Hi All,
I was a great fan of FIAT (Not Anymore). I learnt car driving in Fiat Premier Padmini and the prevoius car I had was a Palio Style. After I bought my new Fiat Punto 1.3D from RDC Motors Chennai in Aug2014, I lost the trust for FIAT.
RDC Motors (Chennai, India) gave me a faulty car without doing PDI (Mean, No QUALITY CHECK). From day one, I have been complaining about few issues in the car and till now they are not able to rectify (Not even identify). Please see below my email to Fiat and RDC Motors sent in Aug 2014 ....
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I bought a Punto 1.3 Emotion (75hp), White color on 7th of August, 2014 from RDC Motors Chennai. I insisted RDC to show me the car before even they take the car to RTO for registration. When I inspected the car in the service station (Post PDI), I found that the rear bumper was repainted and not done properly and asked if that is so. Initially they did not accept and finally they had to and said they will have to do some polishing and it will be alright when they deliver the car to me. Also along with this, the front and rear door handles on the driver side was changed as there were minor damages. I was fine with this, as I could understand that there might be few issues due to transit which is common and acceptable.
Car delivery (7-Aug), when I visited the showroom, the first thing I noticed that the painting complaint on the rear bumper was still visible (nothing done to correct it). I did not bother much, as it was not a major one. The moment I took the car out from the showroom, I noticed that the car was pulling to the left (Steering was not straight, thought it was alignment issue, I do not know how they missed this major, noticeable issue in PDI and why did they take it to RTO for registration with this issue). I did not return back to the showroom with this complaint as it was day one (sentimental), so just called them after reaching home. They said that there could be some minor alignment issue which is usual and can be fixed. I took the car to the service station (9-Aug-2014) where they worked on it the whole day and the issue was not resolved, but there was some difference, so I wanted to test it for few days. I confirmed that it was not resolved and called them and said that the problems still exist. Note, they solved the painting issue on the bumpers by repainting the whole bumper.
Meanwhile, all of a sudden I hear a tapping/knocking sound from my car (sound like from sewing machine). This happened after I drove the car in rain. So took the car to service station (28-Aug, sitting there for the whole day) to fix both the issues (Alignment & Noise). Finally, had to leave the car there in the workshop, as they were not able to fix any.
I ended up leaving my new car at the service station again since they were not able to fix anything.
For the alignment issue, they said the issue might be with the wheel which might require replacement. They also took the car to another local alignment center (Not FIAT) and confirmed that alignment is all fine.
For the noise, they checked the car and confirmed that nothing due to rain or water. I suggested that they change the oil (I don’t mind paying) along with filter to see if the issues are getting resolved, but no difference. They said, this is common in diesel engine and you have to live with it which I cannot accept.
I hear that noise exactly at 1500 rpm – 1900 rmp. I am sure this is not a normal sound of diesel engine, should be some sort of gear box issue. If it is a common sound of a diesel engine, the same should be heard always, not just at the above rpm.
This evening (30-Aug), I heard from them that the alignment has been fixed (All wheels are fine,). I don’t know how? For the noise, they don’t have any answers.
Problems listed below for your quick reference
1. Car pulling to the left from day one
2. Strange sound (Knocking) from engine at 1500 rpm
3. Repainted rear bumper
4. Door handles replaced
5. Driver Seat belt holder broken (The bottom one next to the driver seat, door side)
6. 75hp model – Why gun metal alloy wheel? May be there is a reason behind
7. Overall - PDI not done properly
Having said this, this car is no more a new car for me, as it has already visited the service station (about 35 kms away from where I stay) multiple times in just 3 weeks. Even if at all they are going to fix all of the above, I am not happy about this car
I feel ashamed to share this with my people that my car has such issues and is lying in the work shop, because I know what response I will get “We told you not to go for Fiat as their service is bad, you did not listen”. So I had to tell them that one of my friend has taken it on a trip with his family.
Being a FIAT fan, I am very badly hurt.
As a customer, why should I compromise on all these when I am getting a brand new car? Do you think it is worth? Tell me one good reason, why should I take this car back from work shop?
WILL YOU ACCEPT SO MANY DEFECTS IN YOUR BRAND NEW CAR ?
I doubt, that this car was a left behind in your stock/yards with some existing defects which was pushed to me. As new EVO has been launched, you had to clear the old ones. OR the car had been used as a demo or something or that sort and went into issues.
How am I going to regain my confidence in FIAT again?
Note: I would have accepted all of these if I was new to driving (Probably would have not even noticed these).For your information, this happens to be our 6th car and I have been driving for about 15 years. I have not faced any these issue in any of the cars/brands I had before.
I was a great fan of FIAT (Not Anymore). I learnt car driving in Fiat Premier Padmini and the prevoius car I had was a Palio Style. After I bought my new Fiat Punto 1.3D from RDC Motors Chennai in Aug2014, I lost the trust for FIAT.
RDC Motors (Chennai, India) gave me a faulty car without doing PDI (Mean, No QUALITY CHECK). From day one, I have been complaining about few issues in the car and till now they are not able to rectify (Not even identify). Please see below my email to Fiat and RDC Motors sent in Aug 2014 ....
***********************************************************
I bought a Punto 1.3 Emotion (75hp), White color on 7th of August, 2014 from RDC Motors Chennai. I insisted RDC to show me the car before even they take the car to RTO for registration. When I inspected the car in the service station (Post PDI), I found that the rear bumper was repainted and not done properly and asked if that is so. Initially they did not accept and finally they had to and said they will have to do some polishing and it will be alright when they deliver the car to me. Also along with this, the front and rear door handles on the driver side was changed as there were minor damages. I was fine with this, as I could understand that there might be few issues due to transit which is common and acceptable.
Car delivery (7-Aug), when I visited the showroom, the first thing I noticed that the painting complaint on the rear bumper was still visible (nothing done to correct it). I did not bother much, as it was not a major one. The moment I took the car out from the showroom, I noticed that the car was pulling to the left (Steering was not straight, thought it was alignment issue, I do not know how they missed this major, noticeable issue in PDI and why did they take it to RTO for registration with this issue). I did not return back to the showroom with this complaint as it was day one (sentimental), so just called them after reaching home. They said that there could be some minor alignment issue which is usual and can be fixed. I took the car to the service station (9-Aug-2014) where they worked on it the whole day and the issue was not resolved, but there was some difference, so I wanted to test it for few days. I confirmed that it was not resolved and called them and said that the problems still exist. Note, they solved the painting issue on the bumpers by repainting the whole bumper.
Meanwhile, all of a sudden I hear a tapping/knocking sound from my car (sound like from sewing machine). This happened after I drove the car in rain. So took the car to service station (28-Aug, sitting there for the whole day) to fix both the issues (Alignment & Noise). Finally, had to leave the car there in the workshop, as they were not able to fix any.
I ended up leaving my new car at the service station again since they were not able to fix anything.
For the alignment issue, they said the issue might be with the wheel which might require replacement. They also took the car to another local alignment center (Not FIAT) and confirmed that alignment is all fine.
For the noise, they checked the car and confirmed that nothing due to rain or water. I suggested that they change the oil (I don’t mind paying) along with filter to see if the issues are getting resolved, but no difference. They said, this is common in diesel engine and you have to live with it which I cannot accept.
I hear that noise exactly at 1500 rpm – 1900 rmp. I am sure this is not a normal sound of diesel engine, should be some sort of gear box issue. If it is a common sound of a diesel engine, the same should be heard always, not just at the above rpm.
This evening (30-Aug), I heard from them that the alignment has been fixed (All wheels are fine,). I don’t know how? For the noise, they don’t have any answers.
Problems listed below for your quick reference
1. Car pulling to the left from day one
2. Strange sound (Knocking) from engine at 1500 rpm
3. Repainted rear bumper
4. Door handles replaced
5. Driver Seat belt holder broken (The bottom one next to the driver seat, door side)
6. 75hp model – Why gun metal alloy wheel? May be there is a reason behind
7. Overall - PDI not done properly
Having said this, this car is no more a new car for me, as it has already visited the service station (about 35 kms away from where I stay) multiple times in just 3 weeks. Even if at all they are going to fix all of the above, I am not happy about this car
I feel ashamed to share this with my people that my car has such issues and is lying in the work shop, because I know what response I will get “We told you not to go for Fiat as their service is bad, you did not listen”. So I had to tell them that one of my friend has taken it on a trip with his family.
Being a FIAT fan, I am very badly hurt.
As a customer, why should I compromise on all these when I am getting a brand new car? Do you think it is worth? Tell me one good reason, why should I take this car back from work shop?
WILL YOU ACCEPT SO MANY DEFECTS IN YOUR BRAND NEW CAR ?
I doubt, that this car was a left behind in your stock/yards with some existing defects which was pushed to me. As new EVO has been launched, you had to clear the old ones. OR the car had been used as a demo or something or that sort and went into issues.
How am I going to regain my confidence in FIAT again?
Note: I would have accepted all of these if I was new to driving (Probably would have not even noticed these).For your information, this happens to be our 6th car and I have been driving for about 15 years. I have not faced any these issue in any of the cars/brands I had before.