[madan80]

The Decision
A lot of folks on the forum know me and my palio - Eleanor. It finally came to the time of making a change. In the good lords name - deciding about a car was the most horrible part of the entire buying experience.

When we finally decied that we wanted to change, We had just one thing in mind.

1. I wanted the next car to have ABS. Having seen the benifits of such a safety system i wanted the car to have this.

Other criterion - but in no significant order of importance were
1. i wanted a fun car to drive
2. an inherent desire to have a more powerful engine (more than the 1.2 palio and my lancer)
3. a secret desire to break the 100 horses glass cieling
4. though not a significant factor - but a sedan
5. Something which my wife could drive comfortably
6. a car which had a height adjustment mechanism for the drivers seat and
7. electrically adjusted mirrors

The last two were stemmed from an operational complication due to the big height difference between the Mrs and Me. she had some issues with the palio as the seating was a bit low so a seat height adjustment mechanism was a priority.

We started our car search and we worked backwards on our bduget. We selected an EMI we would be comfortable with without having to extend ourselves and then found a car in that range.

With all the calculations we zeroed in on a few cars.

We checked out all the possible cars in the range but one by one they got eliminated.
Either due to the fact that there was no ABS or no height adjustment, or the car was underpowered (or the secret desire to have more than 1.2L in the engine). We finally selected the Fiesta 1.6 Zxi.

The Purchase
When we finally went to buy the car - my dad asked me why am i not buying it through the CSD - well a rather archaic question - but i really didnt have an answer. I told him myfeedback that getting a loan was difficult. Anyways to cut a long story short - ICICI Stepped in and offered us a loan. It was a sweet deal where we ended up saving 60K from the corporate discount and 1L off the OTR price.

We initially decided to go with the silver and second preference was some white - but while we were paying the amount we both loved the Sea Grey and requested it. The guy said that the waiting period is huge so we dropped it. We were ready for a 1 month wait and booked the car in march 10. When our delivery time came the sales guy surprised us with the sea grey- well, it was a nice present for my wife and she loved it.

Though the waiting period was a bit of a pain with a few unpleasant exchanges with the sales guy, He did make up a little bit by giving me the color I wanted. We finally took delivery on 30th April 2010. A car straight off the mint - where the VIN number indicated that the car was manufactured in the 2nd week of april.

We didnt get to carry out the inspection of the car or do the PDI but going with a huge portion of "Good faith" we took delivery of the car.

Completing 1000kms
Initial Driving Experience
The beige interiors was a bit of an eyesore after haivng all my previous cars with black interiors. We got some really nice seat covers to match and got the glass tinted as well. Having taken an extended warranty I was very wary to touch any electrical so have kept the car as bone stock!
The car itself was a dream! I loved the throttle response, the control and the sure footed way it huggs the road. My wife found the car extremely easy to adjust and drive and with the height adjustment seat - her visibility improved drastically.
Since the last service - it appears as though the engine has loosened up a little more being more revv happy and comfortably going to 5-5.5K rpm.

The only niggle I had with the car when I took it was the reverse light was not working - I went to the ford service 1 week into delivery and they said they would change it - it being a switch which turns on the lgith. It seemed to have jammed up a little bit.

after about 800kms on the Odo i embarked on a long winding south india journey of Chennai to Cochin and back via Ooty. the car always ran with a minimum of 4 folks and a max of 5 and i got an awesome mileage of 15 with A/c. It was while going uphill that I got a slightly sucky mileage of 12 but i guess it was a compromise.

At one point the ABS decision was a wise one - while in Kerala - I was comfortably crusing at about 110- and there was a truck on the extreme left lane keeping his speed. When suddenly without warning he swung to the extreme right lane in front of me. For what odd joy did this good for nothing, two bit piece of bottle caps do that- I have no idea as there was absolutly nothing in front or on the side. My only explanation was that he must have fallen asleep. Anyways- stepped on the brakes with all the breakfasts lunches and dinners i had eaten in my entire life and the car stopped- no fish tailing no tire screeching - just one vocal chord shouting the choicest obscenities in malayalam and tamil (it was a TN registered truck). Other than that - it was a really enjoyable drive to and from Kerala.

What I liked

• Revv Happy engine
• ABS
• Decent music system (Plays Jazz to my liking)
• good space - 5 Adults and luggage- No Problem
• Electically Adjusted mirrors and rear defogger
• Ford network - a major factor which went against the Linea (I still love my palio)
• comfortable to drive on highways
• decent mileage (get about 12 in city and 15 on Highways)

What I don't like

• Beige interiors
  and most importantly - the brakes. It is in my opinion that the Fiesta 1.6 should come with rear Disc brakes as well. Given the weight of the car and the power it produces i believe this car should have sharper braking capabilities.

Unfortunate Incidents
The one year has seen its fair share of dings and dangs!

• 3 weeks into owenership an idiot 2 wheeler was backing out and banged into the rear right side of the car- scratched off the paint till the metal. I gave him a earful but there was nothing to do. Have left the mark as such - my evil eye.
• 4 months in - an idiot two wheeler tried squeezing inbetween my car and a car that had stopped to take a uTurn. I swung and avoid creating a poupori
  out of his behind on the road - unfortunately - an Auto behind me didnt have the astute sense to see through me and ended up rear ending me in the process thus completely destroying my left light cluster. It took so much effort, that superman would have been put to shame, so as not to hit that two wheeler guy for his stupidtiy. HE also broke the U turn cars indicator with his crash guard. The auto had a huge dent at the impact point and there was nothing more that could be done. He said sorry and drove off- the auto was damaged, my car was damaged and so was the other one - and no one knew what to do. Down 4K in repairing the damn thing I couldnt help but thank my stars for it being such a "minor" incident.
• in DEcember I took the car out for the first time post my operation. Was coming back on ECR and had a verna brake hard in front. I stepped on the brakes but the car didnt seem to want to stop. BANG! i rear ended him - and held my breath as 4 guys stepped out from the car. Being my fault I apologized and offered to pay for the damages - but there were none. As the verna moved in front i heard a noise. My heart sank. We moved to the side of the road to check for damanges- and the only damage was that my numberplate screw got stuck in the bumper. This caused my numberplate to fall off- which some enterprising bystander tied it up with a straw! we shook hands and the verna and I were off- no arguments no fights.! Phew! That was close - it was at that point i realized the need for sharper brakes in the Fiesta.

Overall
I am quite happy with the car, its comfort and its performance. Would i recommend this to others - hell yeah!. Though the home minister has banned me from taking the car to the track - i yearn for that day and hope to see the light of that day soon cause that is where, i believe, the fiesta can truly stretch its legs!

[sjcherian]

Hi Madan - looks like fun times with the Fiesta. Its almost a year old already !
Am surprised at the mileage you mention for city driving - 12 seems pretty decent for a 1.6 !

Had a question about the incident with the Verna - was the distance between your car and the Verna very short ? In some cases ABS equipped vehicles may need slightly more distance than non-abs ones to stop.

[ghodlur]

HI Madan,

Congratulations on your Fiesta.

Its sad to read those unfortunate incidents, I guess the Fiesta is a sturdy one to take all that beatings. I feel its bit strange that only 1K kms have been done in one year or am I reading the it wrong. I totally agree with all the likes, whereas in the dislikes you have mentioned a sharper breaking. I feel its already there and have experienced it many a times on Mumbai roads.

As far the mileage is concerned most of the Fiestians are getting almost the same figueres. Keep revving, happy many more mile crunching and drive safely.

[madan80]

@Yes Jay Cheeee - Yup - cant believe its 1 year- about the verna - we were both slowing down and he suddenly jammed. I really dont know what happened, but I was stepping on the pedal - yet it went ahead and kissed!

@Ghodlur - its 9000kms - the picture of 1K was when i was driving to kerala.

[madan80]

Update: In the last 8 months have done a lot more driving than in the last 1 year.
I took it out for several runs to bangalore over the last 2 months due to business meetings, including one from chennai - bangalore - cbe - chennai. I did the BLR - Salem stretch in under 2 hrs and was rather impressed with the cars ability to get to and hold about 150. yes - the mileage did get hammered - but what a ride!

Did the journey back from ooty to chennai in a comfortable 8hrs with breaks. Though I really wish this time there was a 6th gear for highway cruising. At 140 the rpm edges close to 4K RPM - really assaulting the mileage.

Had to stop enroute to tank up, but the journey was comfortable and uneventful.

A small issue has started cropping up - nd I need to get it checked - the Driver side window makes a rather sickening "thud" everytime i roll it up. I am guessing it needs some greasing. must take it to the ford service and check.

Other than that - there are no other issues to report after 1.8 years and 17K Kms.

[MalluDude]

Nice reading your reports madan. Are you planning to do something abt the brakes? Maybe you could upgrade the disks/calipers at the front.

[haithereitsme]

Madan, whats your current mileage ? am confused between buying an i20 or the fiesta CLXi, budget being the prime concern.

also, few friends pointed out rattling noise from dash and door pads creeping up after a year. Whats your feed back

[madan80]

Originally Posted by haithereitsme

Madan, whats your current mileage ? am confused between buying an i20 or the fiesta CLXi, budget being the prime concern.

also, few friends pointed out rattling noise from dash and door pads creeping up after a year. Whats your feed back

Sorry for the REALLY late reply. My current mileage in bangalore city is about 12 avg (but I make my runs to office at 7am and return at 6pm). On the highways I still get about 15.

The car is now 2 years and 3 months old and I have done close to 28K Kms. Its been a really awesome drive. It still does highway runs about once in every two months and can comfortably hold 120 with ease.

I am servicing the car at the ford service centers and regularly change the oil and related fluids. Over time, I have begun to realize the advantage of electrically adjusted seats, so point to self- get the next car with this gizmo.

The ford extended warranty ROCKS! I recommend this to anyone buying a ford. Having a few parts on the verge of failing (door lock, electrical mirror etc etc) - all parts are replaced under warranty, including the ac filter).

With the increase in petrol prices, I can't say the impact is huge - becaues I have changed my driving style to be a little light on the throttle. I like seeing 535kms on the DTE meter on tanking up!