Hi Folks, after a long wait of almost a year, i ended up owning my Italian beauty on the 10/July.
Admiration Guaranteed
I was one of the first to test drive the car in Chennai. Almost waited in the showroom like a school kid for an hour to test drive her. I still remember how excited i was when the car first arrived at the showroom.
The moment i saw the car, I decided that she will be mine soon but something stopped me from booking the car. Was it pressure from family and friends not to buy a FIAT? Was it the bitter experience my friends experienced with their Palio’s? Was it the fear of me being termed as someone who owned a beauty from a company which was mismanaged earlier ?
Yes, i feared all these. So i decided to wait and watch. I desperately needed someone to help me decide.
It was then i incidentally started reading the team-BHP forums. To cut a long story short, i need to Thank Geeash (Dr. Ashwin), Vahanpujari, Coolboy, Karthik and many more for their excellent piece of information in their forums which i used to proudly read out to my family and friends. It was kind of me convincing everyone that things have improved at FIAT.
Sales Experience
After a long wait of 4 months, i finally booked the car on 25/May. Applied a loan through HDFC at 10.50 percent and made cash payment on the same day.
Variant - Emotion Petrol
Colour - Vocal white
Dealer - Concorde, Chennai
Negotiated hard for some freebies and finally managed to get Floor mats (2+3), Mud Flaps, Rs. 3000 discount on Sun film, Rs. 8000 as Corporate Discount, Rs. 4000 discount on Seat Cover.
Took Insurance privately from TATA AIG and not from the dealer. Premium paid was Rs. 15,500 against Rs. 20,000 quoted by the dealer. Saved Rs. 4,500 on that!!!
I opted for RE35 sun film (make: 3M) and OEM Leather seats (body touching part is Leather and rest art leather). The price quoted by dealer for sun film and Seat covers were Rs. 5800 and Rs. 11,700 respectively.
Waited for 2 weeks and finally my car came on 3/June at the Dealers Yard. PDI was done on the 5/June.
The sales experience was very good. I would give a 10/10 for the way i was treated at the showroom. Infact, they pampered me. I thoroughly enjoyed the experience.
The car was registered on the 9/June and delivered to me on the 10/June.
At the time of the delivery i noticed a minor unnoticeable scratch on the front bumper (paint peeled off a little) which the dealer promised will be painted at their Service Centre at my convenience.
As I drove out of the showroom towards my office which is at a 5 km distance, I could see curious looks on the car. Similarly as soon as i reached office, i was surrounded by my colleagues.The first reaction was "wow! What a car machan. She is a stunner!”, the next reaction was "Machan, tough times for you with the service and spares".All i did was just a broad smile which i am sure they understood.
In the meanwhile, just 2 days before my car was delivered i was invited for the Car and Coffee Meet. Reached there on time. The Best part of the meet was my meeting with Geeash (Dr. Ashwin). We became instant friends. Today we speak to each other everyday for at least 5 mins. The entire discussion would be around Linea and related issues. I along with Ashwin won the Miniature Car which was delivered to me after a long 45 days wait. Even the miniature had paint peeled off on the bumper (felt like FIAT specially made that miniature for me!!!!!). The car is kept proudly at my office desk. I am sure one day some maniac will steal it! Wish I had a gear lock and centre lock for the same.
Life with Linea at Concorde Service Station, Chennai
Most of you have updated most of this part in your forums but let me also invite you to be part of my happiness, sorrow, frustration, anger and my weekend experiences (mostly at the service centre).
Went to the Concorde Service Centre in Ambattur, Chennai which is the most sophisticated and modern service centre TATA has in India (as claimed by the service advisor and Centre Manager). Informed them about the scratch and they immediately agreed to paint the same. I left the service centre contented. Here comes the sad part. After one hour, the service advisor called me to inform that they will not paint the bumper Vocal white instead they will do a touch up. I called up sales office desperately and after 1 hour, the sales office sends an urgent fax on my behalf to the service centre.
I was informed to collect the car at 6 pm next day. The next day arrived and i was at the service centre at 5 pm. The car was ready, cleaned (but made them clean again as lot of places including the seat covers were soiled). The painting job was 200 percent perfect but they had made 4 scratches free of cost, that too, one on each side of the car!
This was informed to the service advisor and he was apologetic. Had to leave my car for one more day at the service centre. During the first week of ownership, my car was with the service centre for almost 3 days.
The next week, i again rushed to the service centre to fix couple of rattling noises heard from the doors (thanks to installation of Sun film!).
In the meanwhile, I treated her with 3M paint protection and full body Dinitrol anti rust which costed me Rs.1500 and Rs.3214 respectively. Added body color reverse parking sensors from Xenos for Rs.3400.
Long Drive and my Weekends
The next weekend, i drove down to Yelagiri which is approx 240 KMs from Chennai. The ride quality was top class. I got a FE of 16.8 and 18.7 (as displayed in the MID) up and down Chennai respectively. I was driving her at 80 constantly keeping in mind the run-in period. The car was smooth and was sailing. Want to scream at the top of my voice to all critics that this car is not underpowered.
After reaching home, i found 2 screws on the floor mats. Searched the whole car and couldn’t find from where these screws came from.
Again, rushed to the service centre (the service centre is just a km from my home) and found that these came from the driver side door handles.
I was forced to visit the service centre 5 times in two months to rectify the below issues
1. Driver seat Back rest is shaking which the Vendor (Tata Johnson) and Service Centre has agreed to replace after persuading for almost 3 weeks and some tough talking with Mangesh Kodalkar. Order Placed for New Seat on 11/July. Yet to receive the same.[/FONT][/COLOR]
2. Wiper fluid tank had a crack. Order placed for replacement on 25/June.
3. Rattling noise from the rear parcel tray which was eluding for the past one month was finally found. The culprit is the rear seat belt casing. Order placed for a new casing on 25/June.
4. OEM seat covers have become Saggy. Requested for a replacement or money back which is being discussed within Concorde Motors and Mangesh. They are trying to convince me that they will refit the same but I am not convinced. Yet to receive a favorable reply.
5. Seat Belt Buzzer is not working - SA claims that buzzer is not available in Emotion but the Website and sales brochure claims otherwise
6. Wiper changed as the rubber beading was faulty.
7. Headlamp beams adjusted as the beams were too low.
8. Noise from steering column which was rectified.
9. AC cooling not effective but all lineas have the same issue as stated by SA.
10. Driver seat goes down automatically every night! No solution yet in place at Chennai
11. Letters in LINEA and Emotion logo falling off. Checked with Mangesh and was informed that it because of the glue issue. Order placed for the same on 11/June. Yet to receive.
12. The tyre noise is too high which SA claimed as normal in all Linea
13. Weather strip under the bonnet, Bonnet Lever and Fuel Lid opener is too flimsy(loose?) which is the case with all Linea's as stated by SA
Overall, it’s a fantastic sales experience and a little worrisome service experience. All that i know is the service centre at Chennai has learnt a lot about the Car from me and Dr. Ashwin, including how to treat a customer!
My weekend special with the service centre still continues.
What a Car!
Btw, I get around 11 KMPL in the city with 100% AC on. The average speed shown in the MID is around 22 Kms. My daily commute is around 32 kms and weekend it is around 80. I have completed 2600 Kms as of date.
The ride is butter smooth. She handles potholes with a sturdy thud. Music system and ACC is decent.
Apart from the inherent niggles; she is a delight to drive.
Additions and wish list
I am planning to soon dress her with the following
Door scuffs (order from eBay)
Rear spoiler (don’t know from where I could get it)
Change my front chrome grill to black one found in active mode
Water pressure jet from Bosch
K&N filer after 10k KMs