The Question and Answer series is back on CarAdvice with Rahul Bagaria’s SOS email asking which D-segment car should he buy? Since his question needed a urgent reply and he was quite descriptive of his query, I thought of answering it asap.
Please help me to decide on this issue. I do not know how to decide between Linea and City. My heart says Linea but my brain says city.
1) Linea has the worst legroom at rear considering the overall dimension of the car vis-a-vis city. I am 6 feet tall n so is my Dad.
2) The Music System/ICE in Linea doesn’t provide wireless remote for passengers which leaves me no option but to irritate myself in order to explain the chauffeur.
3) Linea has the worst ergonomics when seating comforts are taken into consideration.
Even if I blind myself with issues like- poor after sales service, poor or no resale value, Fiat=no status in India even if i spend 9.3 lakhs on this car, car feels dead at lower revs/rpm<2000 BUT STILL I CANT GET OVER the above issues.
If i buy a big car and still I have to cram my legs to sit in the rear seats then why should i spend 9 lakhs at all. I have tried Verna too and it has the same issue with legroom although has a wild beast of an engine. I feel LINEA is a true Value for Money. It has amazing fuel efficiency and its DIESEL. The only option i see beyond Linea is Cruze. But its way over budget. Please HELP! Everything is telling my brain to choose CITY but heart is stuck with Diesel engines as it removes the major worry when i enter the gas station. LOL.
CITY has got everything except CD system in Audio system, Auto Climate Control, bad tyres to grip, DIESEL engine and poor Fuel efficiency in petrol as they have increased the Power/BHP to 118 ps. I am not clear about Cruze in regard to Fuel efficiency, after sales issues, expensive parts. Should I spend 12.00 lakhs as i have budget for 9 lakhs. Is it worth taking the terrible pain of extra 3.00 lakhs. I do not plan to take new car in coming 6-7 years after this investment. In Kolkata the on road price of CITY 1.5 SMT- 9.4 lakhs, Linea 1.3 MJD Emo. Pk- 9.2 Lakhs and Cruze 2.0 LT- 11.8 lakhs
Dear Rahul, first of all I would say that all the three cars you have short listed are excellent in their own right. You can’t go wrong with either but looking at your requirements I would suggest you opt for the Chevrolet Cruze. Yes, it is going out of your budget, but it is bigger, faster and better equipped than the Linea and City. If you can stretch for the Cruze go ahead and get it.
Few positives of the Chevrolet Cruze : -
Excellent looks (turns heads everywhere)
Diesel engine is a missile and is economical too
Equipment level is good
Sunroof and start stop system (no key needed to start car) makes you feel like James Bond
Boot and interior space is decent for a car of this size (more than Linea and City)
Few negatives of the Chevrolet Cruze : -
After sales service still needs improvement
Resale value after few years questionable
GM’s habit of discounts after few months is a heart breaker
High speed handling and braking on JKs don’t do justice to the amount of power on hand.
Additional Information - Chevrolet Cruze Test Drive Review
If you decide to ignore the Cruze, my next choice would be the Linea.
Few positives of the Fiat Linea : -
Looks mindbogglingly hot (easily the best looking car in the country <20 lakhs)
Excellent ride and handling balance
Fuel efficiency of Multijet engine
High speed stability and braking is decent
Excellent equipment level at the price point
Few negatives of the Fiat Linea : -
Fiat after sales services still needs improvement
Quality is iffy
Diesel engine not the must enthusiastic (a more powerful multijet expected soon)
Resale value a question mark
Rear legroom (as mentioned by you)
Lack of remote (as mentioned by you) but this car features Audio controls on steering wheel
Last would be the Honda City for a few simple reasons including unexciting, expensive to buy and lack of equipment
Few positives of the Honda City : -
VTEC powerplant a joy to redline
After sales service is good (not the best)
Resale value is excellent (you don’t have to find a buyer, the buyer finds you)
Honda quality a given
Few negatives of the Honda City : -
Petrol engine not as fuel efficient as diesels
Lack of equipment
Premium pricing due to so called premium brand
Lacks the soul of the first gen City’s
Ride and handling not a match to the Linea
Thus considering the above points, I would suggest you opt for the Cruze or the Linea. If not, consider other cars in the segment like the Fiesta (which is an excellent drivers car, but you won’t be driving, right?) Do let us know what you finally zero in on.
{ 5 comments… read them below or add one }
bought Honda city 3 months back and very much satisfied with this car
honda city rockssss
linea and cruze are comparitively useless cars
honda city has the most stylish designs among these cars
Hi thanks for answering the question i went ahead and bought the Fiat Linea 1.3 MJD Emo Pk and am really happy with it. There was no real A.S.S problems “Thank god” and the rear seat is a bit low on space.
I did take a test drive of Chevrolet Cruze first and found that the rear seats are not exactly comfortable my dad had a hard time on the seats because of the angle “Straight rightup angle makes for less comfort” the leg room while a bit more than Linea was not a lot more the rear head room is just pathetic in both Linea and Cruze
cruze- is a part of a sports car which has rocket engine. which has good pick up and can touch the speed more than 180. kmp/h
linea- is a jumbo type car which is good car which has T-jet engine.but not good at look which refers to me. it has lot of boot space compare to both.
city- is a good car for ciy class ride and bit inteligent with I-vtec engine of honda but there are few complaints about honda these years.
for sports like car- cruze
———————————–
for a city ride class- honda city
——————————————
value for money car- fiat linea
first of all i will advice to buy cruze but diesel engine(rocket).
secondly,the linea T-jet engine is better then cruze rocket engine but it has less legroom space in front.
thirdly, honda city “THE COMPUTER ON THE ROAD”
but a featureless car.