[Sujith1100]

Guys, you people getting me wrong.
Will explain the reply later, as now am busy with other works.

regards.

[Pyrotek]

Guys, I think we're not getting Sujith here. He's just trying to point out how some more thought could go into the design of metal components and sections in a car to avoid commonplace issues. I'm sure he'd do the same irrespective of the car he owned. Heck, even my Swift has some difficult to reach sections.

P.S. I remember how the portion between the windshield and the bonnet in my old Indica accommodated all kinds of muck and grime.

[Sujith1100]

Originally Posted by .anshuman

Punto has sufficient GC, the only issue is the long front overhang, to take car of this the car has very good underbody metal plate.

I have taken my car much beyond the high speed breakers, everywhere from broken rural roads to no roads at all. The GC and Under body protection is more than sufficient.

Regarding other issues you have posted here, i can show you much severe of these issues in any car you say.

Punto for sure has sufficient GC, but due to the aerodynamic design , the engine had to be lowered by a few inches. Hence the Engine Guard plate became a lot lower for Indian standards, it touches at some humps with only 2 passenger in the front. The touch happens due to nose bounce. When the car is fully packed, this bounce rate is far far lesser. I have clearly mentioned in the post that "there is nothing to worry, no component will be harmed..."

Originally Posted by aditya116

chill out dude all cars have same dirt logging issues.clean them regularly with a brush and they will pose no problems whatever.
the quality of some rubber parts are horrible though.you would find better ones even in a nano!
Regarding GC just try to be careful,engine parts protected by plate.so no worries there,however i managed to scratch one of lower arms once.
PS-hows the ride holding up?

Dirt logging is seen in all cars for sure. But not always in in-accessible places or not so noticed areas. Am not insulting the car or trying to hurt your sentiments. My whole family is a FIAT lover, we have enough vehicles for all our different needs, but still just because PUNTO is a FIAT, my dad went for it blindly. I too love this car a lot and is used only by me now. I posted the pictures just to help the new owners of this car, who are not so familiar with car maintenance,etc.

Originally Posted by better4worse

My sentiments exactly, I am going to second anshuman & aditya116 on this one !

Sujith, I'll grant that to you that its not perfect which is where you are coming from, but its certainly not that bad (vis a vis competition). Most cars will give you dirty difficult to clean corners, the wee bit sad part to the entire story is Punto is no exception!

I know very well that no car perfect. Mind you I did personally find faults in BMW's rolling out of the Chennai plant. This year, September I will also be visiting FIAT,Italy for a small project related work. I will report to them on the various issue of their products in India, and what Indians expect as basics.

Originally Posted by raamki

Dont look too much into it buddy, i guess a thorough pressure wash once every two months should take care of the hidden muck. I am however a little concerned about water logging affecting the bolts under the hood in the long run.

Its part of my profession to be concerned over the tiniest of issues. I know I irritate many people over this as am an spontaneous fault finder.



All these post are in-order to help the other PUNTO owners, for whom it may be their 1st car also. I clearly mentioned that its for Trivia's Sake. If you fellow Bhpians are professional in this field, then may please ignore this thread.

[funkykar]

Sujith, this thread is an excellent detailed review about the Punto. You have studied it very extensively and found many small niggling issues. I tend to agree that these small things for every car should have been looked into to make the car a much better experience for customers.

Yes, there are small niggles in every car in the market. Question is, is it necessary?

[Sujith1100]

Hi all,

In this mayhem of comments and counter comments, I forgot the most Major issue of all. The day I was cleaning the car, I wanted to remove the wheel covers, as they obstruct cleaning of the rims. So before jacking it, I loosened the nuts of the right rear wheel first and my face was like this

Thats because, one bolt on each of the rear wheels were very loose, it was like they tightened it by hand. Yes, even I din't believe this at 1st, actually I couldn't accept the fact that such negligent work can also be done over a car. Later realized that the workers who work on them too are Indians after all, who may not even be able to afford an 2 wheeler too. So they won't be working with pride or complete dedication like the workers in FERRARI plant,Italy.

So I request all the PUNTERS to please check on the wheel bolts, make sure all are tight and secure. As no one ever come across such an negligence we don't tend to bother.

[.anshuman]

Originally Posted by Sujith1100

Punto for sure has sufficient GC, but due to the aerodynamic design , the engine had to be lowered by a few inches. Hence the Engine Guard plate became a lot lower for Indian standards, it touches at some humps with only 2 passenger in the front. The touch happens due to nose bounce. When the car is fully packed, this bounce rate is far far lesser. I have clearly mentioned in the post that "there is nothing to worry, no component will be harmed..."

1. Most modern automobiles have aerodynamic design.
   
2. The front scraping is due to long front overhang, the Sump guard is always lower than the engine.
   
3. The Front scraping issue is not related to no. of passengers in car. I have similar issue with my Elantra(The car with best GC in segment after Corolla), the front tow hooks below the front bumper are bent. Any car with long overhangs will scrap on speed breakers that high.
   
4. Nose bouce happens due to late braking.

Try driving a loaded ANHC or Civic on the same roads to feel what lack of GC means?

My appeal to all Punto owners: These mudflaps look UGLY, please remove them. Punto is a beautiful car, don't spoil its beauty by installing those UGLY truck like flaps.

[Sujith1100]

Originally Posted by .anshuman

[list=1][*]Most modern automobiles have aerodynamic design.
[*]The front scraping is due to long front overhang, the Sump guard is always lower than the engine........

The overhang in PUNTO is well know. Thats why the lower portion of the Bumper touches on some steep ramps or on bounce. But I have conducted a test to check the over all clearance under the Engine bay with a 4.5" stone block placed on level ground. The car wasn't loaded at all ! And it did make contact.
The diesel machines are heavier in the front due to the bulky engines, please note. You might have tested only the Petrol variant.

regards

[.anshuman]

Originally Posted by Sujith1100

The overhang in PUNTO is well know. Thats why the lower portion of the Bumper touches on some steep ramps or on bounce.

But I have conducted a test to check the over all clearance under the Engine bay with a 4.5" stone block placed on level ground. The car wasn't loaded at all ! And it did make contact.

The diesel machines are heavier in the front due to the bulky engines, please note. You might have tested only the Petrol variant.

Do you mean to say Punto has GC less than 114.3mm(4.5")?

Diesel machines are heavier but they also have modifications to the suspension to take care of the additional weight.

BTW I own a Punto Diesel since June '09. All my other cars are diesel powered.

[Sujith1100]

Diesel Punto has 171mm GC according to company. Also suspension for diesel a more load bearing. But there are few things which companies won't tell when selling a product, this is a marketing technique. Can't explain all that in detail here though. When a company provides you very good service after a complaint by you, then thats because "only crying babies are fed milk..."

I don't want to turn this into a fight now,lets stop this here.
Regards

[.anshuman]

^^ I am not fighting here, i am trying to initiate a healthy discussion.

Punto surely has 171mm GC. Every car sold in India is tested by ARAI before the car is launched, so there is no chance Fiat would be speculating the basic specifications like GC.

What is that, Fiat is hiding from us?

[Sujith1100]

I can't tell what Fiat is hiding or the same with other companies, as I myself am in this Industry. But will give an hint here, "Have you ever felt that some ISI certified products do not match the basic quality also !! ", please to not consider all local cheap stuff here, am referring to products from good reputed companies.

Got my point ?

[.anshuman]

^^ Nope i still did not get your point. How is the substandard stuff related to Punto's GC figure?

You can PM me if you have found something shockingly wrong with Punto's quality and don't want to reveal it publicly.

[raamki]

@sujith - , you're serious about those bolts?? scary, i'll check them on my wheels anyway, but 3000kms on, i've had no issues. But tell you what, i guess its a service centre thing, please escalate it to FIAT, the dealership cannot compromise on passenger safety, be it Indian, Italian or anybody else.

btw, you're doing a great job with this thread pal!

@anshuman - well about the mudflaps, once you've got them on, you really got no choices but to learn to live with them coz the drill job to get them screwed on to the frame is shoddy, atleast on my car it is! those holes and the paint damage around them look worse than the mudflaps themselves!

am currently on the look out for better mudflaps, found a couple on ebay but not sure if they'l actually fit (to the frame)! Btw, here's a similar looking mudflap sold on FIAT's official UK website.

P.S: I am actually going to measure the GC from the ground level to the front bumper as soon as I find a measuring tape at home!!

[Sujith1100]

Originally Posted by .anshuman

^^ Nope i still did not get your point. How is the substandard stuff related to Punto's GC figure.....

See its like when some person comes to check out a product, you want to show the best always ! Am I right? So its like sending the best standard product to the ISI or ARAI for tests and inspection. The production model will have many differences.
Now I will be shot anytime for mentioning this , god save my soul for being bold.

Originally Posted by raamki

@sujith - , you're serious about those bolts?? scary, i'll check them on my wheels anyway, but 3000kms on, i've had no issues. But tell you what, i guess its a service centre thing, please escalate it to FIAT, the dealership cannot compromise on passenger safety, be it Indian, Italian or anybody else......

There is no chance of the bolt coming off Raamki, keeping that in mind only the wheel nuts/bolts are designed with long threads. So even if they are lose they won't fall off, they will still give some sort of support.

When I go for the 1st service I will be submitting the check lists of all these issues. Hope they take it positively

[Sujith1100]

Originally Posted by raamki

@sujitham currently on the look out for better mudflaps, found a couple on ebay but not sure if they'l actually fit (to the frame)! Btw, here's a similar looking mudflap sold on FIAT's official UK website.

P.S: I am actually going to measure the GC from the ground level to the front bumper as soon as I find a measuring tape at home!!

1. The Punto in the pictures isn't for the UK I guess. As UK too has KEEP-LEFT traffic system, which means the reverse light should be to the left of the Vehicle, like the Indian models

2. Please looks at the vehicle from the side 1st. The lower part of the bumper actually rises up to the front grill. This gives enough clearance for it to move without touching any humps or stones also climb to certain gradient. But the part that touches the most is the Engine guard plate.
Look at this picture to get my point.



Regards