[suman]

Lambo, congrats! on getting the licence & finally being able to let her rip! Always good when you can experience it first hand isn't it?

Your car's twin is close to completing 50k so one of these days I'm going to put up a review - time flies, doesn't it!

[iraghava]

Congratulations on getting the license Lambo! Can imagine the thrill of being allowed to drive for the first time, have fun & drive safe!

[lamborghini]

@Suman - 50K! Wow! You need to get a review up here pronto and IMO, you need the diesel more than me.
@iraghava - Thanks buddy!

[benbsb29]

Congrats on finally being legally able to drive, Lambo.
Would be looking forward to more review comments as you start living with the car a lot more than now.

[LandCruiser]

Hey lambo congrats man! You just getting your license?!
Suman finished 50K. Cool man. Am nearing it. But am dreading to near that mark! The hole in the pocket is getting deeper with the 1.6SXI but it was supposed to do that from the beginning! :-) But the fun is overwhelming.

[vnabhi]

Originally Posted by LandCruiser

Hey lambo congrats man! You just getting your license?!
Suman finished 50K. Cool man. Am nearing it. But am dreading to near that mark! The hole in the pocket is getting deeper with the 1.6SXI but it was supposed to do that from the beginning! :-) But the fun is overwhelming.

50 K?? Wow that is a whoppingly high figure. I have only completed 7500 kms on my 10-month old 1.6 sxi and 43 K on my 6.5 year old WagonR!!

Lambo, somehow I thought you were older, but now I know you are as old as my son, who also got his LLR a few months ago

I just read this thread from beginning to end. great, honest writing. I'm not a fan of the fiesta though.

[lamborghini]

Hey guys,

Thanks for the responses and sorry for the late reply.
Got my license and have been driving the car around a bit more. She has completed close to 35,000km now and a review is coming up.
Noticed quite a few facts that I hadn't earlier as well as a few improvements and niggles and some problems.
I still have to figure how these guys managed 50Kkm in the same time we managed 30Kkm but I guess Delhi people travel more.
@ripper - to each his own bro. There are some who would go for the Verna and some who would have a Fiesta instead. It depends on what you want from the car.

35Kkm review coming up soon! Next few days. Just need to take a few pictures and I will be set!

[braveheart_77]

hey guys i have been reading all your reviews for a long time but never tried wrting up my own review abt my ford fiesta.In brief i own a silver ford fiesta tdci zxi (Abs) march 2006 model.It's a single hand driven vehicle and i have almost covered 69 thousand kms.I got the tyres and alloys upgraded the moment i bought the car with 195 goodyear f1 eagle tyres and they prove to be very pathetic and worned out around 40-42 k kms and were very noisy at high speeds.then i replaced the tyres and bought 195 michelin XM 1's and i'm very happy with them.I get my car serviced,tyres aligned and balanced after every 6.5 or 7 k kms.Apart from the tyre problem and once i got the bumper's painted there is no other problem i have faced with my fiesta.It's a great car to own and drive.my car is in immaculate conition and i can assure you that this is one of the best car to own in it's category.any questions regarding fiesta are always welcome.rgds

Note from Mod : Please use spaces after punctuation marks - it is a rule of written english and helps readability.

[cliffbravo]

hey guys,
I am looking for a new car , Well till yesterday , thought of getting a indica Vista aura, but did crash into a re-seller, found a FORD FIESTA 2006 1.4 TDCI ZXI, clocked 32500 kms. The guy is demanding 6 Lacs. Should i go for the fiesta, As i do luv the car so much. I heard from an another common friend that this model has problems with suspension and has every niggle of trouble creeping in after 3 years or so. He even warned for me to put forth 4k every month, jus to take of these kinda maintenance related issues. As you guys have being used to the same make. Pls guide me, I would luv to bring home this M.Silver fiesta.

looking forward to hear from you guys

Allan

[lamborghini]

Hey cliff,

Our fiesta has done around 37000 km and there is no problem whatsoever. I think your friend must have been generalizing based on the Ikon or Escort, both of which are rumoured to be heavy to maintain (We however have had no issue with our old Ikons and the suspension was the strong point).
Our fiesta is amazing and I don't see any signs of any problems creeping in.

[suman]

Originally Posted by cliffbravo

I heard from an another common friend that this model has problems with suspension

Originally Posted by lamborghini

Hey cliff,
Our fiesta has done around 37000 km and there is no problem whatsoever.

And just to add to what Lambo's mentioned, mine's just completed 63,000 kms with no suspension or any other niggles whatsoever.

(BTW, in case you're wondering, both Lambo's & mine were purchased at the same time......mine being a Petrol 1.6 SXI)

[lamborghini]

Hey guys,
Firstly sorry for the long time to reply. The car has actually done 37,000km but due to computer problems, I wasn’t able to post it when I wrote it down.
I was trying to get all the required data, like service reports, but it wasn’t possible as of now as Shaman Ford needed some documentation and were acting all weird about it.
I request the mods to please update the title of the thread.
35,000 km down the line, this car still continues to impress.
There have been some niggles that cropped up but nothing major at all and the car makes up for all of these in some form of another.
I have been driving the car around quite a bit, atleast a 1000km of the 5000km since my last update has been put on by me, however, the rest has been put on by either the drivers or relatives.
I have put down the things I noticed recently and some incidents that took place:
One was that when my relative was driving it, the car got a little dent on the right side fender as can be seen in the pics. Nothing major to worry about.

Another incident was when I was driving it. Was doing about 50 at night on marine drive in the right most lane near Jyoti Sadan Paan Walla. As the place is pretty popular, 2 lanes were full of cars waiting for their paan and the third lane which I was on was moving along. All of a sudden, a cab cut across from the first lane and entered the third lane at a near perpendicular angle causing me to brake hard and luckily for me, the car stopped in a straight line and fast, causing nothing more than some small scratches on the bumper which can be removed easily by polishing.

After that incident, I was pretty impressed with the braking and even though it was one of my complaints earlier, the car has some pretty good brakes when it is dry. Maybe Shaman tweaked the brakes. However, during the rains, it doesn’t feel as confidence aspiring as it should as I found them to be really spongy.
Also, another thing I noticed was that the driver’s seat isn’t one of the most comfortable around. Earlier, we had a bead type seat cover, but it was recently removed as it was broken, and after that, my back starts hurting after a while, like say an hour but there is a possibility it could be more to do with my back as it is pretty weak.
Also, a stone from the road bounced off the left front tire and dented the bottom front of the left fender and it needs to be repaired. Wasn’t able to do so as the car wasn’t free at the time.

FE:
The FE has been around 14kmpl when I drove it (which included the occasional ripping to get away from traffic), however, when my driver drove it, it fell to 11.xx kmpl and I have no idea how that happened. I guess it has more to do with the way it is used when the driver uses it as he is chauffeuring one of my other relatives around and there is a possibility the car is left on with the ac on when they are waiting for someone or the car may be running on short trips before the engine reaches optimum temperature and hence the lower mileage. I wouldn’t blame the driver because when I would travel 50km a day with him driving, the car would still give 14kmpl. I guess it may be because of the short trips.
Engine:
The engine, even though it sounds puny on paper still manages to put a smile on my face. Since most of the driving is restricted to city speeds (well, I guess the W.E. highway can also be counted as a city road given the amount of traffic and all on it), I am really enjoying the way the torque and power is delivered as it makes the car a breeze to drive in traffic. Power is pretty good from 1250 till around 3250 - 3500rpm, when it tapers off. Because of this, the car is extremely agile in traffic.
Even the outright performance is decent. Not shatteringly fast but with if one times the gear shifts are timed right, the car performs pretty well. I am not a fast driver, not one who would do silly speeds to try and prove a point. I don’t take unnecessary risks and know my limit as well as the car’s limit and the fiesta hasn’t disappointed me yet. Infact, I enjoyed driving the fiesta over the Getz 1.3 as I felt it to be more responsive. However, I felt the first gear to be very short and that is one of my main disappointments with the car.
One point to mention though is that the engine noise has increased. However, it is very marginal and there still aren’t any vibrations passed on into the cabin. It still feels like a petrol inside.
Ride and Handling:
Now here’s something I have noticed. The car’s ride is pretty stiff at low speeds. However, as speeds build up, it really improves a lot and just glides over many bumps.
The potholed roads gave me an opportunity to test this out. I noticed this on a 3am drive back from the airport on the W.E. highway. There was a section which was being repaired however, due to the highways poor lighting and lack of safety cones (which were knocked down by other cars), our car went over that stretch at around 70kmph and I didn’t feel a thing. It was only when I noticed the cones that I pulled out of that lane.
The handling as always is a lot of fun. There are many times when I prefer using Altamount road over Peddar road simply because of the turns and lack of traffic (It is the closest I can get to a place with better roads. Hill stations are too far away for me to go everyday). This car is simply amazing to drive and corners pretty well even on the stock tyres.
After Sales Experience:
I really haven’t faced any issue with Shaman Ford service center but this time, I was left disappointed.
The part that was requested was out of stock, which was ok with me. However, when we went to drop the car, we were told to make a payment in the form of a check. As our office was closed, that wasn’t possible and we picked up the next day and handed the check over. However, then, when I called the driver to enquire about the car, he said he still hadn’t taken delivery and when I spoke to the service assistant, he told me that we were supposed to pay in cash. This was after my driver saw 3-4 people hand in checks.
Also, we asked them to get us a copy of all the service records and bills of the car since day 1. When I told him this, he said that there wouldn’t be a problem and all would be ready in time for the delivery. However, when our driver came home, I asked him about it and he told me that they required a letter on the company’s letterhead before they could give it to him.
Was terribly disappointed this time and as the car came back today, I still don’t have all the details with me and will find out as soon as possible.

Other things I noticed:
- The music system seems to have improved. It doesn’t get stuck when going over a pothole. However, the player still skips parts of songs when I am nearing the end of the CD. Planning an upgrade once I get some money saved up.
- The smoke issue I mentioned seems to have gone with the car spewing very little smoke and that too under hard acceleration.
- There is one new squeak that has popped up but nothing too loud.
- The driver’s side power window button feels a bit weird.
- Some part of the left side under body seems to have broken/come off. Don’t know what it is but Shaman Ford doesn’t have the part in stock.
That about covers the review. I know it is a long one but I couldn’t help it. I missed the car a lot and just can’t stop talking about it.

[lamborghini]

Hey guys,
Back again. This time having done 50Kkm. I request the mods to please update the title.

The fiesta is as reliable as ever, and apart from a few bumper scratches, nothing major and exciting has happened as yet. The engine still manages to keep me smiling with its performance. It literally flies till 110-120 if you know when to shift.
What is commendable though, is that even after 50Kkm, there are hardly any vibrations that one can feel when the engine is running. Even the engine can be mistaken for a petrol once it is warmed up. I am impressed with its refinement, as from what I have heard, diesels tend to get louder once they get older. It does get a bit boomy towards the redline though.
The FE is around 13 kmpl, sometimes it goes lower, but that is when the car is left on for an extended period of time, and is stuck in heavy traffic and short trips.

One thing that irritates me a lot is that the squeaking/creaking noise from the rear when the car goes over bumps has increased and it really hurts me to hear the noise.

Also, the rubber was changed around 8Kkm back to MRF ZVTS Tubes (!) when I was in the States. These tyres, though long lasting, have very bad grip! squealing around corners at low speeds is easy, the car skids a lot more under hard braking, one can actually feel the bumps on the road, which also shakes the car up a bit when doing 80-90+ kmph.
However, as a VFM tyre, they get the job done, though I am waiting to get them changed asap!

Also, planning on an engine decarbonization, when the car goes for service. Will update the thread when that happens.

[oss]

Wonderful thread lambo
Helped me a lot in the process of deciding in favour of Fiesta TDCi.

Originally Posted by lamborghini

The engine still manages to keep me smiling with its performance. It literally flies till 110-120 if you know when to shift.

Guess i will come to you to get some dope on diesel driving, esp. Fiesta TDCi. I have always been a petrolhead and will soon be making a shift to diesel for the first time to experience the TORQUE