2003 Fiat Palio GTX review from India
"The story of how dealers killed the company"
What things have gone wrong with the car?
Passenger side power window broken in the second month. Fixed under warranty.
Strange clunking noise from front suspension when driven over potholes, since the day it was driven home. After repeated complaints, fixed during 3rd servicing. I was never told what had happened.
General comments?
The car is very comfortable and spacious for a small car. It looks good, handles well and has great build quality (perceived). My car has the smooth 1.6L DOHC engine, which is the best among small cars available in India.
This car had all the right ingredients for success. When it was launched,
people received it well, and soon resulted in waiting lists for it. I was one such person. They even had Michael Schumacher do the ad for them. But soon, word of bad customer treatment and not so great fuel efficiency began to spread, and
sales slowed down to a trickle. Of the 50-60,000 small cars sold here, Fiat
barely manages to sell 100.
As with many other Palio owners across India, I have a love-hate relationship
with my car. I absolutely love the car, but I hate the people who sold it to me. Fiat has the worst after sales support ever. Even for a simple servicing of the car, I have to go through several phone calls to know when I am going to get the car back.
All this is not relevant to the review of the car, but I feel other Indians
should know what the dealer experience is like. A few weeks ago, my brother-in
-law wanted to buy a small sedan. Below is the essence of what happened when we walked into the Fiat dealership.
Me : We are interested in the Siena.
Sales lady : Sure. The brochures are kept there. (No helpful salesmen, no test drive. We picked a brochure and simply walked out).
What kind of customer treatment is that?? If they behave like this before
buying the vehicle, imagine what will happen after the car is bought.
I sincerely hope Fiat improves, as they make great cars, but just recruit lousy people to sell them.
PS : For those Indians looking to buy a Palio, it's a great car.
PPS : Don't buy it.
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2004 - Palio ELX Sport Mk. III 1.2 16v Fire A great economic, smooth and trust able car | |
| As sturdy as the best German cars, will last forever |
| Would you buy another car from this manufacturer? | Don't Know |
| Year of manufacture | 2003 |
| First year of ownership | 2003 |
| Most recent year of ownership | 2005 |
| Engine and transmission | 1.6 petrol Manual |
| Performance marks | 10 / 10 |
| Reliability marks | 8 / 10 |
| Comfort marks | 10 / 10 |
| Dealer Service marks | 0 / 10 |
| Running Costs (higher is cheaper) | 5 / 10 |
| Overall marks (average of all marks) | |
| Distance when acquired | 0 kilometres |
| Most recent distance | 25300 kilometres |
| Previous car | Maruti Zen |
| Date of Entry | 7th August, 2005 |