My intoxicating ride - Punto 90 BHP MJD-VGT in Tuscon Wine :-)

manish7 · 12th November 2010, 14:28

Finally, I took delivery of my Tuscon Wine Grande Punto MJD 90 BHP on 3rd Nov 2010 on Dhanteras. I did my PDI on 31st Oct (Sunday) and was very happy that Amogh could make it on Sunday The story is long about decision and I will try to make it brief so I can hope to complete it soon.

Arriving at a decision -
=========================
This was the toughest part. I sort of considered Punto a year ago when it was launched, but at that time compared it with Linea and was not too happy with it. Moreover, birth of my son and some other financial commitments made me postpone my decision.

It again captured my fancy this September and I started my homework again. I took test ride of i20 (Petrol & Diesel both), Figo, Jazz and Punto. Jazz was rather out of my budget (though I ended up pretty close to its OTR price with 90 BHP Punto) but decided to try it because I was rather concerned (and still am a bit concerned) with niggling issues of Fiats and their debatable A.S.S. I didn't like "driving feel" of i20, and Jazz felt (to me) a bit underpowered with AC on while driving on a steep curve. Besides, both i20 CRDI and Jazz felt under-featured when compared to Punto. So finally it was between Figo TDCI Titanium (6.06L OTR, Pune) & Punto MJD 75 BHP (7.04 L OTR Pune). So there was a difference of 1L between the two which was quite significant. But then Punto had amazing information on MID, alloys, ACC, steering mounted audio controls, rear pwer windows and much more. In fact, as compared to Punto, every other car in that segment felt under-featured. In fact - I did consider Jazz seriously for day, it would have given me snob value attached to Honda tag (not that I care much) and perhaps better resale, but then I wouldn't have been completely happy with features, and my heart would have always longed for Punto. But horror stories of Punto and Fiat A.S.S. did haunt me. The 200 meters (yes you read it right!) test ride t Pandit didn't help matters much! Finally I sent a letter to Fiat expressing my desire to buy Punto and dealer's reluctance to explain Punto details and give Punto ride. Next day when I was about to leave for my next visit, I got a call from Fiat and expressed my interest. In next 10 mins. I got call from dealer and I had a good test ride (7-8 KMS) of Punto. I was sold. [IMG]http://www.****************/forum/images/smilies/icon_e_smile.gif[/IMG] Another most influential meeting was with Abhijeet (neononwheels) - who owns Punto for last 6-7 months and is generally happy with it. In fact - it was a small ride in his car and his personal experience that made me make up my mind to go with what my heart really desired. I really liked Punto's ride, looks & features - and was willing to go with rather low selling model since I loved it. After 21 K discount (insurance + Extended warranty for 3k), the OTR price was around 7.04L for 75 BHP MJD. Which was fine. However, I was a bit smitten by VGT - and difference was just 40K (since I opted for premium color), so I decided to go for second test ride with dealer in 90 BHP Punto - it was arranged and I took it on highway. The stability, ride and noise insulation was just awesome at 100 KMPH; it felt as if I was driving at 60-70 KMPH. After that test ride, I just sealed my decision. It was 90 BHP, VGT MJD Tuscon Wine Punto for 7.44 L OTR Pune (Just 15 K lesser than Jazz OTR price). Though I had to stretch my budget, I was finally buying something I really love! The ride is just out of this world and good looks help! [IMG]http://www.****************/forum/images/smilies/icon_e_smile.gif[/IMG]

Dealer Experience -
======================
Well, dealer experience was not so good to put it mildly. It was downright pathetic before Fiat interfered, after that it was sort of OK. I am still not happy with the kind of treatment I got, but I am willing to let it go for my intoxicating ride.

Dealer guys are not really helpful, for they don't know most of the stuff themselves (one guy told me that 90 BHP only comes in Emotion, no emotion pack and hence no steering mounted controls etc!!!) and secondly they just don't want to attend customers properly. Besides, their poor co-ordination doesn't help either (I just got call today morning asking me about my Punto inquiry and if I am want to take test ride, surprisingly it was from the same salesman who sold me my GP!

PDI was another example of their chaos. Till Sunday 31st Oct morning, they could not confirm if I would indeed get to see my car (though I was keen, their reply was "dekhate hai"), however they wanted me to give me old car to them on that morning (which I didn't mind). Then that salesman took me to their workshop in Sahkar Nagar and we found that car was already sent to the Showroom on the previous day. So returned to showroom and began with my list of PDI. During this delay, I got a call from Amogh who called me after seeing quite a few missed calls from me. I was more than happy to know that he can come for the PDI. PDI went fine, I just found one missing rubber in the boot and car was not really clean. Interior as well as exterior needed thorough cleaning and I mentioned that to salesperson, gave him shopper's stop gift voucher and left.

The delivery experience on 3rd Nov was not very pleasant either. Again till 3 PM I didn't know when would I get my car, and due to some raids in the RTO, the registration number was not known. Finally at 3.30 PM when I called the salesman, he asked me to reach there in half an hour. SO I reached there around 4.15 PM and took delivery by 6 PM. The rubber was fitted in the boot, but car was cleaned very shabbily. I still have wax traces near rear boot "Punto". There was no ribbon, just a small garland to adorn my GP. We gave small token gift to saleman and we left the showroom. To be fair to them, they had more than 80 deliveries on that day due to "Muhurt". Anyway!

Loan Experience -
=====================
It was smooth. I took loan from HDFC bank as I had pre-approved loan there. I gave my papers on Saturday evening and my loan was sanctioned by Monday afternoon. Interest rate is high for Punto - it's 10.25 P.A., with Figo it could have been just 9.50 because as per HDFC, Figo is in higher segment as compared to Punto! Figo top end sells at 6L OTR whereas Punto 90 HP MJD is 7.5L. Anyway. I found really nice guy called Sagar in HDFC. He often ran around to the dealer to do all the formalities and to disburse money on Sunday 31st! That was indeed very nice of him.

To be continued with more details and photos in the next part....

asdon · 12th November 2010, 14:34

Let me be the 1st one to congratulate you.. its a great car and great colour.. happy driving and best of luck

neoonwheels · 12th November 2010, 14:38

Welcome to FIAT family Manish. Hope I will get to see the car this weekend

@tombum · 12th November 2010, 14:40

Woah, Tuscan Wine. That's such a classy color. Congrats Manish. Pics please!

manish7 · 12th November 2010, 14:45

Quote:

Originally Posted by neoonwheels

Welcome to FIAT family Manish. Hope I will get to see the car this weekend

You get whatever you ant man! I owe you & Amogh a special treat! If only we could meet soon!

StarrySky · 12th November 2010, 14:55

Congrats Manish! Your buying experience has a lot of parallels with my own. Wishing you many happy miles in the Punto!

And finally, I'm happy to see another VGT Punto ownership thread!

deepakhon · 12th November 2010, 15:08

Congrats. I saw a Tuscan Wine Punto and was smitten by it. All the best.

driveanddrive · 12th November 2010, 15:26

Congratulations Manish on the Beauty! Welcome to the Fiat family! It looks stunning in Tuscan Wine. Drive safe and enjoy the Car.

nkrishnap · 12th November 2010, 15:54

Congrats on the Punto. Tucsan wine is rightly a premium color for punto. Whats the Punto thread worth without the Photos. Please put them up soon.

Do enjoy many more happy miles with you new bold drive.

praful · 12th November 2010, 15:59

Congrats on three counts :

1. Becoming a FIAT'ian
2. Buying the VGT Punto
3. Owning the rare intoxicating coloured Punto

Good to see that Abhijeet initiated you into this. Good Work Abhijeet!

joe1980 · 12th November 2010, 16:20

Congratulations on your new Punto VGT. Great choice of color. Can you please some pictures?

neoonwheels · 12th November 2010, 16:23

Quote:

Originally Posted by praful

Congrats on three counts :

1. Becoming a FIAT'ian
2. Buying the VGT Punto
3. Owning the rare intoxicating coloured Punto

Good to see that Abhijeet initiated you into this. Good Work Abhijeet!

Hey thanks Praful

I really did not do much. I just let him drive my car

Klub Class · 12th November 2010, 17:53

Congratulations Manish, on your Fiat Grande Punto 90 BHP.

Please do take her to an open highway and click loads of pics. Make sure that you share all the pics of your car with us

I do envy you brother - you've 15 more horses than me. (Yes, we've a Fiat Punto 1.3 75 BHP in our home)

Enjoy your Italian Beauty. Happy & safe motoring.

Amith

Latheesh · 12th November 2010, 17:54

Congrats on your VGT, my friend booked VGT and waiting for the delivery (He works for another major auto company).

Did you observe any improvement on interior plastic quality comparing to 75 BHP ones? we took test drive of a brand new Punto75 BHP and was not happy with the interior quality.

Its an awesome machine to drive and as you said feels like 60 when you are actually doing 100+ speed.

manish7 · 12th November 2010, 18:31

Nope, no difference in interior quality. Just that 90 BHP has chrome handles (I hate chrome) and seat covers have Punto logo in red. No other difference otherwise. But VGT is one awesome machine to drive. Pics will be added this weekend!

12th November 2010, 14:28	#1
manish7 BHPian Join Date: Apr 2006 Location: Pune Posts: 508 Thanked: 0 Times	My intoxicating ride - Punto 90 BHP MJD-VGT in Tuscon Wine :-) Finally, I took delivery of my Tuscon Wine Grande Punto MJD 90 BHP on 3rd Nov 2010 on Dhanteras. I did my PDI on 31st Oct (Sunday) and was very happy that Amogh could make it on Sunday The story is long about decision and I will try to make it brief so I can hope to complete it soon. Arriving at a decision - ========================= This was the toughest part. I sort of considered Punto a year ago when it was launched, but at that time compared it with Linea and was not too happy with it. Moreover, birth of my son and some other financial commitments made me postpone my decision. It again captured my fancy this September and I started my homework again. I took test ride of i20 (Petrol & Diesel both), Figo, Jazz and Punto. Jazz was rather out of my budget (though I ended up pretty close to its OTR price with 90 BHP Punto) but decided to try it because I was rather concerned (and still am a bit concerned) with niggling issues of Fiats and their debatable A.S.S. I didn't like "driving feel" of i20, and Jazz felt (to me) a bit underpowered with AC on while driving on a steep curve. Besides, both i20 CRDI and Jazz felt under-featured when compared to Punto. So finally it was between Figo TDCI Titanium (6.06L OTR, Pune) & Punto MJD 75 BHP (7.04 L OTR Pune). So there was a difference of 1L between the two which was quite significant. But then Punto had amazing information on MID, alloys, ACC, steering mounted audio controls, rear pwer windows and much more. In fact, as compared to Punto, every other car in that segment felt under-featured. In fact - I did consider Jazz seriously for day, it would have given me snob value attached to Honda tag (not that I care much) and perhaps better resale, but then I wouldn't have been completely happy with features, and my heart would have always longed for Punto. But horror stories of Punto and Fiat A.S.S. did haunt me. The 200 meters (yes you read it right!) test ride t Pandit didn't help matters much! Finally I sent a letter to Fiat expressing my desire to buy Punto and dealer's reluctance to explain Punto details and give Punto ride. Next day when I was about to leave for my next visit, I got a call from Fiat and expressed my interest. In next 10 mins. I got call from dealer and I had a good test ride (7-8 KMS) of Punto. I was sold. [IMG]http://www.**************/forum/images/smilies/icon_e_smile.gif[/IMG] Another most influential meeting was with Abhijeet (neononwheels) - who owns Punto for last 6-7 months and is generally happy with it. In fact - it was a small ride in his car and his personal experience that made me make up my mind to go with what my heart really desired. I really liked Punto's ride, looks & features - and was willing to go with rather low selling model since I loved it. After 21 K discount (insurance + Extended warranty for 3k), the OTR price was around 7.04L for 75 BHP MJD. Which was fine. However, I was a bit smitten by VGT - and difference was just 40K (since I opted for premium color), so I decided to go for second test ride with dealer in 90 BHP Punto - it was arranged and I took it on highway. The stability, ride and noise insulation was just awesome at 100 KMPH; it felt as if I was driving at 60-70 KMPH. After that test ride, I just sealed my decision. It was 90 BHP, VGT MJD Tuscon Wine Punto for 7.44 L OTR Pune (Just 15 K lesser than Jazz OTR price). Though I had to stretch my budget, I was finally buying something I really love! The ride is just out of this world and good looks help! [IMG]http://www.**************/forum/images/smilies/icon_e_smile.gif[/IMG] Dealer Experience - ====================== Well, dealer experience was not so good to put it mildly. It was downright pathetic before Fiat interfered, after that it was sort of OK. I am still not happy with the kind of treatment I got, but I am willing to let it go for my intoxicating ride. Dealer guys are not really helpful, for they don't know most of the stuff themselves (one guy told me that 90 BHP only comes in Emotion, no emotion pack and hence no steering mounted controls etc!!!) and secondly they just don't want to attend customers properly. Besides, their poor co-ordination doesn't help either (I just got call today morning asking me about my Punto inquiry and if I am want to take test ride, surprisingly it was from the same salesman who sold me my GP! PDI was another example of their chaos. Till Sunday 31st Oct morning, they could not confirm if I would indeed get to see my car (though I was keen, their reply was "dekhate hai"), however they wanted me to give me old car to them on that morning (which I didn't mind). Then that salesman took me to their workshop in Sahkar Nagar and we found that car was already sent to the Showroom on the previous day. So returned to showroom and began with my list of PDI. During this delay, I got a call from Amogh who called me after seeing quite a few missed calls from me. I was more than happy to know that he can come for the PDI. PDI went fine, I just found one missing rubber in the boot and car was not really clean. Interior as well as exterior needed thorough cleaning and I mentioned that to salesperson, gave him shopper's stop gift voucher and left. The delivery experience on 3rd Nov was not very pleasant either. Again till 3 PM I didn't know when would I get my car, and due to some raids in the RTO, the registration number was not known. Finally at 3.30 PM when I called the salesman, he asked me to reach there in half an hour. SO I reached there around 4.15 PM and took delivery by 6 PM. The rubber was fitted in the boot, but car was cleaned very shabbily. I still have wax traces near rear boot "Punto". There was no ribbon, just a small garland to adorn my GP. We gave small token gift to saleman and we left the showroom. To be fair to them, they had more than 80 deliveries on that day due to "Muhurt". Anyway! Loan Experience - ===================== It was smooth. I took loan from HDFC bank as I had pre-approved loan there. I gave my papers on Saturday evening and my loan was sanctioned by Monday afternoon. Interest rate is high for Punto - it's 10.25 P.A., with Figo it could have been just 9.50 because as per HDFC, Figo is in higher segment as compared to Punto! Figo top end sells at 6L OTR whereas Punto 90 HP MJD is 7.5L. Anyway. I found really nice guy called Sagar in HDFC. He often ran around to the dealer to do all the formalities and to disburse money on Sunday 31st! That was indeed very nice of him. To be continued with more details and photos in the next part....
	() Thanks

12th November 2010, 14:34	#2
asdon BHPian Join Date: Dec 2007 Location: Bangalore Posts: 950 Thanked: 296 Times View My Garage	Let me be the 1st one to congratulate you.. its a great car and great colour.. happy driving and best of luck
	() Thanks

12th November 2010, 14:38	#3
neoonwheels Senior - BHPian Join Date: Aug 2005 Location: Pune Posts: 2,065 Thanked: 1,877 Times View My Garage	Welcome to FIAT family Manish. Hope I will get to see the car this weekend
	() Thanks

12th November 2010, 14:40	#4
@tombum BHPian Join Date: Nov 2010 Location: Ahmedabad Posts: 67 Thanked: 17 Times	Woah, Tuscan Wine. That's such a classy color. Congrats Manish. Pics please!
	() Thanks

12th November 2010, 14:55	#6
StarrySky Senior - BHPian Join Date: Apr 2010 Location: EU - Nordic Posts: 2,052 Thanked: 3,043 Times	Congrats Manish! Your buying experience has a lot of parallels with my own. Wishing you many happy miles in the Punto! And finally, I'm happy to see another VGT Punto ownership thread!
	() Thanks

12th November 2010, 15:08	#7
deepakhon Senior - BHPian Join Date: Oct 2004 Location: Bangalore Posts: 1,441 Thanked: 65 Times	Congrats. I saw a Tuscan Wine Punto and was smitten by it. All the best.
	() Thanks

12th November 2010, 15:26	#8
driveanddrive BHPian Join Date: Sep 2010 Location: Nagpur/Mumbai Posts: 224 Thanked: 517 Times	Congratulations Manish on the Beauty! Welcome to the Fiat family! It looks stunning in Tuscan Wine. Drive safe and enjoy the Car.
	() Thanks

12th November 2010, 15:54	#9
nkrishnap Distinguished - BHPian Join Date: May 2006 Location: Bangalore Posts: 3,983 Thanked: 7,407 Times View My Garage	Congrats on the Punto. Tucsan wine is rightly a premium color for punto. Whats the Punto thread worth without the Photos. Please put them up soon. Do enjoy many more happy miles with you new bold drive.
	() Thanks

12th November 2010, 15:59	#10
praful Senior - BHPian Join Date: Jun 2006 Location: Paris Posts: 1,021 Thanked: 614 Times View My Garage	Congrats on three counts : 1. Becoming a FIAT'ian 2. Buying the VGT Punto 3. Owning the rare intoxicating coloured Punto Good to see that Abhijeet initiated you into this. Good Work Abhijeet!
	() Thanks

12th November 2010, 16:20	#11
joe1980 BHPian Join Date: Jan 2010 Location: Andromeda Posts: 336 Thanked: 155 Times	Congratulations on your new Punto VGT. Great choice of color. Can you please some pictures?
	() Thanks

12th November 2010, 17:53	#13
Klub Class Senior - BHPian Join Date: Aug 2007 Location: KA17\|KL65\|KL41 Posts: 4,867 Thanked: 1,935 Times	Congratulations Manish, on your Fiat Grande Punto 90 BHP. Please do take her to an open highway and click loads of pics. Make sure that you share all the pics of your car with us I do envy you brother - you've 15 more horses than me. (Yes, we've a Fiat Punto 1.3 75 BHP in our home) Enjoy your Italian Beauty. Happy & safe motoring. Amith Last edited by Klub Class : 12th November 2010 at 18:03. Reason: Added a note
	() Thanks

12th November 2010, 17:54	#14
Latheesh Senior - BHPian Join Date: Dec 2007 Location: CNN/BLR Posts: 4,243 Thanked: 10,091 Times	Congrats on your VGT, my friend booked VGT and waiting for the delivery (He works for another major auto company). Did you observe any improvement on interior plastic quality comparing to 75 BHP ones? we took test drive of a brand new Punto75 BHP and was not happy with the interior quality. Its an awesome machine to drive and as you said feels like 60 when you are actually doing 100+ speed.
	() Thanks

12th November 2010, 18:31	#15
manish7 BHPian Join Date: Apr 2006 Location: Pune Posts: 508 Thanked: 0 Times	Nope, no difference in interior quality. Just that 90 BHP has chrome handles (I hate chrome) and seat covers have Punto logo in red. No other difference otherwise. But VGT is one awesome machine to drive. Pics will be added this weekend!
	() Thanks