Fiat Linea 1.4 FIRE Emotion Pack

13th April, 2009

Visited the service station today again for removing those water drop marks. One thing is for sure - Fiat has ensured that Tata dealers give good treatment to Linea customers. During both my visits, 90% of the customers in waiting room are Indica Taxi Drivers! But thats ok. I always prepared myself for that & hence did not feel a bit frustrated as they gave me a very good reception & treatment. Their intentions are good & that what counts. Their ability is a question mark (for which I was prepared & hence managed to remain cool & happy though I had to wait for 3 hours yday & 3 hours today.

They did the 3M polish on the car to remove those water drop marks (of course free of cost). The car looked awsome with great shining after polishing. The water drop marks got very very faint but some are still there not visible unless you get really close around 15 cm from the body. I let it go as I could gauge they could not do much more than this.

14th April, 2009

Today afternoon some crooked one stole the lovely Fiat badge from the boot of my Linea when she was parked on roadside in front of my appt. got to know it costs rs. 625/-. will get it once i get the car cover tom.

15th April, 2009

Always wanted to have Body Cover before taking delivery to prevent any stray scratches in 1st few days. Somehow could not get it & ended up losing Fiat badge .

Anyway, got official Linea Silver color Body Cover & official Linea Biege Floor mats set with boot mat in biege colour today. Cost of Biege Floor Mat & Boot mat is Rs. 2000/- & cost of silver car cover is Rs. 1,200 - odd (Did not pay dealer & used some contacts to make it free)

Floor Mats...

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Seat Covers : (Got it installed on 16th Jun’09 & explained in detail with more pics subsequently in the thread)

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15th April, 2009

In a week of of Linea Ownership, I now believe that I've experienced almost everything - pleasure of owning this beauty, driving pleasure, visits to workshop on 3rd & 4th day of ownership (small PDI issues as explained earlier) & now a small repair of the bumper (looks big due to cost & workshop visits).

18th April, 2009

Well, within 10 days of ownership I'm now onto utilising insurance claim for accidental repairs on my Linea.

3-4 days back while returning from office during peak hours in late evening, I was driving on the left-most lane of the road in bumper-to-bumper traffic. to save the car brushed by the vehicle on right hand side, i moved it slightly to left. there was a T junction & the other road moving on the left side. Since thats good enough opening, i tried to take slight left turn & then again to come on the straight road. thanks to municipality on the left turn there was this little protruding iron thingies (barely visible in dark only 5-6 inches protruding on top of the road surface), it got crashed with the front bumper. as i was in 1st gear was very very slow, the damage is not much. the bumper got dented & bent inside & the left part came out of the clips.

My colleagues told me that it could be repaired so i was thinking of getting it repaired without insurance claim. I was wrong. today went to the workshop. the bumper costs 2,500/- since bumper comes only in black, it needs to be painted with an additional cost of Rs. 3,300/- (so, totalling to 5,800/-). most probably those rounded chrome tapes on the bumper would not need to be changed. they cost rs. 5,500/- but since i'm claiming the insurance, what the heck if they also need to be changed.

Got the repairs done & got the car back in 4-5 days. Excellent repair job done (Pics - before repair & after repair). Also got the rear Fiat Badge fixed on the boot again.

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19th April, 2009 (1st 10 days Ownership Report as on 19th April, 2009)

Having mentioned pre-delivery, Delivery & post-delivery service station visits experiences earlier, its 10 days & here are my likes & dislikes of my Linea Emotion Pack FIRE (F. Red)

Likes

Looks - Well, she is absolutely beautifull with drop dead looks. Thaose Maseratti-like round nose & Audi-like Grill are a killer. Those Mercury Headlights, Chorme Plates/ Handles, etc are generally found on D Segments car

Features - Being Techie I absolutely love its features like Blue & Me, My Car & all other Features. Have to really scratch head if we want to find out what feature it does not have

Handling & Maneuvering - Having owned Ford Ikon, I was doubtful if Linea could deliver the same level of Handling & Maneuvering as I think nobody does it better than a Ford. But, Linea is almost equal. Very easy to handle & stays planted all the times so one feels secure. Though being 1st few kms I've not yet pushed her above 100, but I can see that she will stay planted at those speeds also

Steering - Steering response is also very good. Lovely grips as well.

3rd/4th/5th gears - Well, Gears seem to be short & can be engaged at lower speeds (compared to my Ford Ikon). I've observed that one can engage 3rd gear at around 25 kmph, 4th Gear at around 30-35 kmph & 5th Gear at around 40-45 kmph. I could see a visible difference as during my daily drive in Mumbai traffic I can feel that in Linea I'm able to drive more in 5th gear than I was able to do it in Fiat. This probably would mean improved mileage in City driving. However, may be it could mean not-so-good mileage on highways, am not sure though?

Mileage - can't say I like mileage till I do a tank-full to tank-full. Current mileage that is shown on MID is around 9 kmph but it includes lot of idle time with engine running during PDI, Delivery, & 2-3 times when I was checking all the featuires & was making changes in settings of many features.

Underbody looks cool. Have seen the Linea on a ramp at the service station. 80% of underbody is coated with Silverish Grey. IMO no need to go for underbody anti-rust coating

Do not Like

Long Radius
Glove Box - Very small.
Door inside pockets - Again very small & can't handle even a water bottle
Levers like seat height & reclining adjustment, Steering height adj lever, bonnet opening lever are looking very fragile. what's Fiat thinking?On an 8 Lacs car, how much additional cost good plastic would have added?

1st/ 2nd Gears - Very short. still reserve comments till I do 1000 km & get used to synchronisation of Fiat's long ply clutch/ Brake/ Accelerator. Sometimes car zooms past in 1st & 2nd gear while some times its dead
Voice commands - Blue n Me is not recognising my accent, recognises some commands & does not recognise the others.

 

19th April, 2009 (10 days of Linea Ownership - continued...)

To add to previous update, Automatic Climate Control works very well. With temp set to 20 - 21 degrees, it gives uniform cooling. Only issue is, every time when you switch it ON, by default, the internal Car circulation if Off taking outside air in & I've to manually switch it ON every time.

For 1st & 2nd Gears, I realised that with my earlier car, while changing gears I'm used to release clutch & pressing accelerator suddenly instead of gradually. In Linea, doing this makes car losing the power & feels dead starting in next gear. When I gradually release the clutch & simultaneously gradually press accelerator, the power-loss issue is almost not there. will come back with further observation after a few more days of ownership

Though Linea comes very close to my earlier car Ford Ikon in terms of Ride, Handling, Maneuvering & driving ease, well, Ford is a Ford & I'm missing it a bit. My friend whom I sent the car to sell it, called back & said its very good & he wants to keep it. Now I realise its good that I didn't choose SX4 or Verna.

After sales Service exp is a mixed bag. While there is no major issues with service guys who are found quite humble with good intention, the finesse is missing & their ability is a question mark. While interacting at service station, I found parts of Linea are not that easily available as expected though regular parts may be available. e.g. those chrome tapes/ plates on front bumper are not available & will take 4-5 days in case it needs to be replaced in my car. I heard this comment from 2-3 guys at service station. Keeping fingers crossed. the silver lining is long service intervals means less visits to service station & gradually with customer base increasing all parts may be available of-the-shelf

4th May, 2009 (Crossed 1000 kms)

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Tank-full to tank-full mileage - 9 kmpl (90% in Mumbai bumper-to-bumper city traffic with AC ON 100%)
MID Mileage shows - 9.2 kmpl
Avg Speed on MID - 18 kmph

I took her out on highway to free her up for 2 small bursts/ trips, details for that from trip B MID as under:

KM's travelled - 80 km's (30% within city, 70% on Highway)
Mileage on MID - 11.8 kmpl
Avg Speed - 34 kmph

My guestimate is it would give me 8.5 to 9 kmpl in Mumbai & around 12-13 kmpl on highways. Anyway Mileage is not of much concern to me.

Most of the Pro's & Con's I've mentioned earlier in this thread remains unchanged except for following:

I would be wrong if I say it does not lack Power. It lacks power & this statement is not on absolute terms but on comparative terms.

I was using Ford Ikon 1.3L nxt earlier. Compared to even that car, I feel less power in Linea & Ikon 1.3L was not considered a real "powerful" car, right? In Linea, I do not feel Lack of power when I'm cruising at Higher Speed / Higher RPMs. It is felt - 1) at pick up from 1st/ 2nd gear & 2) when you are going in 4th/ 5th gear & the speed is lowered (not as low as to warrant shifting gear down to lower gear) & then again she has to pick up.

Point 2 above, in defence to Linea, I still feel my perception/ experience may get changed after some time as its possible that I may not be lowering the gear at right speed/time, probably I'll have to get used to lowering the gear at higher speed than what I'm anticipating right now.

In Mumbai traffic, there is a fight for every inch & my Ikon was not allowing any other car to raise its nose ahead from side-lane to enter into the lane I'm driving & to come ahead of my Ikon. With Linea, I've seen that happening a number times. By the time I accelerate & gain momentum, the side-lane guy leaves his lane & enters my lane as there is a gap & there is that fraction of a second time he has. Here again, in defence to Linea, it might be entirely possible that I'm driving her carefully/ cautiously than what I was driving Ikon.

Handling is very good, I feel its 90% to that of Ikon. But it seems that will change over next 1-2 months & I feel I would say it has matched or even exceeded that of Ikon.

Manuevering is brilliant - comparable to Ikon, if not better.

And all those Features & Beautiful curvy looks are Big Big positives.

Overall, am not much concerned on lower power as it is heavily offset-ed
by overall brilliant packaging with all the features & looks.

After all, Where can I get such a car in Rs. 8 Lacs?

 

27th May, 2009 (1800 kms update with ref to 1000 kms 4th May,09 update)

The high standards set by Ford Ikon in terms of Driving Pleasure, Ride quality, Maneuvering etc was preventing me to enjoy Linea thoroughly. Here is what I mentioned in earlier update:

The car has grown on me. It seems she has suddenly waken up from a slumber & became silky smooth. May be crossing 1500 kms, may be the short-bursts I gave her to free her up or may be I got used to her with my driving style more aligned to Clutch-Geat-Accelerator combo/ config. But I must say that now she has surpassed Ford Ikon in Driving Plwasure, Ride Quality, Maneuvering. I'm now driving her like a toy, able to maneuver her brilliantly - here, there, left, right so on & so forth absolutely like a toy. This is the biggest pleasure for me as these qualities are very imp to me, relieves few of my worries, makes me so happy.

All my earlier reservations about Power (or lack of it) has now gone out of the window. Somehow she became so silky that even the 2nd gear doesn't seem to let me feel any lack of power. And like Ford earlier, in B2B traffic, now she does not allow other cars to intrude & come in front of her lane from adjoining lane !!!

What is amazing is that in 5th Gear above 2000 RPM's, from a speed to 50 - 60 kmpl, if you lightly press the accelerator, she just surges ahead like a jet & very smoothly. Brilliant, Brilliant.

Poise, Stability is top notch even when I throw her in corners.

The only "less power" I now feel is when I'm driving her in 5th gear & due to traffic the speed reduces (have not noted what reduced speed -may be around 40 - 50 kmph - have to check), it takes some time to recover the lost speed. This may be felt more on highways in overtaking, though again in Linea's defense, I'll have to wait for some time to check if its due to my driving style.

I had a driver earlier whom I let go when I purchased Linea as wanted to do run-in for initial 1500 kms myself. After enjoying the rides in Linea, am seriously reconsidering not to hire a driver now.

Have yet not taken her on a Long Drive, eagerly waiting for it.

Last but not the least, 2 days back I parked my car near my home & was getting out. A motorcyclist passed, crossed 100 meters, took a U turn & came to me to ask about Linea. 1st question he asked is what is the Price. Next question what is the Average (FE) ? Third question - is diesel available & what price?
Second instance - yday the washer guy when he was washing the car showed me that everybody stares at her while going past!!

Admiration Guaranteed!!

 

31st May, 2009

Much Awaited Long Drive happened finally. First some pics & then the report
1st pic is before the trip just after I gave her Euro Gold Spray Shiner (3 weeks after DIY waxing)

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2nd June, 2009 (Update - 1st Long Drive)

• Went to Shirdi, route taken is Mumbai-Nashik Road-Dhoti-Sinnar-Shirdi-Shani Signapur-Shirdi & back
• 3 Adults + 3 Children
• Approax kms travelled - 700 kms
Planned to leave on Sat at 6.30 am, got late & could leave only at 8.15 am. The Road was good for 1st 140 kms. But still could not rip the Linea to 170 kmph as the entire atretch of Mumbai-Nasik Road is being reconstructed. So, there is only 1 side of the highway open for to & fro while the other side is being constructed. Its kinds zigzag - few kms left side is open, then few kms right side is open, so on & so forth

Got into the heavy traffic jam at "infamous" Kasara Ghat. The highest no. of accident I've ever seen till date while driving were on this highway on Saturday. There were no. of big trailors/ lorries upside down, sideways down, slipped down the road on the sideways etc. Got delayed by atleast 1.30 hours. Had lunch at around 12 noon at Manas Resort.

Just before Nasik (36 kms before), from the village Dhoti, left the highway & got into 2-track Road. Shirdi was still 105 kms away & 60% of this Road was not good. In fact, at some patches there are huge potholes, I hit 3-4 such potholes real hard & was really worried, fortunately nothing visible happened. On return journey Linea scraped thro' a big bump. This was the 1st time she has scraped & could have been avoided had I been careful with slightly sideway crossing it. My overconfidence (as she never scraped earlier) did her in.

Reached Shirdi at around 3.30 pm & left for Shani Singnapur (One & Only temple of Shani) at 6.15 pm. Its 80 Kms from Shirdi but the Road is again single-track with lots of traffic as it passes thro' a couple of towns' main bazaars. This stretch was very hectic & reached there at around 8.15 pm, left at 9.30 pm, had dinner & reached Shirdi at around 12 midnight.

Had Darshan at Saibaba temple next morning & left at around 1.30 pm, reached Mumbai at 8 pm.

Now how "she" performed during the Ride___
• The most impressive part of Linea is Stability. She always feel planted & gives a very secure feeling while driving whatever high the speed is.
• The max speed I could take her was only 145 kmph because of Road & traffic. Really wanted to touch 170 kmph & I think I've to "maru" a trip to Lonavala on Expressway
• The FE I got is 12.5 kmpl with full 100% AC ON, steep Ghats & idling time of almost 30 minutes with AC ON when we stopped for tea or sugarcane juice on roadside (had to keep it 3-4 times for 8-10 minutes each as it was very hot & there were children inside).
• Handling is brilliant, she just sails thro'.
• AC : Some strange things I experienced with AC. While going up on very steep ghat, I felt cooling considerably reduced to almost none & then it increased after the car came to normal road & speed. This happened 3-4 times & also happened when I had to stop at a Railway crossing. Automatic Climate Control is excellent but I still feel AC is not that Powerful in Linea.

 

3rd June, 2009

While I was waxing the car I happened to just accidentally touch the chrome beading on rear left quarter glass & it fell off!!

For such smaller things I generally do not trust service station as they tend to forget them being smaller items or do not generally do properly. Hence got a small tube of Fevi Bond @ Rs. 8 (Rubber adhesive) & fixed it myself.
Why Fevi Bond? Because its Rubber adhesive & the underneath side of the chrome beading is a rubber strip. Also, the other alternative FeviKwik would have left a plasticky layer inside & might not stick permanently, I felt. Hence avoided it.

7th June, 2009

Got the Mudflaps fitted @ Tata Service station @ worlli. They arrived there only previous evening & my car was the 1st on which they fitted them (did not prefer to be the 1st for trial & error but no choice). Also did not prefer initially to get the holes drilled in the body but thought that its better than finding after-mkt flaps, and then in the meanwhile get the car spoiled by washing guy wiping on muddy car, & relying on fitting skills of after mkt garrage-walla.

The front ones got fitted from inside hence no screws visible from outside whereas the screws are visible on rear ones as there is no space inside to fit the screws. Linea mudflaps comes with clips & not screws & the service station guys told me that those clips will not hold & I believed it after seeing those clips.

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8th June, 2009 (Lonavala Drive/ trip)

The mudflaps I got fitted prev day came very handy next day itself. I could not stretch Linea beyond 145 kmph during my Shirdi trip prev Weekend so took her to Lonavala thro' Mumbai-Pune Expressway. Midway I said I wish it rains today & it started drizzling as soon as we entered Lonavala. Good that I got Mudflaps yday itself.

Well, I achieved the objective - stretched her to 160 kmph beyond which I could not dare it, tried only for a moment

BTW, on curves on steep ghats, she felt very very planted & was a real pleasure to drive. On return journey in dark, I was cruising her at around 120 - 130 kmph & it was as smooth as butter.

FE while going up was 12.5 kmpl (including roaming around on Amby valley road & ghats. The avg speed till midway (toll naka) reached to 112 kmph on MID & fell sharply afterwards. Overall, from Expressway start - to - end the FE was 13 kmpl. So I guess FE for only return journey would be 13.5 to 14 kmpl
Here are a few pics
160 kmpl on MID 1st time
160 kmpl on MID 2nd time

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Shall share next an incident which has changed my perspective completely

Till then, Admiration Guaranteed !!!

 

Something happened in Jun, 2009 which changed my perspective completely towards Fiat. I was always wary of buying a Fiat because of Fiat's horrible past & the A.S.S. / ownership stories. Hence, I think I was always prone top react to it for Fiat even for a negligible item as compared to my earlier FOrd where I would have just let it gone. And boy !!, how I reacted ? Got restless, impulsive, agitated & almost held Fiat to ransom for almost nothing. And did Fiat react? How? What happened? The saga continues...

9th June, 2009

My USB stick Drive dropped between front 2 seats below the Handbrake. While picking it up, I saw a Triangular Plastic cover/ cowl-type thingy (pic attached) lying on the floor between 2 front seats

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Suspicious mind due to Fiats horrible past, TASS questionable abilities coupled with whole bunch of people on the forums bashing Fiat on quality of Plastics used, Steering adj lever, seat height adj lever etc & giving verdicts that plastic parts falling off etc etc - all these made me wonder why such small plastic parts are cultivating a habit of roaming around wherever they like? This made me extremely restless & I did following in next 1 hour.

9th June, 2009 3.45 pm (1 hour after above post)

I'm now getting increasingly uncomfortable with this Plastic falling apart saga. I just went back to the car to check the cowl-type thingy to locate where has it fallen off.

While I could not find location of cowl, what I found was even more horrible. On left side below the front driver seat near the seat height lever, a whole plastic cover thro' which seat belt comes out is missing. That plastic cover is intact on passenger side front seat (1st pic below) but missing under the driver side (2nd pic below).

I'm now irritated & writing to Fiat how such stupid things are happening in a Rs. 8 Lac car.

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9th June, 2009 3:46 pm

I shot following email to Fiat top brass in service :

10th June, 2009, 09:48 AM

Got a standard system-generated response on 9th June'09 at 3:59 pm that the issue is being coordinate with dealership. Got more furious & fired the following mail again marking to top brass including ceodesk this time.

In 15 minutes, received a call from Fiat service staff from Pune asking they would like to inspect my car, when & which dealership can I leave it. In any case I was going to leave my car for 1st service on coming Sunday, so told him. He said their quality team will come & attend to all issues. Keeping my finger crossed. Feeling somewhat better that they're responding & trying. What worries me is the quality of those plastics. Fiat has to do something on it as every time I touch any plastic lever, I'm scared that it'll fall off