Fiat Palio buying information

[varotone]

Greetings gentlemen,

I came across a Fiat Palio car when searching for a Grande Punto. Priced at a ridiculous 900K,  I am about to make an impulse purchase. Please advice me on the purchase. Here are the details

• Make and model - Fiat Palio Stile 2007 Sport 1.6L
• Registered -2007
• Odo - 75,000 km
•  Petrol, Manual transmission

My expectations are to find a car to get my hands dirty with mechanics and electronics, have some fun riding/towing/ pushing around this thing,  and sell this within 2-4 years with the lowest depreciation.

This didn't look like a popular car in the first place. A few online reviews didn't tell much other than how unsafe the car is. A search on Autolanka forum gave only one topic with only the OP. I would like to know form anyone who owned a Palio if to buy this, what to look for when buying, and any caveats regarding this particular model.

 

PS. It's an unusual color, is from outstation although the licence plate is a western province, and the owner says 16 km/L (lol). Which might partly explain the low price. 

Edit - The specific one that I was talking about was sold. Still your advice is appreciated in case I came across another Palio.

Edited March 17, 2018 by varotone

[ajm]

imported from India?

[varotone]

Yes. It's the Indian version. Again I didn't find information on the difference between the Indian and European one's. Please mention if you are aware of any.

[ajm]

it was a lowcost market model from the beginning.

[NeroX]

For 900k it does sound like a steal. Only caveat would be sourcing parts if it's Indian made. The available support in SL is mostly for the italian GPs & the indian importer LOLC is not handling the Marquee anymore. 

If you don't mind waiting a bit to get down parts from India its a sweet deal. There might be a reason why the owner has depereciated an 07 model so much. Could be this. Just check.

My advice go for a GP. Couple of them are available for some time. Should be able to negotiate a good price.

[varotone]

13 hours ago, NeroX said:

Only caveat would be sourcing parts if it's Indian made. The available support in SL is mostly for the italian GPs & the indian importer LOLC is not handling the Marquee anymore. 

If you don't mind waiting a bit to get down parts from India its a sweet deal.

From what I gathered, Palio is built for emerging markets such as Brazil and India. As per the Wikipedia page, it's manufactured in many places such as Brazil, India, Turkey, China, Poland and Russia.

Aren't the parts interchangeable?

Aren't the mechanics doing Italian ones able/willing to do Indian ones?

eBay lists many consumables for the model. Getting down spares doesn't look difficult if I plan ahead regarding running repairs and maintenance.

[NeroX]

Mechanics would be willing. Whether they have experience is the issue. Lack of experience means lot of plug & play of spares. Also if indian most probably for majority of parts no stocks will be available locally. You can use 99rpm.com or fiat India to source parts. Fiat India can supply any part as long as you have the correct part number. A slight lead time may apply for older non stock parts. You might have to travel or find someone to do it for you.

If it's European your best bet is eBay. Research on the model put on sale. Check the car for any critical repairs needed. Anything that's stopping the car being put to the road. Refer to above sources for avg price. If its not running to couple of lakhs go for it. If it's significant amount I'd still advice going for a panda, doblo or gp which will have much better support locally. Also those Italian  cars are much stronger & heavier giving you much better safety than the cheap sheet metal found in the indian variants. A well maintained fiat Uno might be a good option as well.

[matroska]

On 3/17/2018 at 8:19 PM, NeroX said:

For 900k it does sound like a steal. Only caveat would be sourcing parts if it's Indian made. The available support in SL is mostly for the italian GPs & the indian importer LOLC is not handling the Marquee anymore. 

 

Isn't LOLC supporting fiat anymore? I think it was them who brought down the Linea? I guess this explains the very high depreciation of Linea in the local market. 

 

2 hours ago, NeroX said:

A well maintained fiat Uno might be a good option as well.

Out of pure curiosity  - are those old Uno's still practically maintainable? 

[NeroX]

Yes LOLC is not the official FCA appointed agent. Their workshop still do support the vehicles sold but don't have any official affiliation with fiat anymore.

On the Uno yes parts can be found. You can't compare it to maintaining  a Toyota, but for someone with the patience there's nothing to worry abt. Also the model was in production till the late 90s. So if you can find a such a model might be even in better condition. It was a bestseller for fiat & the highest volume model exported out of Italy to date. So spares wise should be alright.

[varotone]

On 3/20/2018 at 11:22 AM, NeroX said:

You can use 99rpm.com or fiat India to source parts.

Thanks for the helpful information. There's a lot of spares for GP, linea, and uno.

I'm also considering GP, Panda, linea and dublo. The latest Uno I found was 1998 which offered too little electronics to get my hands dirty. So, Uno is out.