[abhi_tjet]

This is with regards to my ownership of a FIAT Linea T-JET – Emotion variant (top end). It's a November ‘13 manufactured and January ’14 registered vehicle. I booked it in mid-December and took delivery on 4th Jan 2014 from Pandit Auto, Pune.

Since the production of this vehicle is long stopped and FIAT as a brand isn’t selling vehicle anymore, I am pretty sure it’s not going to help any people planning to buy a new car. However, if someone is going to consider FIAT as a used car (generally available dirt cheap or some ‘FIAT enthusiasts’), this log may cheer them up a bit.



Mine is now 7 years 8 months old and honeymoon period is long over. On that note, below are the key takeaways.

Likes

–

Looks – Looks can be subjective. However, yet to find a person who says they can’t digest its looks or hate it. Second glance guaranteed in this magnificent Oceanic Blue paint. It might look dated to some now but pleasing nevertheless. I still can stare at it for hours admiring its elegance. No bad angles for this beauty.

The overall design, ORVM’s, headlight, taillight, alloy wheel design, etc is just awesome.

Engine – The 1.4 T-JET with its 207 nm of torque (delivered at 2200 rpm) is a cracker of an engine. Lag is felt only when you are facing slope and rpm falls below 1500 in 3rd/4th gear.

To give perspective, it’s much better to drive in city/highway than a Jeep Compass Petrol. Compass engine is very ‘laggy’ till 2K rpm and flies after that. At least this was observed by me in my test drive of BS6 Compass petrol AT. Unmentionable speeds can be attained very easily in Linea with or without load.

Features – For its time, Linea was loaded with features - Blue&ME, ACC, Leather seats, 16-inch alloy wheels with 205/55 R16 tires, all wheel disc, a cavernous boot are just to name a few.



Build Quality/Safety – Linea has spoiled me. Its has just fabulous build quality. Approaching 8 years with approx 62K kms on the odometer and no major rattles or squeaks from the cabin. It still feels fresh and safe.

While looking for a smaller AT city car for my wife/parents in 2018, I was not able to like any vehicle apart from Ford/Tata. I still remember how aghast I was after the test drive of Baleno/Ignis. Build quality was not much different from my ’98 M800 (no disrespect to the owners) and felt tinny. I finally went ahead with Tiago as per the compromises.

Further, just compare the boot heft of Linea with its contemporary.

Ride Quality – As a reviewer said, Linea makes the bad roads good and good roads - velvety. Nothing much to add here then.

Need to plan for size.


Dimensions – For me, the bigger the better. Linea’s design is a flowy, curvy one with no attempt to restrict size and it shows. No sharp crease and cuts. I like it. You need to plan carefully before parking it though. Chances are it will overshoot the parking space allotted.

Brakes – All wheel discs do help here to stop the 1.25-ton behemoth. Brake pedal feel is very good and progressive. Not at all spongy like our erstwhile 1.4 MPFI Indica.

Steering – The set up is to die for. Wonderfully calibrated hydraulic setup which compliments the Linea’s wonderful chassis and suspension set up.
Communicates the road perfections as well as imperfections clearly to the driver. Whether it’s a good or bad thing, it’s an individual’s pick. However, I have heard the 2nd gen. Fiesta one was better.

Ground Clearance – FIAT advertised the GC of Linea as 190 mm. I can vouch for the same since it has barely scraped the underbody in the ownership timeline. This doesn’t mean it hasn’t. There were some unscientific ones which kissed the underbody.

Could be better –

Gearbox – The fly in the ointment. Since I upgraded from a M800/ Indica, it is ok for me. However, I can totally relate if someone upgrading from Swift curses it. This degrades the experience and is nothing to write home about.

Space Management – Despite it being the largest in the class, it's not that spacious and lacks a few cubbyholes here and there. Spacewise, no major problem for average build people (till around 5ft8in) though. Definitely not a 5 seater.

Part quality – Mine is from late 2013 batch so all niggles were already sorted. However, there are some odd parts/areas which are not up to the mark. For eg – the ac vents (front/back) are very fragile. Luckily, no damage till now.

Engine compartment – Air intake placement doesn’t seem optimum. Intercooler size is smaller than what FIAT offers in other countries. This is even though India faces higher ambient temperatures. Fuel economy and acceleration suffers during bumper to bumper traffic as a result.

Turning circle – It requires 3-point turn if not carefully planned at most places. Wish it could be a bit better.

Dislikes

–

No reverse parking sensors as factory fitment. FIAT corrected it in 2014 facelift. This was available as an official accessory and it was the only accessory in my car till recent times.

Service quality - With only 1 official service station in most of the cities, this is bound to suffer. In Pune, this is not much of a problem since there is a workshop owned by ex Pandit FASS guys.

Parts availability – Mechanical parts availability is still ok. However, cabin(plastic) parts such as sun visor is not available easily. I am waiting for the one since quite a long time.

Weight issues/Fuel economy – With weight tipping almost 1250 kg and a turbo petrol engine you will never see 18 kmpl on MID unless it’s a flat straight expressway and you are using cruise control with speed less than 100. I, on my highway trips generally get 13-14 kmpl as per tankful. MID is optimistic by 0.5 kmpl.

First major milestone achieved last year in March '20 along with the typical fuel economy



contd...

[abhi_tjet]

Prelude

–
I am fond of cars since my childhood days. My father bought a Maruti 800 during late August ‘98. This was the first car in our near & dear family. We used to live in Bhopal, Madhya Pradesh and there was a wait duration of 30 days and those 30 days were slowest of my life! There was no fanfare while booking/delivery like nowadays.
I was only told that we are getting a car once the booking was done. Colour – Milky White. Dealer – Jeewan Motors. I was so irritated and argued with my parents about why I wasn’t told about this and who buys a milky white colour. Why not some other nice colour. I was all of 12 and my bickering didn’t help much since the deal was done.

My father didn’t know how to drive. Someone from office dropped the car at our place. So, first car of my life and I never visited the showroom, neither for booking nor for delivery. I remember sitting at the parked car exploring the features and realising that we actually own a car now.
My father learnt driving from one of his friends. Later he taught me driving so that I can handle (only) parking duties.

Number was changed to CG before selling. It was becoming hassle to get it re-registered from MP. Earlier number was MP04V****. Clocked approx 80K when sold


Our 2nd car was the Tata Indica 1.4 MPFI Petrol. This was bought in April ‘03 by my mother’s younger brother (Uncle) in Bhilai, Chhattisgarh from National Garage. I was the one who took this out from showroom. We bought it from him in late ‘06 when my father moved to Korba, Chhattisgarh from Bhilai as per his new posting (My father was a banking professional - retired nowadays). My mother decided to stay in Bhilai since I was pursuing my engineering. Hence, we needed a car for family usage. My uncle went on to buy Estilo later and currently owns an Ertiga.

Clocked approx 56K when sold


Both above cars were with us till late 2018 and provided us a wonderful experience to say the least. We had to sell them due to shortage of parking space and myself moving out of country in mid-2018. 4 cars were too much for my father in Raipur, Chhattisgarh.

The Buying Process

-

I moved to Pune in early 2009, got married in between and thought of buying a car in 2013. I was trying to buy car since ’09 but the bank balance never supported. Parents were never in favour of buying new car and considered it waste. They relented later due to my persistence. My reason for buying new drive was –
• Both our cars were old.
• One was 15 and other was 10 years old.
• One was MP registered and other was Chhattisgarh (We had paid the road tax for MH state for CG registered Indica).

Accordingly, I started the process and requirement was pretty straightforward.
Budget - 10 Lacs. A bit of power and luxury. Should be ‘safe’ and gorgeous to look with decent reliability along with some feel good features. Petrol was preferred. Body shape wasn’t a restriction.

Tata Safari was an absolute favourite and a childhood dream. However, I was married, and I must weigh my better half’s perspective as well. Thanks to her, I widened my spectrum and evaluated alternatives. She loved sedans and they were included in the list.

I test drove almost all cars in 6-10 lacs range and FIAT Linea T-JET did come in top despite all its shortcomings.

Some test drive excerpts from 2013. I was mostly interested in petrol cars (exception again for Safari) –

Contenders -

Maruti SX4 – It was a nicely build car. Very unlike Maruti. However, the engine didn’t entice me and looks to my better half. I did test drove Dzire but it was a segment lower and it felt clearly. Didn’t pondered much.

Tata Safari Dicor/Storme/Aria – Wonderful cars. Aria/Storme EX was out of budget. Dicor can only be bought from heart and not head. The plastics, gearbox, interior quality, panel gaps were below par for 2013. I didn’t considered Manza.

Honda City – This car always mean you have achieved something. Honda is (or was) aspirational. Engine was superlative but car felt too light. Also, cabin felt sparsely equipped for the price and Honda provided only essentials. No indulgence here. Be it 15-inch wheels/175 section tire, rear drum set up, manual AC, etc. Even in 2021, I suppose tire is where Honda skimps most. 185 section tires on a 120 bhp low slung sedan!

VW/Skoda – Test drove a Vento from B U Bhandari, Pune. Too costly with boring 1.6l petrol engine. I was not warmed up to automatics in 2013. Skoda didn’t respond or provided test drive.

Renault Duster – I test drove 1.5 L 85 bhp diesel. Drive was good with sorted dynamics. However, the interiors were a let down and was downright rejected by better half.

Nissan Sunny – Gearshift was not smooth. Brakes lack initial bite and better half again rejected the interiors.

Toyota Etios – Very professional people from DSK Toyota. They bought a white Etios for test drive. However, Etios was built to a cost and it shows. Unlike Tata Safari Dicor, you will buy Etios only with mind, IMO.

Hyundai – I test drove a 1.6L petrol Verna and though feature rich there was no fun in driving it. Steering was so light that it felt artificial. You sit quite low as well. Same for i20 minus the 1.6L engine. 1.2L is best enjoyed in city.

Ford – Ecosport was hot topic those days. I took a test drive of Ecoboost variant and loved it. If only the waiting periods were sane. No real negatives here. Only if Fiesta was launched with Ecoboost engine. It would have been tough to manage funds.

Accordingly, below is the test drive experience for Linea T-JET.

There used to be FIAT Caffe's those days. This was the time when FIAT again tried going solo. My first Test Drive experience was from FIAT caffe (owned by Sky moto guys). Nothing to write much about pleasantries, it was a white T-Jet. I had driven the diesel 2012 model Linea/Punto-90 hp already earlier and I was expecting a drastic different drive experience. I wasn’t disappointed either.

The 16-inch wheels with squatted stance looked wonderful (It was a pre-2013 TJET). On the inside, the beige and black interiors with leather seats did work wonders for the ambience. The retro dials definitely worked for me. I merged into the North main road of Koregaon park slowly due to continuous traffic. However, as soon as we moved into one of the interior lanes, and I got a chance to push the throttle a bit, I was laughing ear to ear. The locomotive like push once the turbo spooled was addictive and magical. Wife was happy with back seat comfort, looks, interiors and she also noticed my wide grin. Everyone’s happy.

The only manual turbo petrol sedan in the market for the commoners(unlike now). Accordingly, along with it’s shortcomings, car was decided since it fitted in our requirements to the ’T’. Dealer however, wasn’t.

Difference between performance of Honda City and Linea (excluding turbo petrol/NA engine), IMO, is that Linea felt sprightly despite its weight, it felt fast along with the weight and that was the wonderful feeling. Unlike City, which is and feels light.

Obviously, in 0-100 timings, City is better with its lighter weight along with its fabulous gearbox. However, the feel of acceleration was something completely different in Linea echoed further by the official reviews in team-bhp, Karthikk’s, Biraj’s and many other members brilliant Linea T-JET ownership logs.

I took multiple drives of 2013 Linea T-JET from Pandit Auto to get feel of the changes in interior ambience and difference in turbo characteristics, increased GC before finalising the deal. Pandit guys were professional without being pushy. Sad that they wind up including their Tata dealerships.

Brochure -
I would have easily read this brochure at least 100 times and still wasn't bored. I know I was hooked.



My first car was finally coming. Booked it on 16th December ’13 with Pandit Auto. Colour choice was Oceanic Blue which they had in stock at FIAT plant. It was November’13 manufactured. Wait time quoted was 2 weeks and I did the PDI on last days of year 2013.
Along with the standard warranty for 3 years, I opted for additional 2 years. The additional 2 years warranty charges were measly 8k approximately.
Price Details –
• ExShowroom - 8.9L
• RoadTax – 90K
• Insurance – 25K(Zero Dep.)
• Ext Warranty – 8K
• Discount – 1Lac and some corporate discount.
• Accessory/Essentials – TJET branded boot Mat and Car Cover
• On-road – approx. 9.2 Lacs
For above price, it was an absolutely steal.

Few PDI pics.

Loved the way how Pandit kept its to be delivered cars. They were either in basement or covered.




Delivery picture

contd..

[abhi_tjet]

Living with Linea T-JET

Maintenance -
It’s approaching 62000 kms as of now. My experience is mostly positive. It has never left me stranded or even cause a minor trouble. Not even a puncture at a wrong place or a wrong time. It's only the yearly service or pre-emptive maintenance till now. Hope it stays the same.

The OEM tires GoodYear Eagle NCT’s were crap and a puncture magnet. I replaced them with Michelin Primacy 3ST’s when odometer read approx. 28k kms in late ‘17. Damage to the wallet was around 36K. It’s a smooth sail since. In last 4 years, it has suffered just 2 punctures and reason being only one.

Just check the nail size!

A big nail pierced through tire. Same spot again started leaking air/N2 after 3 years.

Yearly service has been done with various FASS in Pune/Mumbai/Raipur till it was in warranty. Experience more or less was same with them. All were nice and eager to help/understand the problem, if any. This includes Pandit Auto Pune, SkyMoto Pune, Rudra Pune, RS Motors Kandivali, CarMender Panvel, Car Planet Raipur.
Car is on its 3rd battery. Like most European cars, this one hates low charge as well. Timing and other auxiliary belts were changed after completion of 7 years and 52k kms. FIAT recommends 4 year/60K kms. Service is now done at Wings Auto - Ex Pandit guys.

Suspension, brakes work flawlessly. Elastic pad of both suspensions was changed a year back as part of regular maintenance.
Headlights are OEM. No upgrade has been done. One of the number plate light conked recently which was replaced. Also, one of the fog lights were conked in ‘18 which was duly replaced. Cabin light and boot light is switched to led’s.

I have moved away from zero dep. insurance since last couple of years.
No warranty replacements were needed. Since it’s out of warranty now, hope it stays the same.

Interiors/Features -

I loved the understated, elegant look of dashboard and interiors have aged well. It doesn’t simply feel its age from outside/inside at least to me. It has been parked in humid places, covered garages as well as open parking spaces. Part of leather seats exposed to the sun have been yellowed a bit due to heat/uv rays. No stains however and are still supple and plush.

Seats are thick and plush. Space though not premium but surely not lavish either. It's a cosy affair



ACC chills to the bone if kept below 22/21. I always keep it in 23/24 and its pleasant.
Boot though deep, opening is narrow due to those beautiful tail-lights. Need to put big bags accordingly.
MID gives lots of information to keep you busy such as average, instantaneous fuel economy, range, two tripmeters, average speed, time taken, etc.
There is a further My Car menu to customise the readings, MID, MID light intensity, etc.
All window switches are backlit and looks beautiful in night.
Car chimes continuously if you drive without buckling up once you cross 20 kmph. It also chimes if you drive with door open/partially open/parking brake engaged.

ICE – Speaker quality is average. However, apart from USB drive/CD (anyone uses CD nowadays?)-

• You can plug your phone via USB cable and listen songs via Amazon, Spotify, YouTube, etc.
• If you are using navigation, instructions will be played in car speakers as well.
• Your phone will be getting charged as well.

There are 3 separate bulb each side in taillight panel, one for taillight, one for brakes and last acting as reverse fog lamp. Form as well as function here. Quite a rare feature, I will say.

Yes, no water bottle space. I generally keep it on top of parking brake lever.

One of the earlier pics. Circa mid '14

Niggle -
Not much niggles as such. However, hinges of both sun visors in my Linea were broken when tried using them 3-4 years later in the ownership. I replaced the left one earlier when car was in Raipur. However, right side one conked later is out of stock and I still can’t use the sun visor while driving. It’s been months. I should have replaced it earlier.

Horn pad stops working in few of the touch points. This started happening once it was 5-6 years old. It need to be cleaned during every service.

Usage –
Linea has been used sporadically throughout its lifetime since I was out of country for couple of times(60% of its ownership duration overall till now) in its ownership. Corona times are further not helping to increase the running. I generally leave it with my father in such case and he prefers smaller cars for day-to-day usage. This was the main reason (along with me out of the country) to sell the 2 oldest cars so that the newer ones can be utilised better. Both M800 and Indica were mechanically perfect though and were sold in Chhattisgarh.

contd...

[abhi_tjet]

Accident –
There was an accident which occurred in early 2017 when I was out of country. My father was driving the car along with family members and he is a very sedate driver. It occurred at Laxmi Chowk, Hinjewadi, Pune (first square in road leading to Marunji from Mezza 9). Now, since I wasn’t at the spot, I am not exactly sure of how it all happened. Our car was coming from Bhumkar chowk going towards Hinjewadi Ph2/Ph3. Other car, an Amaze, was coming from Marunji and probably going towards Mezza 9, Hinjewadi. Our car was at very slow speed and there were no injuries to either car occupants (by God’s grace).
The car was drivable. However, the bumper was dislodged for Linea. It was tied from some rope and driven to the only FASS - Sky Moto. It was there for a month and following main parts were replaced –

• Bumper,
• Bonnet,
• Radiator.
• Both front quarter panel was repainted.

Mechanical job done quite properly by the Sky Moto team. Colour was matched perfectly but the paint job was sub-par. They did a re-coat free later in the year when I came and requested them for the same. Still, it was not good and left it at that. I get the paint sealant done from 3M generally once a year.
Bill came about 50K approx.

Long trips/travels in Linea –

• I have done numerous Pune – Raipur/Bhilai trips. Round trip comes around 2k kms.
• Couple of Pune – Hyderabad trips. One being as latest as first week of September ’21.
• A trip to Bangalore to reunite with school friends.
• A Goa trip with family.
• And quite a few Pune - Navi Mumbai trips when my father used to live there before his retirement.
• It has helped to explore quite a lot of places near Pune during monsoon.

Some monsoon clicks from last year





Car Care -
There has been PPF applied in corner portion of rear bumper since 2014. It's also applied on ORVM’s. Older one was removed as it was getting torn at places due to abuse it has taken in ownership timeline and applied new earlier this year.
It's also applied on all the four-door sill area and under body of door handles. I generally get the paint sealant treatment from 3M once a year. Still, over the year, it has accumulated lots minor/major scratches.

Dec '20


Dec '17


Accessory -
Below items were added in last couple of months -
Phone stand from iOttie. It can be placed on windshield or on dashboard.

Dashcam from SafeCam (Indian manufacturer).



contd..

[abhi_tjet]

Some unique bits which shows that FIAT didn’t indulged in cost cutting as such.

Sun visor with mirror and lights. Button to open boot can be seen on dashboard.

Rear sun curtain. Rear camera can be seen as well

Foldable grab handles and Premium roof liner

Full Boot cover(FIAT branded), hydraulics for boot and under bonnet insulation.

A functional driver side hand rest.

All 4 window auto down feature, backlit, auto up for Driver side along with leather upholstery in door pads.

Speed Limiter in MID to warn you which can be customised from My car menu. separate buttons for front/rear fog light. No fumbling needed

Auto HeadLight and Wipers(frameless)



However, they seems never got the pulse of market and were aloof to the market voice, didn’t improved much which ultimately led to the downfall.

On that note, let me take a pause here and I will keep adding my experiences as I clock more kilometres. This being my first car, I have no intention of selling it any time soon.

[Aditya]

Thread moved out from the Assembly Line. Thanks for sharing!

[batladanny]

Beautiful review of a beautiful car. Always been in love of the Linea.

[VVN]

What an amazing vehicle you have there. Absolutely love the colour. I have a 2018 City and I agree with your observations. I wish FIAT was still around because we need OEMs who give more weightage to the functional aspects of the car rather than accessories which no one would care about in 3 months. She looks as good as new. Wishing you many many more happy miles.

[AKSarkar1]

Congratulations on your journey with this beauty so far! There are very few cars that can age so well and surely the Linea is a fine example of this. Even by today's standards, the car is well equipped. I remember back in the day when this car was introduced it even gave other vehicles from completely different segments a run for their money e.g. the Accord.

Props to you as well for keeping this beauty maintained in such mint condition over the years! I am still in awe of Lineas but I guess that is partly because I could not afford the car when it first came out

Wishing you many more miles ahead and don't let go of this car anytime soon!

[chethan.ram]

This is a fantastic car and I just love the colour of your car. Two of my friends drive the T-Jet and it is awesome fun to drive and you feel so safe with its sturdy body. I too have a Fiat, its a Punto 1.4 Fire and I am still loving it. It is a 2009 model and I have done 1,55,000 kms so far.

[keroo1099]

Great review and good luck thinking of a suitable upgrade when the time comes. It's only when you posted all the features it had, it struck me what an absolute bargain it was compared to it's competition when launched and even with the face-lift.

Get a remap and a bigger IC and I guarantee a permanent ear to ear smile.

[BrakingBad]

Awesome review of an awesome car. As a proud owner of a Linea Multijet 1.3 (should we say 1.25) Emotion PK, I can vouch for the longevity of this car for 10+ years. Mine is April 2010 manufactured, but bought it in 2011 Jan. since then i have just completed 1.30 Lakh happy KMs. Have driven it to hill stations, on plains, in rainy/wet/dry all what south India has offered. It is the safest vault you can own for 10 Lakh (mine for just shy of that on road and when i filled the tank full after delivery, it became just 10 Lakh). It would be 1.5 Lakh by now but for the pandemic & lockdowns. Take this beauty on a winding road and you will love every bit of it. On a straight road, this masks the speed so much that during my BLR -HYD trip, my mom asked why are you going slow? while i was doing 110 and an Ford endavor overtook us in a wooshhh.... (must be doing some serious speeds)...

When I was window shopping for replacement, the features of Linea are comparable with cars of 2018/19 baring some electronic gizmos.

Now when i am looking for a replacement seriously, I am unable to settle for anything other than BMW 3 GT. Seriously Linea pampers you like nothing else.

Like you have said, it still turns the heads and their ad ending with "Admiration Guaranteed" is 100% true. check these ads...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Wo0bKL4C2CE

the next ad.... like the proud owner says "this car has engine"

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5YV8uGGNxJg

Yes it does have the bullet proof engine and my FNG mechanic has reserved my car for him when i decide to part ways with it (both me and my family love this vehicle so much that, even if we buy BMW GT3, we may not part ways with it )

Finally this ad sums it...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y3Z2mJpIalA

THIS IS ONE CAR FOR CAR LOVERS and nothing in this class can match it... even if you test drive today's cars, chances are high that you are not satisfied with the new ones... (Like me). Thats why my profile pic will remain linea for a long long time.

Hold on to this Gem as long as you can. you will love every KM of driving this.
Find a FNG for servicing this beauty with OEM parts, it will run peacefully for another 7 years.

[Eshan Joshi]

Hey abhi_tjet,

You have one beautiful well maintained T-jet. You have maintained your interiors very nicely. I cant see any noticeable change in the color (mine have become a bit darker). I am pretty sure it will last for a long time under your care.

The ocean blue is one of the best colors for the T-jet . It has a lovely blue hue under the sun. This shade is pretty rare also. I have only seen it once on the road (not that there are many post 2012 T jets in the first place).

As a owner I can understand why you don't want to sell your car.

Keep enjoying your T-jet for many years !

[Tokengrip]

Nice to see a Fiat write up. It's a rare occurence these days. That color is still stunning to look at. The only blue that compares is the new Skoda Superb blue, which I am a big fan of.
Wondering if it's time for you to consider a stage 1 remap. It changed the dynamics of my Punto mainly at the top end and highway cruising became an absolute joy.

[cogWheel]

@abhi_tjet, your car looks great, particularly in that color. And it is well cared for too. The Linea T-Jet is a hard car to replace. The Indian auto scene is poorer of the absence of such options in this segment now.

Originally Posted by abhi_tjet

... Air intake placement doesn’t seem optimum. Intercooler size is smaller than what FIAT offers in other countries. This is even though India faces higher ambient temperatures. Fuel economy and acceleration suffers during bumper to bumper traffic as a result.

This can be addressed easily. There are bolt-on intercooler upgrades available. My experience with such an upgrade for my Abarth Punto has been good.