From Zen to Palio. Review on Palio - Petrol

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