[h14]

Folks, this is yet another ownership log of the FIAT Linea Multijet on Team-BHP. Before that, this is the 6th FIAT and the 3rd MJD in our family. The Linea has come in to us after 2 UNO's and 3 Palio's, though a UNO and a Palio are now sold.

The decision:

Well, I had been insisting my dad to buy a sedan for himself for a very long time and finally it has happened. When he gave the nod, I had completely left it to him to make a choice and I never wanted to influence him, though I wanted him to buy the Linea. To start off, he was very much interested in the Vento, hence I sent him the link to GTO's report of the Vento and the decision was almost made. But being used to a FIAT for so long (Read UNO, Palio 1.2 and Palio MJD), we also thought of the Linea and decided to take a drive of them both before finalizing.

Since I'm in Chennai and my dad in Coimbatore, we decided to have the test drive of both the cars whenever I get to coimbatore. Since I was able to go home only on the Pongal weekend, ie., on the 15th of January, we thought of taking up the drive on the 16th of Jan, which is a sunday.

I then called up both the FIAT and VW dealers in coimbatore to check whether they can offer me a test drive on a sunday. Both of them instantly agreed and were extremely happy to offer me a drive on a sunday. Initially, I never thought that both of them will be willing to send the cars to my residence on a sunday and that too on a festival weekend.

Come sunday, and I arrived in Coimbatore. I had fixed a time of 10am for the Linea MJD with Gem Motors and 12noon for VW CBE. The 2 hour gap was for an extended drive and also I never thought the dealer would keep up with the time. But I was wrong! Got a call at 9:15am from the sales manager stating that he is gonna start from the showroom to my residence and will reach at 10am but eventually, he was in my house at 9:45! Wow, i never ever expected this. Will give him a 10/10 just for this.

Had a detailed drive of the Linea and after just 5 mins inside the car, the tide started to drift over in favor of the Linea from the Vento! The test drive was a very good experience and I informed the dealer that we would check out the Vento and get back.

So at about 11:30, I called up the manager of VW CBE, with whom i had fixed the test drive just to check whether everything was according to schedule, he re-assured that the car would be in by residence at the said time. But then, I was in for a shocking surprise, the manager calls me at 12:15 and says "Sorry sir there is no one available today to send the car, I will definately send it tomorrow". I was really shocked to hear such a response at the very last moment and that too from VW. He being the manager, should have informed me atleast when I had called to check or if not he could have very well denied the schedule stating that it was a festival weekend and which I would not have complained about.

So this attitude shown to a prospective buyer did not go well with us and moreover the 7 month waiting peroid and bookings for the white color being stopped ruled completely against the vento and eventually zeroed in on the Line MJD Emotion Pack. Well, this could very well go down as yet another story of a FIAT buying you.

Booking Process:

Once the decision was made on Linea, called up Gem Motors, the entire buying process was extremely smooth and everything was perfect. We insisted on a 2011 model though a 2010 model was available with the dealer and I had to wait for the 2011 car. Booked the Linea MJD Emotion pack, Bossa Nova white with an amount of 50k. Was promised delivery in the 3rd week of Feb.

Even this time I was surprised, got a call from them on the 14th of Feb and said that the car has already arrived and that it is going for registration on that day and asked my preference for delivery. We decided and took delivery on the same day, the 14th of Feb 2011.

All in all a wonderful experience with Gem Motors with every thing falling in the right place and at the same time they never failed to keep up to their promises. Planning to write about this to FIAT.

Discounts & Freebies:

The actual on-road cost of the Linea emotion pack in Coimbatore is 9.98. The dealer offered me discounts in the form of free insurance, extended warranty and additional cash discount after which the on-road cost that we ended up paying was 9.6L. Also thrown in were cut-mats and mud-flaps during delivery.

The Experiences with the Linea so far:

Needless to say the Linea has been wonderful so far. The ride, handling, FE and almost all other aspects have been extensively discussed in here, other than these, I'm listing some of my experiences. It feels a bit sluggish initially but I believe that would go away after clocking few thousands on the odo.

Took the car for a 168km drive with 3 on board and included driving on good roads with speeds hovering around 100 to 110kmph. The MID showed 20.9 kmpl for the trip. Checked the same by filling up and all it could take was 7.6 litres which works out to 22.1

Inside the city, it's returning a very respectable 15.2 (from MID). So all in all, enjoying every minute in the Linea and there' s been no looking back.

Being a Jan2011 model (MCAxxxxxxxxxxxAMZ), I was able to spot the following differneces or changes as compared to the 2010 or older models:

1. The gap in the steering column near the key slot is now gone
2. The exterior plastic area below the front windshield seems to have been changed. Looks better.
3. Gone are the center headrests in the rear seats. They were in the demo car, but are now not available
4. The rear seats cannot be folded now. No idea as why this has happened.
5. The overall plastic quality inside the cabin seems to be better.

Upgrades done so far:

• Swapped the stock Good Year GT3's with Michelin Primacy LC. Went in for 195/65 R15 instead of 60, wanted to gain as much of GC as I can without increasing the width. Michelin costed Rs.5350 per tyre and sold the GT3's for Rs.3000 per tire.
  
• Installed the Hella Supertone horns (aka Hella Red Grille) and also did the usual PVC matting.
  
• Next in line are gonna be Auditor components and Co-axials.

Time for some pictures:

Linea MJD posing along with our Palio MJD









Will put up some interior pictures along with the matting by next week.

[josejoseph]

h14, let me be the first to congratulate you on the car. I feel Linea in BNW has great road presence.

I assume that you are happy with Fiat sales and service, and that is the reason why you have so many Fiat cars.

Do post more pictures.

Happy motoring!

Regards,
Jose.

[DRIV3R]

Congrats on the Linea, h14.

Once a Fiatian, always a Fiatian! Keep us updated on the maintainence part. The FE seems great for the highways.

[ajay_satpute]

Congratulations h14!!

Thats a great choice you made there. Linea MJD is a great vehicle and there have been so many good stories associated with the Linea MJD.

I am sure you are going to enjoy the Italian beauty for lots and lots of miles.

Do post more pics, especially of the interiors, which you said have improved over the 2010 models.

[DMehta]

A hearty congratulations man! Two fiats in the family and both such great cars.
I recently drove a friend's linea and man it has the power! The interiors are stunning and the best part is the engine. The T-jet is even better! Italian engineering is a step ahead.
Enjoy your car!

Some interior pictures please?

[geeash]

Congrats mate!!. You have made a good choice. enjoy the ownership and post us the details regularly. pamper her and she will keep you in good stead

enjoy
geeash

[Schoudhury]

Originally Posted by h14

[*]Installed the Hella Supertone horns (aka Hella Red Grille) and also did the usual PVC matting.

Congrats once again .

Are these horns the same what people say skoda types horns ?
Also those chrome strips on the bumpers do they come factory fitted or you got them fitted , they look nice .

Cheers

[geeash]

chrome strips are factory fitted mate!!

[siddutta]

Congratulations on your new buy . it is always a delight to see a sparkling Bossa-Nova / Minimal Grey Linea on the road. How much GC did you gain by upgarding the tyres ?

[h14]

Originally Posted by josejoseph

h14, let me be the first to congratulate you on the car.

I assume that you are happy with Fiat sales and service, and that is the reason why you have so many Fiat cars.

Thanks a lot Jose. Yep, I've hardly had issues with FIAT service right from the days of TVS to GEM. Have a good relationship with them.

Originally Posted by DRIV3R

Congrats on the Linea, h14.

Once a Fiatian, always a Fiatian! Keep us updated on the maintainence part.

Thanks a lot DRIV3R. Will surely keep updating.

Originally Posted by ajay_satpute

Congratulations h14!!
Do post more pics, especially of the interiors, which you said have improved over the 2010 models.

Thanks ajay_satpute. Will post those pictures by next week when I get to Coimbatore.

Originally Posted by DMehta

A hearty congratulations man! Two fiats in the family and both such great cars.

Some interior pictures please?

Thanks DMehta. As I've said, Interior pictures will be up by next week. BTW, a small correction, not 2 but 4 FIAT's currently.

Originally Posted by geeash

Congrats mate!!.

Thank you geeash.

Originally Posted by Schoudhury

Congrats once again .

Are these horns the same what people say skoda types horns ?
Also those chrome strips on the bumpers do they come factory fitted or you got them fitted , they look nice .

Cheers

Nope, these are not the skoda type and the strips are indeed OE as geeash said. Pictures of the Hella Supertone can be found in this link:

Hella Supertone Horns - webBikeWorld

Originally Posted by siddutta

Congratulations on your new buy . How much GC did you gain by upgarding the tyres ?

Thanks siddutta. I've not measured the GC. The difference is a 3% increase in height of the tyre when compared to the original ones.

[camchennai]

Congratulations on your new possession, seems like you are a hardcore Fiat fan

Fuel consumption what you are getting are great, I never knew Linea would give such a figure. Car looks stunning on the pictures. Please post some interior pictures as well.

Good to hear about your dealership experience, I hope all TASS have the same attitude which will help them boost their sales.

Happy driving

[funkykar]

Hearty congratulations for adding the Linea into your stable along with the Dhamaka Palio's. I am not at all surprised you chose the Linea

I also am pleased to know that you did not blindly stick with the FIAT brand and did consider checking out other cars too. Ultimately the FIAT thing is a virus which has no cure and you get bitten again and again.

Undoubtedly, the best driver's car in its class. 90HP motor is good enough to keep you pleased all the time. Enjoy driving the Linea. Yes, we are admiring, guaranteed.

OT: SX4 diesel seems to being marketed very well even though the engine and specs are exactly as that of Linea, 90HP Punto and the Manza. Fiat should take a leaf out of the ad's of compitition.

[AvinashKeezh]

Congrats h14, BNW Linea looks elegant

Originally Posted by h14

I've not measured the GC. The difference is a 3% increase in height of the tyre when compared to the original ones.

195/60 R15
Sidewalls - 117 mm

195/65 R15
Sidewalls - 126.75 mm

There is a difference of 9.75 mm (increase in radius) and effectively 19.5 mm increase in height.

So your 161 mm has become 180.5 mm.... looks like there's something wrong with the calculations here.

A change of tyres with an upsizing of the sidewalls by 5% -- does it really increase the GC so much... Not sure if i've calculated it right here.

[Sathya_sc]

Congrats man.. Trust me, you will enjoy every minute and with your beauty being frugal, it doubles the joy.. Isnt?

Enjoy.

[varun.ppl]

Congrats h14. Keep the Italian horses under check till the run in period & let them prance on the highway! Hope it crunches millions of miles in your period!