[sanjayc]

Ghodlur,

How are they settling this 400/- refund? Have they promised to adjust it with the billing in the next service. General opinion is that it is an usual trick - by the time next service visit happens, I will not be surprised if they ask - What refund?

Also, IMO, Wheel balancing should actually cost less than Wheel Alignment...this is purely based on my observation - When I upgraded my tyres to Yoko few weeks back, the tyre dealer did the balancing for free (it involves rotating the tyre in a vertical motion on a fairly simple looking machine and taking some reading in an attached display - depending on the reading, they stick some kind of stickers on the radials.

For wheel alignment, the tyre dealer wanted to charge extra, which I did not opt for.

At Chennai Ford a.s.s, the machine which I saw for wheel alignment is failry sophisticated piece of equipment. That's why my assumption is cost of WA>WB...

Let me know if I am wrong in this assumption.

[ghodlur]

I got the dent on the rear bumper (courtsey Shreeji Ford) removed yesterday free of cost from the dealer. In fact the existing scratches on the bumper were also removed and a fresh coat of paint applied on the bumper. Had to leave the vehicle for an entire day, collected the vehicle late night at 7 pm but again as usual the clean up was pretty much bad, got it done by sitting on the SA's head.

Regarding the refund, a total of Rs 441/- was refunded in cash. This time a feedback form was given which I duly filled.

Witnessed a mega fight between one of the Figo customer & the SA, this was again for overcharging. The fight was really animated.

[ghodlur]

Mods - request you to please change the thread title to "Platinum beast - Ford Fiesta 1.6 ZXi - 1 year 12500 kms review"

Its been a year and 12500kms on the odo since the Platinum beast stormed into my life and it still feels like yesterday. It was total change personally from driving a hatchback (my faithful Santro) to sedan and my initial fears of driving a big car soon vanished as I started taming the beast. The Fiesta effect slowly grows on you and you start getting kind of addicted to its driving to an extent that even for a small errand you feel you should take out the beast. And boy what a year it has been with the Fiesta, totally FIDA. I was yearning to post my experience and here it goes.

Engine: The 1.6 ltr engine is a road scorcher churning 100 BHP which allows the Fiesta to simply zoom ahead of others. I was totally sold out on the super responsive & precise engine performance during the test drive and in comparison with Aveo, Logan, i20 which I had tested. The 0-100 timing was the quickest. The engine is silent and rarely hear it running when sitting inside except when I push it beyond 80kmph.

Exterior: IMO the Fiesta looks beautiful from outside, I may be biased. The smooth curves are a clever disguise for the beast inside. Perfectly apt for “Beast with beauty”. The front grille and the twin jeweled head lamps are great to look at. The body colored OVRM’s are a perfect match to the main color. Also I got the body cladding done with chrome inserts, gives a bit of feel good factor to the car. One imp thing which I liked was the exhaust was pretty much hidden from view. (Personally I am put off by the visible exhaust and that too the ones which are loosely secured). I had got the stock MRF tyres replaced with Michelin Energy XM1+ and till date have no regrets on that. The road grip is too awesome esp during the monsoons. The boot area is sufficiently large for long travels and can hold two big suitcases easily

Interiors: The dual tone coordinated Ebony and camel interiors are soothing. I got the leather seats installed over the fabric ones something similar to the interior color. Lots of storage spaces including the small storage provided right below the steering (an ideal place for the mobiles) and also the glove compartment, rear doors, twin cup holders. The rear seats are comfy and I personally found the rear leg space sufficient enough for three persons sitting at the back. The only irritation is the absence of any kind of matting for the rear transmission tunnel hump, gets soiled too easily. The other plus is the rear folding seats although haven’t had the opportunity to use it. The driver’s seat height adjustment is a great feature and has helped me a lot to get a proper sitting posture. The 2 Din MP3 player is quite nice and with 6 speakers the home theatre effect is almost there (I’m not an audiophile although the ICEing done by some Fiesta owners have prompted to think in that direction). Provision of Aux in port is a plus although haven’t used it yet.

Fuel Economy: Have been consistently getting around 13-14 kmpl for both city and highway driving. I normally do gear shifting at 2K rpm’s and IMO is the ideal figure for gear shifting. The high revving gear shifting is not good for normal Fiesta variants with an exception for the S which has been tuned separately. Initially had been filling Speed petrol but later shifted to normal petrol with System G additive and the engine remains super smooth and responsive.

Maintenance: Till date no major issues as a far as maintenance is concerned. Have completed two free services & one paid 3rd service till date the total cost has been 5.4K. The After sales service of new Ford dealer at Thane has left a lot to desire for . Done the wheel alignment balancing just once costing Rs 800/- .With Ford’s longer maintenance intervals, I feel the cost of ownership comes down and in comparison with the segment peers.

Pleasures
1) Fantastic handling and ride. My main reason for going in for Fiesta. This coupled with low turning radius and you have an hatchback effect in a sedan. Pushing the Fiesta through sharp corners seems just like a child’s play. Also no rear vibrations felts although the car scraped a speed breaker just once with full load at the rear
2) Excellent to drive in city and on highways. A small push on the pedal and car simply roars with a fantastic pick up. Leaves other cars far behind within no time. Super fantastic gear shifts, small throws and perfect slots every time. Minimal effort needed.
3) Superb low end torque. Many a times I forgot to shift gears from 2nd to 1st and the car still moved on without any shuddering.
4) Chilling AC. At times have to reduce the blower speeds to reduce the chill factor. Coupled with the 360 deg vents, the air throw is great, cooling even the rear fast enough. However a couple of times during the scorching summer had some issues but that’s sorted out with proper settings
5) Light and meaty steering with absolutely great feedback, makes low turning radius worthwhile
6) Super duper brakes. Have felt on a couple of occasion the ABS responding to the sudden braking.
7) Other pleasures worth mentioning – adjustable wiper speeds, rear defogger, remote fuel lid open, electric boot release on dash, Remote keyless entry/locking, Theatre Dimming & Illuminated Entry interior lighting, DTE, Fog lamps (Front+rear), rear windows roll down lock and many more

Irritations
1) Bonnet opening lever & Wiper/turn sticks on wrong sides. Ford should have customized for Indian driving conditions. Although I have got used to the present arrangement
2)Fluctuating DTE values. Although I try hard not to check this but my eyes inadvertently follow the DTE figures. Not that I start chewing nails in frustration but the dancing values get me edgy sometimes
3) Sorely miss the Electrically foldable OVRM’s. USB slot on the ICE & the Automatic climate control. Also the OVRM’s do not close completely flat which I had experience with my earlier Santro
4) No matting for the transmission tunnel hump at the rear.
5) Unlatching the passenger door unlocks the central locking which during driving is very dangerous
6) Air bags for ZXI variant. I feel this imp safety feature should be made available in all variants
7) Exterior noise to a certain extent is audible inside. The noise damping could have been better
8) Noise at max blower speed
I hope all these issues would be taken case in the 2011 Fiesta

Accidents
No Major ones except for one when the Right side OVRM was broken due to recklessly driving biker slamming causing a dent on the right driver door, cost me 3.5K. Even the new OVRM has got hit. Other than this minor scratches are there which is a result of driving in the traffic mad city of Thane/Mumbai

Drives
1) Thane Shirdi – Took 3.5 hrs
2) Thane Murud/Janjira – Took 4.5
3) Thane Pune – Atleast 8 times in a year takes 2.5 hrs if driven sedately or else 2 hrs.

Planned drives
1) Thane Kolhapur
2) Thane Bijapur (Karnataka)
3) Thane Goa

Sorry for the long post, would not have done justice to the beast if written short.

[mayankk]

Originally Posted by ghodlur

Irritations
1) Bonnet opening lever & Wiper/turn sticks on wrong sides. Ford should have customized for Indian driving conditions. Although I have got used to the present arrangement
2)Fluctuating DTE values. Although I try hard not to check this but my eyes inadvertently follow the DTE figures. Not that I start chewing nails in frustration but the dancing values get me edgy sometimes
----------
4) No matting for the transmission tunnel hump at the rear.
5) Unlatching the passenger door unlocks the central locking which during driving is very dangerous
--------
7) Exterior noise to a certain extent is audible inside. The noise damping could have been better
-------
I hope all these issues would be taken case in the 2011 Fiesta
----
Sorry for the long post, would not have done justice to the beast if written short.

Congratulations!!!
it is fun, aint it?
you can drive it unassumingly, and then if you feel like scorching away from some ricers,presto!

wrong side stuff, yes,irritating at first, but then it sort of becomes a quirkiness you come to like, a li'l bit(?).
And at least it was some exercise i got, reaching over every day to the passenger side to lock all the doors(of, course now i've re-prog'd via the fob to only unlock the driver's side).
I'm sure some S & D members here would know about how to increase sound dampening.I too feel there's an inordinate amount of noise coming into the cabin (ha!sounded like a quiet creek n meadow, when i TD'd her after my FFE'd santro!!), but now occassionally it sound loud, especially from somewhere near the firewall.I'm sure there's a solution.

as for the tunnel carpet,i'm surprised.My 4 year old has it, intact..I'm sure your dealer would have it, otherwise its not rocket science.you could have one tailored out of a, say, honda mat, or an old fiesta mat.

DTE?
I think i'll mask it with some tape...its gonna give me ulcers!

Keep driving!
Cheerios!!

[ghodlur]

Congratulations!!!
it is fun, aint it?
you can drive it unassumingly, and then if you feel like scorching away from some ricers,presto!

Thanks and you said it. The more I drive the more I get addicted. One minute you are smoothly going at 40 speed and the next minute you can take it to 100 without any grunt, no complaints from the engine. It just fulfills your demand.

as for the tunnel carpet,i'm surprised.My 4 year old has it, intact..I'm sure your dealer would have it, otherwise its not rocket science.you could have one tailored out of a, say, honda mat, or an old fiesta mat.

I checked out with a accessory dealer in Thane and he had the matting for the rear but was unwilling to sell it as one piece. I would have had to purchase the entire set consisting of front + boot +rear mattings and costing me 1500/-

DTE?
I think i'll mask it with some tape...its gonna give me ulcers!
Keep driving!Cheerios!!

Love it or hate it you just cant ignore it. The thing that irritates me is the autorickshaw meter is atleast more stable when the meter is down and running. But not this DTE.

[ghodlur]

It was a sad sad day yesterday when my Beast was scratched and that too by a lesser know beast. It all happened yesterday evening while driving home from office at the Kanjurmarg Flyover/Gandhinagar ROB where there was choc-o-bloc traffic. I was in my lane when suddenly a biker came out of nowhere squeezing between cars and in an attempt to get past my car made a big scratch on the rear left door. I heard some sound and suspected that some thing has gone bad, could not even get down and inspect in the traffic. The biker was long gone vanished again making through I gess squeezing between vehicles. Later when I pulled at a side and inspected the damage, found a big 6-7" scratch. There was a deep gash on the rear wheel arch too. Had an instant lump in my throat. How could the biker do that and walk away without any guilt. I suppose the metal carrier box on the bike might be the culprit.

I have attached a couple of pics showing the damage. I would like to know whether I need to get it rectified immediately and how? Are those scratch removers of any help for this kind of scratch? If not would it require entire door repainting. How I wish I could have laid hands on that stupid moronic biker.

[karty_83]

Very sorry to hear about that. I can completely relate with it and it is really hurting to see them on your car.
The scratch removers are of no help. I had tried them once on my car and to no effect. When i asked my dealer , he suggested me to go for a repaint. I have let it be for the time being.

[mayankk]

hey, i just received my com paint package over the weekend.
gonna try it this saturday,will let you know how it goes.
Very similar scratch, i have.
if it works, then good, 400 bucks only.

[DMehta]

I had similar type of scratches on one of my cars. I ordered the com-paint which did not work. The difference between the color and the paint is definitely visible.
Also, it involves scraping your car with a sand paper which cannot be undone and leaves an ugly patch if the color does not match, which 99% will not IMHO.
The dealer suggests repainting which is a costly option.

I think you should let it be for the moment and then later, after some time decide whether you want to opt for repainting.

These types of things are not in out hand and keep happening even if you are the most vigilant driver in the world. So, relax.

[ghodlur]

All I wish is my Fiesta to have Wolverine like characterstics. After some time the scratches should be self erasing type.

[ghodlur]

There was this kad kad noise coming from the rear side in my Fiesta and I had initially thought this was the hand brake cable slipping out its slot. Therefore I had it inspected last week at the Ford service centre and found that the hand brake was not the culprit. However the noise remained and grew slighly louder over the week.

I took the Fiesta again today to the workshop and the SA diagnosed the noise to be because of rear left shock absorber. It seems there was a play and the shock absorber was replaced under warranty. Something which I had recently read of another Fiestian SV1976 having both the rear shock obs replaced. However in my case the SA said that there seems to be some issue in the right rear shock obs too but under warranty only one shock obs would be replaced in a day and thats as per Ford rules. I found it totally strange and wanted to have a word with the Manager dealing in warranty but it seems he had left the place early. The SA clarified that if I had kept the vehicle for one more day he would have got the right rear shockobs replaced too but since I was in need of the car to run some imp errands, I opted for next week. The noise coming from the rear is totally gone now but need to check for a few more days.

Is this rule true or is the dealer making excuse. Had any Fiesta owner come across this strange rule. Should I write to Ford about the same or after I get the right rear shock obs replaced?

[nairrk]

Only one shock absorber can be changed in a day? and to change another one the car has to be in the workshop for one more day? Surprising - never heard about these kind of rules.
I think, better write to Ford asking clarification!!

[ghodlur]

Yes Nair sir, It surprised me too. I actually wnated to have a word with the warranty manager but it seems he was away. I am planning to write to Ford about this stupid rule.

[ghodlur]

Had written to Ford customer care regarding the rule as told by the SA but got a reply from the Ford dealer service manager as below:
I guess I need to take some time coming weekend and get the suspected shock absorber replaced too.

Dear Mr.Girish,
I would like to inform you that there is no such rule in the Ford that the customer to keep the vehicle overnight and get the part replaced piece wise. I had a meeting with all concerned personnel about this issue and what I understood was due to miscommunication between the Service Advisor and Warranty Manager our S.A had given a wrong report.
I am really sorry for the inconvenience caused to you and request you to send the vehicle as per your convenient to our service centre or we will arrange to pick up the car and will do the needful on priority.
Thanking you and assuring you of our best service always.
Warm Regards,
M.kaladharan│GENERAL MANAGER- SHREEJI FORD (THANE) │

[krish3]

Thats FORD for you. Instant response and an offer to even take the car, fix the issue and give it back to your satisfaction.

Yet to see such a thing from Hyundai. They will never reply or apologise. At max the dealer might reply, but there is no offer to pick-up and drop the vehicle.