[a4anurag]

Originally Posted by arun_josie

Couple of queries,

- Do they give option for fully synthetic oil?
- Wheel Alignment/Rotation can be done outside right? I just want to make sure this doesn't void the warranty.
- Any thing else that should be taken care of?

I don't think wheel alignment and balancing is mandatory to be done at F.A.S.S. If you know a good place then politely decline it to do it at F.A.S.S. When the job card is being prepared ask your SA about the warranty terms. If it is fine then get it done outside.

But if they disagree keep a check on the prices that they are going to charge you and also pay attention to the job card details. All unnecessary things will come in.

Anurag.

[arun_josie]

Originally Posted by a4anurag

I don't think wheel alignment and balancing is mandatory to be done at F.A.S.S. If you know a good place then politely decline it to do it at F.A.S.S. When the job card is being prepared ask your SA about the warranty terms. If it is fine then get it done outside.

But if they disagree keep a check on the prices that they are going to charge you and also pay attention to the job card details. All unnecessary things will come in.

Anurag.

Yes, I will check with them on this.

In my previous car Dzire, when I went to MASS for a tyre wear issue @ around 48K Kms, after reviewing the service records the first thing they told was the wheel alignment was not done at MASS(I do it regularly at Madhus) and hence I will not be eligible for any warranty claims related to alignment, tyres etc(this was confirmed from Maruti engineers as well).
However, I was able to defend it since the manual mentioned wheel alignment has to be done when we feel a left/right pull, it didn't mention any specific duration. So, I claimed that there was never a left/right pull and hence didn't opt for Wheel Alignment. This made me curious to know how Fiat handles this.

[a4anurag]

Originally Posted by arun_josie

Yes, I will check with them on this.

In my previous car Dzire, when I went to MASS for a tyre wear issue @ around 48K Kms, after reviewing the service records the first thing they told was the wheel alignment was not done at MASS(I do it regularly at Madhus) and hence I will not be eligible for any warranty claims related to alignment, tyres etc(this was confirmed from Maruti engineers as well).

Now this is news to me.

Never knew Maruti was so specific on this though I have never faced any such issue with both my Ritz and Swift till date (Not that I claimed any insurance/warranty).

Anurag.

[nkrishnap]

Originally Posted by arun_josie

- Replace fuel filter
- Replace air filter cartridge
- Replace engine oil and oil filter
- Change pollen filter
- Wheel Alignment/Rotation
- Check and top-up all other oils

Couple of queries,

- Do they give option for fully synthetic oil?
- Wheel Alignment/Rotation can be done outside right? I just want to make sure this doesn't void the warranty.
- Any thing else that should be taken care of?

The filters and consumables you have mentioned will cover the 2nd free service.

Do not get the wheel alignment and balancing done at FASS. They have no clue regarding the alignment or balancing. I would stick to Madhus langford road for all the balancing and alignment requirements. This should not and will not void warranty. Fiat isn't too strict about the alignment and balancing.

There is no synthetic oil option at FASS for now. If you insist you can get it changed by getting oil from outside but need to give up warranty. Stick to the manufacturer recommended consumables while the vehicle is in the warranty period.

Be aware of the brake pads scare and the unnecessary add ons to inflate the bill. This applies to all the FASS atleast in Bangalore.

[arun_josie]

Originally Posted by a4anurag

Now this is news to me.

Never knew Maruti was so specific on this though I have never faced any such issue with both my Ritz and Swift till date (Not that I claimed any insurance/warranty).

Anurag.

Yes, it was a surprise to me as well especially when the Maruti engineer insisted on this. Certain things are unknown till we face it.

Originally Posted by nkrishnap

The filters and consumables you have mentioned will cover the 2nd free service.

Do not get the wheel alignment and balancing done at FASS. They have no clue regarding the alignment or balancing. I would stick to Madhus langford road for all the balancing and alignment requirements. This should not and will not void warranty. Fiat isn't too strict about the alignment and balancing.

Thanks Krishna!
I think, I will stick to semi-synthetic from FASS itself.
Yes, will skip the WA/WB at FASS and will get it done at Madhus.
Brake pads looks fine, will have a close look during the servicing.

[arun_josie]

15000 mark in 5months and 20 days.

[a4anurag]

Originally Posted by arun_josie

15000 mark in 5 months and 20 days.

I can see another person like me here. After a long time.

Average you are clocking 90 kms a day. I am at 110 kms per day. Not very far buddy.

Good to see that and good to see the Linea doing extremely well. *touchwood*

Any modifications planned?

Anurag.

[arun_josie]

Originally Posted by a4anurag

I can see another person like me here. After a long time.

Average you are clocking 90 kms a day. I am at 110 kms per day. Not very far buddy.

Oh is it? I do long drives and hence I am able to keep up with you. I would love to have a 100Kms per day drive to office like you.

Good to see that and good to see the Linea doing extremely well. *touchwood*

Any modifications planned?

Anurag.

At this moment no modifications planned. May be after few months.

[arun_josie]

Second Free Service @ 15000 Kms:

Issues:
1) I was hearing a sound(kind of Grrr) whenever I steer the car to the left or right at slow speeds (OR) medium speed + uneven road + left/right turn. Vecto Motors has seen this issue before in other cars and hence during this service they changed the steering rack under warranty. But still the issue is not resolved completely. Now, I hear this sound during sharp right turns only. Will take the car again to Vecto for this issue.

Meanwhile if anyone has seen this issue before or if you have any feedback on this please let me know.

2) There is a intermittent dash board noise (tiny pat-pat-pat sound with very minimum interval) which starts coming after 20-30Kms of drive. This noise doesn't occur if I pull the steering towards me.

As per Vecto Motors, this is a dash board rattling noise and hence they want to replace the dash board. However for now, I have put this on hold because, after steering rack replacement, I am yet to hear this sound. I will wait for couple of more weeks.

After Servicing:
I could see a big difference in performance when compared to Day1, it’s much smoother and faster as well. As mentioned before, on highway its real fun to drive especially from 3rd gear onwards. Adding to that, it comes with excellent stability and feels much planted even with driver alone. And supreme build quality.

Vecto Motors:
I am happy with their servicing.
For the above mentioned dash board rattling noise, 3 of them came along with me for a test drive which took around 45 mins. It is a intermittent issue and you need patience to diagnose/work on these kind of issues which they showed.

Service Bill:

Engine Oil 1947
Oil Filter 411
Filtering Element 410
Fuel Filer 2059
Air Filter 210
Plug 78
Wheel Balancing 394
Wheel Alignment 394
80Gm Wheel Weight 109

Normally I do the Wheel Alignment/Balancing in Madhus but I missed to update the SA here and hence he went a ahead with this work.

Total bill with tax came to Rs. 6544

[a4anurag]

Originally Posted by arun_josie

After Servicing:
I could see a big difference in performance when compared to Day1, it’s much smoother and faster as well. As mentioned before, on highway its real fun to drive especially from 3rd gear onwards. Adding to that, it comes with excellent stability and feels much planted even with driver alone. And supreme build quality.

Service Bill:

Engine Oil 1947
Oil Filter 411
Filtering Element 410
Fuel Filer 2059
Air Filter 210
Plug 78

Good to see the bill on the lower side of my expectations. No Fiat felt loose and flimsy. Build quality + stability = Fiat! + good looks.

In the service bill, what is the filtering element? Is it Cabin air filter (A/C Filter?). The engine oil filled seems to be semi-synthetic. Can you tell me the grade and manufacturer's oil used?

Anurag.

[arun_josie]

Originally Posted by a4anurag

Good to see the bill on the lower side of my expectations. No Fiat felt loose and flimsy. Build quality + stability = Fiat! + good looks.

In the service bill, what is the filtering element? Is it Cabin air filter (A/C Filter?). The engine oil filled seems to be semi-synthetic. Can you tell me the grade and manufacturer's oil used?

Anurag.

Yes, it is Semi-Synthetic. Selenia WR 5W40. Moving to fully synthetic means I will have to loose the warranty.
Maruti supported both normal and fully synthetic oil for my previous Dzire.

[finneyp]

Arun, in your 1st service at 5K kms, did they change Engine oil or did you ask for change?

[arun_josie]

Originally Posted by finneyp

Arun, in your 1st service at 5K kms, did they change Engine oil or did you ask for change?

I think they do only top-up. But I asked them to replace it. This was at my expense since I requested for replacement. By the way, how is your linea doing?

[finneyp]

Thanks Arun for the info, I guess it is better to change at 5K kms.

Have driven my Linea 500 kms so far, am enjoying the drive on the acclaimed MJD engine & the gizmos in the new-gen car like Linea

[arun_josie]

Kolli Hills Drive:

After two months of a dry spell,I decided to hit the road for a long drive and the destination was Kolli Hills. I had a couple of my friends for company. This trip was made just for the driving pleasure and nothing else. The only reason behind the destination was that its a new location to me. Thanks to team bhpian speedsatya for his suggestion.

I took the Namakkal route because I had to pick one of my friend for the drive and then drop him back as well.

Started from bangalore by 4:00 AM and returned to bangalore by 9:00 PM

Total KMs: 649.9(Bangalore - Salem - Namakal - Kolli Hills - Namakal - Salem(+10Km city drive) - Bangalore
Overall FE: 19.9 (MID), 18.92 (Full Tank method)

Hill Driving FE:
Total Kms: 71.3 (Kolli foot hills - drive on the hills - back to Kolli foot hills)
Total harpinbends: 70(One way)
FE: 15.6Kms, FE during the climb was 10.1(MID figs)
Avg Speed: 23 Km/h
Time: 3Hr 3Mins

Feedback on Linea:
It was effortless while climbing the hill with 3 adults ranging between 80-90 kilos. I was able to take most of the harpin-bends on second gear except few times I had to shift down to 1st gear due to oncoming traffic. No issues even on the steep inclines. I am happy with the FE as well.

Few random pics from my mobile cam.