[samaspire]

Originally Posted by M^3

A lot of research and reading have gotten me to this point where I have decided to make Figo the first car that I would spend my money on (despite the dealership experience). I would sincerely appreciate if TBHPians can help me with the above queries.

Awaiting your valuable suggestions & guidance,

Regards,
Manu

1. The infamous handling charges – I know some of the fellow BHPians have managed to avoid this. Will calling up the Ford Customer Care solve this? If so, when should I make the call - before or after booking the car?
   
   Yes. Contact them after booking. Try the Facebook route - they will call you back and you will save on your phone bills.
   
   
2. The Ford website mentions that the current offer on first year insurance premium is applicable only on selected models of New Figo bookings done from November 01, 2015 through November 30, 2015 (both days inclusive) with full payment made on or before November 30, 2015. However, the dealer mentioned that it is valid through December as well. Should I check with Customer Care before proceeding further?
   
   YES . All dealers lie.
   
   
3. In the case of additional benefits, which one should I focus on? I mean if there is any scope for bargaining – Additional Warranty vs. Zero Dep. Insurance– Which one should I go for, assuming that they wouldn’t entertain my bargain for both?
   
   Ask for warranty. You can get the insurance from outside. I suggest Royal Sundaram, as they are cheaper than Bajaj + you get free road side assistance. Take 5 years warranty in lieu of the money saved on free comprehensive insurance offer.
   
   
4. In case I don’t get any free benefits, does it make sense to pay for the Zero Dep. Insurance & additional warranty? (Don’t know much about the service quality of ford in Chennai)
   
   Both are equally important.
   
   
5. The accessories I am considering are Car Cover & Parking Sensors (Roughly 4K). Is there anything else that is essential and I should be considering?
   
   If you regularly park in tight places or malls, Body Side Moulding might be important. Scuff plates are important but you can order it from eBay for 700
   
   
6. How do I confirm the presence of adjustable rear headrests on Titanium variant? Will the customer care be able to confirm this? (Would love to have this feature as the current set-up is not that great)
   
   Not sure but don't think it's there in any variant. Customer care might not be able to confirm this. Best bet is to actually find a car and confirm for yourself. Or you may PM a titanium owner on team-bhp.
   
   
7. One major problem is that the nearest two showrooms are owned by the same group. Since I did not like my experience with the first showroom, I am thinking whether going to the other one will do me any good or not. Or is it better to ask for another sales person or is that a bad idea?
   
   Try contacting the sales manager. Best is to contact customer care again and complaint. I have done so and they immediately called the showroom. Ford is taking customer feedback seriously. Seriously.
   
   

[amansanc]

Originally Posted by M^3

• How do I confirm the presence of adjustable rear headrests on Titanium variant? Will the customer care be able to confirm this? (Would love to have this feature as the current set-up is not that great)

Regards,
Manu

Adjustable rear headrests are standard on the cars produced after mid-October. So ensure that you get a car manufactured post that. Mention it to your sales assistant.

[Torquedo]

Although I have been advocating for the Figo twins for a while now (VFM proposition wrt to price and performance), but it seems something is going on at Ford India.

Had a hard look at the website first and then the updated brochure for the Figo and Aspire -

It seems NONE of the variants on the Figo and Aspire have the anti roll bars.

You have them on the brochure Day 1 for all the variants, then you update the variants on the website, indicating some of them have and now NONE has them.

This is just a one off thing that has come up, but it really casts a doubt, what else might be unearthed in the days to come? ABS but no EBD, other things being knocked off over a period of time when no one is microscopically inspecting the site or the brochure.

Just NOT right from Ford, giving incorrect information to potential buyers. God now knows if they have 100 horses beneath the hood or just another Triumph saga.

Additionally, with Maruti coming up with Airbags standard on the Swift and Dzire, this shall hurt the sales for Ford even more (having Airbags as standard was one of the USP's for these twins).

Every Automobile Manufacturer takes Indian customers for a Joyride and this by no means is an understatement.

Why are you doing this Ford, name is what sells in the Indian Automobile industry, Niche/VFM products hardly make a dent into the sales charts and with legacy that you are carrying here (India), such things will only take you 2 Steps Behind (reminds me of Def Leppard) ?

[samaspire]

This is news. I'm the one who discovered that anti-roll bar was not present in Aspire Ambiente, which led them to accept that it is not there in any manual petrol variant. The website was eventually updated to reflect the same. I was then told that since the diesel is heavier it needed the anti-roll bar, and the manual petrol did not.

Now it looks like they have done away with the anti-roll bar for good on all variants.

The First instance was trying to cheat customers. Now they are just being stupid.

[Afterburner]

Had a fight with my SA over handling charges. I had tweeted about the handling charges on official handle @fordindia, and also emailed their customercare about the same. The thing that is bugging me is that both Ford India and the dealership are justifying these charges. Feeling helpless now. No other option left than paying these charges

[jetti]

Afterburner,

Arguing with the SA will be - when you mail Ford Customer care include the below links (courtesy a fellow BHPian ) :

Court Order is attached Below.

http://www.supremecourtcases.com/ind...pdf=1&id=24262

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/c...w/11369279.cms

http://www.gaadi.com/news/supreme-co...onsumers-23419


Do clear the charges if you agree what I told is right, else educate me with new rules put forward by the supreme court.

Originally Posted by Afterburner

Had a fight with my SA over handling charges. I had tweeted about the handling charges on official handle @fordindia, and also emailed their customercare about the same. The thing that is bugging me is that both Ford India and the dealership are justifying these charges. Feeling helpless now. No other option left than paying these charges

[Rajeevraj]

Originally Posted by M^3

He mentioned that 3rd year warranty + RSA is free for Aspire Top Models and not for the hatchback



The Ford website mentions that the current offer on first year insurance premium is applicable only on selected models of New Figo bookings done from November 01, 2015 through November 30, 2015 (both days inclusive) with full payment made on or before November 30, 2015. However, the dealer mentioned that it is valid through December as well. Should I check with Customer Care before proceeding further?

Not sure if it is too late. But some feedback. Had been to a Ford showroom in Bangalore for booking the Figo AT. Dealer said there is no offer on the Automatic. They also asked for commitment that insurance will be taken in house. This led to an escalation to Ford (Which i have detailed in a seperate thread-Not really relevant here)

When Ford contacted, they said that the free insurance + extended warranty offer is available for all models of the Figo Hatchback.

So my point is, it will be good to check with Ford Customer Care on the exact offers and duration. I don't think the dealers are being very honest.

On the point of extended warranty- In my opinion-Always go for the extended warranty (even if you need to pay for it).

[Afterburner]

Originally Posted by jetti

Afterburner,

Arguing with the SA will be - when you mail Ford Customer care include the below links (courtesy a fellow BHPian ) :

Update: After mailing the custcare and tweeting them again, i got a call 5 minutes before from ford custcare, and he connected me to the manager of bhagatford panchkula with whom I talked a day before. He was adamant on not waiving off the charges. Seeming like a lost cause, i agreed to pay the Handling Charges

Going to their showroom on sunday for pdi

[dtox]

Originally Posted by Torquedo

It seems NONE of the variants on the Figo and Aspire have the anti roll bars.

Oh, this is indeed news ! How can we confirm this ?

[teemus]

Originally Posted by Torquedo

It seems NONE of the variants on the Figo and Aspire have the anti roll bars.

Why are you doing this Ford, name is what sells in the Indian Automobile industry, Niche/VFM products hardly make a dent into the sales charts and with legacy that you are carrying here (India), such things will only take you 2 Steps Behind (reminds me of Def Leppard) ?

This is a surprise and not good on part of Ford. For me though, even ETIS shows that I have Front Stabilizer Bar in my Figo (manufactured on 1st October).

Still, I will check it by going under, when I drop the car for the 1st servicing in 10-12 days.

Perhaps, while updating the brochure for the mistake about Front Stabilizer Bar, they have over-corrected and have completely abstained from mentioning that in the brochure. Just my guess!

Anyway, yesterday my Figo was standing next to colleagues 1st gen Figo. Here are some snaps of the new Figo sizing up the 1st gen Figo.

The Front:


Looks like it's put on a lot of muscle, isn't it?

The Rear:


Moreover, my car is nearing the end of it's long run-in period (2500Km). Completed 1900Km yesterday.

Below is the average with 1000Km of peak city driving and 900Km of highway cruising.



Looking at the trend, I am expecting close to 18 - 19 kmpl in city and more than 23 kmpl on highways after the servicing. *fingers crossed*

[M^3]

Originally Posted by samaspire

1. Try contacting the sales manager. Best is to contact customer care again and complaint. I have done so and they immediately called the showroom. Ford is taking customer feedback seriously. Seriously.
   
   Thank you samaspire for your suggestions. This has been a great help indeed.
   

Originally Posted by amansanc

Adjustable rear headrests are standard on the cars produced after mid-October. So ensure that you get a car manufactured post that. Mention it to your sales assistant.

Interestingly, neither the SA from MPL Ford Chennai nor the Ford India Customer Care did confirm this. In fact both the parties insisted that no such update has been made to the vehicle !

Originally Posted by samaspire

This is news. I'm the one who discovered that anti-roll bar was not present in Aspire Ambiente, which led them to accept that it is not there in any manual petrol variant. The website was eventually updated to reflect the same. I was then told that since the diesel is heavier it needed the anti-roll bar, and the manual petrol did not.

A wild guess : Ford cannot increase the price of the twins because the competition is not giving them enough space to do so. Easiest way to counter this is to cut some cost by removing some stuff that will go unnoticed by the average customer. Why a company of such global stature would risk their brand by doing so is beyond my comprehension !

On the other hand, how important is this feature? I had read somewhere that stabilizer bar is always a trade-off between cornering stability vs. independence of wheel suspension. I also checked the brochures of major hatchbacks in the country. To my surprise I could not spot the term "Anti Roll / Stabilizer Bar" in any of them except Polo, Punto and Bolt ! Please correct me if I am wrong here.

Originally Posted by Afterburner

Had a fight with my SA over handling charges. I had tweeted about the handling charges on official handle @fordindia, and also emailed their customercare about the same. The thing that is bugging me is that both Ford India and the dealership are justifying these charges. Feeling helpless now. No other option left than paying these charges

Looks like we are in the same boat. Ford customer care told me that they will connect with the CRM and I will get a call from him. Later I was contacted by one Mr. Beera (Frod CRM for Chennai/TN I guess) and that dude simply told me that the handling charges cannot be waived off as there is nothing illegal about it !

Originally Posted by Rajeevraj

Not sure if it is too late. But some feedback. Had been to a Ford showroom in Bangalore for booking the Figo AT. Dealer said there is no offer on the Automatic. They also asked for commitment that insurance will be taken in house. This led to an escalation to Ford (Which i have detailed in a seperate thread-Not really relevant here)

When Ford contacted, they said that the free insurance + extended warranty offer is available for all models of the Figo Hatchback.

So my point is, it will be good to check with Ford Customer Care on the exact offers and duration. I don't think the dealers are being very honest.

On the point of extended warranty- In my opinion-Always go for the extended warranty (even if you need to pay for it).

Not at all. I had talked to a Ford CC Executive and he told me that the offers are valid on top two models only. And the 3rd year warranty is applicable only for Aspire. Don't know what is really going on !

[karansm4u]

I just called ford customer care and they mentioned following

1. Offer is valid on only Titanium & Tinanium+
2. Free Insurace + Exchange Bonus (18K in case car is not ford)
3. There is no offer on other variant
4. Currently offer is upto 30Nov. He mentioned that this might extend to Dec but there is no official notice from Ford

Apart from this he also clearly mentioned that there is an additional offer for 4 banks employees on top of above which is as follow

1. Free 3rd year extended warrenty
2. 8,000 cash discount
3. Only available to ICICI, HDFC, Axis, Kotak bank employees

[Vik0728]

2015 Figo TDCi seems to be the best diesel hatch back currently available in the market.

Motorbeam has an article of a comparison run between the segment rivals:

Link

These numbers alone are enough to all enthusiast buyers



Boy that little hatch is quick

[kiku007]

Has anyone driven a Figo 1.5L Auto Transmission? Chennai dealer says the AT version hasn't reached them at all and it can be purchased only from Jan-2016.

[Rajeevraj]

Originally Posted by kiku007

Has anyone driven a Figo 1.5L Auto Transmission? Chennai dealer says the AT version hasn't reached them at all and it can be purchased only from Jan-2016.

Same thing one of the Bangalore Dealers told. But don't think it is true. We even have a ownership report from Bhpian methecupid. My friend has booked and has been promised delivery in 3-4 weeks.