23/10/2003 was a very weird day. It was a day when I was extremely excited because I was going to own a pure driving machine. A car that the company making it had shamelessly positioned it as a driver's delight. Problem was that neither the company nor the product had a flawless reputation. The product was supposed to have niggling problems and the company, well, we all know about them
. So with a lot of apprehensions I took delivery of my car. I was hoping that the ugly product and company head wouldn't raise themselves up otherwise I would have to hear to the 'I told you so' stuff from friends, relatives, neighbours, petrol pump attendents and almost everyone that believed comitting suicide was a better option then buying a Fiat product.
72,000kms and 5 years and 7 months later I can say this proudly that my S10 has outperformed itself in every department. Let me start off by giving a wonderful example of the car's robustness and quality.
On 27/3/2005, I immigrated to Canada. I didn't expect to come back so a logical option was to sell off the car. But then which Fiat owner thinks logically
. I told my folks that they shouldn't even think about selling it off and I maintained my stubbornness despite a couple of phone calls that came to me when I was in Toronto asking me the logic behind keeping a car that was not required or being driven much at all. From my mother, I heard that the car was barely driven. It would lie in one place for weeks and then be driven for barely a couple of kilometeres. She didn't know what state it was in. Better to sell it off then spend tens of thousands to get it back into running condition she said. It sounded logical but I was the owner of a Italian car and logic was alien to me. I kept saying that no matter what I wouldn't let go off the S10.
Shortcut to 27/08/2006 when I came back from Canada for good. I reached home at about 8am in the morning and there she was in the parking lot looking exactly as she did when I left her. I was told that she wasn't in good condition and hadn't been driven or even started in weeks so the next day I took the keys and went down to check her out. One look and things looked not so good. The paint had broken out into patches which I now understand is a typical Palio problem. It hurt me to see her like this. I opened the door and got in. The interiors were smelly, like wet clothes smell. I thought to myself that well it wasn't a problem really. I can bring the interiors back to their shiny self. The problem was the mechanicals.
I put the key in and expected the worst. I turned the key and all the lights came on. Turned it more and the car.....started. The engine sounded relaxed! But wait there was a problem. The alternator light was on. Battery down I guess. That was expected from a car that had barely been driven in weeks. What about other problems? I turned on the lights. They worked. Turn signals? Worked. Fan? Works. Airconditioning? Works! Ok lets not go crazy here. The battery is shouting that it's dying. Off goes everything and it's time to drive to the closest Fiat service. I press the clutch and it's smooth. Smooth in a typical Fiat way. Ok that's good I say. Slot the gear into first and it slots in exactly like it did on 23/10/2003! I start to drive. The car starts with a jerk. The brakes. I drive a bit and brake it. Got to free the brakes. Barely half a kilometer into the drive the car is smooth. The engine sounds new. The car drives, rides and handles like new. What? Isn't this a Fiat? Aren't European cars supposed to be fragile? What's going on here? I had a new found respect for the car and Fiat. I'll be honest. I expected the car to be in a very bad shape. I thought I would have to tow it to the ASC but here I am driving it. And it drives great!
The alternator light is worrying. Anuroop is far from my house, almost 25kms. I stop at the first battery shop to check the vehicle. Is it the battery or worse, the alternator? The guy says it's the battery.
"Can I drive 25kms?"
"I guess so. Just don't rip her", they say.
Rip her? In Mumbai? Ok, I get going. Slowly. Keeping the revs low. It's almost like I am running her in again.
The next 4 days the car is in Anuroop. The battery is charged and they say it's doing okay. They also say the alternator needs to be serviced. I didn't know then what that means and I still don't know how alternator is serviced but I trust Anuroop and tell them just one thing. "Do what you want but I want my car like it's brand new."
Looking at the job card, I can see the following stuff that was done to it:
Labour Charges:
- Paid service Rs.500.
- Polishing Rs.1,500.
- Decarbonizing Rs.1,400.
- Motoreco Engine Treatment and gear oil treatment Rs.50.
- Altenator service Rs.1500.
Spare Parts:
- Oil Filter Rs.76.
- Fuel Filter Rs.74.
- Air Filter Rs.199.
- 100 Monogram Rs.17.
- 16V mongram Rs.17.
- Palio logo Rs.90.
- Engine oil 4LtrsXRs.132 = Rs.528.
- Motoreco Engine treatment Rs.550.
- Motoreco Gear Box Treatment Rs.115.
Add all taxes, small consumables etc and the final bill came to Rs.7,624.
I took delivery of the car on 04/09/2008. Everything worked great. Interiors were back to their pristine condition. Once again, Anuroop did a fab job and brought the car back to it's glory. I was happy to see that the guys at Anuroop were still as good as they were before March 2005.
I started driving back to Chembur and I felt like it was 23/10/2003 again. The car felt new. Brand new.
The alternator light hasn't come on after that day.
The S10 was back to it's glorious self. Now that I had got my car back inot top condition, I could get back to driving it and enjoying it again.
And I had spent only Rs.7,624.