With new cars hitting the market every day, along with competitive price tags and fancy features yet a handful chunk of people opt for second hand car’s, the fact is which car’s to choose, where to buy and how to check.
With FIAT palio riding waves with a smaller price tag (Ranging INR 45, 000 to 85, 000) and people search lot’s of forums and take opinion whether to buy or not. I hope this review will help people while deciding whether to go for it or not.I will try to cover up as much as possible.
Performance : Certainly this car has won "CAR OF THE YEAR" consecutively for 2 years 2002/03 and it offers good performance overall, butter smooth gear shift, flaw less ride and noiseless engine, good pick up at slow speed and rock stable even @ 140 KMPH, thanks to the old ferrari engine and heavily built body, Thanks to 1200 CC engine
Suspension : The car has a rock solid suspension, if properly greased( evey 40k KMS) and maintainted it can easily run noiselessly for at least 1 lakh KM without disturbing your pockets.
Economy : This is a major concern raised by many people against this car, the car upon proper maintenance and effective driving can deliver 12 KMPL in city and 16 KMPL on highways with A/C on, the major factors affect mileage are, dusty air filter, blocked fuel injector, ECM fault and depressed engine.
Body : Heavily built and can save the passengers on any major crash, the heavy body helps the car to maintain stability on high speeds and culprit for bringing down the economy.Exceptionally excellent paint quality.
Electricals : Since the ECM (brain of the car) is placed flat exposing too much results in too much wear and tear, leading to occasional replacements.The headlights are powerful enough without Cut-out
Spare : Almost all parts are available in metros and major cities, TVS still makes original parts for this car.NO PROBLEM in terms of availability in cities but still in rural areas it’s a problem, the spares are moderately priced at par to maruthi/TATA and cheaper than HYUNDAI.
Service : MAJOR MAJOR concern, since this is a techinchandru021y brilliant car finding good mechanics is always a problem as a well trained mechanic can easily fix the problem and a normal mechanic can increase the size of the problem, if you are not sure about which mechanic to choose safe bet would be MYTVS or mahindra first
choice.
Common problems and fixes:
Low economy : replace or clean air filter, clean fuel injectors, check for fuel lines, do a engine flush, always have tank full of petrol while calculating economy as reserve indicator glows when fuel level reaches 10L or less though company claims it to be 7L, use right tires 165/65 R13 or 180/70 R13.NEVER use R14, use SYSTEM G additive and fill
up petrol in early morning.Last manage proper gear shift at right speeds don’t overuse clutch/accelerator
Cost to fix incl labour : 1500 (FUEL injector ranges from 1800-2500 but still can be repaired)
Sounds in door : this is a safety mechanism in palio, three stages of opening, 45, 60 and 90 degrees, a lock sound will be heard.
Cost : 50 rupees to re-greese the door
Engine: if it fails to start check ecm and if there is missing check the ECM.EC
Cost : original ECM 8750 (SM MOTORS GP ROAD CHENNAI) second hand ECM 3000-4000
Suspension noise : lower arm replacement or reassemble suspension with new bearing and bushes
Cost : 4000 including labour.
Gear Slip /struck : Replace pedal Master and slave cylinder (cost 2600 for spares and 1000 rupees labour)
Final Verdict : if your budget is low, good driver with technical knowledge and your home is in city GO FOR IT.
IF you are not a passionate driver and with limited knowledge better stay away from it.
Thanks for reading.
P.S: If you have any unresolved complaints with palio please post it I will be happy to assist.