Team-BHP - Fiat Grande Punto : Test Drive & Review

Quote:

Originally Posted by gopikb (Post 2034146)

sumobom4, I exactly had a similar accident in Bangalore road when a Hyundai accent came and banged me from behind.

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Hence get it cross verified by couple of other dealers before going for bumper replacement

Quote:

Originally Posted by Klub Class (Post 2034169)

We had a similar accident. But, unlike you, our car was rear-ended by a Tempo Traveller when we slammed the brakes hard.

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So, better you ask the SA whether he can doing anything instead of replacing the whole bumper.

Amith

Thanks for the clarification, guys. It sounded ridiculous to me also that the whole bumper needs to be changed for such a stupid thing. I tried to tell the SA that but he was adamant that otherwise nothing can be done! So when I got a call for service feedback, I screwed them with my rating. Just today, I got a call from the SA trying to explain the same thing to me again so that I up the rating to 10. Should I write a mail to FIAT India? Or should I try my luck with another service station? What complicates matters is that I will be posted in Bangalore for 3-4 months from next week, so my Dad will have to get this done and I cannot expect him to dance around between service stations.

@Amith: 1-1.5 K!!! If you don't mind my asking, what was the breakup of the cost?

Better thing to do would be to go to body shop and take the opinion of the guy handling damages. In most instances, if the holding clip is broken it is plastic IIRC), it entails change of bumper. I had a front bumper dislodging and holding clip was broken, they managed to put it back without changing the bumper.

Quote:

Originally Posted by NutsNBolts (Post 2034796)

By holding clip, do you mean for keeping the bumper attached? I don't think that's been damaged. If I have understood the SA correctly, the bracket which holds the reverse light assembly in place has been damaged. In any case, I will speak to the body shop technician directly.

guys, in a very recent highway drive, my folks in the back seat kept complaining about the aircon not being effective. In fact, many a time, they had to roll down the windows for lack of proper air circulation. The car had 5 of us on-board and I had set the ACC to 23 deg initially and after their complains, reduced it to 22 and also increased the blower speed.

Any clues what I need to look for to correct this? I must mention here that the rear door rubber beading had come off sometime back and I had simply put it back in place. Has anyone else felt this before?

Quote:

Originally Posted by royalcruiser (Post 2039967)

Thanks! Will try it soon - also, it looks like the AC gas was low, which was topped up during the first service.

Refrigerant top-up during the first service is not unheard off, but is quite rare. Do keep a sharp lookout for any cooling related problems. The Punto's climate control is actually really good, so try what Paddleshifter suggested (And he's right) and then share the experience with us.

Quote:

Originally Posted by PaddleShifter (Post 2037863)

direct air flow to foot level as well so that rear AC vents are also working.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Amartya (Post 2040174)

.. so try what Paddleshifter suggested (And he's right) and then share the experience with us.

Guys, maybe I'm confused. But can you pls tell me more about "rear AC vents are also working" stupid:

Quote:

Originally Posted by royalcruiser (Post 2040306)

Guys, maybe I'm confused. But can you pls tell me more about "rear AC vents are also working" stupid:

The rear A/C vents for the Punto are under the front seats. If you shine a torch under the front seats (while looking under it from the rear seat), you should be able to spot them.

We should write an e-mail to Fiat that they should not left some good features for customer surprises. My father had a similar reaction like royalcruiser when I showed rear AC vents to my dad a few days back. Reveal them in their brochure just like i20's.

My i20 sales manager promoted i20 saying it has rear AC vents which are not common in other hatchbacks.

Punto Sales Manager refused to admit that Punto has rear AC vents during Punto Test Drive. According to him, the air I made him feel under front seat is actually coming from the front footwell.

Quote:

Originally Posted by PaddleShifter (Post 2040986)

A lot of the sales managers for the Punto don't seem to know much about the car they are selling and neither do they have the passion for it. I have myself had a salesperson tell me to buy a Manza rather than a Punto as I would get a big boot in the same price! :Shockked: I told him to drive both cars first and then get back to me! Anyway, the Punto does have rear air vents which are located on the floor under the front seat, as Amartya has said. As for directing the flow to them, well it will help but frankly, not much! As you know, cool air tends to settle while warm air rises. Hence, the cool air coming out of the rear vents on the floor doesn't really circulate too much in the cabin. The vent design is more useful for warm air circulation, which is the primary requirement in the Punto's native continent. I wish the Punto had a proper mid level rear AC vent like in the Linea.

Quote:

Originally Posted by sumobom4 (Post 2041126)

Anyway, the Punto does have rear air vents which are located on the floor under the front seat, as Amartya has said. As for directing the flow to them, well it will help but frankly, not much! As you know, cool air tends to settle while warm air rises. Hence, the cool air coming out of the rear vents on the floor doesn't really circulate too much in the cabin. The vent design is more useful for warm air circulation, which is the primary requirement in the Punto's native continent. I wish the Punto had a proper mid level rear AC vent like in the Linea.

I hereby confirm, with a Grin on my face, that my Punto 1.2 Emotion has these vents too. Its like a blower opening under the front seats and not proper car a/c vent, but I'm not complaining.

I initially thought this was a feature only in the EP variants but to my surprise my Emotion has it too. Though I agree on having proper mid-level vents like Linea or Indigos since they have the Air being routed to that area anyway.

Will try to post some pics if anyone is interested!!

I agree with you Zenster and sumobom. The same is even written in the user manual that the under seat HVAC vents are more useful when the cabin is being warmed. A proper knee level AC vent would require an arm rest as well. Fiat is already finding it hard to control prices inspite of offering so many features.

But, they do offer some help as well. Especially when cool air is thrown at the feet of those sitting in the back.

e.g. My mom sits on the back seat and finds rear AC vents very comfortable and relaxing when they throw cool air.
Of course, we guys wear shoes so this is not appreciable much.

Regarding the Punto 1.4, i have read a lot about the 2nd gear being dead, etc, etc. My parents have a 1.4 and to be frank i actually found the second gear to be quite useful, especially in the city in slow moving traffic. The first gear is really short though, the second is also short but i actually liked it as the 1.4 FIRE really opens up after around 2k rpm. The icing on the cake is the engine note!

The car had just over 1k on the odo, and with some spirited driving i managed a 12.5 kmpl (MID showed 13.9):D (Bangalore - Mysore with around 50km in Bangalore), whereas my dad got 14 !