[arnabchak]

Dear Suman

Couple of points:

1) The mail drafted to Ford does not look professional. Lots of grammatical errors and punctuation blunders apart from various sentence construction errors.

2) When Ford India and the dealer are offering you the refund+ interest, I see no reason why you should not take this offer and bolt from this dealer.

3) Like all other Bhpains have suggested, what will you do if you are sold a lemon. Or worser still, have a shoddy experience in the after sales?

4) There are large options available for the end user. You could look at other options or Aspire if you are sold on the model, albeit through a different dealer.

From the posts, its evident that ego is playing a bigger role here and not logic.

So, from logical point of view, its best to let bygones be bygones, take the refund and exit.
No fun in crying over spilt milk!!!

[AKTRACK]

Originally Posted by sumanbhokray

Special thanks to @Noopster for working on my posts. So kind of you.

Hi Friends.

Am really sorry for the delay in updating this thread. Below is the next email which was sent to ford india on 15/03/2016.

Dear Ford India.

It is pathetic that the ford india is encouraging the dealership to fool there customers.

Friends I just don't want to take a step back. because these guys fooled us and played with my family emotions.

Well, I would suggest that you take a refund. You can book the Aspire from another dealer if that is possible.

People don't buy a car if they are not attended to promptly at the reception. You have gone through much more. I don't understand why you would want to continue to have a relation with the dealer. I am sure Ford's hands are tied as much as they may try to help you. They would not have wanted you to go through hassle but that is the problem with dealer model of sales. Companies do not have absolute control over them.

What if dealer keeps a grudge after all the negative publicity the case has brought them. I would be very wary of dealing with them, let alone buying a car.

Do remember to post your experience on public forums. Ford and its dealers should learn a thing or two about customer satisfaction.

[sumanbhokray]

Today Mr.Lukas from Sanvi Ford Nalgonda has contacted me over the phone and he is offering me a car from Hyundai.

Hyundai? I am surprised.

For the first time I am hearing of Ford selling/ promoting Hyundai cars.

So shall I digest it in this way? Hyundai cars are better than Ford in the Ford dealer's view!

[Rajeevraj]

Probably the same management/Company runs both the Hyundai and Ford dealership. So in the background all the money goes/come into/from the same bucket. Since you are not taking the refund and they are not able to give you the Aspire, maybe trying to entice you to buy the Xcent maybe.

As several members have recommended, why not just take the refund and close the issue. I agree about your point on dealer not meeting the delivery commitment and you wanting to hold them accountable on that, but frankly, I would say majority of the delivery commitments made by dealers (any dealer, any where) are not met. The delivery commitment on my Vento was not met, I took the booking amount and went to another dealer. My friend dropped out of a Figo purchase last month because of this same delivery commitment issue.

[AKTRACK]

That sounds surprising but is possible as they are stuck between a rock and a hard place. Bury the hatchet buddy and take a refund. Your continuous dealing with them will keep reminding you of the way they treated you long into the future, continuously reminding and depriving you of the happiness and thrill of owning a new car. I would look at something/somewhere else.

[sumanbhokray]

Originally Posted by AKTRACK

That sounds surprising but is possible as they are stuck between a rock and a hard place. Bury the hatchet buddy and take a refund. Your continuous dealing with them will keep reminding you of the way they treated you long into the future, continuously reminding and depriving you of the happiness and thrill of owning a new car. I would look at something/somewhere else.

You are right. This dealer also has Hyundai showroom.

Guys I was dreaming about ICEing my new car by now, but see what is all happening:(

For now I really don't know what I am going to do. But for sure I will end this on Monday.

[a4anurag]

Originally Posted by sumanbhokray

for now I really don't know what I am going to do. But for sure I will end this on Monday.

Whether you like it or not, take the refund, and just leave the showroom at once. End it tomorrow, why drag it till Monday. After you take the refund post it in FB and other places to spread awareness plus shoot a strong worded email to Ford also.

Get your car from another showroom for your good. As you are putting pressure on them for the car, to take revenge they'll tamper or do something wrong that you'll have to suffer life long. Not worth all this hassle as it is a long term investment.

[sumanbhokray]

Originally Posted by a4anurag

Whether you like it or not, take the refund, and just leave the showroom at once. End it tomorrow, why drag it till Monday. After you take the refund post it in FB and other places to spread awareness plus shoot a strong worded email to Ford also.

Get your car from another showroom for your good. As you are putting pressure on them for the car, to take revenge they'll tamper or do something wrong that you'll have to suffer life long. Not worth all this hassle as it is a long term investment.

I have reported all this to Mr.Anurag Mehrotra - Executive Director, Marketing, Sales & Service, Ford India and got the below email response from him.

Thank you for bringing this to my attention. Allow us to look into this asap.

Lets see what Mr.Anurag is going to do. I want ford india to take action on such dealership's so that they will never try to repeat this again to any one.

[runaldahiwade]

Update on Aspire :
Completed 5000kms. Fortunately some plans have made this happen within 45 days of ownership and its been a joy to drive 500kms stretches a day.

Apart from the awesome driving joy and a surprising comfort (Seating is nicely contoured), have stumbled upon some challenges which I'm probing and may help other owners as well.

1. When I brake slightly hard in a bumpy road, there is a very peculiar rattle from the front right disk brake. I initially thought, there may be a small stone or rubbish stuck between the pads and the disk, its not the case and the sound is only audible when I brake in bumpy roads or in prominent potholes.

2. Since my work takes me around, I have never paid much attention to fuel pumps or any particular preference to one. Two weeks back, I refuelled in BKC, Mumbai (HPCL pump opposite Citibank), and drove 15 odd kms. When i restarted the car, the MID showed a wrench and I immediately knew something had happened but I secretly wanted it to be a misfire glitch. I switched off the ignition and on again, the wrench was gone but the car wouldn't rev beyond 2000 rpm.
Called up my sales guy, who also is a friend at Sai Ford, where the car was bought (Jabalpur), to understand how the pan India warranty works and drove straight to Wasan Ford Service Centre near Chembur slowly dodging traffic. (It just wouldn't rev past 2000).
I have owned a Fiesta Diesel prior to the Aspire and I remember this issue, oh boy was I scared.

Reached Wasan Ford, shared the issue and it was duly checked the SA. Meanwhile a month back I had upgraded the headlamps to the 90/100W with a plug and play relay-loom kit.
The SA was quick to visually figure out the tweak and once the OBD was connected, it showed all sorts of short circuit errors on the OBD Terminal (they call it DTS or something)
SA shared how it could spoil the perks of warranty but was happy to ignore it when I mentioned some knowledge on matter and how it doesn't involve any wire cuts.

The issues (rev limit) seemed to be an injector misfire due to inferior fuel quality. This has happened to me more than twice in my Fiesta and I wonder now whether Ford engines (injectors in specific) have less tolerance for particulate matter in Diesel.

The whole episode lasted 3-4 hours but the error code was erased and car is back to its peppy ways and long drives.

This lead to a question of what happens if the issue reoccurs when not in vicinity of a Ford SS. Some Marathi skills and 20 minutes of chit chat with a Ford Supervisor led to a quick fix for emergencies. The manual over-ride for clearing the OBD error codes in Ford vehicles. I guess most members here may know the same, but will document it for ignorant users like me

Scenario : If a Ford vehicle (not sure if the new Endeavour supports this) throws a OBD error / engine check / wrench symbol on the MID and the power drops due to safety concerns, there is a way to manually clear the code. I strongly recommend one to still visit the nearest Ford SS. Also I am not sure, whether an over-ride will reflect in the data log and if yes, how will the SA / Ford SS respond. Nonetheless, here it is :

Step 1 : Switch on your car and then switch it off. Don't remove the key.
Step 2 : Switch on the ignition. Don't crank the engine, just the ignition. Press the brake and accelerator together. Floor it. Remain engaged in this position for upto 60 seconds.
Step 3 : Without removing the key, start the car.
Step 4 : Car works fine. Drive straight to a Ford SS

I should have written it down when he was narrating it, but hope I am not mistaken and this is how the manual over ride works.

Hope this helps and my quest to solve Issue#1 continues.

Happy Aspire and long weekend ahead

[samaspire]

Originally Posted by sumanbhokray

I have reported all this to Mr.Anurag Mehrotra - Executive Director, Marketing, Sales & Service, Ford India and got the below email response from him.
Thank you for bringing this to my attention. Allow us to look into this asap.
Lets see what Mr.Anurag is going to do. I want ford india to take action on such dealership's so that they will never try to repeat this again to any one.

If all your troubles can ensure that someone else is not effected, then its worth it.
But still don't buy it from this dealer. Since you have got a response from Mr. Anurag Mehrotra, ask him to arrange for a new car for you from another dealer, and also to provide you with a standby car.

BTW do you have the option of another dealer.

Originally Posted by runaldahiwade

Step 1 : Switch on your car and then switch it off. Don't remove the key.
Step 2 : Switch on the ignition. Don't crank the engine, just the ignition. Press the brake and accelerator together. Floor it. Remain engaged in this position for upto 60 seconds.
Step 3 : Without removing the key, start the car.
Step 4 : Car works fine. Drive straight to a Ford SS

I assume, you have to take your foot off the accelerator before Step 3

[sumanbhokray]

Today in the afternoon I got a phone call from Mr.Vijay Mohan, managing director for Sanvi Ford.

He has apologized us several times for what had happened and gave us 2 options.
1- refunding the money with interest.
2- taking Ecosport by paying the cost difference.

Since I was not ready for the option 1, I asked him to give Ecosport for no cost difference. Initially he was not ready for that. Later he said he can give INR25000 discount on the Ecosport Titanium O 1.5 diesel model. Then the real bargaining has started and got continued for a while and got settled to INR11,37,000. Since I was not prepared for this cost difference I have asked him to take a postdated cheque for the difference amount that is INR1,30,000 and give delivery of my car.

He accepted it and told me that he will send the car to my place. But I wanted to check the car in detail before taking the delivery and decided to go to the showroom personally to take the delivery.

At around 6.45pm I and my brother reached the showroom. We were been welcomed by Mr. Lukas and his other employees. Mr. Lukas has completed all the formalities in an hour and gave us the keys. Meanwhile we were checking the car in detail and found the car in brand new condition.

They took a long time to prepare the TR and insurance documents. It was 9 pm we were set free to leave the showroom with our car.
On the way to the filling station the error light started glowing up and the A.C compressor was cut off.

We have decided to take the car back to the showroom. But my brother wanted to top up the tank since we were almost at the filling station.
Surprisingly every thing was back to normal ones the tank got top up.

Anyhow we went back to the showroom to ask them what was wrong with the car. They have explained us very well that this car behaves this way when the tank gets close to empty.

I was not aware of this cause I never experience this before with any of my cars.

At around 9pm we started back to our place.

[a4anurag]

Originally Posted by sumanbhokray

On the way to the filling station the error light started glowing up and the a.c compressor was cut off.

Nice decision. Was happy reading the story and suddenly this twist in tale.

AFAIK, in all that I have seen, read and heard, this is the first time I am reading the connection between low fuel status and CEL glowing. Actually they aren't related. Please do read the owners manual for more clarity on the warning light that you saw.

IMO, I urge you to take the car to FASS and get it scanned using an OBD 2 reader. It shall have the DTC stored as a reference to track the problem for a solution.

[sumanbhokray]

Originally Posted by a4anurag

Nice decision. Was happy reading the story and suddenly this twist in tale.

AFAIK, in all that I have seen, read and heard, this is the first time I am reading the connection between low fuel status and CEL glowing. Actually they aren't related. Please do read the owners manual for more clarity on the warning light that you saw.

IMO, I urge you to take the car to FASS and get it scanned using an OBD 2 reader. It shall have the DTC stored as a reference to track the problem for a solution.

Good idea Sirji !

Will do it next time I go to Hyderabad.

[hemanth.anand]

Drove a new Figo Aspire of one of my colleagues. It was the fist time I drove the 1.2 petrol version.
I drove this just after driving a new Baleno 1.2 of another colleague.
This is a post-appraisal and pre-budget season

My Observations on the Ford: (Both cars were driven only for 2 kms)

• First impressions from the outside-looked very cheap and cost cutting evident everywhere. Without the rear number plate, a big rectangular hole with all metal inside visible, it looked really cheap
• First impressions from the inside-Plastics were cheap and too many buttons for my liking - Especially the phone area on the centre console. Fit and finish was ordinary too
• Instrument cluster looked too small but nice.
• Ford seats was very comfy-IMO not very good for longer drives.
• It was very silent.
• The clutch travel felt long and not light as I was expecting it to be-much like my Punto
• The Power was too less for this vehicle (Again like my Punto 1.2) but Power delivery was very linear.
• Overall, it is not made to an enthusiasts' tastes at all!
• AC is an absolute chiller. the car was parked for 4 hours at least in this blistering temperatures and the AC cooled the cabin within no time.

[rambo1o1]

Originally Posted by hemanth.anand

Drove a new Figo Aspire of one of my colleagues. It was the fist time I drove the 1.2 petrol version.
I drove this just after driving a new Baleno 1.2 of another colleague.
This is a post-appraisal and pre-budget season

My Observations on the Ford: (Both cars were driven only for 2 kms)

• First impressions from the outside-looked very cheap and cost cutting evident everywhere. Without the rear number plate, a big rectangular hole with all metal inside visible, it looked really cheap
• First impressions from the inside-Plastics were cheap and too many buttons for my liking - Especially the phone area on the centre console. Fit and finish was ordinary too
• Instrument cluster looked too small but nice.
• Ford seats was very comfy-IMO not very good for longer drives.
• It was very silent.
• The clutch travel felt long and not light as I was expecting it to be-much like my Punto
• The Power was too less for this vehicle (Again like my Punto 1.2) but Power delivery was very linear.
• Overall, it is not made to an enthusiasts' tastes at all!
• AC is an absolute chiller. the car was parked for 4 hours at least in this blistering temperatures and the AC cooled the cabin within no time.

Compared to the old figo, the new one lacks the solid feel but i wouldn't say the the exteriors are cheap, though cost cutting is evident, its similar to what a swift offers.

How did the interiors of the baleno compare to the aspire? Even though the Aspire has beige interior, i found the interior quality to be similar to the baleno. Even if you compare the dark interior figo hatch, similar levels of plastic quality.Even interior fit and finish of both cars were same, though not in the league of the hyundais,VW and even the tata zest.

Maybe the fresher design of the baleno dashboard as compared to the figo adds to the better feel of the interior?
Though i agree the mobile phone inspired center console and dated instrument cluster was a downer.

I think ford will have their work cut out trying to sell the petrol figo. Hopefully the mileage figures are a face saver and it doesn't repeat the mistake of the old petrol figo.

If ford doesnt increase the sales of the figo to a respectable amount for this segment in the next two months, the figo will be called a dud! and that will just reinforce the notion that ford has learnt anything in dealing with the indian market.