Farewell to a legend among cars - Linea

Hi Fiatians,

I have been a owner of a fabulous Italian beauty - Linea since 2010. I have driven her about 67000 Kms and was very happy with it. It was my first big car and has served us very well through the years. It felt like a genuine premium car. I loved the ride and handling balance. Many fond memories of the long drives, still fresh in mind. Even though lot of complaints are raised on Fiat cars, my Linea never gave any major repairs/break-downs (Except one due to clutch slave cylinder that 2009-10 Lineas/Puntos suffered). That was the only break-down in 9 years.



Times moved on. Our usage patterns changed. Traffic was getting worse. My wife stopped driving due to traffic and started to use Ola/Uber. I made a change in career because of which my car travel was cut by 80%. So Linea was only used for long drives or family outing only. I slowly started to feel the need for an automatic. But was still not convinced to let go off Linea. Around that time, my Linea started to give minor issues. The fuel lid was not locking properly. Temperature gauge needle was misaligned and thus showing wrong temperature all the time etc. Pretty normal for 9 year old car nearing 70K Kms.

Then Fiat stopped producing cars one day on account of years of declining sales. In one of the paid services, the attention to detail and interest of service advisors gave me an indication - this show is going to end soon. Jeeps are also serviced in the same bay. But having experienced good service all through my ownership this service really felt like a big let down.

Inevitably started to look for good deals on a replacement to my great car. Now, the options had grown multi-fold compared to 2010 when I bought Linea. It was a very confusing and daunting task to zero in on a new car. The only criteria was that the new car must atleast match the features of Linea and an Automatic transmission within a budget of ₹10L +/- ₹2L. After months of research we found something that misses some of the nice features of Linea, but has most important features. Even budget had to be stretched. Then I realized what a value for money Linea was. Finally the decision was made. And the day had arrived. The dealer had agreed to exchange my Linea. I drove to the showroom in my Linea and with a heavy heart handed over the keys and signed the documents. We drove the new car while she was standing there looking sad. The feeling of leaving Linea cannot be expressed in words. But as the times pass by you have to stick with the times.

Had Fiat been producing cars and if they had upgraded Linea with next gen model or atleast given superb service - I could've retained Linea for some more years till we have a bigger home with more parking. I was ready to buy another car while keeping Linea for the nastolgia atleast. But practicality rules over feelings and that's the fact of life.

I thoroughly enjoyed my time with the car and my time with the forum here. I thank all members to have supported me during my Linea ownership. I will be happy to help anyone if they have questions on 2010 Linea/Punto. You can mail me at manjunathkl@gmail.com.

Thank you all.

 

Congratulations @manjunathkl . Which car have you moved on to?

 

Hi @manjunathkl,
Oh that was touching. Linea indeed is the best among its class or should I say is class apart!
I have done 1.8 lakhs on it in the past 7 years and it is still going strong very strong. It still runs supreme like I found it on the first day. I travel more than 200 Kms (both ways) to service it everytime and believe me I have no regret about it.
In fact I have bought a new Punto evo last year (2018) despite knowing that fiat is winding off.
Anyways all the best to you. I would like to congratulate you for being a fiat owner. I am sure you will appreciate fiat car all the more after driving your new possession!
Safe driving...

 

@manjunathkl Congratulations on your new car !

Leaving a Linea is very emotional, reminds me of J Ravi's parting with his car.
My car is turning 7 years by the end of this month and now it has 1.63L on its odo. Going how strong it is, I would probably stretch beyond my initial target of 2L kms. There is no need to replace the car for car's condition alone.
I have found friendly garages also to get the car serviced. I do visit FASS as well.

 

Thanks Abhishek, My new ride is Hyundai Creta Diesel Automatic. My budget didn't permit me to buy Jeep Compass Trailhawk Automatic. Still my dream to be fulfilled.

Thanks Vaibhav, Indeed, Linea is a class apart. It is a D segment car that sold for C2 Segment prices. 1.8L Kms is a great feat. It shows how solidly built the car is. Even today when a Fiat passes by, my head turns around. It is a different feeling altogether. My new car is still no match for the premium ride quality and some awesome features that Linea offered. I miss the superb hydraulic steering.

Thanks Limraj, Yes, parting with Linea was very emotional. Good to know your car is running great even after 1.6L Kms. Fiat is a tank. I changed primarily because of the lack of Auto option. Other minor problems just expedited the decision. I too found a few friendly garages - but they were nearly nowhere as professional as FASS in the good old days. All the FASS I have gone to over the 9 years, were above average and the overall experience was more than acceptable. Didn't face any delays for spares either. But after the sales stopped, the service quality didn't inspire confidence.

 

Jeep compass Longitude AT 2.0D BS VI is now available at OTR price of 27.8L (6-7L less than Trailhawk).
May be you could have waited a little more.