[rganeshiyer]

I think the service experience is far better in Bangalore. Both Concorde and Prerana have been extremely prompt on any issues I had. Ofcourse, they are not top notch but I never expected it in the first place.BTW, I had recommended the MJD 1.5 yrs ago to my two of my colleagues and they are extremely happy with the performance. So, I think gemi , it would be unfair to use one example and conclude. 15K might be small on the odo but if the car was treated like a doormat , then it can give issues. Always a FIAt fan :-) (but not as loud as the one in the car, hehe)

[JayD]

It is indeed unfortunate that someone who has paid 5lakhs for a hatch has to face these issues.

I always had a feeling that the palio MJD was a sort of quick fix solution by fiat to stay in the picture,till the punto came along.

Contrary to what architect feels, i must say that the 'tornado fan' is downright embarrassing and annoying as i found out the hard way. My friend and i were driving in his palio MJD, and we stopped just off the road for a min, the next thing we hear is somebody abusing us, We then noticed, that there were some people on the roadside selling fish, veggies n stuff, and we'd just destroyed their entire stock.IMHO, its a very stupid design by fiat.

[royalcruiser]

Any idea if the current Punto n Linea also have this "tornado effect"?

[.anshuman]

The tornado fan is carryover from Updated Siena, Initially it had a weak fan and overheating issues so Fiat changed the fan to this Tornado fan then, And its still carried over to latest version of Palio. I even found it very annoying in my friend's Palio 1.2 in year 2002.

[anachronix]

@ Gemi, its a shame that your friend had to go through all this and I can also feel the kind of embarrassment it might have caused for giving him the suggestion to go for a Fiat!

Its a terrible shame! The QC of Fiat has become worse and that's the primary reason that we are seeing all these non-sense from Fiat. They are screwing up someway or the other!

[gemithomas]

Continued from Post 3 http://www.team-bhp.com/forum/indian...ml#post1690077


Another friend of mine (the black one that clevermax asked about earlier) had a minor issue with a "tak" sound from both front doors. (I'm not sure if this was mentioned here earlier. For those who have not heard of it here i go). The car was given to the service guys to check out the issue. The sound came when the car was accelerating or braking or moving through small potholes. We could never identify a pattern as to when it was happening.

The authorised service centre guys open up the door pads. RIP OFF the Plastic covers inside that are supposed to not let water enter the inside part of the door (FIATs amuse you sometimes with such things in their products). In the evening my friend is called to pick up the car. Guess what he gets for leaving the car with the authorised service centre. The sound still exists at the same levels PLUS he has got some FREE dents all over the top part of the door. The dents are at almost equal distances. Some "trained" mechanic tried to remove the beading that holds the glass and in the process contributed the dents to the metal.

He escalates the issue with FIAT top brass only to get assurances that his matter would be attended but the damage was already done. A prior bad experience with the paint quality of the a.s.s made him not want to go in for the promised door repainting with putty work. After numerous visits to the a.s.s and many broken promises on how this could be sorted out things turned out very bad with him talking to prospective customers who had come to look at the punto and telling them how bad his experience was. The A.S.S guys in turn threatened him not to step into the showroom ever.

to be continued....

[aaggoswami]

Originally Posted by anachronix

@ Gemi, its a shame that your friend had to go through all this and I can also feel the kind of embarrassment it might have caused for giving him the suggestion to go for a Fiat!

Its a bad situation when you suggest someone a car and it turns out to be a nightmare to have that car. I didn't have energy to face one such person in college after I suggested him Indica. That car broke down in middle on NH8. Just for change, they decided to use NH8 instead of NE1.

Originally Posted by benbsb29

I remember there was another thread on the forum which had the case of a customer who complained about how frequently his Palio Stile ate up the tyres. Seems to be a similar case in the case of your friend's car as well, Gemi.

Originally Posted by architect

a. Fuel Pump problem: Unpardonable, but this is the first time I am hearing of a fuel pump issue. Waiting for spares is a typical free benefit of Fiat ownership and well, let's face it, how many CRDi fuel pumps does any ASC keep in stock? It's not a regularly required spare.

b. Tornado effect: Yes the second fan is loud and can be quite a helicopter at times, but it keeps the temp in check, I have never had heatng issues. Secondly, the engine noise and fan noise was pretty apparent even during the test drive. Fuel pump attendants running away seems to be either an exageration. Regarding engine noise from a 5-lakh rupee car, well it's still lesser than an 8-lakh rupee Skoda Fabia.

c. Rattles: I have them too! But still not in Maruti Swift category. And I have some lovely MP, UP, Himachal roads and non-roads under my belt now, so would expect this out of any car. The road outside my office itself was a moonscape for a year I'd take at 60 kph.

That said, build quality in terms of rattles is nowhere near the older Fiats.

d. Engine vibration on start-up: Typical CRDi problem which is much lower in Vista and Swift. I don't see how it affects the ownership experience unless you want to show off how refined the car is. These vibrations would have been similar during the test-drive.

e. Ice formation on AC: TBHP member ICE had the same problem in his Peted MJD and they replaced some components under warranty and it's been fine since. The ASC needs to be chased for this.

f. Tyres wearing out at 8000 km: When I replaced my first set of tyres at 20,000 km they were only 30% gone (I got a 25% buyback price as well). The second set, the softer A-drives have seen 16,000 km with no abnormal wear. Other people have had similar experiences. Are you sure it was not a camber issue. I myself have a camber out of range in one of my wheels but that's because I drove into an open manhole.

a) Can you please confirm if MJD has dual pumps ? I think others have one, but not sure MJD.
About part not being available, that is a part well understood as usually spares are an issue with many cars. Even in Baleno, Kiran motors quoted about 15 days for Baleno suspension overhaul.
But here, the point is that pump should not have failed. It shows quality or rather lack of it.


b) Never noticed this. First time I am hearing this. If it exists, then its a design defect and a mistake by Fiat. Shows lack of time spent on making changes. About overheating, well Indian car market is full of cars that dont overheat and never make a huge noise.
Forget Rs. 8 lakh Fabia, which in any way is not a good car with those engines. Consider Swift and Vista.

c) If they exist, its bad. Be it Swift or Palio. I think Palio was called " Tank Like " but this is applicable to cars before Stile. With Stile, the quality has gone down.
Again this does not mean that chassis is weak, be it Swift or palio.

d) Could have been better IMHO. After all its Fiat's engine. Again lack of time spent ?

e) If this can be solved, then you are correct. A.S.C can solve the issue. Good to know that it can be solved.

f) I think that Palio did have this issue. Either of the two mags i.e ACI or OD had this issue of tyres being eaten up early. Also IIRC, Palio's suspension does not allow alignment. If tyres are eaten up early, one has to look into suspension. PS: Not sure on this, just had read a long time ago somewhere, so do update me on this.

If tyres are not aligned tyres can go before 4 kms. Our lower arm and bush set was gone. Tyre was eaten up in 3-4K kms.

As pointed out by someone, one of the reasons could be lack of time as Fiat had to come up with this car before Punto hit the road.

Was this car made after Tata-Fiat MOU was signed ?

[anupam00]

In regards to the quality : I would like to specify that yes the quality has been degraded w.r.t old palio,I also own palio 1.9 D & i am very happy with the catr but i must clarify one thing that niether i have faced any issue's with diesel pump nor tyre issue.

I suspect the tyre issue is because of alignment,The problem with fiat car is of Alignment as that gets distributed very easily.

But in regards to rattle,

Fuel Pump problem: No problem witnessed
b. Tornado effect: Yes
c. Rattles: No Problem
That said, build quality in terms of rattles is nowhere near the older Fiats. - Yes i Agree

e. Ice formation on AC: No witnessed
f. Tyres wearing out at 8000 km: Alignement issue


Rest the only point which i would like to bring is even if you see Maruti Swift,Indica Vista similar issue are there- I agree that A.S.S & company should improve,but unfortunately all have focus on V.E (Value Engineering) than adding Value.

Thanks

[gemithomas]

Can you confirm if the older Palio D also blows up and turns dust all around the Right Front Side of the car. Have not seen this.

If you want to understand how this happens on this car you could probably have a industrial fan blow parallel to a dusty ground. Believe me No exaggeration, I never believed it until he showed it to me. All the dirt (paper/plastic etc) on the ground where he demonstrated it was just flown away to side and dust was circling around the front right side of the car.

Believe me. You would not want to stand near that car.

[greenhorn]

I've had this happen a lot to my indica. Thankfully it happens only occasionally as I dont drive it much during noon , since thats when it heats up quickly and the fan turns on

But I too would be not very happy if the car worked like that ALL the time

[anupam00]

Dear Gemi,

I also have MJD 1.3 Palio,
Yes the blower sound & speed is only in case of 1.3 MJD.

Well, The sound & Speed is in case of 1.3 MJD but still i had no problem,I agree that sound & speed is visible to any road side where the car passes but it is for a while only so ignore is the best medicine.

Thanks

[phamilyman]

Yaar,

While the issues are quite sad - I am noting with sadness that you are spending alot of time bemoaning the vehicle, than document what FIAT hasn't done.

Let me give you a different perspective. My Swift D's leaking coolant (like 20ml per 1000km or lesser) from the hose pipe clamps. Gotten it seen multiple times over 1.5 months and nothing doing.

What am I doing? Taking it back regularly and monitoring levels every second day. The car otherwise doesn't heat and drives like a dream so I don't give a rat's ***. I'm not seeing that perspective in your posts. In a way, I should be pissed that MSIL cannot fix a bloody clamp well over 45 days, but what to say, $hit happens. The GM's doing his best - so are his boys. But the clamp still leaks. or maybe the morons filled in excess coolant to begin with.

@JayD - Given your recent anti-Fiat posts (to my memory), this current post isn't surprising in its exaggeration. If this tornado issue is known - weren't you guys insensitive in parking it wrongly knowing fully well how it behaves? Anyone sitting by the roadside faces hundreds of trucks passing by but it takes a Palio's tornado fan to ruin the poor man's stock. Excuse me now as I get a massive urge to cough!

[WanderNomad]

Well no offence to any Fiat lover (there are many on the forum), I have always consciously stayed away from Fiat.

Recently when a friend was seeking suggestion on a diesel in 5 - 6L category, I told him to be miles away from Fiat.

Again I dont wish to hurt anyone's sentiments but lack of spares availability, poor reliability as well as low resale is what keeps me away.

[gemithomas]

Originally Posted by greenhorn

I've had this happen a lot to my indica. Thankfully it happens only occasionally as I dont drive it much during noon , since thats when it heats up quickly and the fan turns on

But I too would be not very happy if the car worked like that ALL the time

The MJD's "Tornado" fan comes 'on' as soon as the a/c is turned 'on'. And stays that way for quite some time even after the a/c is turned 'off'. So not much point in turning it off when you see the dust troubling others.

Probably FIAT wanted to blow away some of the "FIAT FANS"

Originally Posted by phamilyman

Yaar,

While the issues are quite sad - I am noting with sadness that you are spending alot of time bemoaning the vehicle, than document what FIAT hasn't done.

I know. But my story is not finished. Will surely come to that soon.

Originally Posted by phamilyman

@JayD - Given your recent anti-Fiat posts (to my memory), this current post isn't surprising in its exaggeration. If this tornado issue is known - weren't you guys insensitive in parking it wrongly knowing fully well how it behaves? Anyone sitting by the roadside faces hundreds of trucks passing by but it takes a Palio's tornado fan to ruin the poor man's stock. Excuse me now as I get a massive urge to cough!

Sir, You really need to personally see what this "fiat-fan" is capable of. I believed it only after seeing it first hand.

Even the service advisor was laughing the first time we told him of the issue but after we showed him the capability of the fan he became close to dumb. Probably he was out of ideas to give us some stupid explanation for this phenomenon.

Originally Posted by WanderNomad

Well no offence to any Fiat lover (there are many on the forum), I have always consciously stayed away from Fiat.

Recently when a friend was seeking suggestion on a diesel in 5 - 6L category, I told him to be miles away from Fiat.

Again I dont wish to hurt anyone's sentiments but lack of spares availability, poor reliability as well as low resale is what keeps me away.

Good for you. I was not that clever. I have made 5 of my friends buy FIATS over the last 3 Years. I'm just hoping they dont create a Team-against-me.

[gemithomas]

Ok. Lets get going. Continued from Post 21.

This friend of mine (with the black MJD) was forced to travel 200km (one way) for his next service due to the real bad experience with the A.S.S here. The only things to be done for this service is a change of the oil filter, fuel filter and engine oil change. And Guess What he gets this time.

By after noon he is informed that the filters are out of stock.

My friend had called up the service centre 200km away before getting his car there for the scheduled service. Now i believe they should have checked for parts availability before asking him to come that far. Do you really need "training" to know that the filters need to be changed with an oil change and you need to check availability before asking a customer to come that far.

My friend creates a scene and they say they will source it from somewhere. He still does not know if they replaced it with the OEM parts. Anyway he reached back home after midnight. All this pain and strain just for a normal scheduled service. IIRC the third FREE SERVICE!!!!


to be continued...