Emotionally packed Lady in white (Fiat Linea ). Wife's envy, my pride

nicesachin · 13th August 2009, 21:37

Stepped into a TATA showroom to check Indica Vista for my Father-in-Law. And there saw this beauty standing alone acquiring the first place on the display. The front chrome grill was looking awesome and as I moved to the back, it stunned me more. Clear back makes Linea look more beautiful.

Opened the door and I got the feeling of the dual tone European standard cars. The punch line “Admiration Guaranteed” was getting more prominent in my case. And My head started thinking about how to make my Finance minister (Wifey) ready about a new car for us.

My FIL went ahead and bought a Hyundai i10 but I had a strong crush on this Italiano. Took Wifey’s opinion about the car and surprisingly she said she liked the car and we can think of buying one, but were worried about parking space. I am sure car owners from Delhi has this common problem of parking space

Approached the AOne motors the next weekend, took the test drive and the demo of the features . THE ADMIRATION was getting stronger and stronger. I used to drive an Indica Diesel. Which was nowhere near to the Linea. Checked my finances and Booked the Emotion Pack Multijet (Vocal white) with A-One motors. After a long wait and the worst dealership experience, I got the delivery of the car on 25th June 09. I was happy that the car is home

Interiors

Fiat has done a lot of work in making the interiors impressive. Automatic climate control and Music system both have been nicely incorporated in the Dash, Unlike that of Hyundai verna ( I didn’t like the ACC console with the black nobes on the baige interiors). You get armrest for both driver and passengers sitting @ back, which makes drive a little easy. Dual tone concept looks good with the fabric work on Doors. Some of the Plastic parts looked a little delicate. But have not faced any breakage so far. Odometer looks cool with the Orange illuminated display. And also almost all the buttons gets illuminated in the night, that makes the interior more lively during night.

Exteriors
This is one area that draws out the first impression of any car. And I must say I fell in love with the car when I saw the exteriors. Not only they look beautiful but are also strong. I used to think that TATA uses the strongest steel amongst all car makers in India but after having a feel of Linea I seriously feel that I was wrong. Fiats also make strong cars and Safety is on high priority for them within the price scope.

Suspension
I found the suspension a little hard. If we cross a breaker I can feel a little rigidness. Unlike the AHNC of my cousin it was very smooth while crossing a breaker. Also I didn’t like the ground clearance of Linea, On my trip to Binsar there was a run of about 15 kms (Hilly track) where the car was kissing the debris of road maintenance. However the Engine is nice covered with the engine protection at the bottom, That might be hitting the ground.

Handling and control.
9 out of 10 in this area. I had a complete control on the car at the maximum speed (130 km/hr) that I touched so far. My drive to the downhill was a real pleasure in Linea. Even at the sharp turns the car was turning comfortably without any tyre skids and at a speed of about 30 km/hr. Control while braking is outstanding, There have been 2 instances so far where I could see how useful ABS is. I save 2 lives one of a puppy and one of a bicycle rider, And also my Lady in white remain untouched.

Dealership experience
Mates this is something that I never want to remember anymore. The worst ever dealer experience I have faced while getting the delivery of my Linea.

I booked this car on 27th May with Aone Motors and gave them the initial booking amount of about 10 K on the spot and gave the half of the total cost on 29th May 09. The dealer gave me a delivery date of 7th June. On calling my dealer on 6 June I got to know that they have not yet ordered the car from FIAT production house. The sales man apologized and gave me another date of 15th june as the delivery date. On 14th I got to know that car is still not in the transit for A-One motors. Transit itself takes about 10 days. So delivery was not likely before 25th June. I escalated emails to tatamotors customer care & Rajeev kapoor, and got a reply to contact the Regional sales head North. He also said the same story that its likely to get the car delivered by 30th June. I never wanted to wait that long. I asked the sales head to get some barter system worked between the dealers.

On the other hand I was getting calls from Rama motors for the sale of car as I inquired with them at one point of time about discounts and all. They had the car in stock but Aditya Goel (Owner) didnt help me and refused on the Barter system with an excuse that he already booked the car to some customer.

Then I spoke to Techno motors about E pks availability in vocal white color. They had the car, and they even gave me the chassis number and engine number. I went there next day and saw the car in the warehouse and then called Regional sales lead to intervene. @ Techno the Owner and Sales lead Jitender are nice people. They have good relations with A-One motors, so they agreed to the Barter system and I got the delivery of the car the very next day. However all of this was what I initiated and not the dealer. I think Fiat should work on opening their own showroom for sales. I have seen rifts between Fiat and TATA Sales people fighting on space for the display cars.

Mileage
This is an area of everybody’s interest. Many of us have claimed diff. diff mileage of our Linea. Well mates Mileage clearly depends on one’s driving style. I have even got a mileage of 19 kmpl within Delhi City with AC on for a run of about 45 kms. However I usually get a mileage of about 13kmpl at an average speed of 20kmph. 20 kmph , Yes thts the average speed, that I usually get when I drive in the Delhi. Not the best of places to drive a car.

Blue & Me
Blue & me is the one Feature which actually put a bold stamp on my decision to buy Linea. The voice recognition is superb and I liked Fiat’s Idea of not taking of your hand off the steering while driving even to attend the call. Fiat’s collaboration with Microsoft has actually gifted Fiat customers with this useful and handy feature. Blue and me in My Linea works quiet well. And I am the most relieved person now, making and receiving calls while driving without the fear of Traffic policemen. In Delhi these cops have seriously started cursing on pulsar bikes along the cars and grab them to road side if found talking on mobile phone.

Potential issues
- Chrome Strip Falling down. Rear right quarter glass chrome strip was found hanging down by my friend.

- Boot door is quiet hard to close. Its unlike the soft close of a Honda city. One get a feeling that someone bashed the car from back when we close the door.

- I feel the movement of the steering when I turn it completely with the clutch paddle pressed. Don’t know what the solution is for that.

- We don’t have much of space in the dashboard to keep the stuff in the Emotion pack model. As the space that is assigned as glove box on the dashboard is allocated to Airbags in EPack version.

- Engine Noise- I think that Fiat could have done better in this area. They could have worked more on stopping the Engine noise coming in the compartment.

Performance
I have driven this car for about 2800km till now, And during this run I never found the car underpowered. This my view, Probably I don’t have a hunger for power but certainly for mileage (considering my daily run for about 90 kms ). The Engine pulls 1300 kgs quiet well. The noise gets more at higher RPM. But I compromise on this thinking that I am driving a formula 1 racing beast

.

Its been a long review so I will stop my hands now however will keep updating the thread as I proceed further with my wife’s Envy.

neotraveller · 13th August 2009, 22:19

Nice detailed review dude.
Finally you found time for this!

bnzjon · 13th August 2009, 22:24

Excellent review mate.
Some pictures would have made it Yummy !

theragingbull · 13th August 2009, 22:25

wow... Another exclusive Vocal White! Congrats mate! It's raining Fiats on team-bhp.

bharti22shresth · 13th August 2009, 22:33

IMO, linea looks best in white. Very good choice. Sorry to hear of the bad sales experience.

achinthg · 13th August 2009, 23:10

Sachin, finally you created your Linea thread !! Congrats !!!

geeash · 13th August 2009, 23:55

welcome aboard the t-bhp linea ship. ahoy.
enjoy motoring.....

nicesachin · 14th August 2009, 07:46

Thanks mates. Yes I finally got time to write a review

. Well I actually typed a big review once however by mistake my hand touched the touchpad and somehow I was back on the previous page. So I lost all what I typed

. This time I used Notepad.

Here are some more pics of my Linea

This one is @ Nainital.

@ Ambi Mall - Clear back I like it

@ President's House

Sunilrj · 14th August 2009, 08:11

Congrats Sachin on the lass who causes a lot of envy! drive safe! dealers dont agree on barter since the sale officially goes to the dealer supplying the car rather than the dealer delivering the car, as the engine / Chasis Number gets entered in the TATA CRM database. in my case, i had made my dealer Automatrix get the car from Concorde Bangalore and deliver within 2 days :-) from the date of booking!

however for all practical purposes for me the selling dealer has been concorde even though delivery has been taken at automatrix, mangalore.

nicesachin · 14th August 2009, 08:15

Mileage figures. It was actually 20 kmpl when I was about to take a photo. As I was at Halt with Engine and AC on

the figure changed to 19.9 kmpl. Never mind

Quote:

Originally Posted by Sunilrj

Congrats Sachin on the lass who causes a lot of envy! drive safe! dealers dont agree on barter since the sale officially goes to the dealer supplying the car rather than the dealer delivering the car, as the engine / Chasis Number gets entered in the TATA CRM database. in my case, i had made my dealer Automatrix get the car from Concorde Bangalore and deliver within 2 days :-) from the date of booking!

however for all practical purposes for me the selling dealer has been concorde even though delivery has been taken at automatrix, mangalore.

Thanks Sunil.

Is it so ? In my case I have the invoice from A-One motors and also took the delivery from them however the car was supplied by Techno to A-one motors. I used to think that sale would have gone to Aone Motors as Invoicing was done by them.

What you said, Had that been the case then Rama motors would have not denied on Barter.

Who has invoiced you the car, Concorde or Automatrix ?

Sunilrj · 14th August 2009, 08:24

Quote:

Originally Posted by nicesachin

Thanks Sunil.

Is it so ? In my case I have the invoice from A-One motors and also took the delivery from them however the car was supplied by Techno to A-one motors. I used to think that sale would have gone to Aone Motors as Invoicing was done by them.

What you said, Had that been the case then Rama motors would have not denied on Barter.

Who has invoiced you the car, Concorde or Automatrix ?

hi sachin, Concorde has invoiced the car to me. so technically the sale goes to Concorde and not Automatrix. sometimes the delivery dealers issue an invoice since they do not want to cut a sorry figure in front of the customer that they got the car from someone else and gave it. further in my case, Concorde pocketed the dealer commission and all Automatrix got was some goodwill from me

nicesachin · 14th August 2009, 08:25

Quote:

Originally Posted by achinthg

Sachin, finally you created your Linea thread !! Congrats !!!

Achinthg

Congrats to you as well for clearing up the formalties

. So when are you bringing the bueaty home ?

Quote:

Originally Posted by Sunilrj

hi sachin, Concorde has invoiced the car to me. so technically the sale goes to Concorde and not Automatrix. sometimes the delivery dealers issue an invoice since they do not want to cut a sorry figure in front of the customer that they got the car from someone else and gave it. further in my case, Concorde pocketed the dealer commission and all Automatrix got was some goodwill from me

. But I am wondering about the discounts ? Who bears the discounts offered on the car ? I got a discount of 10 K as corporate, Mud flaps, floor mats, Body cover. and Also I saved about 7k by getting the car inssured from a DSA rather then dealer.

Sunilrj · 14th August 2009, 09:08

Quote:

Originally Posted by nicesachin

. But I am wondering about the discounts ? Who bears the discounts offered on the car ? I got a discount of 10 K as corporate, Mud flaps, floor mats, Body cover. and Also I saved about 7k by getting the car inssured from a DSA rather then dealer.

discounts are borne in some proportion by the invoicing dealer and the manufacturer. a maruti dealer was telling me that the margins have depleted on account of discounts and they stop the dealership from bleeding and make up for the loss in the service section!

shantyrocks · 14th August 2009, 09:19

nice frank review sachin..
its truely unbiased.

linea in vocal white looks rich maan.
enjoy your beauty.

aks_karthik · 14th August 2009, 09:23

Congrats Sachin,

Welcome aboard

Unable to view your snaps.use this site to upload your snaps.
Enjoy and Drive Safe.

13th August 2009, 21:37	#1
nicesachin BHPian Join Date: Apr 2009 Location: Delhi Posts: 128 Thanked: Once View My Garage	Emotionally packed Lady in white (Fiat Linea ). Wife's envy, my pride Stepped into a TATA showroom to check Indica Vista for my Father-in-Law. And there saw this beauty standing alone acquiring the first place on the display. The front chrome grill was looking awesome and as I moved to the back, it stunned me more. Clear back makes Linea look more beautiful. Opened the door and I got the feeling of the dual tone European standard cars. The punch line “Admiration Guaranteed” was getting more prominent in my case. And My head started thinking about how to make my Finance minister (Wifey) ready about a new car for us. My FIL went ahead and bought a Hyundai i10 but I had a strong crush on this Italiano. Took Wifey’s opinion about the car and surprisingly she said she liked the car and we can think of buying one, but were worried about parking space. I am sure car owners from Delhi has this common problem of parking space Approached the AOne motors the next weekend, took the test drive and the demo of the features . THE ADMIRATION was getting stronger and stronger. I used to drive an Indica Diesel. Which was nowhere near to the Linea. Checked my finances and Booked the Emotion Pack Multijet (Vocal white) with A-One motors. After a long wait and the worst dealership experience, I got the delivery of the car on 25th June 09. I was happy that the car is home Interiors Fiat has done a lot of work in making the interiors impressive. Automatic climate control and Music system both have been nicely incorporated in the Dash, Unlike that of Hyundai verna ( I didn’t like the ACC console with the black nobes on the baige interiors). You get armrest for both driver and passengers sitting @ back, which makes drive a little easy. Dual tone concept looks good with the fabric work on Doors. Some of the Plastic parts looked a little delicate. But have not faced any breakage so far. Odometer looks cool with the Orange illuminated display. And also almost all the buttons gets illuminated in the night, that makes the interior more lively during night. Exteriors This is one area that draws out the first impression of any car. And I must say I fell in love with the car when I saw the exteriors. Not only they look beautiful but are also strong. I used to think that TATA uses the strongest steel amongst all car makers in India but after having a feel of Linea I seriously feel that I was wrong. Fiats also make strong cars and Safety is on high priority for them within the price scope. Suspension I found the suspension a little hard. If we cross a breaker I can feel a little rigidness. Unlike the AHNC of my cousin it was very smooth while crossing a breaker. Also I didn’t like the ground clearance of Linea, On my trip to Binsar there was a run of about 15 kms (Hilly track) where the car was kissing the debris of road maintenance. However the Engine is nice covered with the engine protection at the bottom, That might be hitting the ground. Handling and control. 9 out of 10 in this area. I had a complete control on the car at the maximum speed (130 km/hr) that I touched so far. My drive to the downhill was a real pleasure in Linea. Even at the sharp turns the car was turning comfortably without any tyre skids and at a speed of about 30 km/hr. Control while braking is outstanding, There have been 2 instances so far where I could see how useful ABS is. I save 2 lives one of a puppy and one of a bicycle rider, And also my Lady in white remain untouched. Dealership experience Mates this is something that I never want to remember anymore. The worst ever dealer experience I have faced while getting the delivery of my Linea. I booked this car on 27th May with Aone Motors and gave them the initial booking amount of about 10 K on the spot and gave the half of the total cost on 29th May 09. The dealer gave me a delivery date of 7th June. On calling my dealer on 6 June I got to know that they have not yet ordered the car from FIAT production house. The sales man apologized and gave me another date of 15th june as the delivery date. On 14th I got to know that car is still not in the transit for A-One motors. Transit itself takes about 10 days. So delivery was not likely before 25th June. I escalated emails to tatamotors customer care & Rajeev kapoor, and got a reply to contact the Regional sales head North. He also said the same story that its likely to get the car delivered by 30th June. I never wanted to wait that long. I asked the sales head to get some barter system worked between the dealers. On the other hand I was getting calls from Rama motors for the sale of car as I inquired with them at one point of time about discounts and all. They had the car in stock but Aditya Goel (Owner) didnt help me and refused on the Barter system with an excuse that he already booked the car to some customer. Then I spoke to Techno motors about E pks availability in vocal white color. They had the car, and they even gave me the chassis number and engine number. I went there next day and saw the car in the warehouse and then called Regional sales lead to intervene. @ Techno the Owner and Sales lead Jitender are nice people. They have good relations with A-One motors, so they agreed to the Barter system and I got the delivery of the car the very next day. However all of this was what I initiated and not the dealer. I think Fiat should work on opening their own showroom for sales. I have seen rifts between Fiat and TATA Sales people fighting on space for the display cars. Mileage This is an area of everybody’s interest. Many of us have claimed diff. diff mileage of our Linea. Well mates Mileage clearly depends on one’s driving style. I have even got a mileage of 19 kmpl within Delhi City with AC on for a run of about 45 kms. However I usually get a mileage of about 13kmpl at an average speed of 20kmph. 20 kmph , Yes thts the average speed, that I usually get when I drive in the Delhi. Not the best of places to drive a car. Blue & Me Blue & me is the one Feature which actually put a bold stamp on my decision to buy Linea. The voice recognition is superb and I liked Fiat’s Idea of not taking of your hand off the steering while driving even to attend the call. Fiat’s collaboration with Microsoft has actually gifted Fiat customers with this useful and handy feature. Blue and me in My Linea works quiet well. And I am the most relieved person now, making and receiving calls while driving without the fear of Traffic policemen. In Delhi these cops have seriously started cursing on pulsar bikes along the cars and grab them to road side if found talking on mobile phone. Potential issues - Chrome Strip Falling down. Rear right quarter glass chrome strip was found hanging down by my friend. - Boot door is quiet hard to close. Its unlike the soft close of a Honda city. One get a feeling that someone bashed the car from back when we close the door. - I feel the movement of the steering when I turn it completely with the clutch paddle pressed. Don’t know what the solution is for that. - We don’t have much of space in the dashboard to keep the stuff in the Emotion pack model. As the space that is assigned as glove box on the dashboard is allocated to Airbags in EPack version. - Engine Noise- I think that Fiat could have done better in this area. They could have worked more on stopping the Engine noise coming in the compartment. Performance I have driven this car for about 2800km till now, And during this run I never found the car underpowered. This my view, Probably I don’t have a hunger for power but certainly for mileage (considering my daily run for about 90 kms ). The Engine pulls 1300 kgs quiet well. The noise gets more at higher RPM. But I compromise on this thinking that I am driving a formula 1 racing beast . Its been a long review so I will stop my hands now however will keep updating the thread as I proceed further with my wife’s Envy.
	() Thanks

13th August 2009, 22:19	#2
neotraveller BHPian Join Date: Jan 2009 Location: Hyderabad Posts: 739 Thanked: 0 Times	Nice detailed review dude. Finally you found time for this!
	() Thanks

13th August 2009, 22:24	#3
bnzjon BHPian Join Date: Jul 2009 Location: Dubai Posts: 836 Thanked: 127 Times View My Garage	Excellent review mate. Some pictures would have made it Yummy !
	() Thanks

13th August 2009, 22:25	#4
theragingbull Senior - BHPian Join Date: Apr 2008 Location: Austin, TX Posts: 2,601 Thanked: 646 Times View My Garage	wow... Another exclusive Vocal White! Congrats mate! It's raining Fiats on team-bhp.
	() Thanks

13th August 2009, 22:33	#5
bharti22shresth BANNED Join Date: Nov 2008 Location: panchkula Posts: 362 Thanked: Once Infractions: 0/1 (10)	IMO, linea looks best in white. Very good choice. Sorry to hear of the bad sales experience.
	() Thanks

13th August 2009, 23:10	#6
achinthg BHPian Join Date: Jul 2009 Location: Bangalore Posts: 201 Thanked: Once View My Garage	Sachin, finally you created your Linea thread !! Congrats !!!
	() Thanks

13th August 2009, 23:55	#7
geeash Senior - BHPian Join Date: Apr 2009 Location: Chennai Posts: 1,513 Thanked: 146 Times	welcome aboard the t-bhp linea ship. ahoy. enjoy motoring.....
	() Thanks

14th August 2009, 07:46	#8
nicesachin BHPian Join Date: Apr 2009 Location: Delhi Posts: 128 Thanked: Once View My Garage	Thanks mates. Yes I finally got time to write a review . Well I actually typed a big review once however by mistake my hand touched the touchpad and somehow I was back on the previous page. So I lost all what I typed. This time I used Notepad. Here are some more pics of my Linea This one is @ Nainital. @ Ambi Mall - Clear back I like it @ President's House
	() Thanks

14th August 2009, 08:11	#9
Sunilrj BHPian Join Date: Jul 2009 Location: Mangalore Posts: 773 Thanked: 589 Times	Congrats Sachin on the lass who causes a lot of envy! drive safe! dealers dont agree on barter since the sale officially goes to the dealer supplying the car rather than the dealer delivering the car, as the engine / Chasis Number gets entered in the TATA CRM database. in my case, i had made my dealer Automatrix get the car from Concorde Bangalore and deliver within 2 days :-) from the date of booking! however for all practical purposes for me the selling dealer has been concorde even though delivery has been taken at automatrix, mangalore.
	() Thanks

14th August 2009, 09:19	#14
shantyrocks BHPian Join Date: Nov 2007 Location: thane Posts: 741 Thanked: 5 Times	nice frank review sachin.. its truely unbiased. linea in vocal white looks rich maan. enjoy your beauty.
	() Thanks

14th August 2009, 09:23	#15
aks_karthik Senior - BHPian Join Date: Sep 2005 Location: Chennai Posts: 1,947 Thanked: 341 Times View My Garage	Congrats Sachin, Welcome aboard Unable to view your snaps.use this site to upload your snaps. Enjoy and Drive Safe. Last edited by aks_karthik : 14th August 2009 at 09:29.
	() Thanks