[evo]

So, I needed to replace the driver ki gaadi. So thought about stuff. Test drove the diesel Corolla. That seemed like the best bet. Reliable diesel, not outrageously priced et al. Toyota asked me for two months to deliver the car and barely stiffled a giggle when I asked for a discount. I could live (somehow!) with the no discount bit, but not with the two months bit.

So I went looking. Diesel sedan. The Vento seemed delicious, they too wanted me to wait. I tried the Linea again. I had driven it earlier and the car hadn’t impressed me then (a year and a half ago). The shabby Tata Fiat guy came with a shabby Tata Fiat Linea with very shabby upholstery. I drove it for a while. Sat at the back. Looked at the car from outside.
And decided.

I would get whatever a Corolla has, without the Toyota badge and electrically retractable mirrors, on the Emotion Pack. And save tones of money in the process. And get a significantly better looking car too. With 14 months additional warranty. Though I must say that on that count, a Toyota with 14 months lesser warranty is better than a Fiat in terms of reliability.

Ofcourse, I didn’t get the superlative 6 speed gear box that I would have if the Corolla was chosen. Correction, ofcourse my DRIVER didn’t get the 6 speed box ! Even though I like the chap, I don’t like him enough to buy him a better car to drive!

Back to the Linea. They had a good deal going on the car, free insurance, extended warranty, road side assistance, 25 grand cash discount. So I said ok. Give me one.

Errr. Umm. That’s where the shabby Tata Fiat guy said “I`ll call you tomorrow.” Here I am, giving someone sales, and the guy says I`ll call tomorrow. Anyways, tomorrow came (Tata Fiat don’t do James Bond!) and the guy confirmed that he had an Emotion Pack in black. Ready Stock. And so on.

I said sure. Lets go ahead. Two days go by. I decide to take my car the next (third) day. It seems they don’t have the Pack variant in black, ready. Buying later wasn’t an option, buying any other colour wasn’t either. So that’s how an Emotion landed up in my garage.

Delivery was long, tedious and exasperating. Car was very dirty. 4 Hours, some cajoling and some screaming later. I drove out. Into big big rain.

The Linea may not be best for the back seat, but like the BSNL ad, its best hai mere liye. The back seat is good if not awesome like the NHC`s, ride quality is leagues ahead of the NHC, and every morning when I look at it, I feel great rather than “Oh, this washing machine”.

The car is good to drive. Not as slothful as I imagined. But a quiet, relaxed drive. The diesel clatter is at an acceptable level. The seat fabric is of great great quality, the buttons feel nice. Panel gaps in some places could be better.

The steering wheel is a work of art. It is beautiful, effective, brilliant to hold, offers great feedback, feels luxurious et al. Its like your sensible best female friend and the hot girl from work rolled into one great person!

Boot space is enormous. It even has gas struts to lift the bootlid, found only on cars above the Jetta IMHO. And the next gen Jetta wont even have that. Little cool bits like lit mirrors on the visors, the MyCar which has tonnes of info (unlike the Corolla).

Stereo is ho hmm. Looks good, easy to operate et al, sounds very ordinary. Not much of an ICE guy, but since upgrading to components in the RS, this sounds very pedestrian indeed.

188 KM on the Odo as yet, only just begun.

[specialist1968]

Originally Posted by evo

I tried the Linea again. I had driven it earlier and the car hadn’t impressed me then (a year and a half ago). The shabby Tata Fiat guy came with a shabby Tata Fiat Linea with very shabby upholstery. I drove it for a while. Sat at the back. Looked at the car from outside.
And decided.

Congratulations on your purchase. Egerly looking forward to your experiences with the fantastic machine and the "shabby Tata Fiat" guys .

Really enjoyed reading the writing. Nicely put.

[shuvc]

Wow ! What a surprise!

What's the on road price of the Emotion+? Did they give you the same discounts for the Emotion?

Whats the Corolla Diesel on road price? Double what you paid?

Did you try any other dealer, when these guys told you that BlackPack was not available?

And, btw, posting an initial ownership report without snaps is illegal !

[EARTHed]

Congrats evo on the Linea.

Sad to read about the TATA guys, but Fiat is selling in some numbers thanks to Tata!!

[.anshuman]

Evo, Congratulations!! for your Linea.

OT: Please update your Elantra repair thread. A lot of members are waiting for the update.

[car-dent]

Congrats. I too have a linea diesel emotion pack. I have driven it 4000 kms in exact one month. The car is totally awesome. I love the blue n me.



Note from the Team-BHP Support Team : Please take the time to use proper punctuation as per Team-BHP rules. Avoid...typing...like...this. Thanks.

congrats i am also deciding to get either Linea or Cruze LT. Found Linea to be quite the package awaiting a test drive then lets see where it goes

Nicely written piece :up:

[NutsNBolts]

Apt review evo. Congrats on your purchase. The package could not have been described better. Pics?

Congratulations and best wishes on this joyous occasion, evo. Happy and safe motoring in your new Fiat Linea.

[evo]

Originally Posted by specialist1968

Congratulations on your purchase. Egerly looking forward to your experiences with the fantastic machine and the "shabby Tata Fiat" guys .

Really enjoyed reading the writing. Nicely put.

Yup. Service is yet to be seen.

Thanks,

Originally Posted by shuvc

Wow ! What a surprise!

What's the on road price of the Emotion+? Did they give you the same discounts for the Emotion?

Whats the Corolla Diesel on road price? Double what you paid?

Did you try any other dealer, when these guys told you that BlackPack was not available?

And, btw, posting an initial ownership report without snaps is illegal !

Hehe. This is the Emotion, not the Pack, Corolla Diesel`s about 4.5 Lakh more. In terms of dealers, RD Motors is absolute crap, and KB Motors, true to form had an eight month old car they wanted to palm off.

Snaps? But its just standard as yet ! So no value add.

Originally Posted by EARTHed

Congrats evo on the Linea.

Sad to read about the TATA guys, but Fiat is selling in some numbers thanks to Tata!!

Yeah, thats perhaps true, that the Tata bit has atleast added some visibility and unlike the Fiat only dealers have some more skills than fly swatting.

Originally Posted by .anshuman

Evo, Congratulations!! for your Linea.

OT: Please update your Elantra repair thread. A lot of members are waiting for the update.

Will do.

Originally Posted by ajai_dev

congrats i am also deciding to get either Linea or Cruze LT. Found Linea to be quite the package awaiting a test drive then lets see where it goes

Nicely written piece :up:

Thanks. Both are great cars. If you drive yourself, you may like the Cruze much much more.

Originally Posted by NutsNBolts

Apt review evo. Congrats on your purchase. The package could not have been described better. Pics?

Thanks. Pics will follow after some little additions I suppose.

[ventoman]

Wow congratulations, Evo.
Linea in Black is such an eye catcher!
Waiting for the pictures.

[evo]

An interesting bit which I like to call Driver Running In Control Device is present on the Linea. You can set a speed at which the car lets out a buzzer sort of tone. I suppose its meant to make sure you dont cross speed limits and get fined. (In other uncivilised countries where these atrocities (such as fines for high speed driving)take place )

However, I`m using it to make sure that the driver doesnt decide to drive the nayi gaadi like Herr Schumacher. Its not very scientific because its speed based and not RPM based, but he isnt one for quick shifts, which means that RPM`s will rise only at higher speed. (Again, assumption).

The guy is very impressed that the car knows "atomatic" ki zyaada tej hai ! So he keeps to the 60 KMPH limit that I`ve set.

If we really have to keep to the 2500 RPM limit till 2500 KM, then this is something I found really useful.

[nkrishnap]

Congrats on the Linea 2010. Do enjoy many more miles with the Linea.

Do post the pictures of the car.

[evo]

Just got a call from Fiat India, claiming to check my satisfaction levels with the delivery. I told them that the car was dirty, the woman expressed concern. She then took out an inane number of details. Then she handed the call over to her supervisor. Who in turn expressed concern. He then proceeded to take an inane number of details!

However, it wasnt bad you know, they were trying to help. So in my first real customer service interaction with Fiat India on the phone, I`ll give them 8 out of 10.

[.anshuman]

Evo, Initially when i bought the Punto, i loved whenever i used to get a call regarding feedback. All the time i thought they are listening to me, but later i realised it's only about showing concern. At a later stage these calls got so annoying that i had to tell them to not to call me.