[shantanumishra]

Hi Guys,

My White Dove - Casper - Ford Figo 1.4 TDCi Titanium

I was contemplating replacing my 6 year old Wagon R since last few months but was unable to find a concrete reason for going ahead since the car had covered only 40000 KMs and it was getting harder to convince myself to spend in a new car within 2 yrs. of buying the Beast. (http://www.team-bhp.com/forum/test-d...km-update.html)

Then came a new Tax saving regime in the form of Company Car Lease in my organization and the positives started flowing in. Evaluated multiple options for weeks and finally after much due diligence decided to take the plunge by changing the Peppier 1.1 Petrol Package to a new Diesel Mile Cruncher Suite.

Paramount Requirements - Diesel & ABS.

Price Range - Did not want to cross 6.5L OTR.

Cars Considered

Maruti Suzuki Swift - Although a brilliant engine and equally brilliant A.S.S., but the lengthy waiting and less real space ruled it out. In addition, after having owned a Maruti was compelling me from trying something new.

Chevrolet Beat - 3 Cylinder Engine and Mediocre space was a major deterrent in ruling this out.

Ford Figo - Excellent VFM package, Superlative Engine performance, Outstanding Internal Space, Ride Quality and Bluetooth connectivity. However, A.S.S and low residual value was a hold-up in addition to less equipment list offered.

Toyota Liva - Fantabulous Toyota Technology (Can vouch for it after 4 years with Corolla Altis), Superb A.S.S, Good Overall Product. But, the quality of Interiors and equipment list offered was sagging its chance.

Nissan Micra/Renault Pulse/VW Polo/Tata Indica Vista - Not considered because of No/Pricier ABS versions. Tata was not considered due to obvious reasons.

Test Drove Swift/Figo/Beat on 14th July 2012 and finally decided on Ford Figo 1.4 TDCi Titanium since the same was within budget and offered Excellent VFM with Stupendous Ride Quality. I TD'ed the Figo in various driving conditions - Bumper to Bumper Traffic, Worst Roads of Gurgaon, NH - 8 and each time I drove it, my love for it grew more. Finally took the plunge and Gave a go-ahead to my leasing partner on Saturday evening and pushed him for a delivery for 22nd July (Sunday).

The colour choice was already decided as White since our First car Esteem was White and we simply adored it. Closed all other pending documentation on Monday (16th July) and by evening had booked a White Titanium with Harpreet Ford, Gurgaon. From then on, it was an agonising wait until the weekend to take delivery of my new white beauty – nicknamed Casper.

Deal Closure

Ex-Showroom - 597943
0% Depreciation Insurance - 18330
Regn/Road Tax/etc - 34868
Extended Warranty - FOC
Essential Kit (Mud Flaps/Foot Mats/etc) - FOC
Seat Covers - FOC
Gear Lock - FOC
Reverse Parking Sensors - FOC

Paid extra for below

2 yrs/30000 KM Ford TMP (Total Maintenance Plan - Covers all expenses including wear and tear parts as well except Tires and battery) - 11500
Set of 2 Pillows - 400
Additional Set of Transparent Foot Mats - 650
Window Visors + Door Scuff Plates - 2300

Total OTR Price - INR 665991

Booking Experience

Car was booked through Harpreet Ford and I would rate them as one of the best in the lot I have come across since ages. I requested for almost 4-5 Test Drives and each time they came back with a bigger smile acknowledging my request. All my queries, niggling questions (even Stupid ones as well) were answered accurately with a smile. Overall I would rate them 8/10. Yes, few things always leave for an Improvement, hence leaving that option open.

While Negotiating the deal with them, also sold off my 40K Km done Dec 2006 WagonR VXi to them for 1.5L and handed it over to them the next day.

The Drive

Went straight to the Petrol Bunk and filled up normal 42.3L of Diesel worth Rs 1700. The DTE showed a reading of 580 Kms. Went back home, took the family and off we went to the Temple for a traditional welcome of the new entrant in the family. Thereafter went for an approx 100 KM drive with my close friends only to realise my grin getting bigger and brighter.

Road Trip

Decided to go on a vacation on my Daughter's 2nd Birthday and off we went to Mussorie/Dhanaulti on a 750 KM+ Drive during the first weekend of Aug. Boy, am I overwhelmed by the drive of this white beauty - nicknamed as Casper. What a Beauty to drive. Absolute Stunning!!! Got 17 KMPL during the whole journey with almost 80% AC. Have covered almost 1250 Kms until now and its already on its way to Chandigarh for 2 days. Have already planned the next trip during the coming weekend. Thinking over for a nearby place to unleash this small monster.

Few Incidents

• Even Harpreet Ford guys messed up with the VIN no while getting the vehicle registered. Someone mid-way mistook "1" with "I" and the VIN no in the RC got changed. Have asked my leasing company to get this rectified. This is the second time, my RC got messed up. Tata folks had also missed 1 digit while registering my Safari. Dont know Why am I being targeted?

• While going to Mussorie, there was a small traffic pile up on the highway. I stopped with ease and enough distance around me. A Tempo Trax vehicle with a bull bar coming from behind could not brake in time and banged the Figo from behind. I presume he was around 20 KMPH while he banged my car, so the bang was neither too harsh nor too soft. It resulted in slight scratches and 1 Rear Parking sensor being lightly damaged and yes, my boot door became a bit hard while opening and closing. Some words were exchanged and the folks bore a fake sorry figure of missing the brake pedal , but the damage was done. I reprimanded him telling him that he was rashly driving since last few Kms. Anyways, since the damage was not too much and I did not wanted to ruin my vacations, gave him some more stern words and continued my journey. Cleaned it properly and now except the damaged parking sensor, other scratches are amost hidden. Boot has however become a bit hard and requires some muscle power for closing.

First Service Update - Casper went for the First Service in Aug end with Odo reading at 2600 KMs. The plastic panel around the steering wheel was not aligned properly from Day 1 and it being non-repairable, I was promised a replacement during first service (got it replaced in Sep end). The boot lock was mis-aligned and hence, it required muscle power for closing. This was repaired during the first service.

Pics from the Trip



















I shifted to Bangalore in mid-oct and also got Casper delivered within next 7 days. Till date, it has covered about 6500 KMs and it is delivering exactly what Ford promised. Excellent Driveability with decent fuel economy and SPACE.

My daily drive to office is around 45 Kms round and my smile only gets broader, each time I drive the Casper. It has already covered 2 long road trips and few more are planned shortly. On both occasions, my respect for Ford is growing up. The engine still feels a bit coarse and I am hoping with the passage of time and piling up of few more thousand KMs should smoothen it out.

Likes

• Engine does have a lot of idling clattering even after warmed up but returns a smooth purr when revved. With the Stereo ON, you need to lookout for the engine whine, although it is a different story from outside.
• Extremely Well Built & Excellently Engineered Car, well behaved highway manners and city manoeuvrability, found it very stable and sure-footed (maybe because of comparison with the Beast).
• I found the Driveability very good. Yes, there is a small turbo lag below 1700 RPM and is a bit noticeable but its presence is fealt the most in 2nd Gear. You just need to keep up the Revs and enjoy the beauty of this marvelous engine.
• Bluetooth Audio is awesome and so is the the OEM ICE as compared to the routine stuff found in other cars. I would probably rate it at 6/10. The Audio playback via BT is an awesome feature.
• Lane change Indicator feature is another very good thought (wonder why other manufacturers can't think of such small very useful features).
• Both Internal seating space and Boot space is excellent. I carried 3 big and 1 small bags on my recent road trip and the boot galloped them easily. Also, on my other shorter road trip with 3 people on the back seat, they were seated comfortably. Yes, its not as big as the Safari but pretty acceptable looking at the segment.
• The Audio system cannot be simply stolen since as soon as it disconnects from the battery, it gets locked and requires an unlock code (provided with the manual). Without this code, the system is useless. In case you lose the code, you need to re-order from Ford.
• Awesome AC Performance. Blower at even "1" position simply chills the entire volume very quickly.
• Steering. Its been a Joy to use lately. Initially, I was a bit apprehensive about HPS, but now, I find it great to use. And the design of the 3 spoke wheel is nice. The only bothersome part is the Horn pad with Airbag option, it requires some effort.
• I am loving the Gearshift. Its a lot Precise than my earlier Safari although not upto the mark of an Altis or the older NHC.
• Chuckability. This is higly intoxicating, throw it around and Figo will never complain.
• Numerous Wiper speeds really spoil you.
• Ergonomics. Majority of the controls fall i right places and its quite easy to operate the AC and the stereo. All round visibility is excellent as is the bonnet visiblility while driving.

Dislikes

• Come on Ford - Still no rear Power Windows? Not even in the Facelift.
• If Endeavour can have correct placing of Indicator/Wiper Stalks, then Figo ought to have the same (more so after a so called Indian market specific car). It gets a bit getting used to after driving other Indian cars, In addition, it also becomes a deterrent at times when you have to give a signal and your left hand is busy with the gear lever.
• Driver Seat Height Adjustment is a sham. All It merely does is a tilt adjustment rather than actually changing the seat height and believe me, the bottom most position is a very uncomfortable seating posture.
• Another miss on Ford part is the MID feature and provision of only 1 Trip meter (what were the Ford Engineers thinking while designing this). When DTE is already provisioned, provisioning of other Parameters is only a software change and I dont think it will involve any cost looking at mass vehicular production.
• Ford needs to learn from Maruti/Hyundai on how to nicely integrate the Audio System with the Centre Fascia. The current Audio system looks more like after-market fitment thereby ruining the dashboard design. The new Fiesta looks much better integrated.
• Although the BT feature is great, but the Quality of Voice is not upto the mark. At few instances, there is lot of Echoes and misses.
• The OEM headlights are inadequate, however, along with the Fog Lamps, the visibility is good enough.
• Absence of a dead pedal is very inconvenient.
• Absence of Rear seat headrests.
• Almost Red backlight for the instrument cluster. Blue backlighting (Safari fame) is extremely nice and cool to eyes.

Few More Observations

• Another design flaw is the locking mechanism of the doors. I am very afraid of my small children fiddling with the lock handle and mistakenly opening the door. I know there is Child Lock available but at times it becomes very cumbersome to activate/deactivate the same when your entire family is travelling with you and you have kids as well. I believe a seperate locking mechanism should be very easy to install (Endeavour/New Fiesta already have this setup, should be easy to replicate).
• Spare wheel is all steel and no alloy. It is bad on Ford to overlook this. A single alloy wheel costs just 4000 odd to the end customer, deduct the cost of the steel wheel and there would'nt be a major price difference.
• Dont know why but Ford has recommended 41 Psi as the recommended Air pressure in rear tyres with 4-5 persons on board. This will further deteriorate the ride quality which is anyways a bit on the lower side. Even with 38 Psi on my rear tires and 3 rear passengers, I did hit a monster speed breaker, so probably Ford does need to relook on the ground clearance of the Figo.
• Pls provide ACC, atleast on the top model. With the current chilling AC, it becomes very uncomfortable and cumbersome to continuously switching the AC ON/OFF. A Marginal Price Increase is OK for this awsome feature.
• There is no Remote control provided with the Audio system.
• Ford only provides 1 Keyless entry Remote and I did not find the quality of the keys to be durable. The same will surely wear out over consistent usage. Post then, Ford will charge a good amount for a new key.

I have fallen in love again.

[GTO]

Thread moved from the Assembly Line to the Initial Ownership Section. Thanks for sharing!

[ghodlur]

@Shantanumishra,

Let me be the first person to congratulate you on your Casper. The colour looks pristine on the car. Figo is a true VFM buy. Have driven my friends Figo on numerous occassions and agree with most of the likes and dislikes. Ford is yet to come to Indian driving conditions, hence not yet come out of the European mode when it comes to placing the bonnet opening lids or the turn indicator/wiper stalks. But you will get used to it.

Happy many more mile crunching and drive safely.

[shuvc]

Congratulations. It's a very practical car. Your observations completely reflect those of mine. Must say I'm having good fun with my 7K run Figo !!

[shantanumishra]

With a heavy heart, I had to let go of Casper within 2 years of owning it.

It was a wonderful car and there were no issues with the Figo but for the fact that I had moved to Bangalore and RTO had started troubling folks with non-KA registered cars. Additionally, my family got bigger requiring me to go for a Sedan.

After contemplating for 2-3 months, I decided to take the plunge. The Figo got sold to a friend's relative in Mathura.

With the sale proceeds from the Figo and adding more from my kitty, I bought a pre-worshipped Honda City. This beauty with the brains is a 2011 i-VTEC VMT model with only 9950 Kms under the belt. I have checked all history and it is spotless. Even the NCB for last 2 years is intact. Couple of pics as below,









@ Mods - Request you to please change the subject of this thread.

[batterylow]

Congratulations on your new acquisition.

In case you don't mind, could you divulge how much did you sell the car for?

I was looking at a ball park figure to decide for an upgrade from my 2 year odd old Figo.

[shantanumishra]

Originally Posted by batterylow

Congratulations on your new acquisition.

In case you don't mind, could you divulge how much did you sell the car for?

I was looking at a ball park figure to decide for an upgrade from my 2 year odd old Figo.

Sent you a PM with details.