You are here : Fiat’s Multijet India Drive (CarWale Experience)
November 4, 2009 – 2:18 pm by Rachit Hirani
Fiat India Private Limited (FIAL) is conducting a multijet drive across India, covering more than 10,000km. All four Fiat cars sold in India (the Palio, Linea, Grande Punto and the 500) are a part of this drive with an additional Grande Punto as a support car. The drive was flagged off last week from the Ranjangaon plant, and the convoy headed towards Bengaluru via Chiplun and Goa. CarWale joined the drive at Bengaluru.
We headed from Bengaluru to Coimbatore passing Hosur on the way, and from Coimbatore to Munnar to Cochin. The drive was through some well maintained Karnataka highways to some good and bad Tamil Nadu state highways as well as some great Kerala roads, not to forget the beautiful scenery which can be seen in the pictures.
The drive has been conducted to focus on the reliability of the 1.3-litre multijet engines which powers all models from the current Fiat range in India. The so-called underpowered engines (critics) will get the answer once they drive these Italian blocks on the highways. All the multijets from the Fiat 500 to the Fiat Linea were clocking and maintaining 3-digit figures on the dash and we could cover good distances whenever required.
On our first day of the drive, we faced two back-to-back punctures due to a couple of large stones on the road. Our car was lucky enough to escape punctures or any damage to the tyres, although it was sandwiched between the two cars which got punctured.
The second day’s drive was through tea gardens to Munnar. The temperature on the hilltop was close to 15deg Celsius and the visibility was fairly low due to fog. We had a late lunch in Munnar and we headed to Cochin which was our stop for the next day. The Fiat powerplants responded every time we flexed our right feet and lived up to our expectations. Accompanied with the great handling of the Fiats, driving along single-lane roads and hills was thrilling yet easy.
CarWale left the Multijet drive on Sunday night in Cochin with a heavy heart – the cars that handled and rode well at high speeds, the reliable engines and the lovely roads and scenery gave us the Monday morning blues while writing this piece at our desk. How about a petrol drive next, Fiat? We’d love to sample the Palio 1.6 on the same roads!
Tags: CarWale, Fiat, Fiat 500, Fiat Diesel Drives India, Fiat engine, Fiat Grande Punto, Fiat India, Fiat Linea, Fiat Palio, grande punto, Linea, Multijet, Palio
6 Responses to “Fiat’s Multijet India Drive (CarWale Experience)”
sUPERB STUFF. fIAT is taking efforts to ensure they are back and they stay there.
By fas on Nov 4, 2009
All the best to Fiat and its drive for the Multijet engine awareness to the Indian consumer. I just completed 8500 Km on my MJD Punto 1.3 and I enjoyed every moment of my drive through Maharashtra, Gujrat, rajasthan, Uttarpradesh, Delhi and back to Mumbai.
I’ll be happy to see Fiat’s grwoth in Indian market and the trust within its future customer.
By Sandeep on Nov 5, 2009
I purchased a Punto DI Emotion on 19-07-09. After driving for 8 days I felt a drag towards left and contacted the dealer on 26-07-09. I was told to go to the work shop. On 27-7 2009, my vehicle was test driven by the staff at the work shop & was told that there was no problems in it. At the time of 1st Free servicing on 10-8 2009 told the service advisor at the work shop about the same. I was told that there was no problem in the vehicle. After driving 5500 Kms in total I noticed that the tyres were completely weared & went to the Showroom on 26-8. On 31-8 2009 the vehicle was picked up from my home for repairs. On 4-9 the vehicle was returned with all 4 tyres been changed at no cost by the dealer & was told that the Engineers from FIAT have thoroughly inspected the vehicle & the fault is been rectified & they have test driven the vehicle. After driving 500 Kms I felt the problem still very much there, it was still dragging, I informed about this, they asked me to drive for another 1000–1500 Kms then come for inspection. Following the suggestion I drove the vehicle for 1800 Kms in total after the tyres changed, went for inspection on 21-9-09. The wheel alignment was thoroughly checked at 3 different location. They found it alright, so they said that as they have limited expertise in this case the vehicle needs to be sent to FIAT plant at Ranjangaon Pune.On 1-10-09 I vehicle was sent to the FIAT Plant at Ranjangaon. I received my vehicle on 9-10-09 & was told that the problem is been taken care of. I was feeling the same drag even after the repair at the FIAT Plant, I informed about this on the very same day. I was told to drive the vehicle for 1000–1500 Kms, then it would be inspected. After driving about 1500 Kms I showed them the vehicle. They inspected the vehicle & found the problem still very much there. They said will contact the concerned person from FIAT regarding the problem I was asked to bring the vehicle for Inspection on 31-10-09. On 30-10-09 they called me and told me that the inspection is been reschedule to 3-11 2009, I hesitantly agreed for the same. On 3-11-09 I went for a meeting with Customer Care (?) team of FIAT. They inspected & test drove my vehicle for approx. 50 Kms found that as I was saying from the very start the vehicle was dragging towards left & also the tyres were weared much more than normal. FIAT staff was saying as under He said that the vehicle when repaired at the plant was thoroughly checked & now that there is a deviations in some parameters may be they will have to investigate – Does he not indirectly allege that I must have tampered the parameters? He said that they are going out of the way as per the sale agreement to HELP me get out of the problem – Doesn’t this mean that the Policy of FIAT is Just SELL IT and FORGET IT? He said that FIAT will compensate me for the inconvenience I had to take – What way can FIAT compensate all the mental harassment I had gone through? He said that I have prepared my mind not to co-operate with them – So what does he think of all that I have been doing till date? When I said that I will have to go to the media and the Consumer court, he said that this case can only stand if FIAT had denied anything on the problem. Doesn’t it mean that not denying & also not resolving is what FIAT wants?
By Sachin Thakkar on Nov 13, 2009
I purchased Grande Punto on 16th July 2009, even after lots of anti suggestions from my friends. After using it for 20-25 days one of the tyre got damaged. FIAT happily changed the tyre free of cost. I got satisfied from their customer service, against which my friends warned me.
My vehicle already driven for more than 11000 Kms and giving me nice average of 25 Km/L. I am quiet happy with the vehicle and the performance given to me by My Grande Punto. Facilities like Blue & Me, Automatic Climate Control with Pollen filters really a boost to my happiness.
Thanks FIAT to bring such a wonderful vehicle to INDIA.
By Virjinder Rana on Nov 21, 2009
I drove a Maruti car 10,000km from Delhi to Kerala and back in Feb-March 2008 with my wife and nothing more than an oil and filter change, two punctures, a replacement AC unit and about some grey hairs. Lets see how the Fiats are after 60,000 km.
By Ben Ray on Dec 21, 2009