The research Phase
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Buying first car is a tough job . Initially I had petrol amaze in mind . But changed my mind due to constant pressure from my family members and decided to go with diesel (Not sure if it make sense since my annual running would around 12-15k). Also amaze with all saftety features (I was very particular about ABS and Airbags and I believe its worth spending 1L for your beloved one’s safety).
I checked out and did TD of all cars and shortlisted Ford figo Titanium , Etios liva GD (SP) and Grande punto emotion pack . I was not used to diesel cars (I used to drive my dad’s Good old santro, I still believe is the better car to roam around in the city traffic ).
Liva felt like a compromise with the toy car like speedometer dials and poor sheet metals. Figo felt a very good deal for the price . It had all the features I was looking for except the lack of rear power windows. Then I checked out the Italian beauty@ fiat caffe Domlur and fill in love with her in the first sight . The car chassis is built like a tank. I took TD of around 6 km stretch from Domlur to Sony world signal (Bangalore).
There is little bit of initial lag but felt adequate unless I am not taking it for a drag race, and it felt solid at high speed though I couldn’t cross 100 km mark due to crowded Bangalore traffic during my test drive . Finally I decided to go for Grande punto Exotica Red Emotion pack 76 PS . On road price came to 8.1 L (its almost 1L more expensive than Figo but felt worth spending it).
Delivery
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I got my Fiat grande punto emotion 2013 1.3 delivered on 21st Sept . The experience with Fiat cafe was OK.Nothing great to boast about .
I covered only 1300 KM till date including one trip to Salem from Bangalore.
Currently I am getting around 13kmpl in the Bangalore city and got around 18 kmpl in the Salem trip with 100% AC (checked from the trip meter ).
it too early to write about owner ship experience yet, I will add more to the review after 1st service .
Things l liked
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Solid build quality , Handling , Blue and me, front seats , looks and lot more.
Things I didn’t like
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Plastic quality
Panel gaps (Its very visible)
The audio quality of the stoke stereo (felt ok for me since I am not a music enthusiast )
The viper and indicator controls are reverse (like ford).