[ravi@64bhp]

DieselBelly, sorry for the incident and it really was scary. I am glad that you are escaped with minor injuries. Hope you recover from it soon.

I agree with you and the main question is what is the culprit of the situation? The best thing to do is, after are back to the wheels, please TD your car once as was done by Architect (under controlled conditions). If the car is the cluprit, it would definitely repeat. Be sure to check the tyre pressure while doing this, do it two times, one with 30 psi and another with some higher Psi around 38-40. Your car might have been over inflated at the time of incident as said by bblost. I know that you are checking the tyre pressure, but the caliberation at all the petrol bunk is not same. There is a petrol bunk here at my place where u fill 30 psi and it would be 45 psi in reality.

Hope this helps.

[CorsaLove]

Originally Posted by phamilyman

Corsalove,

While I can understand your logic on interiors (they ARE dated and only appeal to a section), your logic on trashing SDE because of 34k over budget. Sounds strange coming from the same gent whose planning a CRV. 34k extra over how many years? and that 34k is just 4-4.5k km of driving on the CRV.

If anything, I find it hard to beleive money can be a constraint

Your right! Its not just the money (34K) Its just that I have a lot of plans in this year which will take a lot of Vitamin M before December. I have planned much better days for myself after December 08

I know its a problem with me. I always stick to the budgets that I have alocated for things. Dont like going over budget.

[abhinav.s]

Dieselbelly, sorry to hear about the scary incident.. But the good thing about it is that you escaped with minor injuries. Thank god!! And yeah as i have seen the discussion here, please find the real culprit that caused the lock up before you give up on a car.. Be it any car for that matter.
Happy driving and I hope you will keep us updated on what the real culprit behind the lock up was!!

[architect]

Originally Posted by CorsaLove

Your right! Its not just the money (34K) Its just that I have a lot of plans in this year which will take a lot of Vitamin M before December. I have planned much better days for myself after December 08

I know its a problem with me. I always stick to the budgets that I have alocated for things. Dont like going over budget.

If you are stuck at Rs 5 lakhs and want a diesel car there isn't much choice except for the Indica Dicor DLG. Again you miss the Swift LDi and the Palio SD by a few thousands (but they are TOO basic for the price, no power windows, no fog lamps, nothing. Palio SD has a tacho, though). Another car you are missing closely in that budget is the Indica Turbo DLX (which, BTW, comes with a full kit, ABS, Airbags, etc and other features on par with the Palio SDX).

For Petrols, you miss the Swift VXi ABS by a few thousands again. Getz 1.1 is not worth it. I am not sure of the performance of the U-Va.

My opinion: either increase your budget by 20-30 k, or settle for a Swift LXi or the Palio 1.6 or any of the two Indicas (my choice would be Dicor DLG, despite the turbo DLX having full safety kit because I kind of like the Tata Dicor engines). But for a person who's planning on a CR-V, would the Indica appeal to you?

All the Best!

[deeps79]

Updates please on 2 service........Its been quite some time now

[architect]

Just to update this thread after 7500 kms and second service.

The car, a magnesium grey SDE, is exactly four-and-a-half months old now. With approximately 7200 kms on the odo and the possibility of a relaxed weekend in the near future being remote, I decided to go for the 7500 km second service on 23 August.

While I did not have any specific problems with my first service, anti-rust treatment etc etc at Vivek Auto, Mathura Road, I did experience a lack of interest or commitment there. I was unable to pinpoint the problem, but I wasn't satisfied. From PUG and the experience of members like Red MM340's, I thought I could try Samyak Motors.

Samyak Motors (now called Elegant Cars) did not figure in the Fiat website as an A.S.C. It was confirmed by the Manager Customer Relations at Fiat India , Mr Mangesh Kodalkar, by e-mail, that Elegant Cars was an A.S.C. phamilyman confirmed the same after a discussion with Mr Khurana who owns four Fiats including a Petra D and a Mint White MJD. Done!!

23 Aug, Saturday. 09.30 am: A 16 km drive to Samyak seemed longer than the 6 kms to Vivek but it was worth it. Despite being a relatively smaller Service Center than Vivek, the difference is behaviour was immediately apparent. Workshop Manager, Mr O.P. Sharma is a pro-active gentleman who met me within 5 minutes of the Service Advisor meeting me within seconds of my arrival. He supervised the details on the job card and ordered a test drive. For a change, the mechanic who did the test drive did not drive it as if it was a Test Abuse of the car. My job card was checked and the car went in for service. I followed, not being the type who would sit in the customer lounge.

Somebody mentioned that the level of cleanliness and orderliness in a workshop is a reflection of the quality of work. While I do not agree with it fully, I must say it gives a better impression that your car is in safe hands.The workshop was spotlessly clean, well-lit and all tools were in place. No spillage, oil leaks, no water anywhere. Cleaner was doing the rounds with a mop at the same frequency as that of McDonald's. Ok, I am exaggerating now.

Five minutes into the Servicing and the bubble seemed to burst. Mr Sharma comes and says: "I am sorry, we had four Oil Filters of the MJD in stock about 10-15 days ago. They have been used. The other five or six I have ordered are still not here." A person at Vivek would have said the same thing with a most nonchalant shrug, as if its not their fault, but that of Fiat or Tata or whosoever. Mr Sharma was the first person I met who seemed actually apologetic. "We can't do the oil change today. We'll do everything else. As soon as I get the oil filters, I will send somebody to pick up your car from the house or office and do the oil change and send it back." I didn't know whether it was good or bad. If four oil filters had been consumed faster than predicted, then atleast I did own an as rare and endangered a species of a car as I thought I did. They seemed apologetic and genuine.

So I decided to shrug it off and wait till they got the oil filter. My Boss doesn't feel that servicing a car deserves a holiday, so it would have to be a weekend. It's a different story that he gets his WagonR serviced at Automobile Kashyap, a service center of BMW, Land Rover and a dealer for VW, ever since we designed some structures for them!!

Rest of the servicing went smoothly. General checks, Tyre Rotation and Alignment, bit of oiling and greasing on the doors, cleaning the disc brake pads, top-up of the coolant, cleaning the air-filter etc went off well. The mechanics seemed knowledgeable, except the classic error of mixing up the tyres at wheel rotation. Thank God I was keeping track. Vehicles was washed and cleaned throughly and quality of washing was at par. Before lunch, at 12.30 pm, the car was ready. Good, all the servicing except oil and oil filter change within 3 hours! I started the engine and drove off, mentally decided what to rate the Service Center.

Vivek Auto, IMO, did not deserve more than 5/10. They were worse than the local garage, K J Anthony, who did my accident repair work quite well. And they had taken two hours more than Elegant Cars to do less work. Except for the oil filter issue, I was satisfied. So I thought they to wait till that issue was resolved before rating them.

4.30 p.m., my mobile phone rings. It's the workshop manager, Mr Sharma. "Sir, we thought you would have to wait for too long for the oil filters. I got one from Vivek Auto for you. You can come for the oil change right now, or tomorrow. I will get it done on the same job card as well. Less formalities so that you waste less time." Vivek Auto is 20-odd kilometres from Elegant. I was impressed!!

24 Aug, Sunday. 12.00 noon: Damn, I was late. There was a long line up at Elegant, typical of a Sunday. I would have to wait till evening for just an oil change. I stopped the car, walked into Mr Sharma's office and met him. Within seconds my car was whisked away in front of some other waiting customers who glared at me! I tried to soften them with some pleasantries. Meanwhile, I was watching the car out of the corner of my eyes. 15 minutes later, Mr Sharma escorted me to the billing office for processing my bill. I came down and looked at my watch. 25 minutes. Wow! When I reach downstairs, my car is not there. Its being washed again. Complimentary!

The car is running fine. I have done a 150 km drive after the Service today. The engine's ticking sweetly after the oil change (although its the second oil change!). The bill for the entire service (only consumables- oil filter, oil and coolant) is about Rs 1,600/-, and it was washed twice. I am happy man, atleast so far.

Elegant Cars gets 7.5 / 10. Definitely recommended for Fiat owners in Delhi, who are not pampered like Maruti or Hyundai for choices. I wish them all the best when they re-open their Tata-Fiat sales dealership in a month or so.

The big question is whether things are looking up for the average Palio owner and especially for the MJD owner. If you look at Elegant Cars, the answer is yes.

Perhaps that's why Elegant Cars doesn't figure in the list of ASCs on the Fiat website.

P.S. If you are a customer of Prime Honda at Vaishali, then you can see your cars being cleaned and readied for delivery at the workshop of Elegant Cars. The wonderful Honda Sales is using the poor Fiat A.S.S. What you get is not what you see, always. I saw atleast 5 brand new Hondas being readied, including one new Civic Sports with white alloy wheels.

[shantyrocks]

nice review architect.the fiat A.S.S at thane is good too.there is a service centre which doesnt feature in the list which is the best!

[phamilyman]

Samyak's non promotion is part of what ails Fiat India.

of course, it must also be that there are complete lethargic guys in Fiat marketing who can't bother to put up a single hoarding for the MJD.

That said, kudos to samyak for keeping the Fiat hopes alive despite Fiat's best attempts to self destruct.

PS: I was again feeling senti to buy a Palio - but no, not with the shanty they call Dhingra.
PPS: Maybe I should go there this weekend and get some candid camera pics. And maybe make a card for Fiat top management.

[architect]

All this and much more ails Fiat. Will they ever improve? I intend to write an e-mail to Fiat about this. Let's if the e-mail of an existing customer creates the same response as an email of a prospective customer, as in your case, phamilyman.

[fiat_fan]

Please let me know
Which diesel is good for Palio Diesel.
I am totally confused , should I go for shell diesel or any other brand?

[rajneeesh]

Architect, Do the folks at Elegant cars also service Tata vehicles?

[zaks]

Originally Posted by fiat_fan

Please let me know
Which diesel is good for Palio Diesel.
I am totally confused , should I go for shell diesel or any other brand?

Just put normal diesel from a reliable station.
Dieselbelly, I am sorry for you but now you won't be able to do any tehkikaat as your car is not drive able. I have not experienced any wheel lock so far but again I have not got into any such situation also. I have observed that the brakes come suddenly into action after a certain lag.

[phamilyman]

Rajneesh, they do - they are a Tata Fiat SC now. They have no choice

That said, that will be the first time you'd feel out of place in a "Tata" Sc! they even service some Marutis as well - right Archittect bhai?

[architect]

Originally Posted by fiat_fan

Please let me know
Which diesel is good for Palio Diesel.
I am totally confused , should I go for shell diesel or any other brand?

Although I have not felt any significant change in mileage (drop of 0.5 - 1 kmpl, could be because of other conditions), I stick to normal diesel from 2-3 reliable HP pumps only. CRDi engines are tuned for normal diesel and I have read other users on this forum complaining of black smoke from TurboJet etc.

Plus there's a difference of 80 bucks for every typical filling of 38 litres or so.

I also don't want my car to grow horns after filling Turbojet. Could be a problem in city traffic, not to mention bad aesthetics.

Originally Posted by rajneeesh

Architect, Do the folks at Elegant cars also service Tata vehicles?

Yes, they service Tata vehicles too. They will be selling them soon in the new showroom.

Originally Posted by phamilyman

Rajneesh, they do - they are a Tata Fiat SC now. They have no choice

That said, that will be the first time you'd feel out of place in a "Tata" Sc! they even service some Marutis as well - right Archittect bhai?

Not to mention preparing Hondas for PDI and Delivery. Now that's a multi-brand outlet for you. Why don't you try convincing them to open a branch in Gurgaon?

[jazzy_2cool]

[quote=architect;959502]

I also don't want my car to grow horns after filling Turbojet. Could be a problem in city traffic, quote]

You made me roll out of my chair at this time.............