotate it every 5K kms.



You are the same guy who clocked a 2 lac kms on a Swift right? Looks like your Punto is ready for another 1L kms now! I should say that this has more to do with the way you have taken care of her; servicing it at the right times. Have to compliment your service guys too!! I can see a lot of passion from your words. And the mileage you are getting, Awesome! Keep the reports coming, please do add some pics for us as well!

Wanted to check, how does the cost of service @ 1L stand for both Punto & Maruti ? From a service expense perspective, which is lesser till 1L kms?
Swiftnfurious,
thanks for going through the thread.

Photos soon, as soon as i get a bit of time. The paintjob was carried out at 84000 kilometers, almost 27000 kilometers ago, although the finish and the sheen remain the same, i have succeeded in acquiring a couple of dings on the car again.

tire rotation is again a subjective thing. 20% life is actually a very big factor when it comes to shelling close to 20 grand every time replacing the tires. I'll try to bring my lazy self to follow this schedule. thanks for the suggestion.

the service guys are a bunch of nice chaps. the only way to get the work done is to respect their ability at sorting out problems and sympathise with them whenever possible. if we dont harangue them, they tend to be nice generally. having the workshop incharge as a friend is an added advantage

i havent really compared the maintenance cost figures one to one, but i am pretty sure that both the cars would make you spend almost an equal amount of money. will be comparing the figures soon and getting back.

In the meanwhile, drive safe and always wear a seatbelt. Thank you all.
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Old 17th February 2012, 15:14   #180
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re: Long Term Review - Fiat Punto EP 1.3 - EDIT: 165,000 kms up

hi gaaij
phainally managed to make it to ahmedabad.
had managed to damage my alloys at some point of time going through bad roads.
got the alloys repaired (two of them were badly damaged) and the tires rotated, balanced and aligned.
also bumped up the petes box to +1 settings. the car feels a lot more punchy now and the 120 mark comes up just like that. slight black smoke under hard acceleration. mileage hasnt gone down but the engine noise is slightly more.
Round trip was managed in a full tank of diesel. managed to keep the speedo at the 100 kph mark while going and under the 130 mark while coming back.
the only downside was bad diesel during the tankup. the car ran rough while going but smoothened out after adding the wuerth diesel additive.
good fun all in all.
odo reads 111430.

drive safe, always wear a seatbelt.
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