Team-BHP
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https://www.team-bhp.com/forum/)
Hi!
We started looking for a car a long time back during the summers. We first thought of going in for the anhc/linea, but due to budget constraints decided against them.
In fact our initial plan was to purchase the city in Delhi and drive it to Pune.
After the budget revision we started looking at hatches. i10 & i20 were decided against by me due to personal bias :D. Actually the diesel hadn't been released at that time and I found the car not very VFM. We decided against the Fabia due to the company. After narrowing it down to Swift, Ritz and Punto we went in for a few test drives.
I am based in Delhi and my brother is based in Pune. Getting a Punto TD in Delhi proved to be next to impossible.
Being a Fiat lover I was always pressing for the Punto, but he was not very happy with the interiors and the fit & finish. I advised him against discarding the Punto on the basis of the interiors and well I guessed the initial few pieces to move out of the factory were bound to have some inconsistencies.
Anyways we narrowed it down to the GP. I was gunning for the MJD, but my brother decided to go with the 1.4 Fire.
The dealer experience was not great. A visit to BU Bhandari was fruitless as the reps were not in the mood for entertaining queries about the GP. My brother decided to go with Pandit.
The booking amount was paid in the first week of September and the car was supposed to be delivered on the 10th. We decided to postpone the delivery to the 21st owing to the Navratras and the fact that I had my exams till the 19th.
We encountered some trouble with the registration process which is detailed here:
http://www.team-bhp.com/forum/indian...ess-proof.html
I flew down to Pune for the delivery on 21st itself. The rest of the details in the next post.
We went over to Pandit around 3 pm. Lost in the mad rush inside the showroom, it took us a while to gather our bearings.
I can somewhat empathize with the sales reps after seeing the sort of weirdos the place sees. Middle aged men sitting inside cars and mock driving complete with sound effects might seem funny at first, but by the end of my day I was quite irritated with it.
We found our sales rep Sachin Patil and he informed us that the car is ready for delivery. I told him we would be requiring some time with the car to conduct the PDI. He claimed it had already been done and there was no need. However on a bit of persuasion he relented.
We did the PDI in the delivery yard once the rains stopped. It lasted a good 1.5 hours and once we were satisfied with everything I requested Sachin for a test drive. I also requested that I be allowed to check the underbody for rusting. After a few antics and photoshoots showing me holding the car over my head with my bare hands :D, we moved out for the TD.
Alas, how long can good things last? We moved out of the showroom, turned right, only for the car to stall at the first red light. Mind you this distance could not have been more than a 100-200 meters. I had been insisting that the fuel levels were low and we should be given the requisite 5l as per company policy. The reps told me that it had 3-4 lts and I, being too happy to find no faults with the car yet, relented.
So here we were, stalled bang in the middle of a busy red light. I got out of the drivers seat, folded the ORVMs and started redirecting traffic around the car while Sachin called up people at the showroom.
Now, I have done this a few times in Delhi...getting out and trying to get some semblance of sanity in the traffic. One is usually met with rude comments in Delhi. No one in Pune passed irritating comments. Hats off to the driving ethics of the city.
But yeah I was the subject of a few empathizing smiles. Thats okay. So the guys from the showroom took another 10 minutes to arrive emptyhanded. We pushed the car to the kerb and Sachin told them to get some fuel. Sachin left after this and Rahul Joshi, another sales rep, stayed back.
It took them another 30 minutes to get the fuel.
I was somewhat shocked at how callous they can be. But still things were bright. The car already has 120kms on the meter when we took delivery. Although I argued a bit on that count, it was a rather half hearted effort as the vehicle had already been registered.
Moving on... I drove it for 3-4 kms. Was not able to test much in the crazy traffic and the one ways. But I could hear no weird rattles and the cooling etc were satisfactory. We rolled back into the showroom and sat down to complete the paperwork.
I inquired about the FOCs that had been offered before. The rep was very non committal disowning his own promise. When I showed him the accessory list where he had marked the FOCs, he told me they would be possible only if I purchased accessories worth 10k. After consultation with a fellow tbhpian on the phone we decided against it.
We talked to the insurance fellow about the legality of driving a car without plates and how the claim was to be filed. With most of our work done...we rolled out the showroom with the GP at around 6:30. After getting the car refueled we decided to head home.
An interesting experience while on the way home...
I have talked about how well behaved Pune drivers are...sadly the law of averages caught up for us. I don't know where this happened, but this fellow in a blue i10 was honking madly while I was waiting to take a turn. My car stalled, but we were moving in 10 secs. He then went round me and slammed his brakes right in front of us.
Now a move like this would elicit a fist fight in Delhi... I was about to react in the same manner but my brother advised me against getting into a fight when we had no number plates. After a few minutes he decided to move on honking away to glory again. I wonder what sort of a hurry the guy was in... He never took his hand off the horn! This left a somewhat bitter taste in my mouth. Anyways from then on the experience was rather smooth. We took it for a drive on the airport road.
It was a very tiring day and I crashed into bed only to wake up at 2 the next day. The exhilaration is still pretty much there and I can barely stop myself from going downstairs to check on it every hour.
The car is absolutely charming. The handling is the best I have ever seen. The steering is as perfect as it gets for <10 lacs.
I am having a small problem though...The car does not pick up clearly in the second gear. This effect is accentuated with the AC on. I initially thought it was the compressor going on/off. But now it seems like something else. It happens on 3-4 as well sometimes. In the second it feels something like turbo lag would in a diesel. But in the 3-4 its like different accelerations at the same rpm. I was associating this with adulterated fuel. Any guesses what might be causing it? Also the noise from the brakes when coming to a stop is also disconcerting.
Thats about it from me for now.
I would like to specially thank Amogh and Crimson here for their help. Their co operation through the whole process was instrumental in the comfortable delivery. Thanks a lot guys! I owe you one!
I will be uploading the pics in the evening most probably.
Cya!
PS: The colour is Minimal Grey.
Okay one more thing... Mr. Kulkarni of Pandit informed me that the 1.6 MJD and 1.6 FIRE for the Fiat Linea are going to be launched by December.
w00t!
Confirm please!
Quote:
Originally Posted by EssYouWe
(Post 1497419)
Okay one more thing... Mr. Kulkarni of Pandit informed me that the 1.6 MJD and 1.6 FIRE for the Fiat Linea are going to be launched by December.
w00t!
Confirm please!
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woo hooo.. 1.6 are on the way!!
congratulations dude. Pics please
Congrats pal, Enjoy the Bold Italian drive!
congrats and welcome to the GP club :)
Hi
I just got back after getting seat covers and sunfilm.
I went for 3M's RE-35 for sides and back and CR-70 for the front. The seat covers are Art leather and cost 3500/-.
Congrats Buddy for the italian beauty, the car looks smashing from every angle :)
Do post some detailed pics of the Interiors also.
Till then enjoy the beauty..!!
Sunfilms already? Man, I got my car on July 12 and I have still not got sunfilms!
How much did the films cost you? I am planning to go in for CR-40 on the sides and rear and CR-50 for front. Plan to go to Reliance Autozone on Friday and find out more. Let's see how it goes.
Congrats for your Punto :) . Did you get any free accessories from Pandit Automotive ?
What is OTR paid for this lovely car ?
Congrats for your Punto.
Regarding 2nd gear characteristics its like that only in the 1.4 Fire. I have a petrol Linea and in 2nd till about 1900 RPM car moves like a bear but then all of a sudden gathers speed and RPM needle rises swiftly.
IF you revv the car in 2nd gear till 2500-3000 (avoid in your new car) then pickup from 3rd onwards is decent for it. Only thing is once RPM drops below 1900 you will need an upshift to get going or the car will take its own sweet time. The toque below 1900 is virtually 0.
Take her out on highways once and see how you fall in love with the ride and handling.
Congrats!
So in all the dealer experience wasn't great but the bright side is now you can enjoy the beauty :)
How about few pics of seat cover and the sunfilm angles?
Congrats!! Wow you are quick dude... post some pics of the Art Leather Seat Covers, even I am also planning to get seat covers soon.
Congrats Mr KungFu Panda. Law of averages indeed. Perhaps he wanted to show how good a Hyundai is compared to Fiat and so kept honking.
Congrats dude!
Punto will make you forget all your interesting dealer experiences :)
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