[prakash_ajp]

Hello everyone,

Four months back we decided to replace our Opel Corsa (April 2004) which had done about 80K kilometers. The primary reason was maintenance becoming more expensive. The car had been with us for a long time and many many long drives and the engine itself was still fantastic. But one of the suspensions needed some serious care and fuel consumption was beginning to go up. With petrol prices being hiked every month (!) we decided our next car would have a diesel engine. And so the search begun.

My requirements were very clear and captured in the following small list:

• A sedan with a diesel engine.
• I loved the way my Corsa used to handle itself on highways and wanted something with a low ground clearance. Yes, I will have to deal with the Bangalore speed-breakers, but that's something I was okay with. Besides, even though I work in the city of Bangalore, most of my driving would be on highways. I don't usually do sprints and prefer to cruise at speeds under 120 km/h. But have a strong liking to drive reasonably fast on winding roads.
• It has to be an European car or it has to be built like one, sturdy, robust etc.
• Good looks but not very high in priority. But it must be decent. No offense meant, but we would never buy a car like Swift Dzire.
• A budget of 10 Lakh with not much room for stretching.
• Spare parts should be inexpensive - lesson learned from Opel Corsa!
• I am not very bothered about re-sale value.

With all those in mind we short-listed the following cars:
Hyundai Verna
This is the first one I test-drove. I was surprised how quick the car was despite being diesel (No, now I don't think diesel cars are typically slow ) however, after having driven a Corsa, I was not going to adjust to Verna's dynamics. Another factor was that that there were only two variants, not considering the no-music-system option and AT. The high-end model was slightly out of my budget but not a deal-breaker. Another big negative was that the car didn't feel sturdy enough for me.

VW Vento
Though I didn't like the external appearance of the Vento, I liked the car overall. But I didn't test drive because VW wouldn't bother to give me one. Plus waiting period of 4 months was a definite no and looking at the 15K premium for metallic colors made me think it was going to be an expensive car to maintain.

Fiat Linea MJD
Alright, I must admit that I and my wife had already fallen for the 'looks' of the Linea. But I still wanted the decision to be a rational one. Test drove it from Concorde motors, Bangalore. Initial impression was good. I liked the handling and comfort (read suspension) in particular. I also knew that with 5 people and with AC on, the car would struggle in 1-2 gears. But 3rd gear on, everything was quite alright. Other thing that wasn't in Linea's favor was the quality of the stock music system.

The following cars didn't make the short-list for one or other reasons. Manza due to a mental block () and Honda City because it has only petrol engine. Too many Fiestas in my neighborhood meant 'no' for Fiesta too.

So, we finalized on Linea MJD. Until we went to Concorde motors again, we were not sure whether to go for Emotion or Dynamic. I had recently upgraded my Corsa with a Pioneer receiver + JBL speakers and wanted to keep them in my new car. And as I said, we didn't like the one that came with the car anyway. So, when Concorde motors offered some freebies on a Dynamic model that someone had booked and cancelled, we felt we should just take it, even though we knew we would miss some features including ABS. The fact that the offered car was in Fox Trote Azure, our most favorite, made it easier for us.

Here is the list of freebies:

• The usual garware sun films, mats and mud-flaps. (Yes, the mud-flaps are awful)
• First insurance premium.
• Extended warranty
• Seat covers or 7K Rs cash-back whichever I wanted.
• Autocop reverse sensors
• Exchange bonus and corporate discount.

So, it's been just over two months since the car arrived, and the car has covered about 3,000 kilometers, almost half of which is on highways. I am writing this report three days after the first free service.

In a nutshell, it's been a very positive experience so far with the new car. There are many things we liked and few we didn't like. Fortunately the +es outweigh the -es.

What we liked:

Ride & Comfort
The improvement in terms of comfort (i.e. comparing with Corsa) was obvious. The pot-holes are no longer a problem. I guess it's because of the bigger tires and the Corsa only had 13" tires.

I love the way the steering works. Very smooth and offers good feedback, as they say. Perhaps not as lightweight as the ANHC for a city-drive but this is perfect for highways.
AC is pretty decent for Bangalore summer. The space for the front row is quite good. Though initially I had trouble with the seat, now I am quite used to it.

Performance:
In the initial days I felt that the first two gears had nothing much to offer and also gave the impression that the engine is not refined. Sometimes, I even wished I could start the car from 3rd gear. Having said that, I have a feeling that the car has improved significantly over last couple of weeks, especially after the service. The second gear feels lot smoother now. Also over time, I have understood the gear-speed ratio and what the car can do and can't. The highlight of the car is how responsive it is at speeds of 35+ km/h. If I wait just a little longer before shifting to a higher gear, till a mild rev can be heard, the engine response beautifully. I have absolutely no trouble in making difficult passes on highways. When there are only 2 people, even with speeds around 60kmph in top gear, I never had to downshift to overtake. And by the way, gear-shift is smooth too. But I avoid looking at the gear-shift much, for I dislike the cheap rexin thing that covers the gear box.

Breaking and high-speed cornering in Linea instills lot of confidence. I can drive at 30 km faster speed than Corsa with the same amount of confidence.

Features:
Though the Dynamic model doesn't have some of the cool features provided in the higher end models, there are some pretty useful features I liked.

To name a few,

Speed limit warning
Child lock for both rear windows and doors (I have a two year old son, so it's important)
Follow-me-home
Automatic door lock after 20 KM
One-touch roll-down for all four windows
Dead pedal
Adjustable brightness level and beam for front lights

Fuel economics:
My last two tests (full-tank to full-tank) the km/l figure returns were identical: 19.1 and 19.2. While I believe this will improve slightly in future, I am already happy with the numbers. During this period, the car went through a consistent routine - my home-office trips involve about 75 KM on a highway and 15 KMs on city or city-like drive with AC on. During one of the long drives, I got around 21+ km/l. But that number was from the on-board trip-meter.

What could have been better:
The interior
There is nothing much to write home about here. The upholstery is ordinary. Some of the plastics used are just 'okay'. I have the habit of resting my right elbow on the door. But the plastic on top of the door is so rough that I can't do that for a long time.

The steering wheel also has the same ordinary plastic and doesn't feel good at hand. After fixing a new wheel grip (fiat accessories), I am lot more comfortable.

Features (!)
Yes, we miss the bottle holder and the back seat is not split, which we found useful in Corsa.

Cabin noise:
This is a very subjective, I guess. Comparing with the ANHC that my friend owns, I found the noise inside the cabin was much more. But definitely better than Corsa. When I took the car for service, I complained about this and was promised they will look in to it. During the inspection, Concorde motors said they found something wrong with the insulation and they fixed it. To my pleasant surprise, it's way better now. While I can't quite say it's as good as the ANHC now, it's definitely something I am satisfied. Though I have put this under -ive, it's not a big problem now.

I have been very kind to the engine so far and haven't taken the car beyond 2,500 RPM so far. Well, it's probably true that with the kind of driving style I have, there is nothing much I need beyond that range. For instance, at 2500 RPM, I would have already touched 120 km/h, my self-imposed speed-limit. Nevertheless, I might test the responsiveness of the engine at high RPM from time to time in future.

I have a feeling that the bonding and experience will be as good as it was with my Corsa, if not better. One thing is for sure: The fun-filled drives have just become cheaper!

[Naparajito]

Congrats prakash_ajp!! That's a wonderful car. It looks superb in Fox Trote Azure. I do agree with many of the points you have said such as the Mud Flaps. Really look realy dull with such a beautiful car. But i do not agree with the Interior quality part. Fiat offers 3 different trim levels in different variants of Linea. Please do have a look at the Emotion pack model, which has really nice quality interiors. And interior noise, it's usual in a Diesel. But when you rev it hard, it sounds like a petrol motor. Anyhow welcome to the Fiat Club!!
Cheers,
Naparajito

[prakash_ajp]

Originally Posted by Naparajito

But i do not agree with the Interior quality part. Fiat offers 3 different trim levels in different variants of Linea. Please do have a look at the Emotion pack model, which has really nice quality interiors.

Thanks, Naparajito.
The one I test drove was an Emotion pack variant and I did notice some of the interiors were much better, like upholstery, wheel grip, door trim etc. But the dashboard and even the center console are the same and weren't appealing to me. By the way, I like the ceiling very much - nice and bright.

Originally Posted by prakash_ajp

So, it's been just over two months since the car arrived, and the car has covered about 3,000 kilometers, almost half of which is on highways.

Congratulations and best wishes, prakash_ajp. Explore and enjoy your lovely Linea.

[kavesh55]

Hi Prakash- Accept my best wishes for your buy. I am a FIAT fan, after owning one for 6 years I accept that all Fiats are same, model varies quirks remain the same. There is still some thing that makes you fall in love with it. Please post your experiences as you go along.

[julupani]

Hi Prakash,

Congrats on your choice, a very good one indeed.

The plastics on the Punto and Linea are its worst quality. As for the noise issue that you are facing, going by all FIAT MJD owners on the forum be it 75hp or 90hp versions, everyone reports a significant drop in noise volume after about five to ten thousand kms. So, be patient, your car will get quiter as she runs a bit more.

[Soccerfan]

Congrats man on the car. Some more pics would be nice. Hope you have done the first free service?

[Ace F355]

Congrats prakash_ajp on your new prized possession! She looks beautiful wearing FTA color!

Interior quality has only been a notch up in newer Fiat models! Old ones were much worse. Don't worry and treat her well, and she will keep you happy! (and others too, as an eye candy )

Congrats once again and may she serves you for years to come!

[prakash_ajp]

Originally Posted by J.Ravi

Congratulations and best wishes, prakash_ajp. Explore and enjoy your lovely Linea.

Thanks much, Ravi!

Originally Posted by kavesh55

Hi Prakash- Accept my best wishes for your buy. I am a FIAT fan, after owning one for 6 years I accept that all Fiats are same, model varies quirks remain the same. There is still some thing that makes you fall in love with it. Please post your experiences as you go along.

Thank you, and totally agree with you about falling for it. It nearly happened with Palio Adventure. But ended up buying a Corsa. But not this time.

Originally Posted by julupani

Hi Prakash,

As for the noise issue that you are facing, going by all FIAT MJD owners on the forum be it 75hp or 90hp versions, everyone reports a significant drop in noise volume after about five to ten thousand kms. So, be patient, your car will get quiter as she runs a bit more.

Thanks! That's a good news indeed. And sounds like a good enough motivation to take the car out even more, so that I will get there (quieter engine) quickly, eh?

Originally Posted by Soccerfan

Congrats man on the car. Some more pics would be nice. Hope you have done the first free service?

Sure, I will try get more pictures soon. Yes, the car just came back from the first free service late last week. The only issue, as I mentioned was, the excessive noise inside the cabin, which has been fixed to some extent. And the service cost me nothing!

[prakash_ajp]

Originally Posted by blueblooded

congrats prakash_ajp, on owning a fiat linea mjd ,happy motoring

Originally Posted by Ace F355

Congrats prakash_ajp on your new prized possession! She looks beautiful wearing FTA color!

Interior quality has only been a notch up in newer Fiat models! Old ones were much worse. Don't worry and treat her well, and she will keep you happy! (and others too, as an eye candy )

Congrats once again and may she serves you for years to come!

Thanks, both! Yes, we knew about the interiors and were prepared for that anyway. Now that you mentioned the color, the FTA was only third in our list of preferences. Our default preference was black but our past experience with the black Corsa was not great. I would spend hours cleaning and waxing the car and the next day someone would have scratched or written their name!

The second in the list was the Tuscan wine. But we thought it wouldn't be too different from black. So, in the end went with the FTA. We knew it was too sober for our liking. But the Linea looks good to me in most shades. Last week I saw a Sunbeam Beige and told myself, "wow, that looks good". And it happens with Nova White and Medium Grey also. So, in the end we went with something that would be easier to maintain.

With the Corsa, after a waxing session the car gets completely transformed and I used to stand and admire the car from a distance. I still spend equal amount of time with the Linea. But after all that, I am like, "it doesn't look much different than what was before, does it?" But then, the car never looks so dirty either.

[prakash_ajp]

Friends,

Over the last two weeks, my Linea MJD crossed two important milestones. The car completed it's first year by last week of Feb and last week the odometer touched the 25,000 KM mark. The first year has been fairly a nice experience, just what I had been expecting and hoping for when I decided the move away from the Corsa that had started giving me bigger service bills. To top it all, over the last year I have saved almost 50K on fuel!



There was another thread on Concorde motors delivering me an old car here: http://www.team-bhp.com/forum/indian...d-old-car.html

Eventually, we had settled the issue after Concorde motors promised me that they would be responsible for any issues that may arise in future and they would monetarily compensate (I would prefer not to disclose the amount) for delivering an old car.

So, what happened over the last one year of ownership? 1. I improved the interiors of my car with Stanley Satin leather. As expected, maintenance has become much easier but it's definitely not as comfortable as fabric.

2. The car had its first free service at approx 16K kms. I was traveling to Chennai/Madurai/Kodaikanal and couldn't get a service slot in Chennai or Madurai. Fortunately Concorde motors, Bangalore didn't make a big deal that I took the car late to them.

The service cost me 5537 INR, most of which was the regular oil change etc. I will try and attach the itemized bill if I can find.

Apart from the scheduled service visits, the car went to the service center on two other occasions: First when a biker broke my RVM, the replacement costing RS 258. The second visit was the most recent one for the recurring 'Check glow plug' sign. It turned out that the glow plug itself was fine I was told nothing to worry about.

So, what's the car upto? The car has seen plenty of long drives, including 4 drives to Kodaikanal during heavy rainy season. I go to work 3 days a week, all but the last 5 kms of 40 kms drive on highway. The car has seen fair bit of adventure too, particularly on the Kodaikanal trips and once we took a risk and went in to a non-existing road to Hogenakkal.

And how's the car holding up? Pretty good overall. There have been some niggles, all of which are minor ones common for Lineas. To name, the driver side mat catches my shoe/sandal while moving left foot back after changing gear. I have seen this being reported on an other thread. So it appears to be a common problem. At the next opportunity, I am planning it to the 3D mats anyway.

The 2nd problem is mild the click sound, which seem to emanate from the rear right door and comes only when the car is traveling on slightly bumpy roads at a particularly slow speed. I reported this and got it fixed during my 2nd free service, but I think it's back for the past one week or so.

3rd, the car pulling to the left, which I can't remember happening when I first got the car. I reported this too during the 2nd service and a wheel alignment/balancing was done, cost of which is part of the RS 5537 bill I mentioned. For the records, this is no longer an issue.

Now the good things: I earlier reported about excessive engine noise and other Linea owners told me that the performance is likely to improve. Well, they weren't wrong and the engine has become much smoother and quieter after the 2nd service. Now the most audible noise at high speeds is the one made by wind at the right side RVM and the noise made by the tyres. The tyre sound is particularly bad that occasionally when there is a super-smooth road, the cabin is eerily quiet. Anyway, I am waiting for the stock tyres to wear out so that I can fix the problem.

There have often been debates about linea being under-powered and otherwise. To be honest, I have felt both. There have been times when the car is fully laden and I am trying to pull it fast on 2nd gear after a speed-breaker. The car doesn't go anywhere and might frustrate you and force you to go back to 1st gear. The same car, when on a 3+ gear, shows a very big heart. The car also struggled to move from standstill at very steep places in Kodaikanal. These are very steep places that I am talking about and I might even say it's harsh to expect a sedan to do better. At the same time, throughout our trips to Kodaikanal, the car drove like a charm on the difficult winding Palani - Kodai road.

So, in a nutshell, for my usage, the engine performance is adequate for 95% of time. Other thing I was weary of is the low ground clearance. But since I had lot of experience with my previous Corsa, I was prepared for it and wasn't a big problem even in Bangalore.

Then we had couple of minor incidents when an Innova banged from behind at a signal. On another occasion, a bike hit from behind, which left his paint on my boot. On both occasions, the car came out of it without much damage.

The fuel economy: The car gives a mileage of around 19.5. On highway rides on plain (not the hilly rides), esp. on early morning trips, the mileages goes up to 23 kmpl, which effectively means the running cost is around 2 Rs per km and often works out cheaper than some other modes of public transportation.

Wear and tear: The tyres seem to have seen more wear than I had expected, particularly after my previous two sets of Bridgestones lasting almost 50K kms. Looking at the condition of the tyres now, I think the Goodyears will last only about 35K kms. I am not sure whether need to attribute this to the tyres or my driving pattern, particularly the excessive ghat driving, or the initial problem with the wheel mis-alignment.

Now, to complete the ownership experience report, the visits to the Concorde motors didn't have anything to complain about. Nothing special nor did I face any issues. Overall it's been a smooth sail for me so far, and touch wood!

[prakash_ajp]

Mods, I would appreciate if you can update the thread title with 25,000 KM update. Also, I hope it can remain in this section.

[rohittunga]

Hi Prakash, let me the first one to congratulate you for successfully completing 25000 km in your Linea. This car is at its best on the highways and I'm sure you'd agree on that. Well in a few days time, I'll be uploading my ownership experience of completing 36,500 km in a year

I had similar issues with the car pulling to the left, despite getting alignment and balancing done at the time of service. I think its better you try Madhus Enterprises. That should sort out the issue.

Regarding the tyre issues, 35k is too less for the tyres to wear out completely. My tyres seems to last for another 5-6k kms. However mine is Apollo. Was your car in the batch that had faulty rear axles ? because the reason they called for a replacement of rear axle was due to premature and uneven tyre wear. Better get the issue sorted before hopping on new set of tyres.

[rameshnanda]

Congrats Prakash on completing 25K Kms.

Originally Posted by prakash_ajp

The car also struggled to move from standstill at very steep places in Kodaikanal. These are very steep places that I am talking about and I might even say it's harsh to expect a sedan to do better. At the same time, throughout our trips to Kodaikanal, the car drove like a charm on the difficult winding Palani - Kodai road.

May I ask which part of Kodai did your car struggle? I am asking this because, I did Koadai trip in Dec'2011 in my Linea MJD. The car performed incredibly well. I took the car to almost all parts of Kodai (Poombaarai, Mannavanur, Berijam, etc.). For me, the most toughest route happened to be the Mannavanur route. The reason being the condition of the road. For the onward, my car scraped multiple times. For the return, I prepared well and didn't even get a single hit. Here's some picture to show the condition of the road .

[prakash_ajp]

Originally Posted by rameshnanda

Congrats Prakash on completing 25K Kms.

May I ask which part of Kodai did your car struggle?

Thanks, Ramesh! I didn't go on the Poombarai road at all. The most difficult road I encountered was near Kurunji Nagar, where I literally had to take it inch by inch to negotiate the huge stones on the road. BTW, I may have seen your car, though not sure. I remember seeing a Linea of that color a couple of times near Moonjikal. I made few trips to Kodai from August to December, so not sure which time of the year I saw the car, though.

Originally Posted by rohittunga

Hi Prakash, let me the first one to congratulate you for successfully completing 25000 km in your Linea.

Was your car in the batch that had faulty rear axles ? because the reason they called for a replacement of rear axle was due to premature and uneven tyre wear. Better get the issue sorted before hopping on new set of tyres.

Thanks, Rohit for the suggestion. I will be taking my car to 30K km service sometime next week and I am planning to check with Concorde motors on the same.