The story of my Fiat Avventura; Long term ownership experience

We were blessed to experience different cars beginning in 1998. The majority of them are pre-worshipped. And now we have reached the Number 20 milestone. But still, our beloved No.13 is with us. Since this car is still part of the family, I decided to start my writing with our beloved Avventura

BHPian Carzman recently shared this with other enthusiasts:

It's been a few months since I got to be a part of this awesome community. Although I have been avidly following the forum for over a decade, I finally decided to send out my application last October. And since then I have been planning to pen down the experience with at least one of the cars we had in the stable. And finally, here it is. As every newbie mentions in their first post, I must request all my fellow bhp'ians to excuse any mistakes.

So as the title indicates, this is a story of a wild Italian Horse we came across 8 years ago. And why start from #13 and not from #1? Well, even I was struggling with the same question. We were blessed to experience different cars beginning in 1998. The majority of them are pre-worshipped. And now we have reached the Number 20 milestone. But still, our beloved No.13 is with us. Since this car is still part of the family, I decided to start my writing with our beloved Avventura.

Prelude:
In 2015, we had a Tata Nano twist (2014 model) and a Toyota Corolla(2004) 1.8E. Well, the Corolla is one reliable model and built to last decades. My uncle bought a pre-owned one a year back and loved every bit of it. The idea to get one also got instantly approved by the family. I do not want to make this about the Corolla as I plan to write a separate post about it later. Long story short, the car had multiple issues and even after spending a decent amount of time-solving it, it did not feel complete, like something was missing. We had another Corolla to compare with hence this car was not getting up to the mark. So the itch for change started pretty soon afterwards.

This is where my brother, dad, and I are at the happiest. Because the hunt for a new car is always interesting. Especially in the pre-owned market. Initially, you set a budget, then start with a couple of models, test drive some of them, and then out of the blue, new players come into the scene. In short, we love the car hunt part more than ever. But this time, Mom had a strict order we got to buy a new car!. Let's take a break from pre-owned ones and buy a new one. Well, can't blame her. Sometimes she hates the fact that some of the cars required frequent visits to the workshop. On the other hand, the three of us love it because there is a whole lot of possibility to learn more about your car. The basic drop and pick up for the regular service center of a new car does not provide a lot of information. But with a pre-worshipped car, you have endless possibilities. I learned about a lot of systems in the car due to this.

Since Mom's decision was clear, everyone agreed to it. Pre-owned or new, the elevating fact is that we are getting a new car. We used to go for test drives at different car dealers whenever a new model was released. It was a basic short-duration drive without giving much attention to detail. But this time it kind of became a test drive to buy. The budget was set to be under 10 lakhs including the price we would get for Corolla. So the hunt begins!

The hunt:
Me and my brother have been calling this process "The Hunt" for a couple of years. He even takes his time every six months to prepare a presentation of available cars and shows them to my parents, even if we are not going to buy one. What if one of these cars in any of these presentations got approved, right?
I don't remember the month exactly but, we began the test drive series ft'2015 with the newest Ford twin in town: Figo Aspire. Aspire was the first car of the test drive series. It had models within our budget. The interiors were nice, with adequate space inside. Steering was light and easy to maneuver. Compared with the Corolla it really felt smaller. We drove the petrol manual variant and it was okay. Being the first car in the test drives, it was kept on hold in the list:

Ecosport:
Ecosports base variants started at the higher end of our budget so we kind of put that on hold as well.

Baleno:
The new Baleno was launched around that time. It also marked the beginning of Nexa. Nexa showrooms were a class apart from others. The usual Maruthi showrooms were the worst because they would be least interested in selling. No test drive vehicles are available at any time. So we were skeptical when we went to check out the Baleno. Once we entered the showroom it all changed. It was days after the launch and there were a decent amount of people came to check out the car. They have nicely displayed different variants and colors, the staff were properly trained. The dealership experience was really good. On seeing the crowd we kind of concluded that it was impossible to get a test drive. Anyway, we just enquired about the test drive and the response was yes it can be done. We thought to wait for a while and leave. But in under 10 minutes, the test drive car was allotted and all of us hopped in. What a car. It sure was beautiful inside out. A lot of space inside. Three of us could easily sit on the back. It picks up speed pretty fast, easy to maneuver. Had ABS Airbag standard and Android auto/apple car play system. Except for the projector headlamps, all other features could be accessorized even from the base model. It was the petrol manual. Later on from one more Nexa showroom, we got to test drive all the variants viz., Diesel manual, petrol AMT, Petrol CVT. We kind of liked the car very much. But the major factor that drove us away from this was the waiting period. It was 8 months! We are definitely not that patient.

Hyundai Elite i20/i20 Active :
We test drove the i20 diesel with manual gearbox. It was pretty responsive. Its 6th gear ensured a relaxed cruising over 90 kmph. It was a well-behaved car. The i20 Activ the cross over version of the Elite i20 just looked like minor cosmetic changes to the standard i20 with higher premium. So basically did not feel an difference between the two. The driving experience of i20 was indeed good. But, here also the waiting period killed off the interest.

Nissan Micra CVT: The smoothest CVT driving experience. Also, it was the first automatic I have driven. The car was good but we felt it was a bit overpriced for its price.

Honda Jazz:
The Jazz facelift was launched around that time. It came with 'magic seats' in the rear. Lots of space inside. The diesel variant offered high FE whereas the petrol CVt offered a nimble driving experience. The test drives were enjoyable but the rear seat thigh support felt shorter. The base variant of the city was also in the budget but we decided not to consider it.

Mahindra KUV: Another new car in the market. It had attractive 3+3 seating with the front middle seat which could be folded as a chunky handrest. The joystick-like gear shifter was nice. Both the petrol and diesel variants were test-driven. The biggest drawback was the side profile(personal opinion.)

Mahindra TUV: Also newly launched. Attractive since came with a diesel AMT version. The big car stance surely was a plus. But during the test drive, felt excessive body roll. Hence got ticked off.

Tata Zest Quadrajet AMT: If my memory serves right, this was the first Diesel AMT combo introduced in India. Zest was the beginning of modern era TATA cars and was far ahead in interior quality and driving dynamics. The Quadrajet engine mated to AMT was a sweet combo as the engine had enough torque to match with the AMT box unlike the relatively low powered petrol engines. The only down side was that it neither had the hill hold nor the creep function. The car moves only if you press the accelerator, unlike the creep movement you get while releasing the brake pedal.

Fiat comes into the picture again:
Since we were visiting all the dealers for this crazy test drive spree, we did not leave out Fiat as well. So, when we called and enquired about a fiat dealership, they had a Linea classic on discount in comparison with the facelift one.

One other dealer said they have a Punto EVO fully accessorized with Alloy wheels, a music system, racing decals, etc. Went to the dealer with the Linea offering first. Upon entering the showroom, the first thing we noticed was this Orange colored Avventura. I still remember the first time we saw the advertisement on TV. The one with the "Empire of the Sun song: Loving every minute cause you make me feel so alive ", song in the background. The ad was really attractive and tried to establish the character of the car well. This was the first time we came up close and personal with one. So walked over opened the driver's door on sat on the driver's seat. The beautiful and unconventional dashboard, Plush steering wheel, attractive analogue meter console, and….cramped space around the pedals!. That was a shock. The pedals seemed little and the deadpedal looked like it was ready to resist your left foot when trying to depress the clutch pedal. Well it sure looked like a set back compared with the Palio. And on opening the rear door, also felt the space was not that much available as compared with the size of the car. So, yeah we closed the doors and climbed the stairs to the top to see Linea thinking this ain't our cup of tea. Who knew we would end up with the same car days later? The Linea is a beautiful car. But its sheer length was the number one factor that prevented us from considering it. Another thing was the limiting headroom in the rear. I am 6 ft tall and when I am not driving, I would sit in the back. Usually in all cars, I sit behind Mom so that she can push her seat to the front. But still, the roof liner would touch my head so decided to skip Linea. Did not take the test drive and left.
Enter Avventura: Life always has some interesting twists and turns that completely break your plan and present a new path that you have not even considered before. After the visit to the first Fiat dealer, we decided to go and check out the one that had the kitted Punto EVO. It was a small dealer since its main office was in another district and this one is just a franchise of the former. The car of interest was parked inside the building. Punto was always a good-looking hatch. And it sure looked better than Palio. For test drive, they said they had parked an Avventura in their yard (erstwhile their front parking) and since basically Avventura is a beefed-up Punto, we said why not.
The first drive: Dad took the wheel first. Mom, brother and me sat on the rear seat. The space seemed all right as we travelled. As the car moved, we felt that dad was driving slow. But as I looked to the speedometer it was moving well beyond 60 kmph. This sense of speed masking was really impressive and it was completely opposite to other cars especially if you compare with Baleno. And there was no body roll. The initial passenger experience was good. Then it was my turn to drive. The clutch pedal was light but it had long travel compared to previous cars. The steering had the appropriate size and thickness with nice contours to hold. Depressed the clutch, slotted the gear into first, released the clutch and…, the car just jumped forward. I did release the pedal hastily as in the case of short throw clutch pedals. The torque was not properly balanced and the car moved forward like an untamed horse. So unlike the other test drives, it felt short of enjoying the drive. The physical appearance of Avventura was really noticeable compared to normal Punto and since we drove one, thought of considering it as well. The drive was soon over and we returned home. So, we had Tata ZEST AMT, Suzuki Baleno and a Fiat Punto/Avventura as finalists. All the variants considered was in the same price range and now it was deep research time. The earlier test drive reports came in various mediums and of course, tem bhp reviews were one of the most top preferred one. Next factor was the exchange value for the Corolla. We were getting pretty low values from most of the dealers. Usually listing on olx would be a nice way to bag a better deal, but that would some time take more time for a deal to happen so we decided to exchange with whichever car we are buying.

The decision:

For the final decision, we thought of going for a final test drive of these finalists. At the same time, as I was reading more reviews, I got more interested in Avventura. It was not like other cladding added cross overs like Etios liva cross or Polo cross. There was a completely new suspension setup compared to Punto, the increased ground clearance of 205mm, The unique spare wheel mechanism, the tilt meters and compass to the centre console completely gave it an appealing factor. And in one of the review, some one mentioned how to slowly and smoothly release the clutch pedal on first gear so as to balance the torque and for a smooth pick up. So this time I was prepared to drive properly. Perhaps this was the one thing that had different with most of the other cars. We can drive any car in any way we ant. But each car has an optimum way in which it can offer its supreme performance, comfort and efficiency. So with proper planning, this test drive was really enjoyable. With the proper gearshift manners, the car moved effortlessly and behaved like a tamed horse this time. And the drive did put a smile on our faces. The time for the final decision came. The exchange offers were lower from Tata and MS. The Fiat already had lower sales so for competitive edge, they offered best exchange prices. But apart from that we really got connected to the car in each test drives. Like their variant name "Emotion", the car really felt like it has emotion. Now the variant selection. Avventura came with all wheels including the spare wheel as full sized Alloys. And all of them had the tilt meters and compass in the center console. The higher variants had ABS, 2 airbags, rear wiper, auto AC, built in music system, front foglamps, 60:40 split rear seats, and a slightly larger center info display screen. Most of these features are coming as basic in majority of the cars nowadays. But with the price point, we felt the base variant itself was totally value for money. Even the braking felt superb like ABS equipped cars so it did not bother much. (Touchwood, even after 8 years, the car never made us nervous during breaking under several critical conditions). So it was decided: Avventura Active 1.3 Multijet in Exotica Red colour. The car got launched in the Orange colour, but it looked beautiful in the red colour personally. And the Adventure begins..

Delivery : The dealer was located around 30 kms away from our home. Our Corolla was already taken away by the sales team to initiate the down payment and delivery process. Initially we thought of catching a bus, then I told that we could take the Nano and during return, I will drive the Nano. Well eventually everyone agreed and we took the Nano. The car was all prepped up and ready to welcome us in front of the dealer.

The mandatory key handover, sweet box, etc took place. Clicked some pictures. Yeah, we all wore red to match with the car!

Now time for heading home with the newest member of the family. My brother insisted on coming with me to keep me company but I insisted back so that he could go in the new car. Finally, he agreed. So, Dad, Mom and bro drove away in the Avventura while I tailed them in the Nano. The rear tail lamps had an attractive LED park lamp which still looks better than the present cars. Even though I missed out the first drive, I sure was enjoying seeing the car being driven in front. After all its coming home!
Features:
Engine : The national engine of India 1.3 Multijet Diesel. It had 93 BHP max power in this tune and 201 Nm Torque. It is powered by a VGT turbo

in comparison with the Fixed Geometry turbo of the 75hp counterparts. The 5-speed manual gearbox which is usually complained by everyone that it lacks slick shift. But I loved and still loves (maybe got used to it after all these years, but from the start itself I didn’t mind) the rubbery shift. One should not hurry to shift, need to shift gently.

The third gear requires a special mention. In slow moving traffic and cities and even on narrow roads with traffic, the third gear transforms the car into an automatic mode. It’s pretty well manageable within the 20-50 kmph range in 3rd gear unless the car slows down too much. This indeed has helped in lower number of gearshifts. Another complaint I have heard about is the long travel of clutch pedal.

This factor also has helped very much in smooth gear changes and hill starts, reversing, etc. I kind of hate the short throw pedals now! Most of the people who have used 75hp variants have said that 90hp lacks that initial pull. Since I have not driven any 75hp variant to this date, I cannot comment well. But personally, did not felt short of power except one or two times. The sweet way to extract it, you start slow and as the temperature builds up to optimum, you can extract the most power by going above 1750 rpm. The turbo works its magic well above 2000 rpm. And I have heard experience from other owners saying the car just pulls and pulls away in 5th gear at 2000 rpm and 80kmph effortlessly towards 140-150 kmph. Although never got to try that safely, so restrained from doing it. There is lag if you try to jump it from the start. One need to build the speed and temperature first and then this horse is ready to charge effortlessly.
Safety Equipments : No ABS or airbags. Being the Active model, when compared to the present day cars one would feel it lacks the basic safety equipment. But driving wise, the car is always planted on road no matter how fast (safer speeds) it is going. We never feel the inertia of accelerating/braking to a large extent. The rear bench has a solid steel plate attached at the back for the extra support and speed masking.
Long stretches of highways or the curvy ghat rods, the car never drifts out of your hands making the driver nervous. This assurance you get from the car every time you drive is the biggest plus point. It also encourages one to drive safe as well.

Steering : The steering requires a special mention since it makes the fell of the car top notch. This is one of the last breeds of Hydraulic power steering and one of the best too. It is not the lightest, but the feedback you get from the road is unparalleled. You can feel how smooth or tough the road is, the depth of potholes, the shape of stones or the curve of the road. This feedback further reinforces the confidence of the driver. There are no steering control buttons in our variant. But it is cool to hold and steer. Tilt adjustment is provided. Also, the cherry on top is the active return to center. Yup it smoothly turns back to center after every turn so you just have to loosen the grip for a second.

All good things apart, Fiats are notorious for the left side pulling. Ours also is not an exception. But luckily after so many trials and errors found a very good technician who is an expert on wheel alignment which reduced the issue. Since then, been performing alignment from him.

The instrument cluster: The orange backlight is matching with the meters light. The meters are classic analogue meters with pretty cool fonts. I would say it had aged well and will look fine even after years to come. The information display size is smaller.

In the top variant this screen is as big as the outer border of this screen as you can see in the picture. One can choose the required information to view on the display from the following list: ODO, Trip distance, FE of current trip, Real time FE, DTE. It also shows headlight alignment level as well. The menus are accessed via the 'TRIP' button on wiper stoke and 'SET' button on the control button group under the right AC vent.

The stalks: The indicator/Headlight stalk in the left and the wiper control on the right is entirely opposite to the common Indian cars.

The stokes are like joystick controller. This really helps during lane changes. You don't have to completely slot it into the right or left position, just push it gently towards up or down and once you remove your finger, it goes back to initial position, really handy for that 2-3 second blinks while changing lanes. The park lights and headlamps can be turned on by rotating the tip of the stoke anti clock wise. To activate high beam the stoke has to be pushed towards back and left. Repeat this movement again to turn off high beam. One thing to take care while doing this is to not hold on the tip of the stoke while doing this. Because the lights might get turned off since its really a soft touch control. Instead a little towards the center of the stoke, there is a hard surface where you can reach the fingers and easily control the high beam. Many people have complained about the former scenario, and I think, using it this way is the best solution. The wiper controls are activated in the similar manner by turning the tip of the right stoke clockwise. The usual INT,LO and HIGH modes are there.

Wipers : The car comes with 27" wiper blade on the diver side and 15" on the passenger side. The stock wipers resemble the type of luxury cars and it provides a greater wipe over the screen. As I can recollect, the original blades lasted 3 years!. After which the rubber got torn and replaced using aftermarket ones. The aftermarket ones which cost around 450- 500 rs for a pair is only good enough for merely one rainy season. The OE one costs 900rs for a single one, but I bet it will last at least twice ass the aftermarket ones. Hence if you do the math, the cost almost remains the same.
Lights: The Reindeer headlamps give a unique and aggressive front look. The throw is adequate and we never had to align or change the bulbs for better performance. The turn indicators are placed on the edge near the grille. The all-black grille suits well to the persona of the rest of the car. The same goes for the black colored door handle and matte black ORVM mirror covers. These black themes match well with the black cladding.

The door pads: Hard plastics nothing fancy around these bits.

Entertainment: A single DIN basic music system by Pioneer was fixed from the dealer. It had the direct OEM Coupler so that no wiring modification had to be done. This was one of part which were good in Baleno. We also bought JBL speakers for all the doors, the same got installed from the dealer.

Other cool features: The dashboard design still looks fresh to us. The combination of light gray soft material and black plastic theme really lights up the mood. The high mounted tilt meters and compass(High Terrain gauges) completes the design and provides a unique feel to the cabin and the car.

The seat are a combination of leather and fabric. Personally, this colour scheme looks better than the one in top variant.

The rear seats can be folded with the two little levers on the back on both sies. Also the metal back plating on rear seats are visible when folded.

The boot: That's definitely one of the thing that sets apart Avventura. The designers added a new spare wheel mechanism that was similar to old M-class. The spare wheel is mounted on a high strength steel bar and is latched on to the tail gate. To access the boot, first press the boot release button on the dashboard/key fob, then the initial unlocking is done. Then you need to press the button on the spare wheel carrier and pull it outward until it reaches a lock-in position.

Now the spare wheel mount will not move further. And the tail gate can be pulled upwards. People always complained about this 2 step operation but it never bothered us much. An addional backup for opening boot is provided on top of rear left wheel arch if the cable gets stuck.

Fiat introduced the Urban cross by removing this part, but personally this plays an important part in the car's character and sets it apart.

Continue reading BHPian Carzman's post for more insights and information.