Re: 2018 Ford EcoSport Facelift 1.5L Petrol : Official Review Bought a Ford Ecosport 2018 Titanium+ Automatic: Review
This was a completely impulse purchase for me!
I wanted to switch to an automatic car after having driven & owned manual all my life (Estilo, i20, Altroz).. I was generally browsing through Spinny when I saw a used Ecosport Automatic with their new Dragon Petrol Engine from 2018 freshly listed which was driven less than 20K kms.. I was hooked and intrigued..
I booked the car (so no-one else can block it) and then called it for a TD.. The car was very well maintained and had minor 2/3 dents which weren't a deal breaker.. Although I was suspicious of why the car was being driven so less in the past 5 years, so I a) wanted to check their service records b) wanted to also speak to the owner to hear their reason to sell the car
Spinny was open to share the service records with me, although in an Excel file.. I ended up doing another TD and this time took the car directly to the Ford Service centre to get it checked and verify the service records. The Spinny reps did not mind and accompanied me on the drive to ensure I was completely satisfied.. No accidental repairs and all the service records were present in the service center.. Point 1 Checked!
Spinny Rep did not want to share the owner's number citing privacy reasons etc. So I told him to send me the insurance copy of the car which was basically renewed 3 weeks ago with Zero depreciation (which added to the mystery).. I got the owner's number from the Insurance policy and called him up the same evening.. He had every reason to not entertain me (since he had already sold the car to Spinny), but he spoke and explained me the reason for him to sell that car.. That car was generally used as his office goer only (10Kms up and down).. With the pandemic, he hadn't really used the car much in 2 years out of the 5.
He generally upgrades his cars every 5 years and was planning to give this to his daughter.. But she insisted on getting her a newer car and he ended up selling this to Spinny in a momentary decision.. He even verified that he had renewed the Zero Dep insurance a week ago and had no intentions to sell this car.. I believed him! (and the mystery was solved) Point 2 checked!
I asked him about his experience with Satyam Ford in general and Ford services in Mumbai/Thane region.. He said they did not dissapoint.. He didn't even visit the service centre in the past 3 years and had the car picked up and dropped with full transparency on the pricing of the service (no funny business!). I did ask him about the R17 issues with the car and he said he had not faced any issues on the tyres till now and they were stock from the day he bought them (which I checked and confirmed).. The tyres were all stock and not replaced from the Bridgestone Ecopia series. I did intend to replace them anyway since the tyres were 5 years old and I was planning to take the car on longer road trips later anyway..
Coming to the Test Drive:
I loved the Torque Converter unit! Smooth and efficient in city traffic with little to no jerks.. The suspension was stiff (which is an Ecosport trait) but the highway handling and braking was in excellent condition...Just like I had experienced it in my Altroz during the highway rides.. If you do need instant acceleration, it will take 1-2 seconds for the throttle to respond when you press the full pedal.. Although, I don't really drive hard, so this was not a deal breaker for me..
And so i took the plunge and bought the car which can serve as an occasional highway weekend ride for me and my wife.. Since she is just learning to drive, an automatic might be a good choice for her as a city commute car to not worry about stalling etc.. Review so far:
Currently I have driven it around 500 Kms in 2 weeks in and around the city and not dissapointed! I am loving the ease with which it drives..
The mileage is abysmal in the city giving around 9-10 Km/l but I don't intend to use it as my daily office car anyway, so it isn't a deal breaker for me! I expect the highway mileage to be better in the range of 13-14 km/l
The fit and finish still looked top notch and almost new with no panel gaps and inconsistencies.. Coming from owning a Tata car, this was such a relief..
No rattling sounds anywhere on bumps or high speeds.. Ex-Maruti Owner in me was impressed
The 2018 facelift came with the Sync 3 system which is still today one of the best infotainment systems to use compared to all the Tata/Mahindra/Maruti Infotainment systems I have used.. No lag and buttery smooth..
Paddle shifters + Sports Mode is a great combination when you want to have fun on a highway which I have done in a limited capacity on Mumbai - Panvel highway.
Spinny gives a 1 year warrant on Engine + Gearbox and 3 months on all electronics, so I am thinking of taking a Ford Extended Warranty after Year 6 with their 'Anytime Warranty' program.
I intend to take this car soon to Mahabaleshwar and will update on how it performs in the hills.. |