I have been a very happy user of the Zen for the last 5 years.
It was genuinely a trouble free car.
Last October I was attracted by the good looks of the Palio
and in fact followed one to one of the dealers.
I was quite surprised by the pricing considering the feature
s it offers. After the initial hiccups on delivery ( I had
to even send a fax to the MD of Fiat India to get my
delivery, I got my car in th elast week of Dec 2001. In the
last 3 months of its use, I am very happy with the Palio
ELXPS in terms of its manouverability ( thanks to power
steering) it’s overall comfort at the front as well as the
back.
It is definitely a bigger car than Zen and has a higher
seating arrangment. Since I have not yet had the occasion
to go for service with the Fiat dealers, I cannot comment
on that.
Besides the very nice shape, I am very happy with the boot
space which is enough for 2 big suitcases. Even the dashboard
and other features like AC, Heater, Defrosting of rear window
central locking etc are all available in the ELXPS model.
The consumption is quite low ( approx 8km/litre ) but then
I used to get only 9km/litre) even on my Zen; it is possible
that this is because drive as low as 5 kms a day.
I have had no problems so far but I am slightly worried
about Fiat’s ability to service weel based on past record.
My experience with their dealers during the delivery period
is not very good. I only hope that the car continues to
behave as it has done so far and that the need for servicing
is low as in the Zen.
If these 2 factors hold out than I think Palio ELXPS at
Rs 4.0 lacs is a very good deal compared to any others in the
range