I’ve been going Fida for the last 15 months and to summarise, it has been a wonderful experience so far.
The decision
After serving me loyally for 5 years and 1 lakh kilometres, my beloved Indica V2 DLS started showing signs of ageing. I started looking around for a good sedan though I was running short of crucial vitamin-M.
Consideration Set
It had to be a diesel as I knew I would clock 20k+ kms/year. Narrowed down to Verna, Linea & Fiesta.
First TD was
Verna. The whole experience was very good. Professionalism at all facets from Trident Hyundai – right from attending the call, prompt replies, flexibility to suit your schedules for TD, executive’s knowledge depth – all in all, a very pleasant experience combined with the initial high you experience of 110 horses! I was thrilled with the turbo kicking in around 2000 rpm – something that I could compare with the initial run of a Boeing/Airbus down the runway during take off. It was addictive. The sales guy was generous enough to let me drive almost 40kms on city roads and the outer ring road. While I thoroughly enjoyed the power, Verna was almost like a boat when I took a sharp turn at 60-70kmph on the ring road. That really scared me and got me thinking again.
Next was
Fiesta and I took the car to the same roads that I tested Verna. Tried the same sharp stretch on the ring road at similar speed and I was impressed with the control I had (felt) with Fiesta. The steering feel was great and the car was firmly holding on to the road
. Also tried some hard breaking to experience the ABS. And I knew it had to be Fiesta for me.
Though I had almost decided on Fiesta,
Linea was something that I couldn’t ignore completely. Booked a TD and landed at the showroom promptly only to wait for 30 minutes before the car arrived. The sales guy who sat with me during the drive just didn’t know anything about the car and on my probing, he admitted that he only deals with Vista. Add to that, he wouldn’t let me drive more than 4kms as per his ‘company policy’
. I was no stranger to Tata dealers but was definitely put off by this experience. Though I would’ve ignored all of that, I still rated the Fiesta drive quality and handling better than Linea.
So there it was, paid advance for 1.4 Zxi (I took no time deciding among the variants), waited for another 22 long days before SBI could give an APPROVED stamp. And the black beauty was finally with me. I’ll never forget that drive from showroom to house.
I wouldn’t say I was smart in negotiating with the dealer, but I did manage to get 3rd year warranty + RSA (worth around 11k) free apart from the standard floor mats and sun film. First year insurance was also free as part of a promotion at that time.
Initial days
Few things I ensured during the initial days and some of which I continue even now:
- Kept RPM levels and speeds under check for first 1000 kms.
- Did not cross 2500 RPM/100kmph during this time.
- Idling for 30-40 seconds while starting and before switching off the engine to ensure RPM level dropped to 800 (before/after operating the AC)
- Stuck to normal diesel from the same HP petrol bunk (whenever I’m in town)
- Avoided sudden accelerations at traffic signals
Modifications
Nothing much except for:
- G-sport seat cover
- Steering cover (leather, hand-stitched)
What I didn’t like in Fiesta
There are a lot of good things about Fiesta. Across the last one year of owning it, here are three things that I didn’t like:
- Mud flaps – especially, the rear ones are really small and leaves all the dirt on the bumper.
- Door handle – wish if they were a bit smaller and placed elsewhere to give wider leg space. Since my right knee is always in contact with the hard plastic edges of the door handle, I use a small cushion during long drives.
- Significant power drop in second gear – specially when fully loaded.
And if I had to list down all the good things about Fiesta, I’ll only be repeating most of it shared by other Fiesta owners in this forum. But what is it that I like the most? The drive! I just enjoy driving the car and I’m always on the look out for opportunities. That probably explains why I was not behind the wheel only for around 300kms out of the 24000+ kms on the odo so far.