[paharino1]

I agree with RX.
From this forum you will get suggestions which are at extreme ends of the spectrum.
Fact remains, even though many of us here have taken a decision to purchase a Fiat car & majority of us maybe happy with it (me included)- > no one can guarantee anything.
Fiat a/s/s still leaves a lot to be desired, its sales are less than 1% of the total car sales in India.

Fiat owners are minority in this country & how do minorities get themselves noticed -> by SHOUTING



I have spoken to 4-5 people in my office - who are planning to buy a new car, everyone was VERY bullish about Swift - BUT the perception about Swift has spread in the market that it's got a poor mileage ( 8/9 kmpl) - Inspite of that people are rushing to buy the Swift..

[nitinbhag]

Originally Posted by RX135

Adi,

I strongly recommend that you stay away from Adventure (or other Fiat cars), since you are getting so many negatives vibes about the car and the company. You really should look at alternatives now.

Adi, if you are deciding on FIAT, make your decision very consciously.. Be prepared for days/weeks of shipping time for spares.. I have run into this mutliple times in the past few months..
-ECU took 8+ weeks
-Tow bolt covers on bumpers havent been available for 2 years
-Rear door plastic quarter panels not available for 6 months
-factory fitted stereo- antenna cable not available for 6 months
-Shock absorber sleeve not available for 1+ year

on the FE front, my Siena1.6 has consistently given 10+ kmpl in city and around 15 on highways..

[himanshugoswami]

Originally Posted by nitinbhag

Adi, if you are deciding on FIAT, make your decision very consciously.. Be prepared for days/weeks of shipping time for spares.. I have run into this mutliple times in the past few months..
-ECU took 8+ weeks
-Tow bolt covers on bumpers havent been available for 2 years
-Rear door plastic quarter panels not available for 6 months
-factory fitted stereo- antenna cable not available for 6 months
-Shock absorber sleeve not available for 1+ year

on the FE front, my Siena1.6 has consistently given 10+ kmpl in city and around 15 on highways..

I guess with the TATA deal, this should not be an issue since one of the pre conditions laid down by teh Tata guys was the availability and affordability of spare parts.

[Indojinguy]

Alright, so I read thru more than half the pages in this thread and the Petra seems to have the good vote.

But Fiat India arent doing so well I hear (bloody website wasnt up for under payments to ISP ) ... what if one ... or more specifically I buy a Petra and in six months Fiat is flat?


hehe... this smily is the most freaky I've ever seen on forums.... lol.

[supremeBaleno]

@Indojinguy, be judicious with the smilies, buddy (as the forum rules demand).

Originally Posted by adi

today I got a "suggestion" by some one withinin the FIAT co. itself regarding poor availability of adventure spares and a/s/s in general. It was really upsetting coming this from a Fiat exec himself, specially when he said I would suggest you not to proceed with a FIAT at this moment... Isnt that heartbreaking../..

This is pretty unethical behaviour on the exec's part. I mean, you work for a company and then go around telling people not to buy their products. Hey, your bread comes from those products. If you are seriously disillusioned with the company, try changing the system. If it still does not work or you are not powerful enough to effect the change, quit and then do the badmouthing.

@Adi, take into account all pros and cons before making this 6L decision, is all I would say.

[RX135]

Originally Posted by Indojinguy

But Fiat India arent doing so well I hear (bloody website wasnt up for under payments to ISP ) ... what if one ... or more specifically I buy a Petra and in six months Fiat is flat?

I am sick of hearing it since last 2-3 years. If at all there is any change, Fiat India is probably doing marginally better with Tata alliance. When I bought the car 1.5 year back, people were talking same thing.

So saying that Fiat will close the shop, doesn't make much sense to me really. As a matter of fact, Fiat Italy is doing much better in 2006 and they surely would not want to get out of as big market as India. (But Italians' are anyway crazy )

[kvish]

Originally Posted by supremeBaleno

This is pretty unethical behaviour on the exec's part. I mean, you work for a company and then go around telling people not to buy their products. Hey, your bread comes from those products. If you are seriously disillusioned with the company, try changing the system. If it still does not work or you are not powerful enough to effect the change, quit and then do the badmouthing.

Exactly!.. such a backstabber....

Adi, like supremeBaleno said, take everything into consideration before making a decision. Remember, if you have lots of reservations about the car, it will always play on your mind forever... its better to buy something with a smile rather than a scare...!

I had decided to take the plunge like many other palio owners, but there are quite a few who want to take the route with lesser risk.... whether my decision is right or wrong, only time will tell.... currently though, I am having "the king of good times"

Good luck and keep us posted!

[amit]

This is pretty unethical behaviour on the exec's part. I mean, you work for a company and then go around telling people not to buy their products.

I really don't know what shortage of Adventure parts he is talking about. Most of the spares are common between Palio, Petra and Adventure so any shortage of Adventure parts should also result in shortage of Palio parts but I don't see Palio owners or for that matter Adventure owners complaining. All I will say is there are plenty of such "well wishers" in India.

I don't know about Fiat A/s/s in rest of India but I, personally, have never had any problem with service in Mumbai and things should logically improve after the tie-up with Tata. But yes, things will improve very slowly, thats just the nature of the business.

factory fitted stereo- antenna cable not available for 6 months

Mine was broken by some kid and getting a new one was as simple as driving to Anuroop and asking them for a new one. Maybe I have been lucky but I have never had any problems with fiat, it's dealers or Fiat After sales service.

Adi, I can sense you are worried about buying a Fiat. I am sure all fiat owners go thorough what you are going through. Even I went through the same thing. But it all depends on the person. If you don't want to take a risk with Rs. 6L then don't. If for any reason you are not convinced about the purchase then I would suggest either you drop the idea of buying a adventure or if you really love the car, postpone your decision till things improve or till Fiat launches a new car (Grande Punto?) so you feel confident that Fiat will stay in India.

[amit]

Fiat will shift fully built up cars from Kurla to Ranjangaon during the monsoons where they will be stored in enclosed spaces. All spares and materials have been moved to higher levels too. So there shouldn't be any complaints of flooded cars this monsoon.

Source: Indiacar.com

[Floyd de Souza]

Originally Posted by adi

Thanks guys ... I guess I'll have to make up my mind, one way or the other ...

I'll keep u posted... about who between my heart and mind prevails in the end...

Adi,

If you go thru my earlier thread responses on how to select a car, you could end up a lot less confused than you currently are. There is no doubt that the Fiat 1.6 is thirsty. I owned a S10 for 2 and a half years and though I immensely enjoyed the driving pleasure it gave, I sold it because I was advised by my doc to get to work by a/c car as far as possible. The S10 would have made a big hole in my pocket and to add to that there were always some small niggling issues with the car. Mileage was 7.5kmpl on an average with a/c. Now, I won't tell you which car replaced the S10 but it too is a 1.6l with almost equally good performance and gives me 11.25 kmpl under similar conditions thus saving me a cool 3k per month and the car is trouble-free. The Adventure is thirstier than the S10. So if FE is important to you, the Adventure is not the car for you especially with petrol prices shooting through the roof.

[supremeBaleno]

After studying the various posts on FE (not just for Fiat cars, but other makes also), one reason that I see for this wide range in FE figures is the fine print that comes with the quoted figures (as in "with 25% AC", "with intermittent AC", "with AC always" etc). People quote FE figures under different conditions and in most cases, we look at just the figures and ignore the fine print that follows.

Other reasons could range from "wrong method of measuring FE given the inherent problems in measuring FE of cars", "quoting higher than actual figures" etc.

[supremeBaleno]

Originally Posted by adi

I am willing to latch on to anything that helps me right now... Mind forwarding the link to the thread

Not sure, but it is possible that Floyd was referring to this
http://www.team-bhp.com/forum/200828-post11.html

[roms]

Originally Posted by Floyd de Souza

Adi,

If you go thru my earlier thread responses on how to select a car, you could end up a lot less confused than you currently are. There is no doubt that the Fiat 1.6 is thirsty. I owned a S10 for 2 and a half years and though I immensely enjoyed the driving pleasure it gave, I sold it because I was advised by my doc to get to work by a/c car as far as possible. The S10 would have made a big hole in my pocket and to add to that there were always some small niggling issues with the car. Mileage was 7.5kmpl on an average with a/c. Now, I won't tell you which car replaced the S10 but it too is a 1.6l with almost equally good performance and gives me 11.25 kmpl under similar conditions thus saving me a cool 3k per month and the car is trouble-free. The Adventure is thirstier than the S10. So if FE is important to you, the Adventure is not the car for you especially with petrol prices shooting through the roof.

Hey Floyd,agree with you completely.But what you say holds true for a city like mumbai,where most 1.6 L engines dont give more than 8-9 kmpl with a/c on most of the time.For that matter,i know people with Esteems and Getz,Swift who dont get more than 9-10 kmpl with a/c.Adi is in Delhi and Delhi definitely has better road infrastructure.So getting 9kmpl from an Adventure is definitely possible (atleast in Delhi).My brother in law in Delhi gets around 7.5-8 kmpl with a/c on all the time from his Opel Vectra 2.2!I dont think that figure would be possible in Mumbai.
Adi,The Adventure is brilliant,probably the best in the segment,but sales,service,spares,resale and iffy build quality are still issues that need to be sorted out.I am optimistic about FIAT and I believe they just need some time.Log on to PalioUsersIndia yahoo group and you will know that off late FIAT has been giving attention to its customers and have been surprisingly quick at addressing a few issues and complaints.
All said and done,if you want complete peace of mind at this point of time,buy a japanese car.But if your heart overrules your mind,buy the Adventure and I assure you that it still wont be a bad decision.Because as a car,you cannot compare it to anything under 12 lakhs.Good luck!

[roms]

I was mostly discussing Palio's FE in two cities since thats the car in contention and not Baleno
11+ in Mumbai for Baleno..... so maybe 12.5-13 kmpl in Delhi.Just a speculation.But yeah,all 1.6 L engines on one side and Baleno's 1.6 L engine on the other as far as FE is concerned.Thats because of the light weight body and super efficient japanese engine.Thats why I said "most" 1.6L engines give 8-9 kmpl with a/c in mumbai-OPtra 1.6,Palio 1.6,Corsa 1.6,Ikon 1.6,Fusion 1.6.Dont know about Aveo1.6 or Fiesta 1.6.

[Floyd de Souza]

Supreme...spot on with the link.
Adi...see if the link helps. And by the way, the Baleno is hot in this forum..but the NHC rules the segment. The question is consistency. If FE is the only thing stopping you from picking up the Baleno, verify it yourself. Don't use the forum. Hit the road...go to a parking lot..meet Palio/Adventure 1.6 owners/drivers and ask them what FE they are getting. I did the same before buying the S10 and the Baleno. For the Palio, majority said 7 kmpl while for the Baleno it was 10 kmpl. In both cases, I got more than what the majority said which can be attributed to my driving style. Now for some basic advice (the link not withstanding)...If you are going to drive <2000kms a month, mostly in the city,no headaches and good resale value, then go for the NHC. If you want all this plus better performance and handling minus resale and looks, then go for the Baleno or the Fiesta 1.4. If you don't care about FE, A.S.S. or resale, go for the Adventure or Fusion as cars with attitude.