[garry.brant]

Hi Friends,
Finaly after a long time i am back to Team BHP. Sorry for being away for such a long time. Recently I have moved from New Delhi to Mohali, Punjab. I had an Accent which i bought in 2009 march and it served me real good for 2.5 years. Sold it off before coming to Punjab . Now i was without a car and the search for a new drive started there.
After loads of research and discussion with friends and family , finalised Tata Indica Vista Sedan Class. No doubts its a good car for the price its being offered at, all the features of a top class sedan in a hatchback. Finalised the car at home and went to the showroom along with my dad to book the car. Entered the showroom , took a test drive of Indica Vista and booked a Fiat Grande Punto..... ***, booked a Grande Punto ....
Sorry friends I wont be able to explain why I did that , the only thing I know that I followed my heart . I did not want to have that feeling for the coming years that the car is good however I should have followed my heart. So I followed my heart and booked a Punto.
Its gonna be a silver color Punto Active. More details coming up

[garry.brant]

The dealer has quoted 5,22,746 as the Ex Showromm price. Insurance will be free of cost and there would be cashback of 10k, it seems like i can take home the baby in 5, 13, 000.
I am checking with SBI to get the loan approved for 300k and would make the down payment for 2.2 lakh. Now lets see how much time SBI takes and when the ROI is 11% its all worth waiting.
The dealer have promised the delievery to be on 2nd of Oct , lets see if the loan happens before that or after that.

[gopikb]

Hi Garry. Congrats on your Bold new drive. I can understand why your heart went for the Punto after have owned the Palio 1.9. I am sure you will enjoy your drive and crunch many a happy miles with your new toy

[garry.brant]

confirmed 5,21,746 includes logistics and everything. Called back Cargo and they insisted that what Fiat is talking about are the frieght charges and what they are telling are logistics charges.
I WAS NOT ABLE TO UNDERSTAND THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN THAT. Called back Fiat India and they gave a telephone number for another dealer in jalandhar to confirm that they are offering the same price or not. Called Cosmo Motors jalandhar and they quoted 5,19,172 Rs. SHOCKING, called Cargo motors again and informed the same to them they gave me the phone number of Shefali who they said is the Fiat representative in Jalandhar and asked to check with them as Cosmo must be lying and hiding some prices that they would disclose later. Called cosmo to confirm the on road price here is the break up :
Ex Showroom: 5,19,172
RC Charges: 21000
Temo RC : 750
Insurance: 0
Total: 5,40,922
Now i decided to call Shefali and complain about Cargo motors as they were charging almost 4k more than Cosmo. Called back Shefali and she seem to be talking in favour of Cargo Motors. She told me Cosmo must be offering discounts from the dealer and there is no difference in the Ex Showroom price than what is quoted by Cargo Motors. I explained her that on website if the Ex showroom prices are diffferent for different cities that means that the logistics are included, however she started explaining that what Cargo motors are charging extra is not for shipping but handling and keeping the car in their stockyard. I could not handle my temper at that time and raised my voice and told her that I do not trust her and it seems that she is taking the side of Cargo Motors and also told her that I would cancel my booking and book the car at Cosmo Motors at a lesser price. That is when she showered some sensible words and said that let me speak to Cargo Motors and she will try to get me the car at the same price as Cosmo and we ended our conversation.
Before she can do something I called back the sales rep in Cargo Motors and told him about the offer from Cosmo Motors. I also told him that I would like to cancel my booking and book the car at Cosmo. He told me that booking can not be cancelled as the order for the car has been placed. He gave me assurance to get someones approval to get the price down and said that he would call me to let me know about the same.
After about an hour I got a call from the sales rep in Cargo Motors and said that he spoke to Shefali and got the approval for the Ex Showroom price of 5,19,000. Thank GOD What a RELIEF. I thought and thanked everyone for the help.
After two hours got a call from Cosmo Motors and they wanted to know if I have made my mind for the purchase. I told them about everything as how Cargo came down to the same price as Cosmo. To my surprise and another shock I was told that they would give me the car at 5,15,000 Ex Showroom if I buy from them. WHAT WAS HAPPENING , I was not able to understand anything , it did not make sense to call Cargo Motors and tell them about this as it would take another arguement to may be get this done. Also I have other thoughts in my mind, Why Cosmo selling it for cheaper than what its supposed to be , these cars could be refurb or may be they have some other issues.
So I have decided to stick with Cargo Motors as they have already ordered the car, I would appriciate any help or suggestion in this..

[ms001]

Originally Posted by garry.brant

confirmed 5,21,746 includes logistics and everything. Called back Cargo and they insisted that what Fiat is talking about are the frieght charges and what they are telling are logistics charges.
I WAS NOT ABLE TO UNDERSTAND THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN THAT. Called back Fiat India and they gave a telephone number for another dealer in jalandhar to confirm that they are offering the same price or not. Called Cosmo Motors jalandhar and they quoted 5,19,172 Rs. SHOCKING, called Cargo motors again and informed the same to them they gave me the phone number of Shefali who they said is the Fiat representative in Jalandhar and asked to check with them as Cosmo must be lying and hiding some prices that they would disclose later. Called cosmo to confirm the on road price here is the break up :
Ex Showroom: 5,19,172
RC Charges: 21000
Temo RC : 750
Insurance: 0
Total: 5,40,922
Now i decided to call Shefali and complain about Cargo motors as they were charging almost 4k more than Cosmo. Called back Shefali and she seem to be talking in favour of Cargo Motors. She told me Cosmo must be offering discounts from the dealer and there is no difference in the Ex Showroom price than what is quoted by Cargo Motors. I explained her that on website if the Ex showroom prices are diffferent for different cities that means that the logistics are included, however she started explaining that what Cargo motors are charging extra is not for shipping but handling and keeping the car in their stockyard. I could not handle my temper at that time and raised my voice and told her that I do not trust her and it seems that she is taking the side of Cargo Motors and also told her that I would cancel my booking and book the car at Cosmo Motors at a lesser price. That is when she showered some sensible words and said that let me speak to Cargo Motors and she will try to get me the car at the same price as Cosmo and we ended our conversation.
Before she can do something I called back the sales rep in Cargo Motors and told him about the offer from Cosmo Motors. I also told him that I would like to cancel my booking and book the car at Cosmo. He told me that booking can not be cancelled as the order for the car has been placed. He gave me assurance to get someones approval to get the price down and said that he would call me to let me know about the same.
After about an hour I got a call from the sales rep in Cargo Motors and said that he spoke to Shefali and got the approval for the Ex Showroom price of 5,19,000. Thank GOD What a RELIEF. I thought and thanked everyone for the help.
After two hours got a call from Cosmo Motors and they wanted to know if I have made my mind for the purchase. I told them about everything as how Cargo came down to the same price as Cosmo. To my surprise and another shock I was told that they would give me the car at 5,15,000 Ex Showroom if I buy from them. WHAT WAS HAPPENING , I was not able to understand anything , it did not make sense to call Cargo Motors and tell them about this as it would take another arguement to may be get this done. Also I have other thoughts in my mind, Why Cosmo selling it for cheaper than what its supposed to be , these cars could be refurb or may be they have some other issues.
So I have decided to stick with Cargo Motors as they have already ordered the car, I would appriciate any help or suggestion in this..

first of all congrats for booking a great car.
Secondly dealers have huge margins in new cars , so go ahead with whichever dealers gives you the best deal, just make sure you do a thorough PDI before paying the whole amount.

[h14]

Hi Garry, firstly many congratulations on your Punto.

I can understand discounts on on-road prices, but I'm just baffled on how the dealer claims to reduce the ex-showroom price!

[ms001]

h14 i think ex showroom price is like MRP, so the dealer can reduce and give a discount . recently 5 members of teamfiat bought 5 FIAT cars from a dealer and got good discount on the price.

[garry.brant]

I think its a day of Shocks and surprises for me. Once finalised that we will take it from Cargo Motors, it was time to decide about the accessories we will opt for . Since I am buying Active variant, Keyless entry is a must and then 2nd priority is gear lock. Chekced the prices for both from Cargo Motors and i was quoted 10k for the autocop Keyless entry and 2500 for the Gear lock. I already have the HU, Amp, Rear speakers and Woofer from my Accent so that money is saved. I called my friend who runs an accessories shop in delhi and he qouted 3400 for keyless entry and 1000 for the gear lock.
It seems like cargo motors and in for a lot of profit. If someone from FIAT see this , please do something about the same.

[asdon]

Originally Posted by garry.brant

I think its a day of Shocks and surprises for me. Once finalised that we will take it from Cargo Motors, it was time to decide about the accessories we will opt for . Since I am buying Active variant, Keyless entry is a must and then 2nd priority is gear lock. Chekced the prices for both from Cargo Motors and i was quoted 10k for the autocop Keyless entry and 2500 for the Gear lock. I already have the HU, Amp, Rear speakers and Woofer from my Accent so that money is saved. I called my friend who runs an accessories shop in delhi and he qouted 3400 for keyless entry and 1000 for the gear lock.
It seems like cargo motors and in for a lot of profit. If someone from FIAT see this , please do something about the same.

Hi Gary, congrats on your Punto, I too own a Multijet Active Punto. Regarding central lock, other makes may not work properly other than the one specified by FIAT, which is made by Autocop. and it costs 8000/-. Please check with your dealer.

[h14]

Originally Posted by ms001

h14 i think ex showroom price is like MRP, so the dealer can reduce and give a discount . recently 5 members of teamfiat bought 5 FIAT cars from a dealer and got good discount on the price.

Ah! I missed that point, I completely agree on discount for bulk purchases, but in this case, it is just one car. Hope it isn't an old one. Also, in the case of bulk purchase, I guess the company (FIAT) too has a say.

Me too availed a great discount of about 1.75 Lakhs on the Palio MJD last year when we bought 7 cars together.

Originally Posted by garry.brant

Checked the prices for both from Cargo Motors and i was quoted 10k for the autocop Keyless entry and 2500 for the Gear lock.
I called my friend who runs an accessories shop in delhi and he qouted 3400 for keyless entry and 1000 for the gear lock.
.

10k for the AutoCop keyless entry is a bit too much. Forget about getting it from the dealer.

[ms001]

i agree with h14 forget about the 10k FIAT central locking it lacks some basic functionality go for the auto cop xs or crosslink wheels.It would cost around 4k.

[bluevolt]

Congratulations for your Fiat Punto.

Please do add some pics of your car as any ownership thread is incomplete without pictures.

Wishing you happy and safe mile crunching!

[garry.brant]

Hi guys,
Update: Spoke with SBI rep today, he asked me to come down for few formalities on Saturday and assured the draft delivery on Monday. That seems like quick service for a SARKARI bank.

[garry.brant]

Update: went to SBI this saturday , did few signatures and the Loan Manager was Handing over the Draft to me. *** , oh my god another shock from the sarkari bank. I told him that the delievery of the car would be on 3rd of october , he replied,:" why are you applying for the loan right now, it takes only 2 hours for the car loan to be approved". I answered that I thought that since its a goverment bank I thought it would take at least 10 days.
New Findings: The SBI people were very polite and professional.
Advice for Car Loan: Try and get some aged person along, it helps fasten the process in SBI. (In my case it was my Dad)

[garry.brant]

Hi Team,
I am going to share with you guys a story which is little hard to digust, but before that I would share the letter that I wrote to Fiat India CEO and few other big shots:
To:
'Pawan Yadav' <Pawan.Yadav@fiapl.com>; Rajeev.Kapoor@fiapl.com; Ricky.Walter@fiapl.com' ;'Kaushik.Prasad@fiapl.com' ;Mangesh Kodalkar <Mangesh.Kodalkar@fiapl.com>

THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR THE TIME TAKEN AND YOUR EFFORTS TO SELL THE CAR and I would have loved to have it in my garage only if this would not happen
“ Booked the car on 15th of September and was told that it would take almost 15 to 20 days for the delivery as Silver color is only available on order, so I ordered one after paying 10K for the booking amount. In the waiting period researched a lot on all the cars that fitted my budget and punto was the best amongst all of them. After few niggles got the ex showroom price down by 5k as there was another dealer offering more discounts, however since the car was booked with cargo motors I convinced them to decrease the price. It was done , got a call from Cargo Motors Jalandhar on 29th of Sep that the car has arrived, I told them that I would come on 1st to do a PDI(I am a member of Team BHP, I am glad that I knew about PDI) and take the delivery on 2nd that was Sunday to which they agreed. I did my shift on Friday for 10 hours at night , took a bus in the morning and reached Jalandhar in around two hours, the showroom was not opened at 8:30 , no one opens so early. I waited in the customer waiting area and people started coming by 9:30am, (Please do not forget that I was awake since 4:30pm Friday), the sales people from FIAT were late and they came by 10:30am, I met the sales Guy named Anil and he told me that my car was in yard and he would get it cleaned by half an hour, he did the same and the car was ready for PDI in .30 hrs. Did the PDI of my spanking silver PUNTO and attaching the pics of what I found in the car. The car had Rust in the Engine cabin, door panels and on screws which came painted from Fiat India. There were few finishing issues too which I did not capture. I was shocked by this and the Dealer was telling me that its not just your car sir , every fiat car comes like this and people take it. ***, if I was to spend almost 6 lakh on something I would ensure that its upto the mark and this product was not . I declined to take the delivery and to add to this they did not have any accessory available for punto , not even a single one regardless of me ordering the central locking at the time of booking the car. I had to cancel the booking. I am a Fiat Fan but not blind so could eat the flies after seeing them. Sorry Fiat you have lost another fan of yours due to little carelessness .
Also attaching the Pics of What I bought , I had a Palio(1.9D) , had a lot of trouble but still liked it, spent a lot of money on maintaining it, still liked it, when I couldn’t spent more bought an Accent, Kept me happy for 2.5 yrs , Sold it as I was never fond of petrol cars, didn’t have to maintain it, didn’t spent much on it, I was still a Fiat and Diesel fan , booked Punto, damaged piece came after waiting for 20 days, bought an I20 diesel , delivered same day, know the Hyundai will take car , just like they did for Accent. Not a Fiat Customer , but a Fiat Fan still
Do let me know if there is any opening in Fiat Customer service , I would love to work for Fiat and would love to help you guys take care of your customers.

The car was booked (Fiat Punto), I was to take delivery of the same on Sunday 2nd Oct, My wife was coming to jalandhar on Monday by Bus, I had assured her that I would pick her up in the Brand New Silver color Punto.
I did my shift on Friday that was 30th sep (I work at night so didnt sleep for the whole night), My shift ended at 5:00am and I took the Bus at 6:00 am from Mohali to Jalandhar. These are Mercedes Busses which travel from Mohali to Amritsar everyday in the morning and evening. The fair is on the higher side however they are equaly on the higher side for comfort and speed. I reached jalandhar at 8:15 am and I was at Cargo Motors jalandhar at 8:30am, as I was promised a delievery on Sunday , 2nd Oct , I wanted to do the TBHP PDI on Sat 1st october.
The first thing I noticed after recahing the dealer was that I am Too Early. There was no one in the showroom , I met the security guard and told him the purpose of my visit and explained him why Iam so early. He was convinced and he made me sit in the showroom which was completely empty except there was Tata Safari, Tata IndicaVista Refresh,Tata Indigo Manza, Tata Indigo CS, Tata nano and only one FIAT Product Linea Tjet. I was along in the showroom and was thinking , " Why in the world have Fiat shook hands with Tata , I hated the part that Fiat was given a stepmother treatment by Tata". Since i didnt have anything to do, I recalled the time when, " I entered the showroom for the first time, there were no Fiat Sales people to welcome me and show their products, they were sitting in a corner and all Tata Sales people were handling the customer , Fiat sales rep wouldnt even pass a smile to a customer leave alone promoting a product. Unless i asked them to tell me about the Punto they would not move from their seats."
I was lost in these thoughts and it was about an hour when people started cleaning the showroom and I was asked if I would take water or something however no one bothered to turn on the AC . I declined and asked when would the sales people be coming , I was told that they would come around 10am. I waited little more and the complete sales staff from TATA was there in the showroom and they started asking me the reason and started pitching in for their vehicles, only after I explained them a bit rudely that I am not interested in TATA they stopped bugging me. After some more time the accessory guy was there and I went to him and asked that What all accessories he had for PUNTO , he told me that he had NONE and only if someone orders then they go ahead and place an order and its given to the custoemr in 1 to 2 weeks. *** was that, I told him that when i booked the car I told the sales guy that I would need Central locking kit and gear lock and Accessory boy did not have any idea about that order. I was taken aback with this attitude towards FIAT customers or FIAT Products. Somewhere deep down in my mind I started to revaluate the decision to buy a FIAT again. I started thinking that if this is the service before I have bought the vehicle , what can I expect after they have taken my HARD EARNED MONEY. I was in dielema and was not able to come to a conclusion. After thinking a bit more I decided that I have booked the car after following what my heart said and I would not step back from that. I decided that if eveything goes well in PDI I would take the car tomorrow and since I had contacts in FIPL I can get the service and other parts taken care off.
While I was thinking this the sales Guy from FIAT showed up and told me that he would get the car read on half an hour and then I can do the PDI , the car was washed and It looked stunning in silver color. I was again reminded by the car that I have made a good decision , untill i found these spots during PDI:





After watching these spots it was obvious that I was not taking this car, I told the same to the sale person and asked to arrange for another piece in silver on that very day as I wanted to take the delivery on Sunday 2nd oct (Remember My wife was coming and I have told her to pick her up in the new Silver car). The Sales person told me that if I want the silver color I would have to wait another 15 days, No way i said and asked him to refund my booking amount, he told me to wait and vanished, came after 20 mins and told me that they wont be able to refund in cash and I would have to take a DD and it would be ready by 4pm( unbelievable , I had explained them already that i was coming directly after doing a night shift). I was pissed off to height and told them to deliver the DD to my house , the same way they came to my house to get the booking amount to which they agreed and said that they would do the same. Me and my dad reached home( I fortgot to mention that my dad jouned me for PDI at around 11am ) at 2pm. Now one thing that was decided was that I am not buying a FIAT, I was very tired as have not slept for almost 20 hours. I told my dad that I am not buying FIAT anymore as I am clear now that they are not going to improve any bit from when we sold the Palio. Now if we were not buying a FIAT question arised WHAT CAR are we buying , difficult questioon easy answer: we are not buying petrol thats what dad said to which I completely agreed having owned a diesel earlier I knew the Fun to drive factor would be missing in PETROL as I have always loved diesel cars. Now within 5.5 or 6 Lakhs OTR what cars are available. I have already said a No to FIAT i didnt even think of TATA , I would never buy the brand who can not stand tall on their commitments ( they have failed big time in helping FIAT, and taking full advantage of its Multijet engine). Since TATA and FIAT were out , it drilled down to Maruti Swift DDIS, that was eliminated due to High waiting periods, sales guy quoted 3 months for DDIS , Ritz is a car which I have never liked due to the looks of the car, Ford FIGO struck my mind however was not impressed by the spare prices and the looks. If I have rejected Punto( Stunning looks ) i would definitely not compromise on looks now. Which was the 2nd best looking hatchback on Indian roads , this question started to scratch my heart and mind both and there is one name that came in my Mind Hyundai I20 and its available in the tested and reliable CRDI engine too. I knew that the Base model ERA would cost somewhere around 5.7 ex showroom and I thought that OTR price would be somewhere around 6 or 6.10. I decided to take that car as i had the ICE equipment from Accent lying unused, i thought that i would be able to use that equipment too and would get reliable and self-tested Hyundai service too. I knew that CRDI was a gem of an engine. Spoke to dad and told him that we will go tomorrow 2nd oct and test drive I20 ERA. Dad had different plans he told me to get ready and said no tomorrow , lets go today and will take the delivery tomorrow. I agreed , we travelled in train and reached Jalandhar Goyal Hyundai around 5 in the evening (Do not forget that I haven’t slept well since Friday and its Saturday going on). We were welcomed very well by the Hyundai staff and was introduced to certain new cars like Fluidic , I told them that I want I20 ERA silver color( remember that I promised my wife to pick her up in new silver car) and I would take the delivery tomorrow, he said that ERA is available on demand only as not many people buy ERA , I asked him to arrange one by tomorrow 2nd oct as I can not wait for 10 or more days. He made some calls and told me that He has a I20 Magna in silver color which he could give me tomorrow however I would have to book the car today. I told him to show me the car which he did , I checked the VIN and it was stamped as Sep manufactured and 7 kms on ODO. I liked the car and we sat and discussed the prices etc. Here is the breakup
Ex showroom: 621728
Insurance: 14500
Registration charges: 25350Temp RC: 500
Keyless entry Hyundai genuine(crosslink): 4000
It was going to cost me a whopping 6.7 as compared to Punto which was 5.6 OTR. I would have to stretch my budget by almost 1.5 lakhs. Lots more coming to my mind now, What about the loan as i have already got my loan sanctioned by SBI for Punto, I thought again and decided to book the I20 and thought that I would not be able to pick my wife in the new car however I can always console her for that , but lets make this purchase which will keep both of us happy for a long long time. I booked the car by paying 5k and we came back home happily. When we came home dont aks me how tired I was. Mom told me that she went to bank and there was no work done at bank as the network for SBI was down for the complete day and it was saturday so they worked for half day only. I didnt pay attention to that as I was too tired for that , i slept at 8pm and woke up at 4am in Sunday morning. May be it was due to excitement , watched TV for sometime and made some calculation for the loan amount and how i would pay it off, it was 6am by then and newspaper came , GOOD NEWS in there, " All branches of SBI would be open on SUNDAY as the network was down and no work was on saturday". WOW , I woke up my dad and told him that we will go to SBI at 10 am and the get the loan RE sanctioned for larger amount. We did the same and the Sarkari people were happy to help , they said there is some paper work that needs to be done however they gave us the draft and told us that paper work can be done later, we took the draft and reached goyal Hyundai at around 3pm before going we called them and told them to keep the car ready and they were shocked at how we arranged the Bank draft on Sunday. We reached and took the delivery and it was a smooth and pleasent experience at Hyundai like it was in the past when I bought my accent. We took the car filled in the tank full of diesel , I was very happy when the 45 liters of diesel costed my only 1800, went straight to Gurudwara and took blessings from the almighty. Returned home around 7pm in the evening. 7am Monday morning picked up my wife in the new silver I20 car , and she was so happy that i did not buy a FIAT , I was happy too. One I did not buy a FIAT and second my wife was happy. Would upload more pics soon as soon as i get some more time.