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Originally Posted by Mar21 Folks,
Would love to get your thoughts.
The head has shortlisted the City, the EcoSport, the Verna and the Yaris (the multi airbag, auto variants) but neither really ticks of all the boxes.
The Abarth Punto is one of my "buy with the Heart" options. The other two being the Thar and one of the JTP twins. |
Wow, these were more or less the questions running in my mind for last couple of days or weeks (since I've been seeing quite some posts on Abarth, either in 'I booked my car', 'Official review' as well as 'Initial ownership' threads). I'm in the process of test drives and buying a new car, primarily for family weekend getaways and have test driven Ecosport, Freestyle, Nexon, City petrol and diesel versions as a part of my shortlisted cars in budget of 8-12L. Abarth surely deserves a spot now since I believe it's extremely VFM, from an Enthusiast buyer's point of view.
JTP twins are a great option as well
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Originally Posted by arindambasu13 I was recently in the market for a fun to drive car as a daily driver, and on my shortlist were the Ecosport, City and Punto Abarth.
The Punto Abarth was offered with substantial and lucrative discounts in December 2018 (I believe the discounts are even better now), however, the first thing which steered me away was that all available cars with dealers in Bangalore were 3-4 months old and lying in the stock yard for that period. |
Similar shortlisted cars as mine, except Freestyle. Do try the TDCI version of Freestyle, it's my close second choice for now after City
Also, 3-4 months old Abarth shouldn't really be that big a problem right? I'm sure the dealership may consider the request for fluid changes if bargained hard.
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Originally Posted by octane1002 Well to be honest, I haven't heard of reliability concerns on the Abarth. At least the Abarth is not unreliable. And the performance exhilerating. One of the few real enthusiast's cars available in the market today. |
Thanks a lot for the vote of confidence in Fiat reliability. Although there is no doubt Fiat cars are better built and engineered as compared to most of it's competition, the question is on the reliability or rather the future ownership experience which is scary for most of us potential buyers, especially if it is going to be the only car in the house for someone like me. A relatively lesser fun to drive car such as Freestyle Diesel, Tiago JTP, Polo GT twins, City i-vtec etc makes more logical sense to most minds. I'm also on a active lookout for a Figo Sports TDCI as a practical solution but no luck. The massive price drop on Abarth's sticker price has got my attention for now.
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Originally Posted by blackwasp I goto Vroom Pointe - its an authorised service centre for Fiats. Good chaps running it and unlike any ASS. Its run like an FNG with practical approach to any problems while keeping costs in check. I have seen many Palios, Puntos, Lineas and Abarths from Nashik and Pune coming to service here. Service is least of your concerns in Mumbai.
Mate, the Abarth is going for 8.6-8.7 lakhs OTR with included accessories like mudflats, cover and reverse cam. These are Sept - Nov 2018 make with 5 alloy wheels. This is the deal few people got in Pune (5+ booked with 2 full payments). At that price, you simply can't beat it. Even if you spend 1L on it every year (owing to "poor reliability") its the bargain of the year! |
So many informative posts supporting Abarth's cause. I was so pumped up seeing this post of yours, I called all phone numbers of two showrooms of FCA in Mumbai but no answer or the number was invalid. Probably I'm getting way too ahead of myself but the mentioned OTR with accessories is something I may not be able to resist if I am offered such a deal in Mumbai. Since you own an Abarth in Mumbai, any direct contact with any of the sales person whom I can take this forward with? Even if you can direct me to any of those 4-5 buyers from Pune, I can seek their help to negotiate a deal in Mumbai.
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Originally Posted by arindambasu13 For my personal requirements, each of the City, Ecosport and the Abarth ticked several boxes. Most importantly, I enjoyed driving all three, albeit each were with their own different character. |
Though I've never driven the Abarth yet and my impressions are purely based on most of the user experiences here, I tend to agree with you that City and ES are more practical yet fun to drive options. Loved the engines on ES and iVtec is a gem of course. However, IMHO both of them feel a bit less VFM when you compare ES and City to their competition such as Nexon and Ciaz.
Now comparatively the Abarth at around 9 lacs OTR or even less seems so much VFM if and only if we ignore the shortcomings such as dismal maintenance experience, less features, poor FE etc. and focus on it's strengths which I need not elaborate, at least on T-Bhp forums. But yes, it can certainly become a difficult choice to live with if things go wrong.