[redeff]

Contrary to what others say the SX4 does not have poor F.E.. My uncle's brand new SX4 ( pre- run in and pre - first service ) gave around 11- 12 kmpl with a mix of city and Highway driving. Not at all bad i say.

[drashkum]

tried several times calling the vst motors to arrange for a testdrive. they are still not relenting. so i have written a mail to fiat india customercare. hope to get as reply

this is the mail

respected sir/madam,
i had gone for a test drive for the fiat linea petrol emotion pack with vst motors on 16/03/09 (monday) at chennai dealer VST motors, mountroad. i was attender by Mr. Arun Natraj the sales executive who had explained the features and facts about the car and took me for a test drive following which i liked the car. so i had requested him to bring the car to my home the next day so that i can have a look once more before booking the car. i was promised that i will get a call the next day and will get a test drive by him. The next day i never got any call from him or the dealer informing me whether the car will be given for test drive or not. impatiently i tried callend the dealer on tuesday evening at 5pm . i was attender by someone who told me that he will tell arun to call me. again i never got a call. so wednesday morning i tried calling mr arun (9790918787) i was told that he is on leave as his grandmother expired the day before and was told to contact the dealer by someone else who picked up the phone. so i contacted the dealer again i was connected to mrs .suhasini who said she is the incharge of the testdrive . she told me arun had not told her about the test drive . when i requested for a test drive again she said the vehicle is already booked for wednesday and she said she will send the vehicle for testdrive on thursday between 2-5pm along with a executive who can collect a cheque for booking from me. .she also said she would call me up the next day morning. i never got a correspondence again. i tried calling her on thursday i was told by someone called rama madam that she has gone for a meeting so asked me to call back after a while. i again called after a couple of hours. mrs suhasini picked up and told me that every one has gone for some meeting and she said the test drive program is on and she will definitely send the car. i never got the car nor a call saying it will not come. i got a call late in evening from mr.arun . he said due to lack of man power testdrive could not be sent. i tried calling him again in evening he said he is busy with another work and he will get back after which he hasnt called at all. now today morning again tried calling him he never picked up his mobile. so i called the dealership and spoke to suhasini telling her that i am not getting a proper response from the dealership so if i dont get a test drive today i might have to look for some other dealership or better choose another car from some other company. she said she will send the car atleast today. but it never came. now i am getting a call from her saying the test drive car has some major problem thats why the test drive could not be sent!!
is this a response a fiat dealer would give to a inclined customer !!. why i should choose linea than going for some other car where the dealership response is better?. if they are making me go round and round for a small test drive then imagine the plight of me if i had got the car and get the same response for after sales servive. why should they promise me one thing and not do the same??. when they know there is a lack of man power then why should they schedule a test drive??. even better if the car is not coming for test drive is it not their courtesy to call me and inform me the same?.
secondly i am also thinking if the testdrive car has a major problem then i wonder if i get the same problem after i buy the car??
after this i am thinking not to buy any fiat car here after though i have once been a proud owner of premire padmini.i have decided to go for some other car just because of your happless dealership!!!.i would also say that i will never recomend a fiat car again to anybody and will also convey my same experience to everyone whom i know and who wants to buy a fiat car.
i am just mailing this to u poeple to say if u think u can achieve the past glory which fiat had in india u will never achieve it, with this kind of worthless uninclined dealerships !!!

dr.aswinkumar

i wrote this to vent my anger as linea is such a good car and it is a case of a unworthy dealership. i plan to ask for a testdrive in online requestion so that fiat can have a documented detail and they themselves can arrange one. hope this atleast go peacefully

waiting continues helplessly..........

[Meer]

My comments based on my experience of SX4 for 10K+ kms

Originally Posted by amit

The SX4 is dead upto 2500rpm. You can flog it as much as you want but it will move at it's own pace. Below 2.5K rpm it feels like a python thats just had it's lunch and trust me it can get VERY frustrating. I don't know about the Linea since I haven't driven the petrol.

The pulling power and driveability is amazing and more so when you are comparing SX4 to Linea in this current thread. Upto 1.5 k rpm it may seem sluggish due to the bulk but 1.5k - 2.5k rpm is heaven. So your comment seems strange.

Originally Posted by amit

The ride quality is really bad. The set up is very hard and at low speeds on bad roads you will get thrown all over the seats and the car will thud , crash and thrash over rough patches. On certain bad roads you will hear a big THUK sound from the suspension and you will keep wondering if something has fallen off or broken off.

Hard set-up has its own advantages. I have done off-roading on my SX4 in full monsoon conditions and it performed admirably competing with the likes of Bolero. Few of my friends in City and Civic had to stop as they could not risk going any further. On speed breakers you hardly have to reduce speed, while in some cars you pray everytime you see an speed breaker, I would say one of the best sedans on bad roads in this segment with high GC and stiff setup. There are negatives definitely, on small undulations, the car rocks. But no thuds etc in my car. Ride quality of Linea is definitely better.

Originally Posted by amit

NVH is ZERO. On concrete roads at speeds of 90kmph and over road, wind and tyre noise is so loud that you literally have to raise your voice to talk to your passengers or you will have to crank up the stereo volume to listen to music.

There is an NVH problem and I had the same on my Esteem. It reduced by 50% just on changing the tyres from JK to bridgestone. But the problem is not as dramatic as you have mentioned. From your comments it seems you feel like riding on a helicopter with doors open

[Meer]

Originally Posted by ajitsank

My 2 Cents:

SX4 FE isn't bad, remember you are driving a 1.6 litre engine and don't expect a 1.6 to give you a mileage of SWIFT diesel. Please read the SX4 longtime ownership thread and you will get the information what you are looking for. You could also PM members like rk, meer etc for a personal touch on SX4.

Agreed with Ajit, its a perception being built that SX4 has low FE. FE on my SX4 has been in the range of 11.5 to 12.5. Never below 11.5 and I dont drive like a saint. Recently I filled Shell petrol and got 12.8. Am on another full tank and will confirm once I get these figures.
I drive 75% city + 25% highway and 100% AC

[Meer]

Originally Posted by vnabhi

And if you thought Maruti spares were cheaper, are you aware that a set of rear lights for a Baleno cost 20k? Dig into this forum and you will get more info.

There was an excellent comparo on Autocar/Overdrive on cost of spares and SX4 was the lowest in this segment.

[musicmanaman]

I think the SX4 is better, it's got more ground clearence, more head room, and I think a better engine too, it's got to be SX4 from my point of view.

[neotraveller]

drash,

I did 3 TDs of Linea and I went to the showroom and took it.
I asked if they could send the TD vehicle to my home but the salesman said "Its a new model sir and there will be lot of people dropping in at the showroom". His answer seemed fair to me. So you have to keep things in perspective here.

In general I prefer going to the respective showrooms for TDs. This way you can manage your time and can take back-to-back TDs of different brands as well.
Of course in a city like Hyderabad, all showrooms are within a radius of 5-10km.

Originally Posted by drashkum

tried several times calling the vst motors to arrange for a testdrive. they are still not relenting. so i have written a mail to fiat india customercare. hope to get as reply

waiting continues helplessly..........

[rkbharat]

Originally Posted by loving_alaap

Spare parts a huge problem for SX4?

Sir, what is the source of this statement. IMHO its exactly reverse. Its easily available. and you can trust me as I have just received my repaired car back after an accident, where lots of parts were changed.

Originally Posted by Meer

Hard set-up has its own advantages. I have done off-roading on my SX4 in full monsoon conditions and it performed admirably competing with the likes of Bolero. Few of my friends in City and Civic had to stop as they could not risk going any further. On speed breakers you hardly have to reduce speed, while in some cars you pray everytime you see an speed breaker,

Can not agree with you more, this is one sedan with which I have done a fair amount of offroading. Can not think of doing it with Linea

And BTW what is speed breaker

[aseem]

Originally Posted by Meer

There is an NVH problem and I had the same on my Esteem. It reduced by 50% just on changing the tyres from JK to bridgestone. But the problem is not as dramatic as you have mentioned. From your comments it seems you feel like riding on a helicopter with doors open

Lol...
Sometimes ppl do go overboard in order to prove a point. I for one believe that the NVH problem is more in Linea, spcly the MJD. The engine noise is intrusive and you do need to raise the stereo to iggy it.

[rajneeesh]

Folks,
My two cents on this discussion. My SX4 has done 11,500 Km in litle less than a year. There have been no problems in the last 1 year. FE. 12- 13 Kpl in city driving conditions.

Major positives: SUV like ground clearance. You are never afraid of damaging your car undersides on bad roads and speed breakers.

Lots of space in the car, a commanding driving position.

Good power and torque. ( after 1500 RPM)

Great Post Sales Service. Available any where any time at reasonable prices

Negatives : Thick A pillar, poor rear visibility and rear suspension a mite too stiff. Plastics can be better and the rear middle seat can be better designed.
Fiat Positives: Looks great.

Negatives: Limited headroom for the rear seat occupants. Low ground clearance,an underpowered engine and poor post sales service.

[VahanPujari]

Guys,

When I decided to buy a C-Segment Petrol Sedan 2 months back, there were 2 cars primarily in my mind - Swift DZire & SX4. I took TD of both & got disappointed. Then I took TD of ANHC, Verna & Linea. Since I was initially inclined towards Dzire & SX4 & almost all friends, relatives suggested them over other cars, I took TD of Dzire & SX4 again & again got disappointed.

SX4 is the first car in its segment to come out with lots of features for the first time - ABS, EBD, Steering Mounted controls etc. Then there are major strengths of Maruti Tag, Widest Network, A.S.S. & Resale values. However, the ride quality & driving pleasure is not very good. It felt heavy while driving & lacked finnesse / smoothness / manouvability of the other cars. In fact, I would say, the ride quality of my old Ford Ikon is better than SX4 & Dzire. I clearly felt the difference when I TD'ed them & then drove my Ikon. A-Pillar & Middle hump in the reear seat didn't help either. Thus sady out went Dzire & SX4 from my list.

Linea on the other side, though some reviews suggest it to be underpower, I did not feel it & it looks alright though not as powerful as Verna during ride. Features are just mindblowing. Blue n me, Rear AC vents, "My Car" are exclusive to this car only. Steering Mounted Controls are Backlit in Linea & not in SX4. Linea is nicely styled with a beautiful shape in the front with the grill. However, Fiat reputation in India, A.S.S., Dealer network, spares availability & strong advice/ views of some frieds/ relatives against it made me think twice & dig deeper. After 1 & half months of extensive reasearch duing which I explored many threads & thousands of posts ont-bhp, spoke to the people, visited dealerships & service stations, wrote to Fiat CEO, Rajiv Kapoor & finally booked Linea Emotion Pack Petrol Flamenco Red.

Having said that, I still feel that my above decision is based on my certain preferences which may be different in case of other individuals & hence his/her choice may have been different

PS - Check out Backlit Steering mounted control of Linea in below link
http://www.team-bhp.com/forum/test-d...ml#post1224304

[finneyp]

VahanPujari, Congrats! Great choice!

Rajneesh, you have only one positive point for Fiat? LOL!

[VahanPujari]

Originally Posted by finneyp

VahanPujari, Congrats! Great choice!

Rajneesh, you have only one positive point for Fiat? LOL!

Thanks, finneyp. Am eagerly waiting the delivery !!!!

have taken prints of PDI checklist & Delivery checklist posted on t-bhp & ready for Sherlock Holmes work this time ! Never knew all these when I purchased my first car Ford Ikon in 2003. I just went to the dealership, took the delivery & drove out. Fortunately, nothing adverse experienced & its still going strong after 5.5 yrs.

[amit]

Originally Posted by aseem

Lol...
Sometimes ppl do go overboard in order to prove a point.

I haven't gone overboard. This actually happens and people in my car have commented the same. And these are people that aren't car literate as much as people in team-bhp are. Everything is relative. You maybe okay with a certain level of noise I am not. If you upgrade from a Alto to a SX4 you will love the quietness inside. My older car is quieter then the new one. I cannot accept that specially since it's way cheaper then this premium sedan.

I don't understand why we have to be so linient with Maruti. If you expect a 8 lakh rupee Honda , Ford, Chevrolet to give you refinement and luxury then why should a 8 lakh rupee Maruti be exempt from it?

Why do we want a 8 lakh rupee Ford to pamper us and make us feel special but expect basic point A to B transportation in a 8 lakh rupee Maruti?

[amit]

Originally Posted by Meer

But the problem is not as dramatic as you have mentioned. From your comments it seems you feel like riding on a helicopter with doors open

Looks like you haven't driven your SX4 at 100-120kmph on concrete roads. Try it. Or you are welcome to drive mine.