[himanshuchadha]

Attaching a few pictures of an accidental ecosport. I went to Harpreet Ford today to enquire mine and saw a gentleman complaining about airbags not releasing following this impact on the titanium option diesel ecosport. I discussed the issue with quite a few people at the dealership.

[bsdbsd]

Originally Posted by sharninder

Spoke to my SA at Harpreet Ford again today. I'm fine with the delay as long as they tell me the reasons but its frustrating calling them every week only to get a stupid reply back.

So today I was told by the SA that my car will not be coming in August also, this is after being assured by the SA's team lead and their manager of delivery towards third week of August.

And you have to listen to the reason - "Sir, as you know the rupee's value has fallen to Rs 61 to a dollar, and the Titanium model has certain imported parts so Ford India is not producing or shipping ANY cars of these models. I will be able to give clearer picture only in September."

This, I know, is complete hogwash and the most brain-dead response I've ever heard.

I'm not in a hurry to get the Ecosport but I'm not willing to be treated like a door mat. I've decided to cancel my booking and avoid Ford till they come begging, which I'm pretty sure is going to happen sooner rather than later.

sharninder: You have done the right thing! I am flabbergasted by their exchange rate response. No client should ever hear such things. How I wish one day we are in a position to call shots, wherein, I will tell the SA after the delivery of my car, "let me see if I can pay you after six months, depending on prevailing exchange rates".

I appreciate that you cancelled the vehicle, while refusing to be treated like this. Exactly like me. Go hunt for a car of your dreams now!

[raul]

That's sounds ominous, a SA talking about exchange rates! Clearly something is in the works, a price hike coming? Given recent history, the bias towards overpricing, the Ecosport being as expensive as the Duster in Brazil and the rupee slide, the launch pricing has been a huge bonanza to customers.

More than the waiting its the lack of communication and professionalism that gets to customers. This kind of mismanagement has accompanied most recent launches from the XUV to the Duster and now the Ecosport. Its fixable.

In the former 2 the manufacturer was at least directly taking responsibility and trying to set up systems for delivery, in Ford's case they seemed to have washed their hands off and left to to dealer discretion which is a recipe for customer frustration and underhanded activities.

[DeKay]

Originally Posted by Sagar.Agarwal

Well, it depends on what your primary buying needs are.
As far as Linea goes, I can safely say that no car in that price bracket can match the fantastic driving experience this car gives.

We can assume even Duster and Storme coming out with massive discounts.

My Primary needs apart from a Diesel engine are,

1. Safety
2. Build quality
3. Ground clearance

In that order.

As far as the Linea and Storme are concerned, I will never ever buy a product which makes me deal with TATA After sales service again. So, they're out.

And the Duster, honestly with that interior quality, I'd rather stick with the Vista. :P

So as you can see, I don't have many options to choose from here mate.

[nmo]

Originally Posted by DeKay

My Primary needs apart from a Diesel engine are,

1. Safety
2. Build quality
3. Ground clearance

In that order.

As far as the Linea and Storme are concerned, I will never ever buy a product which makes me deal with TATA After sales service again. So, they're out.

As far as Linea is concerned, you need not go to Tata dealers. Fiat has set up its own dealerships and things are quite different now. It is true that many Tata dealers have also taken Fiat dealerships but the apathetic approach / same Show-Room / Service Centre is a thing of the past. I called the Fiat dealer @ Mumbai and the Sales Exec came to my office with both Tjet and MJD for a TD. I have had quite a pleasant experience recently.

[vvijay]

Originally Posted by bsdbsd

sharninder: You have done the right thing! I am flabbergasted by their exchange rate response. No client should ever hear such things. How I wish one day we are in a position to call shots, wherein, I will tell the SA after the delivery of my car, "let me see if I can pay you after six months, depending on prevailing exchange rates".

I appreciate that you cancelled the vehicle, while refusing to be treated like this. Exactly like me. Go hunt for a car of your dreams now!

It is totally misleading of the sales personnel giving exchange rates as reasons for delay in delivery and long waiting periods of the EcoSport! Of course the spiking rupee against dollar gets Ford India an edge on the exports but that has got no link to catering domestic market. If at all there is a reason, it would be attributed only to the volume constraints in the manufacturing facility/number of vehicles allocated per dealer per month.

Originally Posted by xuv2390

I am not really worried about it but the only thing is that the hissing/whistling noise gets a little irritating.

I suggest you take the vehicle to the service centre and get the TC as well as and more importantly the EGR system and Assembly checked. That I believe should help.

[Sagar.Agarwal]

Originally Posted by DeKay

My Primary needs apart from a Diesel engine are,
1. Safety
2. Build quality
3. Ground clearance
.

Going by your needs, then i guess you are narrowed down to only SUV's or the mini SUVs. Although, Safety , build quality and ground clearance are all plenty in the new Linea Tjet . But I sense a facelift might be around during diwali. And as far as I remember, Fiat and Tata are no longer together. They have 70 dealerships in India and pretty soon be reaching 100. Somehow, after owning a Figo for close to 4 years and the way the after sales handled the niggling issues, I somehow cannot recommend a Ford car unless it has a proven track record. Agreed, Figo and Ecosport are very different car and cater to different segments but lets not forget that Figo was the most important car to Ford when Ecosport was not around. And the way the customers are being taken for a ride by the Ford dealerships concerning the Ecosport, it looks like even FORD thinks that this wont last long so they want to make hay while the sun shines.

[Contrapunto]

Originally Posted by DeKay

So as you can see, I don't have many options to choose from here mate.

A lateral thinking suggestion, why don't you look at a pre-owned Innova, preferably a Toyota UTrust certified one with an open mind. I was in the same position you were in 18 months back, and decided to go for one. The result:
- It was a pleasant experience. Radhakrishna Toyota was extremely honest and transparent about what was wrong with the car and why,
- refurbished it to their standards,
- agreed/ disagreed transparently on which refurbishment cost they would bear, and which they would not

I bought a 130 Km run, 5 year old model, and have put in another 35 KMs in the past year and half, with Zero problems.

Probably OT for this thread, but my point is that there are options, if you are open to innovative solutions.

Originally Posted by djpeesh

Just as the duster and the swift and the dzire, the ecosport too will find its market shrinking. And then the fun will begin.

This rant is just my two cents.

And for comic relief, you can always watch that video interview of the Ford CEO talking about the something in the lines of "factories being ready to produce whatever number the market demands" and how he's excited that all "pre-launch indicators show that customer interest is shooting through the roof"......

[Achyuth Vaibhav]

Originally Posted by himanshuchadha

Attaching a few pictures of an accidental ecosport. I went to Harpreet Ford today to enquire mine and saw a gentleman complaining about airbags not releasing following this impact on the titanium option diesel ecosport. I discussed the issue with quite a few people at the dealership.

Do you know whether the guy wore seat belts?, also, do you know what really happened in the accident? From what I know, Most car's airbags deply only when the seat belt is fastened.


Cheers,

Achyuth

[gsurya]

I finally test drove the Ecosport today & am in a dilemma. I have never owned a diesel car so I am particularly concerned about NVH & maintenance costs after 5+ years of ownership, say post 50K kms.

My current cars are Chevy Aveo 1.4 & Fiat Uno, both petrol & I just love the acceleration they have in 2nd gear in traffic, at signals, after bumps..

My driving will be about 70:30 City/Weekends and I do want to now hv a car that can do long / weekend drives with good pleasure. Family is small of 2 adults & a child, sometimes my parents.

I will focus only on engine/performance in my feedback below, as I loved the rest of the package.

1. Drove the Ecoboost first: Found pickup iffy between 2nd/3rd gears.. but after 1500 rpm the thrust really kicks in & driving is superb after that. I am not sure how this engine will cope on hilly areas & fully loaded.

2. Drove the Diesel next: Absolutely brilliant engine, very powerful that you can feel all across the range, easily moves in traffic at 2nd/3rd gears with minimal effort.. can sense that overtaking will be a breeze with this engine.

However, with AC & music system off I could hear a hummm that wasnt there in the Ecoboost. I am just worried this will get worse with age. How has this engine behaved on the Fiesta after 70-80k kms, does anyone know?

3. The dealer did not have Petrol 1.5 to test, so i drove the Fiesta which apparently has the same engine. I found this to be smoother than the Ecoboost in the 2nd/3rd gears, below 2000 RPM but not as powerful as the Diesel. Of course, the Ecosport is a 110 kgs or so heavier than the Fiesta.

So there is my dilemma; which engine to choose?

In a way I feel Petrol 1.5 will be the safe choice for me, though FE would be less, I would have a well known reliable engine, assured low NVH & lower maintenance than the diesel.

Ecoboost petrol is very tempting; low NVH, slightly weak below 2000 rpm.

Diesel, the best engine of the 3 but worried about high NVH later in its lifetime & higher maintenance.

Any other views?

[xuv2390]

Originally Posted by Berry

I get this strange humming sound in mine too. It's darn irritating. I don't what it is.

Do you hear it even louder upon releasing the accelerator pedal? Which variant do you have? Diesel engine right?

Originally Posted by vvijay

I suggest you take the vehicle to the service centre and get the TC as well as and more importantly the EGR system and Assembly checked. That I believe should help.

I will be visiting them soon and I hope there is no problem at all. I guess other BHPians are getting the same humming/whistiling sound so it should be normal and hopefully fade away over time! Unless and until Ford modifies the Turbo-charger assembly to make it less quite. I hope they do so!

[Berry]

Originally Posted by xuv2390

Do you hear it even louder upon releasing the accelerator pedal? Which variant do you have? Diesel engine right?
!

Yes, I do have the diesel one and it sounds the same way as you explained.

[Simple_car]

Originally Posted by gsurya

I finally test drove the Ecosport today & am in a dilemma. I have never owned a diesel car so I am particularly concerned about NVH & maintenance costs after 5+ years of ownership, say post 50K kms.

1. Drove the Ecoboost first

2. Drove the Diesel next

3. The dealer did not have Petrol 1.5 to test, so i drove the Fiesta which apparently has the same engine.

So there is my dilemma; which engine to choose?

Dear gsurya sir,

Firstly, to decide whether petrol / diesel, this will depend on your monthly running. A rough figure to take is - go for petrol if running is <1000 kms per month and go for diesel if running > 1000 kms per month (these are very rough figures I have taken)

Amongst the petrol vehicles:

1. The ecoboost is a turbocharged motor, which will be bit of a pain to drive in the city due to turbolag. Nothing you will not get used to though. During hill climbs or ghats, you will have to downshift and use clutch quite more often. But this engine has a strong midrange, which will make it a strong performer for the highways. F.E. wise, I have no proof, but overall most reviews around the world are not pointing this to be that efficient an engine. Definitely it will be more efficient in the city compared to the NA one, but on the highway both are equal. I get a 15-16 kmpl from the NA motor on highway (it gives 20 kmpl if driven very nicely). Ecoboost figures are more or less the same (this is not my personal experience, just my impressions from reading the reviews on international forums).

2. The 1.5 NA engine: this motor would have been almost perfect had not ford tuned it for F.E. This motor has a similar 'turbo-lag' like feel at <1200 rpms. Post 1200 rpms, the motor has a good torque till say 3000 rpm. Post that it feels a little flat and again picks up some steam at high revs. This motor will give you say 9-10 kmpl in Bombay traffic scenario (I am talking of M/T here). It is not refined like its competitors, but the noise is a nice one. All in all I find this motor to be good for city and the occasional highway use. I speak from my experience of the 1.5P fiesta.

As far as the diesel goes, since this is your first diesel test, you are bound to be impressed. I have not driven the 1.5 Tdci but I use the 1.4 Tdci. I will only say this: ford diesels are a pleasure to drive in the city, give a better F.E. (compared to the petrols) and are decent highway performers. The noise after 5 years will not be much of a problem so long as you service it regularly. Post 5 years, you won't be able to recognize any increase in sound since you'll be used to it anyways. Maintainence wise diesel will be more costly than the petrol for sure but it more than makes up for it by saving fuel costs. Maintainence costs will purely depend on your running. If you run less, then diesel will be more expensive to maintain. If you run more, you will realize that the diesel more than makes up for the extra maintainence costs.

Plus, do factor in your insurance cost. Diesels are generally more expensive to insure than their petrol counterparts.

Hope this will clarify some of your doubts. As far petrol / diesel, that choice will be yours only.

Thanks,
Simple_car

[gsurya]

@simple_car: Thanks for the detailed response! My feel about Ecoboost was right, I am ruling that out.

Now my choice is between 1.5 Petrol vs Diesel; I somehow did NOT feel turbolag when driving the Petrol but that was on the Fiesta. I suppose the additional 150 kgs on the Ecosport will make a difference.

Is there an owner of 1.5 Petrol Ecosport on TBHP so far that can confirm turbolag & FE details? Was there a review done by TBHP?

Much appreciate the inputs!

[Dr.Abhi]

Originally Posted by gsurya

@simple_car: Thanks for the detailed response! My feel about Ecoboost was right, I am ruling that out.

Now my choice is between 1.5 Petrol vs Diesel; I somehow did NOT feel turbolag when driving the Petrol but that was on the Fiesta. I suppose the additional 150 kgs on the Ecosport will make a difference.

Is there an owner of 1.5 Petrol Ecosport on TBHP so far that can confirm turbolag & FE details? Was there a review done by TBHP?

Much appreciate the inputs!

there is no turbo in 1.5 petrol fiesta/ ecosport and hence no turbo lag and therefore you didnt feel it any.