Ford Fiesta - Factory Sale

madbullram · 6th November 2006, 12:48

Folks,
I recently came across the factory sales of Fiesta cars in Ford Chennai. They had around 11 Fiesta, 1 Fusion and 2 Endeavour. They were open for bids from Ford employees or Employees referred by Ford.

The condition of the cars were varied some done 200kms and some done 40,000 kms. The cars are sold in "as is were" condition and come with no warranty. They are a pre-build cars (i assume built for drive test by managers and executive of ford) and have a manufacturing date of 2005.

All vehicles are unregistered.

I was thinking of Fiesta that has done 4000 - 5000 kms range. Now points to ponder:

1. No warranty so everything if going to be from my pocket if anything goes wrong.
2. Pre-build cars, which means they might have some problems which Ford would have sorted out in the launch models.
3. need some 60K more for registration, insurance tax etc and basic touch up jobs like scratch etc

I was thinking of 5000 kms run Fiesta top end petrol with ABS. It had some minor scratches.

1. What do you think should be the correct price?
2. Is it worth going for it?

A new fiesta was out of my budget, this looked like a good second hand deal. The car have not been involved in accident.

Cheers!
Ranm

himanshugoswami · 6th November 2006, 13:03

My suggestion is to stay away from tehse cars. Pre production cars are built for RnD so they may have some issues with them. also, a lot of these pre production cars are used as press cars for scribes to test at the time of launch- so chances are that these cars would be abused.

Stay away from them- U r better off spending your hard earned money on a cheaper new car from one segment lower.

abhijit 2284 · 6th November 2006, 13:09

considering you have to pay a minimum of 60k if the as is where is condition is really good and a lac of rupees if its not so good something inthe range of 3.00 to 3.50 should be reasonable enough.

anything above that would be too much of a gamble

raajks · 6th November 2006, 13:16

It would go for such deals. if the price is really low. And if you can pick a car that has done a decent mileage (> 5000) then it should be ok.

Pre-built cars would have minor variations with that of the Prodcution models. If there are major changes like ECU tweaks and Engine variation. Then it is not a wise decision.

But go for it....ONLY if you have a reliable GOOD mechanic. Else..it is a waste of money.

madbullram · 6th November 2006, 13:46

The Car I was interested is a Fiesta top end with ABS which had done 2935 kms and was in top condition. The factory does not allow a test drive or was there anyone around to tell what was the car used for or things like ECU changes etc...

I was thinking of 4 lakhs max for this car, the ex-showroom price is close to 8 lakhs.

esteem_lover · 6th November 2006, 14:13

Quote:

Originally Posted by madbullram

The Car I was interested is a Fiesta top end with ABS which had done 2935 kms and was in top condition.

Quote:

The factory does not allow a test drive or was there anyone around to tell what was the car used for or things like ECU changes etc...

I was thinking of 4 lakhs max for this car, the ex-showroom price is close to 8 lakhs.

i think ford is taking us for a ride. would they be able that in the US ? they will not allow a test drive...so that means the car may not even start & make it to your home. what sort of a sale is this ? i request you to please stay away from this. you can probably consider buying this as a second car for not more than 40K, yes 40,000Rs not 4 Lakhs, to park in your garage.

madbullram · 6th November 2006, 15:02

Esteem: They allow you to start the car and race its engine in stationary state

esteem_lover · 6th November 2006, 16:15

Quote:

Originally Posted by madbullram

Esteem: They allow you to start the car and race its engine in stationary state

wow! isn't that very kind of them ? madbullram, kindly do not venture into this. if you are a gambling man, i would suggest you get a return ticket to las vegas & spend 4 lakhs in the casinos there. i am sure you will net a jackpot with which you can buy a mercedes/bmw/jaguar, leave alone a fiesta

sreenivass · 6th November 2006, 17:56

I think one of the important things in a car purchase is that one gets a feel of the car despite having all the numbers like BHP, torque, comfort assessment, ...

How good it is to buy a car you dont know how it feels ? Dont know even if it works in the first place.

My suggestion is to forget about this funny deal, get a Palio/ Wagon R / Santro/ Zen which ever you feel works well for you.

You dont want a Ford show piece that gives you free trips to workshop every now and then.

elf · 6th November 2006, 18:10

What I'm worried about is the lack of any warranty whatsoever on any of the vehicles. Hence, if something goes wrong it'll start burning some beeeeeeeg holes in your pocket.

Also, if they've been used by the press, they're likely to have been treated quite badly, more so the Fusion, as it's labelled a "soft roader" & therefore, most of the donkey press would take it off road to see if it could compete against the old Land Rover Defenders!

My advice to anyone interested: stay away!

nitrous · 6th November 2006, 18:55

Dude, whether to say yes or no depends on only 1 information.
How much?

If its a gooood deal(which it shud be),i'd say take it....Can u post the prices, we'd be able to suggest...

carfreak · 6th November 2006, 19:18

madbull,i understand your situation-i mean it would be really difficult to let go of these cars,especially if the pricing is right enough.to give an example,the ford dealer in cochin were willing to sell their dealer demo ford fusion to me for a very good price(5.45 lakhs for the fusion plus!!around 18k kms run,tornique colour with all the bells and whistles!!)not registered too-they agreed to register it as me being the 1st owner.no warranty though-but they were willing to give many accessories for free.
but they were ready to give it to me for a test drive.ultimately i didnt buy it as my friends and family members discouraged the idea of buying a demo vehicle stating several reasons eg rough use,odo tampering etc etc.plus the absence of a warranty scared me.also the car had few minor problems.in your case i would suggest you ask for a test drive-never ever buy a used car without a test drive no matter how good the offer.if you dont find anything too wrong in the car's handling,and if there are no major body-works involved,and if you are willing to take a slight risk(low pricing being the advantage here),i guess you could go for it.bargain really hard!!(dont feel ashamed to do that)

i was not willing to take that risk then!!!

kvish · 6th November 2006, 19:32

Usually people are skeptical while buying these cars and quite rightly so.... So the chances of getting the bid through may be high....

consider this:
Assume Ford fiesta second hand (good used car...good deal) is available for around 6L
Assume you are really happy if you get a damn good used car for 5L...
Now assume the worst case scenario of spending 2.5L for repair of the seconds car....
So bid for 2.5-3L... if you win then you get 2 results, one car is good in which case its amazing, car is bad, still you repair it and be happy you saved more than 1L ..if you dont win, doesnt matter... good luck...go for it...

Its a company factory, so I dont think they will goof up heavily....may be some small stuff here and there...

madbullram · 6th November 2006, 19:54

Thanks to everyone for the reply. The one I was looking at is a Platinum Fiesta with ABS done 2800 KMS. My assumption is lets say in 2008 a car bought in 2006 is for sale:

1. Its a second hand fiesta done 2800 kms
2. Tts 2 yr old so no warranty

Since its a second hand fiesta which is 2 yr old (just assuming). The current price is 8 lakhs, so it might sell for 6 to 6.5 Lakhs.

Now using the same logic, I am bidding this Fiesta for 4 lakhs, which is 2 lakhs less than a regular Fiesta, isnt it fair?

Even for second hand cars we dont get warranty...isnt it...I am seeing this as my thought process...

Crafreak: Since its a bid there is not bargaining

1100D · 6th November 2006, 21:15

There must be details available for each example as to any variance from the production model. On the positive side, this being a gamble, one can land up with a better than production vehicle.

However it should be lass than half the ex-showroom price to be a good deal. Otherwise not.

6th November 2006, 12:48	#1
madbullram BHPian Join Date: Oct 2006 Location: Chennai&Ashburn Posts: 551 Thanked: 231 Times View My Garage	Folks, I recently came across the factory sales of Fiesta cars in Ford Chennai. They had around 11 Fiesta, 1 Fusion and 2 Endeavour. They were open for bids from Ford employees or Employees referred by Ford. The condition of the cars were varied some done 200kms and some done 40,000 kms. The cars are sold in "as is were" condition and come with no warranty. They are a pre-build cars (i assume built for drive test by managers and executive of ford) and have a manufacturing date of 2005. All vehicles are unregistered. I was thinking of Fiesta that has done 4000 - 5000 kms range. Now points to ponder: 1. No warranty so everything if going to be from my pocket if anything goes wrong. 2. Pre-build cars, which means they might have some problems which Ford would have sorted out in the launch models. 3. need some 60K more for registration, insurance tax etc and basic touch up jobs like scratch etc I was thinking of 5000 kms run Fiesta top end petrol with ABS. It had some minor scratches. 1. What do you think should be the correct price? 2. Is it worth going for it? A new fiesta was out of my budget, this looked like a good second hand deal. The car have not been involved in accident. Cheers! Ranm
	() Thanks

6th November 2006, 13:03	#2
himanshugoswami Senior - BHPian Join Date: Oct 2004 Location: !!!! Posts: 2,303 Thanked: 2,619 Times	My suggestion is to stay away from tehse cars. Pre production cars are built for RnD so they may have some issues with them. also, a lot of these pre production cars are used as press cars for scribes to test at the time of launch- so chances are that these cars would be abused. Stay away from them- U r better off spending your hard earned money on a cheaper new car from one segment lower.
	() Thanks

6th November 2006, 13:09	#3
abhijit 2284 BHPian Join Date: Mar 2006 Location: Aurangabad Posts: 206 Thanked: 113 Times View My Garage	considering you have to pay a minimum of 60k if the as is where is condition is really good and a lac of rupees if its not so good something inthe range of 3.00 to 3.50 should be reasonable enough. anything above that would be too much of a gamble
	() Thanks

6th November 2006, 13:16	#4
raajks BHPian Join Date: Aug 2005 Location: BLR Posts: 578 Thanked: 119 Times View My Garage	It would go for such deals. if the price is really low. And if you can pick a car that has done a decent mileage (> 5000) then it should be ok. Pre-built cars would have minor variations with that of the Prodcution models. If there are major changes like ECU tweaks and Engine variation. Then it is not a wise decision. But go for it....ONLY if you have a reliable GOOD mechanic. Else..it is a waste of money.
	() Thanks

6th November 2006, 13:46	#5
madbullram BHPian Join Date: Oct 2006 Location: Chennai&Ashburn Posts: 551 Thanked: 231 Times View My Garage	The Car I was interested is a Fiesta top end with ABS which had done 2935 kms and was in top condition. The factory does not allow a test drive or was there anyone around to tell what was the car used for or things like ECU changes etc... I was thinking of 4 lakhs max for this car, the ex-showroom price is close to 8 lakhs.
	() Thanks

6th November 2006, 15:02	#7
madbullram BHPian Join Date: Oct 2006 Location: Chennai&Ashburn Posts: 551 Thanked: 231 Times View My Garage	Esteem: They allow you to start the car and race its engine in stationary state
	() Thanks

6th November 2006, 17:56	#9
sreenivass BHPian Join Date: Oct 2006 Location: Bangalore India Posts: 932 Thanked: 44 Times View My Garage	An important thing in car purchase I think one of the important things in a car purchase is that one gets a feel of the car despite having all the numbers like BHP, torque, comfort assessment, ... How good it is to buy a car you dont know how it feels ? Dont know even if it works in the first place. My suggestion is to forget about this funny deal, get a Palio/ Wagon R / Santro/ Zen which ever you feel works well for you. You dont want a Ford show piece that gives you free trips to workshop every now and then. Last edited by sreenivass : 6th November 2006 at 17:58.
	() Thanks

6th November 2006, 18:10	#10
elf BANNED Join Date: Jan 2005 Location: Bombay Posts: 1,039 Thanked: 13 Times View My Garage	What I'm worried about is the lack of any warranty whatsoever on any of the vehicles. Hence, if something goes wrong it'll start burning some beeeeeeeg holes in your pocket. Also, if they've been used by the press, they're likely to have been treated quite badly, more so the Fusion, as it's labelled a "soft roader" & therefore, most of the donkey press would take it off road to see if it could compete against the old Land Rover Defenders! My advice to anyone interested: stay away!
	() Thanks

6th November 2006, 18:55	#11
nitrous Senior - BHPian Join Date: May 2004 Location: UAE/Lon/Madras Posts: 6,965 Thanked: 325 Times View My Garage	Dude, whether to say yes or no depends on only 1 information. How much? If its a gooood deal(which it shud be),i'd say take it....Can u post the prices, we'd be able to suggest...
	() Thanks

6th November 2006, 19:18	#12
carfreak BHPian Join Date: Apr 2004 Location: Udupi Posts: 599 Thanked: 342 Times	madbull,i understand your situation-i mean it would be really difficult to let go of these cars,especially if the pricing is right enough.to give an example,the ford dealer in cochin were willing to sell their dealer demo ford fusion to me for a very good price(5.45 lakhs for the fusion plus!!around 18k kms run,tornique colour with all the bells and whistles!!)not registered too-they agreed to register it as me being the 1st owner.no warranty though-but they were willing to give many accessories for free. but they were ready to give it to me for a test drive.ultimately i didnt buy it as my friends and family members discouraged the idea of buying a demo vehicle stating several reasons eg rough use,odo tampering etc etc.plus the absence of a warranty scared me.also the car had few minor problems.in your case i would suggest you ask for a test drive-never ever buy a used car without a test drive no matter how good the offer.if you dont find anything too wrong in the car's handling,and if there are no major body-works involved,and if you are willing to take a slight risk(low pricing being the advantage here),i guess you could go for it.bargain really hard!!(dont feel ashamed to do that) i was not willing to take that risk then!!!
	() Thanks

6th November 2006, 19:32	#13
kvish BHPian Join Date: Jan 2006 Location: Bangalore Posts: 627 Thanked: 195 Times	Usually people are skeptical while buying these cars and quite rightly so.... So the chances of getting the bid through may be high.... consider this: Assume Ford fiesta second hand (good used car...good deal) is available for around 6L Assume you are really happy if you get a damn good used car for 5L... Now assume the worst case scenario of spending 2.5L for repair of the seconds car.... So bid for 2.5-3L... if you win then you get 2 results, one car is good in which case its amazing, car is bad, still you repair it and be happy you saved more than 1L ..if you dont win, doesnt matter... good luck...go for it... Its a company factory, so I dont think they will goof up heavily....may be some small stuff here and there...
	() Thanks

6th November 2006, 19:54	#14
madbullram BHPian Join Date: Oct 2006 Location: Chennai&Ashburn Posts: 551 Thanked: 231 Times View My Garage	Thanks to everyone for the reply. The one I was looking at is a Platinum Fiesta with ABS done 2800 KMS. My assumption is lets say in 2008 a car bought in 2006 is for sale: 1. Its a second hand fiesta done 2800 kms 2. Tts 2 yr old so no warranty Since its a second hand fiesta which is 2 yr old (just assuming). The current price is 8 lakhs, so it might sell for 6 to 6.5 Lakhs. Now using the same logic, I am bidding this Fiesta for 4 lakhs, which is 2 lakhs less than a regular Fiesta, isnt it fair? Even for second hand cars we dont get warranty...isnt it...I am seeing this as my thought process... Crafreak: Since its a bid there is not bargaining
	() Thanks

6th November 2006, 21:15	#15
1100D Senior - BHPian Join Date: Jun 2006 Location: Calcutta Posts: 4,390 Thanked: 4,096 Times View My Garage	There must be details available for each example as to any variance from the production model. On the positive side, this being a gamble, one can land up with a better than production vehicle. However it should be lass than half the ex-showroom price to be a good deal. Otherwise not.
	() Thanks