Team-BHP - Ford EcoSport : Official Review

Quote:

Originally Posted by iamsai_iyer (Post 5326435)

Hi,

Would urge you to also consider Ceat Securadrive as well in your options. Have recently changed the tyres on my ES as well. My list of options were Yokos, UC6 & the securadrive. Finally went with the securadrive considering the budget I had. The initial impressions are good, but the next couple of months will decide if my decision was right.

Request you to please share your experience with Securadrive. I am on conti and its time for a change and wanted to experiment with another brand.

Quote:

Originally Posted by kaushiksudra (Post 5778124)

So on further investigation by self, I found the relay for Fan Motor Highspeed(R1) missing from the Fuse Box under the hood. Wonder if that was the reason the AC want working at the first place and they made me replace the entire fan motor assembly and related parts for over 15K:Frustrati ? Just to be sure replaced the relay and checked in OBD, the error disappeared. I really am not sure about Ford's up to, especially after this incident I'm absolutely upset. In 9 years+ ownership I have never had any concerns. Also i visited the ASC with the same concern and they deny it even being there and need a day to check if it really has a relay or not. Sometimes these ASC's think they know everything, but when an informed customer tries to show them their place, they just show their arrogance. Can anyone check their Fusebox if the relay is there or not and share a pic. Mine's a 2015 Ecosport TDCI Titanium+

Not sure if you ever got a response from owners here but if not, I would advise starting a new thread for visibility collating all your relevant posts till now. Posts like these get lost in a generic review thread.

Ford EcoSport : Official Review-img_2533.jpg

An idle brain is a devil's workshop and whenever I am idle, my mind becomes my workhorse's workplace. Whenever I have some free time I resort to my parking lot, working on the interior, exterior, and under the hood.

It's been more than 2 years since I got it water-washed outside. I got an Agaro pressure washer. Got a blower, and an interior vacuum cleaner. Have all machinery for polishing and supplies from 3M and other brands to keep my Darkhorse immaculate inside-out.

Apart from general services on the dot, spares part changes whenever required, I got the suspension overhauled at Chennai Ford very recently. I also have replaced my 205/60/R16 Mechiline P4STs (with >60000 KM on them) and with a brand-new set of Mechilines but went with a wider 215 set-up as I had plans to bump up a few horses. Called up WolfMoto and enlisted my vehicle for a Stage 1 upgrade on their next visit to Chennai (In a month or so).

Well, to come to the meat of the topic now, I have been bitten by a facelift bug. Whenever I see a 2019 or higher Black EcoSport, my wife tells me to wipe off the drool off my face. I have no intention to swap my trustworthy mate being my first car and a strong emotional connection.

So, I am exploring the possibility of changing the facia to a 2019 or higher version. I have seen a video where a Kerala Youtuber did it and a person from Delhi.

As far as I know I need to swap the bonnet, headlights, grill, DRLs, bumper on the outside. On the inside, the radiator mount and AC ducts.

I have checked with a few garages in Chennai and they turned me down saying they wont carry out the job citing parts. My request to mechanically sound minds here is what are the other parts I should be looking at to change? Any idea on the estimate? Any references as to who can get the job done anywhere in India.

I am heading to Sepang MotoGP in Nov and is there any way I can buy parts and ship them here?

Quote:

Originally Posted by TheEcoBeast (Post 5781790)

I decelerate way ahead of speed breakers and toll plazas and let the car roll.

If you are doing this in-gear (ie not neutral) then it's a good idea, and you are winning on multiple counts:

1) Not using/overusing your brakes (ie. extending life)
2) Not going through multiple deceleration/acceleration cycles (which would use more fuel)
3) Smoother drive

Quote:

Originally Posted by TheEcoBeast (Post 5781790)

On open roads and slight slopes (not in hills), I shift to neutral when the car is running in 50s or 60s speed. It just rolls till the slope is over and saves fuel.

This is a bad idea for 2 reasons:

1) It's unsafe. Engine braking gives you a lot more control over your car.

2) This will give you WORSE fuel efficiency than leaving the car in gear and taking your foot off the accelerator!

Why? Because modern fuel-injection cars have something called DFCO (Deceleration Fuel Cut-Off).

I'll quote from an old post of mine:

Quote:

Originally Posted by Rehaan (Post 2510376)

Fuel IS cut off when you take your foot off the accelerator.

- This is assuming you are not at low / near-idle RPMs
- The car will still cruise along, especially in high gear (don't underestimate the momentum of a 1000kg car travelling at 50km/h!)
- Look at the real-time fuel efficiency gauge, it will show "0", "-", "99.9" or "infinity sign". This further proves my point.
- This is technically called as "DFCO" (Deceleration Fuel Cut Off)
- Naturally, it is dependent on other conditions too, and there are occasions when the injectors will fire occasionally - but for all practical purposes, there is no fuel going into the engine.

If you were in neutral, fuel WOULD be going to the engine to keep it idling, vs in DFCO absolutely no fuel would be used, as the momentum of the car would keep the engine turning over.

Quote:

Originally Posted by TheEcoBeast (Post 5803152)

I think a Garage name Autorounders did it and they have their branches in Pune, Mumbai and Hyderabad. You can check with them regarding this. If you go ahead with this do share the experience and costs associated with it here and your experience of facelifting your car.

Here's link to that video - https://youtu.be/zksZ7r-8UUg?si=2tYiRSASQpIzKJxe

Quote:

Originally Posted by dpkbehera (Post 5801490)

Any word on Ford India launching new vehicles soon? One of the service advisors did mention December this year as the likely date but not sure.

There were some rumours and excitement some months ago about Ford making a re-entry. There was also some chatter that it might be CKD/assembled higher-end models (Endy, etc.)

But since then things have died down, and there's not much talk about anything.

It could be one of two things:

People misread some activity/paperwork regarding Ford exporting cars from their Indian manufacturing plant and hopefully assumed it meant manufacturing for domestic sales
Ford could be sneakily testing the waters to get the pulse of the market if they were to consider a re-entry. (Personally, I think this is unlikely, as they've now quit India two times in my lifetime - and apparently there was a third one several decades ago!)

Quote:

I checked with Autorounders from Hyderabad and they said they never did facelift for EcoSport.

Update I did check with the Hyderabad Autorounders in person. May be I looked too naive (or I am naive), they took a good look at the car and quoted 2.50 lakhs for facelift job and for paint (same black color). 1.60 for facelift and around 80 for the paint job. Obviously I am gonna stay away from them.

Quote:

Originally Posted by TheEcoBeast (Post 5803152)

So, I am exploring the possibility of changing the facia to a 2019 or higher version. I have seen a video where a Kerala Youtuber did it and a person from Delhi.

As far as I know I need to swap the bonnet, headlights, grill, DRLs, bumper on the outside. On the inside, the radiator mount and AC ducts.

I have checked with a few garages in Chennai and they turned me down saying they wont carry out the job citing parts. My request to mechanically sound minds here is what are the other parts I should be looking at to change? Any idea on the estimate? Any references as to who can get the job done anywhere in India.

I am heading to Sepang MotoGP in Nov and is there any way I can buy parts and ship them here?

There are a few folks who have converted from pre face-lift to face-lift. However the parts needed and the steps are tedious. A guy called Kiran did it in Kerala(car no. KL 07 BZ 1737) and had the insta name black_diamond_eco and a few others had followed suit.

The parts required for thr conversion are
1.Bonnet
2.Hinges
3.Bumper
4.Headlights
5.Foglights
6. Headlight & Fog light wiring
7. Fenders(not sure but it might change due to change in mounting points).
8.Skidplate
9.Grill

On Black the facelift shape will look sexy!

I can connect you to one person in Chennai who can help you with this(not Idumbakumar) . He supplies Ford parts. I can share his contact in private message and he stays in Porur.

New parts would cost north of a lakh. Used parts will cost about half the cost.. I'll share some pics of the conversion and I hope you make an informed decision

Before

Ford EcoSport : Official Review-img20240728wa0018.jpg

Ford EcoSport : Official Review-img20240728wa0020.jpg

After

Ford EcoSport : Official Review-img20240728wa0019.jpg

Quote:

Originally Posted by ReDevil009 (Post 5801037)

But after this the car started but the reverse gear is not engaging, only the forward gear.

Even though the gear shift lever is put in reverse, it does not show that it's in reverse. We did not have any issue with the gears till now, everything was smooth, no grinding or jerking while shifting before this.
And ASS is saying they have to open up the sealed gearbox.
And they are saying only after opening it up will they know what component is damaged and it can cost anywhere between 30k to 3L. Apparently they are skilled enough to open it , but for assembling back, an engineer from Ford will come down from Chennai to help do it.:Frustrati
.

Update: The car has been lying with the Ford ASS for over two weeks now, and the SA has called and informed that the expert from Chennai has inspected the vehicle and has informed that the only fix possible is to replace the entire Gearbox, and it is going to cost a "WHOPPING 5.5 LACS" . We are not ready to spend that kind of money on a soon-to-be 6 yr old car whose manufacturer has left the country. We are stuck in this predicament. :crying

Please suggest any alternative solution if there is any like any known FNG or a good Ford ASS who can repair the gearbox. The forward gears engage and work fine. I am thinking of bringing the car down from native in Vijayawada to Bangalore so maybe there are more skilled people here who can help fix this.
Thanks a lot in advance.

Quote:

Originally Posted by ReDevil009 (Post 5812387)

My uncle's less than 6 months Ford had a similar issue, it was just before Ford left India and they quoted a similar amount to which he asked them if it was covered by warranty. They said yes, and kept his vehicle in their workshop for over 2 months, fed up he asked Ford through emails to all the higher-ups to either fix the car and give it to him at the earliest or provide him a refund of the car price, they refunded the entire amount he paid within a week.

Try writing about your issue to the higher-ups, they may help you get it done at a reasonable price, or if they don't budge try fixing this from skilled mechanics you know.