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-   -   My quest for a hot hatch!! Palio S10 EDIT : Now Another one; the mods have begun (https://www.team-bhp.com/forum/test-drives-initial-ownership-reports/123860-my-quest-hot-hatch-palio-s10-edit-now-another-one-mods-have-begun-3.html)

Brilliant.... A Canary Yellow S10 still turns heads. A beautiful car and a beautiful story. Waiting for the pics.

Another S10 (pampered to the core & small stuff by a certain person at Mangalore) will be up for grabs in a week! Your PM box exceeded quota and i was wondering if you were interested in x3? :D

This thread needs to be updated with more recent pics of upgrades done ;)

Do you feel like the father of a just married daughter? stupid: Jokes apart, yes, I can imagine how it would feel...

Quite coincidently, my Fiat's (1.3 Punto EPK, that is) number is 0446. Is it the number that is creating emotions or the brand?! :)

devansn, "Do you feel like the father of a just married daughter", what an awesome comparison! :thumbs up

Well, I guess more than the number, it's the brand that infuses so much of emotion. With FIAT's, it's always a pure love or pure hate relation. :D

:) Right. But once spoiled by a Fiat, I don't think one will ever go back to another (affordable) brand.

I used to think - imagine that Fiat stopped selling cars in India and the only way one could buy a Fiat is by importing it. The number of Fiats bought in India in such a situation will more or less be the same as it is now! stupid:

On a serious note, I really hope that Fiat India gets it right at least this time, with all the news about their own sales / service network and all...

Trust me, you are absolutely right. A FIAT really spoils you, and I know that because I too am one one of those spoilt brats :D

I too wish FIAT gets it right this time, which in all probability I think, they will. Nothing would beat the sheer driving pleasure that a FIAT car gives, combined with world-class ride and handling and vault like build-quality, and combined with a state of the art after sales network, and all other manufacturers are in for a real tough competition.

As days passed by, i started to solve the niggles one by one.

1) The dull headlights were bugging me no end, so i got them both changed to new ones. 2400 or so per piece. Oe quality.

2) Rear wiper- changed the whole arm assembly including the blade Rs500/-

3) Rusted numberplate- changed and got a new one in the same font as all my other cars

4) Rear tail light- got a brand new one, original. Cost around 1500 or so..

5) The battery charging was suspect, so got a digital voltmeter.

That almost covers the cosmetic work done on the car in the first stage.

Thank you et.. Lotsa pix coming up..

hehe!! X3 would ensure that i get thrown out of the house!!:uncontrol
I heard some bhp-ians are calling first divs on it. Hope it goes to a good home!!

JayD, you are treating us with one small spoon a time. Bring it all on mate :) We all are awaiting the rest of the story.
The headlamps look sparkling now. From where did you source the parts? Was it very difficult sourcing them? And are they all OE?

Am travelling currently,posting from my ipad, hence the broken up posts.

Original parts you ask?? Nothing but the very best for my baby. :)

Only genuine fiat/lancia parts go in. If you need parts lemme know, have some good sources.

Oh my my !! Brilliant JayD. As expected from a hardcore S10'er - "Nothing but the best for the baby"
Please PM me all the details of Bangalore based sources of parts that you know. Would be much grateful :D

So till now, things were going smoothly. was slowly working on the areas that needed immediate attention cosmetically, as detailed in the earlier posts.

The car was running okay, but being a used car, i was not too confident of taking it on long trips or pushing it too much till i was confident of the mechanicals.

Then i started around looking for a good garage in Chennai to get the work done. I was very finicky, since i wanted a timing belt change, and that on an s10 , is a complicated affair.

From various sources as well as on the forum, i was guided to 'Ignite Garage', on ECR, Chennai.


I had Met Mr Raghav of Ignite earlier, as i was babysitting m friend's(a forum member) VTEC, while he was out of the country.

Met Raghav with the s10, and explained to him what all i wanted to do. The list was as follows

1) Timing belt change and all associated pulleys/tensioners
2)Air filter hose change
3) Brake cleaning
4) Charge/check battery
5) Clutch not fully returning- slave cyl
6) Central locking not working
7) Loud whine from timing belt area. Related to point 1


He drove the car and said out, "Fantastic car, its hard to find s10's in this condition mechanically". I was happy.

NOTE: I also procured an Original Timing belt, and double checked with him if he had the cam locking tool, for setting the timing. This is an extremely tricky operation, and if not done right, can mess up the car completely. He ensured me that he has done the same on several GTX's and that i need not worry about anything.

Left the car there, and was given a timeline of about 4 days for the work.

I had to go outstation for a week or so, and couldnt oversee the work personally.

I kept in touch wit Raghav over phone and was updated on the jobs done. He told me that some bearings needed to be changed and i told him to go ahead.

The instruction given by me was simple. "Do what is needed to make the car perfect".

A week later, i went to collect the car.

Spoke to raghav in the morning, and he claimed that car is ready for delivery, only washing is pending. Told him that i will be coming at a certain time, and the car should be kept ready.

I went there at the fixed time, but the car wa snot washed. No problem i thought, lemme have a test drive.

Started up the car and it did not start on the first crank. It turned over and died. I had a huge lump in my throat. Cranked her longer this time, and she came to life, The whine was still there, and more alarmingly, the car settled into a very shaky idle. The RPM was steady, but the car was like clearly missing.

The exhaust note, which is a throaty loud one in the s10, was not like it had a bad cough

The clutch was better. But still spongy.

I asked Raghav about the idle, and told him to check the timing. He told me "No Timing adjustment for this engine. It is done automatically"

I was flabbergasted! What on earth does that mean?? He assured me that i run it for sometime, and it ill be all ok. I knew it wouldnt happen, but still bought his story.

I asked the mechanic on the whine, he told me that this is a different sound, and the whine that i had told them, to remove was gone. This sound i had not told them to remove was his story. And he cooly walked off. I started losing my temper. I had clearly told to do what is needed to make it perfect. Never had i spoken about budget or anything to him. I wanted the best. And that is clearly not what is got.


What i Got instead, was a bill for almost Rs 17000/-:eek:. That was clearly not expected, especially since i had provided the timing belt etc. Anyways, paid it, and took delivery of the vehicle after washing.

I slowly edged on to the OMR It highway, and i noticed that the car was really bad now. It was definitely not the car i had given it to him, still decided to run it for a day and see.

At a Main Junction(Sholinganallur for Chennaiites), i was waiting at the traffic signal, and the car suddenly shut down. 3 Cranks later, it came to life again, but wouldnt hold idle. As soon as i left the throttle, it would Die.

I thought maybe the loopy idle could be due to bad fuel, and tanked up on some Speed 97. No difference. Car still ran like bovine exctreta!

I somehow did not have the confidence to take it to office, and parked at a friends place and took a bus to work.


And then, it happened..

In the evening, I took the car again, and was driving through mount road, peak traffic. The car was still not holding idle, and i was managing somehow. Suddenly at a signal, i noticed that the clutch was going soft.

Since i could not let go of the throttle, i was in first, clutch engaged, and i was the first car on the block to go. Waiting for the green signal.

Suddenly, the clutch went soft and into the floor, car leaped forward right into traffic, and stalled. I tried to crank it, and it didnt start, The third try, it did not even turn over, i looked at the volt meter, it showed 10.5v. Dead.

Thankfully, nobody crashed into me, but the traffic confusion i created on the busiest road in Chennai, at peak hour was enormous. And suddenly, it started raining.

Cops came running, and they certyainly were not amused to see a Yellow MH Reg car to be the root cause of the problem.

Not many came to help. I pushed the so called tank to the side, no Power steering, no help, and heavy Rain.

All i wanted to do is to literally 'Ignite" it and the garage. Together. :Frustrati

Very sorry to hear about ordeal. Its very frustrating indeed. Its not just raghav, most of the mechanics are like that. They want money but won't solve the problems you tell them . And most of the time if they screw up something they don't bother to set it right and argue on their stand . I just feel like thrashing those fellows when they do such things. Get the car back to them and make them set it right! And don't visit them ever again.

Once popularity gets into their heads the mechanics as well as the owners become very sobbish. This is not the first bad experience I have heard about that raghav and his garage. There are many more bad experiences about him on this very forum!

After reading a lot of good things about ignite and raghav,I also decided to visit him for the timing belt change.I asked him to drive my car and tell me what all i can do to make the car drive better.
He said everything including suspension is good and regarding the timing belt change.
He asked me why on earth would you want to change timing belt at 20k? i said its a 9yr old car.He said that does not matter.
that is the end of Raghav and ignite for me. When i went there i thought he should be the ultimate solution for all my problems.