Comments: 1-15, 16-28
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.
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.
Quite the opposite of car sales people here in the states, where we call them "sharks." Here, they hover over you so closely you can feel them breathing down your neck.
It has finally happened. After being sick for long, Fiat India has finally shut shop. I really pity the Fiat owners now. I was at a Fiat dealership this Diwali, with my cousin who got a really good deal on a Palio 1.2 NV Sport. While other brand dealerships were delivering 100 or more cars a day during that time, the Fiat dealer had readied a measly 2 cars for delivery that day (one of which was from my cousin). And the dealer was one of the largest car dealers in Pune, once upon a time. Car companies fail if they don't have the right products at the right time, at the right price. Fiat failed inspite of having it all. If we can generate seven month waiting lists for the new Swift, Palio certainly did have a chance. But they blew it. Or rather, the dealers blew it.
Well, I bought a Palio diesel one year ago. A brilliant car, great design, plenty of space, excellent coachwork. Its powered by a 1.9 litre engine which is amazingly quiet up to 3000 rpm. The mileage - I drive in Delhi - and the car has been averaging 17 kms per litre. Its done 27000 kms now. the problems? - hope to God that you don't have any because the dealers are very poorly trained to effect a satisfactory repair. I asked them to tune my headlights - they broke the headlamp which took 9 months to replace. I asked them to fix the stereo- and they left exposed terminals which caused a short circuit. And instead they opened my dash panel looking for the fault after I told them to look for the problem in the stereo wires. Now the car front transmission makes an odd sound on the front left at low speeds- and I have been to 2 main dealers -and nobody has a clue as to what is wrong.
One manufacturing problem - a creaky cabin noise - which i believe is mainly from the insulation and the roof liner- and it is a problem in many cars.
The Verdict- an extremely nice car and great value for money, but you have to be a serious risk taker in terms of after-sales to be buying it.
Please improve your service and coustomer satisfaction fiat or your great cars are going to extinct from india.
I purchased my 2002 palio petrol el second hand in 2004 for half the price, at 19000 km. It has had no problem whatsoever and is very smooth and silent. Mileage with relaxed driving is around 10 kpl in the city and 14 kpl on the highway. I've driven about 15000 kms (about 10000 kms on the highway with very high speed driving),and never had any issues except tyre wear which was rectified after wheel alignment. Only 3 services with oil changing done so far. Good service by Sundaram Motors, Chennai. May be I am very, very lucky, but I see no reason for all the cribbing. I am aware inconsistent quality is an issue with Fiat India. Hope the Tata alliance sorts things out. It is better than the Ford Ikon, Hyundai Accent and Maruti Esteem. Here's to a long innings for the palio in India.
I own a Uno diesel 1999. Absolutely fablous car. unbelievable mileage of 24 kms/litre. Smooth as silk and trouble free. apart from the styling which is a bit dated, the car is a beauty. Fiat is a great car, and compared to it, the Indica is like a disaster on wheels. I know, I own one of that too.
I think you have hit the nail on the head when you mention that the dealers have killed the market for the Palio. I and my family share an emotional relationship with the Car.
First and foremost, the CAR - it has just been superb. A 2003 December model has run 26000 Kms and gives me about 12 km/lt (surprising, but true and that too in Bangalore traffic).Never has it given me any technical problems (touch wood).
Second, after sales support from Sundaram Motors - nothing worth mentioning. I had to opt for a secondary FIAT trained service centre.
There is also speculation that availability of parts will be a big challenge in the coming 2-3 years.
Inspite of all this - I don't have any regrets buying the car. I love it.
The Fiats are are really good solid cars. Built to last even with the bad roads in India. Great comfort and space. Unfortunately like mentioned before, they don't have a good dealership that we can depend on. Always overbooked and even if they fix stuff, we will need to come back a few times to get things refixed... Love the cars, but wouldn't go for one.
With Fiat-Tata nexus the problem of dealership and A.S.S should be solved. So rely on Tata's for A.S.S and happily buy your favourite Fiat cars. Hold on there is more to come. There are plans of new models coming in.
Hi! I took a test drive of FIAT ADVENTURE and its simply great to drive. My wife who told me that the car looks impossibly good and Macho, she wouldn't like buy because she won't be able to drive. I gave her the car to drive, she just loved it! Its great behind the wheels. I hope and pray that Fiat-Tata union works wonders because this car has all the elements of being a best seller. Mileage is around 9 kmpl in city and I am sure all Mumbai car lovers wouldn't complain about it. Dealer response is good so far.
I bought a Fiat Palio 1.2 Petrol in Dec.2003. Its been more than 2 years that I've had this GREAT car. I don't understand what all the fuss is about. I have driven the Zen, the Swift and the Indica... none comes close to my Palio. Also, people talk about dealer trouble. I've never seen any with my dealer. The guys even call me up to remind me about my service dates!
If people feel happy buying Maruti tin cans then so be it, but if you want a solid car (the doors actually close with a thud!), with cabin space equivalent to the Ford Ikon (including the boot), with the same mileage as the Maruti Swift, a great AC and of course European design & engineering (The Palio was launched with a 32-bit microprocessor when Zen with a 16-bit was selling like hot cakes!!) then BUY the PALIO.
I was the fortunate (felt like) one to own fiat palio on the day of launch in 2001. I had made an extensive survey of all cars that were available during that period & finally decided to go for palio. As on this day it has clocked 34,000kms & I have spent hardly 10k for all these 5 yrs inclusive of all servicings & worn out spares like brake lining, clutch cable etc.
I am proud to have a sturdy, dependable car for a life time, but I fear if something goes wrong how will I get it repaired.
Fiat has to really work on a different strategy in appointing dealers on the lines of maruthi, hyundai & tata's or else they shall be snubbed into the ground by these hyperactive players.
However good the product might be if not marketed properly it shall perish
PS good car, wait & watch before you buy.
I have been using a Palio 1.2 Petrol bought in 2002 and ran for 42000 km. Am extremely happy with the car in terms of performance (10 kmpl in city and 14 kmpl in highway) but unhappy with the fact that there is a high maintenance cost at each servicing as the car parts depriciate very very fast as per the car calendar..
Also for some odd reason the car paint on my roof is peeling off in patches and has got highly disfigured.
Otherwise the car is great.
I have been using a palio 1.6 GTX since 2002. The car is great I am in love with it. But again the problem of poor after sales has troubled me. The dealerships lack expertise in the field. My car had a small electrical fault which took 4 months to just identify. overall the car is a performer with excellent high speed handling and mind-blowing acceleration.
I don't have one, but two, Palios--a PalioD (2004 September, 30,000 km) and a Palio S10 (2003 modelm bought used in 2005, now done 20,000km). Before the Palio D, I had a 1997 model Esteem VX. I also own a Zen LX 1999 model.
My experience:
1. The build quality of the Esteem and Zen are bad. In Mumbai, the Esteem begins rusting in 4-5 years and clear holes start appearing in the bodywork resulting in water seepage. The Zen is no use on potholes, engine oil leakage is a frequent problem. The paint generally comes off even if there's a minor dent.
The one thing they are good at is mileage, the powertrain and the transmission.
2. The Palio, on the other hand, comes with superb engineering and build quality. The steel doesn't rust, the paint doesn't chip easily, and the ride and handling are spot on. My Palio D even took the 26 July flood of 2005 in its stride; a normal service with carpet drying was all that was required.
3. Can't speak for other people, but I have had few problems either with service or spares at Fortpoint Thane (Palio D) or even with the Tata-fiat service center at Hyderabad (S10)
4. In India, most of us are first time car buyers where "mileage" and "service at every corner" sells more than security, build quality, ride, comfort, and engineering. That's true even of the brilliant Skoda where mileage is the top selling point.
Thought:
We've been hearing of Fiat's imminent shutdown in India for more than 3 years now. The Tata-Fiat alliance, the fact that Ratan Tata is on Fiat's board, and that the Palio's among Fiat's bestsellers worldwide means that much of the concern concerning service and availability of spares appears quite far-fetched. By the same token, GM and Ford should close shop in India because the parent cos are in deep hole--remember reading sometime ago of their bonds being given "junk" rating.