[Urban_Nomad]

Me is back. Incase someone checked back for updates, my apologies for not updating the thread for such a long time. Was away for my sister's enagagement.

Will ensure the final bits are updated ASAP.

[vasanthn21]

All talk and no pics make "Urban_Nomad" a bad writer!

pics please bro!

[Urban_Nomad]

WARNING - THIS IS A VERY SHORT POST.

For those who do not want to take the pain of going though every single word written in this post, here's an example of what Fiat A$$ is like. You go to a restaurant and are greeted with smiley faces all around. You are asked to wait and be patient for some time. Finally, you are seated. All waiters around you are smiling and promptly take your order. After you have ordered, you are asked to wait some more. The food finally arrives. Your server (non technical type, found usually at a restaurant) is all smiles as he serves you. You dig into your food and take the 1st bite. AWWFULLLL. Maybe you get food poisoning also. You complain to the waiter who listens to you with a smile on his face and assures you that the meal will be "replaced" free of charge, but you would have to wait. You utilize this time to vomit and then vomit some more. The food arrives. This time its tolerable and maybe you dont throw up again. You pay and leave. The staff is still smiling.

After Sales Service :

I believe this particular point (A$$) is one of the most, if not THE most critical factor which scares a good majority of junta to shy away from Fiat products. Fiat is considered as a manufacturers that builds cars with a passion. A pity, they do not display the same zeal when it comes to the A$$ side of things. My car has received 2 (free) services thus far. Before I ramble on, here's a breakdown of cost for both the services. All figures in INR :

1) First service :

Oil Filter - 124.44
Fuel Filter - 200
Mobil 1 engine oil (3 ltrs) - 2866.68
Transmission belt - Free (Warranty)
Alternator belt - Free (Warranty)
Wheel Alignment - 300
Carpet mats - 891.56
Taxes - 330.90
Total amount billed - 4924 (includes carpet mats)

This was my first time experiencing the infamous A$$ and sadly, it lived upto its reputation (or lack of it). I had to deal with a whole bunch of issues and quite franky, after putting a sizeable chunk of my hard earned money on this sedan, I was not willing to accept such deplorable standard of service. My e-mail to the then GM of BU Bhandari "Mr Khan" on the 27th July 2009 would explain all of it in detail :

Dear Mr. Khan,

Hope this mail finds you well.

I wanted to share my experience with you regarding the subject matter activity. As the title would suggest, it was not a very pleasant one. I left my car at your service center on friday (24 July 09) and took delivery the next day. The "technician" attending me was a gentleman named "Shivaji". Before getting into much ado about everything, let me share some basic details of my job card with you :

Issue

1) Car pulls to the right, steering heavy.
A) Car still pulls to the right. Charged for wheel alignment.

2) Water leakage in the entire right side of the car.
A) Unresolved.

3) Door rattles, especially rear RHS.
A) Unresolved.

4) Car cleaning.
A) Unsatisfacory, details in the e-mail body.

Apart from the above, I was majorly inconvenienced by your staff's total disregard for a customer's time and the manner in which they conduct their "professional self".
On friday, Shivaji advised me that I can expect to take delivery of my car on saturday by 4 pm. Fair enough. On saturday, I began calling him from 1 in the afternoon trying to get some details on the work progress and if all was well. Every single time, I was advised that there are some things that are being "looked into" and was promised a callback in the next half hour or so. since then, I had been calling up every half hour to 45 mins to get updates. Finally, I called up Shivaji yet again at 5:30 pm, who advised me that I can come over to collect the car. Mind you, in all this time, I was not called back even once. I left home at about 5:45 (I am putting up at Empire Estate, Chinchwad) and scoured around for an auto. At around 6, I got a callback from Shivaji (finally) telling me that the workshop is about to close and I need to be there almost immediately. I told him I was looking for an auto (rains not helping here) and why he did not inform me of the workshop operating hours before. I could have left home much earlier. I then asked him to get the car dropped off at my place, even if it was at a charge as I needed to drive down to Bombay the same night. He replied "OK" and hung up. He called back again in a couple of minutes stating that the car will not be dropped and I must come over by 7. The time now was around 6:15.

When I asked him why he dint bother to inform me of this in good time and whatever info I received was basis my phone calls, he said he did not inform me at 5:30 but at 5 and that was time enough. He was kind enough to add that it was not his responsibility to inform me or get the car to me. That was my job. He also flatly refused to wait for me as his shuttle was about to leave. I am more than happy to show you an account of phone calls made by me to your staff if required.
Post this fiasco, I tried contacting you over the phone but it was unavailable. I called Seema who then gave me the manager's (Amol or Amogh?) number. I called him umpteen no. of times but he dint answer his phone either. Finally I reached the workshop around 7 ish and a new story began to unfold. I know its quite a long story but kindly bear with me.

I found my car waiting outside the reception area ...................... dirty. I do not expect a car looking like that if fresh out of the washing bay. The area inside the boot still had mud and grime marks from me changing a flat tyre recently. The alloy wheels had a "Black coat" on the insides. Also, there was a small speck of coal tar on the front bumper which was not removed, despite me pointing it to Shivaji at least 10 times. The right rear quarter glass beading had come off, and was very nicely just left on my car's rear seat instead of being glued back on. Also, the dashboard on the right side of the steering wheel has developed a crack which was not present before the servicing. I m not very sure how my car was handled by your staff.
Even your cashier was speechless and asked me to fill out a complaint form which I promptly did. He asked me to make it for "Mr Amol (or Amogh's) eyes only" and I did just that. Its 3:15 pm now and I am yet to hear anything from your people.

Regarding the water leakage inside my car, I had advised your staff to hoist the car and check for leaks, missing covers on drain outlets and the condenser drainage pipe. With this problem unresolved, my brand new mats are completely soiled and ruined, thanks to the service folks not even bothering to dry the car before putting in the mats. FYI, this is a common problem with quite a few Lineas that your techies have failed to even diagnose. Kindly refer to the link below for details. There are at least 6 more such cases on this site alone that have been promptly repaired by other dealerships in different cities.

Refer to post no. 12 - http://www.team-bhp.com/forum/test-d...ga-begins.html

I have completely lost faith in your establishment sir. While you personally have been most helpful in terms of resolving my issues with the car's delivery in the past, I must say your staff lack the basic manners and professionalism. I am eager to hear from you and I hope you will take this up on priority. I would not be approaching you if your staff had the basic know how of how to deal with customer's issues.

Thanks for your time and patience.

Regards,
KP
_________________________________________

Mr Khan, being the gentleman that he is, immediately acted upon this feedback and got my car picked up the very next day (28th). The car returned to me on the 29th. Here's an e-mail I sent to him upon receiving my car :

Dear Mr Khan,

My car arrived today at about 7:15 pm and I m happy with the job undertaken by your staff this time around. All that remains to be seen is the water leakage problem (once the carpets and mats dry out ....... hopefully soon). Will revert incase there is an issue.

Many thanks for your assistance. Appreciate your effort in getting the ball moving. Still would expect better turnaround from your staff. Your demeanor however is praise worthy as always.

Regards,

KP
______________________________________

So all is well, right? You are oh so wrong. Here's another mail I sent out to the GM on 25th Aug 2009 :

Mr. Khan,

Although it gives me no particular pleasure of being a source of constant complaint to yourself, I am yet again forced to do so.
I m sure you remember the mail I sent you earlier about some of the issues I have been facing with my Linea. Here's what is new:
Central Locking fault - the car is supposed to automatically lock all doors post crossing the 20kmph mark, however, that does not happen now. The problem cropped up roughly 10 days ago. Also, at times the driver's door does not unlock post operating the remote "unlocking" system. One needs to climb in through the passenger gate and manually unlock the driver's door from inside.

Missing Bonnet opening Lever - I am shocked, needless to say. I did not notice this until a few days back (when I wanted to access the engine bay to fill up the windscreen washer. Before we start to make assumptions about the owner (me) losing the same, a few clarifications. I "wipe wash" my car from the outside everyday myself and clean it inside out on a sunday .............. you guessed it, myself. The only way I could possibly loose it if I pulled and flung the part out myself. And believe you me, I have never done that to either of the cars I have owned till date.

Rattles, Rattles and more RATTLES - I told and I told your service staff last time around as well, the rear right door rattles. Your staff told me the rear seat was loose (???) and hence the noise. When I took delivery of the car from your service station the last time around, there wasn't a sound. Even the mail below would suggest, I was pleased. Again after a 1000 odd kms, the rattles have returned. Why fix my car on a temporary basis? The same was the issue with the leaking AC condenser drain pipe. When I had told the service manager the issue with the solution, why was the car not fixed then? Why did it involve me being car-less, haggling with rickshaw waalas for a good part of another day?
I called your service center a week or so ago. No. - 9922971045 to fix an appointment and get my car checked AGAIN. The gentleman politely advised me that there is a "computer scanner machine" which he would need to plug into the car and check where the fault is with the central locking mechanism. However, the machine is not working and will take some time to fix. I tried calling a couple more times, but could not get through. I would assume in this situation, the service advisor either which ways should have made a note of my issue and followed up. I mean, Hyundai has done that and continues to do so for my 3.5 lac Santro. In short, kindly appraise your customer when it would be possible for you to provide service. Not too great an expectation I hope, especially from a company which is trying to build a reputation for itself in terms of after sales service.
What annoys me most is that the amount of niggles I am facing with a car that's barely 5 months old, with approx 7000 kms on the odo. Not happy ............. not one bit sir.

I am hoping you give this mail its due attention. Again, I have absolutely no qualms in terms of how you conduct yourself with reference to your customers. Your service staff although is a different story altogether. Ownership experience of this car sure is leaving a bitter taste.

Hoping for a quick resolution from you Mr Khan. And this time, I hope its a permanent one please.

Regards,

KP
_________________________________________

This time around however, I also copied in "Mr Mangesh Kodalkar". Here's the response I received from him.

Dear Sir,

Thank you for your communication we are sorry to note on the concerns referred & apologies for the inconvenience caused to you, Matter is already initiated for priority attention .requesting to please bear with us.

Thanking you for your cooperation & assuring you of our best services at all times.
With warm regards,

Mangesh Kodalkar
Customer services
Fiat India
________________________________________

No response received till the 27th Aug. Follow up mail :

Dear Mr Kodalkar,

Many thanks for your response. However, I thought it would be worth your time to inform you that nobody has gotten in touch with me yet. Its been more than 48 hours since my original mail to you (if my maths serves me right). Any idea when I may expect to see some action beyond words?

Just FYI - I had read some encouraging feedback about you in an online forum on Team-BHP, hence I thought of including you in the communique as well.
Its quite disheartening that I need to contact senior-most officials to get basic issues sorted out. Be it staff demeanor, quality of workmanship or other general issues.

I also logged a complaint on the Fiat website, again 48 hrs ago. No response yet.
I am patiently awaiting a response from the relevant authorities. Hope you can send a message to whomsoever required an expedite this case. I am more than happy to answer any queries you may have regarding the situation. Feel free to get in touch with me either via mail or phone.

Thanks again,

KP
_______________________________________

Sure enough, got a call the very next day from the service advisor and the car was (again) picked up and returned the next day. This time around, the "master clutch slave cylinder" was replaced under warranty. I sent an acknowledgement mail to "Mr Kodalkar" :

Hello again,

Apologies this comes a bit delayed as I was away on an assignment. My car has been fixed and returned safely. Although there were some loose ends, such as the car not even getting a wash or the rattles not being fixed .I can guarantee that, as the speck of "hardened dirt" on the inside of my windscreen sat as pretty as it did when the car left my stable. No surprise though, as the service incharge was again a gentleman named "Shivaji", whose attitude and workmanship was a cause of concern the 1st time around. Time permitting, you can read the 1st mail (right at the bottom) in this chain for details. I m just hoping my car does not go to him for the next service.

Nevertheless, most things are in order and I do not want to leave my car for another 24 - 48 hrs at the workshop again. The situation is something I can live with.
Most of all though, I wanted to thank you for taking the time out to intervene and get the ball rolling.

Regards,

KP
_________________________________________

What did you say? Such a short post? Want more? OK. Continued :

2nd service (cost in INR) :

AC Pollen filter - 225.78
Oil Filter - 124.44
Fuel Filter - 200
5gm wheel weight - 100
Selenia engine oil (3.2 ltr) - 1848.90
Wheel alignment - 300
Wheel balancing - 200
Standard checks (AC pollen filter = ???) - 120
Standard checks (consumable products = ???) - 100
Adjust door links - Free
Total amount paid - 3606

Additionally, paid 400 for a wiper blade and 186.65 for cleaning agent "D" (what is this).

The servicing was done on the 5th of may 2010. However, I was not happy with the car's performance. Initially, I blamed it on the choice of selenia vs mobil 1, but still something felt out of place. This time around, no emails, follow ups etc. I called up the BU Bhandari service center GM, Mr Gopal. He is a gem of a person I must say. I told him clearly that there is no way I wish to be car-less this time around, due to no fault of mine. It took him about a week, but finally, the car was picked up and a replacement indica was left at my doorstep (well, office step). I wanted a thorough inspection and asked them to keep the car more than a couple of days if needed. But I wanted his personal assurance this time that all will be sorted, especially the seat hieght mechanism fault wherein the seat comes down automatically whilst ingress / egress. He agreed. One thing about Mr Gopal, he is very passionate about what he does and follows up on his promises. Well, most of them.

So, on the 11th June 2010, the car was delivered to me at my office step. Everything seemed fine with the car (still does, touchwood). The car ran super smooth. Or maybe that was the after effect of driving a diesel Indica for a week or so. The seat hieght mechanism has now kinda been fixed. Earlier it used to go down from level 1 (highest) to sayyyyy level 4 in the middle of a long drive. Now its goes down till level 2. Thank you Fiat.

There is one thing I would like to add to this oh-so-tiny post is that thus far, the Fiat A$$ has failed to impress. But the one good thing is that they are improving. They really want to improve. From a deplorable rating, they have moved to slightly tolerable level in my books. The staff will almost always greet you with a smile and are very courteous. While I understand that a 32 watt smile does not do much for your beloved ride's performance, it does add to the overall customer experience and to me, it sure is important as well.

[HammerHead]

@ Urban_Nomad, that was quiet a post!!! Thanks for sharing your experience and the consumables cost. As I said earlier, I love the way you write!!! No wonder I read your post in one go. IMO Fiat A.S.S and QC is the most worrying part of owning their rather impressive cars. I hope they improve big time and be consistent across service centers and customers too!

[ceebeezee]

Have decided to buy a Linea MJD Emotion Pk but have been little worried about all the A$$ issues being posted on the forum; having read all of them, leaves me a little confused.
Would like to know from existing owners, especially who have bought the Linea in last couple of months whether it would be a wise decision to still go for a Linea inspite of all the issues.
Is there an improvement in the build quality as well as A$$?
I have moved to Delhi and would also appreciate any feedback on the best dealer to get the car from.

[Urban_Nomad]

Originally Posted by HammerHead

@ Urban_Nomad, that was quiet a post!!! Thanks for sharing your experience and the consumables cost. As I said earlier, I love the way you write!!! No wonder I read your post in one go. IMO Fiat A.S.S and QC is the most worrying part of owning their rather impressive cars. I hope they improve big time and be consistent across service centers and customers too!

Thank you Hathoda ji. Their service is improving but they surely have miles to go.

Originally Posted by ceebeezee

Have decided to buy a Linea MJD Emotion Pk but have been little worried about all the A$$ issues being posted on the forum; having read all of them, leaves me a little confused.
Would like to know from existing owners, especially who have bought the Linea in last couple of months whether it would be a wise decision to still go for a Linea inspite of all the issues.
Is there an improvement in the build quality as well as A$$?
I have moved to Delhi and would also appreciate any feedback on the best dealer to get the car from.

A question - what other car then if not the Linea? Not the "ANBS Verna" (All new botched surgery Verna) I hope. Personally, I would reject that car for looks alone, but thats just me.

Regarding your query on good Fiat service centers in Delhi, I quote a senior BHP-ian "Phamilyman" from another thread :

"sarkar,

well written.

my honest to god suggestion to you is to take some time out on a weekend and take the car to samyak/elegant - you will be pleasantly surprised. and go jap-oing the name of our architect and life will be SMOOTH sailing "

Hope this helps. Do keep us posted on your buying decision. And welcome to Dilli.

[Urban_Nomad]

Misc. updates :

Most of the issues that I faced thus far were covered in the A$$ section, hence skipping straight to the misc. pointers.

1 - As mentioned earlier, the "Blue and me" feature is fantastic and very practical. Experience it to believe it. Voice commands are understood by the "sexy woman" fairly easily, however you do need to improvise sometime. Also, the cabin needs to be super silent for you to use the voice commands properly. Example - you press the voice command button and immediately after, you press the horn. You will most often not get the option you selected. And it surely will not work with the windows rolled down.

2 - The steering is just fantastic. Have not come across a better one thus far. Lovely feedback and precision.

3 - The Buttons on the steering wheel are convenient, but a tad too hard to press.

4 - My FE seems to be improving after the 2nd service. The MID indicates an FE of 14.9, which means the actual FE should at least be 13.6. This is 75% city driving, 90% AC usage set at 23 deg. Will update actual numbers after the tank fill, most probably this weekend.

5 - A book can be written on Linea's fantastic ergonomics titled "Ergonomics 101 - what not to do". Although most controls on the center console are fairly easy to reach, the power window switch placement (for eg.) is a disaster.

6 - Seat height mechanism helps in finding a good driving position. However, the seat seems to move forward as you increase the seat height. For reference, I am 5.11. With the seat set at its lowest, the brake, clutch and accelerator pedals would be very hard to reach if the seat is pushed as far back as possible. However, at the highest level, its perfect. I would request comments of owners that drive cars other than the Linea with a seat height adjustment thingy. Is this a normal feature for all seat height adjustment mechs. or are Linea owners the only priveliged ones?

7 - Head lights are weak. Would request recommendations for bulb upgrades (without having to do any modifications to the light assembly).

8 - Though interior plastics are hard, they seem to be tough and built to last. Would have appreciated the soft feel plastics, at least on the dash area. Parts like the bonnet lever are outright cheap.

9 - The car almost surges ahead post 1800 RPM and takes some getting used to. This action is almost violent when in 1st gear. In fact, one of my friends asked me if it was turbo charged.

10 - The cabin is airy and beige helps liven up the interior. However, it gets dirty reeaaallll fast. I bet the Dilli waala Linea owners should be able to shed more light on this if their car has seen one summer (sweat + beige seats = DIRRRTTYYYY).

11 - AC is good, not great. So is the gear shift.

12 - Personal opinion, one of the best OEM wheels I have ever seen (in the price bracket). However, from certain angles, I feel even the 15 inchers seem a little small. An SX4 ZXi type wheel - tyre configuration would have been superb.

OT - saw a vocal white Linea a few days back with 17 inch OZ ultraleggras (matte black). Drrrrooooooollllllllllllllllll!!!!!!!

Overall, ownership of this Italian has been a truly wonderful experience thus far. True, there are A$$ issues that need sorting out, however there has been a marked improvement over this one year or so. They have a lot of ground to cover though and a prospective buyer cannot help but think "do I want to put myself through this"?

And just about then, you turn around, take a look at this metal sculpture and there definitely is a smile on your face.

*Fin*

[Urban_Nomad]

Update -

FE for the last tank full : 14 kmpl
FE as shown on the MID : 14.9 kmpl

[Urban_Nomad]

Oopsie - Linea got a boo-boo :

A couple of days back, I took the Linea over a hump at a speed that was (slightly) higher than warranted (engine braking gone wrong). Result - THUD BOOM KRRRSSSHHHHKKKK. Right after that, there was a "kat kat kat" sound from the steering wheel if I turned it in either direction. Immediately called Fiat A$$ (B U Bhandari) and asked them to pick my car for check up and repair. Will be getting my car today. More details to follow.

[avishar]

Urban nomad,what a thread.I read the entire thing at one go from the 1st to the last post.Spent a good hour and a half in reading this!

If GTO has his benchmark in test driving cars,for me you have set the benchmark in ownership reviews.
Bas only "pikchaars" needed!

[Urban_Nomad]

So, the car went to the workshop to get the steering noise issue rectified. The car was handed over to the BU Bhandari driver at 11 am on tuesday (17 aug).

Sometime in the afternoon, I got a call from the service rep, a lady named Ujjwala. Here's how the conversation went :

Ujjwala - Hi sir. Car check kiya hai, koi noise nahi hai.
Me - I dont believe this, please check again.
Ujjwala - No sir, wo car ko cold start kiya rahega, isliye .......
Me - I am not talking about engine noise, steering aawaaz kar raha hai.
Ujjwala - (after a long pause) Oh OK, wo steering se bhi aa sakta hai sir.
Me - Mam, I ve owned this car for about a year and a half now. This was never an issue.
Ujjwala - Oh sir !!!!! (it seemed she had an epiphany). Wo power steering motor ka aawaz hai.
Me - I am hanging up now. Just make sure the car is not sent back to me unless I say so.

I just hung up and called another service rep I knew at BUB (the GM Mr. Gopal was on a leave).

Me - Mr Vitthal, I have a serious concern with the way my complaint is being handled.
Vitthal - What happened sir?
Me - I am tired of sending my car over to you, then having someone tell me that there are no issues with the car, that I have lost my head and am hearing things. I told you about the steering noise issue when I last spoke to you?
Vitthal - Wo steering motor ka ........
Me - Please be quiet and listen to me now. When the steering is turned fully on either side, there is a "whhhrrrrrr" kinda sound. That is the sound of the power steering motor. Since the day I bought my car, that sound is present. I know what it is and I do not have a problem with that sound. Kya ye baat aapko clear hai?
Vitthal - (sheepishly) Yes
Me - The sound that I am speaking of is different. Jaise hee aap steering ko ghumaate hain, "kat kat kat" ka sound aata hai, both on left and right. It sounds like something is hitting against the steering. Kya aapko ye samajh mein aaya?
Vitthal - yes sir.
Me - Ujjwala just called me telling me the noise could be due to a cold engine. You I presume are a technically sound person. Tell me, kabhi cold engine se steering mein noise aa sakta hai?
Vitthal - No sir.
Me - So can we agree that the sound is not because of the steering motor and the issue will be checked and rectified.
Vitthal - I ll talk to Ujjwala sir.
Me - Thanks.

The entire day passed by. The next day, Mr Vitthal advised me that they have worked on the issue and will be keeping the car for another 24 hours for "testing". Wow, another day. And they will keep the car for "observation". My car was begining to resemble a patient in an "ICU". I did not argue though. I just wanted them to fix the darned issue once and for all.

On the 19th, I got a call at about 10 am, suggesting that someone was on their way to my place with the car and they wanted me to personally inspect the same. After this, they would take the car back to the shop for a wash and it will then be returned in the next hour or so.

There were 2 service reps (one of them was the other's senior), both very friendly and smiling (as all service reps at Fiat do ......... always). A quick turn of the steering in either direction confirmed that the issue had been fixed. Apprently, a nut (no, not the "all you people calling me from Fiat are nuts" type nut), which holds the "steering bracket (???) in place had come off lose.

They took the car back for a wash and to get the service bill etc. They car came back after another hour or so ........ dirty. Inside and out. I could have forgiven the dirt on the outer body of the car. You see, its been raining almost regularly here in Pune and the roads etc are pretty slimy. Its not too difficult to get the car dirty.

The insides however ........ DISGUSTING. There were handprints on the dash and overall the interiors were quite dusty. When I asked the driver about the same, he simply said that the interiors were washed only during the car's service (they do clean it up nicely then, dashboard polish and all). However, that is not what I had even requested. Is just wiping clean the dash area with a cloth too great an expectation? The driver fellow SMILED (sheeeeeesh. There has got to be rule against this incessant smiling). Anyhow, $$ damages :

Pick and drop - Rs 300
Engine guard repair - Rs 150
Total bill - Rs 450

The entire experience felt like an ordeal. Although I appreciate that someone took the time out to show me that the issue was rectified, they took 2 + days to tighten a nut? I appreciate that they wanted to deliver the car after a good wash, so why was the car delivered to me covered in crud, inside and out? I appreciate that someone called up yesterday (19th Aug) to take feedback on the service delivered, why has no one contacted me after I complained about the cleanup issue?

Anybody from Fiat wants to answer that?

[Urban_Nomad]

Originally Posted by avishar

Urban nomad,what a thread.I read the entire thing at one go from the 1st to the last post.Spent a good hour and a half in reading this!

If GTO has his benchmark in test driving cars,for me you have set the benchmark in ownership reviews.
Bas only "pikchaars" needed!

Thats a ginormous compliment good sir. Glad you liked the review.

[avishar]

Gosh,BUB is giving you a really harrowing time.Its really disheartening to see FIAT *** so pathetic(maybe in your case more so),no wonder their cars dont sell.They make such beautiful cars,absolutely cruel of them to ruin the experience of owning these cars.
Forgive me for being ignorant,can you not switch Bhandari service to some other dealer?
As usual enjoyed reading your post,and also i am hardly 21 yrs old,no where close to being a "sir"

[Ferrari1976]

The problem is that if BUB is bad, Pandit is horrible. I have a Linea and had a Indica for 7 years before that. Hence a long relationship with BUB & Pandit.

All that UN has to go thru, we all go thru. BUB at least gets the work done in the end. Pandit will never be able to get that done.

Is it then worth it to own a Fiat Linea?? Yout bet it is! I can bear 10 such BUBs to own a Linea.

BTW, UN: A very well written experience. I wish I has the same flair to write. I have many such "entertaining" stories on BUB and some "not so entertaining" about Pandit!

[Mevtec]

Originally Posted by Urban_Nomad

Vitthal - Wo steering motor ka ........
Me - Please be quiet and listen to me now. When the steering is turned fully on either side, there is a "whhhrrrrrr" kinda sound. That is the sound of the power steering motor. Since the day I bought my car, that sound is present. I know what it is and I do not have a problem with that sound.

Dear Urban Nomad thank you for the excellent write up and update.My experience was similar with TASS for nearly ten years.TASS had many inexperienced technicians.The steering motor sound was there in my Indica(1999).

The water leaking into the cabin during monsoon was a real problem in the car.It was very difficult to solve.Car was admitted in the TASS "ward" for 2 to 3 days during monsoon to convince them that the problem was grave.But it was solved by a technician after a few months.The problem was with the beading around a door.Minor one but very difficult to solve.

Originally Posted by Urban_Nomad

The entire day passed by. The next day, Mr Vitthal advised me that they have worked on the issue and will be keeping the car for another 24 hours for "testing". Wow, another day. And they will keep the car for "observation". My car was begining to resemble a patient in an "ICU". I did not argue though. I just wanted them to fix the darned issue once and for all.

It was really funny.If they say they want keep the car for a day for "observation" it means the guy who knows about the problem is on leave or they do not have time to repair your car.

Once after some electrical work in my Indica I found that,when I put the left indicator the right works and viceversa!.The SA smiled sheepishly and called the electrician(It was a boy!) and scolded him.

After many mishaps I started to service my car in a local workshop for nearly four years.The car was fine during this peroid.I used the Indica(Pre V2) for 10 years.At that point of time I decided not to a buy car for just VFM.I think FIAT is getting some components from venders who supply TATA.I also had the beading,cental lock,bonnet opening lever malfunction and rattles in my Indica.I am sorry if you are disappointed that I am comparing Linea to Indica.I am just comparing the niggles.

Linea has a wonderful engine and overall its better than many sedans in the market.

My advice is that

1, Find a new service centre if possible.

2,Make sure that you give your car to a good service adviser.I do it even at Honda.if the particular SA is on leave I will not give the car for service that day.

3,Please don't admit your car for "observation".If I am admitting a patient for observation,it usually means that I don't have an idea about the disease at present and hopefully some new symptoms or signs will come up without much worsening of the patient's condition.

4,Meet the manager even if it is routine service.Be friendly with him.(Neednot trust him fully).

Managers are usually experienced persons.If you are facing an issue with the car ,it will be easy to solve..They will diagnose the problems early and send the car to the experienced technician.I had many problems solved at manager level.The SA is usually afraid of the manager.

5,Always insist on replacing the part under warranty if there is a defect.

6,E-mails usually dosen't work.They usually forward it to the regional office.From there they will forward it back to the concerned service centre.

I once wrote a letter to Mr Ratan Tata,Mumbai House.The title of the 7 page letter was "Nightmares about your dream car".I don't know who read the letter ,but got the response with in a week.Got a call from Mumbai.The car was taken from my local service centre to Cochin main workshop office.The car was retrofitted with V2 parts free.Replaced 2 front tyres and front power winders.

But the car which was driven by the TASS driver met with an accident on the way back.I was not informed.I was told that the car will need more "observation".They repaired it claming the insurance!.The car was delivered back in an evening.I noticed the repair work only after a few days.I found that the colour shade on both the doors on the right side was different from the rest of the car.The manager apologised to me.I was too busy with my work that I didn't escalate the issue.

7,Be patient.All the issues you mentioned can be solved.

all the best,
Mevtec