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-   -   2014 Fiat Linea T-Jet: Initial Ownership Experience (https://www.team-bhp.com/forum/long-term-ownership-reviews/157529-2014-fiat-linea-t-jet-initial-ownership-experience-2.html)

Nice review !!


As Arun and with everybodyelse, Pictures of your new found love please. please:
I am in the queue waiting and watching to upgrade from swift.
Linea is making a strong competition to others in my wish list especially after learning yours and arun's ownership experience.

Straight from the heart. You have touched all the right things about the car. I have driven it a fair bit, and indeed the slogan that Fiat chose for the car is apt.

Do keep us posted on the initial niggles, and may I suggest you probe the service guys on what was wrong and rectified. Its always good to know whats been wrong with your car, lest it pops up again in the middle of a long drive with your usual service center far away.

There are a few new Fiesta and this Linea threads on Team-BHP presently, and they are so good to read. I guess your material can only be as good as the car, and both cars shine through.

With a discount of 1.08 odd Lakhs, the Linea is a such a teaser. Imagine a guy going to the Fiat showroom to buy the Evo which has 15k discount, and is offered 1.1 Lakhs on the Linea Dynamic which costs 2.5 Lakhs more ex-showroom. I wonder what I would do?

Thanks to your thread, I would be in two minds.

Please do post pictures.

On the Baleno, a colleague used to own one. Had it for eight years. It was bought brand new. He replaced the Baleno with a VW Vento Tsi. I have driven his Baleno extensively and there are some things about the Suzuki that I like even over the T Jet. You sit low, the distance to the steering wheel and the pedals are perfect, the clutch it super light and short in action and the engine is a gem. Responsive as ever. He equipped the car with after market alloys, bigger and better tires, had a strut brace and koni's up front (Stock at the back. The Koni's at the rear sprung a leak). All these changes improved the dynamics of the car so much that it cornered as if it was on rails. I'd go to the extent of saying it handled even better than a T Jet. It was that good. A well kept Baleno still commands a high price in re sale.

On Fiat service, I have a relative in Pondicherry who recently replaced his 2 year old 14,000km run diesel Linea with the face lift Linea. His views were excellent on Fiat service and felt why switch to another brand when service is good. He also finds the car to be much improved over the previous one. I spent some time looking at the face lift Linea and you can get to like it and appreciate the small, different changes to design Fiat have made. The white shade on a Fiat Linea is also quite different from white's I have seen on other cars. The over done front chrome grill no longer looks odd on a white car.

VW's are a little more pricey to fix than Fiat's. However; I feel the company is more accountable and I doubt if you will ever face a spare part shortage issue. With Fiat India, something as basic as radiator hose clamps are not in stock and it could take a really long time to get the part. I also feel they don't train their service engineers well enough to handle complex issues. These are my comments based on owning a Fiat in my city. December will mark 3 years with my T Jet and not a single issue or warranty claim. Rare for a Fiat.

On Hyundai, you will get fantastic service and the Verna is a proven and reliable car. Its no drivers car though.

I was never a fan of the looks of the previous gen Honda City but if you ask me now, I think I'll pick the 3rd gen any day over the City that sells now. Honda nailed it with their first offering, the City and this model continues to impress.

Going by what you paid for the T Jet, the pricing is much lower than what it used to be 3 years ago. It was over 11lacs in 2011. The new pricing and more equipment makes the T Jet the sweetest petrol rocket on sale today.

On handling speed bumps, I recommend you switch to first gear. First and second gear are short in gearing and far apart on ratio which will cause a stall. I decide on slotting first depending on the type of speed hump. You can roll over some speed humps and some are those sharp and short one's. For the sharp short's, you will need to engage first gear.

Drifting of the car and wobbling of the steering wheel is a clear indication of bad wheel alignment and wheel balancing. Easy fix. I recommend a reputed balancing and alignment shop to sort this out over Fiat service. It can take multiple attempts to get this right.

Fuel economy is a concern. The best I've managed is 15.6kmpl and this is with careful highway driving. No hard acceleration and not exceeding a speed of 100kmph. In town, it falls down to 9kmpl, sometimes worse. I say, don't try to hard cause it won't change that much. I feel the car delivers better economy if you drive at a rpm that keeps the turbo spooled up. Off boost is when the car guzzles gas and its no surprise considering the base is the 1.4l Fire engine which was never known to be good for economy or driveability. Cruise control will definitely help during highway runs.

I need to check for the emergency fuel flap release thread. I have not seen this in my car. Is it behind the felt lining? The fuel flap has not given me any trouble. It is not perfectly aligned to the lock so sometimes it needs a firm push else it won't lock.

On ground clearance, I've not faced a major issue between the wheels. What scrapes on my car the most is the front bumper followed by the sump guard as a result of over hang. It is too much and hits easily if there is a rut in the road. 2011 T Jets sit lower too so this may not be an issue with your car.

Congratulations on your new ride. The Fiat Linea T Jet is still THE best drivers car from the segment.

@OP: After reading your thread i started imagining that my wheel alignment was also off a bit. Gave the car to New Bharath Tyres here and what do you know, there were variations :(

Is it normal in a new car run for 2500kms?

After the rains and bad potholes in the road, i thank god for the ground clearance :)

I bought a pre-owned Tjet in August and it has complete bliss all the way - it's a car that's simply the best bar the laura TSI in the sub 20 lakh segment.

Unfortunately, my alternator conked and my car has been lying in the workshop for 10 days. Apparently, fiat india does not keep alternators in stock in HQ or in factory. I've been told it will take two weeks for the alternator to fly in (its under warranty) but the whole experience has left me not so happy.

The car lying outside the workshop, endless wait for what is a fairly common part and no clear sign of when the part will come - actually the experience with all the fiat guys has been good - they are all responsive but seem to be stuck in a time warp when it comes to speediness - seems similar to the waay premier padmini treated its customers in the 1960s.

Except for that, the car is an A + in every aspect - wonderful engine, terrific ride and handling.

Of course. But note that the Premier Padmini did not exist in the Sixties. The Fiat 1100 Delight did certainly exist, along with the 1100 Select & Super Select.

That said, the Premier era of customer treatment came in the late Seventies. The Padmini was new in 1974, IIRC.

The T-Jet is a gem of a car, no doubts about that.

Let the turbo kick in! :D

Get the alignment checked and corrected at a reputed place and post the readings here.

Get the balancing done too and ask them to dynamically balance it (weights on both sides of the alloy(If you have alloys) inner side can have hammered weights, outer side should have sticker ones)

Go for a top speed run after that to check if its balanced perfectly or not. If there is a slight shake or feeling of the steering turning light after a certain speed, the wheels are still not perfectly balanced and you will need to find another place to get it balanced as the guy who balanced it has not calibrated his balancing machine.

After reading your review, what I felt is that here goes another guy like me! I made the plunge and got Clara last year. I was aware of the facelift in 2014, so I wanted the one before that.

That cruise control is a great option to have when u ride long distances. Pre 2014 models dont have and its a good addition

The thak sound could be a loose link rod. I had to get my link rod tightened twice in the first 1000 kms and it hasnt ever happened after that in the past 16000 kms.

About the mileage, i have managed to extract 15.2 Kmpl from Pune (Hinjewadi) to Bangalore (Whitefield) on a trip last year. If you accelerate mildly and keep it in the 80-120 range, one should be able to get this on the highways. Inside City is usually 8-10 kmpl.

About pulling in second gear, the car will pull from a dead stop in second gear as well but you have to lightly play the clutch for the same.

Enjoy the car, its fun on the highways and great fun on the twisties. Throw that music system system out of the window and listen to the engine note!:D
Need Proof: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jcQBJP2SVr0

Many Many congratulations on getting the Jet home , but we have to have and see pictures :)

Wheel alignment in my opinion is always done best outside of the workshop , atleast the guys in Delhi are not capable of carrying out a perfect job. Much prefer bridgestone. On the point you raised about the cramped wheel well , i am sure you will get used to it after some driving , i am 5'11 and dont find any issues whether in formal shoes or sneakers.

This is the problem with an engine that is imported as a fully assembled kit. I thought Fiat India started local assembly of the T Jet engine. Looks like it isn't the case. Not keeping stock of an alternator at factory level is ridiculous. The reason for Fiat India's failure is primarily due to a poor support infrastructure. You can't blame the dealer in this case. Without the company backing its dealers, how can they succeed.

I am sure it will be possible to source the alternator locally. Trouble is, it won't be under warranty and it will out of your pocket. If there is a way, you should check the make and model.

Could the spare part availability (or lack thereof) be an issue even with the facelifted Tjet?

I have been considering one for a while but would not be able to digest the fact if the car is rendered stationery for routine repairs/replacements

The mechanical bits are the same so that's still going to be a problem. However, little goes wrong within the engine bay of a T Jet. Alternator failures are not common and does not really fall under routine repair/replacement. A part like this usually last for the life of the car.

There should be no problem sourcing other parts that are common to the Multijet and T Jet. The T Jet runs discs at the rear so there could be possible delays when it is time for replacement.

I am guessing the Multijet runs a different alternator model, possibly a locally sourced one. I see no reason why this can't be used on a T Jet as there is no additional electrical load. I can only think of a different mount for the alternator which is the only reason and the fact that it is possibly a imported unit.

Thanks for pointing to the video. I enjoyed viewing it, both the rider and the T-jet must have had a blast during the drive. Its really a decent piece of driving by the biker, especially when it gets misty after 4.00 mins. The Linea just thrills around the all the corners in the video, and the T-jet is such a pleasure to drive.

I did get the car back after 8 days - the job was well done. People were nice and responsive but I get the feeling that fiat is grappling with a chicken and egg situation - they can't create infrastructure for the woefully inadequate number of cars they have on the road.

But not having a central warehouse (from where they can fly out parts to other cities overnight) is quite an abysmal oversight. The japanese guys do have a lot of kaizen - continous improvement built in and I am sure you won't have an issue like this even for an a part unique to the maruti gypsy - which sells fewer numbers than the linea (not including the army).

What Fiat needs is one good model that can energize the organization -that can only be the 1.6 MJD as their petrol cars can't compete with japanese on fuel efficiency and drivability within the city - beats me why they won't do it - they can anyway charge a near Rs. 11-12 lakhs for it ala rapid/vento and a better handling/better looking car.

Congrats @sparameswaran ! Definitely looking forward to see a few photos!

Two questions - Did you check on discounts in lieu of insurance? I checked with Future Generali (for the same policy costing 33k) , and they offered a quote of just 21K for comprehensive insurance ...

Fiat had said that they would give a 12k cash discount if I we take our own insurance..

Also, what was the manufacturing date of the car? (How old?) - I have just booked a Tuscan Wine 2014 TJet , and have been alloted a VIN for a June-14 vehicle.