[vivekshukla]

A couple of months ago I convinced my best friend to buy a Punto whereas he wanted to buy a Figo. We both share a love for Fiats and admire the way the car drives and of course looks but unfortunately same cannot be said convincingly for the build quality.

Coming back to the story - his new car while delivery had rusting/dirt inside left headlamp which was replaced by the dealer Rama Motors at Delhi within a week. The car was bought in the peak of summer and Punto's AC stopped working due to a leaking gasket - gas was refilled and AC fixed. During first service service station charged him for wheel alignment saying since it's Emotion Pack with thick tyres and diesel he needs to get wheel alignment done every 2000 kms. Well this was all enough and no love lost - but -

Few weeks of heavy downpour in Delhi the car is not leaking from the roof and water drops are coming from the map lights above the rear view mirror and roof lining is all soiled. It's almost 3 weeks and dealer and Tata Motors is still investigating his issue. My friend is a GM HR at a large infrastructure engineering company and has directed his office admin to stop people from buying Puntos under company lease program.

When contacting senior officials at Fiat, their first response is that service is handled by Tata Motors but cars are made by your Mr. Fiat! What happens there???

Today someone from Fiat Ranjangaon has called him and assured that he will be 'heard' and problems resolved. Attaching pics of the leaking roof - excuse the photo quality though but you can make out the issue.

[sreedotk]

I remember seeing a Fifth Gear program on Discovery Turbo where one of the presenter when testing the Fiat Punto Abarth had the same issue of leaking roof. The only difference being that the leak was on the driver side where the Wind Sheild is glued onto the frame.

I guess your friend should check if there is a hidden rain gutter and it is blocked. I remember reading a post by Ajmat (If i remember correctly) posting a similar problem on his Skoda.

Another possibility is leaking from the seal where the Antennae is projecting out from the roof. This is the most probable case since the connection comes around the same area

[mb_jg]

Hey Vivek, I had the same issue with my 1.2 Palio around 3yrs ago. We were on our way back to Pune from Kolhapur & it was pouring like hell with hail stones. I noticed water dripping from the cabin lamp above the rear view mirror. I stopped at a restaurant & noticed that the windsheild sealant had come apart just a bit. I luckily found mseal in my tool box & patched it up, stuffing it way inside. It's been 4yrs since that & there's no more water sepage during the rains.
Since your friends car is new, ask the dealer to replace the windsheild sealant, it should solve the problem unless it's something else that I can't think of.
Yes, FIAT has it's quality issues, but after 4yrs & various niggling issues, my Palio still brings a smile on my face every single time we hit the highway. Sadly, that emotion comes at a price. (Did I just describe marriage :o), hope wifey not reading this)
Now that is pure love I say!!

[carZest]

hmm, odd place for a leak. Now I know what "its raining puntos" means!

Seriously, bad thing to happen to your friend, Vivek. Could be the windscreen sealant is bad, but hard to imagine that happening in a new car. But its worth a check.

Does the Punto come with a roof-mounted antenna? I am not sure how these antennas are attached to the roof, but it could be that water enters from here and flows to the area above the mirror due to the natural slope.

[SumitBahl]

Originally Posted by carZest

Does the Punto come with a roof-mounted antenna? I am not sure how these antennas are attached to the roof, but it could be that water enters from here and flows to the area above the mirror due to the natural slope.

I had the exact same problem.
However, in my case, the radio antenna on top of the roof was an aftermarket accessory. The suckers did not tightly screwed the antenna in. I had noticed it before that antenna would rotate with a slight movement.

When it started raining, the water seeped in. I got the antenna tightened and never faced the issue.

In my case, it was fault of accessory guys.

[krish3]

Just like the sales figures, Punto's are just about dripping in.

Why don't you show to Fiat what you've done in your company and how its going to affect sales. This will get them up and running to resolve the issue.

[.anshuman]

@Vivekshukla: What is the response of the Tata-Fiat service center regarding this issue?

[shineshine]

Do you have a FM antenna fitted on your car?
If so, it seems that it is not bolted correctly.

OT: The rubber bushings under after market antennas are too bad in quality and over a period of time similar issue can happen.

[sandeepmdas]

Originally Posted by shineshine

Do you have a FM antenna fitted on your car?
If so, it seems that it is not bolted correctly.

OT: The rubber bushings under after market antennas are too bad in quality and over a period of time similar issue can happen.

It's an Emotion Pack as mentioned in the post which comes with a factory-fitted antenna. It is also a new car, so the period-of-time factor has no role in it.

But, IMO you have almost zeroed in to the culprit here . Let me rephrase your post:
The rubber/PLASTIC bushings under Fiat OE antennas are too bad in quality and over a not-so-SHORT period of time similar issue can happen.

Unless, of course the owner/someone who washed this particular car has done something that disturbed the seating of the car's antenna.

[shineshine]

Originally Posted by sandeepmdas

It's an Emotion Pack as mentioned in the post which comes with a factory-fitted antenna. It is also a new car, so the period-of-time factor has no role in it.

But, IMO you have almost zeroed in to the culprit here . Let me rephrase your post:
The rubber/PLASTIC bushings under Fiat OE antennas are too bad in quality and over a not-so-SHORT period of time similar issue can happen.

Unless, of course the owner/someone who washed this particular car has done something that disturbed the seating of the car's antenna.

In my spark, I have fitted an After market antenna and the guys who fitted it didn't had the correct tool to tight the bolt. When I asked them, they said that it was OK. Nowadays while washing the car, if the cloth tangles on it, GONE!!!. The antenna will turn sideways.

It seems that its time for me to do DIY kind of thing to fix it up.

[vivekshukla]

Originally Posted by mb_jg

Hey Vivek, I had the same issue with my 1.2 Palio around 3yrs ago. We were on our way back to Pune from Kolhapur & it was pouring like hell with hail stones. I noticed water dripping from the cabin lamp above the rear view mirror. I stopped at a restaurant & noticed that the windsheild sealant had come apart just a bit. I luckily found mseal in my tool box & patched it up, stuffing it way inside. It's been 4yrs since that & there's no more water sepage during the rains.
Since your friends car is new, ask the dealer to replace the windsheild sealant, it should solve the problem unless it's something else that I can't think of.
Yes, FIAT has it's quality issues, but after 4yrs & various niggling issues, my Palio still brings a smile on my face every single time we hit the highway. Sadly, that emotion comes at a price. (Did I just describe marriage :o), hope wifey not reading this)
Now that is pure love I say!!

Ha ha! Yes emotions, especially a packful of them come for a price. In my friend's case since it is emotion pack, car comes with a factory fitted antenna and in all probability that looks like the culprit. My friend is still very upbeat about the car it's just the quality of these small bits that really hurts. And, if you are a car lover then even minor issues here and there actually hit your heart. It's the love for Fiat cars that has made me buy a Linea (will post an ownership thread soon).

Originally Posted by SumitBahl

I had the exact same problem.
However, in my case, the radio antenna on top of the roof was an aftermarket accessory. The suckers did not tightly screwed the antenna in. I had noticed it before that antenna would rotate with a slight movement.

When it started raining, the water seeped in. I got the antenna tightened and never faced the issue.

In my case, it was fault of accessory guys.

At least you can catch hold of the accessory guys and make them pay for the damage since you know them. But in case of factory fitted items - you are actually talking to a car manufacturer who is often our of bound for lesser mortals. Both my friend and me come from media background so know how to access these biggies and get a resolution.

Originally Posted by krish3

Just like the sales figures, Punto's are just about dripping in.

Why don't you show to Fiat what you've done in your company and how its going to affect sales. This will get them up and running to resolve the issue.

I am sure management at Fiat realizes these issues and hence are quite proactive when addressing to customer complaints. Fiat, I believe had an annual target of selling 40k cars this year and they are about to achieve that. But bigger issue for Fiat is to realize and enforce high quality standards apart from addressing the issue. What I learn from my friend in Delhi is that Tata Service is not really equipped to handle Fiats. And most of the time they simply pass the buck - to only god knows whom but lack of training on Fiat cars is evident.

Originally Posted by .anshuman

@Vivekshukla: What is the response of the Tata-Fiat service center regarding this issue?

The response is good. After writing to the brand head, the issue was routed to service head and from there a senior executive from Fiat based at Delhi is assigned to his car and since this executive is on personal leave, will only be able to address it on 8th Sep.

In the meanwhile, Tata Motors guys have aggressively started following my friend and they want to take the car to a service center in Gurgaon (the car was purchased and serviced at Rama Motors, Okhla, Delhi) and get it fixed but my friend is adamant that he will only talk to Fiat and no one else now.

Originally Posted by sandeepmdas

It's an Emotion Pack as mentioned in the post which comes with a factory-fitted antenna. It is also a new car, so the period-of-time factor has no role in it.

But, IMO you have almost zeroed in to the culprit here . Let me rephrase your post:
The rubber/PLASTIC bushings under Fiat OE antennas are too bad in quality and over a not-so-SHORT period of time similar issue can happen.

Unless, of course the owner/someone who washed this particular car has done something that disturbed the seating of the car's antenna.

Preliminary investigation now points to antenna. Fiat will also have to change the roof lining since that's wet too now.