The Heart Vs. Soul Debate : Linea TJet versus Laura 1.8 TSI

[mnemonic]

Originally Posted by vb-san

Loved this post. So is there a 4th contender into the mix now?

Interesting to know that they have actually improved on the 2012 model. Any idea if they have quietly added in extra features like ESP into the current version (Its available in the upcoming petrol AT)?

No vb-san, there is no fourth contender in the mix. Life is difficult enough with two .

On your question with regards to more kit, there is no ESP in the manual variant. Guess, it will add to the already stratospheric cost of the Fiesta.

Since I know that you are on the lookout for a replacement for your nxt- here is some dope. Spoke to the Fiat dealer here and got to know that the discounts on the 2011 T-Jet+ is a whopping 1.5 lakhs. Yes, you heard it right. At these levels, the Jet can be yours at a sub 9 lakh pricing on-road, which is unbeatable.

The dealer also told me that Fiat is not producing any T-Jets till the stocks clear out and the 2012 T-Jets with the additional features is not expected before the mid of this year in showrooms. Tempted?

[mnemonic]

The Child Seat Conundrum:

I guess some of you must be seeing parallels between my thread and the likes of "Bold and the Beautiful".

Both seem endless, both involve beauties, both have confused men and all of these are in an eternal tango! Now I really want to put an end to this but the conundrum just got worse.

My wife and I decided that the roads in Mumbai (and India in general) are no longer safer to potter about with a hyper active toddler on the loose in the car. So, we did some study, debated endlessly over rear facing vs front facing vs booster etc, trust me, these debates can be as heated as Front engined vs Rear engined vs Turbo/Super charged can get. And finally decided to put our money on a "convertible", well, this isn't no soft top which you can roll down to let the wind fondle your/your child's hair. It's a seat which can do duties as a rear facing one till the time the kid needs protection from the wheeled beauties on road and then can double up as a front facing one when the kid is old enough to oogle at oncoming cars. Neat eh? Given our penchant for road trips, we got a brand named lill wanderers and guess what it is made in France? Natural for a country which earns a hell lot from tourism!

Coming back to the topic, the child seat can turn out to be a deal clincher or breaker depending on which side you look at it from

1. A child seat is wide, super wide. It takes up as much space as a "supersize me" dude! So the choice is clear, if you want a child seat and 2 mid sized adults in the rear seat (not midgets),you need a car which has a minimum width of 1.8 mts. So,narrow cars, you may leave.

2. They have complex and unwieldy locking mechanisms which will make you really bend and stretch. In short, a complete workout. Cars with sloping roof lines and low slung rear seats, bye bye. Can T-Jet owners confirm how easy the roofline is to live with? Strange that both a receding hairline and roofline both cause problems!

So,our next car should be wide enough to accommodate the child seat and two adults ( preferably) in the rear, without being as wide as a truck or the likes masquerading as SUVs.

Ummm, what do we do? Look at the first wide car that comes along. The Chevy Cruze! Well, that is quite literally setting the cat ( a big growler at that) amongst the pigeons. Well, before you petrol heads disown me, I would like to state that we have a Chevy Cruze in the extended family and yesterday the Cruze and the child seat happen to be in the same locality and we thought of making them socialize. And oh boy did they? The child seat took like a duck to water onto the three seats in the rear and I could comfortably fit in on either side with the seat in the middle. At 12.5 lakhs ex-showroom, the LT seems to tick all the right boxes including the child seat. Aaargh! Quite a pickle.

Now winding down this post, there is light at the end of this proverbial tunnel as I will have to take a call on the car no later than Feb 1st or 2nd which is just two days away. All the matter is ready, just the mind needs to be made up with the heart lurking in the background.

[vb-san]

Originally Posted by mnemonic

Coming back to the topic, the child seat can turn out to be a deal clincher or breaker depending on which side you look at it from

1. A child seat is wide, super wide. It takes up as much space as a "supersize me" dude! So the choice is clear, if you want a child seat and 2 mid sized adults in the rear seat (not midgets),you need a car which has a minimum width of 1.8 mts. So,narrow cars, you may leave.

2. They have complex and unwieldy locking mechanisms which will make you really bend and stretch. In short, a complete workout. Cars with sloping roof lines and low slung rear seats, bye bye. Can T-Jet owners confirm how easy the roofline is to live with? Strange that both a receding hairline and roofline both cause problems!

So,our next car should be wide enough to accommodate the child seat and two adults ( preferably) in the rear, without being as wide as a truck or the likes masquerading as SUVs.

Mnemonic, your original choice – Laura TSI should be a right fit with this child seat requirement. I am quite sure that the Laura have two ISOFIX mounts for the two rear seats.

[androdev]

Originally Posted by mnemonic

The Child Seat Conundrum:

1. A child seat is wide, super wide. It takes up as much space as a "supersize me" dude! So the choice is clear, if you want a child seat and 2 mid sized adults in the rear seat (not midgets),you need a car which has a minimum width of 1.8 mts. So,narrow cars, you may leave.

It is not possible for you to comfortably accommodate a child-seat (the fat ones up to 18Kg) along with two adults in the rear of any car in your list. We tried this in 5-series which has more width than Laura and it was very uncomfortable drive for the adults on long trips. Short trips with in the city should be OK.

If you have the budget for Laura TSI - take it. I would not consider Linea TJet if I have the budget for Laura TSI. Linea might handle and drive better (I don't know) but Laura is a fantastic package and looks like a car from a different price band. I don't know about upgrades/facelifts, etc. though.

[mnemonic]

Originally Posted by androdev

It is not possible for you to comfortably accommodate a child-seat (the fat ones up to 18Kg) along with two adults in the rear of any car in your list. We tried this in 5-series which has more width than Laura and it was very uncomfortable drive for the adults on long trips. Short trips with in the city should be OK.

Thanks Androdev.I totally agree,the two adults in the rear seat is quite unlikely and I am looking at 3 adults and the kid in the car max. In case I wanted this,guess only a 7 series or our good old Amby can cater

[mnemonic]

T-Jet it is! The soul wins over...

Today will go down as a watershed day in our lives (read my familys). After months of deliberation. debating and evaluation, we finally decided to give into the lure of Fiat and buy the T-Jet plus as our getaway car. I will be setting the ball rolling in my company to get the Bronzo Scuro Jet in the next couple of weeks, just in time for a run-in car to be available for our planned trip to Bengaluru-Madikeri-Udipi and back in the second week of March.


After looking at the Laura, the Cruze and the Yeti and the Linea for months on end, we finally took a call today, not in haste but with full heart that the T-Jet it was going to be. I am still not able to rationalize this decision as every criteria in my decision making chart pointed to the Laura TSI as the logical stablemate of my Palio 1.6. Be it the budget, the requirement or our aspiration, it all pointed to a car in the next segment, but it was not to be.

I must admit there is something about Fiat which makes it very hard to get away from. Call it a craze or an affliction, it is just impossible to ignore Fiat and switch brands.

So this is how it all unfolded today, after visiting the Chevy showroom and discussing the commercials for the Cruze LT, we decided to pop in at Fortune Motors, Nerul to check out the 2012 Linea just out of curiosity. We were welcomed by an Oceanic blue beauty who just floored me and my wife. The color, the well appointed interiors and the classy looks blew us away. We couldn't get enough of the car and decided,heck the Linea it was.Since there is no 2012 T-Jet,the next best color we could get was the Bronzo Scuro. With a 1.4 Lakh discount the on-road Mumbai price works out to 10L which is cool. It will allow me to get myself a Classic 500-Desert Storm and also help me to build a piggy bank to buy a "3", three years down the road.

Also, I must mention that things are changing in Tata-Fiat dealerships. At Fortune Motors Nerul, there are dedicated sections for Fiat and Tata and the Fiat section is classy with much more sophisticated sales people. As we waited in the red sofas with Fiat cushions oogling at the Oceanic Blue Linea, we felt the change in the dealership which has happened over the past year. Be it the attitude of personnel or the whole sales experience, was commendable. It was an experience worthy of a 10 Lac buy and not one of those people mover buys. Hope that Fiat keeps up the good work. Half an hour after leaving the dealership, we get the proforma invoice, a T-jet brochure and the pricelist by email followed by a call to confirm receipt. Isn't that good? The whole experience took me and my wife back by 6 years when we picked up out 1.6 from Vivek Auto Delhi.

I would like to thank the members who have contributed to solving my dilemma and putting up with my rants and raves over the past two months. The sense of relief that I have is indescribable and never realized that this decision was weighing upon me so much. I guess this calls for the finest of ales to be downed tonight. Will be off in a bit to the nearest watering hole in town.

Cheers!

[ajay_satpute]

Awesome mnemonic, awesome! Congratulations on finally making the choice and my favorite one too.

Hoping to see your ownership thread ASAP. I am damn sure T-Jet will bring widest smiles on your face everytime you take her out.

Wishing you all the best for PDI, delivery and the rest of the formalities.

Cheers!!

[vb-san]

Originally Posted by mnemonic

T-Jet it is! The soul wins over...

Congratulations mnemonic on arriving at a decision. The T-Jet indeed is an excellent choice, and the current discounts make it even better. Do update on the buying experience and driving impressions. Thanks!

[mnemonic]

Thanks Ajay/vb-san. The whole process was quite a roller coaster indeed. Am glad it is done now .
Look forward to posting impressions on the buy, PDI and delivery process soon.

[Speed Pujari]

Originally Posted by mnemonic

Thanks Ajay/vb-san. The whole process was quite a roller coaster indeed. Am glad it is done now .
Look forward to posting impressions on the buy, PDI and delivery process soon.

And I was crossing my fingers that someone is going to wait and get the 2012.. I always dreamed about the blue linea but had to settle for the sunbeam beige...

Congrats for the purchase.

[ACM]

Originally Posted by vb-san

Mnemonic, your original choice – Laura TSI should be a right fit with this child seat requirement. I am quite sure that the Laura have two ISOFIX mounts for the two rear seats.

Yes but the ISOFIX mountable car seats available from Skoda cost 3 times (Rs. 30K) the normal ones for seats that are no better but this is just for the simple to use connectors. Yes if once searches a bit am sure one could get ISOFIX cars seats outside as well but it will take some search effort.

Originally Posted by androdev

It is not possible for you to comfortably accommodate a child-seat (the fat ones up to 18Kg) along with two adults in the rear of any car in your list. We tried this in 5-series which has more width than Laura and it was very uncomfortable drive for the adults on long trips. Short trips with in the city should be OK.

Yep with the Laura and with a 18kgs size car seat it is just a 4 seater including child. One needs something like the Safari, Aria, Innova if one wants to seat more people with a child in a car seat. It is fine over a small journey but not for a long drive.

I feel one criteria should be so see if the child seat can be removed and placed in the boot in an emmergency.

Originally Posted by mnemonic

T-Jet it is! The soul wins over...

Congratulations on your selection. Yep it does seem to be the heart winning. Yet at that pricepoint there isn't a better head decision that you could take either.

[mnemonic]

Originally Posted by ACM

Congratulations on your selection. Yep it does seem to be the heart winning. Yet at that pricepoint there isn't a better head decision that you could take either.

Thanks ACM, this turned out to be a case where both the heard and mind won over and not one winning at the expense of the other.

[lloydofcochin]

mnemonic,

I had been a silent observer on this thread and had seen the one on PUG too. And today I'm glad that you chose Linea T-jet. You just can't get away from FIAT

Congrats once again on your decision to buy IMHO the most beautiful Sedan on Indian roads

[sandeepmohan]

Congratulations mayte. Excellent choice for your new car and welcome to the club.

Off topic. For the love of god, please don't buy an Enfield. There are way better bikes for your to buy at the same price point and some less. I ride a Enfield and I do not believe their new lineup is worth the asking price. For someone who can spend nearly 2 lac on a motorcycle; I'd say, spend some more and get yourself a nice 600.

I got my T Jet for 9.75 on the road. It should be cheaper in your parts.

[mnemonic]

Originally Posted by lloydofcochin

mnemonic,

I had been a silent observer on this thread and had seen the one on PUG too. And today I'm glad that you chose Linea T-jet. You just can't get away from FIAT

Congrats once again on your decision to buy IMHO the most beautiful Sedan on Indian roads

Thanks a lot Lloyd. The beauty was one of the things which did me in yesterday.

Originally Posted by sandeepmohan

Congratulations mayte. Excellent choice for your new car and welcome to the club.

Off topic. For the love of god, please don't buy an Enfield. There are way better bikes for your to buy at the same price point and some less. I ride a Enfield and I do not believe their new lineup is worth the asking price. For someone who can spend nearly 2 lac on a motorcycle; I'd say, spend some more and get yourself a nice 600.

I got my T Jet for 9.75 on the road. It should be cheaper in your parts.

Glad to be onboard the T-Jet club.

On the bull, it has been a long cherished dream more than anything else. I am quite tempted by the Bonneville and at the price point, is brilliant. Let me see how it goes!