I recently purchased a Ford Endeavour 2.2 Titanium (2018 model with sunroof). This thread did help me in my homework when I went through the selection process and I want to thank all contributors to this thread.
My last car was a Mahindra XUV-500 W6 which I bought in October 2012 and sold off in March 2018. Let me share with you the selection process which led to the decision to buy the Endeavour.
What was I looking for in my new car? :
My ownership experience with the XUV-500 was mostly positive. I have been writing about it
here, a thread which has received about 2,60,000 views to date. I started looking for a worthy successor to my XUV a few months ago primarily due to the ‘5-year itch’ and also due to some reliability issues with my XUV. I decided that my new car should fulfil most of the following requirements :
- Should be a strong and sturdy SUV with high ground clearance, big wheels and enough power / torque to take me anywhere. Since I never did any serious off-roading during my life (and arguably too late to start now!) the ‘take me anywhere’ capability does not include lunar surface like terrain which can be negotiated only with an ATV or a blue-blooded 4x4 SUV.
- Should have a refined and modern diesel engine with adequate power / torque on tap but does not guzzle fuel.
- Should have very high reliability.
- Should have a good suspension which can absorb the craters and speed-breakers of Indian roads (I was far from satisfied with the XUV suspension).
- Should have enough space, comparable with XUV, for passengers as well as cargo.
- Should have modern features like ABS+EBD, traction control, electronic stability program, hill hold, airbags all around, high-tech MID, large display, navigation, good audio system, voice commands, multi-zone climate control, Android Auto, motorised tail gate, electrically adjustable seat (at least driver’s), electric parking brake, sunroof, etc.
- Should have front parking sensors in addition to rear parking sensors and camera.
- Should not have less street presence than XUV.
- Service costs should not be exorbitant.
- Should be within Rs 30 lakh to 50 lakh on-road price bracket. I was mentally prepared to pay upto 30% premium for Audi / BMW / Jaguar / Land Rover / Mercedes.
- And last but not the least, should be at least twice as good as my XUV-500 (otherwise why sell off my XUV which ran only 51,000 km and was virtually as good as new).
The elimination process :
For a guy like me who grew up seeing mostly Fiats, Ambassadors and Standard Heralds, the sheer range of cars available in the Indian market today is mind-boggling. Choosing a car, therefore, needs lots of homework. I started my homework and test driving about 3 months ago.
I do not wish to write a detailed comparative analysis of all the models I test drove because, firstly, I do not claim to be an authority on cars and, secondly, enough comparative studies have been done by Gurus here in Team-BHP and elsewhere. Let me just share my personal process of elimination :
Quarter finals : Tata Hexa, Mercedes GLA, Hyundai Tucson, BMW X1, Ford Endeavour, Jaguar F-Pace, Jeep Compass, Land Rover Discovery Sport.
Semi finals : Jaguar F-Pace, Ford Endeavour, Land Rover Discovery Sport, Hyundai Tucson.
Finals : Hyundai Tucson, Ford Endeavour.
And the winner was : Ford Endeavour 2.2 Titanium (newly introduced 2018 model with panoramic sunroof).
Other cars which I test drove but did not even make it to quarter finals : Toyota Fortuner, Isuzu MU-X, Volkswagen Tiguan, Mitsubishi Pajero Sport.
Car enthusiasts would note that all cars I considered are not exactly in the same segment. But I test drove all cars that excited me, and more importantly, I intended to buy if excitement turned to delight. I never test drive cars which I have no intention of buying.
Additional comments on some of the cars I test drove :
Hyundai Tucson GLS AWD : I was so enamoured by this car that I almost bought it. It has such a fantastic power to weight ratio (183 BHP and 400 NM torque pushing just 1497 Kg!) that it can give Mercedes GLA, BMW X1 or Audi Q3 a run for their money. I took three test drives on this car and when I pushed pedal to metal on a straight and empty stretch of road the car shot forward like a rocket! Additionally, the Tucson has an awesome array of modern and high-tech features and looks sweet too. Hyundai is also offering an incredible 3 years of FREE service on the Tucson!
The Tucson reached the ‘finals’ inside my head & heart but finally lost out to the Endy due to the following reasons :- Low on space.
- Low on ruggedness.
- Poor ground clearance.
- Looks cute, but not macho. Furthermore, it looks almost identical to the Creta. Why do I need to keep explaining to my friends that my new car is not a humble Creta but a much more capable and costlier Tucson?
- Seems to have flopped in the Indian market so far. So resale value could be very low.
Toyota Fortuner : After a long test drive on all kinds of roads I was left wondering how on earth is it the hottest selling SUV in India in this segment. I found the ride quality very bad and the body roll unacceptably high. Additionally, the engine and many features are dated and haven’t been updated for ages. IMHO, Toyota is able to sell the Fortuner in large numbers in India only because its customers belong to a third world country and have limited choice of models. Would anybody buy a Fortuner today in the US or even in Thailand?
My Endy in front of Jayshree Ford, Jamshedpur Ceremonial delivery of the car