[sandeepmohan]

Fresh Loan Application.

As you all know, I dropped the booking of Fiat Linea T Jet Plus with KHT Motors and re booked the very same car and shade at Prerana Motors in Lalbagh.

As a result of this, I had to re apply for a loan with state bank of india. Their system does not allow for a change in just the dealer name. The loan account had already started with KHT Motors. This seems weird as my demand draft had not reached KHT. So upon the banks request I issued a letter stating transfer of loan amount to a new dealer. What they actually did was close the current loan account and re open another one. A processing fee of Rs. 925 was charged. This is a documented amount. I went to state bank of india at around 1030am and was out with a new loan sanction letter in 2 hours flat. The demand draft was not ready. This time around, Ms. Sharmila was the bank person who attended to my case. Ms. Shivani was there, however she directed me to Ms. Sharmila. When I saw Sharmila, I got the impression that I might end up sitting at the branch for the entire day. I was wrong. Ms. Sharmila was no Shivani. She looked old school state bank of india and spoke very slowly and so I thought, every thing else will be slow. I had to do a few things myself. Private banks may do this for you. Like, remove the photograph from the previous application and re paste on the new one, which i did not mind doing at all. After all, this loan application is coming directly from me. Ms. Sharmila asked me to do a copy paste of the exact same information from the previous loan application, on the new form. The only change was the new numbers for the car as there is now a reduction of Rs. 25000. I left that with Ms. Sharmila to fill from the performa invoice Prerana had sent over email yesterday. It took me a while to re fill the loan application as I am no pro at these things. I handed this over to Mr. Sharmila. Ms. Sharmila then asked me to go pay up the processing fee at the cash counter. This took a long time as there were a lot of people queued up. Ms. Sharmila said she will have all documents ready after I return from the cash counter. I was at the cash counter for about 20 minutes. Once I was done paying up the processing fee, I returned to Ms. Sharmila's desk and everything was ready for my new loan application. All I had to do was sign at a hundred places. I wonder if this makes any sense at all. Three signatures on a single page. Ms. Sharmila used the same electronic funds transfer certificate that I had got attested from Citibank as this is where the payroll account is. After I was done with all the signatures, I was handed the loan sanction with a sign and seal from the bank. The demand draft will be handed out to me and not the dealer this time around. To get the demand draft, I first need to pay up all the down payment at Prerana, carry their receipts back to the bank and only then will state bank of india issue the demand draft. This works for me. I now have both the levels of the cash disbursement in my control. Pre delivery inspection will take place this saturday. Prerana will arrange a car and driver to take me and team bhp member karthikk to their stock yard in Nelamangala. I pray and hope this car has no disappointments. So there you go, another smooth ride with state bank of india. I do hope the relationship runs smooth during the course of the loan tenure.

[sandeepmohan]

I get a call from Mr. Praveen from Prerana Motors a few minutes ago. His superiors are not comfortable having customer's visit their stock yard in nelamagala. Praveen says the car has been brought to the lalbagh stock yard and pre delivery inspection can take place there. They will leave me and karthikk to it for how ever long we want. A permit can be arranged if we wish to drive the car as part of the inspection process. Praveen reports that my car now reads H 43 on the odo meter. The bronzo scuro on display had the exact same figure.

I am simply amazed at the way Mr. Praveen handles his customers. Complete transparency.

[mnemonic]

Nice to hear about the transparency shown by the folks at Prerana. When are you planning to do the inspection now that the car is in the Lal bagh yard?

Do keep us posted. All the best!

[sandeepmohan]

Originally Posted by mnemonic

When are you planning to do the inspection now that the car is in the Lal bagh yard?

I need help with the pre delivery inspection process. Four eyes are better than two. Karthikk has offered to help. Trouble is we are both working and if we do the pre delivery inspection during the week day, it will be after sun down. Not a good idea to catch any body defects. It will be quite tiring too. We have decided to do the pre delivery inspection on saturday noon.

[mnemonic]

Totally understand the predicament. With the cheque in hand, I am sure you are torn between that urge to go to the stockyard immediately and the rationale to do a detailed PDI over the weekend. I would second you on the decision to do it over the weekend with the sun shining over your head and no shadows being cast.

[sandeepmohan]

Pre Delivery Inspection 2

VIN : MCA11041E09027021EMZ
Engine No. : 1597574
Manufacturer : Tata Fiat
Model : Linea
Variant : T Jet Plus
Color : Sun Beam Beige
Odometer reading : H 64

How long has TATA been building passenger cars? 15 years? I am not sure of the exact number. I am including the days of the Sierra and Estate. I may get a lot of bashing for saying this but I cannot help but say it, TATA should STOP making cars. In all these years, if you have not understood what build quality, fit & finish mean, you should just stop making just about whatever it is you are making or manufacturing. I believe I am not alone on this. Right from the time I started reading Auto India, Overdrive, and now Top Gear, reviews for TATA cars from all 3 publications have something or the other to say about the quality of plastics and lack of attention to detail. This holds true even today. I have given the go ahead for my Linea T Jet Plus with Prerana Motors. There is very little I can do about the faults I observed. I have asked Prerana to just fix them. Honestly, I am fed up. If I had to stick to every single Team Bhp Pre Delivery Inpsection rule, this car would not have cleared as well. I am buying this car only because of the incredible support and attention Prerana are giving me.

The next company in line for some bashing is Fiat themselves. What was Fiat thinking when they decided to tie up with TATA to build cars for them. I wonder if they even checked what TATA were building. The deal TATA offered must have been so good that Fiat would not have even bothered to inspect their facilities or more importantly, the quality section. TATA have gained more than what Fiat ever did with this tie up. We all know what that all important gain is, the brilliant Fiat diesel engine that now powers a couple of TATA cars.

I would like to pay a tribute to the men and women who were building Fiat cars back when it was Premier Automobiles Limited. I know two used Fiat Palio cars very well. My friends had consulted me before buying them. Both are about 9 years old. One is a 1.2 Elx and the other is a 1.6 Gtx. The 1.2's engine got gutted once due to an electrical short but the car still runs. The Gtx is still the hottest hatch there is. The engineering, attention to detail and quality on these cars is in another league compared to the Fiat cars made today in India.

I had an appointment with Prerana for the pre delivery inspection at 2pm. Karthikk was going to join me for this. I reached Prerana only by 230. I did inform Mr. Praveen that I was running late. Karthikk joined me at 3pm. I am so glad he did. It is impossible to do a pre delivery inspection without the help of another person. It is also a very time consuming process. We started the pre delivery inspection at 3 and I was out of Prerana only by around 530pm. The temporary stock yard for Prerana is behind the show room. This is also the same place cars are prepared for delivery. It is a little cramped. I had 2 people from Prerana stand with me and Karhikk during the entire process. They did not distrub us even once. Having them around was actually a bonus as we pointed out issues to them on the spot, apart from noting them down.. I cannot recall the gentleman's name but the lady was Ms. Sudha. Praveen was also hanging around towards the end of the pre delivery inspection.

We started off with the inspection of the body. The long list of problems started right here.

1.Fine scratch noticed on the boot lid where Linea is written

2.Dimple on the left rear mud guard

3.Dimple on the left front mud guard

4.Right front quarter glass chrome lining was out of line. Not big deal but I
have still asked Prerana if they can do something about it.

5.I am not sure if you can call it a dimple or a flaw with the paint, Karthikk says it is a paint issue. This was above the driver's head, on the roof, where the roof metal meets the rubber beading for the wind screen.

6.The left edge of the boot lid had very poor paint finishing to the extent that it made the edge feel sharp and rough. Prerana says they can fix this.

Inside the bonnet examination

1.This point is not really a complaint and I have not photographed it to give you an example.However, it is just bad and feels like an after thought as they had no other solution. There is a metal piece on both sides, inside the bonnet, welded to the front fender. This metal piece has a support for the arm that it used to keep the hood up. When you close the hood, you remove the arm from the lock on the hood and place it on a small cradle. I find this really bad. Wish I had a picture to show you.

Doors, hoods, trunk, deck lids, and lift gates.

1.Left rubber roof beading was coming off towards the rear wind screen.

2.A lot of effort required to close the boot lid. Slamming it was required. It was the exact opposite for the hood. You could use a finger to press it down and the lock would engage.

Glove box inspection.

1.There was a little more play than what is acceptable for the glove box when it stays shut.

Interiors

A plastic black bulb shaped cover for the probe that is used to sense ambient light or I do not know if it is for outside temperature sensing. This cover was missing.

Windows and Mirrors

1.There was slight resistance noticed for the right rear power window when rolling down. It did roll up and down fully without stopping. It just slowed down a little towards the top of the window.

Keys

1.Rear right door lock was dead. The door would just not lock. We did not have the remote to check. It was the duplicate car key. When locking the drivers door, all the doors locked except for this one.

The key issues are the ones's I have listed above. There are a couple of issues that need attention at the factory level. None of the plastic door panels flush properly with the body. There is a small 3mm gap between the moudling and door metal. The poor fit of the rear tail light assembly is just as bad as how a team bhp member demonstarted in his comparison of the Vento and Fiesta. It is terrible. The plastic surround moulding of the tail lamp that is supposed to hug the metal does not even line up properly. You notice this when you lift the tail gate.

We tried the air conditioning and according to Karthikk, it did appear to be cooling well. We tried to get some warm air into the cabin by turning up the temperature knob all the way to maximum and it seemed to work alright.

Next up is the stereo. I have read nothing but complaints about the horrible sound quality. I completely disagree with all who have commented that it is a lousy sounding stock stereo. It is far from it. I am no audio phile but I do know what good sound is. One of the sources in my home stereo is a turn table. This is the most natural sounding source you can have in a stereo. I tried playing a pre recorded audio cd of Europe and a mixed compilation of mp3 via usb drive. My listening session lasted for only 3 minutes. It is going to take something for me to change the stock stereo. I find the sound quality more than adequate for a stock car stereo. I did notice the sound starting to distort when the volume was raised. I don't see myself listening to music in a car at such high volume's. I would easily rank the stereo right next to the quality of the stock stereo on Ford cars. Karthikk did highlight one flaw. Don't know how many there are. It was not possible to switch to usb source from the head unit. You need to use the steering mounted controls. This is ridiculous.

Team Bhp recommends driving the car during the pre delivery inspection. I do not know how this is possible. You probably can in a large stock yard. In my case, I could move the car forward and reverse for only a few metres as there was no space. I engaged all the gears just to see if they slot in. Karthikk did a lock to lock turn of the steering wheel. No complaints.

Some of you may ask why I accepted this car. I dropped KHT motors within a second of noticing the first two flaws. Unless you experience if for yourself, there is no other way I can highlight the Customer First attitue at Prerana. After the pre delivery inspection, I went back to the Prerana office on the first floor and met Praveen. I gave him a list of all complaints. He immediately arranged for someone for a follow up and it so happened to be their technical people who are stationed at this temporary yard. I recall one of the names and it is Mr. Anand. Mr. Anand had occassionally shown up when we were doing the pre delivery inspection. There was one more gentleman apart from Ms. Sudha who gave us company during the inspection. I went over the faults with Mr. Anand, Praveen and the other chap with the display car inside the showroom. I gave them a copy of the pre delivery inspection chart too which had all my notes. They acknowledged all faults and said they will be addressed before delivery day. The biggest bonus was I could speak to them in english. The level of attention and co operation I have received so far at Prerana, I just cannot stop bringing this up over and over. These guys know how to sell cars.

Back with Mr. Praveen at his desk, we discuss the balance down payment I need to make. I hand over a cheque, Mr. Praveen gives me the invoice so that I can hand over the same to state bank of india and get the demand draft for the loan amount. I will be doing this first thing tomorrow morning. We went over the zero percent depreciation package for the insurance provided by Future Generali. There is still no clarity to this. Mr. Praveen introduced me to another gentleman on the 3rd floor of the building who is dedicated only for insurance. I am not very good at remembering names. I was told they will look into this with Future Generali and I may have to spend another Rs. 4000 maximum to avail this benefit.

We moved to the accessories section where Mr. Praveen showed me the spoiler. I wanted the same one Karthikk has on his T Jet. It was not the same model so I rejected it. There was a nice set of aluminium and rubber combination sports pedals. I absolutely wanted them. The ridiculous price of Rs. 9000 is what put me off. They should come free on a 11 lac car. It is now confirmed that I am getting Fiat original accessory parking sensors free and Rs. 7000 as corporate discount. Woohoo...

Mr. Praveen has not promised any delivery date as such. Praveen said things can move on only once my cheque clears. I am good with this. The latest day will be Thursday.

Some photographs attached of the faults on the car. Some may not be noticeable as I do not have a professional camera. There is a picture of the car in full with two people standing behind the car. The lady is Ms. Sudha and the gentleman is Mr. Praveen. The one man that has made the experince, so far, a very satisfying one.

KHT finally delivered the cheque towards my booking amount Rs. 20000. I lost Rs. 2000 as booking cancelation. They do have a booking cancelation charge of Rs. 2000 and so does Prerana.

Some of the flaws I have highlighted may come as something I should probably ignore or let go. You tell me.

[Karthik1100]

The two scratches - on the fender and on the dicky, can surely be ignored. It's too small to request for a repaint too.

Regarding the door alignment, first you need to check if the door opening and closes properly. I mean the door setting. Sometimes I have observed in these Fiat cars, that alignment might be good, but opening the door will be too hard especially from inside.

P.S: I was reading this thread silently till now, so hearty congratulations! Mr. Vijay Raghavalu, the sales head, is too good a person. He knows me very well as I bought 3 Palios' (MJD) with his help.

[KarthikK]

Thanks for the update sandeep, i was waiting for your post This is perhaps the most descriptive PDI report I have ever seen on team-bhp, with images on all the issues as well. This entire thread is a fantastic, informative one reflecting the entire stages of the purchase process right from deciding "what car?" to the booking, the problems faced in purchasing a Fiat, then detailed PDI reports. Kudos! Once you write an ownership report, the entire experience will be complete.

It was great to assist you for the PDI. After this PDI, I managed to learn a few things about the T-Jet that I myself didn't know after 5 months of ownership *lol*

Here are the few pictures I took yesterday. I tried to take macros of the dimples with the DSLR, but they were simply invisible, except in some particular angle of light falling on those.







My take -

- The first scratch on the front fender (the one highlighted in the pics) was pretty minor and a small rubbing session removed the color difference. There is however a very minor dimple. Ditto on the rear fender.

- For these 2 dimples plus the one on the roof of the driver (which is a minute paint job flaw), my doubt is whether a detailing session at 3M with a paint sealant layer application would remove these surface irregularities. It should ideally take care of this.

The couple of scratches that I had on my car before I bought it were very minor and were masked superbly after the detailing. Strongly recommend you detail the car immediately after purchase. This will protect it from weathering / dust / minor scratches which might otherwise deteriorate the surface quality.

- Door chrome accents on the driver's side are out of sync no doubt. The driver's door however open and close perfectly, unlike the previous car at KHT which had visible hinges, an uneven gap and was horribly fitted.

- For the Spoiler they (Fiat) keep see-sawing between the designs available, really crazy fellows at Fiat. I suggest you meet Mr. Mansoor at the accessories department there. He is a nice guy and will answer all your queries.

- The Chrome pedals were initially on my hit list but the price was way too exorbitant for my budget - 10k for the 3 pedals is atrocious! I personally do not want aftermarket / non-fiat-genuine-accessory pedals for fear of something malfunctioning later. If they agree to give you additional discount on the Fiat genuine chrome pedals, do let me know; even I want them

As seen in the picture, the sunbeam beige looks classy and upmarket. Fantastic color choice, wish you all the very best with your Jet! Keep us posted on any updates in the purchase, registration and delivery process

P.S - Do a second PDI on the eve of registration. Give them the go ahead only if all the issues you mentioned to them are taken care of before PDI 2, especially the rear door lock, power windows and the rubber lining.

[Ford5]

What gives? Call me BLIND, but till date i have never, repeat *NEVER* come across such a peculiar phenomenon. I did not even know that such a "mis-alignment", if you will occurs in any product, especially a car!!

Is Tata-Fiat staff doing this apart from assembling "cars" in their factory?

[souravc]

Originally Posted by sandeepmohan

Some of the flaws I have highlighted may come as something I should probably ignore or let go. You tell me.

Sandeep you have shown amazing amount of faith , perseverance and love for Fiat , I doubt whether the car is so perfect that it deserves it. Frankly if I were in your place I would not have been so kind to Fiat. This especially when there are a whole lot of cars which are equally good or better than Fiat's offerings IMO - its 10+ lakhs of your hard earned money and it pays to be hard nosed about it. I am sure that you had not bargained for a car + a list of initial problems for the money being dished out by you . Life outside of TBHP is pretty dismal for Fiats and you have experienced the opening score.
My non sugar quoted thoughts , apologies if I hurt sensibilities

[mnemonic]

Sandeep- that was quite a detailed test report indeed. Was waiting for it since last evening.

For anyone reading your post, the key takeaway (from the laundry list) is what great customer service can do to any organization, be it a car dealership or a Kiranawallah. Real glad that you have a dealership like Prerana in Bangalore and am sure that this delight will continue post sale as well.

Coming to the topic of quality, just a pointer here. Apart from having a stake in the Ranjangaon plant and having some allocated capacity for Manzas, Tata's don't have anything to do with the quality levels at the plant. If someone has to own up, it is Fiat India, who sadly seem to have missed the plot over the past years. The epitome of quality in the line is at Honda ( at least amongst the ones I have seen), there is no separate QC section in the line at Honda's plant in Noida apart from the last station before the car rolls out where a final check is done. In Honda's factory, quality is built into the car at every station of the way, i.e. as every bolt is being screwed on if you will. Little surprise that there are no complaints of manufacturing defects in their cars. God knows when the quirky Italians will learn this.

Not to take anything away from the beauty that you have committed to here, she is super hot in the pics and would look great with the bootlid(lip) spoiler. It is listed on the accesories page of Fiat India and in my view it suits the curvy Linea much better than the traditional wing. Do look it up.

Awaiting the delivery report and very soon hope to see you and your babe on the Intial ownership section. Happy Motoring!

[ranjithpd]

Originally Posted by sandeepmohan

How long has TATA been building passenger cars? 15 years? I am not sure of the exact number. I am including the days of the Sierra and Estate. I may get a lot of bashing for saying this but I cannot help but say it, TATA should STOP making cars.

+1 to that, but in IMHO after more than a decade of market presence with such quality, I think it is people like you and me who are encouraging this attitude by accepting such low quality. Why Me, b'cos I will be taking delivery of an MJD Linea Emotion this Thursday, which is like after almost two months from the day I booked.

Some of the problems you have reported during your PDI were also observed by us(fellow T-Bhpian Rameshnanda and me), like,

1. Rear Left Power Window does not go down smoothly
2. Read Left Door uneven with the body
3. Odo reading was 7 Kms, trip A & B reading was 9Kms
4. Boot had a bad gap on the left side
5. Not so clean door panels

All these issues has left me really wondering if I am buying new car. After two months of repeated calls/emails and one conference call with the DGM Service and SM, Tata Motors Sales, I have finally decided to go for this car.

Originally Posted by sandeepmohan

Some of the flaws I have highlighted may come as something I should probably ignore or let go. You tell me.

At this point of time, I guess getting these minor issues rectified, like you have rightly done is the best option I would say. Wishing you a great driving experience with your JET.

[vb-saan]

Originally Posted by sandeepmohan

Pre Delivery Inspection 2

Thanks Sandeep. That’s one the most detailed post-PDI report I’ve seen. Hope they clear all the reported niggles/issues before the delivery. I think the Linea looks the best in this shade.

Originally Posted by sandeepmohan

What was Fiat thinking when they decided to tie up with TATA to build cars for them. I wonder if they even checked what TATA were building.

I don’t think this information is correct. Tata does only the sales and service right?


Anyway, great choice there! Quite a few PDI related glitches have been reported in the forum, but I think what’s more important is how the T-Jet behaves in long run. At least, if I look at some of the ownership threads in the Forum (e.g.; Sathya_sc, or your PDI partner KarthikK), the car is relatively trouble free, and serve as a trusty companion. So hope all these troubles wither away once you have the car in your garage. Happy driving!

[KarthikK]

Originally Posted by Ford5

What gives? Call me BLIND, but till date i have never, repeat *NEVER* come across such a peculiar phenomenon. I did not even know that such a "mis-alignment", if you will occurs in any product, especially a car!!

Is Tata-Fiat staff doing this apart from assembling "cars" in their factory?

Although I agree with you that it should not be there, take a close look at any Linea on the road and you will find some amount of mismatch in this chrome lining. Either there is a mismatch on the front quarterpanel glass or the rear one.

What is more important is this (highlighted in pink lines) - the door to front fender finish should be in the same line, ignore the chrome lining pasted. Any mismatch here indicates a bad fitting. That looks fine in this picture, as seen in the lines.



P.S - even mine has a small amount of this. It doesn't matter. BHPian Speed_pujari who tried to get it fixed went through hell and recommends to leave it aside rather than try and fix this cosmetic glitch. As long as the door operation is not faulty, it can be ignored.

Check this page
http://www.team-bhp.com/forum/techni...ml#post2366793

You can see in the images on speed_pujari's thread that the door and the fender are clearly misaligned there. Whereas in Sandeep's case it is just the chrome lining out of sync.

Picture of my T-Jet's minor misalignment in the chrome lining
http://www.team-bhp.com/forum/test-d...ml#post2406317

Originally Posted by ranjithpd

All these issues has left me really wondering if I am buying new car. After two months of repeated calls/emails and one conference call with the DGM Service and SM, Tata Motors Sales, I have finally decided to go for this car.



At this point of time, I guess getting these minor issues rectified, like you have rightly done is the best option I would say. Wishing you a great driving experience with your JET.

Congrats on getting the MJD Linea and wish you many happy miles with it!

Originally Posted by vb-san

Quite a few PDI related glitches have been reported in the forum, but I think what’s more important is how the T-Jet behaves in long run. At least, if I look at some of the ownership threads in the Forum (e.g.; Sathya_sc, or your PDI partner KarthikK), the car is relatively trouble free, and serve as a trusty companion. So hope all these troubles wither away once you have the car in your garage. Happy driving!

I totally agree with vb-san and clarify again in this thread as a T-jet owner - I don't think I have experienced any problems with the T-Jet at all, till date. Some 2-3 minor niggles - right door open sensor was detecting left and right as being open, and one more time the windshield washer jet came out of its slot holder, that's about it. Both of these were 5 minute fixes.

In terms of build quality, it is fantastic. Interior quality is way better than what the city and vento offer. In driving pleasure, I need not elaborate on the what the Turbo-Jet offers. No sedan in its class comes close to the performance levels of the Jet- power, acceleration, stability, handling+ride quality balance, brakes, tyres, steering feedback, also interiors, gizmos and last but not the least, looks! There is no alternative to the T-Jet, apart from the laura TSI, which is at least 3L more expensive and is bare bones in the feature list.

Besides, Prerana service centre has some good reviews and as long as we get it serviced there, the jet should be in safe hands.

The only irritating thing is society asking "why a Fiat when you could have bought XYZ?". But then, if you're having fun every single time you sit in the car and come out with a smile, who cares?

[CrAzY dRiVeR]

Originally Posted by sandeepmohan

How long has TATA been building passenger cars? 15 years? I am not sure of the exact number. I am including the days of the Sierra and Estate. I may get a lot of bashing for saying this but I cannot help but say it, TATA should STOP making cars. In all these years, if you have not understood what build quality, fit & finish mean, you should just stop making just about whatever it is you are making or manufacturing. I believe I am not alone on this. Right from the time I started reading Auto India, Overdrive, and now Top Gear, reviews for TATA cars from all 3 publications have something or the other to say about the quality of plastics and lack of attention to detail. This holds true even today. I have given the go ahead for my Linea T Jet Plus with Prerana Motors. There is very little I can do about the faults I observed. I have asked Prerana to just fix them. Honestly, I am fed up. If I had to stick to every single Team Bhp Pre Delivery Inpsection rule, this car would not have cleared as well. I am buying this car only because of the incredible support and attention Prerana are giving me.

The next company in line for some bashing is Fiat themselves. What was Fiat thinking when they decided to tie up with TATA to build cars for them.

TATA builds FIAT cars?

I am sorry but where did you get that info? AFAIK - Punto and Linea are built at FIAT's own facility (Ranjangaon?) and FIAT facility also caters to TATA cars like Indigo Manza.

TATA only does the sales & service for FIAT cars, and they do not make the cars for FIAT. If at all - any company receives to be at the receiving end of such harsh criticism (Owing to your bad experience with the PDI) - it is FIAT themselves!