Team-BHP - Ford EcoSport : Official Review

Got the delivery of my mars red Tdci (O) ecosport from Elite ford yesterday, 30th August. I had my eyes on the car for last 1 year. Had prebooked on June 14th (2nd booking at elite ford for the variant/color combination), and the wait looked like eternity. Actually I didn't feel very excited during the delivery due to the wait period.

Drove around 50 km and felt pretty good. Will give detailed ownership experience later.

PS: Coming from Zen, I am yet to get adjusted to turning radius of Ecosport (for eg., while taking U-turns). Any tips?

Quote:

Originally Posted by nmo (Post 3223404)

Handed over the booking cancellation request of Ecosport 1.5P AT to AVK Ford that I had booked on June 26th. They are still not able to give any projection for delivery that seemed to be at least 3 months away. Worse, they are not even saying how many ATs were booked before my booking so I do not even know how long the queue is (I could have projected no of months by assuming that they would get allocation of 4 ATs a month).

Mate,
This is really shocking. Considering that I have booked my car with AVK, this makes me very concerned. I hope all the malpractices are done with respect the deliveries only and not with the vehicles. (Such as selling display vehicles and letting prospective buyers drive the vehicles scheduled for delivery.)

Can you tell me who your SA was?

I am a Ford only kind of guy, having owned an Escort and Ikon before & now I drive a Figo. So, EcoSport was like the most logical progressive next step for me and boy, was I not excited about the vehicle, since Delhi 2012. My Figo was just an year and a half old then, so I was in no tearing hurry for the vehicle to be launched. I even secretly hoped that the vehicle launch would get delayed as much as possible, so that my Figo would have done 3 years and the wife would let me jump ship. hey, all this came true. EcoSport was launched in July (my Figo is 3 years old this month). Made for each other.

The Ecosport thread on T-BHP became like my favorite place on earth. Believe me, I did not even take a test drive, didn't feel the need to. Got busy managing my finances. Again felt happy about the long waiting time, coz, I kind of require another 6-7 months to put money together, without selling the Figo.

So, at last went to the dealership to practically walk-in, pay up and walk out, as I was not interested in test drives, not interested in early delivery, did not require to be told about the product or variants (thanks to T-BHP) and did not require assistance of any kind from the dealer. I must be one of the dream customers for any Ford dealer.

So, I did exactly that, Paid up and walked out. On my way out, I saw the TD vehicle standing and I just asked the SA, if I could drive it.

My first touch. The snug fit, the safe thump of the door and the multitude of flickering lights came alive and I didnot know why I had never wanted to test drive the vehicle. Maybe, a hidden desire to own one, before I drive one.

Started driving, had a rather broad smile most of the distance, turned around and came back. Overall incident free. But then, why was my broad smile vaguely resembling a frown? Hopped on to my Figo and started driving home, reminiscing on what went wrong.
Gentlemen, I am slightly disappointed by the performance, the space, even ergonomics and lo and behold, to some extent even the looks and road presence. I have no idea why did this happen? Is it because of over exposure to the vehicle per se? Is it because of micro analysis of the features and pros and cons? is it because of the cost (not VFM in top variants) ? I have no idea, but i am on the brink of cancellation. Seems like the wedding jitters one gets !

Quote:

Originally Posted by ZENith (Post 3223627)

Congratulations ZENith. Enjoy your drive, waiting for ownership report & sales experience at Elite ford. Looks like delivery of TDCI (o) is on slower side, and huge waiting period certainly dampens the spirit. Did you choose any accessories ( price ?) and what was your insurance quote ?

Quote:

Originally Posted by DeKay (Post 3223691)

Abid Sayed. He seems to have left his job at the dealership as per others at the dealership.

On day 1, I had booked the car after their GM had assured that they will try to deliver the car within 3 months. I had told them that my first priority is 1.5P AT and second option could be TDCi Titanium (O).

After follow-ups for a month or so, I was informed by the SA that if I could be delivered the TDCi Titanium (O) in 45 days from date of receipt of full payment.

I posed this question in the T-BHP forum and members advised against this as I would be completely at dealer's mercy after that. Since the dealer was not transparent about how many bookings had been received before me and I could figure out that now the dealer was only focused on prioritising deliveries to customers who make full payment 45 days in advance, I decided to cancel my booking. Worse was the situation that they were being untruthful even to customers who paid the complete amount, that was the last straw. I do not want to be dealing with anyone who could be that unethical irrespective of how good the product might be.

Quote:

Originally Posted by saranhere (Post 3223840)

But then, why was my broad smile vaguely resembling a frown?

I can relate to how you feel, because this is exactly how I felt after my first TD of the Ecosport diesel. I was given a very short TD which lasted 5-7 mins and I did about 1.5kms tops, avg speed between 20-30km/hr. Hopped into my Polo D and realised except for a few features,additional GC there's nothing special about the Ecosport. Also, in the Titanium and Titanium option variants it is not exactly VFM either. But then, took another longer TD and was impressed enough to pay up the booking amount. Though i've booked in June, i'll be taking delivery sometime in 2014, during which other hatchbacks like New Jazz,i20,Punto are expected to be launched, not to forget the Polo 1.6D

The Ecosport diesel weighs about 150 kgs more than a regular hatch (1145 vs 1290 in case of Polo) and the power bump is a mere 15bhp which is why one may not feel it to be very powerful when compared to diesel hatches. Do take another TD and decide, even otherwise if you are planning to buy the car in the next 6-7 months I suggest you let the booking be, look at the other launches scheduled for early next year and take a call. If you decide to go with Ecosport, you won't be re-joining the queue atleast.

Seems all the balance delivery for the month of August got over. Quite a few people got their EcoSport, less the lesser mortals like me who have to wait even more. Had a long discussion with my SA at TI Ford, Guwahati about my expected delivery schedule which is as vague as it was 45 days back. I have booked a Ecoboost Titanium. Anyone who has booked with TI Ford? What's the waiting period with him?
A request to all new owners of the beauty please keep updating your experiences. Helps to forget the wait and gives something to read on while the painful unknown wait continues. :-(

I have just returned from Noida Ford. The GM Sales Mr. Tyagi, was not in the showroom as it was his day off. Moreover, nobody else was in a position to give any information on the likely delivery date. On my insistence when he was contacted on phone , the likely dat of delivery was qouted as Mid- November. This has gone up from mid September I was told at the time of the booking. I had booked the TDCI Titanium (o) on 26 June.

Ford India on the other hand is pursuing customer unfriendly polices by not offering any price protecton to the customers who had booked the cars and neither giving an interest on deliveries wich are going beyond 90 days.

Ther should be some regulations about interest on booking amounts and the number of bookings a company can take . ( this should not extend beyond 3 months)