[sdp1975]

Here's my e-mail chain with Fiat :

================================================== ==============

RE: Questions on Punto
Wednesday, November 18, 2009 11:47 AM
From:
"Service" <Service@fiapl.com>
Add sender to Contacts
To:
"Shankar XXXXXXXX" <shankar_XXXXXXXX@yahoo.com>

Dear Sir,


Thanks for communicating FIAT INDIA . Congratulation for being the proud owner of FIAT PUNTO.


As per your queries:

1) The ground clearance for FIAT PUNTO MULTIJET is 171 mm

2) No Sir, your vehicle does not need any running in.

We request you to follow the guidelines as mentioned in the handbook.


Thanking you & assuring you of our best services at all times.

Thanks and Regards


Manu Srivastava

Customer Services

Fiat India Automobiles Ltd.


From: Shankar XXXXXXXX [mailto:shankar_XXXXXXXX@yahoo.com]
Sent: Wednesday, November 18, 2009 11:05 AM
To: Service
Subject: Questions on Punto

Hello Fiat,

I am the owner of a Fiat Punto Multijet emotion Pack. I have two questions on the vehicle I own :

1) What is the ground clearance of the vehicle. I could not find this information on the website or in the technical specifications.

2) Does my car need any running in? The only thing I found in the Punto manual was to avoid hard braking in the first 500 km. However, I did not find anything related to engine RPM or speed. Does this mean the car does not need any running-in ? Please advise.

Regards,
Shankar.


================================================== ==============

[kailashnj]

Originally Posted by sdp1975

Here's my e-mail chain with Fiat :

================================================== ==============

RE: Questions on Punto
Wednesday, November 18, 2009 11:47 AM
From:
"Service" <Service@fiapl.com>
Add sender to Contacts
To:
"Shankar XXXXXXXX" <shankar_XXXXXXXX@yahoo.com>

Dear Sir,


Thanks for communicating FIAT INDIA . Congratulation for being the proud owner of FIAT PUNTO.


As per your queries:

1) The ground clearance for FIAT PUNTO MULTIJET is 171 mm

2) No Sir, your vehicle does not need any running in.

We request you to follow the guidelines as mentioned in the handbook.


Thanking you & assuring you of our best services at all times.

Thanks and Regards


Manu Srivastava

Customer Services

Fiat India Automobiles Ltd.

Thanks for uploading the email thread between you and fiat.

Today I completed 240kms and when I checked the fuel efficiency that I got in the average fuel consumption a is 14.2km/l. This is entirely in city driving with 100% ac. I hope to see better figures in the future.

Will continue to update the thread when ever possible.

Regards,
Kailash

[kavesh55]

Congrats Kailash on your buy. I too fell in love with a punto last week, albeit she was in red. Dont know why or how but i was down. Gleaming red, scratchless and the right curves, may be. It seems you prefer white over most colours, so we have a dissagreement there.
On road price Rs 652973, its certainly not cheap, is it cheaper than the fabia, dont know what it costs.
Other thing was curious that, doesnt the front end bother you while driving because its a bit longer than other cars.

[sdp1975]

Originally Posted by kavesh55

Other thing was curious that, doesnt the front end bother you while driving because its a bit longer than other cars.

Actually, that was something I was worried about when I bought the Punto - I thought I would not be able judge the front distance right. But I just got used to it over the last 2 months, and right now I have no problems.

[vulpine101]

HI kailash,
congrats for your Iceberg. It looks awesome.
pics are so nice they bring out the beauty of the punto. Punto looks PURE in this shade.You call yourself an amateur i think thats too polite of you.

pic of steering from GTO testdrive thread



has the steering colour is changed to grey
In old punto, it looks same as the colour of steering controls
But in your's it looks different

And have the niggling issues been fixed?
And whats the mfr date of your car?

[HammerHead]

I think kailash's pic is with flash on and GTO's in natural light.

[worldcrawler]

Congrats Kailash for your beautiful new ride.

I guess it's the effect of white balance under the different lighting condition. But the colour of the steering wheel is a bit lighter than the black on dash and the steering mounted control panels in both these photos.

Kailash, have you noticed any difference in terms of fit and finish inside the car ? specially the area near the key hole and glovebox compartment .

[kailashnj]

Thanks for all your wishes guys.

As far as the pictures is concerned, like hammer head said it - I have taken the picture with the flash on and with high ISO settings.

The colour has not changed that is for sure. Its probably the flash that has made the difference. As far as plastics are concerned, no change, glove box is still slightly loose, and there are gaps near the key hole.

[kailashnj]

Hi Guys,

A small update - completed 500kms yesterday.

Certain things that I liked about the car
1. I am consistently getting 14+ average on my new car in the city driving conditions with 100% ac on.
2. Handling on this car is a dream. Same engine Vista feels like a rubber ball in front of Punto in terms of handling. Mind it, that does not mean vista is a bad handler, its just that Punto is in a league of its own.
3. Steering wheel feel. The leather steering has a very good feel and I specially liked the thumb recess provided on the steering. Also the controls on the steering wheel make life so much easier to drive.

Things I don't like
1. Quality of plastics - The keyhole is correct and the panel gap is very consistent there. Its the centre console which I did not like the gaps on. Right near the parking lights button, the plastic seems to be in a bad shape.
2. Seat belts tend to entangle with the seat. This is real pain.
3. Tyre noise from the Goodyear - it is too high (can you suggest some better tyres)

Overall I am satisfied with my buy. My iceberg does bring smile on face everytime I drive it.

I have got the car teflon coated and underbody antirust coat done. Planning for seat covers for the car along with reverse sensor, probably Xenos.

Regards,
Kailash

[recshenoy]

Thanks for the wonderful pics of Punto
one of my collegue who saw your Punto photos was very much impressed said " next car buy would be this and only in white"

[kiren]

Kailash,

As you have both Indica Vista QJD & a Punto MJD can you compare both of them. Thanks.

[lejhoom]

Hi Kailashnj,

Congratulations. Doesn't the white look beautiful? The queen standing in front of it too is beautiful.

I suggest you go through the manual thoroughly. A lot many answers are found there. For the rest, there is always team-bhp. Enjoy your drive.

[kailashnj]

Hi Guys,

I would like to provide a small update on my car. She has completed 3900 Kms and I can feel a transformation in her from a sedate to a beast. (What I mean is that the engine has kind of open up and is free flowing that before and also provide enough grunt at the start which I felt it lacked initially).

The car has scrapped many time and I was very skeptical of the car’s ground clearance. I have also done a kind of off road driving in this car during one of my trips and during that time I realized that this is a very very sturdy car. And by off road driving I mean no roads for at least 30 odd kms with ditches and slopes where you can go only with a 4X4 and nothing else. Guys I know I did a mistake, but at that point of time I had no other option. The entire story would be written in my travelogue very soon and you can see the details.

As for the experience with the famed Fiat / Tata A.S.S – I have completed my first service at 3200 kms – Additional 200 due to the trip. I took my car to Balaji Service station in Thane and the experience was really good. The SA there for Fiat cars is “Wilson” and I should say he does provide very good service. Due to the recent trip and the scrapping of the car – I wanted to check where all the scrapping happened and what is the damage. Hence I asked him to put my car on the ramp so that I can check – and trust me he was more that happy to do that. Also the experience was good and I got my car as promised. No delays or anything as such.

When I went there for picking up my car – I wanted to check the manufacturing month and year for my car using the chassis number. Wilson assisted me in checking the same and showed me how to read the chassis number of Punto / Linea.

The car was properly cleaned and polished and the issues that I had listed were taken care off.

I have been consistently getting a fuel average of 15 kms/ltr in Mumbai city driving conditions and on the recent trip I got 22.3 kms/ltr (both with a/c set on 24 degrees in full auto mode – 100% of the time. My car is never driven with the windows rolled down as I don’t want to spoil the interiors)

Few more pictures of the car would be uploaded between today and tomorrow.

MODS:- can you please update the title to – update at 3900kms

Regards,
Kailash

[kailashnj]

As promised - here are some of the pics that I had taken from the recent trip

[greatpower]

Man, I just can't get over the looks of Punto. What a smashing design - simple, elegant and timeless. Congratulation on owning the beaty.