Team-BHP - Yet Another Fiat Grande Punto MJD -Active on Tbhp
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I have got it delivered on 18 of this month and credit goes to tbhp which enlightened me and helped me take my decision.
Well, i have driven both swift and i10.
I have had my share of self doubts and back tracking before taking the plunge regarding which car to choose but once i test drove the punto mjd all doubts and second thought to blown to pieces and against multiple warnings of friends and family i chose it
Firstly , i had diesel car in my mind as i have travel a lot from gorakhpur in north east uttar pradesh to varanasi in south .Moreover i needed car which was equally at ease in bumper to bumper city traffic to challenges of highways.Also , as i had to travel long distances the ride quality was prime consideration
The punto simply glides over potholes like no other car i have driven.
Now the comparision , i test drove the i10, the ride was good but nothing as compared to my baby,Also swift is definitely great over all package but personally i dont like the looks and the boot space is also very limited.
So i took the plunge and loving every moment of my driving .clap:
I have clocked 1014kms on it

No wonder you love your Punto! It's a brilliant car and will make you even more happier. Have a great ride with the beauty!

My hands are itching to share my experience howsoever short it may be.My nova bossa
is all but 12 days old .
It would be better to organise my post in terms of likes and dislikes

positives
1.Ride and comfort -I might sound rather repetitive but one cant fail to feel the ride of the car .It really glides over the tarmac .Moreover one would sort of stop worrying about the potholes so common on Indian roads.Jerks and body roll are minimal.
2.Steering column-I simply relish the feel of steering wheel and one is quite at ease with it , added charm is that of contoured and sculptured wheel which facilitates greater hold .
3Front seats -Well pretty good and front passenger can easily stretch legs though the thigh support is not as good as that of swift .
4.Rear seats -Though spacious but strictly not good for people over 6 feet ,as their head might touch the roof sometimes .
5.Build -quite robust ,one can very well judge it when one opens and shuts the door.
Of repeated the european thud is there . On the downside the heavy still has added weight to the car and hence distinct lack of pick up as compared to the swift diesel ,
6.Handling - ITs top notch , I may not be qualified as i am yet to cross the 3 digit barrier .But one thing i can tell , i did not feel I was driving around 100 kmh until the speed buzzer went off.

now the things which i did not like .
i have driven around 1k ,for last one or two days , I am privy to some strange thud from rear left wheel whenever i cross any pothole or a breaker .I really dont know the cause and i have to raise this issue with the fiat guys in varanasi.
Moreover , sometimes i have to downshift gears while overtaking , I agree one cant expect the performance of swift in terms of pick up,
As often pointed out by various other users ,i dont like the average plastic quality but ,one should give allowance to fiat as overall package is good
One thing more , resale value conscious people should consider hyundai and marutis not fiat, It will take time to improve ,but for me its dream come true and really more than happy that despite much swaying i listened to myself and got this nova bossa

congratulations dude new Punto, a definate VFM! where are mandatory pics :)
how is sales of FIAT cars in Varanasi! you get to spot them easily on road or are rear?

what was the OTR, how was dealership experience?

Congrats on your acquisition. A wise decision considering the long distances you have to cover. I think nobody can predict the market five to seven years from today so I don't believe in resale. After this period, today's market kings could be paupers and vice versa. How about some pics show off the BNW?

Congrats on the punto. The Bossa Nova White Punto oozes out elegance from every square inch of it.

Could you please let us know the make of the stock tyres on the Active and about their performance in terms of road noise and grip. Also, do let us know about the accessories/ICE that you have installed/planned.

Happy motoring. We are all waiting for some elegant pics.

Congrats on your new Punto. Can you also please mention the On Road price that you paid for the car? Anf of course some pictures.

Quote:

Originally Posted by NutsNBolts (Post 1912107)
Congrats on your acquisition. A wise decision considering the long distances you have to cover. I think nobody can predict the market five to seven years from today so I don't believe in resale. After this period, today's market kings could be paupers and vice versa. How about some pics show off the BNW?

Quote:

Originally Posted by recshenoy (Post 1912100)
congratulations dude new Punto, a definate VFM! where are mandatory pics :)
how is sales of FIAT cars in Varanasi! you get to spot them easily on road or are rear?

what was the OTR, how was dealership experience?

THANX A LOT MAN.
As regards the sales of fiat in varanasi the sales guy told me there are selling like one or two per month . I personally have not seen them on road save the demo cars of the agency .People are still pretty apprehensive about the performance of the car owing to fiat *** and few are blessed with the internet and still fewer can boast of ready reference from tbhp lol:

For the photos , i have pretty average ones taken from mobile ,moreover currently using net through gprs so ,please wait for while until i reach my

place in varanasi .
Finally the otr was 5.65 lac(5.32lac+33k for registration)
Moreover i was given free
1. one year comprehensive insurance-Rs 9919.00
2. road side assistance
3 .extended warranty -Rs 5000
4.mud flaps,seat covers and matting were also given free of cost
5.Sony music system with usb drive connectivity and two speakers
and to top it all i negotiated a free teflon coating too

And now talking of dealership experience , It was pretty good , the sales guys were pretty attentive to my queries with their limited knowledge about the product .The guys at their workshop where they have stocked their inventory were at loss to tell punto mjd from the petrol one .
But that does not make much a difference to you if one knows they have pretty good stuff at their hand
Would soon post the pics

These are few pics which i could manage from mobile kindly bear with me as i am pretty sure they could do little justice to the machine in flesh and all its visual grandeur
:D

Congratulations Blueblooded. I think given your travel requirements, MJD was a very wise choice. I do a ton of Mumbai Pune and thats exactly where the car shines.

Congratulations again

Congratulations on your new car - MJD punto is a beauty. I love the car and you can say after Punto, I have become a Fanboy

You sure are going to have a head turning car there in Varanasi. I recently was in Lucknow and was shocked by complete lack of FIAT on the roads. I went by road from Lucknow to Faizabad and believe me friends, I did NOT see, I repeat, I DID NOT see a single Palio, leave alone a Punto.
That belt is strictly a Maruti belt, and to some extent Safari Belt too.

All politicians in UP simple love Tata Safari. Especially White ones. I lost count of the Safaris which zoomed past our taxi.

So there you go. Get ready for some serious staring by people.

BTW: Welcome to the club.

Quote:

Originally Posted by download2live (Post 1912543)
You sure are going to have a head turning car there in Varanasi. I recently was in Lucknow and was shocked by complete lack of FIAT on the roads. I went by road from Lucknow to Faizabad and believe me friends, I did NOT see, I repeat, I DID NOT see a single Palio, leave alone a Punto.
That belt is strictly a Maruti belt, and to some extent Safari Belt too.

All politicians in UP simple love Tata Safari. Especially White ones. I lost count of the Safaris which zoomed past our taxi.

So there you go. Get ready for some serious staring by people.

BTW: Welcome to the club.

Thanx a lot ,it has already started turning heads .
Friends people in general dont know what punto is .Fiat , is doing little to market its product which surely can give the asian counterparts a run for their money .NO offence intended to anybody .
Yes politicians of all hue and color bashfully choose to be driven on tata -safaris,in this part of our country.
Recently , I had a week long stay in Mumbai , much to my surprise the safari and few and far between .

Yesterday , my punto gave , 19.7 km/l ,for 20%city and 80%highway driving.
Guys you wont believe that i was having the impression that only emotion and emotion pack of punto boasts of trip odometer , mileage indicators etc.I was pleasantly surprised when i discovered this .You can assume even the fiat sales guys had no idea about the control and operation of various switches

My punto is 1200kms old , so today i thought of having some fun on the highway , much my delight a TATA SAFARI ZIPPED PAST ME
A gentle push on the gas pedal did the trick and i had no problem in overtaking it ,though I felt a little tense while negotiating a curve .
Friends can you please suggest me changing my stock tyre which is 165/80 r14 to 195/60 r15 would improve high speed dynamics and braking .


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