Was it a good buy? I dunno. Review on Fiat Petra 1.6 EL

I read the raving reviews on the 1600cc DHOC engine on the Palio 1.6.Though the Fiat dealer is the worst that you can pick, I wanted to buy a Palio 1.6.Unfortunately the Palio was available only as 1.2 petrol or 1.9 diesel.The 1.6 engine was available only on the then newly introduced Petra.

So I decided on the Petra 1.6. It was all what was expected and more! Till the first service.What happened after that could only be due to parts being switched.Pickup went down drastically.The ride became bumpy.

The power steering started giving trouble.In a course of 8 months and that many trips to the garage and spending nearly RS.25000 nothing worked out and I was on the verge of giving up and selling the car when I came to know that Fiat was trying to strike a deal with Tata Motors.So I parked the car in the garage and used my old Omni instead and decide to wait a bit more.

Eventually Tata & Fiat struck a deal and I was able to get my Petra rectified within 2 days at no extra costs!

The Palio/Siena/Petra range of Fiat was, I feel a colossal disaster in the South not because of the cars, but because of Fiat sticking to the dealer who thought that it was still the Nehruvian era, where the dealer was king and the consumer a beggar.

This attitude still continues and will be the downfall of the Logan also since Mahindra does not seem to have any new dealers in mind. Would I buy another Fiat? Definitely. Would I buy it from the same dealer even if he gave me a 90% discount? Definitely Not!! Not any car or even a bicycle!!Now the pros and cons on the Petra in my opinion.PROS:Excellent engine with superb pickup.

Very torquey I did the Nilgiris uphill mostly in 4th and 5th!Mileage is very reasonable. It depends on how you drive. Sober with a/c on 15.5 on highway.Like a speed maniac 13.5 on the same highway.City : 12 sober and 9.5 for the maniac.This is one car in which you dont have the left hand on the gear shift all the time in the city, because the gear changes required are minimum.

Built like a battle tank and can handle whatever roads that our corrupt Public Works Department can dish out.It does turns and corners at high speed without any noticeable sway.Just stubbornly clings to the road.The faster you go the smoother the ride.I once left a 'challenger' in a Verna way back in the horizon when the speedo clocked 120 on a pot-holed highway.

Excellent legroom in the front and easy access to my 6' frame.Comfortable rear seats.My wife found that out once when she fought with me and chose to sit in the rear.Very Very roomy luggage boot. not only in length and breadth but also in height.Fits most suit cases vertically.

The accostics of the roomy boot is just perfect for the installed sub-woofer.Doors with multi-point hinges ensures that you dont srape your doors on the car next to yours when you swing them open.Gear shift is so positive and effortless makes shifting thru to 5th history in a few seconds.

The body build is very strong. The few times when cars grazed against me in traffic, I had only a neligible loss of paint while the other guys had bad dents.My Petra is now nearly 4 years old and except for the initial hiccups, has been running fine till date.CONS:Pot holed roads or un-tarred roads are fine, but on badly levelled roads it is pure hell!Headlights are poor and dont give you required visibility over a distance.

The original Brazilian Pinkilton windshields and door glasses are worse than the duplicate stuff that used to be sold for Ambys and Padminis a couple of decads back.Zero visibility at night. Zero visibility at night against approaching traffic.Below Zero visibility on a rainy night.The front winshield has already developed wiper marks.My 1994 Omni has none so far.

I plan to replace all the glasses with the Indian Atul Tuf glasses soon.Terrible tyre noise on the original Bridgestones.I hope this problem ends when I change my tyres.Rumbling suspension noises on uneven roads.I don't know if this is a design problem or a manufacturing problem.

Though Tata Motors was able to solve the initial problems with my Petra, their staff just blink when I try to explain the problems with the car.I don't know if they do this purposely to sell more Indicas or whether they are really and truly incapable of doing an in-depth analysis.

This is one major worry that gives me sleepless nights.What is going to happen when I take my Petra to Tata for a big engine or gearbox repair. Will I ever see my Petra run properly again?Should I sell it before too long?What can I buy instead?All these questions.....what should I do?P.S.I wanted to leave the Dealer satisfaction rating blank, because that too would being too generous.But I could not post this review unless I entered the minimum rating