Number 3 - A Punto Story

neoonwheels · 11th August 2009, 13:57

Wow, another GPunto owner. Enjoy her to the fullest. I have almost convinced my friend to either go for Linea/GPunto

debugged · 11th August 2009, 14:01

Quite typical of these agents sitting at most of the dealers. When I was on the lookout for the loan, luckily, a friend suggested I directly approach the bank and I did. I went directly to the SBI main branch near residency road and I was told that the MPM team there handles auto loans.

The person there advised me not to give any documents to these agents at the dealers as they usually delay submitting the forms in case of banks which offer low commissions and give false information just so that you are forced to atleast think of having a Plan B and get a loan processed through another bank which pays better commissions.

I gave all the required documents to the person from the MPM team and my loan got processed in two weeks.

And by the way, Congrats on your new car gods-envy. Its tough to maintain white car in Bangalore but with good set of alloys, she will be neighbor's envy for sure

.

gods-envy · 11th August 2009, 14:06

Thanks everyone for your wishes.
Also, thanks for changing the title.

Quote:

Originally Posted by JVH

Congrats!

Looks like you have smitten by the FIAT bug!. I hope your 3rd part comes with pictures

Well, since I haven't yet taken any snaps, Part 4 will have the initial ownership experience as well as the snaps.

Quote:

Originally Posted by aqualeo2040

Congrats!!
When was your car delivered? I had been to Concorde for a PDI of a friend's Punto when I saw a white Emo PK also being delivered.

Since there are quite a few Bangalore members with Puntos, why dont we organize a meet?

I got my car delivered on 5th august.But it was at the hosur road stockyard from 23rdish till 31st july.
I think it was brought to the Mysore road concord on 1st.

Sure aqualeo, i am game for it. We can even have a nice photo shoot

Quote:

Originally Posted by Gandhi

Congrats for your white beauty. Waiting for the pics.

Shall try to get them at the earliest.

Quote:

Originally Posted by SilentEngine

Well written! Have you thought of an alternate career as story writer

Congrats!

Is it MJD or FIRE?
Eagerly waiting for the pics!

Quote:

Originally Posted by vijaythacker

yeah as an alternative option thats a good idea gods envy,

congrats on your purchase.Petrol or diesel,which variant and do post your dealer experience and pictures of your italian beauty, it would be good to hear from you the journey from older fiat cars you possesed till now grande punto story.Keep updating.

Well, now that I have all your support, I will take that as an alternative career as well well

VahanPujari · 11th August 2009, 14:17

Congrats dude & enjoy the Italian beauty

harry10 · 11th August 2009, 14:34

Quote:

Originally Posted by StarVegabond

SSSSShhhhhh...Koi naya car kharid raha hai !!!

looks like you are writing a script for a new thriller.

i would like to guess, which car it is !!
as you are after SBI loan (low interest loan), i speculate that you are buying a FIAT Linea car

please let me know whether my speculation is true.

Its mentioned at the top- its a Punto he is buying.

Edit- Oh so many updates since i opened the thread!
Congrats!

Latheesh · 11th August 2009, 15:04

congrats on your new car, white punto is a head turner for sure.
yet to spot one on Bangalore roads

finneyp · 11th August 2009, 15:33

Congrats pal, Nice write-up on your purchase experience!

Enjoy the Grande Punto!

diabloo · 11th August 2009, 15:51

Congrats ! Its raining punters in TBHP !!!

phamilyman · 11th August 2009, 17:48

Go punto go! Love the narration so far.

PS: Do post a pic of your parking lot!

anekho · 11th August 2009, 17:58

nice narration gods-envy! post the rest soon please

with a lot of pics!

NutsNBolts · 11th August 2009, 20:53

gods-envy is owner's pride, a GP in this case. Nice story telling prowess, bro. Total filmi andaaz. Now throw a quick gun murugun into the story and we have a great copyright idea here.

vishwask82 · 12th August 2009, 09:57

Congrats gods-envy on becoming the proud owner of the white Italian beauty. Awaiting pics

- Vish

gods-envy · 12th August 2009, 14:00

thanks a lot for your wishes guys.
sorry for the delay.
I shall post the pics by the weekend, for sure.

gods-envy · 13th August 2009, 11:54

Delivery Issues
Just when I was taking delivery of the car on 5th Wednesday, I noticed a small scratch on the right side of the rear bumper. Though the dimensions of the scratch were in millimeters, I was not happy. I requested for a bumper replacement and surprisingly the sale executive readily agreed. He told me to drop the car off the next day morning. He would send it to the Hosur road stockyard and I can pick it up back by evening. He wanted time till evening because morning he was going to send the car for registration (car was partially registered - only road tax was paid, rest was not yet done). So I drop it off on Thursday morning and promise to be back by evening before dusk. But matters at office kept me busy and I could only manage to reach the showroom only after 7pm. It was already dark and I could immediately notice that the bumper had been repainted and not replaced. The area that was painted was rough and did not match the initial smooth finish. I pounce on the sales exec and he promises to get it replaced. I reach home unhappy. At home, discuss the same with my bro and he told me that since the new bumper would be replaced by hand and not in the assembly line, the bumper might not get the same amount of fit. So after much discussion, I agreed to not have the bumper replaced but however wanted it to be rubbed and polished to at least a similar to factory finish. My brother goes to the showroom next day and tries to get the staff to polish it. Things improved a bit, but were still not the best. I asked him to get the car home and I would take it to the showroom again on Saturday.

Friday was the day I could drive the car to office and run the car for more than 20-30kms. During this run, I noticed a few more problems.
1.A very little but distinct abnormal sound when I would press the clutch.
2.The wheel alignment was not done properly and the car was pulling very slightly to the left.
3.The inside of the black B-pillar sticker was not properly stuck.
4.Temperature guage is always at 50% - Is it not supposed to be at 25%.

Come Saturday morning, I land at the showroom at 10AM. Meet the concerned exec and ask him to get all my problems resolved.
1.The problem with the clutch is resolved. They take it inside and do some stuff to the clutch and its fine now. 1st problem resolved.
2.Wheel Alignment - The guy who was supposed to do the wheel alignment has not come sir, so can you please come tomorrow. So this goes into the pending bucket.
3.B pillar sticker - I asked them to remove this existing one and replace with a new one. But the response was ‘ Sir, No stock, will resolve this in first service’.
4.I was told that, it’s going to be like that itself. I am ok with it as far as it does not reach beyond that. Other GP owners, is it how it’s in your cars as well?
The main problem about the bumper repaint was slightly resolved by applying rubbing compound and polishing the affected area. Again this solved the problem but I have not got the factory finish.

Once everything was done. I wrote a letter to the manager of concorde listing all the above problems and that they have to be resolved. And asked the sales exec to sign it and keep a copy of the same in his file. So overall, this has been the state of affairs. Apart from this I have not faced any other technical problem with the car.

Blue and Me however is not able to copy my phone’s address book. I have a nokia E62. But I hope to solve this problem by changing my phone: D

Initial Ownership
I have been driving the car in city limits itself ever since and have clocked close to 450kms. The average as per the ODO is hovering between 14.5-15kmpl (50% AC). I maintain a driving style of not going over 2000rpm except for a few occasional surges where the meter goes close to 3500 rpm. This surge hardly lasts for a few seconds if not more.
A question I would like to ask the gurus is, Can I take the car out on a long drive over the weekend? I am looking at clocking close to 800-1000kms in 2 days. Is it advisable?
Another thing that I noticed is when I place my foot on the clutch, I feel a sense of a very slight vibration. I did not have these on my earlier palios. This is my first diesel car and I am not sure this is normal. Please advise.
Also the placement of the clutch is not as comfortable as it was in my previous palios. Its a tad higher.

Edit - Sorry for the delay in the snaps guys; Photos will be taken and uploaded over the weekend.
I think, I forgot to mention the variant. Its an Emotion Pack Diesel.

planet_rocker · 13th August 2009, 13:03

IIRC the temp indicator stays at 50% unlike our palios (Pic source: Amit's Punto). why don't you DIY the B pillar sticker with feviquick. i know it is a new car - but why wait till the first service.

Our Getz came with two scratches on the bonnet and the front bumper. till date the dealer service guys didn't find time to get it painted in spite of follow ups.

11th August 2009, 13:57	#16
neoonwheels Senior - BHPian Join Date: Aug 2005 Location: Pune Posts: 2,069 Thanked: 1,881 Times View My Garage	Wow, another GPunto owner. Enjoy her to the fullest. I have almost convinced my friend to either go for Linea/GPunto
	() Thanks

11th August 2009, 14:01	#17
debugged BHPian Join Date: Jul 2009 Location: Bangalore Posts: 42 Thanked: 6 Times	Quite typical of these agents sitting at most of the dealers. When I was on the lookout for the loan, luckily, a friend suggested I directly approach the bank and I did. I went directly to the SBI main branch near residency road and I was told that the MPM team there handles auto loans. The person there advised me not to give any documents to these agents at the dealers as they usually delay submitting the forms in case of banks which offer low commissions and give false information just so that you are forced to atleast think of having a Plan B and get a loan processed through another bank which pays better commissions. I gave all the required documents to the person from the MPM team and my loan got processed in two weeks. And by the way, Congrats on your new car gods-envy. Its tough to maintain white car in Bangalore but with good set of alloys, she will be neighbor's envy for sure .
	() Thanks

11th August 2009, 14:17	#19
VahanPujari BANNED Join Date: Mar 2009 Location: Mumbai Posts: 1,308 Thanked: 8 Times	Congrats dude & enjoy the Italian beauty
	() Thanks

11th August 2009, 15:04	#21
Latheesh Senior - BHPian Join Date: Dec 2007 Location: CNN/BLR Posts: 4,279 Thanked: 10,244 Times	congrats on your new car, white punto is a head turner for sure. yet to spot one on Bangalore roads
	() Thanks

11th August 2009, 15:33	#22
finneyp Senior - BHPian Join Date: Dec 2005 Location: Bangalore Posts: 2,736 Thanked: 359 Times View My Garage	Congrats pal, Nice write-up on your purchase experience! Enjoy the Grande Punto!
	() Thanks

11th August 2009, 15:51	#23
diabloo BANNED Join Date: Jun 2007 Location: Bengalooru Posts: 1,480 Thanked: 17 Times	Congrats ! Its raining punters in TBHP !!!
	() Thanks

11th August 2009, 17:48	#24
phamilyman Senior - BHPian Join Date: Jul 2007 Location: Gurgaon Posts: 5,974 Thanked: 4,663 Times	Go punto go! Love the narration so far. PS: Do post a pic of your parking lot!
	() Thanks

11th August 2009, 17:58	#25
anekho Senior - BHPian Join Date: Dec 2008 Location: . Posts: 1,997 Thanked: 685 Times	nice narration gods-envy! post the rest soon please with a lot of pics!
	() Thanks

11th August 2009, 20:53	#26
NutsNBolts BHPian Join Date: Jul 2009 Location: Jammu Posts: 817 Thanked: 41 Times View My Garage	gods-envy is owner's pride, a GP in this case. Nice story telling prowess, bro. Total filmi andaaz. Now throw a quick gun murugun into the story and we have a great copyright idea here.
	() Thanks

12th August 2009, 09:57	#27
vishwask82 BHPian Join Date: Dec 2007 Location: Bengaluru Posts: 71 Thanked: 0 Times	Congrats gods-envy on becoming the proud owner of the white Italian beauty. Awaiting pics - Vish
	() Thanks

12th August 2009, 14:00	#28
gods-envy BHPian Join Date: Nov 2007 Location: Bangalore Posts: 474 Thanked: 38 Times View My Garage	thanks a lot for your wishes guys. sorry for the delay. I shall post the pics by the weekend, for sure.
	() Thanks

13th August 2009, 11:54	#29
gods-envy BHPian Join Date: Nov 2007 Location: Bangalore Posts: 474 Thanked: 38 Times View My Garage	Delivery Issues and Initial Ownership Delivery Issues Just when I was taking delivery of the car on 5th Wednesday, I noticed a small scratch on the right side of the rear bumper. Though the dimensions of the scratch were in millimeters, I was not happy. I requested for a bumper replacement and surprisingly the sale executive readily agreed. He told me to drop the car off the next day morning. He would send it to the Hosur road stockyard and I can pick it up back by evening. He wanted time till evening because morning he was going to send the car for registration (car was partially registered - only road tax was paid, rest was not yet done). So I drop it off on Thursday morning and promise to be back by evening before dusk. But matters at office kept me busy and I could only manage to reach the showroom only after 7pm. It was already dark and I could immediately notice that the bumper had been repainted and not replaced. The area that was painted was rough and did not match the initial smooth finish. I pounce on the sales exec and he promises to get it replaced. I reach home unhappy. At home, discuss the same with my bro and he told me that since the new bumper would be replaced by hand and not in the assembly line, the bumper might not get the same amount of fit. So after much discussion, I agreed to not have the bumper replaced but however wanted it to be rubbed and polished to at least a similar to factory finish. My brother goes to the showroom next day and tries to get the staff to polish it. Things improved a bit, but were still not the best. I asked him to get the car home and I would take it to the showroom again on Saturday. Friday was the day I could drive the car to office and run the car for more than 20-30kms. During this run, I noticed a few more problems. 1.A very little but distinct abnormal sound when I would press the clutch. 2.The wheel alignment was not done properly and the car was pulling very slightly to the left. 3.The inside of the black B-pillar sticker was not properly stuck. 4.Temperature guage is always at 50% - Is it not supposed to be at 25%. Come Saturday morning, I land at the showroom at 10AM. Meet the concerned exec and ask him to get all my problems resolved. 1.The problem with the clutch is resolved. They take it inside and do some stuff to the clutch and its fine now. 1st problem resolved. 2.Wheel Alignment - The guy who was supposed to do the wheel alignment has not come sir, so can you please come tomorrow. So this goes into the pending bucket. 3.B pillar sticker - I asked them to remove this existing one and replace with a new one. But the response was ‘ Sir, No stock, will resolve this in first service’. 4.I was told that, it’s going to be like that itself. I am ok with it as far as it does not reach beyond that. Other GP owners, is it how it’s in your cars as well? The main problem about the bumper repaint was slightly resolved by applying rubbing compound and polishing the affected area. Again this solved the problem but I have not got the factory finish. Once everything was done. I wrote a letter to the manager of concorde listing all the above problems and that they have to be resolved. And asked the sales exec to sign it and keep a copy of the same in his file. So overall, this has been the state of affairs. Apart from this I have not faced any other technical problem with the car. Blue and Me however is not able to copy my phone’s address book. I have a nokia E62. But I hope to solve this problem by changing my phone: D Initial Ownership I have been driving the car in city limits itself ever since and have clocked close to 450kms. The average as per the ODO is hovering between 14.5-15kmpl (50% AC). I maintain a driving style of not going over 2000rpm except for a few occasional surges where the meter goes close to 3500 rpm. This surge hardly lasts for a few seconds if not more. A question I would like to ask the gurus is, Can I take the car out on a long drive over the weekend? I am looking at clocking close to 800-1000kms in 2 days. Is it advisable? Another thing that I noticed is when I place my foot on the clutch, I feel a sense of a very slight vibration. I did not have these on my earlier palios. This is my first diesel car and I am not sure this is normal. Please advise. Also the placement of the clutch is not as comfortable as it was in my previous palios. Its a tad higher. Edit - Sorry for the delay in the snaps guys; Photos will be taken and uploaded over the weekend. I think, I forgot to mention the variant. Its an Emotion Pack Diesel. Last edited by gods-envy : 13th August 2009 at 12:02.
	() Thanks

13th August 2009, 13:03	#30
planet_rocker Senior - BHPian Join Date: Sep 2006 Location: Bong-land Posts: 2,323 Thanked: 426 Times	IIRC the temp indicator stays at 50% unlike our palios (Pic source: Amit's Punto). why don't you DIY the B pillar sticker with feviquick. i know it is a new car - but why wait till the first service. Our Getz came with two scratches on the bonnet and the front bumper. till date the dealer service guys didn't find time to get it painted in spite of follow ups. Last edited by planet_rocker : 13th August 2009 at 13:09.
	() Thanks