[sandeepmohan]

It had to happen to me. Just a week away from schedule inspection at 5000km, my odometer has started blinking at 4900km. I had not been using the stereo for mp3 music, just the radio. It was only today, when driving back from work, I hit the Windows button on the steering wheel to play an mp3 via voice control and nothing happened. Normally, "VOICE" is displayed momentarily when you hit the Windows button on the steering wheel. This is a indication to voice your command to Blue & Me. All steering controls are dead now for Blue & Me. I can only get the radio and cd player to work by manually hitting the volume knob and controls on the head unit. Volume control works on the steering wheel during cd and radio operation.

I have a appointment with Prerana on Wednesday. I had to book a week early to get a slot. That is how busy these chaps are. Not with Fiat cars or personal use TATA cars for sure. They are overloaded with all the cabs.

[nvssudheer]

Originally Posted by autocrat

There is one OB Punto in RMZ Ecospace that I spot often.

How did you like the Punto in OB? Is it a head turner like the BNW and Red?

[carwatcher]

Even I was wondering that I have not seen a single Linea/Punto in that beautiful colour.
As it has been reported few times that Fiat has a schedule production run as their cars are manufactured by Tatas and are not selling in large numbers, maybe they have not started production and still clearing their old stocks. Even their 2012 Lineas and Puntos were manufactured in 2011.
This colour may be flop but not a single car being spotted is really surprising.

[lapis_lazuli]

Originally Posted by nvssudheer

Why is the new Oceanic Blue virtually absent on the roads? Never seen a Punto or Linea in that shade. Is the colour a flop or they are not delivering it?

There are a couple of OBlue Puntos in my locality. One is mine. But this color is proving to be EXTREMELY difficult to maintain. I dont know if it is the paint quality which is not adequate or if dark colors are prone to scratches and marks (even God cant help category). There are other black and dark blue cars in my housing society cleaned by the same car wash guy, using the same dirty water and the "loincloth" and the same gusto, but mine seems to be losing out each day. Me polishing out the scratches every weekend with Waxpol rubbing compound and ABRO wax while the black rapid or the dark blue i10 seems to be doing just fine. Just the swirls. It seems like even a feather dropping on the paint will cause a minute scratch.

Originally Posted by carwatcher

Even their 2012 Lineas and Puntos were manufactured in 2011.
This colour may be flop but not a single car being spotted is really surprising.

If that is the case, how come my OB 2012 Punto VIN number ends with ALZ?
I had made it a point to ask the SA for the VIN just to confirm the production year. I had booked in mid Jan.

[sourav21]

Originally Posted by sandeepmohan

All steering controls are dead now for Blue & Me.

I had this peculiar case of MID not displaying any Blue&Me operations although the buttons seemed to be doing their job. A simple disconnect of the battery negative terminal for five minutes corrected it.

Originally Posted by lapis_lazuli

I dont know if it is the paint quality which is not adequate or if dark colors are prone to scratches and marks (even God cant help category).

Even though I have a white colored FIAT, I find the paint is just too sensitive. Mysterious hair line scratches show up every now and then.

[carwatcher]

Originally Posted by lapis_lazuli

If that is the case, how come my OB 2012 Punto VIN number ends with ALZ?
I had made it a point to ask the SA for the VIN just to confirm the production year. I had booked in mid Jan.

Arrey don't take it too far! What I was referring that most of the Demo cars that were sent to dealerships at the time of launch were manufactured in 2011 and were of OB colour and were launched as 2012 Linea and Punto. Of course, when customers took TD on them and booked their cars, they were allotted 2012 manufactured ones.
When I went to launch party and pointed out that they are 2011 manufactured, they provided me the abovementioned info.
But believe me I have not seen a single OB Linea/Punto till sate in Goa. So, I 'guessed' that Fiat might be clearing there previous stock by offering a good deal on the 2011 cars.

[autocrat]

Originally Posted by nvssudheer

How did you like the Punto in OB? Is it a head turner like the BNW and Red?

I rather they released a bright yellow one like the S10 edition. It would complement the shape very well

[sandeepmohan]

Originally Posted by headers

What I've heard from a little pigeon at TASS is that the secondary voltage levels of the battery go below a threshold level which indicates odo flashing

This is starting to make sense. Whenever I drive in chock a block traffic for about an hour and by the time I get home, the climate control back light is flickering and so are the parking lamps in the headlamp cluster. This does not happen when I am out on the highway as the engine is spinning at higher rpm's steadily. In city traffic, the rpm hardly ever goes above 2000rpm causing the battery to slowly discharge in crawling traffic. The Alternator is also unable to charge up the weak battery as it is discharging faster. My air conditioning blower and headlamps cut out too when I am crawling in traffic. They come back on after about 2 seconds. The battery lamp has never come on and it should if the battery is running low on charge and I have never had starting problems.

Originally Posted by sourav21

I had this peculiar case of MID not displaying any Blue&Me operations although the buttons seemed to be doing their job. A simple disconnect of the battery negative terminal for five minutes corrected it.

The car is going in for schedule inspection tomorrow. Will have them sort it out.

[Palio_2005]

Looks like a problematic battery. Get this checked and the charging circuit as well. I have read some where on the forum about a faulty relay in a Linea which was causing the battery to discharge.

[carwatcher]

Originally Posted by sandeepmohan

The car is going in for schedule inspection tomorrow. Will have them sort it out.

Keep us informed about the update.
During my 3.5 months of ownership, I had faced this issue only once and I stopped and re-started the car and it disappeared. I doubt it to be some Blue & Me related issue but didn't imagine that it could be battery related one.

[StarrySky]

"Blinking odo" issue seems to be common now!! A few pages back, I had posted about the same issue seen in my car. It happened at night and I had been running with head-lights/front fog lights/AC/music system for about 30-40 minutes. I wasn't stuck in traffic (so not much start/stop), but there was enough traffic to not let me go beyond about 50kmph for most of the trip. I then had to stop the car for a couple of minutes and a short while after restarting the car, I saw the blinking odo. The problem disappeared after another restart and has not been seen since.

EDIT: My car is 21 months old and is nearing 22K on the odo.

[sandeepmohan]

Originally Posted by StarrySky

The problem disappeared after another restart and has not been seen since.

It is a good thing the problem fixed itself. I have restarted the car over a dozen times (not at one go) and the odometer continues to blink. These are problems few service centers can diagnose and these are the problems Fiat Technicians need to know and address. For most, disconnecting the battery solves the problem and it may solve in my case too. Question is, why is it happening and what does the diagnostic software report for such things when you run a test? Insider information is good and it needs to be passed on to other service centers.

[DRIV3R]

Hey guys, I own a 2012 Punto Emotion 75 HP. It is a feb manufactured one, which has a Jan manufactured Exide battery.

I saw that the ODO was flashing during few cold starts, which is a sign of a weak battery, later I noted that whenever the AC compressor kicks in, there is a dimming of all lights, plus, whenever the hazard blinkers are turned on, there is dimming of the other lights, even when the engine is running and the battery is well charged.

I checked the electrolyte levels in all cells of the battery, plus the battery was checked with the multimeter. The battery is fine. Now I am suspecting that the battery is acting up during load.

Any pointers as to what the issue could be? Faulty battery/ Faulty Electrical wiring/ Faulty Alternator?

Or as someone pointed a faulty relay like in that Linea? Other Punto/Linea owners please confirm, does your in cabin light dim when blinkers are on?

[akm225]

Originally Posted by akm225

Out of sheer desperation I sent an email to Ravi Bhatia (VP) and Rajeev Kapoor (CEO) about the issue. I got a reply by evening asking for the dealer information.

Then, today morning I get an email from Mangesh Kodalkar (Customer services) asking me dealer details and receipt numbers. After I sent him the details he requested for, he replied that things were being coordinated with the dealer and someone would get back to me shortly.

I really hope that the situation gets resolved in my favor.

I got a call from FIAT, and the only choice I have is to go for a Tuscan Wine Punto 90Hp, which is the last one in stock with them in the factory. I'm done haggling with these guys, I see no use other that wasting my time. I've confirmed the car even though I'm not satisfied with the color.

[rameshnanda]

Originally Posted by akm225

I got a call from FIAT, and the only choice I have is to go for a Tuscan Wine Punto 90Hp, which is the last one in stock with them in the factory. I'm done haggling with these guys, I see no use other that wasting my time. I've confirmed the car even though I'm not satisfied with the color.

why do you want to buy a colour which you are not satisfied at? Either wait or think about punto sports.