I bought a bosa nova linea emotion (diesel, top end) last May and in eight months have done more than 7000 km, traveling from Indore to Pune and Vellore (TN) and Mumbai, but always on 4-lane roads (good roads). Very comfortable drives for me and my wife.
I bought this car after reading reviews on internet and test drive along with Ford Fiesta (new) and Tata Manza. Hundei Verna was not available for test drive and had 6-8 months’ waiting. It was costlier too (couple of lakhs). Ford comes with costly ownership and smaller space, though technically comparable or better. Manza is very spacious and comfortable, but no match to Linea in built and other departments. I drove a petrol Indica for 9 years and was very happy with it, but did not want to go for a Tata sedan.
I place European diesel cars above all others, hence went for this beauty. It was a rare combined decision by brain and heart.
My main worry is due to the Indian mentality of going blindly after a known brand like Maruti (just an example). This has killed many good products while supporting many mediocre / poor products in our market. This applies not only to automobile, but all the products. We don’t research/ test and don’t take bold, but correct decisions. Therefore, god forbid, support may be a problem in later years for Linea.
Another worry is that Linea should not earn bad name due to bad dealer-network, as I read from some reviews. The Punto hatchback is also very good .
On my experience of driving Linea, I got 18+ km/l average with mostly 80-100 km/h speed with full AC ON. I have not driven yet in summer. Never faced problem of scrapping the bottom on bumpers, probably as my model comes with added ground-clearance (2012 model). I enjoyed the total control on the vehicle when overtaking and taking bends on highways, touching 120 km/h only occasionally on long clear stretches. After driving petrol car, it took a while to get used to the low pick-up of diesel car, but I never faced problem in overtaking with proper gear-shifts. You must know and respect the limitations, that’s all.
I bought Linea based on my friend’s experience who bought it a year ago and based on our experience, another friend bought a petrol lines (two year old model) with great discount from Sanghi Brothers, Indore. I only hope that we get good after-sales-service. Atleast, Tata is monitoring and asking our feedback.
I am writing this frank review to support a good product. I wish Fiat does succeed in living-up to its name in India too.
Ravi