[sandeepmohan]

Originally Posted by KarthikK

I didn't notice this boot issue. If it was just about the FIAT logo furnishing coming off the clips

It was not the Fiat logo furnishing. I did not check that. This was far inside the boot, on the left. It is basically the boot lining that had come off the clip. The clip appeared to be missing. I tried to hinge it back and that is when I noticed a missing clip.

Originally Posted by KarthikK

An offbeat question - does KHT have dedicated test drive/demo (stickered) vehicles for T-Jet+, or for any other ones?

Yes. I took 2 test drives in a span of 3 months. It was the same car. I do not recall if the car had test drive written on the outside. It is a sun beam beige color.

Originally Posted by KarthikK

You can ask KHT to do this now - let them send the new car for you from their maharashtra factory and this time, instruct them NOT to reset the odometer ever. You will collect the car ONLY if it has a H and a low mileage on the odo.

I will do this. Let us see if Tauceef calls up on Monday.

[nitinr30]

Originally Posted by sandeepmohan

What is ONP? An additional 25k discount means an effective 1 lac rupee price drop. Even still, how does it come to 9.34lac. Can you please provide the break up. I have provided the cost break up in a previous post. Is this T Jet Plus Premium color? The premium color will add only 5k.

What is the location of the Prerana Motors you went to?

If there are budget constraints, just buy the top spec Multi Jet Linea. It drives better than the standard petrol. The T Jet is a rocket. If you do not crave the power of the T Jet, the Multi Jet is a satisfying drive.

I got my loan from state bank of india at 11.25% floating rate of interest.

My bad. I should have clarified that it includes 40k exchange offer for my oldie. Here's the breakup from Prerna motors at Agara, Sarjapur:-

Originally Posted by amit_mechengg

9.34 lacs for TJET, grab it.

what you get over 1.4 fire. you get a nuclear powered engine.

you get a turbo charger factory fitted. you must have seen people spending lacs of rs to fit turbo on their cars and the tooners in india mess it up.

here you get a perfect turbo charged petrol rocket.

Thanks. Let me mull over this. May be T-jet, if not T-Jet+ as the engine is same in both, only + is 16" alloy wheel and leather upholstery.

[mnemonic]

Sandeep- it must be heartbreaking for you and the family to have this delay. But i reckon you did the right thing by calling for a fresh piece from the plant.This will atleast let you sleep easy.
With regards to the odo reading, here is my view. Almost all dealerships have two types of stockyards, one major one for every city, the ones for mumbai are in khopoli, bhiwamdi etc which are a good 60-70 kms away from the city and one buffer yard near the sales outlet. The cars get offloaded from the truck at the main yard and get driven to the holding yard. Upon allotment they are driven to the RTO office for regn which can add more kms. So,it is fair to expect cars to have clocked some 100 kms in a city like mumbai at the time of delivery. I have been to the yards of GM and Skoda dealerships over the past 2 months for pre dispatch inspections and the cars had some 16 kms on the odo post factory shipment and we were ok with it.
Am not sure how the logistics work in bengaluru but keep these in mind.

Wishing you the best with the car that is being shipped from Ranjangaon.

[Ford5]

Sandeep may you be blessed with a 1st Class New clean Linea T-Jet from the factory. We bangaloreans have to put up with daily knick knacks of bikes, auto's, busses brushing past our cars and this itself breaks our heart even if the car we get was spotless!

On another note, just why does a Fiat fan in India have to "beg" for a clean car when Fiat themselves should be bothered about this? Does Fiat's responsibility end after the car rolls outta the factory? IMO Fiat is losing its appeal as a european manufacturer who can offer really good products.

I remember the days which were not to far away, when as families we could walk into collect our new cars, which would be polished and ready with a chap from the showroom showing the way out.

Of all the cars my family as well as my relatives have bought over time, we NEVER had to think about PDI, pre inspection before PDI, ODO meter inspection after PDI, etc etc which is common at any dealership today. Dealers are doing nothing but registering the new cars at RTO's & that's it.

[sandeepmohan]

mnemonic - It is a similar story with some dealers in Bangalore. Some of them have their stock yard far out of the main city and this is the case with one of the three Prerana Motor outlets in Bangalore. The one I visited, is the one and only stock yard for KHT Motors in white field. It is a blessing that it is just .5km from the main dealer ship.

[sandeepmohan]

Originally Posted by nitinr30

I got a call from Prerana motors that they are now offering additional 25k discount for Tjet+

I just spoke to Mr. Tauceef from KHT Motors about this. He told me that the 25k additional discount is being offered for January 2011 cars. Can you please check with Prerana Motors on what VIN or manufacture date the cars are going to be? If it really is January 2011, that is older than it already is. Tauceef could be telling me this just for the heck of it so I do not get the benefit of the 25K discount.

I sent an email to Mr. Mangesh Kodalkar of Fiat India about my experience with KHT and the car that they actually expect me to be content with after fixing.

[sandeepmohan]

Gentlemen....I canceled by Fiat Linea T Jet Plus Premium color with KHT Motors in Whitefield. It is not one bit worth dealing with them.

I walked into their showroom, informed who ever was there that I have come for booking cancellation. The lady at the front desk who attended to me called up Tauceef. Tauceef came after 10 minutes, tried to convince me to stay on with them. I refused point blank without going into further details as to why I am canceling the booking. Tauceef said I will need to draft a letter to them and I will loose Rs. 2000 as cancellation fee. I have agreed. It is on their terms and conditions as well. I was called in to meet the GM of Sales at KHT Motors. A Mr. Chandramouli. Nice man, listened to everything I had to say, never cut me off even once. At the end all he could do was apologize for the problems and all the hassles. He did request if he could take care of my account personally. I refused. Mr. Chandramouli has said he will arrange for the refund to be sent to my office by tomorrow evening.

I have had nothing but pain dealing with KHT Motors. Right from the day I booked the car. I have an incredible amount of patience and tolerance, KHT pushed their luck too far with me. So if you are still wondering why Fiat India sales are so dismal, here you go. It has nothing to do with Tata building them, the shoddy build quality or the weak engines. If your sales team is not right, nothing can ever work for you. My case is probably the best example there is here.

I called up State Bank of India and spoke to Ms. Shivani. As usual, she was very helpful. She wanted to know why I canceled the booking with KHT Motors. She did scare me a bit that a processing fee maybe required for shifting the entire loan amount to another dealer. This will be .5% of the loan amount. That is some Rs. 3000. Ms. Shivani said she will have a chat with her branch manager for the processing amount to be waived. She did not assure me anything. Ms. Shivani was nice enough to try and do this for me. Shivani also said that if the loan account has not started, it will be easier.

[coloneljasi]

Sorry to hear about your experience. Are you still going ahead with the T-Jet from another dealer?

What you say about the sales experience is very true. I work in the automotive industry and I know for a fact that it is very hard to change the mindset of customers who have had bitter experiences during the sales process.

I would go as far as saying that TATA is partially to blame for the way their dealers treat their customers, irrespective of the brand. Nowadays most of the people who do end up buying FIATs are hardcore enthusiasts, the regular customers just can't stand the despecable standards. There are too much options out there for that.

[sandeepmohan]

Originally Posted by coloneljasi

Sorry to hear about your experience. Are you still going ahead with the T-Jet from another dealer?

Yes. One last attempt. In the middle of all this, my father called up Prerana Motors in Lalbagh and they were incredibly efficient with giving out all the information. They have a bronzo scuro at the showroom and a sun beam beige at their stock yard. Both cars are said to have the "H" displayed on the odometer. They have offered to take me to their stock yard and show me the sun beam beige. I was given the VIN too over the phone. This is before even talking about a booking amount. Now that is saying something about the dealer. It already feels good to deal with them. Hope this one goes well. Thank you for the support. I really need it now.

[Speed Pujari]

Originally Posted by mayankjha1806

I would stay away from Fiat for the simple reason, i am not sure how healthy the parts supply would be. Buying a close to discontinued product from a company which is otherwise healthy in India is different from buying a soon to be discontinued product from a manufacturer which might fold up or may revisit its operations in India is a different thing altogether.

I have owned Baleno (Which was discontinued soon after we bought) but till date all the critical parts are available maybe after some delay, not sure what would happen if they are not available at all.

Mayank, Looks like you have ownership experience of Fiat. Please share your thoughts if you have owned one.

Originally Posted by sandeepmohan

Booked the car yesterday with KHT Motors in White field, Bangalore. It was not the best experience. I should have gone to Concorde Motors. Not that I know if the experience would have been better.

Originally Posted by KarthikK

...

What do you get in the T-Jet+ for 1.34L over the 1.4 EP? 115 PS of power v/s 89 PS of the 1.4 fire, 207 Nm of torque (at as low as 2200 rpm) v/s 115 Nm @ 4500 rpm in the Fire, Leather seats, faster cooling A/C, 16" wheels with meaty 205/55 R16 rubber, all 4 disc brakes, a sporty chrome exhaust, some chrome treatment inside, folding rear seats and last but not the least, addictive turbo acceleration.
...

If everything goes right with a fiat then one thing is always noted and cribbed by a non-fiat owner- that is the Plastics. TJet has a way better plastic than vanilla 1.4 EP.

Originally Posted by nitinr30

My bad. I should have clarified that it includes 40k exchange offer for my oldie. Here's the breakup from Prerna motors at Agara, Sarjapur:-



Thanks. Let me mull over this. May be T-jet, if not T-Jet+ as the engine is same in both, only + is 16" alloy wheel and leather upholstery.

Note that the 1.6" alloys is no-ordinary alloy. It is a forged material and do not expect anything lesser than 12k a piece if retailed. You get 5 of 'em.


BTW Sandeep, it is sad to hear about your issue. In fact it is today I am seeing this thread. I thought KHT might have improved after so many ear-twisting from Fiat, but there does not seems to be any cure.

Anyways, my initial experience was not good with them. The problem listed by me were majority rattling issues, which in the end I found out that they are minor. I forgave after sitting in a brand new Swift which was rattling more than my Jet.

KHT did a good work for my Palio though and I really appreciate that.

They are recalling the Nov-11 onwards Linea and Punto for axle replacements, and I am yet to give my piece of mind. I had this creaky sound on rear when the car goes over pothole, have complained this n number of times but in vain. Now I am suspecting it might be due to the axle thingy (just a guess) ...

Had I read this thread before I would have joined you in bashing KHT on saturday since I stay closeby.

Anyways, better luck with concorde.

It is shameful that such an advanced breed of car has fallen into totally wrong dealing hands.

[mnemonic]

Hi Sandeep-

Tough luck on your dealings with KHT and wishing that your experience with Prerana turns out better. The Bronzo Scuro is a nice colour and the Linea looks stunning in it. Do check out both the cars before you make up your mind.

Keep us posted.

[KarthikK]

Wish you luck in your purchase from Prerana motors. I had a fantastic experience with Prerana throughout the T-Jet purchase process and I have only good words for them -
- superb knowledgeable + cooperative sales rep (his name was Karthik, seems to have changed the job now)
- well maintained demo car
- transparent explanation of anything you ask
- issueless PDI with a trip to the stockyard arranged in prerana's own car. Plus, unlimited time to do your PDI. No one bothered me for the 2-3 hours that I requested to be left alone with the car.
- quick paperwork on delivery day and decent fitment of accessories.

Make it clear that you are from team-BHP and you came to them because of good reviews. That better keep them vigilant of getting reported online for anything untoward. Most sales reps there seem to know about Team-BHP and deal with such customers with caution. Let us know how the meeting went in Prerana

[mayankjha1806]

Originally Posted by Speed Pujari

Mayank, Looks like you have ownership experience of Fiat. Please share your thoughts if you have owned one.

Nope i have not owned a Fiat myself but in close family we have two of them, and both are looking for some parts or the other to be replaced/repaired constantly in their cars. Also in their areas the Tata/Fiat A.S.S isn't very good so i get to hear a lot of negative rants from them whenever we meet (and we meet very often).

Must add, apart from this irritants the cars are wonderful to drive when they have everything working in order.

[noopster]

Am sorry for everything you're going to but what was the trigger for cancelling your purchase? From what you've reported the SR and the GM were very patient and responsive. So it's obviously not a people issue.

The denting and scratching on a new car is of course very disturbing but I don't see why you didn't agree to them fixing it for you before delivery.

As for the cars being old, a VIN number check should help you know exactly how old. It is commonsense that a car not selling well will have a significant stockpile which dealers/the company will be eager to liquidate. 25K additional discount may well be for the 2010 cars come Jan 2011- sounds fair.

I don't mean to defend either the company or its dealer here, trust me. Am just wondering if you yourself are uncertain about this purchase and looking for reasons to avoid going ahead and purchasing the car. If I offended you by this suggestion, I apologise.

[KarthikK]

@noopster, i don't think he cancelled his purchase altogether. He is just switching to another dealer.

There were some other issues with that particular car apart from the dents. I don't agree with your view that he should have had the dents/issues fixed and taken the same car. When he is paying the full OTR amount as any other T-Jet customer, he deserves a good piece, not a flawed and (later) fixed one. Just my opinion. No offense meant