I Purchased Royal Gold Fiat Palio 1.2 ELX in August 2003 form Han motors , Mumbai.This is our second Fiat car, First one is Fiat 1100 Super Select (We use to call it as Dukkar Fiat)(Make 1964) owned by my father, so I was aware of Fiat’s reliability on Indian Roads at any conditions.
Palio has excellent (Strong ) looks , Very Spacious. Head Room front 940 mm rear 880 mm, Rear space max 840 mm, min 625 mm, comfortable for long tours.Boot space is approximately 250 lits, enough to carry laguage of family of 5 people.
It is powerful 1242 cc engine with 71 bhp at 6000 rpm, Torque 102 Nm at 3500 RPM, good to climb ghats in India.Pick up is excellent as compared to any car in its section (1200-1300 cc), braking is also good.I had top speed of 135 Km/ hrs with good road grip .
To engage Reverse gear one has to lift the Gear stick , pull towars right & downward.It has front ventilated disc brakes & rear drum brakes.Fuel tank capacity is 47 liters.Front door opens in 3 stages with particular sound, rear window glass open 75 to 80 % , common feature of all Fiat models for safety of children.
Fuel Economy: City 8-9 Km /lit AC on with 4+1 people.
Highway : 12-13 km /lit AC on with 4+1 people.
Oil change every 4000 kms use synthetic oil for better performance.
Excellent suspension can be used easily on rural roads, I have used this car on rural roads.
It is sturdy car Fit In All Test i.e FIAT
Fiat sapres are expensive and not commonly available, I got Rear wiper from Mumbai after 2 months. I have changed Silencer-(Dholki) (cost Rs 3200 very expensive) & Fuel Pump , got second hand Pump from auto market Kurla.
Paint Quality is not so good , I am thinking of re painting in 4-5 moths.
After sale service is also very bad, One has to hunt for spares.Fiat India Should think of this.
One can get New Fiat Palio from Tata motors show room.
Over all It is a car with value for ever, Comfort & driving quality is excellent , I feel my car is brand new even after 6 years driving 73 k kms, reliable at any conditions of road, better than any Japanese & Korean car.