Became Punto Emotion-ed on 27th Jun 2012!


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Hey CF congrats buddy !!

Looking forward for some nice fresh pics of your RED hot Punto and your experience with it in this one year time
 
Thread Starter #153
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One hell of an addiction; 15,000 kms completed

As far as driver's seating/comforts are concerned, this is the car. Huge raking front windshield, huge dashboard, body hugging captain seats & a big car like feel is adored from the very 1st second I sat in it. This is completely DRIVER-FOCUSED car which is typical Italian way of making cars. The car constantly keeps communicating with the driver through point and shoot steering response, Blue & Me voice commands, Detailed MID which alerts driver on parameter like exact door open, blown bulbs, blown fuse, service reminders etc

There is one thing in FIAT Budget cars; driving it made me so fearless that am absolutely terrified of driving other same segment cars. Be it the precise steering, tank like build, engine shield, rear seat metal cladding, broad road hugging 195 60 R15 tyres or the wonderful brakes. Such a for-giving car when it comes to build quality/reliability. Never missed a single beat, a thorough consistent performer, very friendly to the pocket with great fuel economy & maintenance cost.

Wish lists – FIAT’s dual logic gear box to Punto. Come on Fiat, wake up. Apart from that rear seat bench could have offered little more leg room, better speakers

15k kms Service experience:

Having pushed the Red Hotty under various conditions for past 15,000 kms, it was time to rejuvenate her. Chose KHT Fiat exclusive service and booked the slot well in advance as there is considerable rush at all FASS.

Would like to thank KHT staff for making the overall service experience a good one. Had booked in the first time slot and requested them to give the vehicle at the earliest and waited at the service station. The car was delivered in record 2.5 hours time including replacement of broken reverse tail lamp. Fantastic team effort. Service bill was Rs. 5.5 k which included the following jobs:

- Engine oil change (synthetic), Oil filter, Air filter, Diesel filter, AC pollen filter, Wheel alignment, Suspension check, Brake pad check

Apart from the regular service, additional work done was replacement of reverse tail lamp which costed @1k including labor and AC cleaning charges of Rs.700

Maintenance / service cost till date = 0.38 Rs / km
Fuel cost = considering Avg of 16 kmpl under all conditions and Rs.52 as avg diesel price, Rs.3.2 / km

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I Have been owning a punto for nearly 2yrs now. But i never knew that the place near the hand brakes are to keep a pen.
Nice review bro.
 
Thread Starter #158
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Hey CF congrats buddy !!

Looking forward for some nice fresh pics of your RED hot Punto and your experience with it in this one year time
Many thanks RK. The ownership report is updated [thumbsup]

@ Dharmesh, Vivek, Bharath, haa haa with Punto you keep discovering new things often. Non of the sales guys possess the in depth info or has the time and patience to explain every feature in detail at the time of delivery. Similarly how many Punto owners would be aware of rear AC vents or intelligent rear wiper system or auto cut off high beam when engine turned off when they buy the car? But I must say, my sales guy at Aadya was quite informative. He did spend around half an hour exclusively with me explaining the car. But still there were many things that I explored during ownership.
 
Thread Starter #161
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Thanks Sooz.

Ownership report cont...

Ride and Handling

Its a proven fact that Punto's USP has been its class leading ride quality, handling and composed drive. Based on customers' feedback, Fiat upgraded GC of Punto since 2012. So is it a boon or bane? Practically speaking, its a boon because it provides tension free drive even with 5 people on board and loaded boot need not worry about scrapping issues while driving on our crater like pot holed and mountain like hump filled roads. But this set up has left a driving enthusiast inside me a tough disturbed. A bit of body roll can be experienced while cornering at high speeds and low ride quality is bit stiff.

With well weighed steering, straight line stability is one to crave for at highway speeds. Reaching top speed is one thing but where Punto excels is its ability to offer sustained driving at top speeds due to solid brakes, matured ride, ability to get in and out of corners due to precise steering, ability to mask speed for rear occupants etc

Even to date, love the low planted ride of Figo but if and only if our roads would allow one to enjoy such ride tension free. Hence, this new suspension set up has to be taken with a pinch of salt where practicality rules over emotions
 
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