First 600 Kms on Fiesta 1.4 Petrol

[theexister]

Firstly I thank everyone on this forum for posts that have helped me & at times also confused me in buying my first car. Trust me guys there no feeling like your own new car especially after driving my dad's Maruti 800 for 6 years.

I froze on the Fiesta simply because of driving pleasure. I drive myself & being passionate about driving & vehicle dynamics, I was looking for a car that satisfied this need within my budget of 7 lakhs. I delayed the booking after the Verna was out but was very unimpressed by Verna's tendency to roll & pitch on roads with camber change. The car also shouts 'dont push me' simply because it doesnt seem to provide confidence to drive fast. This was after test driving her twice.
The 1.6 Fiesta was what I was looking at but it was just beyond my budget. I was impressed with the 1.4 for city driving during the test.

I booked a Jewel Violet on the 15th Dec'06 from Mody Ford with a promise to deliver the car within 10 days. But after a week I got a call from the dealer telling me the car was ready but only a Paprika Red because Ford had no more Violets left. I was fine with this since I had decided this would be my second choice.
I had been given a delivery date of 23rd Dec & was all excited, ready with the banker's cheque from SBI, only to find out while taking delivery that the car had already been alloted to someone else & since they had actually booked for a Red even though they hardly paid a big down payment & booked after me. So empathizing with the way the other party would have felt, I decided to let go this vehicle & wait till Jan'07 for the vehicle. But this was at the new price which was nearly 10000/- more. This was something I wasnt willing to pay.
So I called the owner of this dealer. I explained exactly what had happened. He was very co-operative & apologized for the confusion & was promised that the price rise would be waived via gift cheque. So finally I took delivery of the red vehicle on the 9th Jan.

The odo read 12 Kms & was a bit nervous because it was late evening when the traffic was at its peak. The DTE showed 75kms & so I took her to the BP fuel pump on SP Road & filled her with 19 ltrs.

The first 4 days of the car were really great. I was being very careful in not pushing her beyond 2500 revs & also avoiding bumper-bumper traffic by taking the longer route to work via necklace road. On the 5th or 6th day I suddenly noticed a metallic noise that seemed to coming from under the hood. I had a feeling it was the hood hook which holds the hood in place under open condition was not seated properly. So I checked it out & viola I was sort of right. The plastic bush which holds the hood hook was broken & the hook was freely rotating & clanking against the BIW.
I have decided to get this fixed on my first service.

I also started noticing that the car struggled to accelarate on 2nd when the AC was On. It is more like a turbo lag...initial torque is low but suddenly there is a boost in power beyond 2000 rpm. I still cant seem to figure out why this happens only a few times. Also climbing steep inclinations ( like the one near Taj Krishna) is tough on it during AC. Driving without the AC has none of these signs. I hadnt expected such a drastic change between these conditions. Also the first gear isnt how it was during my test drive. The gear box fails to engage first at times & needs a good shove. I am surpised by this too. Maybe it will sort out after first service when I point it out to them.

The mileage on the first fill was pretty low... only 9.6 with 100% AC. It was better at the second fill at 10.4. Both being at the BP with Speed.

After about 2 weeks I noticed a slight rattle on the driver side window while driving on a rough section of road. I drive on that stretch everyday & this was the first time. This started happening everyday since then till now. This is another thing that I need to get fixed up.

I opened her up a little on my 3rd fill , which was Extra premium at Full Moon, taking her upto 3500 revs at times. The grunt of the vehicle is very nice to hear at this point on. The car does soak up small patches of bad road well but deeper pot holes seem to jar the vehicle at lower speeds than higher ones. This I suspect is due to a hard dampener settings. The mileage was much better at 11.6 on this fill.

Only a couple of days back I went onto my 4th fill, this time at the IBP near the begumpet airport. It was extra premium again.

I havent fitted any accessory for I had decided I will wait till the first service which is on the 8th Feb. I am also thinking of getting a Waxoyl paint protection done during the service.

I shall keep posting as the kilometres log.

Once again thanks to everyone on TBHP.

[ravibhat]

Hey Congrats man on teh purchase, Fiesta gives driving pleasure please be carefull with Ford guys (although don't know in Hyderbad how good they are) and make a list of issues and ask them to fix ervery thing during first service.

All the best! happy motoring.

Ravi.

[CrAzY dRiVeR]

Hey... I have driven the fiesta and the ikon... Ford makes some of the best drivers cars...

The fiesta 1.4 was a real pleasure to drive... However, my friendf who owns the car was really sad with the low FE of just 9 kmpl... (with ac)...

If possible, please regularly keep a watch on the FE figures and post it here...

[LandCruiser]

Just hang around 2000-3000 RPM. You will get a good mileage. You need to use 4th, 5th mostly in order to get better mileage.

As Ravi says be very very careful with the ford service guys and ensure the quality of the fixes and your car before you take delivery from service.

Not to discourage you but i have personally suffered from lack of commitment and quality from ford service. You just be very careful things would be fine.

[namit]

Fiesta 1.4 is a brilliant car to drive.

Congrats !!

Would like to hear on the FE just to compare with my Aveo 1.4.

[ashu2025]

Congrats for having Fiesta 1.4. I have heard many guys in TEAM-BHP praising it for its sheer performance.

Do post us the FE figures after a while. I too would like to compare it with my 4 month old Chevy AVEO 1.4 which is giving me between 12-13.5 kms/litre in city driving.

Enjoy...

[jeetu4444]

congrats bro enjoy with your new fiesta.......

[benbsb29]

Congrats on ru new car, pal .
Jewel Violet was a good color to have, but pity you lost out on that.

As mentioned by landcruiser, keep ur car between the 2000-2500 rpm (3000 max) levels, and for sure your mileage figures will improve. Also, do take care to drive light footed, rather than pushing ur car, and expecting good mileage figures.

Keep 'em coming.

[theexister]

Thanks everyone.

I am keeping a close watch on the FE and it seems pretty consistent so far except for the 1st fill.

Today was the first hit my car had to take thanks in part to an auto & scooter.

I was waiting for the signal to go green at the NTR junction in front of police line. While I was going straight and was on the left lane, an auto guy in front of me decided to suddenly take a right turn. A scooter had to avoid him & clipped my front bumper on the right side. All this while my car was standing still. The bumper on the right extreme has come off its fastening clip & is slightly dislodged.

Luckily, tommorrow being my first service I will get this fixed along with the rest of the other gremlins.
There is a small dent on the bottom edge of the bumper too & is hardly visible. If it sits back well into the clip I am not going to replace it.

But I was pretty ticked off the whole day & sort of down. I drive oh so carefully & yet this had to happen. :(

[akroy]

Boss, this things do happen and its nice that it happened so early....reminded me of my car...I was in my 3rd day of ownership, when a bike lost control and hit headon on a parked car....i got a slight tear in the 'S' mark grill...I was very off that day but didnt replace that grill even today thinking that all the bad omen should be gone through this....

Abhi

[yogi1771]

yeah the same thing with my car(one week old) was waiting for the signal all of a sudden a lorry comes and bangs into rear right flank result a big gash luckily not that deep was feeling bad till it got repaired

[suman]

Originally Posted by theexister

But I was pretty ticked off the whole day & sort of down. I drive oh so carefully & yet this had to happen. :(

Sorry to hear about this! Cheer up mate, I can imagine how you're feeling - its so frustrating & this is what it is 90% of the times, you are minding your own business & not getting in anyone's way but they decide to pile onto you anyway

[chanapli]

Originally Posted by CrAzY dRiVeR

Hey... I have driven the fiesta and the ikon... Ford makes some of the best drivers cars...

Good to know Fiesta is a good drivers car.

I have not driven this one yet, but to be honest I never liked other ford cars like Ikon and escorts (apart from rented Taurus in US) especially when I was using OHC 1.5

[benbsb29]

@theexister :

Well, i guess no one takes the cake like my ikon did...

4:30 PM : Take delivery of Mike (as we call him) from the showroom. Decide to drive to Electronics City to pick up wifey, and show her the car.
5:15 PM or so : Park just beside her office gate, but fails to notice the kerb height. In one swooping turn, rush into the parking, and greeted by a grating sound. Heart stops beating. No movement from me. Finally, my bro who was along with me, steps outside and inspects the damage. Congratulates me n Mike on the first bruise, on the left bottom of the bumper.

Guess we shud learn to live with all these.... our mistake or not.
Besides, whats a man with no bruises to show off?!!

[RacingForIndia]

Congrats on your purchase. I own a Fiesta 1.4 Paprika Red, and have covered close to 20000 Kms, and every Km has been a pleasure to drive.

So far I am satisfied with the FE, which is between 12 to 13.5 in the city and between 18-20 on the Express way (provided you drive below 100 and are not lead footed).
Pickup has been decent right through, the only difference being that you dont have to push the 1.6 as much as the 1.4 for that surge, but the 1.4 is good enough for Indian traffic conditions.
I have hit a top speed of 165 -170 on the Express Way 9I know its crazy) and the car feels very stable. My only grievance is that the car is not sufficiently damped. But I guess if you want a car which handles well the ride quality is bound to suffer.

I had to change the steering rack (15K) last month, fortunately it was under the warranty so I didn’t have to pay a dime. The car did go through some abuse, as I took it to some country roads (actually no roads) and that might have been the cause.

The service has been decent, but one would expect the guys to be more professional. Just make sure that you check out the car well before you drive out of the service station.

I am hooked to my car and I guess you will be too, with time.