Team-BHP - Petrol Hatch to Diesel Sedan - Fiat Linea - Now Wolfed
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-   -   Petrol Hatch to Diesel Sedan - Fiat Linea - Now Wolfed (https://www.team-bhp.com/forum/long-term-ownership-reviews/126701-petrol-hatch-diesel-sedan-fiat-linea-now-wolfed.html)

The thread title justifies the reason for this thread

I had bought a Toyota Etios Liva G – SP Vermillion Red in October 2011. The car was running perfectly fine. The ownership review for the Liva is here

Unexpectedly with just a couple test drives (long test drives for both petrol and diesel) I decided to part away with the Liva to get home a diesel sedan.

First glimpse of the car for this thread.

Petrol Hatch to Diesel Sedan - Fiat Linea - Now Wolfed-1.jpg

The new sedan came home on the 5th September 2012.

Contd...

21st July 2012 - I had accompanied my cousin to help him out with his purchase of his Punto. Soon after he books the car, we were offered a drive in the Tjet+ to the yard near Nelamangala for the PDI of the Punto. The drive was through the interior roads of Girinagar and then the NICE Road. The drive was fantastic. Returned home with a wide grin.

22nd July 2012 - Only thing I did was recollecting how good the drive was. So started finding a few facts about the usage of the Liva and the fuel consumption. The amount that I was spending for a month close to 10K for the past 3 months. Now this seriously made me think about swapping the car. I started discussing about the plan with my better half who was not receptive at all to the idea. But had to make her understand the overall cash flow and things like those to convince her. Moreover even I wanted a sedan instead of a diesel hatch for whatever reasons.

Firstly was looking to buy the Fiat Linea Tjet Plus which had a very sweet deal going. Even with this the running cost will be very high. Being a bhpian I was finding all sorts of reasons to drive the Liva, so keeping a check on the running for the Tjet+ was simply impossible nor driving the Tjet+ for mileage would defeat the purpose it was bought for. With the head slightly taking edge over the heart with all sorts of calculations was back to square one. The Linea had me nailed from the heart. However, the finances did not let the heart overrule the head and this is when my wife threw a wild card idea.

The wild card idea - Why not buy the diesel and keep the running cost in check? Valid point as the EMI difference between a Tjet+ and MJD was a mere 2800 bucks. However the running cost for around 1500 kms was significant (less than half the amount of the diesel). The diesel purchase option one did not influence the cash outflow much. (Was in the ball park figure I was currently spending though not without a 10-15% incremental cost which was acceptable to me)

Later one more round of discussion directed us towards the MJD Linea. One more round of test drive of the Diesel Linea sealed the decision in favor of the MJD. So it was decided that the Liva will be sold and the Linea would be bought. The next dilemma was which color. The 3 color options permitted from the family was Bossa Nova White, Tuscan wine and Sun Beam Beige. Tuscan wine requires meticulous attention being dark color; Sun Beam Beige did not interest me much. The white was liked by all, so Bossa Nova White color car was booked.

Now the search for the buyer started. The process seemed never ending. Started negotiating with the dealer itself to match my expectations. During this process one gentleman shows interest in purchasing the car. We agreed on a price and the car sold the very next day. I had to foreclose the car loan on Liva taken from State Bank of Mysore. Completed all the formalities and applied for a fresh loan in State Bank of India.

The car loan got approved in 3 working days flat (SBI is the bank to approach for a car loan. The benefits simply outweigh any inconveniences), with the down payment formalities and amount disbursed on the 4th of September 2012, the car was sent for registration. With 4th September 2012 being Tuesday and parents felt it was not auspicious to get the car delivered on a Tuesday, we had to take the delivery on Wednesday the 5th September 2012.

A few pics

The car ready for delivery

Petrol Hatch to Diesel Sedan - Fiat Linea - Now Wolfed-1.jpg

Better half getting the car blessed by the almighty

Petrol Hatch to Diesel Sedan - Fiat Linea - Now Wolfed-2.jpg

Keys being handed over to us

Petrol Hatch to Diesel Sedan - Fiat Linea - Now Wolfed-3.jpg

Driving the car out after the formalities

Petrol Hatch to Diesel Sedan - Fiat Linea - Now Wolfed-5.jpg

Will post the dealership experience in a separate Post.

The odo stands at 2598 kms as of today. Many things have already been written about the Linea. So I would be contributing from my end as to what I experienced in these initial days.

Exterior

The Italians know a thing or two about design and curves. The car exteriors have been meticulously designed. This shows as the car is very photogenic and photograph it from any angle, its looks good. The design is such that all the colors in production in India looks good on the Linea. Its a tough choice selecting the color for Linea.

The 16 inch wheels with the flared wheel arches gives a purposeful stance to the car. I simply love the double barrel headlight for the car. The rear is neatly done as well. Only grouse is with the raised suspension kit, the rear end of the car seems to be a little too high to the liking. All the chrome beedings add that jazz to the car.

Interiors

The first thing you notice inside the car is, its actually small compared to the overall size of the car. However since, nobody in the family is above 5'7 so nothing much to worry about. The black beige combo really makes the interiors feel good and Indians love Beige.

The retro dials with the white background is nice and liked it most. The wiper controls are on the right and the headlight controls are on the left of the steering wheel. It took a day to get adjusted to this set up.

The seats are comfy with good support, though it felt a tab bit harder than the fabric seats. The rear seats comes 3 head rests and an arm rest with cup holders. The front seats have 2 pockets which I found quite useful to keep at least half a litre bottles or a magazine. The front seats have lot of travel and the seat height adjust mechanism has good range too.

The Automatic Climate control AC is quite good and chills the cabin in no time. I did not find any difference between the Tjet+ AC unit to the one in my Car. They seem to be on par. Even the hot afternoon in the Tamil Nadu plains did not bother much as the cabin was cooled in a matter of mins. Also noticed one more thing, with the AC compressor on, it did not make a too much of a difference to the pick up and nor the revs. A bit confused on this as how it can happen. Another thing is the blower is a bit noisy at full speed.

No bottle holder space anywhere in the car which is a very bad thing for the Indian market.

The audio in the car is nothing to write home about. The lack of Vitamin M is holding me back for the speaker upgrade.

Engine, Gearbox and The Drive

I need not write much about our national engine. The Linea Diesel comes with the National engine with a VGT in a higher state of tune than its sibling (Punto). The max power is rated at 93PS @ 4000 rpm and max torque of 209 NM @ 2000 rpm. FIAT has carried the same C510 gearbox for the Punto and Linea to keep the costs down. Wish they had the European version gearboxes to make full utilization of this little capable engine.

There is turbo lag below 1500-1600 RPM. If one is stuck below this RPM in a particular and want brisk acceleration, it simply isn't possible. Downshift is a must to stay above 1500 rpm. If one stays about 1500 rpm, there is nothing much to complain about in the city like Bangalore where you have hardly any roads to go beyond this RPM. The clutch is light though with long travel. Can be a pain in the city if one is not used to the long clutch travel.

Some observations on the GEAR - RPM - SPEED combinations

3rd Gear - 1000 RPM - 20 kmph
4th Gear - 1000 RPM - 30 kmph
5th Gear - 1000 RPM - 40 kmph

For every 1000 incremental RPM one can multiply the speed factor. For example, 5th Gear 2000 RPM takes you to 80 kmph.

The shift feels rubbery but slots in properly. Also the longer throw ensures there is some time lost during the gear shifts.

Ride, Handling, Steering Feedback and Braking

The ride is a bit stiff at low speeds but definitely not bouncy. As the speed increases the ride gets better. Sometimes, the sharps bumps do filter into the cabin at low speeds, but at higher speeds the suspension set up simply smothers everything out. As a matter of fact, my parents had dosed off comfortably in the Linea during the drive, but in the Liva they used to get disturbed quite often due to the ride.

The handling is again top notch with no alarming body roll or anything. I was a bit skeptical when I decided on diesel car because the new ones came with 185 mm ground clearance. But a proper test drive taking a few curves on empty roads cleared all the doubts. There is a slight bit of body roll but definitely nothing to be concerned about.

The perfectly calibrated hydraulic steering gives wonderful feedback and lets the driver know whats under the tyres. The steering has been lightened for the slower speeds, but weighs up neatly as the speeds build up. The steering wheel is perfect in size and with the thumb rest, feels superb to hold.

The Ride, Handling and the steering combo makes this car very satisfying to drive. It brings a smile every time a corner is taken at good speeds.

But whats all these without proper brakes. The braking is very reassuring and stops in a straight line even during panic braking. Experienced this during the highway drive when one of the goats hoped on to the road suddenly. Just slammed the brakes, the car shed speed without any fuss in a straight line. This helps in steering the car in the required direction during deceleration without much fuss.

With the chassis being very good, this car simply screams for the 1.6 MJD. It will come for sure, but the timeline has no timeline stupid:.

The summary of what I like and dislike about the car.

Likes
Things that could have been betterDislikes
Accessories for the car

The below items were added to the car from the dealer.Additional items done

Visited the 3M car care at HSR layout for the below items. The service as always was top notch.Fuel Efficiency - has been ranging from 12.6 kmpl to 21.5 kmpl. The roads are varying from very high traffic to nice smooth highways. That section coming up next.

Issues faced till date

None. Touch wood, it remains that way throughout.

Will post more observations as and when more kms are piled up on the odo.

The pictorial review will come soon as this photo shoot is still pending.

I have had a very pleasant experience with Prerana Motors. Everyone right from the executive to the general manager was ready to help at all times.

Mr. Praveen and Mr. Karthik SP were always helpful and answered most of the queries I had. The \'n\' number of Performa invoices/quotations, offers were promptly explained and emailed each time.

Mr. Karthik SP and Mr. Praveen went out of the way to help me find a buyer for the Liva which is really commendable.

The test drives were provided when requested without any questions asked. Note these test drives were not short ones by any means; it was actually blocking the car for quite a few hours.

After the booking Mr. Praveen was providing constant updates on invoicing the car from the plant up to getting the car to their yard. The registration process was also given special care.


I would like to take this opportunity to thank Mr. Ranganath, Mr. Karthik SP, Mr. Praveen, Mr. Karthik N and Mr. Anand for making this car purchase a pleasant experience.

More importantly for FIAT, these guys saw a potential customer in me and grabbed the opportunity to convert me in to one

Linea made for the highways.

Petrol Hatch to Diesel Sedan - Fiat Linea - Now Wolfed-img_8264.jpg

Near Thenmala

Petrol Hatch to Diesel Sedan - Fiat Linea - Now Wolfed-img_8274.jpg

Petrol Hatch to Diesel Sedan - Fiat Linea - Now Wolfed-img_8277.jpg

The odo

Petrol Hatch to Diesel Sedan - Fiat Linea - Now Wolfed-img_8333.jpg

At the beach

Petrol Hatch to Diesel Sedan - Fiat Linea - Now Wolfed-img_8382.jpg

Petrol Hatch to Diesel Sedan - Fiat Linea - Now Wolfed-img_8398.jpg

Petrol Hatch to Diesel Sedan - Fiat Linea - Now Wolfed-img_8436.jpg

Petrol Hatch to Diesel Sedan - Fiat Linea - Now Wolfed-img_8493.jpg

Petrol Hatch to Diesel Sedan - Fiat Linea - Now Wolfed-img_8525.jpg

Petrol Hatch to Diesel Sedan - Fiat Linea - Now Wolfed-img_8553.jpg

Petrol Hatch to Diesel Sedan - Fiat Linea - Now Wolfed-img_8587.jpg

The paint sealant and under body coating was done to the car during the weekend.

A proper cash wash

Petrol Hatch to Diesel Sedan - Fiat Linea - Now Wolfed-img_8171.jpg

Foam applied to the car

Petrol Hatch to Diesel Sedan - Fiat Linea - Now Wolfed-img_8184.jpg

Car getting the under body protection coat

Petrol Hatch to Diesel Sedan - Fiat Linea - Now Wolfed-img_8206.jpg

Car ready after the works

Petrol Hatch to Diesel Sedan - Fiat Linea - Now Wolfed-img_8241.jpg

Petrol Hatch to Diesel Sedan - Fiat Linea - Now Wolfed-img_8249.jpg

Great car and great color choice!!! Congratulations. I want my next car to be the same one as well. Enjoy the miles :). What is the OTR price if you dont mind sharing the details?

The refueling stats for the car as of today

Not considering the first tankup

1st refill - 8th Sept 2012 - BPCL RR Nagar - 168 kms - 13.3 litres - 12.63 kmpl

2nd refill - 9th Sept 2012 - IOCL MAdurai - 543 kms - 28.2 litres - 19.25 kmpl

3rd refill - 10th Sept 2012 - IOCL Kollam - 363 kms - 22.79 litres - 15.93 kmpl

4th refill - 14th Sept 2012 - HPCL Nagercoil - 334 kms - 22.5 litres - 14.84 kmpl

5th Refill - 14th Sept 2012 - BPCL Thirumangalam - 235 kms - 11.02 litres - 21.32 kmpl

6th Refill - 15th Sept 2012 - IOCL Madurai - 371 kms - 20.28 litres - 18.29 kmpl

7th Refill - 16th Sept 2012 - IOCL Hosur - 411 kms - 22.2 litres - 18.51 kmpl

Best FE - 21.32 kmpl
Worst FE - 12.63 kmpl
Overall FE - 17.28 kmpl

All the numbers here are with AC and a few hours spent idling the car for AC.

Still feel the engine needs to settle in for the numbers to improve.

Congratulations nkrishnap for bringing home the Italian Signora. Simply gorgeous car with even more gorgeous alloys, and yes the photographs are excellent. Have you put on sun films? At least that is what appeared to me in some of the opening photos, especially the highway ones. One can only imagine the performance once Linea gets the 1.6 MJD. I sincerely wish Fiat success in sales and after-sales as more cars on the road would be providing more confidence to the present as well as future owners.

Fantastic report . Superb pics. Those 16" wheels look yummy.
Any plans for tuning box to bump the power to 102 Horses ?

Congratulations man, glad to see some one who enjoys driving. The herd of gadget lovers has increased these days;my car car has rain sensing wipers does you car have it ? ; who care less about to how the car drives.

IIRC, you owned a Palio before. And when you bought a Liva, I was wondering how you could live with a Jap car!

A Linea in your garage was expected!! Congratulations nkrishnap. Surely you are going to have a wonderful experience with a FIAT!:thumbs up

Congrats on your purchase.
I am sure the difference is really HUGE as compared to Liva which is built to cost.
Your MJD looks exactly like my T-Jet especially with the same door corner protection guards (atleast from the distance).

Now the important thing wrt Illuminated door protection sills. Go through this post.
http://www.team-bhp.com/forum/long-t...ml#post2768156

The part number is 59116966.

Congrats nkrishnap. Your pictures made the car look even more beautiful. Crunch many happy miles with your car. My next upgrade surely will be a Linea. Unfortunately it has to wait for few more years. My wife had fallen for the Linea three years ago. I do not have enough parking space to park a Linea inside my house which is the only reason we settled for the Punto.

A home maintenance is on the cards and I will modify house to create more parking space. When it is done, Linea will be the first one to occupy it. Absolutely drool over it whenever i see one

Quote:

Originally Posted by arvind71181 (Post 2908115)
Great car and great color choice!!! Congratulations. I want my next car to be the same one as well. Enjoy the miles :). What is the OTR price if you dont mind sharing the details?

The OTR price (August 2012 offers based) - Rs. 10,84,382/-. This includes the below items/FOC
  1. Value pack - Free Insurance + RSA
  2. Corporate discount
  3. Rs. 20,000/- exchange bonues.
Quote:

Originally Posted by PranavDesai (Post 2908190)
Congratulations nkrishnap for bringing home the Italian Signora. Simply gorgeous car with even more gorgeous alloys, and yes the photographs are excellent. Have you put on sun films? At least that is what appeared to me in some of the opening photos, especially the highway ones. One can only imagine the performance once Linea gets the 1.6 MJD. I sincerely wish Fiat success in sales and after-sales as more cars on the road would be providing more confidence to the present as well as future owners.

No sunfilms on the car, the light and the shade makes it look like the car has sunfilms. I will exchange this car for the 1.6 MJD, but as far as i am aware of it wont come anytime before 2013 end or early 2014. The separate service centers will do a world of good to the FIAT cars on road.

Quote:

Originally Posted by F150 (Post 2908194)
Fantastic report . Superb pics. Those 16" wheels look yummy.
Any plans for tuning box to bump the power to 102 Horses ?

Congratulations man, glad to see some one who enjoys driving. The herd of gadget lovers has increased these days;my car car has rain sensing wipers does you car have it ? ; who care less about to how the car drives.

Yes, I was offered the 2011 models for a sweet deal, but i rejected that offer only for these alloys and GC.

The drive matters more, the gizmos if present is like icing on the cake.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Karthik1100 (Post 2908197)
IIRC, you owned a Palio before. And when you bought a Liva, I was wondering how you could live with a Jap car!

A Linea in your garage was expected!! Congratulations nkrishnap. Surely you are going to have a wonderful experience with a FIAT!

Palio is still present in the immediate family. I am hell bent on not selling that car. Planning to restore it to the best possible state.

By the way, let me tell you that Liva though built to a cost is far better than many gizmos filled cars on road.

Quote:

Originally Posted by carwatcher (Post 2908270)
Congrats on your purchase.
I am sure the difference is really HUGE as compared to Liva which is built to cost.
Your MJD looks exactly like my T-Jet especially with the same door corner protection guards (atleast from the distance).

Now the important thing wrt Illuminated door protection sills. Go through this post.
http://www.team-bhp.com/forum/long-t...ml#post2768156

The part number is 59116966

Thanks Carwatcher for the link. Any help with the contact details to help me procure this part.

Quote:

Originally Posted by gopikb (Post 2908285)
Congrats nkrishnap. Your pictures made the car look even more beautiful. Crunch many happy miles with your car. My next upgrade surely will be a Linea. Unfortunately it has to wait for few more years. My wife had fallen for the Linea three years ago. I do not have enough parking space to park a Linea inside my house which is the only reason we settled for the Punto.

A home maintenance is on the cards and I will modify house to create more parking space. When it is done, Linea will be the first one to occupy it. Absolutely drool over it whenever i see one

I am lucky enough not have any parking issues. I can happily drive around in a Tempo Traveler and still park it inside the house stupid:

nkrishnap,

Congrats on getting the Italian beauty.

Awesome Car and it looks great in White!

In fact when I thought a hardcore FIAT fan like you had committed sacrilege by buying an uninspiring Toyota but great to know that you are well & firmly back in the Italian camp clap:

Linea is surely my next Car but don't know how soon :)

Wish you many many happy miles with her.


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