[b]Hello
Bhpians,
I own a 2008 Scorpio 2.2 mHawk, the car has been in the family for 12 years but was handed over to me on my 18th birthday last year. The odo read 141,000 kms when it was handed to me and I have personally covered 4000 odd kms over the one year of "me" owning the car.
A small brief of how our family picked up this car.
My Dad was working in the middle east in 2008-09. When he was away my mum used to never drive that often and we used car pool with my Uncle Richard who then used to own a Scorpio 2.6 Crde (1st of the 3 Scorpio's He owned), I took a liking for the car and when my dad returned from the middle east he wanted to upgrade to a Honda City but somehow even though I was only 6 or 7 seven years old managed to convince my dad to buy a Scorpio. We saw the car we now own in used car dealership, I instantly took a liking for it. We checked it out and my dad told me it was too expensive for him and we continued to search for used Scorpios. Few weeks into the car hunt it was Christmas time, and on the last day of school before we broke into the Christmas vacation, I was walking from my classroom to school bus parking when I saw my parents had come to pick me up, walked with them and in the distance saw a silver scorpio and instantly recognized it as the car we'd seen earlier in the dealership, let out a dejected sigh to dad and mum that someone else had bought it and asked them where the esteem was parked, just then the Scorpio unlocked with the traditional
click-click
and when I saw dad hold the keys of the car, My knees locked up and still to this day I can't express how I felt then.
Cut to 2020-
My father did want to re-paint the car and get few mechanical issues sorted out before he handed it over to me but with the pandemic still ripping across the country we've pushed that to hopefully next summer, but I did get the brake pads changed and a new clutch plate.
Many people do argue that the Scorpio is too big a car for a new driver, which is true I did feel the size of the car in the initial weeks of driving especially in Bangalore traffic as time progressed I did get used to its size.
Listed below are the things I like about the car and how its helpful for a new driver like me.
1. High Seating Position and Great all round visibility - Gives a commanding presence of the road in the perspective of a new driver like me does make me feel confident on the road
2. Good Ground Clearance - 40% of my commute are not on good roads
3. Refined Diesel Engine - very responsive and performance is best in 3rd and 4th gear
4. Decent Mileage - I get around 13 kmpl in city driving conditions and works just fine with my fuel allowance
5. Easy to maintain and work on
6. I play a reasonable amount of football, the car comfortably seats 5 of my friends and our kit
7. Great Air Conditioning unit - cools the cabin down in under 4 to 5 minutes on a hot day
8. A feature I really like is the voice that gives you tells you if your door is not shut properly, asks you to wear your seatbelt, tells you if you're low on fuel and also a nice message when you start the car for the first time in the day
9. Few features that are a great USP considering the age of the car -
(i) Rain sensing wipers
(ii) Parking Sensors
(iii) Steering Mounted Controls
(iv) Cruise Control
10. Accessories - Front bull bar - I have a neutral opinion on this, It is unsafe in a collision and also for pedestrians. But it does help in traffic when bikers tend to cut across in the gap between the two cars, the open foot rests and the exhaust tend to scratch up the front bumper. But with the bull bar attached it takes all the beating.
Things I do not like about the car ( and will change/upgrade )
1. Interior quality, a lot of scratchy plastic - hope to do something about it during when I re-furbish
the car
2. Infotainment unit - Not a fan of the now dated single din unit. Will upgrade to a double din multimedia setup with Bluetooth.
3. Suspension and ride is bouncy especially in rough patches - hope to upgrade to something aftermarket and have seen few
Bhpians
whose Scorpio's run upgraded Suspension setup.
In conclusion, owning the Scorpio has been a great experience there are a few niggles here and there. Many people today term my Scorpio today as a glorified truck, an ageing work horse, unsafe, etc. But over a period of time you sort of form an emotional bond with the car, it has seen a lot with me, all right from my high school graduation, my mum's endless rant after all the parent teacher meetings
, the run to the sweet shop after my board results, when my grandad had a heart attack, my uncle's funeral, the Scorpio and I have come a long way and that's what makes this ownership special. Hoping that with the current curbs the pandemic gradually dies down so I can give my Scorpio the much deserved makeover it deserves.