[solved]Dzire,SX4, Linea - Which one to pick?

Hi all....need a help from you guys. One of my friend in Bangalore is about to change his good old M800 after a long 11 years ! He is a Swift lover but as the first choice is to have a sedan looking at Dzire, SX4 and Linea. Here goes his criteria:

(1) Should be a Sedan !
(2) Airbag & ABS
(3) Alloy Wheel (good to have)
(4) Maintenance cost
(5) Fuel economy

I know him for a long time and I am quiet sure he will not change his car for another 10 years or so.. LOL :D He is asking me to pick the model as I am 'supposed to have' some knowledge about cars :D . I love SX4 and drove it once. Well...that's not good enough to recommended it. The same is tre with Dzire. And Linea....I never saw it live as I was out of India :). I remeber that initial Dzire models had an issue with its rear suspension (when boot is fully loaded). Hope that is addressed in the current models ? What you guys think ? How about SX4 ? I like its look and hope that it is powered well? Please advice.

Hi Shynish,
All the three cars which your friend has selected are very nice, dZire is a segment below the SX4 and Linea, I would suggest to keep the SX4 out of the list because -
As he loves the swift, He can consider the dZire but as I said, Its a segment below but if he needs a car of the SX4's segment then I would definately suggest the Linea, Its a new, luxurious car with very much upmarket feel, comes with both, Airbags and ABS, Alloys but I still doubt about the Fiat's After Sales service and Maintinance etc because as you said that he may keep the car for another 10 years.
In the dZire, You get all these features at comparatively low cost, but dZire's styling doesn't suits many but as its the Maruti Product, The Peace of Mind is for sure.
So in the end, I would suggest, If your friend wants a segment above, luxurious car then its simply the Linea but if pricing and peace of mind is the concern, then no doubt, Its the dZire.All the best!

EDIT: Here, I've designed a small table, keeping in mind all imp. features. check out -
(I've made it in a bit hurry, Will post a better one soon :))

		Fiat Linea(Emotion)(Opt.Pack)		MSIL Swift dZire ZXi
Price(OTR)Banglore		8.32 Lacs		6.86lacs
Features
ABS/Airbags		Yes		Yes
AC/Climate Cont.		Yes		Yes
Remote Locking		Yes		Yes
CD/MP3		1CD/Yes		Yes/Yes
Rear AC Vents		Yes		No
Alloys		Yes(opt)		Yes(opt)

well, if he is ready to spend, i feel the linea is the best bet.

even my vote goes for linea

So Linea is the best ?...of course need to spend more. But I am just wondering...what is so wrong with SX4 ?

shynishm wrote:So Linea is the best ?...of course need to spend more. But I am just wondering...what is so wrong with SX4 ?

i have a white SX4 VXi for our company use. problems are low fuel efficiency & hard ride quality.

Oh! Thanks Raj...that explains it! I think I will I am gonna suggest him DZire & Linea and the only criteria he should be bothered about is the budget. As far as I can see...both are good cars to own !

If he has the budget, then let him opt Linea. Linea is an overall good car. Solid enough to survive well after 10 years, read Fiat build quality. It has good ride and handling character, along with stability. Engines might be underpowered for some, but i feel them as adequately powered. FE is pretty decent too.

SX4 is not doing good now. Harsh ride, low FE, rattles, etc.. spoils it. Rear seat space is not good.

Dzire is from a segment down. If Linea is out of reach, Dzire is a good bet. The rear suspension problem, is because of the softened version Swift's suspension to aid ride quality, so can't expect a change. If opting for petrol, then engine replacement is around the corner for emission norms. Rattles are an irritant, should be a problem in 10 years.

My pick is Linea.

Shynish, If you're friend is opting for linea, Then you can take help from other linea owners present in our forum, They can better tell you about FIAT's ASS etc.

RoadRocket

Shynish, What are the updates?

VT

i would prefer going for the dzire, not that linea is a bad car, infact linea is a very good car compared to dzire but ASS and spares availability, pricing of spares and all put together i chose dzire..

The Linea Emotion Diesel is the one to choose from among them. The Linea petrol can be avoided.

Shynish, What are the updates?

VT

Hey Shynish, I suggest the Linea diesel Emotion Pack because its fully loaded to the gill with loads of features from all categories and is quite a stylish looker. Diesel engine is adequately powered, though he can wait for the more powerful diesel, which is coming by the end of this year. Fuel Efficiency will never be a problem with any of the diesels and Fiat build quality will last several decades. Plus Tata-Fiat ASS can only improve with time, so I guess theres nothing to worry about. Tell your friend to go for the Linea. He won't regret it.

Hi All, sorry for the delayed reply. I was traveling for the last couple of weeks with limited access to the internet.

My friend has finalized on Swift Dzire (considering all aspects) and has already placed the order. Surprisingly it still has the 6 months waiting period. I really don't understand why MSIL is not able to recover from this stage!! I think they are doing this purposefully to keep the demand up I hope this is a wise decision for him Thanks to you all for giving inputs

Congrats to your friend.
I would have taken the Linea instead.
Its got more power and looks better too.
But to each his own.

Dzire's sales is in the top 10 and it sells about 5000 cars per month. So i don't think MS is creating an artificial demand.

Congrats on the booking of your friends dZire Shynish.
dZire is a nice feature loaded car as i said in my previous post, He won't be dis-satified with it, But as he had a bigger budget, He could have considered other cars like Linea, Anyways this is too a good choice, Ask him to snap some pics and post here when he gets the delivery.
About the 6 months waiting period, That is absolutly true MSIL isn't doing this to keep the car's demand up.

VT

Thread Marked Solved.

VT

congrats to your friend on the booking, dzire is a very economic and loaded car, he will be satisfied with both the car and ASS, nice pic, even linea would have been a good choice but im not sure with its ASS, anyways talking about the waiting period, it has always been so with MSIL with most of its cars

i feel the Dzire looks somewhat compromised in every aspect. but i agree, for that price, its a killer.

Thanks all. I always love MSIL cars because of the reliability and ASS. But there are lot of good cars available nowadays. For instance, Linea could have been a better choice. As Vibhor mentioned he won't be dis-satisfied with Dzire.

Vibhor wrote:

About the 6 months waiting period, That is absolutly true MSIL isn't doing this to keep the car's demand up.

VT

well i am not too sure or agree on this, yes there is demand, but if you go and check out the stock yards of MSL dealers your belief would change for sure, have seen rows of swifts/dzires gutted with mud on their stock yard and not getting delivered.Ask that non smiling security guard at front door how many dzires does gets delivered a day and you would know the real scenario.I was told the delivery time of 1 month max. for swifts(take both dezire as well) diesel and few more months for petrol.

I agree with Vijay, when I contacted the MSL dealer in Calicut, Kerala (in Jan 09) they told the delivery time of 1 month max for Swift ZXi. How ever, diesel models has got slightly more waiting period but they told the max period of 3 months for Dzire and Swift (diesel). Apart from that some of the internal sources, MSL is creating a hype and artificial scarcity for their product! I am not sure about this as it could be some personalised view. Nevertheless, MSL is still the first choice for most of the Indians

Hey Shynish, congrats to your friend booking the Swift DZire. It is a nice car, no doubt, but better choices are available today. And it is absolutely true that we Indians firstly bank upon Maruti, which is not a good thing as we should explore other brands too.