[tharian]

Originally Posted by phamilyman

I would not have worried about it - your ride quality will suffer but the car is useful while parts are procured.

That would be the last option, I wouldn't want stock suspension bits as I bought this car keeping in mind the better handling characteristics over a non-Sports Aspire.

[narayans80]

While I don't think wear and tear parts are a problem. How are body work on discontinued OEMs work? I am only asking about work that need body panel replacements.

The reason am asking is, my experience with body work on an in-production Hyundai i10 itself wasn't anything to speak of. It took multiple weeks to get body parts and fit them. How bad can it be for a GM or Ford?

[anjan_c2007]

Exit of Ford from the Indian operations should not be a cause of worry for present day Ford car, recent model owners. Though their resale valuations will fall and so will liquidity in the used car market, spares should not be much of a problem till at least the end of 2020's.

Must say that the Voluntary Vehicle Fleet Modernisation Programme (V-VMP) or what we know as the Vehicle Scrapping Policy by the "dynamic MoRTH" was tailormade for GM and Ford cars in India.

Another case in point was the great fall of the South Korean chaebol (family owned business conglomerate) Daewoo in 1999, when it was gaining traction in our market. The fall was very,very sudden due to its financial troubles. GM bought many of its overseas operations but the Indian arm was left to perish. As a result, there was no committment from any entity to continue to service the cars and maintain a spares supply chain. The owners were left in the lurch and the left-over spares with authorised dealers landed in some hands who sold them till stocks lasted. The cars soon landed into the scrapyards to become extinct.

Ford's exit from India is on a different note. The company stays, but stops it's Indian operations after doing so in Indonesia and Japan in 2016 and Australia (2013) due to the same reasons of not being able to sustain itself with the revenues generated.

[VWAllstar]

Originally Posted by tharian

My worry was since certain suspension parts are different from the normal Figo/Aspire, will those be available when the time comes. I am not that bothered about the cosmetic parts that are different. I am aware that the Figo Blu comes with the same size tyre as the Sports, but even that hardly sold.

Thats precisely my worry. Not immediate worry but since I intend to keep my Figo S till 2030 or more, the unique / different stock suspension of Sports variants will be difficult to procure.

I gave up on sync, leather seats and touch screen only to have the sports suspension and handling. I did not consider an Abarth or Urban Cross or Linea Tjet as Fiat was not much functional. Now there is not much of a difference with Ford. Both dropped the F bomb on us.

My Figo S eats up the tie rod quite often (bad roads of Mumbai to blame as well) and probably few years down the line I would need to replace the suspension. At no cost I would accept having the normal Figo suspensions to be on my Figo S. Hope they consider and respect our decision of owning a niche model.

[sagarpadaki]

Originally Posted by VWAllstar

Thats precisely my worry. Not immediate worry but since I intend to keep my Figo S till 2030 or more, the unique / different stock suspension of Sports variants will be difficult to procure.

At no cost I would accept having the normal Figo suspensions to be on my Figo S. Hope they consider and respect our decision of owning a niche model.

Originally Posted by tharian

That would be the last option, I wouldn't want stock suspension bits as I bought this car keeping in mind the better handling characteristics over a non-Sports Aspire.

The springs on the sports variant are different, stiffer. The shock absorber is the same as per my knowledge. You can verify this at Ford service center. Springs rarely go bad. Shock absorbers do. If sports variant has different shock absorber as well then just buy a set and store. They do not go bad in storage

[ant_vas]

I have been driving a Dzire for almost 4 years now am bored to the core. while my car was troubling me with long crank issue, i took it to a trusted local mechanic to get it checked as MASS couldn't fix the issues even after keeping the car for almost a week.

When i asked for my mechanic's honest opinion on the current cars available in the market, he suggested me to go for Ford EcoSport. I have driven the ecosport of my uncle and love the driving dynamics. But was never a fan of its looks (subjective) and always felt its cramped for space.

When i raised my concern that there are rumors that Ford might shut shop in India won't that be an issue with the car maintenance, he said since the car has been in the market and is fairly well received, he doesn't see any issue with the spare part availability for next 4 - 5 years! While what he said does made sense, i wasn't convinced to go for a ford. Lets see which car i end up with in the next year or so

[rahul4321]

Same question for me as the others having the S version.

I have an Aspire Diesel S which has run 50k kilometers. I know i will have issues getting S specific parts. The service centres will only stock up on generic parts - not the trim specific ones.

Infact when my car was making some strange knocking/thunking sounds a year back, I asked them to check the suspension. They looked it over and said there doesnt seem to be problem at all with the suspension - it looks identical to all the other Aspires they have worked upon. The sound was later isolated to something else. But their remark was not very confidence inspiring

My point is - if these guys at the service station didnt know in 2020 that the S had a different setup, by 2025 they would have no idea at all.

I guess I will have to move to the stock Aspire Suspension/Springs in a few years. Hopefully its not too different to drive. Has anybody here driven both? Is it a major difference or a minor one?

What other differences does the S exactly have over the regular models anyway? Might stock up those parts which are different- will save me some hassle later on

Their Sanand plant is only about 40 minuites away from my house so if the service station doesnt have it - i will gatecrash the factory. Just kidding

[ruzbehxyz]

Just wanted to add a couple of points regarding resale of Ford cars.

This brings me back to the day when I was booking my Endeavour in 2017. I met a middle aged gentleman who had come with his uncle to book an Ecosport. On seeing me, he asked me if I was booking the Endeavour. I said 'yes' proudly and in the return questioned him whether he was also booking it. His reply was that he just booked the Fortuner 3 days back. Reason? He said that he was a businessman and he will get a good resale after 7 years, so no loss. He also said that he test drove the Endeavour and found it more exciting, much better, and also concluded that it is a superior vehicle, but did not buy it because of lesser resale value.

What resale are we talking about?
1) Ford cars anyway had a lesser resale value than cars of the same segment except for a few models like 3.2 Endeavour, Ecosport etc.

2) An Endeavour owner knows from Day 1 that his car will fetch lesser resale value than the Fortuner. But Toyota is anyway charging you a premium for what you get, so at the end of the day it works out to be the same. Eg. A 10 year old Endeavour getting 5-6 lakhs and a Fortuner getting 9-10 lakhs. But you have already paid this difference at the start. Don't want to discuss service here as Toyota has better service, but Ford also was not far behind especially in terms of cost.

3) Now comes the million dollar question.
Are you buying the vehicle for the next owner or for yourself and your family ?
If you want driving pleasure and robust vehicles which Ford has, then things like resale value should not matter much.

4) The Indian Automobile industry is in a slowdown and with EVs coming soon, many owners are not buying diesel cars and holding on to their older cars instead of upgrading. So resale value is anyway going to be peanuts after say 10 years of ownership, and this is regardless Ford exiting India or staying in India.

All in all, whoever has a Ford vehicle and if its not very old, please retain the car and enjoy the drive. You will face issues for spares but will definitely get them.

My two anecdotes:

1) You have to own a Ford to understand a Ford.

2) Safety supercedes kmpl. and resale value.

[satyasathy]

Hello Members
Need a valuable advice.. I drive a Jan-2018 Ford Endeavour 3.2 and my 4th year warranty is going to expire this year end.. I took a quote from the dealer on the day this news was announced for Warranty Extension with RSA for 5th and 6th Year for Rs. 74K or so... Is it worth investing this money now after this news.. Pls advice your expert comments and suggestion.

Worried after the news of Torque Converter Failures.. The vehicle has been driven for only about 32K Kms. (no long drives due to Pandemic from last year +)
satyasathy is online now Report Post

[cool_dube]

A very pertinent thread/discussion, much more useful than the postmortem on Ford's exit from India

Having bought an Endeavour 2.0 4x4 AT in February this year, here are my candid thoughts. I reckon there are two aspects to this matter:

a) Availability of spares: Given that all of these are global models and we have a substantial number of these running on Indian roads today (much more than Chevrolet, Daewoo, Mitsubishi, etc.), spares should not be a problem at all, at least for another 6-8 years. Firstly, as stated by Ford India, they will continue to provide spares over-the-counter. Additionally, online spare part suppliers like boodmo.com will continue to cater to the demand. I am not at all worried on this front.

b) Authorized Service: Now this is the part that I am genuinely worried about. It is but logical that no. of Ford service centers will start going down very soon, as dealers move on to other brands or simply pack up. Ones which remain will not have much incentive to provide good quality service as there would be no parent organization to keep watch. Moreover, with no. of customers/cars being capped now (no production), many service centers will milk existing customers to maximize profits. This is Deja Vu for me, having maintained a Mitsubishi Pajero for 4 years. After getting frustrated with their (only) ASC here in Bangalore - poor service levels, atrocious charges - I moved over to a FNG, which was much better. The flipside, of course, was that I had to be much more involved in terms of parts procurement, etc. For an enthusiast, this is not as much of an issue if he/she has the time to spare. This was one of the main reasons for me selling the Pajero, or else it was performing quite well.

So, net-net, if one has the time and patience to procure parts and find a good FNG, retaining a Ford car should not be an issue at all.

As for me, I am still in double-minds since I no longer have the temperament or time for procuring parts/finding good FNGs. Only saving grace here is that my Endeavour is just 6 months old and hence, I should not be required to visit the service center for anything except regular oil changes, at least for the next few years. Also, I had opted for 4th and 5th year extended warranty at the time of purchase!

Having said all this, it all comes down to peace of mind at the end of the day, which is priceless! Will my Endeavour appear on TBHP Classifieds soon? I don't know yet

[svsantosh]

Boodmo is your best friend, for regular oil changes and for difficult to source items too!

My Chevy sail was surviving due to Boodmo for over 3-4 years, I stopped going to A.S.S long time ago. Their exit never bothered me.



Ps - Ignore the hyundai items

[swiftnfurious]

For owners of the cars which sold well, I see no reason for panic. I believe we have a rule in India which states the OEM needs to support the owners of all models for about 15 years after they exit. So next 5 years is easy-peasy, 5-10 can be a little difficult for slow moving parts (non-regular service / consumables), 10-15 years can get difficult.

I have an all new Fiesta (global model), & I have no thoughts about selling it anytime soon, not atleast for next 5 years, unless I get into a tight spot due to other reasons and not concerns on Ford !

Am sure most other manufacturers / products can't match the beauty of the Fiesta and am gonna enjoy it as much as I can. Over the next few years, the idea is to get an SUV along with the Fiesta and thats a decision for later.

I see knee-jerk reactions from Ford owners in OLX, a lot more Ford cars are going to be dumped into the maket thus losing the re-sale value - it's an AMAZING time to go shopping on Ford cars. There may not be a better time to pick well maintained Ecosports etc for a rather steal price. I have started receiving messages from dealers too wanting to get ride of their TD vehicles.

[Leoshashi]

And the inevitable happens-OLX is flooded with Ford cars, most of the listings are from last 2 days.

I don't understand this hurried selling. I trust Ford to be helping existing owners with spares support, Boodmo is there and they have been the lifeline of GM owners in smaller cities. Nothing changes and best way out is to use the car till it's usable life. Daewoo saga was entirely different. The resale value has already crashed and there is nothing to be gained by selling the cars like this.

I had a soft corner for the cars made by Blue Oval. Both Gen Fiestas and the Ecosport were my all time favorite. Infact, I'm discussing with a friend about picking up a sparsely used 2nd gen Fiesta which we have been eyeing since years(feel like vultures). The Figo Twins were not really true Fords, still were very competent machines. They were the only manufacturer IMO to be fairly reliable and still offer good build and dynamics. Never expected them to pull plug so early and weirdly.

[Mile_muncher]

There are multiple threads going on about FORD. Let me choose this one share what I have to:

As I am writing this, I am @Harpreet Ford service center Gurgaon. Getting the 40k kms servicing done for my Aspire (D) . Initial thoughts -
1. Supervisor Surender Sharma (he maintains personal reputation with most) gave a warm welcome
2. I was immediately attended and job card was done in no time
3. I asked Surender Ji about 'what do you think about all this'. He calmly replied- Sir, company earns on servicing, you don't need to worry
4. With Air filter, AC filter, oil filter,oil change, wiper blades change my estimated bill is 7000. I am impressed
5. It's a pity that Ford has not been able to break the perception of being 'expensive to maintain'. A well run campaign over a period of few years would have seen more Aspires in Taxi segment than any other car. But guess it's too late to discuss this
6. As my car gets ready, am making myself comfortable at lounge

Will try to keep forum updated.

Last but not least, while my car drives like a charm (and I mean it) and I want to continue munching more and more miles, somewhere am uncomfortable/anxious about this development

[kar_thikr]

I recently bought a pre worshipped 2020 Ford Ecosport S TDCi as a replacement for my trusty old 2012 Swift VDi. I wanted a safer car for my parents, which will be mostly driven by my father as I'm abroad. So we were toiling with the idea of buying fairly new, low-mileage Ecosport or go with a 17 or 18 MY Jeep Compass. Both had their pros and cons. Ecosport is safer, cheaper, handles great, has better mileage, and has a good service center network, but It's a small compact car in every sense. Jeep is bigger, more luxurious, more powerful, and overall better experience since it's a much higher segment car, but the cost of ownership and the resale values were a big letdown. The depreciation of the Jeep was much more drastic than on Ford.
Finally, I decided to go with an early 2020 BS4 Ecosport S with just 6k on the clock. The rationale was even though the Ford- Mahindra JV had been called off at that point, I was more confident with Ford over Jeep in not pulling the plugs from India, they were having a good amount of sales compared to Jeep, and they had many cars waiting for launch in the pipeline as well. In fact, I was worried that the Jeep might do a FIAT and pull out from India in a fortnight.


Being a BS4 variant, It came with 2 years of warranty and It will be finished by the beginning of next year, and the SA was pushing me to get the extended warranty from our first service itself, which will cost about 13k yearly. Since the car won't be driven that much I had neglected that, but now with the recent turn of events, I'm not sure what to do.
Even though everybody is selling off their Fords, we really like our car and we want to keep it as much as we can. But the fact is, I now have two discontinued cars (Civic & EcoSport) in my Garage.
So, my dear BHPians, please advise. Should I keep the car? Should I get the Extended warranty? or Will it all clear up and I'll be able to enjoy the car as I do with the Civic, even though the company is not there anymore?