[Bubby]

PUNTO ::: known issues... is the next thread title we can look forward to in a week or two. Its strange how people without even owning the car can conclude things about the car.
If you have an extra 1.5lakhs buy some rich plastic for yourself, buy a Jazz or a i20.
I have admired a signature here on TBHP, which reads... Only people who have problem with FIAT are the ones who have never owned one. You have hit the nail on the head my friend.

[mail4ajo]

Originally Posted by Bubby

I have admired a signature here on TBHP, which reads... Only people who have problem with FIAT are the ones who have never owned one. You have hit the nail on the head my friend.

I like that signature too, true at times, but it doesnt apply here, because you dont have to own the car to make out its interior fit and finish, just a good pair or eyes or a set of specs will work.

[rohitv122]

Fiat needs to focus more the interior aesthetics since that is something that ppl are looking into more these days.
+10 on this for i20 & Jazz.
But,
C'mon admit it punto looks better than either of them...
+100 for Punto

[shajufx]

I wonder how many posters here have driven an indica and the new punto !!!

My in-law owns an indica since 4 years and never complained about a single rattle nor any lose plastic parts inside. He has come from Mumbai to Bangalore with 5 people on board and has gone to different places with full load. Yet, no issues.

Now Punto defenitely means more money out of your pocket and by all means you expect and deserve better plastic and finishing inside. Why to compare Jazz or i20 here ? I find Indica Vista and even a WagonR a better comparison to prove this point.

After having problems with my Fiesta booking, I seriously went to book a Punto, did a decent TD and checked all the display cars in the showroom. I came back home unhappy, just because I couldnt compromise on the plastic quality. You dont need to be an avid reviewer or automobile genius to understand certain basic quality issues.

If I want something that satsifies my quality parameter, I have plenty of choices south of 7 lakhs. Certain mechanical and quality issues tend to remain forever, whatever feedbacks the user-groups give to the manufacturer. WagonR gear is the best example for that. Its on Indian roads over 10 years, did they rectify the notchy gear ? NO.

Everyone knows Punto is the last desperate attempt from Fiat to have some footing on the highly competitive indian automobile sector. Not ignoring the Linea's initial success. But that can not be considered as a 100% picture, since they have to prove their A.S.S and related stuff worth the competition. I dont dare to imagine the Tata/Fiat products serviced under the same roof, as both of them are known for their bad A.S.S. May be things will change. Hope against h...Sorry they will change.

Owners of either cars (Punto/Linea) need not feel angry with me. Infact I love the appearance of both more than any other cars under 20 laks. Have some of them in the friends' circle too.

[teknophobia]

I fully agree with shajufx, too many people in this thread seem to be influenced by a negative public perception/herd mentality rather than actually having experienced the vehicle in question.

I am a proud owner of an Indica Turbo and I have never had occasion to regret my purchase. My sister has, on my recommendation, bought an Indica Xeta, and once again, no cause for complaint. One of my close friends (and a forum member) has bought a Palio 1.6 sport and once again, no cause for complaint. Minor niggles are off course there, but they are, as stated above, minor. In every single case, we test drove comparable vehicles from different manufacturers before arriving at our decisions and the cars reflect our different needs.

And for the record, my experience with TATA A.S.S. (4 different centres in 3 different cities) has been wholly positive and I would personally recommend a Tata car to everyone.

[motor spirit]

My friend owns a punto active 1.2 . he got it delivered a month back. he was very happy on his choice .However offlate he shows a disspointed look. i just hope he does not get into the regret mode. in just one month the problems he's facing with the fit & finish quality are
1) The roof rail rubber beading has just come out
2) the C pillar covering plastic in the inside just above the parcel tray has started to open up
3) 2 days back. he tried closing his front door & he heard a sound inside. he was shocked & that the glass got broken . later he found out that the lock set of the front door has jus fallen inside . Now he's not bale to lock his door.

He's spoken to the dealer. How ever the dealer does not have the requires spares at this moment .
we all love Fiat & Punto is a great product .Its so surprising what FIAT QC is concentrating on. the above mentioned issues are so small but very annoying for the owner. I understand compromising cost , but for what extent. if they continue so how are they going to manage customer loyalty.When are they going to take a note & improve upon this.

[AbhiJ]

Originally Posted by Bubby

Its strange how people without even owning the car can conclude things about the car.
If you have an extra 1.5lakhs buy some rich plastic for yourself, buy a Jazz or a i20.

Bubby, one does not need to own the car to observe its obvious Pros & Cons. Thats why the concept of test drives is such a popular one.

The thing which I dont understand is - What is FIAT thinking? All the issues in the Punto/Linea can be permanantly solved if the company uses slightly better quality components. None of the issues are major.

I think that if FIAT increases their COST on the car by approx Rs. 10000, ALL the issues will be history. Most customers, I am sure will not mind bearing this cost.

[JayD]

Many people wrer stating that 'only non owners have complaints' blah blah, here goes.

You do not need to own a punto or any fiat for that matter, to understand that the interior plastics are terrible. Infact, the worst in the segment.
Any person with moderate eyesight and no bias towards the brand can understand it.

Another point to note is that, once a prospective buyer sees this interior, and gets disappointed, the chances of buying such a car is very slim.

Tata cars also have cheap plastics, but their cars are in a different segment, and price point. the punto and linea are a segment above compared to the tata cars, and are competeing with cars from companies like Honda, hyundai, ford etc, So they should offer similar quality. And the Fiat cars are not excatly cheap. improving plastics, an overall fit & finish, even with a marginal price increase will do a lot of good for the company.

Originally Posted by Bubby

If you have an extra 1.5lakhs buy some rich plastic for yourself, buy a Jazz or a i20.

bubby, Such posts reek of bias. Kindly avoid such statements in the future. I wonder why one sees such stuff only in a fiat thread.

[somebodystopme]

Well Punto's fit and finish is a notch above or equal to swift in any case and swifts have been selling quite well. Based on fit and finish of interior if one decides to not buy this car then I strongly believe that person can only be an interior designer. Yes i20 has better interior but its not so drastically better that it will leave your mouth wide open. Its again just a notch above punto.
For buyers like me i20 Magna costs 5.25L in delhi, and Punto emotion 5.5L with ABS, EBD, Foldable key, Seat height adjustments, Rear washer and wiper, many more small things and also a 1.4 Engine instead of 1.2 of i20. Now a guy with a brain needs guts to still go for i20 and not spend 25K more and go for punto.(Now for such a comparison interiors play a very small role.)
I have on the same day sat in both the cars in matter of 2 hours Checked out Punto and then i20 and then Punto again. I can bet there is nothing that Huge a difference between the quality of Dash plastic.

[Trust_In_Thrust]

@SOMEBODYSTOPME : Absolutely agree with you .And also the minor issue in regards to design of few plastic parts has been taken care of by Fiat already.
Also i wonder why swift plastics are being said better as when ever i drive one all i hear is rattles .

[srishiva]

Originally Posted by Trust_In_Thrust

@SOMEBODYSTOPME : Absolutely agree with you .And also the minor issue in regards to design of few plastic parts has been taken care of by Fiat already.
Also i wonder why swift plastics are being said better as when ever i drive one all i hear is rattles .

All you have to do is accept that the plastics are not good and then move on. Swift owners will be the first ones to accept that there are few rattles although nothing really comes off or falls off. They have come up with solutions to get rid of those. They obviously like their cars for lots of other reasons. Fiat owners can do this and not-so-lovers will have nothing to say. How about that?

[sushanthr77]

I happen to recently check out Punto Interiors and here are the observations:

01. The interior style / design is very ordinary. Not contemporary by any means.
02. The overall quality was just just decent.
03. The exterior size doesn't really translate into massive interior space.
04. There was no rattles / squeaks from the insider. The materials are thick and tightly held together.
05. Both the front and rear seats were extremely comfortable. Great for long journeys.
06. As pointed out in the various threads, the rear leg room was average.
07. The rear head space was also just average.
08. The boot is a bit narrow but volume is good.

Now here is what really disturbed me:

01. The pedals protrude too far. This made me push the front seats all the way back thus reducing the rear leg room. The foot-well which is big is not utilized well.

02. The play of these pedals was also on the higher side. I felt I had to press them half a foot to engage them!!

Reducing the length of the pedals and probably chipping of a centimeter from the really wide rear seat should resolve the rear legroom issue quite a bit (IMHO).

[wildon]

Last weekend i was on my way to bidadi innovative multiplex and stopped for lunch before the NICE entry from Outer ring road. While we were walking inside the restaurant, a brand new RED Punto (Still reg.tag and sure that its coming from the showroom) Parked near by.

Front passenger was not able to come out as the door stuck. They were trying to open to door with the key. I can see their frustration on face that too on first drive.

Frankly quality is a big let down with FIAT cars and you don't need to own or drive one to spot that

[vrprabhu]

After going through this thread, I recollect the words of my friend Karthi - a motorbike technician par excellence (those of you who know tamil, try to translate it into tamil) -

"People will go and buy a vehicle they know nothing about, and later on curse the vehicle - instead of themselves for taking a bad decision!"

Any vehicle is bound to have some issues - the extent to which these issues occur and recur is the question in point. Yes, it hurts when you pay a sizable amount for a premium vehicle, and then find that it is not living up to your expectations. What we can do is take up the issue with the manufacturer and get it rectified and ensure that it does not happen again - the dealer can only do so much, and god knows how much feed back goes back to the manufacturer.

So, all Punto owners, don't worry - you have a great vehicle!! There are plenty of people out there who want to buy one - but dare not. I appreciate you for going ahead - don't let the small issues take the joy of owning a world class car! (BTW, I heard some news that Bravo is likely to come next year!!)

[MCR]

All the manufacturers have this petty issues.

1. The trim on the boot lid fell off in the brand new Alto I bought in Jan09.
2. The floor trim in my old M800 would never sit in its place and had ugly and wide openings from day one.
3. The rear parcel tray is not standard on Swift VXi with ABS and my friend pruchased it from the dealer. The fixing pins were broken when fitting the parcel tray.
4. In the santro I had till recently, the front seats and the boot lid would never stop rattling even after innumerable complaints and tightenings.

I have seen many irritated Maruti Suzuki owners with some or the other problem whenever I take my Alto for service. Same is the case with Hyundai and people say their A.S.S is good, but i myself have faced a lot of problems with A.S.S and that was also a major contributing factor in me selling the Santro Xing.

Its finally VFM and individuals perceptions