[drpudhi]

@Kamen_rider. Excellent review. I myself am tilting more in favour of an AT after reading your review. And i'm really impressed with these dual clutch transmissions. Looking forward to your continued update.

Originally Posted by noopster

I agree 100% that Ford would have done us all a favour by putting in a simple Sport mode or alternatively simple manual override rather than that arcane "L" mode. I chuckled a little at your "ladaai mode" comment. I haven't driven this car but as you say the only time you use Sport or Manual mode is on the open road, heading up and down twisties etc. If L mode doesn't help in those situations, there is precious little use for it.

Can you enlighten me regarding the differences between the S mode in a VW DSG and the L mode in the FORD DCT ?

As far as i read in the net and with a few you tube videos explaining the working of these dual clutch transmissions, both these modes upshift only on redlining.

Is there any other difference to say that the S mode in VW DSG is better than the L mode in FORD DCT in an utilitarian point of view ?

[Kamen_rider]

Time flies, seems like it was yesterday I got the Fiesta home. Not a bad year for the car, it has done 20,000 kms in a year, has gone to Gujarat, Maharashtra, Kerala, TamilNadu and Goa. Has traveled wide and far, staring at the changing landscapes with her swept back eyes. From the Bangalore-Pune speed run to the chaotic traffic of Ahmedabad and mingling with Bollywood in Mumbai.

While at it, the Fiesta also did a 24 hour non-stop (except for food and short 15 minute nap breaks) trip from the rolling hill estates of Conoor to Kochi, heading towards the Southern tip of India, and then back to Bangalore. I wouldn't have made it so if the car wasn't so fun to drive.



To keep her in good shape, you need regular service. And so there I was, lining up at Cauvery Ford at 7.30 am on Saturday. Someone else beat me to the number 1 spot, but two was also good.




I waited in the lobby, trying to write the next post for my kayaking thread, and during breaks, I thumbed through the dog eared issues of the Autocar and Overdrive magazines.

A few hours later, the car came out all new and shiny. Cost of the third paid service? Rs.6500 (Oil and filter change, air filter and small sundries, plus labor). Another Rs. 2,500 as I had to change the front disc brakes pads, though I could see it was good for another 5000 kms. But I decided to go for new ones and kept the old ones in case I had an emergency.

So there you are - 20,000 kilometers of awesomeness, and no problems at all. Lovely, lovely Ford Fiesta Automatic. Average fuel efficiency now up to 10.90 kms a litre. Purrs like a kitten every time I fire her up. Time for a 3M treatment soon.

.

[rambo1o1]

Originally Posted by Kamen_rider

So there you are - 20,000 kilometers of awesomeness, and no problems at all. Lovely, lovely Ford Fiesta Automatic. Average fuel efficiency now up to 10.90 kms a litre. Purrs like a kitten every time I fire her up. Time for a 3M treatment soon.

.

Good to see your fiesta munching miles without a sweat!
How long are the brake pads supposed to last?
Also isn't 10.9 kmpl too less for the fiesta?? Is this city mileage or mix of both city and highway? Do you have mileage figures for you highway trip?

Wishing you many more miles of blissful driving

[pgsagar]

Congrats! Excellent car, excellent review. I am very happy to know that Ecosport will have same gearbox and engine. I can hardly wait. I bought an A-Star AT 2 years back as an additional car to my Lancer D. Got hooked on to AT ( coupled with A-Star's micro-size ) so badly that stopped driving Lancer altogether. Eventually sold Lancer. Am now considering Ecosport.

Criteria is simple. It has to be an AT car. Diesel on AT would have been better. But options are severely limited. Verna is great; but a 4-speed? I didn't expect this from Hyundai. A 6-speed is minimum that is expected today. Also Verna's torque converter is just no match for DCT of Ford. Then there is Scorpio with a 6-speed Torque converter. But Scorpio? In 2013? This car has been around since Dynosaurs roamed the Earth. I'm sure Scorpio must be on its last legs now, with an all-new about to pop up soon. So, it only leaves me with Ecosport DCT. Yes, it is petrol. But better an AT petrol than an MT diesel, for me.

[sawnilrules]

Good review mate, welcome to the gang of AT owners, 10 kmpl is not at all a bad figure for Bangalore kind of bumper to bumper traffic. I stay in Mumbai, and like every other Mumbaikar on road, travel from North Mumbai to South Mumbai for work and I drive the City. What kind of mileage do you end up getting on expressway runs, and overall how has been your experience with the dealerships pertaining to the after sales service. thanks.

[Kamen_rider]

Originally Posted by rambo1o1

How long are the brake pads supposed to last?
Also isn't 10.9 kmpl too less for the fiesta?? Is this city mileage or mix of both city and highway? Do you have mileage figures for you highway trip?

This is a petrol automatic so my best guess is around 25000-30000 kms for the brake pads. I got it changed, though it had another 5k left on them.

10.9 average isn't bad, considering this is in-city mileage. On highways, it goes up to 13.5 - 14. I think this is still better than the i10 Auto and equal, if not better than the Brio AT.

Originally Posted by pgsagar

Congrats! Excellent car, excellent review.

Got hooked on to AT ( coupled with A-Star's micro-size ) so badly that stopped driving Lancer altogether. So, it only leaves me with Ecosport DCT. Yes, it is petrol. But better an AT petrol than an MT diesel, for me.

Thank you Sagar, and the Ecosport At would be an excellent choice. I love the shape and the presence. If this had been around last year, I would be bought without as much as blink.

Look forward to your ownership review in a couple of months time!

Originally Posted by sawnilrules

Good review mate, welcome to the gang of AT owners, 10 kmpl is not at all a bad figure for Bangalore kind of bumper to bumper traffic. What kind of mileage do you end up getting on expressway runs, and overall how has been your experience with the dealerships pertaining to the after sales service. thanks.

Thanks Sawnilrules. I am happy with the 10+ average, that too in the crazy Bangalore traffic. I get around 13.5 - 14 on expressway with spirited driving.

My experience with Cauvery Ford has been very good. They are one of the better Ford dealerships in Bangalore, though I had not heard not so good things about other dealers.

[alexanish]

Originally Posted by Kamen_rider

This is a petrol automatic so my best guess is around 25000-30000 kms for the brake pads. I got it changed, though it had another 5k left on them.
=============
My experience with Cauvery Ford has been very good. They are one of the better Ford dealerships in Bangalore, though I had not heard not so good things about other dealers.

Nice review and your posts are actually inspiring me to go ahead with this machine. I took a test drive last week and am impressed. I have been looking for a D segment sedan petrol/deisel from past few months. But most available in that class which can fit it in my budget are manual. After a test drive of few I have finally decided I should give my left leg some rest and chose automatic. The shortlisted ones in that class (I mean AT, I was even fine with giving up the long sedan type of D segment) was only two - VW GTi and Fiesta. GTi has similar technology gearbox but no warranty. So I choose peace of mind over peppiness of GTi and finalized on Fiesta.

I am getting discounts of about 70K on style and 45K on titanium. Style is readily available. However the colour choices are limited to white. I liked the silver over other colours suiting this car better. White does suits but maintenance will be easy on Silver :-) For titanium the wait is 3 months. So the sales is pushing for style. Need to decide soon.

By the way I have few question for you. What is the best speed, without much fuss of engine sound, vibrations and loss of stability, you got on highway? I have highway runs of about 700+ kms one way every 2-3 months. So I need a good highway vehicle as well to meet my requirements.

Also, how useful is the service holiday plan 1 and 2? Don't know about plan 2, but plan 1 covers till 3 years or 35K kms. Is it really worth 20K? What is the service intervals? What are the things covered in this service plan?

[Saanil]

Originally Posted by alexanish

I am getting discounts of about 70K on style and 45K on titanium. Style is readily available. However the colour choices are limited to white. I liked the silver over other colours suiting this car better. White does suits but maintenance will be easy on Silver :-) For titanium the wait is 3 months. So the sales is pushing for style. Need to decide soon.

How much are you being quoted for the Automatic model? Fiesta is not a huge seller and was hoping that there might be more discounts on the automatic version. Choices in Automatics are increasing and in my opinion, only price can draw people to Fiesta - hence was interested in knowing the price the dealer is quoting you.

[alexanish]

Originally Posted by Saanil

How much are you being quoted for the Automatic model? Fiesta is not a huge seller and was hoping that there might be more discounts on the automatic version. Choices in Automatics are increasing and in my opinion, only price can draw people to Fiesta - hence was interested in knowing the price the dealer is quoting you.

10.72L on road plus 10K worth accessories for the style and 11.6L for the titanium with no free accessories. These are from Elite. May be the style prices can be brought down till 10.5L. I haven't bargained much as they only have a white colour style and I want silver one. Also, still hopping if there can be further negotiations on titanium prices and faster delivery.

[alexanish]

Called up cauveryford sales person. According to him only white style model is available. Discount of 30 - 40K which will make 11L on road is the best he can do. No more production of automatic in the chennai plant for local supply. If I really want silver and titanium I may need to wait for 6 months. That too he is not sure if vehicle available in 6 months. According to him all ATs are being exported right now.

I have also called up Metro sales guy. For them there is no AT stock and he has no idea when he can deliver, if I book one. He also asked me to wait till 5th so that revised discounts will reach by then. Right now only insurance and some accessories are offered free.

One common thing about all is that none is pro-active. This for sure the Ecosport after effect :-)

[Kamen_rider]

Had to sell my Ford Fiesta automatic after nearly 7 years of trouble-free and enjoyable ownership because I moved countries.

If not for the relocation, I would have kept the car for a decade longer. It looked just a few months old out of the showroom (see picture) when I sold it to a close friend recently.

The car was so solidly built - not a squeak or broken part in 7 years.

Only wear and tear parts like the tyres, front brake pads and rotors, battery, spark plug and headlamp bulb replaced - and all of them only once. I got the door latches replaced because of the service recall - otherwise they were functioning just fine.

And mind you, this model had the 1st gen DCT box with left-side markings. I had no problem whatsoever. No software updates applied either.

I used Cauvery Ford in Bangalore for all my service needs, and I highly recommend them.