[Sugeeta]

Originally Posted by Mustang.101

The battery as you can see is Motorcraft but is actually made by Amaron and is essentially the same amaron battery you get for 6.5K in the market, However, Ford supplies you the same battery for around 3K, only thing is that it is rebadged as motorcraft.

I thought there was an error in the billing and for once FMC had undercharged. But all said and done, it was a pleasant surprise.

[ayushagarwal26]

@Mayankk / Suman : Remember I said I'm almost the proud owner of an Sxi myself? Well, I had the final round of negotiations today, and am still waiting for the seller's reply (fingers crossed). On that note, just a quick question for you guys - can I contact one (or better yet, both) of you for a quick chat sometime? I need a few urgent questions answered before I close the deal... hehe!

Maybe you could PM me some contact details or something... as a newbie I don't have access And yes, Mayankk - surely gonna let you know when we can meet up and compare our beauties. Suman, you in on that?

[mayankk]

Originally Posted by ayushagarwal26

@Mayankk / Suman : Remember I said I'm almost the proud owner of an Sxi myself? Well, I had the final round of negotiations today, and am still waiting for the seller's reply (fingers crossed). On that note, just a quick question for you guys - can I contact one (or better yet, both) of you for a quick chat sometime? I need a few urgent questions answered before I close the deal... hehe!

Maybe you could PM me some contact details or something... as a newbie I don't have access And yes, Mayankk - surely gonna let you know when we can meet up and compare our beauties. Suman, you in on that?

oh hey, congratulations!!
shoot your number across to m_kr, its a rediffmail id.
we can chat up, and i can share my limited learnings with you...
cheerios!

[suman]

And copy Sumantra_d. Hotmail

[KSM-Vtec]

Its really great to see that cars a performing so well even in the longrun!!

Suman will be great if you could let us know what your current cost of maintaining her is per km.

[toothless]

Hi Suman
Its been really informative reading your posts about your 100,000 km old Fiesta.
My Fiesta 1.6 has managed to notch up a little more than 7,000 km till now and I cant resist smiling each time I take it out for a drive.
I was looking for a good place to get seat covers for my car. Any pointers where in Gurgaon I can go?

[suman]

Sorry for the late replies guys, hadn't visited this thread in a while!

Originally Posted by KSM-Vtec

Suman will be great if you could let us know what your current cost of maintaining her is per km.

Kaushik, she's gone for her 120,000 kms service today, will update the cost per km once I empty my wallet this evening

Originally Posted by toothless

I was looking for a good place to get seat covers for my car. Any pointers where in Gurgaon I can go?

I can understand that smile on the face feeling

I normally use Batra for accessories though they are a tad expensive compared to others. They are located at Sector 14, a few shops down from Karims. Deepak Batra, you can use my reference.

[gaurav_chopra04]

@Suman Sir, when I saw there is an update in this thread, I thought, may be the fiesta is on its way and something new is up? Looks like the decision has become even more difficult after the new launches.

[suman]

Originally Posted by gaurav_chopra04

Looks like the decision has become even more difficult after the new launches.

Tell me about it Gaurav, you'll laugh if I tell you the latest "plan"

The Cruze is on the radar now so we're actually contemplating selling the Safari first & buying the Cruze; the Fiesta stays on till my daughter picks up her licence (another couple of months max). By then (hopefully), the Safari Merlin is launched, so the Fiesta moves on & makes way for the Merlin. Worse case scenario, it makes way for the new Fiesta!!

Man, what a mess - or does that makes sense ?

[gaurav_chopra04]

Originally Posted by suman

Tell me about it Gaurav, you'll laugh if I tell you the latest "plan"

New car dilemma is always bad. A cousin has lancer since 2000, his brother picked up a pre-owned black cedia in 2009, just because anything under 320D didnt look lucrative. And then this guy has been picking up a kitty of Rs3Lac every 2 years since 2004, and this was specifically for Accord. In between the property prices in gurgaon went sky high and what should have been bought in 2002 -2004 was bought in 2010 for more than 5 times the price. And now, when ever we talk about new car, an outlander is waved off just because fuel prices are sky high and BMW, is BMW and reliablity is something we are scared of. And then, all this while the Lancer didnt have a screw going loose. See, a car to be upgraded in 2004 and its 2011, still trying to figure out right upgrade .

The Cruze is on the radar now so we're actually contemplating selling the Safari first & buying the Cruze; the Fiesta stays on till my daughter picks up her licence (another couple of months max). By then (hopefully), the Safari Merlin is launched, so the Fiesta moves on & makes way for the Merlin. Worse case scenario, it makes way for the new Fiesta!!

Man, what a mess - or does that makes sense ?

It certainly makes sense Sir. With high fuel prices and your running being high, a diesel is kinda must, that too in both cars. So, Cruze is the only car in C+ segment that has it all, good looks, good performance, decent handling, decent interiors and the best of all a 150 BHP diesel. I believe that Cruze in C+ segment is doing exactly what swift/ dezire diesel are doing in B segment, and what verna/vento is doing in C segment. And then, the Merlin can easily make its way, once the fiesta is about to move on. My respect for Tata cars has gone even higher ever since I managed to sit in an Aria, wish it was a bit more competitively priced and see more sales.

In fact, we were almost about to replace the polo with a pre-owned cruze (company's car) but not so good service history of polo (head change ) and lack of parking space, made us let go the cruze. In between, dad had an idea to let go cedia and buy cruze (because its a diesel) and I was like "You got to be kidding". No way! hehe

[toothless]

@Suman Thanks a ton. Met the guy at Batra in Sec. 14. Quite a nice fellow, have placed an order for the seats and shall have the new art leather seat covers next weekend. Now wondering if I should mess with the music system in the car. The ford system could use an upgrade but I hear that Ford is rather picky when it comes to electric systems being 'tampered' with.

[tortoise]

Suman Sir, congratulation for crossing 100k in your car!..I can completely understand, what you feel when you take your Fiesta out for a drive! It is an addiction!!

My Fiesta SXI 1.6 will complete her 5th year on Sep 28, 2011. My experience with the car has been very good except for few heart-burns. Unfortunately, I have not been tracking the expenses. The big ticket items ( other than the regular oil changes and periodic replacements of consumables) are discs and pads(twice), spark plugs (out of cycle replacement). There was another component – which I fail to remember the name, which came to about 1.2 including labour. This was a small little rod in the suspension area which was causing a thud noise while going over potholes or bumps. The Lathangi folks asked me to change the suspension, ball joint and what not When I went to Kochi, I had the Kairali Ford to take a look at it and the SA figured it out in 10 seconds of driving it!

Another case where I had started to suspect the Ford reliability was in my recent drive to Kerala. I was on my last leg of the journey to Kochi ( about 100km away). I had to stop behind a Premier Padmini which got involved in a minor incident. Both us were on a gradient and the Fiat driver, probably shaken from the incident, could not stop the car from rolling back and kissing my bumper. In my examination, there was nothing except a small tilt in the bumper. But, after driving about 20 kms, the engine started misfire. I had couple of things to suspect – the incident, whether the air intake was affected or is it the quality of fuel I had filled about an hour back.

As it was late and the Ford service number in Thrissur not reachable, I did not have an option other than driving the last 100 km with the family in tow. The car reached the destination albeit at a smaller speed. I was worried about the family as with the fate of my car. The next day, I took it to the Ford Service ( Kairali Ford) and they identified the cause to be spark plug. Btw, spark plugs were (claimed to be) changed by Cauvery Ford just before my trip as part of the 48 months service.

Recently, after she completed 44K she underwent a change of rubber. Changed the stock MRF to Michelin XM1+ ( with a change in profile). Now the car is quieter and does not scrape the usual speed bumps. Also, I feel it is bit more grounded ( new rubber?).

As of today she completed 45.5k in odo. Every long drive with her is still a pleasure. After reading the review of new Ford Fiesta( petrol) I am not inclined to say bye to this baby yet. I expect her to be with me atleast for next couple of years, after which I may opt for an oil burner.

For now, I am looking for a reliable FNG so that I can ditch the Ford service in Bangalore. I don’t mind spending on my car, but it needs to be for genuine reasons. Any recommendations from personal experience most welcome

-tortoise

[suman]

Originally Posted by toothless

@Suman Thanks a ton. Met the guy at Batra in Sec. 14.

Hey, you're welcome, happy to have been of help

Originally Posted by tortoise

Recently, after she completed 44K she underwent a change of rubber. Changed the stock MRF to Michelin XM1+ ( with a change in profile). Now the car is quieter and does not scrape the usual speed bumps. Also, I feel it is bit more grounded ( new rubber?).

The stock rubber is horrible & the XM1+ would bring about a marked improvement - I'd used them at the first change. Now she rides on Yokos and I find them even better.

Originally Posted by tortoise

After reading the review of new Ford Fiesta( petrol) I am not inclined to say bye to this baby yet. I expect her to be with me atleast for next couple of years, after which I may opt for an oil burner.

Don't even think of saying bye! She's way ahead of the new one in terms of driving pleasure based on what I read in Rehaan's review. Besides, you've done less than 50k so there's a long way to go yet, don't worry.

Originally Posted by tortoise

For now, I am looking for a reliable FNG so that I can ditch the Ford service in Bangalore. I don’t mind spending on my car, but it needs to be for genuine reasons. Any recommendations from personal experience most welcome

Don't have any knowledge of Bangalore FNG workshops but do drop a PM to Condor or Benbsb29, maybe they'd be able to help.

In the meantime, she's crossed 120,000 & I really owe Kaushik & all of you an update .....coming up very very shortly!

[vnabhi]

Originally Posted by tortoise

. The big ticket items ( other than the regular oil changes and periodic replacements of consumables) are discs and pads(twice), spark plugs (out of cycle replacement). There was another component – which I fail to remember the name, which came to about 1.2 including labour.
As of today she completed 45.5k in odo. -tortoise

Wow, changing brake discs and pads twice in 45 K seems to be a wee bit too much to digest. I've crossed 27 K on my car in the past 4 years and the brakes are still holding good---touch wood!

And when you said 1.2, was that in lacs? If so, holy cow, what the heck was that?

Originally Posted by suman

In the meantime, she's crossed 120,000 & I really owe Kaushik & all of you an update .....coming up very very shortly!

Wow, what is that?

[tortoise]

Originally Posted by vnabhi

Wow, changing brake discs and pads twice in 45 K seems to be a wee bit too much to digest. I've crossed 27 K on my car in the past 4 years and the brakes are still holding good---touch wood!

I also thought so and i could have lived with it. But, I did not want the steering to shiver in my hand.

Originally Posted by vnabhi

And when you said 1.2, was that in lacs? If so, holy cow, what the heck was that?



Wow, what is that?

It is 1.2k . Had it been 1.2 l I would have cannibalized the car and started a Fiesta spare parts sale . Looking at the number of Fiesta fans, I am sure it would have been nice business