[Lloyd]

Hi Everyone,

This is Lloyd Williams live in Chennai and work in IT.

My life begins in couple of years from now .

Even though I have been a silent reader in this forum for quite sometime since my registration in the forum, I think this is the time to join the main stream; that's why I am getting introduced with you all.

I have a hobby of pet birds rearing at home and currently have different varieties of birds such as Finches, Pigeons and Parrots.

I own a Maruti Suzuki Swift petrol (VXI with ABS 2006 model) since June 2006. This forum helped me a lot while buying my first car in 2006. I enjoy this car each and every time I drive to work and on highways when I go to native place. It is almost 7 years and time for an upgrade.

Now I am in the market place for my second car and have narrowed down to Ford Ecosport (Ecoboost) and Fiat Linea T-Jet. I have been going through the evaluation process currently and I think I may end up in Fiat Linea T-Jet.

Let us see how this goes.

Thanks for taking me in.

- Lloyd

[jayded]

Whoa, 7 years for the 1st post, awesome!
Enjoy your stay man, and I'm sure there would be lot of people interested in getting tips from you on having birds as pets. May be you can start a thread (with lots of pictures) in "Shifting gears" when you have the time and material.

And yeah, enjoy your new Jet!
Cheers!

[EagleEye]

When I saw the title I thought it might be some official from the company Punj LLoyd who has signed up on the forum for some purpose.

Welcome to the forum!

[johy]

Welcome aboard Lloyd. Great to have you here. EcoSport and T-Jet. Different cars. Different categories. Dilemma remains unchanged.

I guess you are leaning towards the T-Jet. After test driving one, it is hard to find another car that can even get close.

[Lloyd]

Thank you, jayded, EagleEye and johy.

Johy, you are 100% right. I am in the same situation. I finalised these two cars based on the manufacturers making good driver's cars. Yes, the new dealer (ramkay fiat) in Chennai allowed me to test drive in highways for around 45 to 50 minutes. It was awesome and I was bowled. Even within the city it is ok. Anyway we cannot drive like we do in highways, correct? I think the light steering at low speeds helps here. Now the only thing bothering me is the clutch pedal's long travel as clearly pointed out by GTO. I am 5'11" and I think I need a right footwear and getting used to it.

I think you own FTA color, right? That is my and my son Jadon's favourite colour. But unfortunately it is not available now. If at all I end up with T-Jet it is going to be either pearl white or minimal grey.

I felt at the price point (ecoboost version) ecosport is small and a cramped surrounding.

[johy]

Originally Posted by Lloyd

Thank you, jayded, EagleEye and johy.

Now the only thing bothering me is the clutch pedal's long travel as clearly pointed out by GTO. I am 5'11" and I think I need a right footwear and getting used to it.

I think you own FTA color, right? That is my and my son Jadon's favourite colour. But unfortunately it is not available now. If at all I end up with T-Jet it is going to be either pearl white or minimal grey.

I felt at the price point (ecoboost version) ecosport is small and a cramped surrounding.

Hi Lloyd,

I am 5' 6" and the clutch travel has not bothered me one bit. I think one gets used to it pretty quick. Yes, I own the FTA. Although it is not my favourite color, that is what they had, and so that is what I got, but I have grown to love it now

The EcoSport, I have not driven, but all reports suggests that is is cramped. I will tell you this. When I wanted to buy a new car some years back, I checked out the Alto - and it felt so very cramped. I am not big build, just normal average built. And I ruled it out for this simple reason. Later I got the Wagon R. I had a Baleno for some time, during which time the Wagon R felt okay, not cramped. Now after I got the T-Jet the Wagon R feels cramped as the Alto! The T-Jet really spoils you for space! And for performance. And for handling. And for that magic ride quality. Someone has a review on this forum that says "Big Mistake - test drove the T-Jet!"

[Lloyd]

Originally Posted by jayded

Whoa, 7 years for the 1st post, awesome!
Enjoy your stay man, and I'm sure there would be lot of people interested in getting tips from you on having birds as pets. May be you can start a thread (with lots of pictures) in "Shifting gears" when you have the time and material.

And yeah, enjoy your new Jet!
Cheers!

Hi jayded,

Here is my youtube channel. I have not uploaded anything this year so far, even though I have some new videos converted and ready. Let me try uploading them when I get some time in the near future; till then enjoy these videos.

www.youtube.com/user/lloydjadon

Lloyd

Hi johy,

In fact it is my driving style so far that i am used to rest my left foot firmly with my heel and move the toes back and forth by pressing the pedal. But I make sure I will not press the pedal even a bit otherwise. What happens now, if I continue the same way by pressing this long travel pedal, my left foot is at the full rest mode forward and I lose my heel's resting and that gives me some uncomfortable feel. I did not see any major uncomfortable feel when I wear the formal shoes and sports shoes; but definitely not with the regular chappals/sandals.

I think it is just a thing of getting used to this.

Do you use your car daily in the city? What would be your comfort level of the so called famous Fiat service thing. That's another bit of a concern but I hope Fiat is going to correct itself in its independent operations with new dealers.

Thanks.

[TheTeacher]

Originally Posted by johy

Someone has a review on this forum that says "Big Mistake - test drove the T-Jet!"

That could apply equally well to me!

[prkothan]

Welcome on Board. TJET is obsession. I own TJET past 2 years. In my last trip I drove from Kudermuk (near Dharmasthala) to Chennai non stop 14hours!!.

Really I am not sure in which other car I can do it with same comfort.

Contact (prkothan@gmail.com) me if you need any help/suggestion about TJET.

[majumon]

Hey Lloyd, welcome to the super forum mate, pick up the amazing beauty, my cousin has the diesel linea and felt rock solid driving that, loaded features, especially the auto lights so we dont need to bother about switching on and off the headlights.
Nice ot hear about the birds hobby,wonder if you can post some pictures of the wonderful 2 legged birds. cheers

[Sathya_sc]

Originally Posted by johy

Welcome aboard Lloyd. Great to have you here. EcoSport and T-Jet. Different cars. Different categories. Dilemma remains unchanged.

I guess you are leaning towards the T-Jet. After test driving one, it is hard to find another car that can even get close.

Ecosport and Tjet are two diff. cars alltogether. We cannot really compare. I personally felt the Ecosport too claustrophobic to my taste. Its too cramped in the front. And it will be that way since its a hatch in steroids. One thing that i noticed was fantastic build in ecosport. Tjet is a sedan in all sense.. its ride, handling and comfort will be unparalleled in that segment. I have it for over 2.5 yrs now and I can vouch for it since I also own a XUV and a Nano.

Dont bother too much on clutch travel and all.. its a matter of few days before you get used to it.. but remember its a petrol and I assume your running is average or low.. to the tune of 1000 a month. If not, go for a diesel.

All the best. My mail is sathya.sc at gmail

Drop me a note for any queries.

[johy]

Originally Posted by Lloyd

Hi johy,

In fact it is my driving style so far that i am used to rest my left foot firmly with my heel and move the toes back and forth by pressing the pedal. But I make sure I will not press the pedal even a bit otherwise. What happens now, if I continue the same way by pressing this long travel pedal, my left foot is at the full rest mode forward and I lose my heel's resting and that gives me some uncomfortable feel. I did not see any major uncomfortable feel when I wear the formal shoes and sports shoes; but definitely not with the regular chappals/sandals.

I think it is just a thing of getting used to this.

Do you use your car daily in the city? What would be your comfort level of the so called famous Fiat service thing. That's another bit of a concern but I hope Fiat is going to correct itself in its independent operations with new dealers.

Thanks.

Hi Lloyd,

I have stated in my review that service might be a problem where I live. However, so far the Tata Service Centre has helped me out. And reasonably well at that. Secondly, Fiat is planning on coming up with a service centre in the vicinity. So I don't think it is a major issue. As the network stabilizes, one might have to wait once in a while for something, but that is the trade-off when you go for a car from Fiat. Great cars, but not-so-quick service. I think I can live with that.

Regarding the clutch, I will tell you my own story. In my Santro days, I used to drive like you, heel firmly on the floor and just move my foot to and fro. Then once I noticed one my my pals. He was driving his own Santro; foot completely off the clutch and resting on the floor. And he would press on the clutch only when he needed to - as in slowing down very much or changing gears. I kind of liked that style and I changed mine within a few days. Since then I use this method in all cars, and more than getting rid of the problem of clutch riding (even though I know you don't touch the pedal), it causes no fatigue on the left ankle.

However, I think even if you rest your heel, it should not be an issue; you will get used to it.

As for city driving, I drive it in the city most of the time, almost every day. Only when I have to go to really small lanes. And believe me the lanes in Siliguri are really narrow and I also need to park there, then I take a smaller car. Or even take the auto. Otherwise, I seldom drive my Wagon R these days.

[Lloyd]

Originally Posted by Sathya_sc

Ecosport and Tjet are two diff. cars alltogether. We cannot really compare. I personally felt the Ecosport too claustrophobic to my taste. Its too cramped in the front. And it will be that way since its a hatch in steroids.

Dont bother too much on clutch travel and all.. its a matter of few days before you get used to it.. but remember its a petrol and I assume your running is average or low.. to the tune of 1000 a month. If not, go for a diesel.

All the best. My mail is sathya.sc at gmail

Drop me a note for any queries.

Thanks Sathya. Actually I have not compared them at all. I liked both of them and waited for them to be (re) launched. When I am ready to spend around 10 lakh, various other usage criteria and few positive points (according to my personal view), made me to completely inclined towards T-Jet.

FYI, few hours before we decided to go for Minimal Grey and I am going to start the booking process from Monday with Ramkay Fiat.

Yes, I am very well aware that my running per month is with in the boundary of 1000. With the same mode of running, I do two tank fills per month+few days, for my petrol swift and it gives me 14.5 kmpl.

Originally Posted by johy

Hi Lloyd,

I have stated in my review that service might be a problem where I live.

Regarding the clutch, I will tell you my own story. In my Santro days, I used to drive like you, heel firmly on the floor and just move my foot to and fro. Then once I noticed one my my pals. He was driving his own Santro; foot completely off the clutch and resting on the floor. And he would press on the clutch only when he needed to - as in slowing down very much or changing gears. I kind of liked that style and I changed mine within a few days. Since then I use this method in all cars, and more than getting rid of the problem of clutch riding (even though I know you don't touch the pedal), it causes no fatigue on the left ankle.

However, I think even if you rest your heel, it should not be an issue; you will get used to it.

Thanks johy.

I am hoping for the best with respect to the servicing. Now I have our friend Sathya reachable and can get guidance from him on how to get prepared to manage the service issues.

Thank you very much for your valuable inputs.

[prkothan]

Hi Lloyd

Congrats for your decision to buy Fiat TJET. Its one among the few pleasures money can buy. Give me a call (9840898818) I will help you to get good deal.

Regards,
Prasanna
FIAT Linea TJET+ (from 2011-till date)
FIAT Palio 1.2 (2005-2011)
FIAT 118 (2003-2005)