Minimal Grey MJD Emotion

It was sometime in March,2010, that we felt a need for a second car. We already have a Chevy Spark which has done about 23000kms in 2 years. But that was proving to be insufficient since our offices are located in two diffrent corners of Pune and that my company transport does not offer me enough flexibility of travel and space.

So the hunt started.

Main criteria that I looked into were :
1. Must be a sedan. We already have a hatchback. So we needed something bigger to carry man and material in comfort. So sedan it was.
2. I am a sedate driver so I enjoy as much wind in my hair, as 120kmph would afford.So I would prefer a Chevy Aveo over a Ford Fiesta.
3. It was to seat 2 people for most of the time. But had to seat 4 people occasionally so backseat comfort was a factor but not the ultimate deciding factor.
4. Looks are subjective, so should be one which appeals everybody in the family.
5. Must be drivable in the city. Well this was one of the deciding factor.ABS was a must.
6. Can be a diesel or petrol. Looking at the cost of maintaining diesel and petrol cars the gap has surely decreased a lot with diesel car offering service intervals of 15000kms.

Lastly the budget was 8-10Lakhs. The lesser the better since I was taking a loan of 6L and paying the rest from my pocket.

Based on the above criteria we shortlisted two cars Honda City and Fiat Linea.

Honda City : Took the test drive . Very drivable car . Amazing looks and superb fit and finish no doubt. But few things went against it , first was the cost and second was rear seat felt a little claustrophobic (maybe it is just me). But overall a very likable car. They could have thrown in more gizmos at the price they were offering. But in the end it is company'e decision what to put in the car at what price and it is upto the customer whether to buy it or not.

Fiat Linea : Again a very drivable car. Fit and finish are a iffy but really not deal-breaker and loaded to teeth with gizmos and accessories. This all at a price of 1 lakh lesser than Honda City.

We zero-ed onto the Fiat Linea. And based on all above criteria we booked a Linea Emotion 1.3 MJD BS4 in Minimal Grey on 4th May 2010 which was our marriage anniversary from B.U.Bhandari. I am not a big fan of bluetooth so Blue and Me would been another unused accesory in the car and apart from that USB port in E-Pack was in the golve box so again would have been a major irritant.

The on-road price was quoted 8.8L on which I got following discounts :
1. Insurance Free.
2. 58 months road-side assitance free.
3. Extended warranty free.
4. Sunfilm free.
5. Mats and Mud flaps free.
6. Corporate discount of Rs 15000.

All and all the final price was 8.4L on-road.I got the seat covers at 3k from the dealer.The loan from HDFC was breeze since we have a account there so it was matter of getting the car on a auspicious day.

It was 16th May 2010 ,Akshay Tritiya that I finally bought the Linea home. I had done a PDI a day before which sun-film etc were being put in. The inital odo showed 100kms since this car is driven from Ranjangaon to Wakad, Pune which is around 75Kms. I checked a few Manzas and Linea around and they showed approxomately the same distance on odo.

Initial impressions
It is a hugh car (well I graduate from a Spark to Linea). The layout of the car is nice and roomy. The biege and black interiors makes the car look posh from inside. It adds to a mental comfort which travelling. The driver's seat has a very nice position and added to it the hieght adjust and steering adjust make it even more comfy. Back seat legroom is sufficient not as spacious as the Manza but definately not cramped.This was furthur confirmed by my in-laws who sat on the rear seat without any discomfort for close to 500kms i.e from Pune-Aurangabad and back. The features like theater-light are nice touches.

The 1.3L engine is quite sufficient for this car. The 1st and 2nd gears do not do much other than push the car forward, the 3rd and 4th gear make city driving easy. This car can pull from 30kmph in 3rd gear which is sufficient in day-to-day traffic situations. The car behaves extremely well on highways and munches up miles easily.

The ride and suspension are well suited for Indian terrian and offer great comfort. But the star of the show is the handling department. The car is planted at 120 .No mention of leaving the road on a curve.Very Very nice handler.

I have driven over 3400kms in the last 30 days, one trip to Auragabad (500Kms) , other to Amaravati (1200kms) and one to Mumbai. Allof the times there were atleast 4 people in the car and boot fully loaded with suitcases , mango baskets etc. The trip meter showed fuel consumption of 18.5kmpl and with a average speed of about 65kmph. We had toched 110-120kmph on empty stretches. During the Mumbai ride on expressway was able to touch 160kmph before chickening out.

The car has come back from its first servicing yesterday 12th June in under a month. The service advisors were pretty helpful and were not keen on pushing anything other than what is recommended in the service manual.

There were twp minor irritants. First was rear-left door refused to open from outside when unlocked. This was taken care of in first servicing. They changed the lock assembly inside. Second was the glove-box door opened on every occasion when declerating or going on bumps etc. This also seems to be taken car of the servicing again by tweaking the lock assembly. Both of these are now solved in first servicing.

So all and all a happy owner of the Linea Emotion.

Oops ! was in a hurry to post the review. Here are the pictures.
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Congratulations and best wishes on becoming a proud owner of a precious automobile and heartiest welcome to Team Fiat.

Thank you one and all for the wishes ...

great review buddy.... And welcome to the grp...

Count me in anytime ... I went through the write-up of the meets. Latest one being yesterday... And I was in Mumbai yesterday , if I would have been a member earlier , Sandeep and Rohan would been click away photos of my Linea too

Nice review Obliex, so next meet we hope to see your minimal grey beauty.