I own this car for almost 2 months and I am getting an average of approx. 9kmpl with 99% a/c on in Mumbai monsoon roads. I have got 13kmpl on highway with 90% a/c on before 1st servicing. I have been filling BPCL Speed petrol. I have done the 1st servicing, and I am very happy with the response shown by the dealer. Its an AWESOME car and a must buy at this price. Only negitive I find is the interiors, which you can get done afterwards. I am used to the interiors now and on second thought, its not that bad either.
When I wrote my 1st review on this car (Fiat Adventure), I had taken a test drive for the first time. Let me tell you, I had taken test drives of most of the mid size cars (Petra, Honda City, Optra, Accent, Aveo, Fiesta, Fusion, Ikon, Baleno). It was like a feeling you get when you fall in love for the first time. You remember that very first moment. Likewise, I am not able to erase the very first feeling which I got when I test drove this car. It was simply great! After that I have driven this car for as many as 10 times. I was planning to buy a car in April, but I couldn’t decide purely becase of the following reasons
I wanted to own an Adventure, but was not very sure, how this car will turn out to be
I wanted to check other cars again and compare my experience with Adventure
I wanted to be sure that this car returns me a decent mileage (at least 8kmpl in Mumbai city with A/C on)
I wanted to be sure about the post sales service of Tata-Fiat joint venture and cost of ownership.
I wanted to study more about FIAT worldwide and wanted to be sure FIAT is going to be there for at least 5 years in International and Indian market ( I kept a maximum deadline of 5 years for keeing this car)
I wanted to check what re-sale value I will get if I sell this car after 5 years. So I needed to check with couple of used car dealers as well.
I wanted to check, how will this car be viewed in terms of status value as well in comparison to Accent, Honda or a Baleno
I wanted to check, if I need to change the interiors of the car and make it all leather, two tone and wood finish, will it be possible, if yes, how much and who is the best.
I did a 4 month of regourous study, on Internet, Spoke to users of this car, asked certain experts of Automobile industries, spoke to Fiat Executive, read certain journals and magazines. Here what I have to say!
No one gave me a wrong feedback about the car. Every one was extremely happy about the build, handling, chassis, pick up, driving pleasure about this car. Even the autogurus vouched for this car saying its a great car to own. No one reported any major issues with the car as far as engineering or electrical faults are concerned.
I drove all those cars again. But I still couldn’t get this car out of my mind. The cars which came close in terms of pleasure and performance was Petra and Baleno. Optra was a clear third and Accent was 4th. Very disappointing New Honda City, as it lack power and not so easy to handle. It scored well in terms if interiors (So did Accent and Optra).
Whoever, I spoke to told me that they are getting 9-10kmpl with A/C on in city. I spoke to some who are driving this car in Mumbai city (since I belong to Mumbai). They reported around 8kmpl + and nothing less in some of the worst streches on Mumbai like Andheri-Kurla Road. In a recent article in Top Gear (August Issue), there is an article on Fiat Adventure and they also report an mileage of 8.8kmpl of this car.
Its all clear and evident. Tata-Fiat has recently announced a 50:50 JV which is the extension of their distribution partnership. No one, I spoke to was unhappy about the service. In fact, some even said, some initial glithes were done very fast without cost as the car was under warranty. Even those, who have been owning it for more than a year, have not reported any issues in terms of high spare cost or whatever. Need I say more!
I did extensive study on Fiat Spa and found that, they have returned to profit, thanks to Grande Punto. I found that, they have no plans to shut their business which is 100+ year old. (At least I couldn’t get any evidence). I found that they are doing extremely well in Latin America, South Africa and Western Europe. I found that more than 50% of their revenue is from international market. India is a strategic market and they are here to stay.
I spoke to 2 Used car delaers. One said, this car is going to return good resale, as Fiat is coming back and TATA-Fiat JV is going to help boost the resale vale. Another dealer told me that, this car in a worst case will return you about 20-25% of the car value after 5 years(If the present perception about FIAT reamins as it is). If the position of FIAT India improves, which I am sure will, after the Tata JV, this car may return better resale. I own a Santro and is 5 years old, and I am getting about 33% return on my orginal car value.
I checked about the status value as well. Obviously, the owners of this car always told me that this car is a head turner (I agree with them fully). But this, I checked with other Auto Gurus, and they said, it falls into a different segment all together. This car definitely gives a good status value minus the interior which is looks dated. But let me be honest, If you expect a status value of Honda (especially in Indian market), Adventure is not going to give you that, purely because of Indian mind set. But its not too far away as well. Secodly, would like to bridge that so called "Status Gap" by paying 2 lacs extra and much less powered car! Well, the call is yours!
I read couple of magazines and saw some work which was done on cars like Honda City, Optra, Indigo, Skoda etc. I was very impressed with the face lift which an interior can give post this. I cheked with Fiat, in case doing this deprives me of any warranty. They said, nothing as long as you get it done through the authorised dealer of this car. Else, you wait and get this done after the warranty is over. The complete change of interiors, which may inlcue, pure leather seats, two tone beige dash board with wood finish panesl, AC vents and door handles. Leather finish doo pads, change of roof carpet, floor mat, half wood and half leather steering wheel etc, will cost you maximum 45, 000/-. This comes with 3 year warranty. If you want to do it with composite leater, 10, 000 less. I have seen the works of an agency called "Morfeus" ( http://www.morfeusdesign.com), which seems to be neat and quite good.
So, my verdict, if you love driving, care a bit about your and your family’s safety while in the car, you love smooth ride on Indian roads, understand what 100BHP mean and care a bit less about mileage (Only when you are thnking about NHC, Baleno and Aveo, others are very close to the mileage which Adventure is going to give), you cannot miss this car. If you have still, please go, take a test drive. After all, gone are the days, when you had to search for a FIAT dealer, well workshops as well. They are as close as any other car, which are still on your mind.
Now the question comes, do I own it yet! Well, almost. I have zeroed on this car and will book soon. Will write a detailed review once, I experience it myself.