[devansn]

Originally Posted by epicenter.rulez

Hi Devansn,
What matters about the age of the car is the odo reading and not the years. If i wanna keep it running all i need to do is give it to the service center guys and ask them to change everything they feel the need to change and i dont think it will go above 20k if they are too nitpicky about it.
The car will easily last the better part of 2.5 lacs without something major coming up and the services being regular.

However the body has started showing signs of age. Fungii of rust at some inaccessible places and wherever water gets trapped. A visit to the paintshop and a couple of days tinkering will solve that too.

The extended warranty is a scam nowadays with you having to pay upfront for the parts covered. The service center guys then send the parts through a claim procedure where the insurance company is also involved. If the insurance company pays up, you get a refund or so much for that and it is money well spent. Luckily my car ran out of all warranties before the cheeky guys could enforce this directive. So i dont think selling off the car would be much harm done.

The car crossed 168000 kilometers yesterday while coming back from a trip. Another thing that restores my faith in this car is that while coming back from the trip yesterday, i was a part of a pileup on the highway a couple of kilometers from home. I being the luckiest, was the last guy in the line and even though i crashed into the scorpio in front of me, all the car has to show for injuries is a bit of paint off the bumper and nothing else. The mighty muscular scorpio and the swift in front of the scorpio were not lucky enough with the scorpio sustaining both frontal and rear damage and the swift having lost the entire butt. So much for safety. While other cars advertise it on paper, the punto and the linea have proved it again and again that they are some of the safest cars around. I have a ding on the front right fender where an entire bus touched the car and i had written off the fender. When the bus driver had had his fill of fisticuffs and vitamin d and was sent packing to his masters, i examined the car and went crazy laughing my guts out. It was only a dent with not even the paint coming off. I never repaired it and i show it off to everybody as many times as i can.

Enough of bragging about the fiats.
You drive safe, always wear a seatbelt.

Thanks for the prompt reply, bro! So in essence, ignorant souls like me would have a very tough time deciding when is the right time to replace a car. When I bought the Punto, I had kept a target of owning it for 8 years / 150 thousand Kms, before I would sell it for a throwaway price. Having a tough time deciding whether it would be cost / time / effort / FTD effective to keep it for such a long time.

BTW, do you mind sharing what your Punto was being quoted?

[epicenter.rulez]

Originally Posted by devansn

Thanks for the prompt reply, bro! So in essence, ignorant souls like me would have a very tough time deciding when is the right time to replace a car. When I bought the Punto, I had kept a target of owning it for 8 years / 150 thousand Kms, before I would sell it for a throwaway price. Having a tough time deciding whether it would be cost / time / effort / FTD effective to keep it for such a long time.

BTW, do you mind sharing what your Punto was being quoted?

Hi Devansn,
The second hand market for Fiats is a little better than scrap.
Last time i got my car evaluated at around 125000 kilometers, the guy quoted around 4 lacs for the car.
With the odo up another 50k kilometers, i personally feel it should be in the range of 3.3 to 3.5 lacs, with new tires, renewed insurance and a complete service history.
Only time will tell what i get for the car. The loan has been foreclosed, so whatever i get for the car will go as a downpayment for the new one i buy.

Drive safe, always wear a seatbelt!

[epicenter.rulez]

Hi Gaaij,
Anybody done any shopping here @ www.99rpm.com ?
Would like to know any experiences.

Drive safe, always wear a seatbelt!

[sagarpadaki]

Originally Posted by epicenter.rulez

Hi Gaaij,
Anybody done any shopping here @ www.99rpm.com ?
Would like to know any experiences.

Drive safe, always wear a seatbelt!

Looks like a gold mine for FIAT fans !

[epicenter.rulez]

Hi Gaaij,
Planning to sell off the Punto and buy another Punto, maybe the 90 hp.
Car has done 1.68 lacs in the last 3 years. The history of the car is an open book for everybody.
Needs a bit of work which i will be getting done in the next fortnight or so.
The tires are good to go another 40k kilometers and the insurance is new.
Will not be giving off the Remus, the Petes box and the K&N (Call me a chindi chor if you want)
PM me for prices if anybody is interested.
If i can't sell it, i might as well take it across the 2 lac mark in the next four months or so.

Drive safe, always wear a seatbelt!

[sagarpadaki]

Originally Posted by epicenter.rulez

Hi Gaaij,
Planning to sell off the Punto and buy another Punto, maybe the 90 hp.
Car has done 1.68 lacs in the last 3 years. The history of the car is an open book for everybody.
Needs a bit of work which i will be getting done in the next fortnight or so.
The tires are good to go another 40k kilometers and the insurance is new.
Will not be giving off the Remus, the Petes box and the K&N (Call me a chindi chor if you want)
PM me for prices if anybody is interested.
If i can't sell it, i might as well take it across the 2 lac mark in the next four months or so.

Drive safe, always wear a seatbelt!

A punto 90 will be a worthy replacement . Since anyway you are replacing the car, it will be good feel to cross the 2 lac mark .

I am sure it will raise quite a few eyebrows of the prospective buyers when they see the 2 lakh mark on the odo.they will think you have over clocked the odo .Lol.

[epicenter.rulez]

Hi Gaaij,
Crossed the hundred and seventy thousand mark a couple of days back.
Also got a bit of work done on the car.
Will be posting those details and one more pending update in a couple of days.
Still running the original battery though!
The car dare not throw any tantrums now. Would be a very expensive affair getting it smug and happy again, i think!
Drive safe, always wear a seatbelt!

[devansn]

A month after your last update, may I demand an update? Have you sold it already? Curious...

[epicenter.rulez]

Originally Posted by devansn

A month after your last update, may I demand an update? Have you sold it already? Curious...

Are you crazy?
Fiats dont sell as easy as the swifts and figos of this world.
Still have it and crossing the 176k mark. Some small issues cropped up last week but nothing that couldnt be handled with a bit of handiwork.
One month? Damn, the time flies, doesnt it?
Also a couple of updates are pending from my side. Busy days and late nights are not helping me put them up here. This Sunday maybe!
Drive safe, always wear a seatbelt!

[Pancham]

Originally Posted by epicenter.rulez

Are you crazy?
Fiats dont sell as easy as the swifts and figos of this world.
Still have it and crossing the 176k mark. Some small issues cropped up last week but nothing that couldnt be handled with a bit of handiwork.
One month? Damn, the time flies, doesnt it?
Also a couple of updates are pending from my side. Busy days and late nights are not helping me put them up here. This Sunday maybe!
Drive safe, always wear a seatbelt!

Along with the update please do put up a few latest pictures. I want to see how a 1.75L Km Punto looks.

[epicenter.rulez]

Originally Posted by Pancham

Along with the update please do put up a few latest pictures. I want to see how a 1.75L Km Punto looks.

Here are the pics. The updates will have to wait. Took these to send to a guy who was interested in the car.

[epicenter.rulez]

Slightly off topic gaaij, but there was a cloudburst here in Valsad, yesterday night. It rained hard and steady for 12 hours and at the final count was around 24 inches. These are a couple of pics i managed to click from my windows. Though a bit of water went inside the Punto too, its still running. Will be taking it to the interior cleaners tomorrow to wet vaccum the water from the carpets. In the meanwhile, please enjoy the pics.
Around atleast 15 cars have been submerged partly or fully around the area of the street i live on.

Drive safe, always wear a seatbelt!

[Sheel]

Shocking! Hope everyone is safe.

Is that a Yeti in the first picture? Appears so...

[epicenter.rulez]

Yep Sheel,
Thats a Yeti there. Water went over the roof for around 3 hours. It was standing to the extreme left of the road near the small signboard if you can see it. It filled with water and the water and the current carried it to the center of the road where it was till the waters subsided. The owner then pushed it to the side of the road where it lay till today afternoon when after around a 100 follow up calls to the Skoda guys, the shameless people came to flatbed it and take it to the workshop. Their first comment was that after the water had subsided and the car dry enough, why didnt the owner start it and bring it over to the workshop? The owner could only look at them with the horror in his eyes realising that maybe if the morons manage to open it up, they wont ever be able to get it back together again.
Fortunately, the punto had some water inside the cabin but it started at the first crank and will be at the workshop tomorrow for a mandatory change of all fluids, lubricants and filters.

Drive safe, always wear a seatbelt!

[W.A.G.7]

Cool. So this car is also nearing the two hundred thousand mark ! Your cars seem to be one of those on t-bhp with the maximum number of kilometres on them!! Congrats. If you sell this car, what would be your next one? Have you planned anything in your mind?