Fiat Linea [2008-2011] User Reviews

First of all I am must admit that m not a big Fiat official or a fan but i know Fiat is a very reliable and big company as it owns Ferrari (although huge fan of Ferrari F1 team), Maserati, Alfa Romeo, Barchetta etc.
I just purchased a Fiat Linea 1.3 Emotion Diesel few days back from Mohali and the car is awsome. I mean it. The mileage, Looks, Design, and pick up are very good also. Although i have read lots of people talking about its low pick up and power but i havent found anything like that. and on the top of that it gives 17km/l in chandigarh (city condition). i think its awsome.
And i also found many readers saying the interior plastic isnt good enough but i think its far beter than new Honda city when i test drove that car. although i must admit that interior plastic is not a plus point here. But we should understand that this car is one class above its price tag so we can negotiate a bit with it plastic interiors.  well overall its truly made for indian with looks, loaded features and an amazing price tag and most importantly the mileage and with extra 5000 bucks you would get 2 + 2 i.e. 4 years or 1,50,000 km of extended warranty of all spareparts, engine related stuffs and electrical stuff on excluding those outside breakage that is understandable.
What i fear about Fiat is its service centres. althoughit it has tied up with Tata for spares and sales but i think the behaviour of the salesman and other officials at Tata Fiat dealers are that forthcoming and well  to fiat aspirants. So i hope that Tata people doesnt treat fiat customers like a step child. Otherwise i have no doubt  and also hope that car would do well.
The design is awsome as its predecessor with italian ancestors.
I think you guys who wanna own it dont get carried away with comments from those who just test drove it and then tells you about its low on power. people wont know much about the car's power and pick in few kms drive. So go ahead and own it as admiration is surely guaranteed not only for  italian looks but  also for the interiors and its commendable machinery.
cheers
Kaydee

Very good fuel economy, Great Style, Amazing Price, Loaded FeaturesUncomfortable driving seat and its front view, little doubt aboutits servicing

Dear All,

I am writing this comment with such regret of service received from FIAT INDIA AUTOMOBILES LIMITED as well as RF Motors Cochin.

Fiat Linea and is one of the WORST CAR EVER, to be produced in this era and I would recommend not even my worst enemy to buy this car or ANY CAR PRODUCED WITH THE SAME ENGINE.

The car has only clocked 34,000kms and 2years since new and used only by myself who is the first owner. I am a 60year old careful knowledgable driver. The car was one of the earliest produced ones in India and we purchased it from RF Motors Cochin as apparently they were a well established dealer at the time.

Recently our Fiat Linea has developed some fault which has drastically reduced its power and response. Other reviews show that this a common occurance.

Upon inspection by apparently well trained mechanics at RF Motors Cochin an established dealer from Fiat Linea, they said that the timing belt needs replacing, and also mentioned that since a lot of Fiat Linea’s has had the same problem FIAT INDIA AUTOMOBILES LIMITED has authorised the dealers to replace the timing belt at their own expense. The situation surprised us because it was at such low kilometres.

The Service Manager asked us to not drive the car, and to our disgust mentioned that there was no space for them to park the car in the dealer’s premises till a later date when the timing belt could be replaced. They couldn’t confirm a date and till then we were left to find a place to pay and park at Kochi, which we did.

The car was parked in Kochi at a pay and park facility from 11th till 24th November, which is when RF Motors had availability to fix the issue.

We came again from Kumily on 24th and delivered the car.

We stayed at Kochi on the 24th and RF Motors informed that the timing chain was not the issue and that the problem still exists.

The mechanics re-inspected the car and said that he found a slight oil leak under the Turbo’s hose, and a simple fix could solve the problem. But the process took another day and we had to stay at Kochi again that night.

The next day we were told that the Turbo has to be completely replaced. We were once again surprised to hear that a car of low kilometres and period of usage had such major problems. And again I can 100% guarantee that the car has only ever been used by me, and I’m a very careful driver and love to maintain and care for my car with much prestige. 

Again with disgust of misleading several times we agreed to arrange a replacement for the turbo at the earliest convenience. Since 11th November the car is in Kochi and till date we haven’t received any assurance on when the car will be released to standards.

We checked with RF Motors every second day on an average and they kept dragging us. We have been dealing with Customer Relations Manager. Then as requested by the CRM we had to directly contact the Parts Manager for the spare parts, and for mechanics the Service Manager. So many staff but nothing seems to get done in time. After realising that the car will not be released and the case not be solved anywhere close to a satisfactory manner and we decided to directly contact their General Manager. Also to mention it took me more than 2hours to be connected to the GM, reminds me again that there has been absolutely no value for the time and money that we have spend.

RF Motors Cochin has been blaming FIAT INDIA AUTOMOBILES LIMITED for their lack of initiative to satisfy their customers. Apparently at several occasions including ours they have sent wrong spare parts and do not respond to the dealer in spite of major dissatisfaction caused to several of their Fiat Linea customers.

Meanwhile we have a business to run and rely on our vehicle. We had to hire a car for the duration and it cost us Rs.800 per day for 45days.

We went at several occasions to RF Motors Cochin and were told that the car was parked at a separate location and that it cannot be viewed. At one stage we were also told that they could temporarily replace the turbo with a used one from another vehicle which was in their custody. Now I wonder what guarantee do we have that our car is in its actual state since we dropped it there??

RF Motors haven't guaranteed that our car has not be molested in any way while in their custody.

The community/friends/family are all aware of the situation and the car’s resale value will also drastically reduce as it has been at the dealers garage for such long period!!

We have used Maruti, Scorpio, Qualis and all these cars have never developed mechanical fault at such low kilometres. This proves that Fiat Linea has produced a factory faulty turbo or such to their cars and must take responsibility to solve the issue on your own cost, and maybe also compensate for the time and money we spend due to the issue.

I am commenting with such outrage because we have faced numerours losses and expect the same not to happen to anyone, atleast in this well advance day like today where possibilities are limit less. I have already assured to both FIAT INDIA AUTOMOBILES LIMITED and RF Motors Cochin.that I will post the case via media and also place a case under consumer court against them.

 

Sincerley

TV Thomas

stylepretty much every thing

• This sedan has so many features that u ll go gaga............trust me u wont find any such feat in any other car of the same segment.
• I hv taken the test drive of linea and it was awesome, from braking to pik up,comfortable and smooth driving experience.
• Beautiful italian design,beige dual tone interiors,rear foldable seats long n spacious enough for people to sleep with there legs stretched.
• Climate control,air bags,blaupunkt music system that has crystal clear sound ipod connect n 4 day speakers.
• BLUE AND ME-unique to this car designed with the help of microsoft it offers its users to interact with the car itself.Recognises voice commands,you can dial n recieve cals,it can read ur msgs to u......handy feat for a car of this budget.
• Rear AC vent rear armrest with sunglasses and cup holder.
• Diesel car has 1248 cc and petrol has 1368 cc delivering 86 and 90 ps at 4000 and 6000 rpm resp
• Has advanced multijet engine that has got international engine of the year award.
• Great mileage of 18 to 20 in both city and highway.
• For people who think that driver seat low and uncomfortable during driving, my ans would be that it has hydraulic controlled seat adjusters and it is for safety purpose as u cn see in honda civic.
• It is in collabration with TATA motors so don't worry about after sales service and spare parts.
• Linea has cheapest spare parts in comparison to SX4,Verna,Fiesta n other competitor cars.So its cheaper on the pocket.
• Overall complete value for money , neatly designed , economicaly powered car.

Value for money,luxurious interiors,great italian styling exteriors,smooth on road,great mileageFlawless Sedan

Before i test drived the multijet i thought better get ready for some compromise as per the reviews which i read of car being underpowered and of being a little noisy.
However, when i sat in the cabin started the car i have to really listen hard to hear some noise. what i am talking about is usual driving condition with closed windows with aircon. (all diesels make noise- fiesta,octavia, innova, even merc when heard from outside). It is inside cabin noise which matters. there were no vibrations on the gearing knob or steering wheel at idle(some can be felt in palio mjd although very very low). i found the pick up quite decent with linear accelaration. I dont think i require more from a car at least in India especially if i get more fuel efficiency by sacrificing some horsepower. The car is very silent, vibration free. The steering is absolute pleasure to handle. I didnt feel i am driving a big car and i was at ease in just 3 mins time. I was on 2nd gear at the speed around 20-30 kph. then the sales ex. asked me to put 5th gear. I just looked at him. He said please do it and I did. To my utter surprie the car just kept going without any knocking. I left the cluth, brake,accelator alone and the car just kept going as if on cruise control. This is what just floored me and removed any doubts about the car.
Later in a week had a test drive of petrol version. more quiter, more refined, no doubts whatsoever.
Above this-blue & me is like pampering yourself, features list is too long to keep track off.
I think one cannot ask more, you have to hand it to fiat this time with the price that it is offering. i booked a linea petrol today. I am sure this car is going to turn heads. Lookwise the car is unbeatable
excellent looks, unbeatable features, build quailty, suspensionrear head room

 

After doing a lot of analysis and test driving about the cars in the range of Rs. 8 to Rs.10 lakh, I decided to buy the Linea T Jet+. The car has been delivered last week. Although the car is very new and only run for 275 KM till now, I think I should let you know about my experience and feelings about the car.

Engine: Its simply superb. 1368cc engine produces 114 HP and 20.7 Nm torque- a record for petrol engine of such a volume in India. It is the technological prowess of Fiat that enables them to bring out a product like this. Its peak power output is at 5000rpm. You donot not get one to match this in India on today’s date. Such power and torque is possible from a relati

vely low volume engine due to the turbo charging of the engine by using the exhaust gas pressure. Fiat has improved the horse power from 89.5 to 114 this way. The torque improvement in theT jet engine is phenomenal from 115Nm in the normal petrol linea to 207Nm in the Turbo petrol i.e.TJet. This is also informed to be the trend for racing cars. The engine is silent till about 1500 rpm. After 1500 rpm a little engine sound is heard. As the rpm exceeds 2000 it only wants to speed. Its turbo power comes in. It is a driver’s delight to be at the wheel. You can beat virtually any car/SUV of category below Rs 13-14 lakh. On the first day, I took the car to Mumbai-Pune Express Highway for test drive and tested the car at 140 + kmph- that it easily pulled. It has much more power left. That I shall test after the initial running in. Another beauty of the engine is it pulls in the fourth gear on a plane road from as low as 30 kmph smoothly.

Body: It is solidly built and anybody can get that feeling from its look and its unladen weight of 1230KG.

Style: Once seen, one falls in love. Such is the look. Nothing more to write.Brake: In the T Jet + model it is disk brakes in all the four wheels. No worry about breaking. Extremely sharp breaks. One has to be carefull if some old vehicle is in close following. ABS and EBD further enhances the confidence. Its superb.Tyre: Its 16 inch alloy with a 205mm wide tubeless tyre( with one spare). What more one would want? Nobody give this within this price.

Interior Fit and Finish: This is not bad but I would say, could have been better. Especially some of the plastic parts. For my case, it was not the prime consideration in the decision to buy the car since this is a very small component of the package.

AC: Powerfull AC. The AC in the TJet+ is very powerfull and also has climate control switch. Set the temperature and do other things. It will take care. It is also informed that the AC has been more powerfull in the other versins as well compared to the one in the original Linea. It also has a good music system(with CD, Radio and USB drive), leather seats, Blue and Me mobile communication, follow me home lighting, rear AC vents, front air bags and some other things that only make your ownership experience better. The car comes fitted with almost everything required in a new car and one can start driving without any extra fitting. Special mention must be made about the key- its an innovative design. Further, you need to service the car after 15000KM or 1 year whichever is earlier.(practically once in a year for me). Add to this the 4 years free warranty.

Verdict : Its a highly competent car that is designed to last long with high level of safety and performance. It is a high torque low rpm car that is pleasant to drive, comfortable to travel and a "thing of beauty that I hope to be a joy for a long time".Note: Views expressed in the above review is completely personal and is only intended to help prospective buyers looking for sincere opinion about the Fiat Linea T Jet+.

 

performance, features, style, builtindicator at left hand side, some plastic parts

Fiat, it seems, has not done its homework properly in fixing the prices of some of its Diesel variants of Linea. The ideal pricing strategy would have been to fix a uniform difference between the respective Petrol and Diesel variants. Since the features and accessories in all the respective variants have been exactly the same, the price difference between Diesel Active and Petrol Active, which is approx. Rs. 90,000, should have been methodically maintained. This, in fact, has been very carefully till the Dynamic Pack variants. The price distortion begins when one observes the pricing of both the Diesel Emotion variants. For instance, in Diesel Emotion, despite keeping this difference of Rs. 90,000 (approx.) as compared to its Petrol counterpart, no alloys have been provided. The customer has to shell out Rs. 25,000 extra for a set of five alloys. This takes the effective price difference between the Diesel Emotion and Petrol Emotion to Rs. 115,000, for which there is no reason and/or justification. Another example is Diesel Emotion Pack variant, which has been provided with the alloys, but the price difference between the Diesel Emotion Pack and Petrol Emotion Pack to Rs. 112,000, thereby broadly covering the cost of alloys. In other words, it means that customers of Diesel Emotion are forced to shell out Rs. 25,000 extra for alloys, which amount, in case of Diesel Emotion marginally reduces to Rs. 22,000. Does it mean that FIAT India intends to penalize Linea customers choosing Diesel Emotion over other variants?

 

I strongly believe that this is an inadvertent error, because had it not been so, the pricing of Punto would definitely have gone the same way, and happily in case of Punto, which has been launched yesterday, FIAT India has maintained a difference of approx. Rs. 50,000 in all its similar variants of Diesel and Petrol, while still keeping all the features in tact (including the alloys.).

 

It is hoped that FIAT would remove this discrepancy immediately to prove its credentials as a true customer friendly company.

(All price differences have been taken on the basis of Linea’s ex-showroom prices, as on June 18, 2009

Exterior

 The side view is a awesome. Overall car look is good. It is nice heavy and sturdy cars for the indian roads. But the poor thing is that it has low ground clearance.  

Interior (Features, Space & Comfort)

My car 2 features are excellant. It shows instantaneous fuel consumption, by the help of it you can manage your fuel consumption and improve car's average. Boot space and leg room are very good. AC cooling is not upto the mark when car is heated in summer at 40 C.  Overall car gives you good comfort for long drive.  

 

Engine Performance, Fuel Economy and Gearbox

Shifting gears is very smooth. And fuel economy is also fentastic. It easily gives 18 km/l at 50-80 kmph speed.   Engine sounds very good. But it shows awesome performance beyond 3000 rpm. Till 2000 rpm engine is sluggish.

 

Ride Quality & Handling

 Ride quality is good and it is easy to handling the car.

Final Words

 Overall linea is fentastic package form fiat.

Areas of improvement  

 AC system

 

Good fuel economy, Superb look, huge boot space, big leg room, heavy and sturdy, My car 2 functions,poor ground clearance, poor accelaration below 2000 rpm, AC

 

I bought the Line TJet+ on October 16, 2010 from Concorde Motors, Bangalore. The color is tuscan wine. Its been more than a month since I got the car and I wanted to share my experience with others. Here it goes:

 

Look and Style This would depend on an individual's view. For me, this is the best looking car in the Rs. 10 lakh category, when you compare it with Honda City, VW Vento, Maruti SX4, Ford Fiesta or Hyundai Verna. There is no doubt that the T-Jet+ is a head turner. The 16 inch alloy wheels and leather seats only add to the appeal of Linea.

Comfort The drive is excellent... the 16'inch alloy wheels and leather seats add to the comfort. You have excellent leg room in the front seats while rear seat leg room is not as good as City , Vento or SX4. Also, the solid built of this car (the doors close with a thud which shows quality of the steel used compared to Japanese cars) inspires confidence in the ability of this car to withstand any mishaps or accidents, There is adequate leg and back support and the driving position can be adjusted (both seat & steering wheel height) to drivers comfort level. The controls for rear view mirror adjustment and windows are a bit far off, if you have short hands, you will find this a bit irritating .

Pickup The biggest complaint about the Linea was its subpar pick-up. T-Jet has more than made up for this problem and the T-Jet engine never disappoints you with lack of power. The engine is always rearing to go and in fact at traffic signals you need to be gentle with the accelerator when the signal turns green since the car zips ahead of all other vehicles in split seconds. I just took it on a long drive (around 1000 kms) and had a great time driving this beast at 120+ kms/ hour speed on the Bangalore- Coimbatore 4 lane express way with absolute ease. You feel really confident to drive this at speeds above 120 mainly because of its grip on the road (16 inch wheels) excellent brakes which responds immediately with minimal jerks (disc brakes on all four wheels) and the built quality and weight ( it’s the heaviest of the lot compared with City, Sx4 and Vento) .

Mileage While the company claims and average mileage of 14.5 kms for T-Jet, I am yet to get these figures. This could probably be due to the car being new (mileage should pick up after first service) and the wider 16 inch tyres. In city, I am getting around 10.5-11.0 kms / liter while on the long trip I got around 13 kms/ liter. Since T-Jet is a petrol car, and petrol prices moving upwards, this is indeed a matter of concern. I hope to see better mileage figures after my first service (the car has so far done only 2000 kms) .

Best Features Linea has perhaps the best list of features compared to competition. The ones I found really useful are:

·         Automatic climate Control: I really like this feature since it allows me to set the temperature inside the cabin to the level that I want - the temperature is maintained at a steady level and I don’t need to adjust it frequently during travel.

·         Blue & Me: This is perhaps the best feature and the most useful one too since I tend to take many conference calls while driving. With Blue & Me, I have paired my Blackberry and as a result, making calls while driving has become very convenient. In fact, I tend to make most of my calls while driving my car!

·         Disc Brakes on all 4 wheels: I found this really good especially during my long drive. Even at 120 kms speed, the TJet’s braking is swift, effortless and very steady…no jerks, skidding or movement towards the sides. I am impressed!

·         16 inch alloy wheels: The bigger wheels give T-jet better ground clearance than the older model. With 170 mm ground clearance, the T-Jet never disappoints you even while negotiating pot-hole ridden roads or big humps which are very common in India. I have travelled with full capacity (6 people on board) and luggage and never did the underside of the car scrape the road while negotiating humps.

·         Assortment of small but useful features: Display of actual and instant fuel consumption, external temperature display, boot release button on the key, foldable key which easily fits into the pocket, rear A/C vents for passengers at the back, sunglass holder near driver’s seat etc…etc ...

Needs to improve
·         The speakers of the music system are pathetic! I can’t believe fiat decided to fit such sub standard speakers in this car. I got it replaced after two weeks.
·         The USB port is located in a very inconvenient position, fixing the USB player in the dashboard cupboard is a cumbersome process
·         There are hardly any useful cubby holes to keep your nick-nacks! You don’t even have a decent cubby hole to keep even a 1 liter bottle of water.

Overall Experience So far, it’s been great. The only real worry is the mileage, which I hope will improve in the coming months after the first service. This car is highly recommended for people who like driving (and long drives), want a car that looks like a million bucks, offers features that’s on par with car’s in a segment above the Linea / City / Vento range and also offers the best built quality in this segment (perhaps the Vento comes very close on this parameter).

 

Excellent ride & handling, comfort, features, great looksBad music system speakers, rear seat space, lack of practical cubby holes

I have now used FIAT Linea 1.4 Petrol emotion pack for 3 months+3000 km. Purchased through Concorde motors Bangalore. I have read lot of adverse feedback about Fiat service. My experience has been pleasant. Concorde Motors go out the way to please. The experience has so far been as good as that of Maruthi. Being predominantly city driver, I do not find any lack of power. I drive through worst roads in Bangalore with highest traffic density with AC on 90 % of the time. The car returns 10.5 KM in Bangalore which I find is acceptable for a car of this size. I had a long drive to Chennai. Maximum speed at which I drove was about 110 KMPH, with AC on most of the time. (Touching 140 KMPH for brief 30 seconds). Car feels very stable and very much in control at all speeds. Highway milage is 15 KM/Liter My criteria for selection of car was 1. Saftey 2. Comfort 3.Fuel economy and the performance. It meets all criteria admirably. I am happy with purchase and would recommend to any body over SX4 , Ford Fiesta, Cheverlet Aveo and may be even Honda City. Of course quality of plastics leaves much to be desired. USB port is kept in glove box. It needs a torch and bending over double to access. This is a really difficult part for a 47 year old person. For a car of such excellent design, the place of USB port is plainly stupid. R.PrabhuAcceptable fuel economyDoors to be shut with extra force to close