[extreme_torque]

repainted.... i doubt they would have done that and why would you want a brand new unregistered car to be painted.... it wont be as good as factory no matter what they do and how they do it.
Me thinks they would have just polished the car well as swirl marks appear even after minor rubbing to clean the car, more so on black.

[amoghchaphalkar]

Originally Posted by extreme_torque

repainted.... i doubt they would have done that and why would you want a brand new unregistered car to be painted.... it wont be as good as factory no matter what they do and how they do it.
Me thinks they would have just polished the car well as swirl marks appear even after minor rubbing to clean the car, more so on black.

I saw the car in flesh along with Crimson and to me the scratches were unacceptable.

Besides I highly doubt if the dealer had actually done the paint job. It looked to me as if the car was only polished.

Any further updates Crimson ?

[Crimson]

Firstly I must thank everyone at TBhp for helping me with this. Special thanks to Amogh for taking time out to come and check the car with me. I really appreciate it.

Now about the car. I have emailed Kaushik Prasad regarding the problem and the clear breakdown in the quality assurance process. The reply I have got from him is pasted below:

Hi Arshish,

Apologies for the issue mentioned in the Black car. We will check this out internally and check with our Distributor – Tata Motors – on the best possible solution.

Regards,
Kaushik


I have also spoken to the following people:
1. Mr. Balaji - He is Kaushik's counterpart from Tata Motors for FIAT products
2. Mr. Mangesh Kodhalkar - Responsible for dispatch of vehicles from Ranjangaon

Another vehicle has been booked for me and simultaneously the Bonnet, Front and rear Bumber of this vehicle is being completely replaced. Mukund Kulkarni, the Branch Manager at Pandit has requested me to have alook at the vehicle again after the mentioned parts are changed. He says if I like it and find it perfect then I can have that else the other vehicle has already been requested for.

Will keep you guys updated on what happens.

[neotraveller]

Good, this is the way to go. No point in taking delivery when not 100% satisfied.

IMO if you had rejected this and opted for another car quietly without escalation, they would have pawned off this car to some unsuspecting non-TBHPian.
Now because of your escalation, whoever gets this particular car ... will have better parts on it.

Originally Posted by Crimson

Another vehicle has been booked for me

[NutsNBolts]

Originally Posted by Crimson

Another vehicle has been booked for me and simultaneously the Bonnet, Front and rear Bumber of this vehicle is being completely replaced. Mukund Kulkarni, the Branch Manager at Pandit has requested me to have alook at the vehicle again after the mentioned parts are changed. He says if I like it and find it perfect then I can have that else the other vehicle has already been requested for.

Will keep you guys updated on what happens.

I would say it is amply clear that Italians have decided to play the game and are surely improving with speed that could do a Ferrari proud.

[amoghchaphalkar]

Originally Posted by Crimson

Firstly I must thank everyone at TBhp for helping me with this. Special thanks to Amogh for taking time out to come and check the car with me. I really appreciate it.


Another vehicle has been booked for me and simultaneously the Bonnet, Front and rear Bumber of this vehicle is being completely replaced. Mukund Kulkarni, the Branch Manager at Pandit has requested me to have alook at the vehicle again after the mentioned parts are changed. He says if I like it and find it perfect then I can have that else the other vehicle has already been requested for.

Will keep you guys updated on what happens.

That's awesome !! I am glad I could be of some help. Very little can be done at the dealer level. Unfortunately, matters have to be escalated !!

I won't suggest you to take the original car with the replaced body parts.
Better go for a new car. It's best not to have any kind of doubt in your mind.

I really hope Fiat's Quality Assurance guys wake up.

[maverickxx2006]

Originally Posted by Crimson

Firstly I must thank everyone at TBhp for helping me with this. Special thanks to Amogh for taking time out to come and check the car with me. I really appreciate it.

Now about the car. I have emailed Kaushik Prasad regarding the problem and the clear breakdown in the quality assurance process. The reply I have got from him is pasted below:

Hi Arshish,

Apologies for the issue mentioned in the Black car. We will check this out internally and check with our Distributor – Tata Motors – on the best possible solution.

Regards,
Kaushik


I have also spoken to the following people:
1. Mr. Balaji - He is Kaushik's counterpart from Tata Motors for FIAT products
2. Mr. Mangesh Kodhalkar - Responsible for dispatch of vehicles from Ranjangaon

Another vehicle has been booked for me and simultaneously the Bonnet, Front and rear Bumber of this vehicle is being completely replaced. Mukund Kulkarni, the Branch Manager at Pandit has requested me to have alook at the vehicle again after the mentioned parts are changed. He says if I like it and find it perfect then I can have that else the other vehicle has already been requested for.

Will keep you guys updated on what happens.

Congrats for the Punto!

When I was doing my PDI, I had been to basement of Pandit and I had seen one black Punto and has similar scratches all over bonnet. I guess it might be your earlier car. And the scratches were really unacceptable.

The moment I mentioned to salesman Sachin that I would be doing a PDI check and I mentioned I'am a member of team-bhp he was visibly frightened and in fact for the PDI Mukund Kulkarni came down and was following all the way. Probably he was probably shaken with stringent PDIs team bhp folks are doing

[Crimson]

I just sold my 97 M800 today. So now i desperately need my Punto quickly. Lets hope tomorrow I will be pleasantly surprised at Pandit.

[amoghchaphalkar]

Originally Posted by Crimson

I just sold my 97 M800 today. So now i desperately need my Punto quickly. Lets hope tomorrow I will be pleasantly surprised at Pandit.

So are you getting the car tomorrow ? What is the new date they have promised ?

I saw a brand new Black Punto delivered by B U today. It does look pretty awesome !!

Hope the next one I see is yours

Keep us updated.

And yeah : one thing : It seems all the cars in Pandit's stockyard have really low fuel levels. I think even maverick had the same experience. Make sure they give you a decent amount of fuel (Decent = "Low Fuel" light should not be on)

And stay away from Premium diesel. Use regular diesel (that is the first thing you will find mentioned in the car manual)

[Crimson]

I doubt the new car will be available by tomorrow. But I asked him to show me which other colors he has available + the same car with the new bonnet and bumpers will also be there.

Kaushik would also be telling me when the new black car would be at the dealers. If i find the exiting black car perfect now i might go for it. But im not too keen on doing that. Lets see... Else i guess ill have no option to wait.

He also mentioned he has a red , blue and silver readily available, Ill have a look at those too.

[Sunilrj]

Originally Posted by Crimson

I went and saw my car yesterday at the showroom.

There were some minor scratches all over. Especially on the bonnet were it had circular ring like scratches. The front & rear bumber also had a minor scratch.

Is this acceptable on a new black car? I intend to get the 3m Paint coating done immediately. My question is that come wednesday when i would be taking delivery of the car, if there are minor hairline scratches should I take it? Will the 3m Coating fix it? or should I ask for it to be painted again?


Secondly, I was offered 2200 buyback for the stock tyres and both Yokohama 205/55R15 and Michelin Primacy LC 195/50R15 were both offered at 4400 a tyre. I know Amogh suggested that the stock tyres are pretty good but assuming I do decide to change would appreciate some help in deciding between these 2.

i think what you mean is swirl marks - you tend to Notice swirl marks on Black cars easily, Normally even if there is a thin layer of dust and someone brushes by the panel or even places his hands on the panel the paint gets swirl marks. with my SX4 which was black i was as i had to polish once a week!

Originally Posted by KuttappanAbhi

I think someone else in the forum had upgraded from Goodyear GT3 to Michelin Primary LC in his linea. He has very good opinion about the new tyre. Reduces noise and adds stability is what he reported. I think he was offered a price of 4800-4900 per tyre for michelin, and looking at that, your price looks good. Will upgrading to 205 s add some difficulty for the punto? I am also intending to do some tyre upgrade for my punto, which I may book this week.
Interestingly though, one of my friends had upgraded to Michelin for his Swift, and one of the tyres got worn out in 20000 kms, and he had to replace all four with Appollo. That got me confused! Do we have Bridgestones or Yokos coming in 195 size?

that person is Me! Primacy LC is a new tyre in the Indian market. released sometime in Mar- Apr if i am not wrong. it reduces noise and gives a good grip as well the drive is comfortable.

2200 for the stock tyres is a good price as the MRP of those tyres is 2375/- primacy LC doesnt wear out at 20K Kms. probably he had gone in for XM1 or some other tyre from Michellin.

[Crimson]

Originally Posted by amoghchaphalkar

And yeah : one thing : It seems all the cars in Pandit's stockyard have really low fuel levels. I think even maverick had the same experience. Make sure they give you a decent amount of fuel (Decent = "Low Fuel" light should not be on)

Thanks Amogh.. Ill make sure i check that. I cannot get the car on Monday itself cause it will need at least one day for registration.

[maverickxx2006]

Originally Posted by Crimson

Thanks Amogh.. Ill make sure i check that. I cannot get the car on Monday itself cause it will need at least one day for registration.

One advice from my experience, just take the car from Pandit and thats it. DONT DO THE UNDERBODY COATING AND BODY COAT FROM PANDIT.

I did the underbody coating and today when I was fitting the seat covers in CarAx, the person told me that the underbody paint is still wet and I could see that the paint is still wet after 2 days is sticking to hand. As per him the paint should dry in 30-50 minutes max. I' am not sure if hes telling the truth but the fact is even after 3-4 days the underbody coat is wet.

[Sunilrj]

Originally Posted by maverickxx2006

One advice from my experience, just take the car from Pandit and thats it. DONT DO THE UNDERBODY COATING AND BODY COAT FROM PANDIT.

I did the underbody coating and today when I was fitting the seat covers in CarAx, the person told me that the underbody paint is still wet and I could see that the paint is still wet after 2 days is sticking to hand. As per him the paint should dry in 30-50 minutes max. I' am not sure if hes telling the truth but the fact is even after 3-4 days the underbody coat is wet.

underbody coating is actually spraying on a layer of hardwax which is premixed and available either in the form of pressurised canisters or cans from which the wax is put into a specially designed spray gun and sprayed with compressed air.

Hardwax takes about 72 hours to cure completely. after this even though the coating looks to be wet it wont come off. however it may leave a sticky feeling when touched for another 72 hours. hence it is recomended that the underbody is not washed for one week.

[Crimson]

OK. So here goes!

Saw the car with the replaced parts and boy was I disappointed! The more I looked at the car from closer the more imperfections I could find.

Happened to see another new Black Linea and it was atleast 60% as bad. So no black Punto for me. I dint want to waste another 3 weeks waiting for a car that in all probability would again be in the same state. Maybe this is just how a black supposed to be but somehow I could not get myself to accept that.

Had a look at a couple of other colors, liked the minimal gray. HUNTED for scratches and could just about find one tiny little mark. Confirmed it and its getting registered as I type this message. Did the complete PDI. Everything was pretty much spot on. Getting delivery Thursday / Friday.

However much I wanted to take the black I was just not getting that content 100% satisfaction feeling. Now with the Silver confirmed - feeling great again!