"Sorry, we can't give you the 1.9 as planned but you can have the 1.3 instead," said the Fiat man just before delivering our Grande Punto test car.
Great, a week stuck in a slow, wheezy, hill-detector, I thought. A whole seven days of bugs spattering the rear window, being overtaken by 125cc scooters and not having enough pace to cut off rude taxi drivers trying to steal a gap...
The scenario didn't quite play out that way, however, and by the time I'd given back the turbodiesel (Multijet, in Fiat-speak) hatch there was the usual collection of dead insects on the windscreen, as normal.
Out on the open road the little Italian car cruised quite freely, out-running not only scooters, beetles (and Beetles - the old kind) but generating enough pace to get into trouble with the law.
I didn't stand a chance against the taxis, though. The Fiat's 55kW wasn't enough to stop the godless cutting me off. The problem wasn't just the kilowatts deficiency but turbo lag, that dreaded affliction of turbine-assisted cars at high altitude.
At low engine revs, before the turbo starts spinning with intent, very little happens powerwise. You can ram the accelerator hard enough to dent the firewall but if the engine's not yet reached its powerband the car will move with all the urgency of melting butter.
Once that turbo does come into play, though, it unleashes a gutsy 190Nm of torque - the same as you'd get from a two-litre petrol engine - which slings the Fiat forward with something approaching spiritedness.
According to Fiat's sea-level figures, the Grande Punto 1.3 Multijet will take 13.6sec from 0-100km/h and reach 165km/h.
So the pace is there for the plucking if you can live with the car's elastic power delivery. To keep this little engine in its momentum zone requires a lot of concentration and well-timed gear-changing - it's a busy experience.
One's main reason for buying a small-engined diesel is fuel consumption and our test car burned 6.8 litres of the smelly stuff per 100km up here in Gauteng. That's reasonably economical but you'd get similar from a 1.6 petrol car.
Fiat's claim of 4.7 seems very optimistic although we suspect the car will return better economy at sea level where it won't need to be revved so hard to overcome the turbo lag.
The oil change intervals are 30 000km, though, which is much less frequent than usual for diesel, and the price includes a five-year/90 000km service plan.
Diesel clatter
This little 1300 has a clatter that doesn't entirely disappear at higher revs and, when the engine's cold, the key must stay twisted for several seconds before the oil catches fire.
If you haven't got the picture yet, this Grande Punto requires some patience.
For the more adrenalin-hungry driver Fiat has a 1.9-litre turbodiesel Grande Punto (the one we were supposed to get) with far livelier outputs of 88kW and 280Nm but it also costs much heftier R168 000 and has only three doors.
This 1.3-litre diesel has five doors and makes a more practical conveyance if your car occupancy rate is frequently more than two passengers.
As its name suggests, the Grande Punto launched in SA a couple of months ago is larger than the Punto which has been here for a while and will continue in the range.
Wider and taller
Big brother is a little more than 20cm longer than the 3.8m Punto; its also a bit wider and taller and that makes El Grande one of the larger small hatchbacks.
There's not a huge amount of rear-passenger room but sufficient for a couple of full-growed adults. Knees belonging to the very tall will touch the front backrests but there's decent headroom.
The 275-litre boot is compact but can be expanded by folding the rear seats and it carries a real spare instead of an emergency-only wheel.
Fiat has made strides in build quality and the Grande Punto feels solid, robust and rattle-free. The external door releases are exceptionally stiff, however, and my kids struggled to open the doors. It might sound a petty complaint but can become a real pain in the daily commuting run.
The interior is a little plasticky against a VW Polo, Peugeot 207 or Renault Clio and it has no soft-touch plastics but fit 'n finish are decent and the cabin styling is funky with dual-tone blue-and-black fascia and seats.
Giugiaro styling
The external styling, developed by Italdesign-Giugiaro together with the Fiat Style Centre, is eye-catchingly different and clearly aimed at young (or young at heart) buyers.
The Grande Punto is one of the more expensive cars in its class but there's also a higher than usual level of spec for a small car, including power lumbar support for the driving seat, height and reach adjustment for the power-assisted steering that also has a City mode to ease the effort of parking (you can leave it engaged - it then becomes automatic below 30km/h).
There are centre armrests for the front seats, a six-speaker audio system with steering-wheel controls (with CD front-loader and optional MP3 player or CD changer), trip data computer and air-con. There's also remote-controlled central locking with a separate button for unlocking the boot.
The front windows have power.
Safety standards include anti-lock brakes with electronic pressure control and six crash bags.
As you can see, quite an array of spec.
As a commuter the Grande Punto delivers a comfortable ride which takes takes precedence over handling sharpness. The little Fiat will get through corners at a reasonable lick if you really want it to but its somewhat squishy suspension prevents it from being an exciting corner-carver.
SUMMARY:
Decent product, dicey image but the Grande Punto's styling, size and generous equipment have made it a good seller in Europe where it's helped to increase the brand's market share.
Whether it can do the same here in SA depends on whether Fiat can improve its mediocre after-sales reputation.