[-xplora-]

Nice pics, great color. Congratulations !

Although the mud-flaps are a little iffy, I wish fiat comes out with better mud-flaps.

[geeash]

Originally Posted by neotraveller

geash, your car looks awesome.
By the way, how long does this wax polish last?

I am cleaning my car every day (first wet cloth & then dry cloth) and its almost taking 30 min. I also wash the car every 2 weeks.

Does this 3M polishing help in reducing the pain in maintaining the car?

Hi,
The dealer said the procedure applies wax to a thickness of 50 microns over the raw paint ( they clean the car with carshampoo which is nothing but soap oil to remove any dust and grease). Seems the wax will last atleast 3 to 4 months time. You can even wash the car with water and it will not go. I myself sprayed some water on my linea and water stayed like droplets on a lotus leaf. It also helps in washing as the dust gets washed away with water. And more so the car is damn sexy to look. If you need some more gleaming you can even apply some liquid wax and clean over it. Guess i am going to do it vevery 3 months. In addition they also clean and dress the tyre and clean the interiors and dress the vinyl panels too which is a bonus.

Team-BHP recommends that you change your engine oil after the first 1,000 km. As with all new engines, you will find that some metal slivers have found their way into the oil. From this point onward you can stick to the manufacturer recommended intervals.

have anyone of you done this?. My car is going to complete 1000km in a couple of days. So i am asking. I asked the dealer. He doesnt know anything about this. He recommends oil change only at 15000km. Yes, they dont even change the oil at 3000km servicing.

[geeash]

Has anyone here done a oil change in linea in 1000km?. My car is in 960's. I am in a great dilemma. Please let me know.

[VahanPujari]

Originally Posted by geeash

Has anyone here done a oil change in linea in 1000km?. My car is in 960's. I am in a great dilemma. Please let me know.

No, I have not. Do not worry. I think Fiat manual does not mention oil change at 1000 kms. Check manual for schedule. Probably its not even at 3000 km 1st service. I think they use synthetic oil by the branch selenia

[for_cars1]

Originally Posted by geeash

I am updating the xls file as it had some mistakes. I will post it tonight

The mudflaps costs rs.650 and yes it is OEM mudflap. i will post long shots too tonight.

just for info these are the links for the 3M Crystalline sun films

Fiat's OEM Mudflaps tends to be long and thin, which may be good from a functional perspective.
On the flip side, one has to be careful while reversing, if the tyre goes over a stone/sharp spike , chances are the long mudflaps will be ripped down (in between the stone and the tyre)
Happened to me a couple of times and I switched to a short compact mudflap.

[geeash]

Today exactly at 22:00 my car crossed her first landmark 1000km. I had taken delivery on april 22nd and it has been 11 days for her to get here. Here are the pics

My initial driving report

Cons:
1. Big A pillar issue: I have never experienced this with santro or verna. The big Apillar is obstructing the view of what is there in the side and while crossing intersection. Have to get used to it.
2. A small rattling comes somewhere from behind. Not able to locate the exact place. Will check it out when i go to the service station
3. A/C is not very good as it is in verna. Though its soaring temperature in chennai. Often the dash shows a temparature close to 46C. So have to wait and see, though the things have improved with suncontrol. And each time i forget to switch on the recirculation mode. Hope fiat does something about this
4. No apple Ipod connectivity and the usb slot is in awkward position to plug anything
6. Engine noise: When i took delivery the engine noise used to be nil on starting the car. Now it has grown a little louder .
7.ICE speakers are pathetic
Pros
1. Quality of ride is fabulous and fantastic. I have no words to describe it.
2. Blue and me: Has started recognising the voice commands. It woks when i speak softer rather than loud. 1+ for audio controls too.
3. Huge legroom and roominess off the car is a great pluspoint
4. Everything else about the car is great

FE: 10.1kmpl - 11.4kmpl
Distance run: 1000km
Maintanence cost: nil
Cost of accessories: 21000 ( sunfilm)+650 ( mudflap)+1500 ( waxpolish)+850 ( tansparent floormats)+ 850 (car care kit)

[geeash]

As my car has run 1000km , i am going for a much needed engine oil change as suggested by team-bhp today afternoon. Called the service centre and told them ( fiat nomenclarure says that they will change the engine oil only at 15000km service). Already the oil had become muddy brown. I personally dont think the initial oil will last that long. And car definitely need a oil change after initial run in period. So will report back things. i will also ask them to address the small rattling issue.

[VahanPujari]

Originally Posted by geeash

As my car has run 1000km , i am going for a much needed engine oil change as suggested by team-bhp today afternoon. Called the service centre and told them ( fiat nomenclarure says that they will change the engine oil only at 15000km service). Already the oil had become muddy brown. I personally dont think the initial oil will last that long. And car definitely need a oil change after initial run in period. So will report back things. i will also ask them to address the small rattling issue.

geeash - pls let me know what is their response on this. And also cost of oil change

+1 to almost all your points in your below post

Originally Posted by geeash

My initial driving report

Cons:
1. Big A pillar issue: I have never experienced this with santro or verna. The big Apillar is obstructing the view of what is there in the side and while crossing intersection. Have to get used to it.- Yes, the visibility is hampered but not as acute as SX4.
2. A small rattling comes somewhere from behind. Not able to locate the exact place. Will check it out when i go to the service station - Though there are no rattling sounds in my Car (have checked it with Music Off even), so many owners complaining about this is worrisome.
3. A/C is not very good as it is in verna. Though its soaring temperature in chennai. Often the dash shows a temparature close to 46C. So have to wait and see, though the things have improved with suncontrol. And each time i forget to switch on the recirculation mode. Hope fiat does something about this - Default Recirculation off is an irritant so as the air distribution flow button. Everytime I switch on the AC, I've to push those 2 buttons - recirculation off & air flow to chest. Cooling is not very good - lower than even my Ford Ikon. It seems Rear Vent takes out some cooling & it does not get closed entirely as well. Try Rear Vent flow to the right most side to close it, cooling may increase somewhat
4. No apple Ipod connectivity and the usb slot is in awkward position to plug anything- Very awkward position of USB though do not need to remove Pen Drive frequently
6. Engine noise: When i took delivery the engine noise used to be nil on starting the car. Now it has grown a little louder . - Yes, it seems to have increase slightly.
7.ICE speakers are pathetic - Yes, very ordinary
Pros
1. Quality of ride is fabulous and fantastic. I have no words to describe it.- Better but manuvering is not as good as Ford Ikon. Also the car jumps on small potholes a bit higher than Ikon.
2. Blue and me: Has started recognising the voice commands. It woks when i speak softer rather than loud. 1+ for audio controls too.- How are you using it for Audio control? When Audio is on, do you press that Windows button on steering to activate voice?
3. Huge legroom and roominess off the car is a great pluspoint
4. Everything else about the car is great- Yes

[geeash]

I had gone to concorde, ambattur chennai for oil change yesterday. I was assigned a service advisor to whom i told my linea has finished 1000km and i need a engine oil change after the run in period. He looked puzzled and said the oil change was due only at 15k. I said i knew that and i have done a oil change for all my previous vehicles after the run in and gave him a explanation after which he agreed and said it will be chargable. He told me that 7 other automobile enthusiast like me has come and changed engine oil after the run in period for linea and i was the eighth. He asked if i am a autmobile engineer. i said no. He also surprisingly aked me if i am part of some automobile internet forum. I said i am a member of Team-BHP. I was assigned a mechanic who hauled up the car in the hydraulic jack above .

He inspected the underchassis and asked my if my car scrapped on speed breaker. I said in affirmitive. He showed me that there was a small dent in exhaust line.

He told me that it was nothing to worry about as all cars had some of these. He removed the engine guard and kept it separate.

He unscrewed a small screw at the bottom of the engine and drained out the oil fully. I thought i made a wise decision as the oil had already become black and i thought i found even some sort of thing like metal slivers ( i am not sure).

The mechanic remarked it was a good thing to change the engine oil after the run in though fiat doesnt advocate it. He told me that most of the engine oil will last only 10000km and 15k km is a bit long. He said the oil which fiat recommends is imported all the way for linea from italy and only dealers have it and is not available outside as it is of highest quality.

He closed the screw and fixed the engine guard and bought the car down. went to fetch the engine oil. Came back with 4 bottles of SELENIA MOTOR OIL WR-40 and poured 3 bottles of the oil into engine through the port in the bonnet for engine oil. The oil was straw yellow colour just like the colour of lager beer.

He told me that normally engine will take up 3.2 litres of the oil but since the oil filter is not pulled out it has taken only 3.0 litres. My linea drank 3.0 litres of oil to quench her thirst. He started the vehicle and idled it for a few minutes and then checked for the rattling which i complained. He could not find the cause of the rattling so went for a road test and found that noise is coming from rear seat. He pulled it up and fixed it and then checked again but still the rattle was coming. It was getting very late so i told him i will check the rattling out in 1st service and came back. The cost of the oil change and labour was Rs.1995. Here is the picture of the bill

During the under chassis inspection i saw some grey painting in the fuel and engine and inner areas and i casually enquired about it to machanic. I was taken by surprise as he said it was under chassis painting. It had been done partly to cover the fuel and engine area. The mechanic told me that linea come with partial underchassis painting and i need to do the underbody protection to ensure the full area underchassis is covered. So i took a few pictures of that and more pictuers of underchassis to show it to you people to see how it looks like. Here are the pictures

1.This picture shows the shock absorbers Helical coil and double action telescopic dampeners and exhaust and fuel tank.The grey colour of the fuel tank is because of the under chassis painting

2.Another view of the Exhaust line

3. A close view of the underchassis painting

4. A full view of the underchassis

5. A view front for what is under the bonnet

I managed to get some information about the oil used from internet . U can know it from

Selenia

Selenia - tblFiatAuto

cheers
geeash

[sharath]

The cost of the oil change and labour was Rs.1995.

Any difference in engine noise and acceleration after changing the oil?

[luky_13]

Geeash, this 'under-skirt' adventure was really very interesting and informative. Linea owners like me now know whats under her belly.

Also good that you changed the engine oil within the run-in. I too plan to change the engine oil after clocking 5000 kms.

[geeash]

Any difference in engine noise and acceleration after changing the oil?

Yes. The engine noise have come down like what it used to be when i got delivery of the car. Acceleration i dont feel any difference . I have not opened her out more than 80kmph till now.

[aks_karthik]

Good Aswin,

But i haven't changed the engine oil in my first service.
I talked with CSM,TATA and some technical guys of fiat.
They told,It's not a mandatory to make the engine cool.
Again it won't do anything dramatically.So changing the Oil is the person's choice.

I too have looked the car underbody while servicing.
I got hit in several places in my 1700 kms drive to my native.
I was little bit worried,but after seeing the under chassis i was felt Ok,there's nothing happened abnormally.Under chassis is in good condition.
Have some scrap here and there.But not so deep.
As we planned ,one day we visist 3M and do Antirust treatment.

I heard a lot of booming sound from tyre.So we can cut those sound by using 3M Sound Nullifier.
we will plan and do it asap.

[sharath]

Kartik, what is this

3M Sound Nullifier

is all about? Please pore some light on this. thanks.

[neotraveller]

Awesome post ashwin. Many thanks.
This is the only way to know what the under belly looks like.

Regarding the under-chassis treatment ... I enquired at our service center and they said its not required for Linea as it already has the painting done and showed me inside the wheel-arches. I could see and feel the rubbery coating.
But like you said maybe only 50-60% is coated.

Also I asked the service center CRM about 3M paint protection. He said it will cost 4500 and it will have 6 coats and is good for retaining the shine of the car. This is good for 1.5 years with 2 free "services" in between itseems.
When I said it only costs 1500, he said that's only polishing & waxing and will last only couple of months and it might have 1-2 coats.
Ashwin, your comments on this?