[theexperthand]

Originally Posted by CrAzY dRiVeR

With tax.

For example, oil filter was Rs 358.95/- and came upto 411 after adding 14.5% VAT. Final bill came to Rs 11024/- all inclusive.

Thank you! KHT seems to be really costly, at least with respect to the initial estimation - (9K for parts + 1.9K for service + tax) - this is without coolant change and break cleaning. Let me see how the final bill unfolds.

--Anoop

[theexperthand]

Got the car back from KHT after service - FIAT have increased the service charges and now it is 1780 plus tax. Total bill came to 9392 INR (they discounted about 400 INR from paid service cost since their water pump had some issues and could not wash the car).

--Anoop

[CrAzY dRiVeR]

95,000 kms update

Starting with the customary console shot!



Front fog lamps replacement

Both the fog lamps had a single line crack due to an earlier incident involving an apartment roadside boulder, but was holding up well. However, we managed to peel the paint off the fog lamp bezel while experimenting with the full 150ps pressure of the karcher pressure washer.

Hence decided to get everything replaced and back to full glory.

Before -




After -






Thanks to member nkrishnap - we got some spot on nice alignment for the foglamps and they seem to be competing with the headlamps for power now.




The downside? FIAT has almost doubled the price of foglamps and they cost a whopping 3k now!

Had a minor rear ending as well just when it was nearing 95k on the clock. Will post the details in a later update.

[coolboy007]

@ Crazy Driver,
How is the suspension holding up at 95,000 kms? My 09 Linea has clocked 60k kms and has only required a set of link rods/stabilizer links so far, my regular mechanic recently told me that one of the shock is leaking and would require a replacement soon. Are you still running on stock suspension?

[nareshov]

@coolboy007: I've had to replace both front struts at 41k km on my mid-12 Linea.

[Ryuu]

@Crazy Driver- I've been following your thread since it's inception. It's really heartening to see a long term ownership of this car (>90k) without any major "incident" like I keep hearing on this forum in general - timing chain issues, turbo issues, breaking down on the road for no apparent reason and stuff! I'm not even sure whether these issues can be attributed to mechanical inferiorities of the car. But somehow, I keep hearing them. Non stop.

I really want to buy the EVO should Honda fail me with Jazz's pricing. I'm getting a good deal for Dynamic version for around 7.4 lac on read. I think that's a steal. It has space, has boot, solidity, driving dynamics. But with all the negative stuff I keep hearing about Punto, it's really hard for to make a decision. I'm really apprehensive. So I'd like to ask - did you take extra precaution to maintain it in top shape? I mean did you pro-actively took care instead of going by the service intervals mentioned as any John would do? Or does the "don't care until my next service" apply to this car?. It would be great to share some insights with us.

[CrAzY dRiVeR]

Noticed something brilliant yesterday. My indicator bulbs conked off for the RHS rear, and I was worried about the vehicles following me who would be caught unaware of my intentions of turning right.

However- it turns out that the CANBUS makes the tail lamps act as indicators whenever an issue is reported with the indicator bulbs. That's really thoughtful design IMO. See for yourself-

http://youtu.be/5idvBbGnEM0

Crossed 97.2k kms now, after a weekend drive from Bangalore -> Chikmagalore -> Madikeri (Coorg) -> Bangalore.

Originally Posted by coolboy007

@ Crazy Driver,
How is the suspension holding up at 95,000 kms? My 09 Linea has clocked 60k kms and has only required a set of link rods/stabilizer links so far, my regular mechanic recently told me that one of the shock is leaking and would require a replacement soon. Are you still running on stock suspension?

Originally Posted by nareshov

@coolboy007: I've had to replace both front struts at 41k km on my mid-12 Linea.

I'm running on stock setup. Only some suspension bushes needed replacement till date. Nothing major. Will check and post the details soon.

Originally Posted by Ryuu

@Crazy Driver- I've been following your thread since it's inception. It's really heartening to see a long term ownership of this car (>90k) without any major "incident" like I keep hearing on this forum in general - timing chain issues, turbo issues, breaking down on the road for no apparent reason and stuff! I'm not even sure whether these issues can be attributed to mechanical inferiorities of the car. But somehow, I keep hearing them. Non stop.

I really want to buy the EVO should Honda fail me with Jazz's pricing. I'm getting a good deal for Dynamic version for around 7.4 lac on read. I think that's a steal. It has space, has boot, solidity, driving dynamics. But with all the negative stuff I keep hearing about Punto, it's really hard for to make a decision. I'm really apprehensive. So I'd like to ask - did you take extra precaution to maintain it in top shape? I mean did you pro-actively took care instead of going by the service intervals mentioned as any John would do? Or does the "don't care until my next service" apply to this car?. It would be great to share some insights with us.

Thanks buddy. Hope Jazz is priced right- there is no denying that it is a brilliant engineered vehicle. Hope there is not too much cost cutting either.

I never did any proactive services till the 60k mark. Post that- I'm sticking to an oil change every 7.5k kms (company recommended interval is 15k). Air filter, cabin a/c filter also gets changed during this mini proactive service.

[coolboy007]

Thanks buddy, those tail lamps flashing for the fused indicator bulbs is indeed a very thoughtful feature. The can bus system in Linea/Punto is so much more advanced, which other car in this segment will tell you that your xyz bulb is fused, oil pressure low, specific door open warnings etc. These small things matter a lot in long term ownership.

These bulbs fused warnings only come in D segment cars like Jetta/Octavia.

[Ryuu]

Originally Posted by CrAzY dRiVeR

Thanks buddy. Hope Jazz is priced right- there is no denying that it is a brilliant engineered vehicle. Hope there is not too much cost cutting either.

I never did any proactive services till the 60k mark. Post that- I'm sticking to an oil change every 7.5k kms (company recommended interval is 15k). Air filter, cabin a/c filter also gets changed during this mini proactive service.

Hoping is hopeless with Honda. @7.80 Lacs for SV, I don't think it's worth going for especially when there's so much cost cutting visible to the naked eye. Just when I was considering to go back to i20, FIAT SA jumped in and he's offering me Evo Emotion 75HP @~8lacs (The jazz effect). Now, at that price, it's really getting irresistible. I think I'm gonna go ahead for Punto. Wish me luck! Seriously though, I really hope it gives me a trouble free experience like yours did!

[desdemona]

Post Deleted by the Team-BHP Support: We do NOT permit biased posts. You have been warned before. On Team-BHP, you are to keep your posts absolutely neutral. We have zero tolerance for bias!

[CrAzY dRiVeR]

1,00,000 kms update.

Finally - the big milestone I've been waiting for!

My Punto 90hp becomes the first car in our family to clock one hundred thousand kilometers, the previous best being our WagonR at 94k kms.





Some boring statistics:

Number of days: 1241 (~ 3.5 years)
Average running: ~ 80.5 kms / day.


Niggles Faced:

Most people tend to associate me with the Honda niggles thread more than my own car nowadays. So let me start my 100K report with just that - the list of niggles of this car since Day1.

1. Loose link rod @ 1500 kms.

Fixed free of cost, and is a known issue that should have been caught during the dealer PDI.

2. a/c issue @ 50,000 kms.

Both compressor and a/c console unit replaced under warranty to fix the issue. Good service though it looks a long time to diagnose the exact nature of the complaint due to the weird symptoms the unit kept throwing at us.

3. a/c wiring issue @ 66,000 kms due to RATS.

Fixed promptly by Vecto service within an hour.

Happy to report that there have been only two niggles to report in the 100k ownership. Hope it remains that way for the future as well.

Status of some common wear and tear parts -

Clutch - Stock.
Brake Pads - 3rd set running (Replaced at 38k & 68k kms).
Brake Disks - 2nd set running.

Battery - 2nd one running. Replaced at 64,000 kms.
Horn - Stock
Headlamps - 3rd set running (Night breaker plus conked off at 48k kms. Stock lamps were used till 90k kms and were replaced with 100/90 Osram).

Tyres - 3rd set running. (Stock Goodyear GT3s ran till 48k kms. Replaced by Yokahama AVS DB that ran till 98k kms, and now running on Continental Max Contact MC5).
Wiper blades - I believe its the 4th set running currently. The stock ones that came from the factory were the best, and lasted 50k kms without leaving a mark on the windshield. Every other set since then has been of average or poor quality.

Build Quality -

There's no going back from the Europeans after this experience. My WagonR at 94k kms felt like its going to fall apart every day, although it was mechanically stick running close to its factory best. The Punto on the other hand still feels rock solid.

An office colleague who came with me for a drive recently complimented how tight it feels, and got a nice shock when i pointed out the 99k reading on the odometer. The car oozes confidence in this way. I hope it remains mechanically reliable as well, so that I can retain it a lot longer.

Yes - its not without some rattles. Two rattles can be identified over bad roads, one from the dashboard after it was assembled for the a/c console replacement work, and the other from the front door panel. But thats me nitpicking too much, for this is afterall a 100k kms used car now.


Thats it for now. Will post a detailed report soon with the 97.5k kms voluntary service and tyre change updates. And before someone asks - no plans of an upgrade anytime soon.

[deetjohn]

Congrats CrAzY dRiVeR on a major milestone. Glad to note the Fiat is in very good shape.

Very impressed by the feature where the taillights can double up as an indicator when the latter is not working. Supremely thoughtful of Fiat. It's things like this which will make you keep the car for long. Finding an upgrade is going to be hard. Wishing you many more milestones. Keep having fun!

[vinitbhavi]

Congratulations on the cool 100k. Not many achieve this kind of run in just 3.5 years. Shows the love for driving. Such a short list of niggles is a tribute to the Punto and it's brilliant build quality. Wishing you many more munching miles.

Cheers

[salilpawar1]

Hi,

Are you still using the RD box? Is it on full-time?

Salil

[RoadSurfer]

Congratulations CrAzY dRiVeR.

Is this your daily car or highway cruiser? If you have completed even 50k in Bangalore traffic, then hats-off to you man.

Wish you many more happy and safe miles.