[vinaydas]

must say its looking good..
i like the way fiat is doing now.. Only thing now is after they have spread their network properly they should let go of crappy tata.

[rajtheindian]

Congratulations
Post some more pics and wirte a detailed review.

[Superleggera]

Congrats Dude. The car really looks cool and stands out from the crowd !

[Machine freak]

Congrats mate. great buy.

even i have just recently got my petrol emotion silver.

I d like to know if the car got delivered to you with the floor mats or not.

the dealership in gurgaon says they don't have the floor mats as of now and even when they get them they ll charge extra for it... is this correct?

[aks_karthik]

have anyone seen MudFlaps for Linea.
sales guy told,No mud flaps is available as of now.he doesn't have any clue about MudFlaps availability.

[ksethuram]

A lovely car downsouth. Congrats. Stand out from the crowd..
Keep us updated on the realtime fuel figures.

[suman]

Heartiest Congratulations! I know that you'd done a lot of research & consciously chosen this model - looking forward to reading your ownership experience once you've clocked a few miles

[extreme_torque]

Originally Posted by suman

Heartiest Congratulations! I know that you'd done a lot of research & consciously chosen this model - looking forward to reading your ownership experience once you've clocked a few miles

Now that you have a good aquaintance at ABS motors when are you buying one ;-)

[netchef]

Originally Posted by downsouth

Whew, what a wait it has been, 4+ odd months, couple of hundred hours reading up, researching, 2 months of frustrating wait. It is finally reached home yesterday. Before I am going to post a detailed report, dealership experience and actual pictures, I would like to thank T-BHP and members alike to have helped me to make a choice with buying a Linea, some members I can recall right away. nehamit, srini, ntranced, finnepy…I will have the details and more in a few hours.

P.S. Flamico Red, Petrol E+ is my car

downsouth: Well done, Sir. Enjoy your wheels and drive safe. IMO she's a looker. And your pics gave me the first glimpse of the rear end, and boy is it sculpted- Aston Martin-esque, even. Thanks for writing in and posting pixels.

[suman]

Originally Posted by extreme_torque

Now that you have a good aquaintance at ABS motors when are you buying one ;-)

What! And ditch my 1.6 Silver Streak! No way, not yet........

[srikarsai]

Congrats downsouth ...
F.Red really goes well with the front grill and the fiat logo.
I got my black linea on 27th feb . Loving every moment being with it
Lets meet up for a coffee someday ....

[downsouth]

[COLOR=black][FONT=Calibri][SIZE=3]A big thank you to everyone for the wishes and nice words for buying the Linea, I definitely have not been fast in my replies my apologies, and work has kept me busy the last 2 days. I am going to follow up with a report but before that want to answer some of your queries.[/SIZE][/FONT][/COLOR]

Originally Posted by Machine freak

Congrats mate. great buy.

even i have just recently got my petrol emotion silver.

I d like to know if the car got delivered to you with the floor mats or not.

the dealership in gurgaon says they don't have the floor mats as of now and even when they get them they ll charge extra for it... is this correct?

I did not get floor mats with my car either, i think others have got them along with the car. I did tell the sales exec that I will not pay for the floor mats. I purchased them from an accessories shop.

Do you have an initial report online, if not please put up one, will be great to read your experience.

Originally Posted by aks_karthik

have anyone seen MudFlaps for Linea.
sales guy told,No mud flaps is available as of now.he doesn't have any clue about MudFlaps availability.

Nope, I havent seen any but I did read somewhere on the forum that they are available.

Originally Posted by vigneshram

Hey,
congrats on the red hot beauty.BTW is it Concorde Khairatabad Circle??The pics suggest it is...

Vignesh

Hey vignesh, thats right it is Concorde at Khairatabad Circle. I havent got time to upload more pictures, will do it tomorrow.

Originally Posted by myavu

Nope! It's with 4 stock speakers and 4 stock tweeters, check the rear door near handle, same as in the front...

Wow thats news no wonder, the surrond sound is good. But when you increase the volume like really loud there is a jarring sound in the doors.

[downsouth]

My wait has been for the last 6 months, hundreds of hours of researching and a couple of TD in the C segment. I finally decided on booking the Linea. And just 2 days ago, I have taken the delivery of the car. It really stands up to its tag line and Fiat marquee.

Background

I need to confess here - I am a die-hard Maruti customer, since the last 14 years I have been, guess deep down I still am. I used to own a Maruti 800 DX from 96-2003, it was a superb car. Next was a upgrade in Dec 2003 to an Esteem VXI, I still own it but my dad drives it. I still love driving the esteem, for me it is still a dependable and comfortable car. Why I am writing all this, cause you should know that pulling away a customer from a Brand is not easy, Fiat with their Linea has done it(at least me).

I test drove, SX4, Mileage was a issue dropped it. Fiesta was the closest I came to buying, but was dissuaded due to the cramped rear-seat and A.S.S. The Verna felt outdated with almost no features available, except ABS. ANHC was just right but cost and dealer attitude killed my attention. Finally it was the Linea, and after reading up so much on T-BHP and the Web I decided will wait. Unfortunately I was travelling during the Launch in jan, when I reached Hyd the first thing for me was the TD. I was floored,

I have 2 TD reports you can read them here.

Diesel

http://www.team-bhp.com/forum/1158410-post294.html

Petrol

http://www.team-bhp.com/forum/1175701-post423.html

Dealership experience

Concorde motors Hyderabad was a pleasant company to deal with, the sales and front office people were responsive, courteous and more important knowledgeable about the car. The only 2 places they fell short was the mailing a document and they could not confirm a date for a Hip-Hop Black E+. My First TD was of a Diesel E+, and the sales exec was quite helpful. Since I was interested in a Petrol E+, as the soon the vehicle arrived, the car was driven to my office for a TD. The follow-up and communication was outstanding from the Dealership. I was given an opportunity to be around when the PDI was done, and a small test drive was given of the car which I selected. Overall the documentation and loan processing was smooth. Was not pressurised for the insurance and registration but I decided to go with them. The best part was the car was really decked up for the delivery the whole Fiat team(about 12-14 people) were assembled during the hand over. In fact they gave us a customary sweet box hell, they even took pictures. I think that was a nice touch, even when the office purchased a Optra magnum, the delivery was bland. I was not provided with mats or any accessories I did not push for anything either, so I let it be at that.

Now to the car

So now to the car, it has run about 45 Km, only. So what can I write about it right? Wrong, the car has been constantly driven in stop-go traffic and mostly in Banjara hills/Begumpet, people familiar with Hyderabad will explain that it is quite a lot of ups and down. So far the car has performed above expectations from the word go. I liked the Linear delivery of the power, there is no instant push but driven with the right driving style it performs great.

The 5th gear can be engaged at 50Kmph/2000RPM and with the AC on still engages well no jerks at all. The steering is a light I would say but I have already gotten used to it, turning radius is fine for the size of this car. The car can absorb most if not all, bumps and pot holes. Rear seat comfort is great, a couple of cm more of leg space would have helped a lot. The NVH is perfect and I felt the best in this segment, the calls I made There is enough of everything to satisfy a family sedan. ACC is tricky to setup but it can be done in a couple of times, cooling inside the car is good. I did notice the cooling fan sounds like a jet engine, I liked it some might not like it.

Pros:

• Drop dead gorgeous, trust me on this one, I had my neighbours who own NHC and AHNC really liking the car, in fact the NHC owners comment was it looks and feels very upmarket.
• Fantastic features- My Car Stage 3- shows everything and more, Blue & Me,
• Stereo works really well for USB, CD, Controls on the steering are a boon,
• felt the Head lamps with the fog lamps as more than adequate(have to test in the city I will stop here
• Rear seat is quite comfortable, rear AC works really well.
• Dashboard and center console, in cabin lighting is really way up the mark.

Cons:

• Front arm rest is not usable in city driving,
• Check Engine warning Lamp was on 3 times
• Levers are quiet delicate/low quality/cheap( please pick the right word for yourself)
• Inserting USB Stick is difficult
• By default stereo plays Media drive not your last running
• Need to set Blue & me voice, it is quite loud
• Setting the right driving position is not going to be easy
• If you wear wide soled shoes/floaters then dead pedal hinders usage of clutch.
• When playing the stereo at high volumes, there is vibrations in the left door panel.

So far I have purchased floor mats, they don’t fit well since it was not meant for this car but they are sufficient for now. AND I have put up 2 T-BHP stickers on the car one on the front windshield and another on the rear-bumper. I have planned on getting Sun film after the Registration is complete and will be getting leather seats when I go to Bangalore. If I get high security number plates in Hyderabad else I know someone who does it in Bangalore.

Except for the ‘Check Engine’ I have had no other problems with the car. I called up Concorde regarding the issue and I got a call back from the service engineer and visited Concorde on the way back. I did not have an appointment exactly but I was met by the Service Manager, they were really kind and patient had to wait for approx 45 mins, they had to diagnose the ECU and they had got it fixed. But I did not get much of an explanation from them.

Hmm…thats not exactly my kind of great start, but hey they did fix it up, also complained about the vibrations in the door, got that fixed as well. I guess Fiat service is as good as everyone else. If it was beloved Esteem, I am sure my maruti service center would have asked me to come in tomorrow morning. I consider this not good service...great service.

My take on the Linea - Overall experience has been 8/10 , The linea looses 2 points for plastics and ECU prob . So if someone is planning to buy this car dont think twice just buy it.

P.S. My wife and family are in love with the car, I feel the same way too, Pictures will be coming soon.

[nehamit]

Originally Posted by downsouth

Cons:

• Inserting USB Stick is difficult
• By default stereo plays Media drive not your last running
• Need to set Blue & me voice, it is quite loud

A detail 'How to' is provided in 'Blue&Me' guide under the 'problems' where you will be able to set your options, like last running file re-play and the voice level. However, the voice command for dialing a number is not working properly as it interprets '2' and '7' as '0'. My dealer rep. is working on this with Fiat and told me that a solution will be provided soon. This is true for all Linea E+ sold in Ahmedabad. I hope this is useful to you.

[downsouth]

Originally Posted by nehamit

A detail 'How to' is provided in 'Blue&Me' guide under the 'problems' where you will be able to set your options, like last running file re-play and the voice level. However, the voice command for dialing a number is not working properly as it interprets '2' and '7' as '0'. My dealer rep. is working on this with Fiat and told me that a solution will be provided soon. This is true for all Linea E+ sold in Ahmedabad. I hope this is useful to you.

Thanks Dr, Frankly I havent had time to do all the settings, thats the plan for the weekend, But you know I dailed a couple of numbers using Voice commands, worked fine for me. Now another feature I would want to work my GPS in E71 with Blue & Me. I dont want to invest in a separate GPS. Will update over the weekend.