[Psycho]

At times I kinda respect the views that some forum members have come up with and trust me your idea is actually very tempting. I happened to be speaking to V1P3R about this a couple of days before you put this post up and yes the platform is defn a lot more stable and predictable exepting for the braking part. The engine may not be a direct fit but it can fit in and why not throw in a TC.

All I can say is hope it works out...

[lamborghini]

Well, if a 1.7lt engie can fit in the car, why can't a 1.6 petrol?
I ave thought about it quite a bit actually and am quite a big fan of the car. It would do really well if Fiat would relaunch it and sell it for 3L for the base a.c. diesel.

[Mpower]

If you can find the Sienna's 1.6 engine out of a crashed car, it should come cheap and will be the most appropriate. I'm sure the diesel is heavier so should be no problem.

Talk to Viper, he usually has some engines for sale. Right now he's got a 143 bhp 1.6 Suzuki engine.

[heavy_foot]

i am sure you will find a 1.6 fiat engine in the c.s.t road chor bazar in kurla...try you luck there.

[Buffetfan]

I have a uno 1.2 Petrol. The engine bay has defninitely more space than a Palio in my view...there was ample spacve in the bay with even the 1.7 Diesal plonked in so fitting a 1.6 l shold not be a problem..

My ownership experience has been a mixed one. Have done 71 K in the car till now.

Engine / Gearbox

No issues on this front...till now the only issue has been a worn out clutch bearing...even @ 71k the car still has the original clutch plate and CV Joints.
However, my alternator bearing has a tendancy of failing regularly ...though the car has never stopped on road but it starts making a noise every 10kj and then you know there is the time to replace it.

Body :

Prone to Rattles...It has not helped that I have taken it through the worst of the terrain through the countryside. However, after a recent thorough overhaul which included putting in foam/rubber lining throughout the doors and dashboard...rattles are much less
Initially the mileage was 13-14 kmpl but now it struggles to reach 12kmpl.

Need to replace silencer every 20000 km since it is extremely prone to rust...

AC
did not work properly for the tfirst three years...Gas would leak out every 2 months and Fiat Service could not fix it...Efforts on my part meant that Sanden Vikas came and replaced the compressor free of charge....but still the problem persisted....
Finally got resolved last year after a leaking pipe was replaced.

After Sales Service
Really bad...could not get a worse experience....NEVER remember yor problem and half the times...induce new problems in the car without rectifying old ones...
Central locking gave up after one service....Horn and Lights after another...someone flicked my mp3 player after even another...parts generally not available at the company workshop...generally gettting them outside in the market is not a problem though
.every Uno service cost me Rs1400 as service charges...(In contrast Maruti charges only Rs 500 for my Baleno) plus oil change etc..so every service the bill would be at least Rs 2k...

Ride and Handling

Ride was very good when the car was new..I have done till 155kmph in the car adn the car is very stable at these speeds...!!!! handling is very decent too (I shifted from the original 145/80 Rs 13 to 155/80 R13 michelin tubeless ..in the interest of ground clearance).

all in all..niggleing problems are part of the Uno expereince...on the other hand..I doubt if any other car wuld have taken the same amount of beating over rough roads / countryside that my Uno did...and never even broke down once!!!

[urdudesamy]

ok.. ur shifting to better rubbers for ur car made teh mileage drop... u won't believe it my frnd shifted fomr 145/80 to 195/60 and the diesel one dipped in mileage to 15 from 17 kmpl.


Well yeha but the rattling is from teh doors becuase once anyone opens it, they breakthe locking pins which have to be replaced, not to emntion is not avilable with some fiat stations.

hmm... bearing, dude try getting one from the palio 1.2, if it fits... , shud fit actually...

well teh siena's engine would surely fit in and its just an uno's engine with a turbo. and is damn good.

but that engine has phased out and parts are an issue..

moreover lets c...

[devarshi84]

fiat uno makes a better buy anyday over a maruti800 or a maruti alto.

it is more comfortable and powerful and bigger too.

what killed the uno is the fiat's reputation as a brand.

[Buffetfan]

Originally Posted by devarshi84

fiat uno makes a better buy anyday over a maruti800 or a maruti alto.

it is more comfortable and powerful and bigger too.

what killed the uno is the fiat's reputation as a brand.

yes it would..unfortunately when I purchased it wasnt priced that low...I paid close to Rs 4.20 lakh onroad for the car (It is an ELX with front Power windows/body colored bumbers etc)...which currently has a resale value somewhere aroud a quarter of the original invoice

[devarshi84]

do you have a problem is spares as in not due to the dealer but unavailability.???

[Harrie]

I have a 5 year old uno which has done close to 1L kms. I have had no major problems so far. Spares availablity have never been an issue in coimbatore. I dont get it serviced by the dealer anymore. In blore, keshav does the servicing for me, while in coimbatore it is my friend who does the works...

Absolutely reliable and economical to the boot.

Coming to the topic, I did toy around with the idea of plonking a GTX engine in it sometime back. But dropped it due to lack of funds. I am not complaning though... I am driving my GTX now

[Sam Kapasi]

This reminds me of a true story.

I was younger and in my days of Car Audio installation. A young customer entered the store.
He wanted a customized car audio system.

What car do you drive?
You know, he said nonchalantly.
I smiled. Maruti 800?
No, you know..
Uhh... is it some Maruti? Thinking, the way he said you know, meant he was marginally embarrassed to declare his car and that it had to be a fairly common vehicle for me to know.
No dude, it's a Fiat!
Ah, thinking to myself, he has a Fiat (Premier Padmini) and he is embarrassed to inform me he wants to do a custom sound install in a Fiat.
We have done some interesting stuff for Fiats.
He looks at me, what can you put in my you know?
Wow, I think to myself, this guy is really weird.

Of course after I had suggested to him the setup, we went out to check his car.
Oh oooo-no!! Fiat Uno! I said, looking at him in realization.
That's what I've been saying all this while!
But you said... oh nevermind.

[Blue Thunder]

Originally Posted by Sam Kapasi

This reminds me of a true story.....

Hilarious, Sam

Since you know the Italian language, you would know that the Uno is pronounced (ooo-no) and not (you-know) in Italian !!! But otherwise, one wouldnt know : in fact, I think FIAT should have highlighted this in their intial ads for the Uno (I dont remember if the early ads for the Uno mentioned this?)

.

[abhi1309]

I think it is a great car except for the spares availability. It does not matter if the company functions or not, once the car is phased out, it is difficult to source parts.

India does not have norms and laws that would force the manufacturers to protect the customers investement for a long time. I believe it hardly shares any parts with the Palio. It is almost a decade older.

Delhi is the hub of spares, so if you are anywhere near that place, you can drive any car cheers:. I remember a few years back i was checking out the Daewoo USA site. Ofcourse they were not selling cars that time, they had pulled out of the market, but the website was alive and kicking selling every spare available for the cars that they sold there. It is different here.

[Srini76]

I have seen quiet a few Uno's in Chennai though. A friend of mine has a white one and refuses to part with it no matter what (96 - 97 model if i am not mistaken) He got it around that time if my memory serves me right. He is quiet fussy about maintaining his car and has told me a few times that Pudhupet a.k.a Chennai's Chor Bazar. Has enough and more for the cars as spares.

[sharanramesh]

Hey Samy,

cheers on ur decision with the Uno, its a great car man. but i honestly donot think the 1.6 ltr engine from the palio is a bolt on job. the uno across the world was launched in a max of 1.4ltr petrol and 1.9 diesel.

what came to india was the 1.0, 1.2 petrol and 1.7 diesel.

even thought u think if the 1.2 fits in the uno so will the 1.6, it wont as the 1.2 of the palio is very diff from the uno 1.2.

but pick up the 1.2, its an mpfi unit. you could change your fuel maps. dont fit a free flow exhaust, those things barely add on more to your performance.
the original fiat engines themselves have very very very sweet sounding exhaust. do check them out.

cheers

Sharan