[srinath34]

Your mod has taken FB by storm too!!

[lakhanironak]

Those tail lamps look fabulous. Where did you source the lamps from and how much was the damage to the pocket ?

[Amogh Barakol]

Fabulous Work on the Evo tail lamps Hemanth ! I must say the car looks "Not from India" now ! Even the smoked Headlamps look killer . They could use a projector though !

[KarthikK]

Outstanding work Hemanth! The tail lamps look as drool worthy as the Audi LED taillights with those long L-shaped vertical light trails. Goes very well with the Punto's profile and especially your white color too! Are the component lights LEDs by the way?? I get a feeling those indicator and parking lamps are LEDs, only you could confirm, hehe.

For the tail lamps, I was a bit confused between your Evo lights and Dayline Abarth LED taillamps (subject to budget permitting). I might go with the Dayline ones which might contrast better with my red color, but these are not Abarth OEM though.


Looks something like this when in action, Another drool-worthy mod, but the Evo lights would beat this any day

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=evdvopWMsfU

Lastly, same question as DRIV3R asked: how difficult was the installation?

[hemanth.anand]

Originally Posted by srinath34

WOW!!! Hemanth, it looks fantabulous. The EVO lamps makes so much of a difference. Just the alloys are pending now and you will have shutterbugs chasing you for Abarth scoop pics.

The pending item is a tough thing to acquire. If cost is just one thing, the much tougher one is the logistics. How I wish India was part f the EU
So no scoop pics of my car yet!

Originally Posted by DRIV3R

Hemanth, are those evo tail lamps plug and play on the Grande? Also, were the pieces you bought brand new or used? Asking because Ebay mainly is selling used evo lights.

If you get it from UK, its plug and play. the shape of the connector is the same.
But this came from Latvia and I realised only after I received that the connector is of a different shape. I had looked at all the voltage and other parameters before buying, but due to lack of information on the internet regarding the connectors, I did not see this different connector shape coming until I got it.
Anyways it was not a big problem and I used wires to connect with crimped pins. I'm now getting the matching connectors

You are right about the used/salvaged lamps. A lot of time went into searching this and finally I found this 'NEW & UNUSED' item on ebay

Originally Posted by srinath34

Your mod has taken FB by storm too!!

None of my posts or photos on FB had got over 100 likes till this one

Originally Posted by srinath34

By the way, how much was the damage caused?

Originally Posted by lakhanironak

Those tail lamps look fabulous. Where did you source the lamps from and how much was the damage to the pocket ?

Although I don't consider it as a "damage", it did set me back by a fair amount. like they say "Never ask a woman her age" Don't ask me the amount. My wife follows this thread carefully

Originally Posted by Amogh Barakol

Fabulous Work on the Evo tail lamps Hemanth ! I must say the car looks "Not from India" now ! Even the smoked Headlamps look killer . They could use a projector though !

"Not from India" he he...thanks Amogh Barakol, I'm now aiming for "Not from this world"
The projectors will definitely up the cosmetic quotient but some people have told me that it may not be as good for highways and I do a lot of highway driving. So, I'm still studying about projectors and will go for it only if I am convinced that I have enough/better light.

Originally Posted by KarthikK

Outstanding work Hemanth! The tail lamps look as drool worthy as the Audi LED taillights with those long L-shaped vertical light trails. Goes very well with the Punto's profile and especially your white color too! Are the component lights LEDs by the way?? I get a feeling those indicator and parking lamps are LEDs, only you could confirm, hehe.

For the tail lamps, I was a bit confused between your Evo lights and Dayline Abarth LED taillamps (subject to budget permitting). I might go with the Dayline ones which might contrast better with my red color, but these are not Abarth OEM though.
Attachment 1094307

Looks something like this when in action, Another drool-worthy mod, but the Evo lights would beat this any day
http://www.Youtube.com/watch?v=evdvopWMsfU

Lastly, same question as DRIV3R asked: how difficult was the installation?

Thanks KarthikK, the indicators and the Brake lights are the same bulbs that are given in the Indian OE Punto. The L-shaped ones are LEDs though.
Dayline might look good on your Car considering the colour and other mods your car has, but as you have rightly mentioned this one was better for mine.
Luckily I'm spared of this confusion as I didn't buy a red one.


If an idle mind is a devil's workshop, scroll down to see what came out of the devil's workshop


I'm lovin' it


from the devil's workshop

[Amogh Barakol]

Interesting sketches ! We can see how the name " Taurus " came to be , and i think we would all wish to see "Out of this world" ! Wish you many happy miles with the Punto !

[UB_007]

Originally Posted by hemanth.anand

The pending item is a tough thing to acquire. If cost is just one thing, the much tougher one is the logistics. How I wish India was part f the EU
So no scoop pics of my car yet!


Attachment 1094315
from the devil's workshop

Nice impressive tail lights.
How much budget are you still left with for this year?
I am waiting to see your ‘Ferrari In Affordable Trim‘ fitted with Abarth alloys. Have them stored safely in my celler.


-UB

[hemanth.anand]

Today I changed the parking lights from the yellow filament bulbs to Philips T10 white LED





This was to match the DRLs as they are connected and I always switch them on.
The Headlamps remain yellow (Osram night breaker +)

By the way the car now reached 42nd thousand





The first paid service is at 43k and I have a 800km trip planned this weekend
So the service will be happening soon.
Have started making a list of niggles.

PS: the error lamp in the cluster is courtesy the evo tail lamps...because the wattage of the LEDs is different from the OE parking lamp bulb.
The message "Check right sidelight" and "Check left sidelight" flashes 4 times and vanishes.
Tried with a car detailing shop known to be good at electrical work to remove this by using resistors but unsuccessful.
I have decided to pay this price for the sake of looks.

[hemanth.anand]

My Abarth Punto Evo Tjet has gone for its first paid service(45K kms) service today to Vecto Motors, Hosur road, Bangalore.

The ODO reading is 42961 Kms...the previous service was done at 28300 because I had completed 2 years. From there 15K is 43000kms.

I had spotted a small coolant leakage some days ago and had taken it to Vecto for inspection. It was near a hose joint and the SA had topped it up and told me to book an appointment to repair it.
He was aware of the fact that an appointment would take 2 weeks at least. So he had given me some amount of paraflu in a can and told me to keep it at the optimum level if there is further leakage.

There was not much of a leakage after that but I used that paraflu last week during a long drive.
I had taken an appointment for today, I thought I'll get it serviced today itself, even though its ~300 kms less than 15000kms from the previous service


ODO

a little earlier

Apart from this coolant issue, I've mentioned the following things in the complaint list.

• Removal of the roof dent (courtesy a coconut leaf)-I've removed the sticker yesterday and now have asked them to paint it black.
• Rear wiper replacement, the rubber has become brittle
• The driver side wiper jet holes are blocked...only one jet of water is coming out of the total 3 jets
• I've requested them to put Absolut edition mudflaps (subject to stock availability)

Although the SA has not given me an estimate or a delivery date, I expect it to be ready in 3 days because of the dent removal.

I've oped not to go for insurance for this since I didn't see much profit in that.

I'm expecting the bill to be around 15-20K.
Will update this thread once I've got something substantial to share.

[UB_007]

Originally Posted by hemanth.anand

My Abarth Punto Evo Tjet has gone for its first paid service(45K kms) service today to Vecto Motors, Hosur road, Bangalore.


I'm expecting the bill to be around 15-20K.
Will update this thread once I've got something substantial to share.

Why is the park light warning on? I am sure the LED consumes much lesser power than the original ones. Then why is the system bothered.

Regarding service, how about the suspension parts. Have they mentioned anything about it? I think these are not covered under warranty after 35,000 km.
Elastic pads from suspension are likely to be replaced after 40000km. Check also the AC filter if already not replaced.

-UB

[DRIV3R]

Hi Hemanth,

The error is true even for the parking lamps. I bought the same Philips LEDs for my 90HP, costing 1.6k for a pair, only to discover the annoying MID error and the amber light on the console all the time! (Check right sidelight, Check left sidelight) Those LEDs are powerful, you can park on unlit roads using them.

The guy was kind enough to take them back and I traded them for some other stuff for the car, since I do not possess those beautiful EVO tail-lamps for which I can compromise the errors.

[hemanth.anand]

Originally Posted by UB_007

Why is the park light warning on? I am sure the LED consumes much lesser power than the original ones. Then why is the system bothered.

In my case its the evo LEDs which is drawing less power. But in the OE tail lamp setup, what if the bulb has conked off? The system should definitely be bothered shouldn't it?
Its one very good feature in Punto that I have hardly seen in any other cars in the segment-it points us to the exact source of the problem(Many other cars just show that there's something wrong but doesn't tell where). Many times we can avoid a service station visit.

Regarding service, how about the suspension parts. Have they mentioned anything about it? I think these are not covered under warranty after 35,000 km.
Elastic pads from suspension are likely to be replaced after 40000km. Check also the AC filter if already not replaced.

The suspension parts are not covered under warranty after 30k Kms.

After an initial inspection, the SA Surendra has given me a rough estimate of 8K for the service and another 7K for the roof dent removal and painting.
He has told me that till tomorrow(Wednesday), the dent removal and painting will happen and on thurday the regular service will happen and I'll get a call from him about replacements on that day.

Thanks for your points anyway.

Originally Posted by DRIV3R

Hi Hemanth,

The error is true even for the parking lamps. I bought the same Philips LEDs for my 90HP, costing 1.6k for a pair, only to discover the annoying MID error and the amber light on the console all the time! (Check right sidelight, Check left sidelight) Those LEDs are powerful, you can park on unlit roads using them.

The guy was kind enough to take them back and I traded them for some other stuff for the car, since I do not possess those beautiful EVO tail-lamps for which I can compromise the errors.

Yes they are really powerful. During daytime I've had some bikers indicating me with their hands that I have switched on my headlamps
I have this always on as I have the DRL connected to them and also now that I want to show off the LED tail lamps

I didn't know that those Philips LEDs also give those errors..that's because the error was already displayed due to the tail lamps.
That's got me wondering...How can the system identify if the lamp is an LED or a filament type when the mount and wattage are same?

[hemanth.anand]

Originally Posted by hemanth.anand

My Abarth Punto Evo Tjet has gone for its first paid service(45K kms) service today to Vecto Motors, Hosur road, Bangalore.

The ODO reading is 42961 Kms...

...apart from this coolant issue, I've mentioned the following things in the complaint list.

• Removal of the roof dent (courtesy a coconut leaf)-I've removed the sticker yesterday and now have asked them to paint it black.
• Rear wiper replacement, the rubber has become brittle
• The driver side wiper jet holes are blocked...only one jet of water is coming out of the total 3 jets
• I've requested them to put Absolut edition mudflaps (subject to stock availability)...

....I'm expecting the bill to be around 15-20K.

Just after an hour of giving my car for Delivery The SA Surendra called me and gave me an estimate of 8K for the service.
He told me that this is exclusive of the dent removal work and told me that he would ask the Body shop person to call me to give me an estimate.
I was also told that the service would be done first and later given for body work.
The body shop guy Joyson inspected the car in the afternoon and told me that this would cost around 7k.
This total estimate of 15K was inline with my expectations. So I gave a nod for all the works.
On Tuesday afternoon I called Surendra just to know the status and he told me that the service is complete and the car handed over to the body shop.

As far as the issues were concerned, All were sorted out except that the "Absolut edition mudflaps" were unavailable
He told me that the final service cost is INR 6021/- and no replacements were needed
My car's roof is stained (don't know how)...Surendra asked me if I would like to go for the interior treatment costing 1500/- I declined that and would be going to BHPian KarthikK's adda and BHPian Siddu's 3M shop in HSR layout
I inquired specifically if the suspension pad or the brake pads need replacement to which he told no.
INR6021 for the first paid service...That sounded damn cheap after we had paid 22K for the Polo.

On Wednesday I didn't call them hoping that I'll anyways get the vehicle on Friday. On Thursday I called Joyson and he told that the dent removal is in progress and will be over by the end of the day and Painting will happen on Friday.

Looks like there was no work done on Wednesday. I told him that I want the vehicle on Friday evening.
He told he'll try to give it on Friday if the paint dries up. He was buying time. He told he can give it on Saturday.
I pressed for Friday but then I didn't have any plans for the Saturday so didn't argue over the matter too much.

On Saturday I got up leisurely at 11AM and then called him up at 1PM to check the status. He told he will deliver it at 3PM. I said fine.
I had to attend some functions and after a lunch, I went with my BIL at around 4:30 in the evening. The car wash was pending.

I showed some dissatisfaction and he told me to wait for 30mins and he would get it done. As promised, in 30 mins, my car came out ready with a neat glossy dent-free roof and all the issues sorted out.

The final cost for dent removal and painting was 7300 and the total bill was 13300.
Sai Colorium had quoted 5k for the dent removal an year ago. So the dent removal was not too much overpriced I thought.
Overall I was happy with the final bill amount. Below is the breakup of the bill and a graphical representation of the same



Positives:
1. Surendra's good work
2. Coolant leakage issue-Hoses were not charged
3. Paint quality is really good. Its shining black

Negatives:
1. Washing quality is very average-Dirt stuck in the accelerator pedal was untouched. After washing he offered to take it inside again and clean it but it should have been done at the first instance
2. Dent removal time took 1-2 days more than what it should have IMO
3. If wash quality is disappointing, Billing is nothing less than pathetic. the person is as slow as a Sloth. He took 25minutes to complete my transaction

My ratings out of 5:
Service time ****
Service cost ****
Service quality *****
Dent removal cost ****
Dent removal quality ***
Painting quality *****
Painting cost **
Washing quality **
Billing time *
Total cost of service ****

Apart front the service:
Just after the wash when the car was being polished I noticed that the 3M CF sticker treatment on the plastic of the bonnet was peeeling out and also It was not black anymore (just like the OE plastic).
Colour difference can be spotted in the below picture



Just after I took the car and was headed back home, I stopped at the Shell station for a Refuel and exactly at this point, my car displayed a thousand figure for the 43rd time


On a roll


43K just after the 45K service

I will try to put up an ownership report update pretty soon.

[lapis_lazuli]

But why "filtering element"? What is "filtering" element for?? Is it the wire mesh filter for the ac blower? And Hemanth, I am plagued by zillions of rattles and squeaks, what about you? The latest one is a slightly delayed squeak from the front right, each time I go over a bump very slowly. The squeak does not come immediate but may be 0.25 seconds after I have crossed the bump, like the effect was travelling from the place of occurence. Any pointers?

[KarthikK]

Hemanth, thanks for the detailed service report as always. Any pictures of the painted roof for potential copycats like me to get inspired?? I still need to get that steering logo up and running by the way, hopefully this week sometime.

Originally Posted by hemanth.anand

Just after the wash when the car was being polished I noticed that the 3M CF sticker treatment on the plastic of the bonnet was peeeling out and also It was not black anymore (just like the OE plastic).
Colour difference can be spotted in the below picture

CF vinyl is not supposed to be polished on, it will appear slightly greyish if covered with polish. This is part of the reason why I don't get my car washed/polished at the service centre. Also, most service centres tend to use diesel, some thinners, cheap polish and god knows what else to clean the car. You can wash the polish/wax away with water now and that will bring back the black shine on the CF. I've never had any issues of peeling with my CF work, so I'm guessing it is something to do with Vecto's washing/polish process. No worries - if I'm not mistaken, 3M offers free replacement in case of premature peeling for CF and PPF vinyls, so you can get the panel re-done up next time you go there.

Originally Posted by lapis_lazuli

The latest one is a slightly delayed squeak from the front right, each time I go over a bump very slowly. The squeak does not come immediate but may be 0.25 seconds after I have crossed the bump, like the effect was travelling from the place of occurence. Any pointers?

Front suspension noise? If it was accompanied by a thud sound, it could be related to the link rod (common complaint in some older Puntos). Get it checked and rectified at the service centre next time you pass by that place. I was getting one faint metallic creak everytime I climbed a speedbreaker, for a few days prior to first service. When they dismantled the suspension, cleaned everything and put it back together, the noise was gone for good , it was some loose component inside the joints (didn't turn out to be link rod in my case).

Even the rattles in the cabin - I suggest you just book a service slot for your car, take it there and spend a couple of hours test driving and showing them the rattles. They will fix all the annoying sounds in an hour or two, free of cost. Most of the sounds will be due to loose door trim (plastic) panels, rear parcel shelf or windows, especially the sounds coming from the back.