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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-4.html)

very sad to hear the incident. what is the plan now? are you taking it back to the same person for fixing it or have found a trusted and knowledgable place?

i never ever leave my Vtec with a mechanic and i make sure all the work is done while i am watching it.

With the help of some autowallahs, i push sharted the car somehow, and started moving. Itwas raining badly, and had got dark. I had no headlights or wipers. No idle, and no real clutch to speak of. And i had to drive 35kms, in peak traffic. I somehow managed it. I must say, my worst drive ever.

The next day, i went to ignite again and gave Raghav a piece if my mind.

1)He opened the bonnet, and started the car, again, it was very jerky and stalled after sometime. I told him its the timing, but he said, its 'automatically set'. Again!!!

2)Regarding the dead battery, i asked him why it died inspite of the recharge, he replied, "you asked to charge it only. The battery is leaking, it needs to be changed".

Why was it not informed? Well, you asked for a charge only, not to check the condition!!

3)I was charged an insane amount for ' Brake checking'. Despite that, i noticed that one wheel was very hot while running, and i suspected a jammed wheel cylinder. He said, he has to open it and check. When questioned about the 'Brake Checking', he replied, "i checked the condition of the pads only":Frustrati


He wanted to change the plugs, and i asked for NGK. He told he has the one for the palio is stock(Shocking!!!) and removed the old plugs. They were not in the best of shape, so i thought the jerkiness must be due to them. New plugs were put in, but no use. the car still was undrivable.

He then commented, Sir, the car is a bad one. Common complaint with MH Reg cars, especially palios, most cars are abused. This one's engine is gone. We will have to open the head, overhaul, grind the valves........ and the list went on, but i stopped listening a long while back. And he gave me an estimate of 50k!!


I was heartbroken to say the least, did not say much, closed the bonnet and started to drive away. I did not want my car in that place any more. He told me , that the engine was gonna blow, and that i should not drive it. I didnt bother.

I drove the limping car back home. It was horrible. The engine was still making wailing noises, was jerking, no idle, no proper clutch, nothing. I somehow drove home, and parked the car.

The next day, i got a new battery for it. Amaron. Cost some 5500/- or so. The starting issue was solved. But the car still wouldn't run.

To be honest, i had enough. Here I was, after blowing over 25k in repairs, to Chennai's TOP Garage, left with an undrivable car. And nobody to fix it.:Frustrati

Unfortunately, yeah, thats the state with most mechs these days. But Raghav was recommended by everyone on most forums. Also, some of my friends cars were also maintained by him. So i thought i would get good service. Later we found that those cars were also screwed up!:Frustrati


Thank your lucky stars that you ran away. I would make me cry to see a 14k done car getting 'Ignited':Frustrati

I think after my episode, he has become careful in dealing with fiats!



The rest of the story is unfolding, and some very interesting changes too! :D

a bit off-topic: All Hyundai DOHC engines are 'Interference type', same as in Palio DOHC. They have cam'-locking tools.

JayD - need bigger updates and make them come faster :D

This car had battery draining issues. Rain water drain holes in the rear doors were blocked , which were later cleared. Fuel Pump Relay had oxidization problem which was changed to a new relay / cleaned. apart from this - the car was running fine when it was with Varun. So whatever Ignite mentioned about a bad engine was totally their way of cleaning their hands of the mess they made. take care.

Cam Locking Tool for Fiat 1.6 16V: Cam Locking KIT.pdf

Yes, i know about the issues, and they were all taken care of before i got the car. I was driving it around too. The bad engine as you rightly told was just Ignites way of washing their hands off, as they knew for sure that they had messed it up.

The best tools are rendered useless in the hands of a fool! What else to say! Hehe! :uncontrol


And the updates wil be faster now, was traveling. The interesting part is coming up! :D

Extremely sad to see what these useless mechanics so to vehicles we cherish and love so much! The exact same thing happened to my RE Thunderbird. Bought it in good condition, and ruthlessly spoiled and abused by an idiot of a mechanic recommended by lots of friends and BHPians! Guy called Pawar here in Pune. I hate these fiends!!

Hope your amazing S10 comes back to pristine health asap and you get to enjoy her for long time to come! Keep us posted man! Cheers :)

Hey, hope you find someone more reliable than that Guy and hope your steed is back on its feet soon. I hope your posts enlighten those who have been extolling that gent's virtues

To be honest, i was fed up. I had spent all my time, money and effort on this car, but it still wouldn't run, and there was nobody to fix it.

In the meantime, i got very busy with work, and had no time to run after garages. I parked the s10 in one corner of the parking and left it there for sometime.

This looked like the end of my S10 adventures for a while. But then again, this turned out to be only the beginning:D!!




4460, during happier times

jay congrats first, I can understand your predicament at this hour man.I wonder how you managed to stay composed all thru the fiasco with this so called Ignite Garage and its owner ?

Finding a pristine car is a herculean task these days and then having found one, some moron deciding to screw it up takes it to a whole new level of frustration.what next did you open up the head as said by that incompetent mech :D ?

Thanks guys. All i can say is wait for the happy ending! :D

I don't understand something here. You were charged 17k and you paid up and took delivery of the car even though the car did not feel good ? Why would anyone do that ? Before you pay anything, shouldn't we be satisfied that the job is done to your satisfaction ? And 17k is not small change.

I would suggest you back to him and give him another opportunity to sort it out.

I don't see anything wrong in that statement unless you own an Indica/Indigo diesel.

Not paying him is a better option. Going back to the same person who messed it up is not very sane.

Not paying option is exhausted since he has already made the payment which is why I suggested that he take it back there and get it done to his satisfaction (17k worth).

I know this can be a very depressing feeling after you spend so much money and the car has such silly problems like not idling and not starting etc.

There is no guarantee that he is not going to mess it up more. Atleast I would not go back to him. Better to cut losses than reccur them.

The moment i took the car initially itself i knew it was not right. He told me that it just needs to run, and will be ok by the time i reach the city. I dunno why i bought his story then, but somehow, i did.

Also, having read all the reviews about him online, and i had gone there with references from many people, so the last thing on my mind was that i would be ripped off.

I did go a second time to resolve the issues na, that's when he told me about opening the head and blah blah.

to be very honest, i thought it would be better to count my losses and move on, rather that letting him experiment and ruin the car more, maybe even rendering it useless.

The same has happened to 2 other s10's in chennai, which i know personally. One car was scrapped a while back at pudupet, for the same reason, the other car awaits scrappage.:Frustrati

The timing belt is an extremely complicated operation on the s10. Also, ive personally seen the state of a 28k kms done s10 recently, and it was scary. If it was not changed, the car would have seized.

Personally, i feel, all rubber belts etc should be replaced by age, if the running is low.

Exactly!

Tell me about it. Heartbreaking is an understatement to describe this situation.


My point exactly.