[hemanth.anand]

Its 2months since I got my italian babe.
I just needed to celebrate.

I headed off to Wayanad in Kerala-around 300kms from Bangalore.
Me and My two ladies with my friend and his wife left Bangalore on Friday 3rd December night.

It was a straight dash to mysore with one small 20min coffee Break. the 150km journey took 2.5 hours including the break. My punto gave me 14.7km/lts.

We slept overnight in my friend's house in Mysore.

The next day- a saturday, we left mysore at 7:30 and reached Bandipur at 8:30 for a safari. The expectation was to see a tiger, but we had to be content with a fresh trail of tiger pug marks. an occasional Elephant, Wild boar, and lots of deers were the animals we could spot.

Then we had breakfast at Gundlupet and then we headed towards Waynad at 11:30am. The road was good but for the first time i found karnataka roads better than the neighbouring states

We reached Edakal caves-Our first destination. But we were disappointed as the caves were closed for some restoration works. they are opening the caves on Jan 1st 2011.
Disappointed, we then went to a place called Phantom's park which was a small trek over a hill to reach a ice viewpoint. The trek path is ladden with rubber trees and the view point was nice.
Then we went to a small dam enroute our lodge in Kalpetta. The dam was small and stinking, but nice and beautiful
After these two destination, We reached our lodge at 1:30pm. just about perfect for the lunch.The Harithagiri hotel/resort was in a central location for all our sightseeing destinations. The lunch and dinner was really reasonably priced and was tasting good.

After the lunch we rested for sometime and then we headed to pookot lake which was a scenic spot with boating facilities. we spent sometime there but were not interested in boating though.
Then we went to a place called Lakkidi-one of the highest points in the nearby area. My italian babe enjoyed the curves really well and I enjoyed the ride up to the peak.

That ended our eventful first day

The next morning we went to Soochipara falls...around 25kms from our hotel in the morning..this involved a good drive through coffee and tea estates and some trekking. the waterfalls is nice but the trek takes some time and by the time we reached back it was lunch time...we had our lunch and checked out of the hotel and then we went to Banasura Dam..a small dam with gardens. On sunday we could see only these two places till 4Pm and it was time to head back to bangalore.

We left waynad at 4:15 pm and wehad one refuelling stop at Mysore Shell station. We reached Bangalore at 10:30pm.

The overall journey was 825kms and the average mileage of the trip was 13+kmpl. Bangalore-Mysore-Bangalore(300kms) roads gave ~15kmpl and Mysore-Wayanad-Mysore(525kms) roads gave me ~12kmpl.

The car has now touched 3700kms and the first service is booked on Wednesday. Eagerly waiting for the first service and hoping for a good experience at that.

Attached below are some pics of the trip

[nkrishnap]

Lovely pictures there. Nice log too.

By the way, 13-14 kmpl seems a lil low for the highway driving. Was the drive more to do with higher average speeds?

[shk 8896]

Nice pics Hemant ,I am loving it.I am strongly advising you to put them in the auto image thread .By the by ,where is the alloy wheel you promised ??
Drive safe

[hemanth.anand]

Originally Posted by nkrishnap

Lovely pictures there. Nice log too.

By the way, 13-14 kmpl seems a lil low for the highway driving. Was the drive more to do with higher average speeds?

I don't feel that I'm getting less mileage nor do I think i can attribute it to high speeds also. Because....
1. On good roads like Bengaluru-Mysuru road I got 15kmpl at 100kmph avg speed...Which is above average I feel
2. in Ghat sections of Wynad, the weather forced me to use AC and also the gear changes has given me 12kmpl...These two constraints contrbuted to a mileage of 12kmpl. which is still acceptable IMO.

Only when you take an average of the two entirely different driving conditions, that the avg 13kmpl highway mileage feels less. Its only for the trip expenses I made an Average otherwise IMO we shouldn't take an average between two different driving conditions

If i would have used my car only on Bangalore-Mysore or Bangalore-pune Highway, 15kmpl would've sounded a lot better. What say?

And moreover after the 1st service the mileage will improve and stabilise

Originally Posted by shk 8896

Nice pics Hemant ,I am loving it.I am strongly advising you to put them in the auto image thread .By the by ,where is the alloy wheel you promised ??
Drive safe

Thankyou...will upload them in that thread.

By the way have anyone noticed that the Team-BHP watermark is not appearing on the uploade photos. Any known reson for that?

The alloy wheels...hmm..Vitamin M is presently scarce and thats causing a delay in keeping up my promise.

[Reinhard]

Brilliant car and brilliant photography Hemant!! I know which car it is what "gun" do you use for that shooting? Really nice pics and a heaven to go for a ride in your new "Emotion". Congrats and keep these travelogues coming...

[Newpunter]

Amazing Pics Hemanth. Good to see you enjoying your ride on the Punto. Keep posting updates.

[hemanth.anand]

Originally Posted by Reinhard

Brilliant car and brilliant photography Hemant!! I know which car it is what "gun" do you use for that shooting? Really nice pics and a heaven to go for a ride in your new "Emotion". Congrats and keep these travelogues coming...

Thank you Reinhard...it is Nikon D3000 with the 18-55 and 55-200 lens options

@newpunter, thank you very much

[MCR]

Originally Posted by hemanth.anand

Its 2months since I got my italian babe.
I just needed to celebrate.

I headed off to Wayanad in Kerala-around 300kms from Bangalore.
Me and My two ladies with my friend and his wife left Bangalore on Friday 3rd December night.

Your two ladies? Who is the second one? Wife and girlfriend together?
Excellent pictures there. The most lovable thing in your car is the silence. Its very much unlike my car's racy Diesel. May be shell petrol has a very important part to play here.

[Schoudhury]

Originally Posted by hemanth.anand

By the way have anyone noticed that the Team-BHP watermark is not appearing on the uploade photos. Any known reson for that?

That's because of the size of the pictures, if you click on those pictures and when it opens on the new window you will see the T-BHP watermark on all the pictures .

Cheers.

[hemanth.anand]

Originally Posted by MCR

Your two ladies? Who is the second one? Wife and girlfriend together?
Excellent pictures there. The most lovable thing in your car is the silence. Its very much unlike my car's racy Diesel. May be shell petrol has a very important part to play here.

MCR,
My italian babe, my Punto...My wife is always jealous about her

The shell fuel sure has its effect. As your BIL and I have been telling you...try it for some time and you will not want any other fuel.
"I swear by shell"

@Schoudary, Thanks for your clarification.

[Fiat&Me]

Congrates Hemant Anand !!!
Rock solid Punto on the background of rocks (pg 1).
Nice photosession done.

[hemanth.anand]

My beauty just completed her first service.
The service coupons stated 3000kms/3months for the first free service.

My punto had clocked 3750kms in 70days.

I had booked the service appointmet on saturday and I didn't want the pickup and drop facility, so I went myself on saturday at 10:00hrs.
I was made to wait for 15mins in the lounge till the service advisor came.

At 10:15 the advisor came and took some initial details for filling out the form. Then we went to the car and he noted down the ODO, checked the service coupons, noted down all the items present in the car, fuel level, chasis number, engine number etc...

Then he asked me for any complaints and my list was as below

• the car was pulling leftwards.
• the Right ORVM was not stopping when folded, it would touch the window glass.
• AC cooling is slow.
• Dashboard fungus formation. (The dashboard is sometimes full of oil-like patches. This happens only if the weather is cold. Some time in the sun and it disappears)
• Check if auxillary input cable can be connected to the CD player from the rear

After all this, the delivery time was fixed at 18:30 hrs. (I felt this a bit too much)

I had emptied my car before taking it to the workshop, so I went back with just the service reciept.

At 17:45hrs I called up to confirm. He told that the since it was a weekend and sunday was a holiday for service... he can deliver only on monday with just one point in the checklist remaining to be completed.
I asked him to check if that one point could be completed. He told me he'll check with the service person and let me know...after 30mins he called me and told he can deliver it at 19:00hrs...I agreed.

I went there at the agreed time and mine was in the last three vehicles to be delivered on that day. some 15 mins of waiting (which i used to check the ARIA) My car was handed over to me. The bill amount-ZERO

Solutions:

• car pulling leftwards-Sorted out.
• the Right ORVM was not stopping when folded, it would touch the window glass- They had forgotten this, promised to set it right next week
• AC cooling is slow-Fixed.
• Dashboard fungus formation-Seems to have been cleared.He said some spray has been used to clear this.
• Check if auxillary input cable can be connected to the CD player from the rear-No option to take the cable from behind.

Report card:
Collection of data: 9/10
Time for service: 7/10 (10:30-19:00...slow IMO)
Cleaning of the car: 6/10 (wiping marks can be seen all over)
Problem solving: 7/10 (forgot to fix a problem...frank but not a good excuse)
Overall Satisfaction:7/10 (But I never expected more)

Conclusion:
This experience has reinforced my thinking that all service stations are the same. Maruti-Suzuki or Tata-Fiat or Hyundai (the 3 that I have experienced at least). It is only the number of service stations that are different.
I never expected more and I was not surprised also. I was impressed with the way problems were solved(which were not forgotten). I was disappointed with the wash quality. This week the minor problem of the mirror will be fixed. But otherwise I've got to plan for my next outing with my Italian Babe.

[blackbeast]

Hi Hemanth,

Good report there. It's too early for you to guage the service levels at this point since your car is still virgin. You will get that chance when you run into some technical issues which i wish will never happen to you. Hyundai and Maruti are way ahead of TASS. But good thing is, they are improving a lot. And well, on the washing part, its done by some little boys from the near by slum. Consider yourself lucky if they do not leave stains on interiors/seats. How is the drivability in comparision to the swift ?

And a bit of surprise. You and I are classmates. can you guess who i am ?

[Reinhard]

Excellent!
So another outing, and another feast for our eyes . Nice service report. I'd suggest you specifically mention and complain about the wash and cleanup job. You'll (I mean your Punto ) probably be given a proper wash once again during your next visit.

Did he say they can fix that mirror stopper? I doubt this. May be it will have to be replaced under warranty and they didn't have it in stock for BNW colour? Because he must have mentioned this on the job card and "forgot" can't be a real excuse IMO. Anyway, as long as its fixed, you need not worry!

3000/3 months is nice for a 1st Service really. Brings our attention to how MS/Tata etc are hoodwinking us a bit with 1st service at 1000km/1 month even with the same engine and transmissions! May be they have lesser confidence in their build and fitment quality as compared to FIAT!

BTW, thanks for mentioning your lens kit! Fortifies my decision for a 55-250 IS lens to complement the kit 18-55 of my EOS 1000D. So probably will get it the coming weekend.

Waiting now for the snaps from your next "Emotion"al drive.
Cheers!

[hemanth.anand]

Originally Posted by blackbeast

Hi Hemanth,

Good report there. It's too early for you to guage the service levels at this point since your car is still virgin. You will get that chance when you run into some technical issues which i wish will never happen to you. Hyundai and Maruti are way ahead of TASS. But good thing is, they are improving a lot. And well, on the washing part, its done by some little boys from the near by slum. Consider yourself lucky if they do not leave stains on interiors/seats. How is the drivability in comparision to the swift ?

And a bit of surprise. You and I are classmates. can you guess who i am ?

After 2 months, she's not a virgin anymore But yes still early days.
I have had many technical problems with my 800 and I didn't find the MS service stations any good(i went to 3 places for it to get solved but was never solved) Hope I don't run into any serious problems with this babe.
25years and MS have learnt by experience. Fiat for me are still newbies

The driveability is really good, The weighted steering, stability, build quality, plastics, rear legroom are way better than Swift. 2nd gear pickup, visibility are far less comparitively. I'm not advertising my car, but these were the factors considered while buying My punto

Classmates...sorry buddy, not able to recognise.
My only wild guess...You must be from VEC.

Originally Posted by Reinhard

Excellent!
So another outing, and another feast for our eyes . Nice service report. I'd suggest you specifically mention and complain about the wash and cleanup job. You'll (I mean your Punto ) probably be given a proper wash once again during your next visit.

Did he say they can fix that mirror stopper? I doubt this. May be it will have to be replaced under warranty and they didn't have it in stock for BNW colour? Because he must have mentioned this on the job card and "forgot" can't be a real excuse IMO. Anyway, as long as its fixed, you need not worry!

3000/3 months is nice for a 1st Service really. Brings our attention to how MS/Tata etc are hoodwinking us a bit with 1st service at 1000km/1 month even with the same engine and transmissions! May be they have lesser confidence in their build and fitment quality as compared to FIAT!

BTW, thanks for mentioning your lens kit! Fortifies my decision for a 55-250 IS lens to complement the kit 18-55 of my EOS 1000D. So probably will get it the coming weekend.

Waiting now for the snaps from your next "Emotion"al drive.
Cheers!

Thankyou...yes, I will get it washed once more after complaining.

Yes he told he can fix the mirror stopper. Even If they replace on warranty, the colour shouldn't matter because the mirror caps are seperate parts which I'm sure will be from the present mirror assembly.

Service Interval is one good indication of the manufacturer's confidence.
Punto has 1st@3000/3months, 2nd@15000/1year, 3rd@30000/2years.
MS has 1st@1000/1month, 2nd@xxx/6months, 3rd@xxx/1year,
Thats one more year of maitenance from the manufacturer without having to pay for any extended maintenance plans.

55:250 is a nice spec. enjoy your new lens.