Booked the car in the last week of June (SXI, Color is Morello). Took the delivery in the second week of July. On road price was 9.35 (because of 12% Road tax). Opted for accessories Alloy wheels, Rear spoiler, teflon coating, underbody coating, Sun film. Took the car from Fortune ford hyderabad. I have opted for Total maintainance plan also so that I can have peace of mind in terms of maintainance.
They haven't done the sun filming and Spoiler fitting initially. So they have picked up the car for that after a week. But to my bad there were so many air bubbles in one of the rear windows. So I have to send it back. In the second attempt, they done it neatly. (The lack of professionalism is there in all kind of service you get in this City
). WRT spoiler, I noticed after 2 months that the fitmenet of Spoiler is touching boot and paint is going. The reason is that they haven't put any rubber bush or beeding there. I have to get it fixed at the time of first service.
Till the first service I kept the maximum speed upto 60 and the maximum RPM level at 2000. First service was due in 3rd month/ 5000 KM. ( I know now all the engines are coming with pre-ran engines). In these driving styles I was getting an average mileage of 18+ KMPL in the city driving conditions. I haven't gone for any long drive though. Firs service was just check up that's all. I was not satisfied with the quality of teflon they did. So I asked them to do it again and I was ready to pay the money also.
In the 5th month I took it for a long drive. From Hyderabad to Kerala. Putting the summary of the trip log
1.Started from Hyderabad at 5:45 in the morning. The 4 lane laying of the road is in progress so be careful throughout the stretch. It’s better not to exceed 90 KMPH in two lane stretches.
2.Reached Kurnool at 9:00 AM. Took a break after Kurnool for 1 hour and took the breakfast from there.
3.Be careful about the humps near the railway cross after Kurnool. Those speed breakers are like a hill, even SUV’s can’t avoid the damage.
4.Passed Ananthapur by 1:30 PM. After that took a break for Lunch
5.Reached Hebbal by 5:00 PM and took the Outer ring road to Madiwala
6.Reached Madiwala by 6:30. Stayed in Bangalore 614 Km stretch from Hyderabad.
7.Started from Bangalore at 5:45 in the morning
8.Tanked up diesel from Hosur HP pump. The mileage for the stretch was 16.97 KMPL. (With 100% A/C on)
9.Took a break at Salem.
10.Reached Karur by 11:00 AM and had the breakfast from there.
11.Reached Dindigul by 1:30.
12.To take the Dindigul bypass look for signal boards. You need to take a right to take the bypass road.
13.Till Dindigul look for NH7 sign board only (Directions for Madurai, Rameshwaram, Kanyakumari)
14.From dindigul bypass take the right turn to Bathalkundu/Kodaikanal road.
15.Cross Sempatti and take the straight road.
16.From Bathalkundu take the Periyakulam road
17.From Periyakulam look for Theni directions
18.From Theni turn to Cumbum/Kumili road
19.Passed Theni by 2:30 Pm and took the Lunch break there.
20.From Kumili take the Kottayam road (NH 220)
21.Reached home by 5:30 Total Km covered was 1193.
22.Mileage for Bangalore Kerala stretch was 21.93 . (With 100% A/C on)
After two weeks we retuned back from Kerala.
When I was in Kerala, i took it to Kairali Ford for routine check-up i had to change a small cup on alloy that cover big nut on the wheel. It costed 25 Rs. The quality of service was excellent.
The day just before I left and "Engine Fialure" lamp just blinked for a minute and I was shocked to see that. When I called the Kairali Ford service centre, they said that it could be because some dust particles in the diesel. Otherwise the light will stay on.
Fog lamps were pretty impressive in the fog days.
One small stone hit my windshield from a Truck going in front and it created a small crack on the windshield and I think I can live with it. A similar one was their on my old car and after 3 years and still it has no issues.
When I come back from the Kerala trip, I gave the car for service. There was no issues. It was a regular one. The qality of service was better than expected.
The next 6 month went fine without any issues. The ride mainly was in city only. The minuium mileage was 14.8 with 100% A/C on.
In July I took it for 1 Year service. The only complaint was A/C switch was loose. I took it to their Sanath nagar service centre. For changing the A/C swich they ahve to remove the complete console including the music system. They were not able to remove, then they took it to their main service centre. Their also they were struggled to remove it. At the end they removed it. But they made some small scratches on the wooden panel. They promised me to change that wooden panel. But till date it was not done.
In the beginning of the write-up I talked about the quality of the teflon. Last week I was totally fed up with the scratches on my car. so i took the car to near by Castroll Pit stop garage. (in my old car after the teflon I could able to rub it off small scratches with the turtle wax I have). The castrol guys did a pretty good job. They ahev a good paint booth also. I have seen their paint job on one Santro and Scorpio and the quality is very good. I decided to take for small jobs there only. They are reasonable also. For the tefflon work they charged me 3000.
Now I am left with one problem. Some times the remote is not working. Seems like either a problen with remote. Need to take it to the showroom. Some times soon.
Till now I have crossed 22K KM. I am pretty much satisfied with the performance and the fuesl efficiency is amazing. The spare parts price are very competitive now. So it is a very pocket friendly car now.