[sumitsingh]

Hi Everyone,

I took delivery of my 1.6 ZXI platinum color Ford Fiesta on 23rd may and thought would share some thoughts with the group.

Shortlisting and Booking Process:

I couldn't have imagined that something that comes naturally in the form of recommending cars to others would become such a difficult thing when it comes to selecting my own car. I was all over the place while looking between the Swifts, corollas, citys , ikons.

Then, finally narrowed down the segment and list to the City, Aveo and Fiesta. The City was out because I believe that Honda cars are less speced and highly priced and inspite of honda adding 'value' to the newer model, I felt lack of optional features like ABS is bad on Honda's part.

The fight was between the Aveo and Fiesta and realised that I should either go for the Aveo 1.6 LT with the options pack ( would cost about 8.0 lacs on road in UP) or the Fiesta 1.6 SXI with ABS ( would cost about 7.9 lacs on road in UP).

The Aveo was out since heard too many bad things about the safety aspect of the car in the international market. I took the test drive of the 1.6 Aveo and 1.6 Fiesta back to back and came very impressed by the Fiesta's drive, gear change, AC performance and quietness of the engine.

The back to back test drive really changed my inclination from the Aveo to the Fiesta and hence started discussing the Fiesta purchase. Got quotes from the South City Ford Motors in Noida and found the deal to be a good one. I got a 9250/- corporate discount, 8000 cash discount and 8000 finance discount with a 3% discount merged in the loan amount EMI itself. Effective finance for 5,50000/- came in at about 10.25% for three years.

I booked the 1.6 ZXI with ABS on the 2nd May and was promised delivery on the 20th May. I didn't like the alloys and leather interiors that came with SXI and hence decided to go in for the ZXI.

Delivery:

I took delivery on the 23rd and was very happy with the entire process and professionalism shown by the dealership and salesman during this time. I would recommend them to anyone considering a ford right now.

Got the following additional accessories like teflon and antirust coating, car cover, gear lock and autocopy installed at the dealership itself.

Driving Experience:

I have had the car for 3 days now and have driven for about 150 Kilometres. I can say that the car feels very very smooth. Something which I immediately felt when i took the test drive between the Aveo and Fiesta. More reports at the first service.

Likes:
- Distance to Empty indicator
- Gear Shift
- Acceleration
- Engine Quietness
- Interior

Dislikes
- No option of Airbags ( Very very bad)
- Not too many accessories available at the dealership
- Radio Antenna cannot be folden down ( Causes a great deal of problem in trying to put the car cover all by myself)
- No MP3 support in the music system provided

Hope this helps others.

-Sumit