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-   -   Unexpected love affair with an Italian beauty, Fiat Linea MJD. EDIT: Sold (https://www.team-bhp.com/forum/long-term-ownership-reviews/151984-unexpected-love-affair-italian-beauty-fiat-linea-mjd-edit-sold-9.html)

Thanks anurag! Sure will update shortly.

I can think of two options,

- You can take this route till erachakulam and then go straight towards vadasery and then kottar.

- or when you have some time to kill at home, you can do a quick round trip. Kottar - Parvathipuram - then this bypass - Aralvaimozhi - may be towards anjugramam, suchindram and Kottar.:D

One more thousand added to my experience with this Italian beauty - We crossed 21000 yesterday.



Usage trend - Comparison with my previous rides WagonR, Dzire ZDI on reaching 21K Kms, Linea being the fastest to reach this milestone in 224 days.



Here are some FE comparison with Dzire ZDI (Older version). Both cars were almost used on the similar routes/traffic conditions/driving style etc.







The FE data used for the above comparison are from the full-tank method only. Ex: During my Bangalore-Chennai trip, the MID figure was 22.9, however at this point I didn't do a full-tank. Full-tank method was calculated after few trips inside city and hence the FE based on this came down.

Overall Average FE of Linea is 15.17
Overall Average FE of Dzire ZDI was 16.45

Planning to take the car for a complete check up and to attend the below minor issues,

- Rear left door locks/unlocks but the latch doesn't react when we locks/unlock using the remote.
- Fuel inlet door doesn't close some time. Workaround is to pull the fuel lid opener near the driver seat and then push the fuel inlet door and release the fuel lid opener.
- My younger one dropped a CD inside the rear right door pane, through the space next to the glass window a month back and now this has started giving some rattling noise.


When the engine is ON, is it possible to unlock the doors using key? I am able to lock but unable to unlock(this is only when the engine is ON). Any setting required for this?

Look at the chart I gather you are clocking the Linea way too more compared to Dzire/WagonR. And that too by a huge margin. Way to go!

Took my car to Vecto Motors, Hosur Road for the below issues,

1) To remove the CD dropped by my younger one between the window panel - Removed
2) The rear left door latch was not working (lock/unlock was working through remote only) - Fixed
3) Asked them to replace the air filter - They decided to clean it and put it back
4) AC filter was cleaned
5) Brake pad checked, it’s good for another 2-3K Kms.
6) All oil levels checked and top-up done
7) A sound coming from driver seat while going over bad roads/humps - Fixed (But I will have to monitor this for some more time to conclude whether it is completely fixed or not)
8) A squeaking sound coming from somewhere near rear right door - This will be checked during my next visit as they need more time to look at this issue.

Total Bill Amount - ZERO
I am satisfied with their work done.:thumbs up
ODO is now close to 22K

And the ODO stands @22000 now :) Completing 8 months by tomorrow



Mean while I was part of Fiatians breakfast drive(Bangalore to Swathi Delicacy - Yediyur on the Mangalore route) during the last weekend and it was an awesome drive. Started the drive on Economy mode with the FE going as high as 25.2(during the first 20Kms) and once I joined the other italian beauties flying around, the FE dropped to 18.2 by the end of the drive. I got to experience the amazing stability of this car on the straights and while cornering. Total distance was around 230Kms(round trip).

Couple of pics here from my mobile cam, my apologies for the poor quality.

All 2s :D



Did Bangalore - Mysore trip yesterday. Expected the traffic to be the worst due to Dussera but I think we got lucky.

Bangalore(Bannerghatta Road)-Mysore:
Total Kms: 141
Total Speed Breakers: 67(Counted from Mysore Road-NICE Road junction till Mysore Outer ring road).
Time taken: 2:40 Mins (Running time)
- We started from Bangalore around 6:30 AM

Mysore - Bangalore(Bannerghatta Road)
Total Kms: 140.5
Time taken: 2:55 Mins (Running time including waiting at toll)
Started by 6:00 PM and reached by 9:00 PM
- Traffic was heavy but the good thing was, it was free-flowing and there were no pile-ups.
- Crossing NICE road entry toll took around 10mins due to a huge queue.

FE: 20.2 on MID.

Observation:
The sound from driver seat is back, its only while going over a speed breaker or very bad potholes. Will check this with Vecto during my next visit.

Nice click but hope you haven't clicked it. You seem to be on a move during the click.

EDIT: If I can guess it correctly, when that picture was clicked, you were in Gear no 4. Right?!

Lol! What patience and determination I must say. :D

Anurag.

That's 5th gear. 60 kmph @ 1500 rpm.

Quite surprised that the Linea is returning almost similar FE figures compared to the DZire.

My experience with the new DZire is just the opposite - it was returning consistent 20 plus on the MID. On a highway run from my hometown of Alleppey to Trivandrum - it was showing an average of near 23 kmpl on the MID compared to around 20 kmpl usual figures for the Punto.

Aha. Thanks Sir. Was suspecting it to be 4th gear.

Anurag.

I clicked it on the move because it was a straight stretch, no traffic in front and behind. Otherwise I always prefer pulling over.

Its 5th gear, I was doing around 80 and just reduced the pace to click, didn't bring down the gear.

:thumbs up
This comparison is with my previous car which was a old generation Dzire. On the highway, I used to get around couple more than Linea. I have got up to 22+ on the highway.

And I am sure the current generation is tuned better for FE.

23K



Congratulations on your new ride!!! Now that makes a very interesting garage! Hope to see your ownership review soon.

It was great reading your thread.Looks like those 5 years - 150,000 KM warranty was thought by Fiat for guys like you :).

Keep posting and happy driving.

Cheers,
pdma.

I am back from an unexpected drive to hyderabad,
- On the way to hyderabad, it was raining all the way from bangalore till hyderabad. Started 3:30 AM from HSR layout and reached Madhapur by 11:00 AM. This timing includes, 4-5 stops with one for breakfast.

- Bangalore journey started around 10:30 AM from hyderabad.With multiple stops,we reached HSR layout by 6:30 PM.

It was a spirited drive both ways and FE was 17.3 and 17.4(MID) respectively. This also includes around 30Kms of city drive in hyderabad and 50Kms of city drive in bangalore.

Current ODO: 24820

I should admit that after each long drive my respect for Fiat just goes up. It is such a wonderful machine.

Here are few pics from my mobile. I apologies for the bad quality.

On the way back,



For the first time my car went uncleaned for a month due to busy schedule,



Hence took it to 3M HSR just for a wash,



Thanks pdma!

So, here goes the 25K mark exactly after 9 months from purchase. 25000Kms in 273 days.



Average usage: 91.57 Kms/Day

Here is the split of my ODO,

City: 11676 Kms
On the highway: 10082 Kms
Mixed run: 3242 Kms

Some numbers on Fuel Efficiency:

FE calculated full tank to full tank method:
Overall average FE: 15.39
Lowest FE: 12.94
Highest FE: 19.94

FE from MID:
Overall average FE: 15.95
Lowest FE: 13.4
Highest FE: 21

AC ON 100%
Almost all the refuels were at BP

Usage trend comparison(in days) with my previous cars, WagonR Vs Dzire Vs Linea on how they reached 25000 Kms



FE comparison with Dzire - City Only



FE comparison with Dzire - Highways Only



FE comparison with Dzire - City/Highways



And my feedback on Linea MJD after 25000 Kms of experience,

The likes/dislike pointed in my initial review still stands true(http://www.team-bhp.com/forum/test-d...ml#post3454782). However,I thought of reiterating few again,

Likes:

• On the highway, it’s really a gem to drive. The stability is really awesome even at very high speeds. Recently, I got a chance to drive on Hyderabad ORR, since the traffic was almost nil, I was able to experience the high speed handling of Linea. Also, corners can be taken at good speeds without any issues.
• Mid-range is really quick
• I love the purr of the engine after 3K RPM, especially on the highways and ghats. Even my wife and a few friends feel say the same.
• Excellent Steering feedback, I experienced it for the first time in Linea.
• Clutch/Gear shifts are still smooth.
• Excellent braking.
• Fuel Efficiency is good as well, considering the size of the car.
• Excellent ground clearance.
• Excellent boot space.
• Good back seat comfort.
• A/C effect has improved a lot from my initial experience.

Dislikes:

• Definitely this car requires 1.6MJD.
• Driving in bumper to bumper city frustrates due to the pathetic 1st and 2nd gear ratio,
• Wind noise at higher speeds
• Tyre noise, may be its due to the stock goodyears
• Niggles

Issues faced/Parts changed under warranty:

• Battery was changed on the delivery day.
• Front (right/left) shock absorbers replaced, it was giving some sound while going on rough patches.
• Front Wind Screen replaced due uneven finish on the borders with the sealant coming out.
• Hand Brake was not working intermittently and hence replaced.
• Rear right side door lock/latch was not locking/unlocking intermittently and hence replaced.
• Twitter covers replaced on both the front doors due to colour mismatch

Unresolved Issues:

• A rattling sound from the dashboard. This is an intermittent issue and happens only when the dashboard gets very hot. FASS is willing to replace the dashboard, but for now, I have kept them on hold.
• A sound coming from driver seat while going over bad roads/humps - this was fixed but has come back again. Its intermittent though.
• A squeaking sound coming from somewhere near rear right door. This comes only on uneven roads especially when the rear tyres are on different level - This will be checked during my next visit as they need more time to look at this issue.

Experience With FASS(Vecto Motors):

• They don’t make any fuss about parts replacement under warranty for known issues or if they feel a replacement is required.
• They try to make sure that the issue is getting resolved no matter what.
• At times, we may get some vague response as well. So, we should make sure that we are talking to the right person.
• Overall, I am very happy with Vecto Motors.
• I always make sure that I am with my car during the servicing.

Plans for Linea to explore, I really hope these plans materialize and not stay as plans for ever.

• A drive to Sikkim
• A drive to Leh/Ladhak
• A drive to Gujarat/Rajasthan

When I was discussing with one another bhpian, something that crossed our mind was, we see/hear more Linea/Puntos taking tough terrains of Leh/Ladhak/North east trips when compared to a Honda City/Vento/Verna or a Swift/Dzire, especially when we consider the sale ratio as well. I think its a testament to the wonderful cars Fiat makes.