My Personal Car Scene - help me change it!

Pankaj9 · 1st July 2004, 08:42

I am not much of a boy racer, will have a max speed of 100 i dont go beyond that, highway drive will be between only in mumbai city and long drive might be under 1000 km round trips.

Aditya · 1st July 2004, 09:10

If you're gonna be driving yourself all the time, a used City 1.3 or 1.5 should do fine. As long as you don't have an accident, ownership costs are reasonable. You could also go for a used Maruti Baleno.
If you insist on buying a new car, if you can trust Fiat, go for the Palio / Petra. Otherwise, I suggest you wait for a while. Many new models are on their way. The Hyundai Getz should be a good proposition.

amit · 2nd July 2004, 01:13

Between the 3 the Palio wins hands down. Great car. Superb build quality, best ride and handling, and the most techonlogically advanced engine for the price. Don't worry abt fiat. Globally fiat is recovering and it's sales are rising slowly and surely. Also, fiat has recognised that India is a key market alongwith China and I really don't think Fiat is going to abandon India. After all fiat's forte is in making good small cars and small cars are in big demand over here.
I personally own a Palio 1.6 and it's performance is simply flawlessly awesome! Also, fiat is supposed to be working hard at it's service and till now I am very impressed with the performance of Anuroop Motors as far as service goes. I would rank them almost at par with Hyundai! Don't worry, it's not a TYpo!
don't worry, just go in for the Palio. Trust me, u wouldn't regret it.

GTO · 2nd July 2004, 02:02

Pankaj, I wish you had opened a poll for this topic. The Palio would have won hands down.

GTO

Pankaj9 · 2nd July 2004, 04:47

i still have 2-3 months and would go again to anuroop to test the palio and petra. my heart says palio and TBHP says the same, will keep you all posted as to which one i pick.

thanking everyone ,
pankaj

sid_lath · 3rd July 2004, 14:11

Well i was in the same state of mind a few months back - trying to decide between the palio nv and the ikon flair(also sail 1.6)
And i decided to go for the ikon and here's why -

1. Driving Pleasure: I think both the flair and the palio-nv are slightly underpowered. turn on the A/C and you can feel the cars struggling to go. But with the A/C off, the performance is decent. Both are good handlers but i felt the flair had a slight edge here. But i just loved the flair's gear-shift. Much better than the palio. I am not too good with the technicalities but overall I enjoyed driving the flair more than the palio.

2. Looks: Palio-nv is by far the best looking small car(in fact i dont like the looks of any other small car). But i have a thing for bigger cars. Totally my thing

And i like ikon's looks.

3. Fiat : My friend bought a palio a month before me and had a horrible experience with the fiat dealer(Sundaram,Bangalore). Its a long story but I will cut it short by relating just 1 incident. The fiat dealer gave no free accessory - even the mudflap/doormat had to be bought. But he did promise 8k corporate discount. But he said the money had to be paid upfront and would be reimbursed later by Fiat. Its 4 months now and my friend still hasnt seen his 8k. They ask for multiple forms/photostats/signed-letters from the company and then they come up with some stupid excuse that the format of the letter required by Fiat has changed. Its like a govt office. If this is the state of the sales dept. I shudder to think how helpful the after-sales service dept is going to be if there is some problem with the car.

Fiat does have better build quality than Ford and I think Palio as a hatch has a lot of character and when I started out my heart was set on it. But after 2 months of test-rides(almost all cars this side of 5 lacs), evaluating all the options, and consulting friends/family I zeroed in on the ikon flair. And 4 months into the decision I do not regret it one bit. The car has given no troubles till date, bangalore weather has rendered the A/C useless, and the car still gives me the goosebumps on inner-ring-road curves.

1st July 2004, 08:42	#16
Pankaj9 Newbie Join Date: Apr 2004 Location: Mumbai Posts: 20 Thanked: 0 Times	I am not much of a boy racer, will have a max speed of 100 i dont go beyond that, highway drive will be between only in mumbai city and long drive might be under 1000 km round trips.
	() Thanks

1st July 2004, 09:10	#17
Aditya Team-BHP Support Join Date: Feb 2004 Location: Mumbai Posts: 20,071 Thanked: 86,521 Times View My Garage	If you're gonna be driving yourself all the time, a used City 1.3 or 1.5 should do fine. As long as you don't have an accident, ownership costs are reasonable. You could also go for a used Maruti Baleno. If you insist on buying a new car, if you can trust Fiat, go for the Palio / Petra. Otherwise, I suggest you wait for a while. Many new models are on their way. The Hyundai Getz should be a good proposition.
	() Thanks

2nd July 2004, 01:13	#18
amit Senior - BHPian Join Date: Feb 2004 Location: Mumbai Posts: 3,716 Thanked: 451 Times	Between the 3 the Palio wins hands down. Great car. Superb build quality, best ride and handling, and the most techonlogically advanced engine for the price. Don't worry abt fiat. Globally fiat is recovering and it's sales are rising slowly and surely. Also, fiat has recognised that India is a key market alongwith China and I really don't think Fiat is going to abandon India. After all fiat's forte is in making good small cars and small cars are in big demand over here. I personally own a Palio 1.6 and it's performance is simply flawlessly awesome! Also, fiat is supposed to be working hard at it's service and till now I am very impressed with the performance of Anuroop Motors as far as service goes. I would rank them almost at par with Hyundai! Don't worry, it's not a TYpo! don't worry, just go in for the Palio. Trust me, u wouldn't regret it.
	() Thanks

2nd July 2004, 02:02	#19
GTO Team-BHP Support Join Date: Feb 2004 Location: Bombay Posts: 71,922 Thanked: 322,121 Times View My Garage	Pankaj, I wish you had opened a poll for this topic. The Palio would have won hands down. GTO
	() Thanks

2nd July 2004, 04:47	#20
Pankaj9 Newbie Join Date: Apr 2004 Location: Mumbai Posts: 20 Thanked: 0 Times	i still have 2-3 months and would go again to anuroop to test the palio and petra. my heart says palio and TBHP says the same, will keep you all posted as to which one i pick. thanking everyone , pankaj
	() Thanks

3rd July 2004, 14:11	#21
sid_lath BHPian Join Date: Mar 2004 Location: Bangalore Posts: 63 Thanked: Once	Well i was in the same state of mind a few months back - trying to decide between the palio nv and the ikon flair(also sail 1.6) And i decided to go for the ikon and here's why - 1. Driving Pleasure: I think both the flair and the palio-nv are slightly underpowered. turn on the A/C and you can feel the cars struggling to go. But with the A/C off, the performance is decent. Both are good handlers but i felt the flair had a slight edge here. But i just loved the flair's gear-shift. Much better than the palio. I am not too good with the technicalities but overall I enjoyed driving the flair more than the palio. 2. Looks: Palio-nv is by far the best looking small car(in fact i dont like the looks of any other small car). But i have a thing for bigger cars. Totally my thing And i like ikon's looks. 3. Fiat : My friend bought a palio a month before me and had a horrible experience with the fiat dealer(Sundaram,Bangalore). Its a long story but I will cut it short by relating just 1 incident. The fiat dealer gave no free accessory - even the mudflap/doormat had to be bought. But he did promise 8k corporate discount. But he said the money had to be paid upfront and would be reimbursed later by Fiat. Its 4 months now and my friend still hasnt seen his 8k. They ask for multiple forms/photostats/signed-letters from the company and then they come up with some stupid excuse that the format of the letter required by Fiat has changed. Its like a govt office. If this is the state of the sales dept. I shudder to think how helpful the after-sales service dept is going to be if there is some problem with the car. Fiat does have better build quality than Ford and I think Palio as a hatch has a lot of character and when I started out my heart was set on it. But after 2 months of test-rides(almost all cars this side of 5 lacs), evaluating all the options, and consulting friends/family I zeroed in on the ikon flair. And 4 months into the decision I do not regret it one bit. The car has given no troubles till date, bangalore weather has rendered the A/C useless, and the car still gives me the goosebumps on inner-ring-road curves.
	() Thanks