[sunilg33]

Did I really need a a new car
This is one question which was always coming to mind when I was contemplating to sell my 3+ year old I10.
I10 was performing very well for us and had done 33k without any major issue. Was giving decent mileage of around 18 on highway and 14 in city. The service bills were always manageable at 3-5k. Hyundai service and support has been very good. My better half loved the car and was not at all ready to sell it.

Then why not stay with the reliable I10?
HIGHWAY
I wanted a car which I can take on the highway
I10 is a great car for city but on the highway at speeds of around 90-100 I always felt the car is in the air. I was never feeling confident above 80 in I10. It could be because of feather weight body/puny tyres/bumpy suspension. I do drive a lot on highways and this is where I strongly felt the need of a better car. The more I drove on our roads I realised the importance of safety features, especially ABS. So I decided that I will not buy a car without ABS at-least.

Finalised requirements for the new car

• A solidly built car
• ABS Must
• Ground Clearance
• Descent Legroom for 4
• Fuel Efficient Diesel

The cars I almost brought
VW Polo
I loved the build quality and looks of Polo. Especially with discounts on offer the High-line TDI was very closely priced to Swift ZDi. I felt a VW was worth the money we spend on a Maruti for a similar car. I have driven polo quite a bit on highways and its an excellent cruiser.
Two things stopped me from buying it, its ground clearance and VW customer customer service (My friend had an horrendous time with them http://www.team-bhp.com/forum/attach...poloflying.jpg)

Ertiga
Even though a seven seater was not in my requirement list. Ertiga has acres of leg room in the middle if the seats are pushed back. It can be a occasional 7 seater also. Even though I don't like Maruti as a manufacturer for my own reasons its tempting to own one considering the service and resale department. IMO Ertiga is an excellent VFM product for a big family. I have some lame excuses for not going with ertiga. I felt it was a family car made for families. I am 30 this year and assuming the next car will be with me for the next 5 years, this will be the last car I will driving before I really become an Uncle . So I decided that I will wait and drive a more youthful car.

Duster
I had a strict budget of 11 Lakhs. Thanks to Karnataka Road taxes only the low end Duster made the cut. I was ready for a big compromise of ABS and went to make a booking as I liked the car a lot. I have a very respect for the DCI engine after seeing lot of Logan taxis in Bangalore reaching 3-4 Lakh kilometres without a fuss. I waited in the showroom for quite some time, it was the initial buzz and hence they did not give me the attention and there was a weeks waiting period for test drive so dropped it with a big heart. With the price rises its no more a VFM product.

Amaze
Well I literally almost brought this car as I paid 25k advance. My wife also has a liking towards sedans. This car is an excellent proposition HONDA+Diesel+100BHP+FE+Space+Price that's a deadly cocktail. On occasions this car is the one I regret not buying. I strongly recommend this car.

All this while when I was researching the above cars there was one car I dreamt owning and that was Ecosport. I fell for the looks and nothing else. It looked stunning, I loved the bold aggressive face and it suited my attitude a bit. I did take my family when the car was displayed in mantri Mall but they out rightly rejected it as they felt it was too dark and cramped at the back(The display car had black leather seats).
Against family's advice as soon as I got a confirmation from Metro ford that official bookings are open I cancelled my amaze booking and paid advance for Silver Trend Tdci on 14th June. Looking at the feature list and Fiesta pricing I estimated that trend will be priced at around 10 Lakh on road bangalore and titanium would be 1.5 Lakhs higher that Trend.
Why Silver?
Had dark coloured cars before and maintaining them was a pain. Silver requires the least amount of cleaning as dust particles blend well with this colour. My choice of colour stands vindicated after 1.5 months with the car. Also I feel that the black cladding's gel very well with silver colour than any other.
Why Diesel?
Try to sell a big petrol car these days and you will come to know the reason. The resale value of big petrol cars is shocking. The torque on tap is another reason for me to go with Diesel apart from the FE advantage.

D Day : Price announcement
Trend TDCI on road price was around 9,80,000 in Bangalore. That was lesser than what I had estimated. Pricing was a pleasant surprise. But the titanium was just 1 Lakh more than Trend. The feature list in Titanium was endless and It started working on me more and more. however I calculated the Titanium trim was more VFM compared to Trend. I decided to take a risk and asked the SA to change my booking to Titanium. The SA warned that I will fall back in the line as this will be considered as a fresh booking. I did not have any option but to accept it. Because of this change in variant I had to wait for 3+ months and pay 30k extra without push button start. I was very much hurt with the price rise with no protection for people like me who booked without pricing being released. I even thought of cancelling the booking but then when I looked around there was no similar car in the pipeline for the next 1 year so sticked on to the booking.

Buying Experience: Metro Ford St marks Road
Apart from the price hike and the delay in delivery everything else was smooth enough. Onroad price of the car in Bangalore was 10,57,000 this was excluding insurance and 3rd/4th year warranty. I will be buying the additional warranty later. Got finance from SBI and Insurance from HDFC Ergo online for around 22K.
I was concerned about cashless claim for HDFC Ergo and hence visited their service station they confirmed that they have cashless claim for HDFC Ergo as well. I could not take the delivery for 10 days as I was out of town after the car arrived. I pressed for a PDI at the stockyard and the SA rejected it. I took the VIN and verified for the manufacturing date and felt satisfied that its a September make. Overall the buying experience was satisfactory.

Delivery
Went to the showroom with the Team BHP PDI checklist in hand and tried to complete as many ticks as possible. I was pretty satisfied with the vehicle accept that they came shod with MRF's. I had already stretched my budget and did not want to spend more on the upgrade of tyres and hence planned to stick on to these for few more months. However enquiring about the upgrade the tyre shops quoted 2.5-3k for buyback of the MRF's which I thought was too less.
Brought car covers for an additional 1800rs the same day from the showroom. Since i had followed the car so much I knew more about the car than the person who gave the demo of the car.

Likes:

• Good looking and proportionate design
• Seating position and high ground clearance
• Loaded with technology
• High speed handling
• Well tuned turbo with minimal lag
• Alloy wheel pattern
• SYNC

Dislikes

• Stiff suspension
• Lack of width in the second row
• Inconsistent interior plastic quality
• Design of the antenna
• Sparse service network

Initial Ownership Experience

Exterior styling & design:
I reiterate the same, Its a stunner from all angles. Even though the silver colour makes the car look a bit less attractive(Compared to Mars Red, Blue). The car is so neatly sculpted. In no angles does the car look out of proportion. Overall it looks modern and bold and does make a statement wherever it goes.
While the traffic was not noticing me in in my I10 there is a definite presence this car makes in the rear view mirror for others. Press the horn and there you go, the much needed space is given without hesitation which never happened with my I10 or Dzire. The spare wheel on back makes this car more SUV that it actually is.

Overall Build quality and fit & finish::
The build seems to be very good and is better than most hatchbacks and the competition(Duster, Quanto). I feel only polo/punto can better this in terms of build.
However the inside of the car doesn't seem to be build that well. I had faint rattles from the speedo console from day 1. There are few plastics here and there which are flimsy. Ex: Fuse Cover, under seat compartment, seat height adjuster. But overall the build is of acceptable quality and does not look or feel cheap.

Ride and handling:
I feel the ride is average but the handling is superb. Whenever I go over small humps the classic thud is felt. Whenever there is this THUD I repeat one line in my mind "This is not a SUV but a Pseudo SUV" . Take the same hump at a slower speed and you will not feel the thud and the car glides over it without a fuss. So the conclusion is go slow on bad roads to get a plush ride. The brakes progress nicely, we can easily feel the ABS kicking in from the brake pedal. I took time to adjust with the high driving position as the body roll seemed to accentuate with the high seating position. Even though this car is dubbed as a urban SUV the highway mannerism of this car isn't disappointing. It feels very composed at triple digit speeds and you fully feel in control. The steering weights nicely with speed and I don't have the tense feel I had with I10 any more. With the high ground clearance not even once have I even gone close to under body scrapping over the famous Bangalore potholes.

Engine performance:
The 1.5 TDCI has just enough grunt. You never feel underpowered but at the same time you never feel any surplus power left in the pedal. Switching on AC or driving on full load there is no major loss in power and it feels almost the same. The turbo lag is well controlled and the car pulls nicely from 1800+ RPM. The drivability is better than the national engine(DDIS) but not as good as the Honda Idtec. You feel the lack of power between 1000 RPM upto 1800 RPM which is crucial in the city. Try accelerating after a speed breaker in second gear and you will get to know what I am talking about. I think the engine alone is not be blamed for the average performance but the vehicle weight of ~1300Kgs does play its part. Overall the drivability of the engine is good and is very predictable in nature, which is very important. Noise is well controlled on the inside, only by rolling down the windows we can hear the actual clutter which is quite audible.

Gearshift quality:
Gearshift quality is above average, swift/dzire gearboxes are lot better. The throw is a bit long to my comfort and overall not slick enough. I have occasionally found it tough slotting into reverse.

Interior Space & comfort:
I have had hard time convincing my family that this car as as much space as the DZire. They don't believe me and argue telling they feel more comfortable that in Dzire. But my friends who are quite well build felt the shoulders rubbing and termed the seat width as manageable. That sums it up, there is enough space overall. There is more than adequate leg room and but average shoulder room. After 3500 Kms I am yet to run out of space in the boot, its more than adequate for a weekend trip. For a really long drive the foldable seats are a real boon. Seat height adjustment range is quite good and you get a commanding view of the road ahead with the highest position. The back seat occupants prefer the most slanted position of the rear seat. The seat is quite hard but manageable. You have plenty of storage spaces and you will never run short of bottle holders.

Fuel Efficiency:
FE is super sensitive to your driving style. Mileage is below expectation if you take the ARAI figure of 22.7 Kmpl. I am used to getting ARAI figures on highway in my previous cars. My usage pattern is 25% city and 75% highways.
[*] Drive enthusiastically in city you get around 12-13 Kmpl[*] Drive sedately in City you get ~15 Kmpl (Its really boring this way)[*] Press the throttle on the Highway and do near triple digits you get ~17 KMPL.[*] Drive very sedately on the Highway you get ~ 20Kmpl

Tips to get maximum FE:[*] Be gentle on the throttle and allow the vehicle to pick-up the speed slowly.[*] Drive within 80 Kmph [*] Keep inside temperature as close as possible to that of outside

SYNC
You can make the maximum use of SYNC if you organise your music neatly based on Artist, album etc. Phone pairing is very easy and people who are a lot on mobile will love the voice calling facility. This is the most attractive thing people will notice inside the car.

Other minor things:

• Foot rest seems to be cramped and my sandals brush the clutch pedal whenever I try to make use of it.
• Reverse parking sensors are a must and do a very good job
• There are plenty of bottle holders and we can carry approximately 11 litres of water.
• The wipers are of very average quality.
• You cant switch on only the washer, wiper starts before water is sprayed which is irritating.
• At times I've faced difficulty is slotting to the reverse

Accessories
Due to my upgrade to Titanium I had already stretched my budget and hence did not buy any accessories. Brought mats and mudflaps from the dealer itself which was part of the standard accessories pack.
Installed phillips extreme vision myself and it was a very easy process as the headlamp assembly is easily accessible.
It cost 1060 in Jc road(JK automobiles). Highly recommend this upgrade for the ones who are tight on a tight budget and cant go for projector lamps. There is a definite improvement in the output especially the low beam spread.

First Service at 2600Kms
Finished first service at 2600 Kms, Metro Ford - Hesarghatta road branch. The speed console rattle seems to be fixed. They have put foam packing to fix the same. Only windscreen washer fluid top up was done apart from the regular wash. They refused to fix Roots windtone 90 horns which I brought from roots dealer(Subhash automobiles, Jc Road) for 590Rs. They sighted warranty issues
Will have to get them fixed from outside sometime. I did not feel any change in the vehicle behaviour after the service.

Overall the car has delivered on most of my expectations and I feel satisfied. Planning to do a road trip to Team Bhp's Mecca (Ladakh) next year where the car would be thoroughly tested. Ending with few snaps during delivery and a recent long drive.

[GTO]

Thread moved from the Assembly Line to the Initial Ownership Section. Thanks for sharing!

[naveen.raju]

Congrats man and welcome to the club. I sometimes get a rattle from the front passenger door (from the speaker). Other than that everything is fine. I too average around 13-14kmpl in city. Everytime I drive slowly (changing the gear before the turbo kicks in) I notice the mileage to be poor. But when i drive like how I used to drive the swift (let's the turbo kick in and gear change would be between 2k-2.3k), mileage is between 14-15kmpl. Anyways, I started observing this recently. Will observe this for couple of weeks.

Enjoy your ride and keep the thread updated.

[getsurya]

Congratulations, Sunil for your super silver ride!

Ecosport is the choice of the day and you have it, Happy Motoring!

[Sommos]

Many congratulations Sunil for the Ecosport.
Hope it gives a niggle free service for satisfaction for miles.

However, keep in mind that this is not an SUV and drive safe.
The mileage should increase as the engine opens up.

[S.MJet]

Congratulations Sunil.

Very well written initial review and nice pictures there.

You rightly upgrade to Titanium which apart from other goodies gives you the important safety features.

Wishing you many happy miles ahead.

Drive safe.

[girishglg]

Congrats on acquiring a very well described little beast. Surely it does have the stature of a beast with a hatch underpinning. Given that this car is so fresh it would remain contemporary for a long time to come.

With the well proven mechanicals and handling it is actually at home both in the city and out of it. Have a great time and do keep us posted as time passes. BTW some great shots on the tarmac!

[laferrari]

Congrats for your new vehicle sunil. Excellent write-up.
The pictures on the highway are certainly a class above. Can't wait to see how your beast would pose in Ladakh.
Wish you many a happy miles.

[sunilg33]

14000 KMS update

Got the 10k free service done at Quicklane, Metro ford. In Quicklane service the advantage is we can watch the car being serviced in front of our eyes. I had to plead them to do Wheel alignment as they thought its not necessary. They were telling that its needed only if I am observing any issues with the alignment. I insisted and looking at the readings the alignment was indeed necessary as the readings were a bit out of range. Service bill came to 1900 Rs which included Oil and filter change. The service guys were more interested in cleaning the car than inspecting the vehicle for possible issues. The behavior of the vehicle was behaving like on day one and hence did not ask for any thing from the SA.
I expected that there will be an improvement in the engine refinement after the oil change but I did not feel any difference in the drive after the service which was a bit disappointing.

The car is now at 14k and recently did a 1800 km trip in 3 days. the drive was very comfortable apart from the average under thigh support on the front seats, the mileage returned was 18 with AC on full time. It gives me around 18-18.5 consistently on the highways.The big tank is a boon on the highway as the entire trip was done in 2 full tanks. Loving the car and preparing for the Ladakh trip scheduled in July end. Sump guard will be the biggest expense I will incur for Ladakh. Hope this beast stays the way it is for Kms to come.

[sunilg33]

A CRUDE ENGINE GUARD DONE

After much deliberation I have finalized my ladakh drive plans.
If anybody has observed the under-body of ecosport, its clear that the sump is the first to take any hit if you use up your 200MM road clearance. Sump guard was high on the priority list for this trip. Was not much keen on the company supplied guard initially and hence was looking out for alternatives. I came across a metal engine guard done by TDI racing, Bangalore for a Optra in one of the threads.
I went there and they asked me to drop my vehicle for a day or two so that they can do it. They quoted 7.5K for a 4mm Aluminium Engine guard. They were in a process of shifting their setup to a new location and hence they said they will call me when they are free.
However when I was shopping near SP road for few other things needed for the trip came across a lot of shops which were selling metal sheets. A thought came to me if we can get it done from a nearby fabricator instead of waiting for TDI racing. Along with my friend we went around inquiring the prices in S road. Note that even though 3x3 is enough for the fabrication the shops dont keep that size and they generally cut a 8x3 into two pieces resulting in 4x3 each. Prices quoted were as follows for a 4x3 Sheet.
1.5mm 4x3 Stainless Steel: 350Rs x 10 KG =3500 Rupees
3mm 4x3 Aluminium: 320Rs x 9 KG =2900 Rupees
1.5mm 4x3 Aluminium: 300Rs x 6.5 KG =2000 Rupees

I chose 1.5mm Aluminium not for the Price or strength but for the weight. The grooves which come from the company to hold the sump guard are plastic ones so it cant take too much load. Even ecosport rules who got a Stainless Steel guard done felt the same. Brought the 1.5mm one and paid 2000. Transported it in the car itself(Thanks to fold-able rear seats) to a known garage who does body repair works for trucks. They were doing anything close to a engine guard for the first time and I was very skeptical about the outcome. The fiber/cloth material guard the company provided came habdy in the process. I removed it and gave it to them and showed that they have to cut exactly the same dimension and make groves at same points. They were busy in some work and asked me to come in a couple of days. After I went back the outcome was very much acceptable as you can see in the photos. I asked them to make additional 2 groves in the center to act as a water drain.
Now coming to the fitting part. Since its a truck workshop they don't have a ramp and they did the fitting going down the car, thanks to the ground clearance for Ecosport.

I paid 500 Rupees which he had asked for. So total cost came to 2500 Rupees. Overall fit and finish was OK but at this cost I don't think we can complain. Overall weight of the guard after cutting is about 4.5 Kgs which is almost same as the one the company provides.
For those who have money to spare and do not have time for such a long process the company supplied Engine guard is quite strong and fits nicely. Please do not think that this guard or the company supplied one can take direct hits from the road and still protect the engine, it can definitely protect from flying stones and debris and that's about it.

Thanks to Shahrukh who worked on the fabrication. I will post more pictures of the fit once its on a ramp.

[Uprasenjit]

Originally Posted by sunilg33

A CRUDE ENGINE GUARD DONE

After much deliberation I have finalized my ladakh drive plans.
If anybody has observed the under-body of ecosport, its clear that the sump is the first to take any hit if you use up your 200MM road clearance. Sump guard was high on the priority list for this trip. Was not much keen on the company supplied guard initially and hence was looking out for alternatives.
....

Thanks to Shahrukh who worked on the fabrication. I will post more pictures of the fit once its on a ramp.

Its more than 2 years now, how do you feel about the metal engine guard ? Any negative points ? Any advises ?

[sunilg33]

Originally Posted by Uprasenjit

Its more than 2 years now, how do you feel about the metal engine guard ? Any negative points ? Any advises ?

It's doing fine, no rattles till now and I feel it can go on for another year atleast. I have done pretty bad roads with it including ladakh. But it's prolonged life could also be due to the fact that I have never scraped it.

[snaseer]

Originally Posted by sunilg33

A CRUDE ENGINE GUARD DONE

After much deliberation I have finalized my ladakh drive plans.

So did you visit Ladakh?

[n.devdath]

Originally Posted by sunilg33

I have done pretty bad roads with it including ladakh.

Originally Posted by snaseer

So did you visit Ladakh?

Here you go, he did.

[sunilg33]

I think its time for an update on how the car is doing. Its been 3.8 years nd 70K kms on the odo that’s quite some mileage.

The good things first:

• The car drives the same way like it did on day one.
• The ac is still bone chilling
• Its on the original tyres. Yes correct its on the original tyres with atleast 10k life left. That’s phenomenal considering the roads it has been through. Do you know what's the icing on the cake: No punctures yet
• The seat cushion is holding up well although the fabric has got dirty
• The FE is still the same: 18-19 on the highway and 14-15 in the city.
• There are no surprises in the maintenance costs. It costs the same as shown on their website thanks to the extended warranty. The service experience has been pleasant.

The not so good things

• There was oil leak observed during the 30k service and the clutch assembly was reassembled in warranty. I think 30k is too early for such things to happen.
• Recently the gear lever became free. I.e. the spongy/springy action wasn’t there. The part was not available and it took 10 days to replace the gear lever set. Common ford you have one good selling car and you don’t have ready spares for it?
• Wheel alignment and balancing in the service centers is always a hit or miss. Sometimes they mess up already correct settings.
• Front brake pads were replaced due to uneven disk wear at 55K. According to the SA it happens due to stone and dusk particles struck between the disk and the pad. The disk still had a lot of thread left in it and I was not convinced with the reason given by the SA. Due to uneven disk wear the steering was wobbling under high speed braking. But the rear brake pads still have atleast 30k life left in them according to the SA and that’s great.
• It can carry only 4 passengers. 5th one is highly unwelcome. There could have been a bit more under cushioning on the front seats

Ford is refusing to give the 5th year warranty and I feel the real colors of ford will be known only after the warranty period is over. I have my fingers crossed and hoping for the best.

Do I recommend an ecosport after driving 70k?
If my post warranty servicing is affordable I will definitely recommend one. Purely for the solid build and driving pleasure. In terms of quality its no match to toyota however its almost equal or better compared to suzuki/hyundai/honda.