My FIAT LINEA From Cotton City

[NAREN64]

Hi everybody,

I am Naren form the Cotton City of Coimbatore. My search for a SEDAN started in the month of September 2009, after driving Ambassador & Maruthi 800(5 years) & Wagon R (9 years).

I just looked only for 2 cars All New Honda City & Linea. In September 2009 the prices for Honda City was 9.3 Lakhs. After waiting for a month or so I decided to TD ANHC, was satisfied with the performance, but looking at the Prices it had increased by another 30k within 1 month. This was just not acceptable to me as the car I was looking for was a Basic Model with no salient features as of that in the Linea.

Then I went for the Linea TD through the dealer TAFE ACESS LIMITED, by this time I was visiting all Forums on the Net & Linea was belted for Under Power & poor After Sales Service. But when I called for a TD over telephone the same was attended very cordially & I was given the preference of FIRE & MJD versions. I opted for the MJD version as I was not sure about Fiat Petrol engines(now after seeing various ownership reviews of Fiat Linea Fire owners, I am very sure of the Fire Petrol engine of Fiat). The car came to my house the same evening and the TD was for about 10kms inside the city. The thing which went over in my mind was the Under Powered Car, but when I drove the same I thought why such words UNDER POWER are used for this car. Inside the city I was very very comfortable driving the car. The salient features of the car was explained in detial to me during after the TD. To make sure that I get the best while buying a new Sedan, I called my brother who owns a New Honda City & informed him about Linea. As he was not available the same day we had to do a TD the next day, the same car was available, my brother drove the car and he informed me that the car is not Under Powered and it had the same power of the NHC, so according to him the Car with all the Fantastic features was WORTH MONEY.

Car was booked with a small hiccup, I wanted only Bossa Nova White for the model I opted Dynamic Pack. TAFE Coimbatore informed me that it would take a month’s time or more to get Bossa Nova White in Dynamic Pack model. I told him I will wait no problem. The next day with all the contacts available to me, courtesy all Linea Owners I called up Aashish Bhardwaj of Fiat & explained what Tafe had informed me, he told me that I would get a call within half an hour from Tafe & he assured me that if I book the car the same day he will make arrangements to dispatch the car the same day. I get a call in 10 minutes from Taffee & was told that the car booking can be done the same day. Booked the car with 50k advance. Car was delivered to me in 5 days time November 28th 2009 with all the Fanfare which you all people know.

Regarding After Sale service I visited the Tafe service station for the 1st free 3k km service, appointment was fixed by Tafe on their own with my consent, I delivered the car to them & they dropped me back in my office, once the service was over I was picked up from my office & was informed in detail about the 3k Kms service by the service in charge & car was handed over to me. Till date I have not visited the service station nor called up Fiat for any problems.

I am now a very satisfied Fiat Linea Owner, the ADMIRATION IS GUARANTEED plus I feel the car is VALUE FOR MONEY. The car has now run for 15k+ kms & as of now there is no problem.

Photos of my Linea in Kodaikanal

 

[Akash]

Excellent writeup with fantastic pics. Put some interior pics too.

 

[mukeshus]

Welcome to TAI Naren64.
Have a pleasant stay on TAI.
Good to know that your car is performing well after so many kms on ODO wirh no complaints.
Wish you miles of safe & happy motoring.

 

[NAREN64]

@akash,

Thanks, will post interior pictures in a short time.

@mukeshus,

Thanks for the welcome & your compliments.

 

[*Arkin_Young*]

Welcome Naren!! Great to see you here. There are already many Fiat fans and about 4-5 Linea owners here, and do not worry, people and admins here have extremely unbiased views, and are enthusiastic folks. Oh, and nice write and doggie. And great car!

 

[RSM]

Welcome Naren.
Fiat carries bad reputation and thats the reason people are so critical. You and me (owners) have to put the reality to the open world so that perspective owners can take informed decision.

 

[type-r]

welcome Naren and boy what a beautiful color that is on the Linea! Congrats!

 

[nevinpowers]

yet another FIAT lover. welcome to TAI[i'm pretty new myself]. great write up:)
is there any particular reason why you wanted the dynamic version? i know its cheap but the emotion does offer come cool utilities.
honda is always expensive but when people hear honda they are usually willing to pay the extra. and city is a very good car, when you compare the jazz's price.
and you never considered the swift dzire?

 

[NAREN64]

@ARKIN YOUNG,

Thank you, I am very pleased here the unbiased view of the forum, also thanks for the compliments of the photo.

@RSM,

Yes Fiat had a bad reputation, but now I am seeing them improving, & we will make them improve. Thanks for the welcome.

@type-r,

Thanks for the welcome & for the comliments for the photos of my Linea.

@nevinpowers,

Yes it was the cost factor I opted for the Dymanic Pack version, now I regret for the same, should have gone for an Emotion.

Honda is still there in my mind, the cost factor + petrol car, as I drive around 1500 kms per month made me shift towards Linea.

Swift Dezire was not always in my mind, becasue of the Shape, Rear leg space etc etc.

Thanks for the welcome.

Will post my experience of the 15k kms service later.

 

[cooldhaya]

Good photos and am glad to hear that Linea is doing well without any hiccups even after so many kms on the ODO.

Am surprised to hear that they dropped you back at the office and again picked you up for delivery! Kudos to Fiat , i have never got such things from Hyundai and TATA!

For your running diesel seems sensible and good that you have gone in for Linea. ANHC costs more initially and running cost is also more! Though regular maintenance for Honda is cheap , the other spares are damn costly!

 

[nevinpowers]

liked your description of the swift :) couldn't agree more! why people buy it still amazes me. but i hear indigo manza and logan are good value for money cars. but linea is cool. infact , had my parents agreed on a sedan , linea would've been my pick. i feel so bad. punto's been at my place for more than 2 weeks now and i have driven just 89km. :(

 

[vijay]

naren, welcome to TAI family and congratulations on your acquisition on Fiat Linea.Admiration definately Guaranteed.Awesome car from fiat with superb features in that price bracket.What you heard from many forums about this car being underpowered is of the size and weight people do expect to get a more powerful engine, but this 90bhp isnt bad at all,infact for normal city usage its perfect.Nice pictures of your car.Do share more pictures and some of its interiors as well, also if some mods, accessories done in your car.Enjoy your ride.

 

[350Z]

I read the complete thread quite a while ago, but just couldn’t comment. Finally clicked in mind again, and here I go - Big congratulations for your prized possession, Naren. I’m one of the die-hard fans when it comes to the design and style of Fiat Linea, be it exteriors or interiors. And yes it does looks sweet in any color, but personally I’d prefer Black, Flamenco Red or Fox Trot Azure. Do keep us updated timely about the up-keep costs of this car.

Drive Safe,
350Z

 

[Navtej]

Welcome Naren.
Fiat carries bad reputation and thats the reason people are so critical. You and me (owners) have to put the reality to the open world so that perspective owners can take informed decision.

Here is a quote from your write-up:

"To make sure that I get the best while buying a new Sedan, I called my brother who owns a New Honda City & informed him about Linea. As he was not available the same day we had to do a TD the next day, the same car was available, my brother drove the car and he informed me that the car is not Under Powered and it had the same power of the NHC, so according to him the Car with all the Fantastic features was WORTH MONEY".

Hi Naren, great to hear that you are having a great time with your beautiful Linea MJD. I own a Linea 1.4 Petrol and I, too, have enjoyed every one of the 26000 or so km I have done with her (I like to think of my car in feminine terms).

I have never felt like the car lacks power. Whereas it is easy on you in the city, on the highway, it truly shines. I regularly drive it in the 120-140 kmph bracket though I have taken it to the max (a speedo-indicated 180 +) a fair number of times as well (please check out my thread on this very forum for some high-speed pics, though I should really not be proud of them coz it is a pretty foolhardy thing to do especially on our highways such as they are).

Nevertheless, the point is that the Linea has more than enough juice in the mill. The only time I was beaten for pace on the NH-1 was by a guy driving, surprising as it might seem, the Accent 1.5 petrol! It was actually a photofinish! Since that day, my respect for the Accent has grown manifold!

If this is what this car with a mere '90 BHP' can do, I can only imagine what a rocket the Linea T-Jet must be! I had bought the Linea 1.4 purely on the basis of its bespoke styling and the wealth of features it came with, so the good performance came as an unexpected but very welcome bonus! And the Linea MJD is as quick (and quicker through the gears).

Your Linea in the white looks simply fabulous. Somehow, black paint doesn't seem to suit the car as much, that, of course, is just my perception.

This car is a handler and has a sumptuous suspension!

I have had very positive and pleasant experiences with Joshi Autozone, Chandigarh, so it is a bit disappointing that people in general have not changed their perception of the Fiat-Tata dealerships, especially of their aftersales service. If Fiat India persist with their efforts though, the perceptions will change overtime, of that I am sure.

Certain things I am not very fond of, in the Linea, include the strange positioning of the USB Port (inside the glovebox!) and the poor visibility at the back. Also, I believe they should offer a cooled glovebox, something which even the Etios offers. Also, there should be 2 AC vents at the rear instead of only one and maybe they should offer a reversing camera at least on the top end. The music system could be better as well.

Fuel efficiency of the 1.4 Petrol, in the city, is on the lower side as well, I just about manage 9-9.5 kmph with the AC on all the time, though on the highway, it easily manages 14 kmpl or more with the AC on all the time. The relatively lower efficiency could be related to my driving style though. Of course the MJD owners like you don't have to worry about the fuel efficiency!

Please do share a few interior pics and more details about your driving experiences, enjoy the beauty in the meanwhile!

 

[jayadev]

my brother drove the car and he informed me that the car is not Under Powered

truly the linea being misunderstood as underpowered is not that it lacks punch but comparitively to its segment for such an amazing machine it is so underpowered.
i myself feel pity on fiat for doing such an injustice to a brilliant car.

thankfully fiat realized its mistake lately and launched t-jet. again it looks underpowered against Anhc .

i believe it has nothing to do with drive ability and overall power delivery, but a kind of prestige issue comes into play an ego stunt .

like:

x:- how much bhp ~120
y:-and yours ~90...
x:-only 90 haha ??