The Fiat Linea test drive thread

VahanPujari · 8th April 2009, 00:57

Quote:

Originally Posted by drashkum

i was promised delivery of linea in 3 weeks when i booked my linea petrol flamenco red in chennai in mid march. i called the dealer today as the sales executive had said the car will be reaching today .( actually car was supposed to reach chennai on sunday but on sunday he said car i late by 2 days and will be coming on tuesday). when i called him today he now says car will come only on saturday. and delivery will be done only next tuesday and that too he is not sure. did anybody have similar issues with your dealer?.
i had paid a advance of rs 25000. now he wants me to pay the rest of the amount within this week all of a sudden ( he had told me earlier that i need to pay the rest only during delivery). should i pay the amount now? or i should tell him to show me my car first for me to pay the rest?. ( my loan is through . i have instructed the bank not to give the cheque directly to the dealer and instead give it to me which i can give to dealer when i wish to give). please tell me what to do

Join the party.
I had also booked in mid-march. the dealer said he can deliver before 31st march. I wanted it in 1st week of april & never believed him. I told him i want to do PDI on 26th/ 27th march & then will take delivery on 3rd / 4th apr. The car came a week let to dealer's stockyard only on 2nd apr. did the PDI. was to receive delivery on wed 8th. now he says there is some issue with registration & can only delivery on thursday late eve around 9.30 pm after I shouted loudly at sales exe.

i suggest you ask him that you want to do the PDI & then will give him payment cheque. in any case registration will take 2-3 days by that time he can encash the cheque & you'll also feel assured having seen the car & having eng/ chasis no.

drashkum · 8th April 2009, 08:20

Quote:

i was promised delivery of linea in 3 weeks when i booked my linea petrol flamenco red in chennai in mid march. i called the dealer today as the sales executive had said the car will be reaching today .( actually car was supposed to reach chennai on sunday but on sunday he said car i late by 2 days and will be coming on tuesday). when i called him today he now says car will come only on saturday. and delivery will be done only next tuesday and that too he is not sure. did anybody have similar issues with your dealer?.
i had paid a advance of rs 25000. now he wants me to pay the rest of the amount within this week all of a sudden ( he had told me earlier that i need to pay the rest only during delivery). should i pay the amount now? or i should tell him to show me my car first for me to pay the rest?. ( my loan is through . i have instructed the bank not to give the cheque directly to the dealer and instead give it to me which i can give to dealer when i wish to give). please tell me what to do

I agree to you bite the bullet

it is indeed a

Quote:

welcome to the world of the corrupt and uncaring dealer

getting a car is like building a house. we have to feel immensely happy about getting a car. we need to cherish every moment of the feeling. why dont the dealers understand that?. why cant they be frank?. why often they play games with customers?. although the wait is exciting it is also frustrating. sometimes it gets on my nerves.

nowadays it has become a norm. i suffered the same when i bought my verna and also my santro ( imagine santro was a hugely popular one and dealer said it was readily available and made me wait 1 month). dont the dealers follow some ethics?. i had to cancel a i20 earlier because of the same reason. the dealership promised me the i20 in first week of march but when i went there i was told car will be out only after another 4 weeks. and they didnt even intimate me. i had sold off my santro in february end believing i will get the car in march 1st week. i had also got the loan processed and my 1st emi was due in april. lucky me i cancelled the car. i still cannot see a single i20 asta on road. seems the first batch in chennai will be available only in may 1st week. and what more i fell in love with linea which was not even in my budget at that time.

now again its getting to a matter of grapes turning sour

@ vahanpujari

Quote:

i suggest you ask him that you want to do the PDI & then will give him payment cheque. in any case registration will take 2-3 days by that time he can encash the cheque & you'll also feel assured having seen the car & having eng/ chasis no.

he says he can get the car from the stockyard only after full payment for pdi by the dealers ( that too when the car has not even arrived from ranjangaon to their stockyard). he also says i cannot be there during the pdi at their service station by their mechanics. though he will allow me to conduct my own separate pdi before registration.

i dont want to shout at them as i want to be happy during getting my own first luxury sedan. i had shouted to dealers when got my verna for my father and believe me they didnt even conduct a pooja before giving the car. the just threw the car as if they throw meat to dogs.

aks_karthik · 8th April 2009, 10:14

Quote:

Originally Posted by drashkum

i was promised delivery of linea in 3 weeks when i booked my linea petrol flamenco red in chennai in mid march. i called the dealer today as the sales executive had said the car will be reaching today .( actually car was supposed to reach chennai on sunday but on sunday he said car i late by 2 days and will be coming on tuesday). when i called him today he now says car will come only on saturday. and delivery will be done only next tuesday and that too he is not sure. did anybody have similar issues with your dealer?.
i had paid a advance of rs 25000. now he wants me to pay the rest of the amount within this week all of a sudden ( he had told me earlier that i need to pay the rest only during delivery). should i pay the amount now? or i should tell him to show me my car first for me to pay the rest?. ( my loan is through . i have instructed the bank not to give the cheque directly to the dealer and instead give it to me which i can give to dealer when i wish to give). please tell me what to do

This happened to me too.Check my Thread.
where did you booked ?
Just send a PM i'll share my phone and we will discuss further

drashkum · 8th April 2009, 10:28

Quote:

This happened to me too.Check my Thread

i guess this is some sort of a trick that the dealers are playing. may be we all should show this part of the thread to the fiat to make them know what is happening .........

drashkum · 8th April 2009, 14:50

the executive said the 1.6 version is also in pipeline and will be released in last quarter of this year!!!. oh god, why did i book now!

neotraveller · 8th April 2009, 15:06

The 1.6 is diesel MJD. Not the petrol one, so don't worry!

In another forum, someone posted that it's gonna be an automatic.

Quote:

Originally Posted by drashkum

the executive said the 1.6 version is also in pipeline and will be released in last quarter of this year!!!. oh god, why did i book now!

VahanPujari · 8th April 2009, 15:09

Quote:

Originally Posted by drashkum

he says he can get the car from the stockyard only after full payment for pdi by the dealers ( that too when the car has not even arrived from ranjangaon to their stockyard). he also says i cannot be there during the pdi at their service station by their mechanics. though he will allow me to conduct my own separate pdi before registration.

That's what I'm saying. You do your own PDI even if it means at his stockyard. Once you do the PDI, you'll have a comfort of having Engine No./ Chasis No. & seeing the car physically. Very little chances of delivery getting further delayed after that.
Has he given you Engine No./ Chasis No.?

drashkum · 8th April 2009, 15:15

Quote:

The 1.6 is diesel MJD. Not the petrol one, so don't worry!

are you sure?. because he said both petrol and diesel are in pipeline. when i probed him he shut his mouth and didnt budge more. i looked awkward.

Quote:

Has he given you Engine No./ Chasis No.?

no. not yet. should i ask him now or when the car lands here. i mean will he know the engine and chassis number even before the car reaches chennai???

pawan_pullarwar · 8th April 2009, 15:37

This sunday I took a test drive of Linea MJD 3rd time. This time there was a reason, I always encountered a stupid sales person, who used to stop me whenever I want to rip the car. This time there was this sales girl, we 4 including sales girl seated in car. And I pushed it hard and realize, whoever are saying the car is underpower is totaly wrong. Even I had written in my earlier post in this thread that the car is underpower. This time the car was very smooth, I asked sales girl whether she handovered me Petrol or Diesel?

In no time I was doing 90KMPH. Thats amazing. The car is not underpowered at all.

aks_karthik · 8th April 2009, 15:47

Quote:

Originally Posted by drashkum

no. not yet. should i ask him now or when the car lands here. i mean will he know the engine and chassis number even before the car reaches chennai???

yes.
Once the car is alloted to you in Tata-Fiat CRM and is in transit.Sales guy knows your car engine and chassis no through CRM itself.

drashkum · 8th April 2009, 15:55

but what is the point in knowing the chassis and engine number?. is there any possibility of changing the car in case the car is sort of faulty?.

forgive me . i am naive!!!. i mean do you mean to say if the sales person knows the chasis and engine number then the car must be really on transit???. or does he get the numbers even before the engine is fixed on the chassis?

aks_karthik · 8th April 2009, 15:58

Quote:

Originally Posted by pawan_pullarwar

This sunday I took a test drive of Linea MJD 3rd time. This time there was a reason, I always encountered a stupid sales person, who used to stop me whenever I want to rip the car. This time there was this sales girl, we 4 including sales girl seated in car. And I pushed it hard and realize, whoever are saying the car is underpower is totaly wrong. Even I had written in my earlier post in this thread that the car is underpower. This time the car was very smooth, I asked sales girl whether she handovered me Petrol or Diesel?

In no time I was doing 90KMPH. Thats amazing. The car is not underpowered at all.

Yes pawan,

The car is not underpowered for sure.
But the long ply in the clutch needs sometime to settle.
Due to this Clutch long ply,car feels underpower.
once you used to this clutch,you can take the car for the rip.
I took my linea till 140kmph.
It touched it easily with minimal effort say around 2750 rpm.
I'll update once i will come back from Native trip.

aks_karthik · 8th April 2009, 16:05

Quote:

Originally Posted by drashkum

but what is the point in knowing the chassis and engine number?. is there any possibility of changing the car in case the car is sort of faulty?.

forgive me . i am naive!!!. i mean do you mean to say if the sales person knows the chasis and engine number then the car must be really on transit???. or does he get the numbers even before the engine is fixed on the chassis?

This ensure that you get your alloted car.
Already there is a buzz like if anyone is ready to pay full amount,Then the avaiable car (alloted to somebody else) is transfered to that person.
Ask the salesguy about the engine and chassis no.

In my case also first i got a Engine and Chassis No and after a week GM VST Motors called me and gave a new Engine and Chassis no.
what he would have done is,he overrode somebody and gave me the car in priority as i fought for early deliver as they promised.

hirajan · 8th April 2009, 17:43

Quote:

Originally Posted by aks_karthik

Yes pawan,
The car is not underpowered for sure.
-----------------------
It touched it easily with minimal effort say around 2750 rpm.
I'll update once i will come back from Native trip.

How is the performance (pulling power) when it is fully loaded with adults (Driver + 4 passenger)?

neotraveller · 8th April 2009, 17:44

Yes. 1.6 is a diesel one only.
The equivalent powerful petrol sibling is the 1.4 TJet (120 bhp). Maybe fiat will eventually bring this next year as an update.

Check following link for some useful info:
::ITALIASPEED::

Quote:

Originally Posted by drashkum

are you sure?. because he said both petrol and diesel are in pipeline. when i probed him he shut his mouth and didnt budge more. i looked awkward.

8th April 2009, 14:50	#725
drashkum BHPian Join Date: Mar 2009 Location: chennai Posts: 226 Thanked: 206 Times	had a talk with dealer the executive said the 1.6 version is also in pipeline and will be released in last quarter of this year!!!. oh god, why did i book now!
	() Thanks

8th April 2009, 15:37	#729
pawan_pullarwar BHPian Join Date: Mar 2006 Location: Pune - Now in Munich, Germany Posts: 778 Thanked: 129 Times	This sunday I took a test drive of Linea MJD 3rd time. This time there was a reason, I always encountered a stupid sales person, who used to stop me whenever I want to rip the car. This time there was this sales girl, we 4 including sales girl seated in car. And I pushed it hard and realize, whoever are saying the car is underpower is totaly wrong. Even I had written in my earlier post in this thread that the car is underpower. This time the car was very smooth, I asked sales girl whether she handovered me Petrol or Diesel? In no time I was doing 90KMPH. Thats amazing. The car is not underpowered at all.
	() Thanks

8th April 2009, 15:55	#731
drashkum BHPian Join Date: Mar 2009 Location: chennai Posts: 226 Thanked: 206 Times	i didn know that but what is the point in knowing the chassis and engine number?. is there any possibility of changing the car in case the car is sort of faulty?. forgive me . i am naive!!!. i mean do you mean to say if the sales person knows the chasis and engine number then the car must be really on transit???. or does he get the numbers even before the engine is fixed on the chassis?
	() Thanks