[Tornado]

Hi Buddy,

I am thinking of buying a used palio multijet.
I had a palio 1.9 previously and i liked it irrespective of few bad experiences.

Is TATA taking care of servicing or only Fiat new outlets doing so? Howz the availability of palio MJD spares?
I still have a set of cofap- unused rear shocks with me

How is the reliability of a 2008 model Palio MJD with some 60k-70K on odo,for long trips ?

If any TBHPain is planning to sell then please let me know, i am based in Bangalore.

Regards

Originally Posted by h14

Clocked 48500 kms now and my beast has completed 3 yrs.

3 yrs of trouble free and fun filled ownership it has been

Renewed insurance with L&T General insurance.

Battery change might be due in some time I believe. Still on the stock battery. The Michelin's are holding up brilliantly and shows no age of 48k kms. A pic of my front tyre at 48k kms.

[h14]

Hi Tornado, apologies for the delayed response. In regard to spares, its not an issues for mechanical components. The only problem for the Stile is the cosmetic items :(

Headlamps cost 10k each, mirros are at 3k each and the bumpers are also high. This is the only area to worry, apart from which the Stile is a great car!

80k is nothing for the 1.3MJD. If the car is well maintained, go ahead with the purchase.

[h14]

Did interior cleaning at Wurth located in Express Avenue mall in Chennai. Was not able to get a slot at 3M Nungambakkam and so went to Wurth since I've got it done from the same in Coimbatore for my S10.

The EA Wurth was far better than in Coimbatore and they did a pretty good job. Few dark spots still remain in the driver seat and I noticed it only when the seats were totally dry. So will be checking with them again sometime over this week.

Total cost Rs.900/- and the MJD has now crossed 49,200 kms

[Tornado]

Thanks for the input buddy.

I picked up one, 2008 model -sdx-44K on the odo. changed the consumables and palio mjd drives well.

Regards

Originally Posted by h14

Hi Tornado, apologies for the delayed response. In regard to spares, its not an issues for mechanical components. The only problem for the Stile is the cosmetic items :(

Headlamps cost 10k each, mirros are at 3k each and the bumpers are also high. This is the only area to worry, apart from which the Stile is a great car!

80k is nothing for the 1.3MJD. If the car is well maintained, go ahead with the purchase.

[h14]

Last weekend was another highway run for me but a highway run for the MJD after a long time. The MJD also crossed the magical 50,000 kms mark during this journey

Couple of my college freinds were getting married, one was in Kaveripatinam near Krishnagir on Saturday and other was in Paramathi velur on Sunday.

So, myself with 3 of my friends started off from Chennai around 11 am on Saturday in the MJD from my friends place in Neelankarai. Plan was to hit Arcort star biriyani for lunch. Considering the high volume of traffic in the Guindy to Poonamalle route, we took the below route to reach Sriperambudur directly.

Neelankarai-Sholinganalur-Kelambakkam-Vandalur-Oragadam-Sriperambudur

Though this is a longer route, this is my regular when needed to hit that part of the state. Roads were in good condition and less on traffic and reached Sriperambudur comfortably.

It is from here that the journey became tedious. Too many potholes and bad patches ensured that we had to slow down. I was also running on a suspected puncture on the rear left wheel.

The road condition ranged from ordinary to very bad until we crossed the Chenna Samudram toll. Few kilometers after the toll, we were welcomed by newly laid 6 lane roads. This was a huge relieve after battering through the bad patch in the hot afternoon sun.

Roads were now in excellent shape and were happily cruising. This was a relaxed drive and was not pushing it but rather enjoyed the steady 90-100 range.

We reached Arcort for lunch around 1:30pm. Have been to this Star Biriyani before and loved the food. Its a very small place and tends to sellout quickly. They are open only for lunch. Would suggest this as a must visit place for biriyani fans.



They serve only mutton biriyani and nothing else is available. Sundays they serve Chicken biriyani in addition. Other than this no other item is available in the menu.



We ordered and by the time we completed ours, we heard a loud announcement that biriyani is over for the day! It was hardly 2pm and they were sold out. So considered us lucky to be on time and finished our lunch and the journey resumed.

Once back to the highway, got the tyre inflated again at a fuel pump and the wheel was loosing air quickly than before. That's when it struck me that this might be another case of the mouth failure rather than a puncture and so started looking out for a tyre shop. Did not want to stop in the crowded Ambur and so proceeded further and then came across one shop on the highway.

It was a well equipped facility with 2-3 cars waiting for alignment. So stopped in there and asked them to check the mouth and if it was fine then to check the tyre for punctures and voila it was the mouth as I suspected. Asked them to replace the mouth and was cursing myself for not changing this earlier after my previous two similar incidents.





I believe its better off to change the mouth once in 2 years to avoid being stranded on the highway as it happened for me thrice now.

This is how my Michelins look at 50,000 kms. Never did I imagine this sort of life from the XM1+ and I'm extremely happy. Remember, the MJD has been to all sorts of roads and this is a car I tend to rough use than the others.



This shop did a decent job and I was charged Rs.150 for the mouth. Paid the same happily for the service rendered and the journey resumed. It was now getting gloomy and started to rain. The climate was beautiful and the drive got better in the rain.

Another friend was supposed to join us from Hosur in his Polo 1.6. We called him upon crossing Vellore and asked him to sync with us in Krishnagiri. The roads continued to be good except for 2-3 flyovers that are nearing completion. The tolls have also been revised. (Shared the detailed toll for the journey below).

We reached Krishnagiri and the Polo was already waiting. We stopped for an evening tea after the customary bear hugs and proceeded towards Kaveripatinam.

Some pics at Krishnagiri







We reached Kaveripatinam and headed to the wedding hall. Spent time over there and post dinner started to Paramathi velur. It was almost 9pm when we started from there.

Traffic was surprizingly less and it was relaxed cruising all day long. Stopped for coffee somewhere near Salem in one of the many Iyengar bakes in that region:





We then proceeded and reached salem around 11:30pm. Crossed Salem without much traffic and proceeded on the highway towards Karur. It was time for another coffee break at midnight! Was releaved to see a highway bakery and coffee shop with a different name than Iyengar Bakes






The journey resumed and another friend from Coimabtore was supposed to join us on the same highway near the Paramathi diversion. He reached well in advance and was waiting for us. Caught up with him and it was time for a mid night FIAT meet too! Yeah, this guy owns a Palio 1.9D, a single owner car and it is on the verge of hitting the 1 lakh km mark. It had done 99,800 kms that time.



We then reached the place of stay and retired to the rooms.

The day ended very late and so the Sunday started late too! We had to make it to the wedding reception at 10am on sunday. Another friend who joined us to Paramathi velur from Kaveripatinam was from this locality and he was telling us how this place was famous for duck meat!

Dhans too told the same to me and when this guy started telling us about it we had made up our minds that we are hitting there for lunch So plan was to attend the wedding and shift base to one of the famous duck restaurants for lunch post which we would split to respective cities.

Few pictures from Sunday morning





So after the wedding, it was time to try out the local cusine. We headed back to the Karur highway and immidetely we started spotting numerous places selling duck meat and these shops also doubled up as a restaurant. My friend told that food is avaialble in these places all through the day from when they open to when they close around 11 pm.

He took us to his regular place which was on the highway. Some pictures of the place:













They serve duck meat cooked as a gravy. The portioins are sold as 1 full duck / half duck / 1 plate. It is served with Idly, Dosa or Parotta. Apart from this duck eggs are made on order!

1 full duck gravy is priced at Rs. 200, half at 110 and 1 plate at 60. Idly's at Rs.6 each.

We occupied a table and had to wait for nearly 15-20 mins before the duck was ready. This place was packed with people and my friend said that the crowd on that day was less compared to other weekends!

Had our stomachs filled and the return journey was on!



Started back to Chennai and the route was:

Paramathi velur - Karur - Kulithalai - Perambalur - Ulundurpet - Vilupuram - Chennai.

The roads were good as always except for few patches in the Kulithalai - Perambalur stretch. Traffic was high once we hit the highway again in Perambalur and it continued until we reached Tambaram.

Stopped for tea some 20 kms before Ulundurpet and then a fuel stop at the BPCL in ulundurpet. Had clocked 708 kms so far the the fuel efficiency was a respectable 20.2 kmpl

Resumed after refuel and stopped for dinner near Mahindra city before finally reaching Chennai.

All in all another wonderful road trip this time will college friends and importantly a much deserved highway run for the MJD after a gap! The MJD never missed a beat and continues to munch miles as good as new, infact better than new

Overall done 914 kms for the weekend!

Toll Details

[Visran]

Nice to see a well maintained Palio MJD,i am looking for a used palio MJD purely for running my office errands,can this car be used as a workhorse? and how is the maintenance cost?

Thanks in advance.

[h14]

Originally Posted by Visran

,i am looking for a used palio MJD purely for running my office errands,can this car be used as a workhorse? and how is the maintenance cost? Thanks in advance.

Visran, all details are in this thread! The MJD is a true workhorse. Just watch out for those expensive bumpers and headlights!

[Tornado]

Really appreciate the time and effort that you spent to get the trip with Palio MJD in the thread.

Your alloys really look good, these days it seems like difficult to spot a 98 pcd alloys.
I checked with a few in Bangalore and could not find but i did not goto JC road though,

Regards

Originally Posted by h14

Visran, all details are in this thread! The MJD is a true workhorse. Just watch out for those expensive bumpers and headlights!

[h14]

Originally Posted by Tornado

Really appreciate the time and effort that you spent to get the trip with Palio MJD in the thread.

Your alloys really look good, these days it seems like difficult to spot a 98 pcd alloys.
I checked with a few in Bangalore and could not find but i did not goto JC road though,

Regards

Thanks mate!
Easier option would be to source 15" Punto alloys!

Either used or new. There are quite few people who upgrade and so sell their OE alloys. Do keep a watch on the classifieds section and you might be lucky some day

[ampere]

Originally Posted by h14

Paramathi velur - Karur - Kulithalai - Perambalur - Ulundurpet - Vilupuram - Chennai.

The roads were good as always except for few patches in the Kulithalai - Perambalur stretch. Traffic was high once we hit the highway again in Perambalur and it continued until we reached Tambaram.

A well maintained Palio there . And that too one that returns 20 for an FE! Nice going.

Also good to hear that Kulithalaiai-Thiraiyur-Perambalur is very decent. I was always interested to know how that stretch is.

[HydroFuel]

Hi
Can anyone comment on acceleration, overtaking maneuver difference between Palio MJD and Palio 1.6.
Can MJD somewhat match 1.6 especially on highway.
I've bitten by Palio bug.

[architect]

Originally Posted by HydroFuel

Hi
Can anyone comment on acceleration, overtaking maneuver difference between Palio MJD and Palio 1.6.
Can MJD somewhat match 1.6 especially on highway.
I've bitten by Palio bug.

The pure simple answer is NO. Been there, tried that. The MJD cannot match the overtaking maneuver or anything else in terms of performance with that of the Palio 1.6. However, when compared to other vehicles with similar small-capacity turbo CRDI diesel engines, it does keep up.

[h14]

Its 52,300 kms on the odo now and got the wheels balanced and aligned today at MRF on OMR. All set to hit the highway over the festival weekend this friday.

Initially I had booked at MRF tyredrome yesterday for alignment, but due to work constraints I was not able to make it there on time. I tried to do the same at LAL on whites road, but their so called "policy" was a big let down. I wanted to swap the tyres "Inside"/"Out" but they said as per policy they don't do such "labour" work!

That was a big no for me and happily walked out. Today when I visited this outlet, they were more than happy to listen to my requirements and acknowledged on the tasks. I'm extremely happy with these guys and would definitely recommend them to fellow members

[DRIV3R]

Originally Posted by h14

Initially I had booked at MRF tyredrome yesterday for alignment, but due to work constraints I was not able to make it there on time. I tried to do the same at LAL on whites road, but their so called "policy" was a big let down. I wanted to swap the tyres "Inside"/"Out" but they said as per policy they don't do such "labour" work!

Which LAL is this? The one opposite Satyam?

Success has got into their heads.

[h14]

The one opp to VW showroom, they have Apollo hoardings!

Another friend too was turned back at someother lal when he went to replace his bent alloy with a new one he directly purchased from kava.