[prakash_ajp]

Originally Posted by GTO

Sorry, but that statement is pure rubbish. Don't know about you, but I would love an extra 1 - 1.5 lakhs at the end of 5 years. Am pretty sure it's the same for 99% of car owners. Who doesn't like extra $$$?

Agree. I think the perspective makes all the difference. The difference between 2.5L and 3.5L is 1L and 40%. Sometimes when you just look at absolute number, which is 1L in this case, may not be much. But you should also keep in mind that 3.5L is 40% more than 2.5L.

This is also a calculation that many tend to ignore when comparing petrol and diesel cars. Often I have seen/heard people just taking the initial price difference between the petrol and diesel cars and see if the savings in fuel offsets that. But fact is, you will most likely recover 'that' difference when you sell the car, which means you should only consider the interest of the delta to compare with the savings with diesel as fuel.

[FINTAIL]

Originally Posted by S_U_N

There are reports that Fiat is still not sure about the Jeep.

They're not sure. But methinks, they are likely to come, in the near future.

That said,

The Linea is excellent.

Cheers!

[PatienceWins]

I prefer the old linea with better interiors. I hate the overuse of Chrome in the new Linea. The ambient lighting looks overdone in blue.

Nice review. It is disappointing to see that 1.6MJD is not there.

[_raviShankar_]

Great review there Krishna. Thanks for that.
I liked the fact that they have spiced up the interior, but am still a great fan of the old exterior.
The bottle holders are a welcome addition. I just completed an 800 km drive yesterday night with the water bottles rolling all over the place.
I have no idea how the Fiat guys are managing to increase the weight of this car.
Will we be able to get the new ORVMs with the blinkers from the fiat service centers ? I certainly hope so, cause i would like to fit those on my Tjet

[prakash_ajp]

I see a lot of people preferring the old Linea's exterior looks to the new one. And I am not surprised at all and would be a difficult decision if I want to replace my current Linea with a newer generation. However ...

I asked couple of my colleagues which one they preferred (with the side-by-side photo on the first page of the review) and they both said they liked the new one more. Would you believe that!

[prashkul]

Originally Posted by KarthikK

- Mechanically, the only new feature I can recollect is the presence of cruise control. This is a welcome addition to cruise on expressways for longer duration journeys and will save some fatigue for the driver. However, what I didn't like was there was no visual notification on the MID for what speed the CC is set at. We have to manually watch the speedometer and release the lever at whatever speed we want; it holds the speed at that point. Also, the acceleration when holding '+' on the CC stalk is as though someone floored the throttle pedal. It should be more gradual than a hurried scramble, from what I've seen in other cars.

None of my cars (and the cars I have driven) with Cruise Control had the set speed display on MID. It only had an indication that CC was engaged. I didn't feel the need either. And yes, the acceleration was always rather spirited!

The new Linea reminds me of my Sebring, overall car shape wise.

[rednikhil]

Fabulous review, worthy of a 7 star rating!
Just noticed on the Fiat India Website, none of the models is wearing a rear spoiler. Could anyone confirm that it is present on the TJET?
Also, how much of an effect does the AC have on the pulling power?

[carwatcher]

It feels certainly good to see the renewed interest in the Linea and Fiat brand after some time judging by the response and replies to this thread.
Really wish if this could convert into actual sales.
I always check whenever there is a new post on "I booked my car thread" whether any BHPian has booked the new Linea.
As the Indian car market is witnessing a slump since last few months, only time will tell that delaying the Jeep launch is a wise decision or not. I would say it is certainly a wise decision but they must launch it after the elections.

I was averse to the face lifting such a beautiful car and had my doubts but the looks have grown on to me (happens with me all the time) since they launched it in Turkey and I must say that they have done justice to the legacy of this car. If one looks at the New Linea without comparing it to the previous one, he can look at it as a contemporary looking modern car with matching interiors and features.
As few others have desired I too would like to have turn indicators on ORVMs of my T-Jet, that would kinda make it more complete.

At the same time, I must say Fiat is doing themselves no good by not launching 1.6 MultiJet and Punto T-Jet for reasons best known to them, when we already have 1.5L Honda iDtec and 1.6L Hyundai and VWs in the market. I strongly feel 1.6L MultiJet will have same "magnetic effect" on prospective Diesel buyers what the words 'T-Jet' have on Petrol car buyers. One reason could be excise benefit till 1.5L cars only which may make 1.6L pricey, but I am not sure whether the excise benefit is available on Diesel cars upto 1500cc or not.

[JayKis]

Originally Posted by GTO

It's very difficult because it's a poorly selling car. That's reason no. 1. Going by the law of averages, you are 17 times likelier to find a used Feb 2014 Honda City in the 2018 used market than a Linea (Feb 2014 sales, City = 7213, Linea = 420). I have seen a couple of T-Jets off & on (there is one currently in our classifieds). The lack of supply is the same as for any other flop car. You just have to dig harder and be more patient. .

Agree with you on the averages part. Whatever the underlying reasons be, its difficult to find a presworshipped tjet. One of my friends recently got one. he had to wait like 8 months to lay his hands on the right preworshipped one.. Thats probably the time you get a Ecosport delivered to you!

Originally Posted by GTO

Sorry, but that statement is pure rubbish. Don't know about you, but I would love an extra 1 - 1.5 lakhs at the end of 5 years. Am pretty sure it's the same for 99% of car owners. Who doesn't like extra $$$?

Will be putting up a detailed article with statistics to demolish this "5 years, resale doesn't matter" myth. Also, don't forget that it's much tougher to sell a flop model than a popular one. Time is also $$$.

Beg to disgree..

I dont know if am too old but to tell you a small story when I was a kid, i needed a cycle and the 2-3 options were a BSA SLR, BSA MAch-3 and Street Cat. The first cycle was a bland boring cycle, found every where and easy to repair etc. The Mach-3 was awesome, had bent handlebars and was cool to ride Joh Jeeta Wahi Sikandar style. The street cat was the best looking one and had a very famous ad if you remember it. "Boom boom shaka laka boom boom shak! Street Cat's gonna knock you back". My heart was set on a street cat and I would have made a compromise for a Mach. But my Dad bought me the BSA SLR (He could afford all three and the price difference wasnt too much either) stating that its lighter, will be easy to repair and blah blah. For 4 years I rode the cycle but I had no fun on it. The fun always came when I rode my neighbour's street cat. I hope you get the drift.

Now the choice is yours. Stats can show a lot of thing and stats can hide a lot of things. (Am a stats guy btw) You like something but you do all stats and get stuck to a car which you never wanted in the first place.

I would rather buy a car which I like and live with it and have a lower resale value at the end of it rather buy a car which I dont like, live through the agony and get a better resale value.


I guess there are a lot of guys like me who has been put in a box and told every thing about mileage, resale value etc when buying a car. BTW FIAT was never even in contention when I went to buy a car. The first thing I ever noticed about Fiat is that they sell out dated cars (credit to the team bhp PDI checklist!!) before I even test drove one. I guess there will be a lot of people like me who like to have fun rather than do an excel analysis and find how much am spending on the car! So do I care about the resale value- not at the expense of the good time I can have!!

Just a matter of a different perspective!

[amit_mechengg]

Saw the new Linea in person today at the lauch event. Well when the first pics came out i used to hate the new looks. But when i see it in person now i must admit that i change my opinion totally.
Fiat has done such a splendid job. The classy old linea now looks premium without loosing the classiness. The interior is suddenly so good, superior with soft touch premium elements used and the detail attention paid towards demands from customers like bottle holders etc have been taken care of.
The mood lighting or the orange ambient lighting is so refreshing and you feel so soothing as is in a SPA.
The glove box opens with smooth lowering operation.
I bet when you drive this new linea in city traffic it will not stress you even a bit.

[pratyush.]

Amazing review sir!

Here's hoping the A.S.S issues and the niggles I've read about are sorted out soon. A very competent car and a very elegant design. Miss the older version's exteriors, but love the fact that we now get the turbocharged version for petrol as standard. A real statement of intent. I really want Fiat to be a powerhouse in the indian market.

[drmohitg]

Great review and many many thanks for sharing it here. I really like the new car. Not that the old one was any less good looking but the the interiors of the older Linea always left room for improvement. I never quite liked there design of the central dash which looked too plain and utilitarian. the new dash looks really fresh and exciting. The spoiler surprisingly adds a lot of character to the car. I have always felt its a hit or a miss with the Spoiler and in Linea's case its a hit for me.

Rating it a well deserved 5 star: both to the car and the review.

[iceman7]

Thank you for this review Krishna.

As an existing Linea owner I will say this -

• Interiors look fabulous. Love the new AC vents and the look of the dash and the integrated stereo.
  
• Although I liked the Speedometer console from the older Linea. Also notice, the new Linea has moved to an ODD number format in the speedometer - 10, 30, 50, etc
  
• Chopping off the drivers arm rest is a shame. The older Linea's arm rest is one of the best
  
• The turbine alloy wheel design from the older T-Jet was much snazzier. The New Linea should have inherited them
  
• REAR CHROME STRIP - I have my concerns on the cost of replacement on the rear chrome strips. On the older Linea, these cost a bomb to replace. With the new Linea sporting bigger and bolder chrome strips at the rear, it sure is not cheap to replace
  
• And Finally... The lack of the 1.6 MJD motor. The facelift was the perfect opportunity to introduce the 1.6MJD. I am very very disappointed that this engine didn't come through.

Now the question -

1. How does the music system sound? The integrated audio from the earlier Linea was one of the worst sounding setup. Has this changed?

[a_bharadwaj]

Great review! Very thorough.
The outgoing Linea was far better looking - classy elegance.
But agree that interiors have been spruced up appropriately.

[kiren]

Excellent review and photos. Repeatedly reading this review is getting me tempted to either replace my Punto or get one more FIAT .

Three things I would have liked is:
1. Stepney as ally.
2. Sufficient cabin lights.
3. 1.6 MJD. Hope we get it at the earliest.

Thanks Krishna for such a detailed review.

Kiran