[Samfromindia]

Prologue

July 2013. I was idling my way towards the gate of Millennium Business Park, Navi Mumbai after a rather uneventful day of work. A lot of things were going on inside me. Only one week is left in this city where i started my career. Yes i am finally going back to Calcutta, the City Of Joy from where i belong. At the same time i was feeling nostalgic for the place where i stayed for almost 4 years, met new people and made new friends. Just when i was about to exit the compound, i saw a red car approaching the area. One glance and i knew it was none other than the one which all car lovers are raving about all these time, the Ford Ecosport. That was the first time i saw her in flesh, and what a beauty she was in person. I was left mesmerized as she whizzed past me and disappeared round the corner. That day i made a vow, one day i am gonna make her mine

I Need A Ride !

Fast forward 5 months. After having a tough time settling down in Calcutta, adjusting to an alternate lifestyle with family and more importantly a radically different work culture than what i am used to, i finally decided to buy my own transport. I love riding bikes more than driving car and at that time i was waiting anxiously for KTM to let loose the RC390. But my parents convinced me to buy a car mainly because we already have a bike (Yamaha FZ-16) which my brother mostly uses and it has been years since we sold off our last car, the good old amby which served us for a generation. So the stage was set and the budget was fixed at around 9L. We would be doing a little more than 1500 km monthly so were more inclined towards diesel.

Options Galore

With that kind of budget it was clear that our options were falling in the premium hatch, sub 4m compact sedan, or maybe an entry level crossover like Ecosport. Without making further delay i headed straight to the nearest Ford dealer in town, Ganges Ford.

Ford Ecosport [Ganges Ford Experience]
The showroom is located just opposite to the new Porsche centre and above the only Skoda dealer in city. As i walked in i found they have two Ecosports on display, a Titanium(O) & Trend along with a Figo and Classic. After having a discussion with their sales agent i found out that waiting period are in the line of 5-6 months for diesel. Year end discounts? forget about any kinds of discount. Petrol Ecosport? Sir it will take over a year to deliver and we are not taking any booking as of now. Meanwhile the price of the car has shot up close to 1L and only Ambiente trim fell in my budget. However they promptly arranged a test drive of a diesel car. After driving the car for about 15 mins i noticed the following:

• The ride is very stiff than what i am used to. My bestie who owns a Beat had the same opinion.
• Being used to driving a i10 and Beat, i found the car to be adequately powered and pleasurable to drive.
• Interiors are very nice and the dark color scheme of Titanium (O) matched my likings.
• The stock audio sound is great and for a person who loves tech this car offered plenty at this price.

[Kaikan Ford Experience]
Waiting for 6 months seemed too hard to digest, so i decided to try my luck at the other Ford dealer in town, Kaikan Ford. The showroom is very far from where i stay, in outskirts of city near airport. The place is smaller than Ganges and had only one Ecosport on display. They also had a similar story to tell. After they understood my requirement to get the car within 3 months, they began pushing me Figo. After I told them i am looking for a bigger car, they started to convince me to look at the space, features etc etc. This was so irritating for me as i had no desire for figo and they kept pressing me to try that out. Granted Figo is a great car at that price, but when my budget permits a Polo GT why go for Figo? I just wanted to leave that place as soon as possible. They also couldnt offer any test drive on that day, instead wanted me to schedule one later.

Honda Amaze [Pinnacle Honda]
After taking Ecosport for a spin, i decided to try out the sub 4 meter notchbacks starting off with Honda Amaze. I narrowed down to the SX trim, because it fell well within my budget with all safety options included, i can use the extra cash to buy some exotic alloys, upsize tyres and buy accessories with money to spare. After a short test drive i felt the following:

• Interiors and equipment are too bland for my taste. If i buy this car i will replace the ICE right away. The steering wheel however is of good quality and nice to hold.
• The test drive didnt let me take the car above 45km/hr and at those speeds i didnt find the NVH to be unacceptable. I think they intentionally let us drive the car in that particular road where i cant push it further.
• Backseat space and comfort are very good. I liked the centre armrest with cupholders. The bootspace is more than adequate for me.
• I liked driving the car more than Ecosport, it felt more responsive and accelerated faster.
• Quality on the other hand was something to complain about. The ecosport is more solidly built, you dont get that thud when u close the doors in Amaze. The sheet metal of car body is thin and can be seen when u lift the boot lid.

However the best thing about buying Amaze is not the car, but the dealership. In one word, WOW. The hospitality offered by Pinnacle Honda is second to none. Their sales people were so professional, courteous and eager to meet everything we throw at them, be it arranging test drive right away to the choice of welcome drink which they offered. Never did they nag me to book the car or buy insurance from them. They even congratulated me and said enjoy driving your new car when they made a follow up call months later only to find out i have already booked a Ecosport. How many dealerships will do that? One day ill surely buy a Honda just for the excellent customer satisfaction which they offered.

Swift Dzire [Auto Hi-Tech]
What more can i say about our national car. A very safe bet as you can never go wrong buying Dzire. However its popularity on indian roads is a turn off for me and i didnt imagine myself driving the same car used for taxi. Still i went to the nearest Maruti dealer to check if they have some offer which i can't refuse. The showroom was very crowded, and the popularity of Maruti was evident. The sales person was unprofessional, unlike those MBA sales passouts which other dealers often employ. He made it clear that they dont have any discounts on both Swift or the Dzire as they are high selling models. Test drive could not be offered that day and the car on display had soiled seats and possibly tortured by 100s who drop by Maruti dealers everyday. I expected some discounts on a car which is going to be facelifted within a year. The guy wanted to convince me never to look at options outside Maruti, no one has same number of workshops, cheaper after sales service and so on. He then started telling me crap that swift has the best engine among competition, even fiat cars cant match. I left the dealership telling them i will call back if i decide to go for Dzire. However little did i know how much they will nag me afterwards. They will call me up every couple of days saying sir pls come and book the car although i have told them i am not interested now, will let them know later. They even started calling my dad and wanted to convince him after they failed the same with me. From that day i was afraid to give my contact numbers just to save me from disturbances of calls from unknown numbers i dont wanna attend.

Hyundai Xcent [Saini Hyundai]
I went to check the Xcent months later after i already made booking. Compared to Dzire and Amaze the car looked and felt much better both inside and outside. The level of equipment is great for the price. I miss those auto folding ORVMs in Ecosport. I was considering this or Polo GT in case my Ecosport delivery got delayed. Had it been launched earlier i might have chosen it over Ecosport and had cash to spare.

VW Polo GT [OSL Exclusive]
Heard a lot about this car, never seen it in person. Some of my friends have the Polo, and i am quite familiar with the car. Its the GT i wanted to experience. The dealership is located at a very remote part of the city, not befitting a premium German brand like VW. Anyway the showroom was nice and was mostly filled with lots of Polos and Ventos but not a single GT. When i asked for GT they got surprised and said its very rare for people here to ask for a car with low fuel economy and more power They said if i book the car they will give me within a month. But i was not willing to book one without a TD. I gave them my number and left. Weeks later i got a call from them asking me to TD a GT TDI, but by then i have already taken my decision. Maybe if it was a TSI i would have changed my mind.

Fiat Linea [Garodia Fiat]
At the time of booking my car, Fiat was still selling the pre facelifted model. With news of facelift round the corner i was a little apprehensive of booking one without substantial discounts. I went to the only Fiat dealer here to check whats on offer. The dealer had well a lot of Puntos and Lineas on display. I love how Lineas look from outside, the classic european design has their fair share of admirers. But its exactly opposite on the inside. The interiors look too dated for my taste and i personally love dark interiors. The build quality was best among the options i considered and bootspace was humongous. Their sales head personally took me to his desk for discussion and its from there where all problem started. He wanted me to give the booking amount right then saying the car is on offer and its the last day. I havent even taken a test drive, i am considering other cars also and i need a few weeks to decide where ill put my million rupees on and you are telling me to write you a cheque without considering all these? He said only for you ill keep the discount for 2 more days. He was offering me around 65k discount on the Linea OTR price and that included overpriced insurance and inflated registration costs. Maybe max to max i would have got an effective discount of 30-40k for a model that will go obsolete in few months and probably a year old VIN. After one month i found them advertising on newspaper that they are giving even bigger offer on their cars. Thank god i didnt fall for their marketing ploy to sell stuff by creating need and urgency.

Decision Time !

After doing weeks of research, test drives and discount hunting, we came to the following conclusion:

• Cars without safety options wont be considered. Need at least 2 airbags and ABS, even if it means stretching our budget.
• Cars which will be facelifted soon shouldnt be taken. If i really like the car ill wait till the facelift releases. No point spending so much money and finding the model go obsolete in few months.
• Cars with multiple dealerships and workshops will be preferred to prevent any possible abuses of monopoly.
• Car will be self driven, and will run 50% time driver only, 30% driver with co-passenger and rest with 3-4 adults max.
• A compact yet premium car is preferred over larger ones for ease of driving and parking.

As usual, we all were divided in terms of opinion.

• ME: Polo GT>Ecosport>Linea
• MOM: Ecosport>Linea>Amaze
• DAD: Ecosport
• BRO: Ecosport>Linea>City
• BESTIE: Vento>Ecosport>Linea
• FRIENDS: Ecosport>Ecosport>Ecosport

So Ecosport was it. It ticked all the right boxes, and won hearts of my friends and family by far. Granted that there are many better options in terms of size, practicality or value, but in the end all cars in this segment are more of a lifestyle product than bare necessity, so whats the point of buying something which is not desirable?

Booking Process

Post january i became very busy in project work and my brother was giving MBA finals this year, so decided to delay booking a bit. On feb excise duties got reduced which added icing to the cake. Finally on the last week of March, i called up Ganges Ford for a final test drive. Their sales person was happy to oblige the same and brought a white titanium optional model to my place. We liked everything about the car except the stiff suspension. I paid the booking amount (50k) and the sales person promised me that supplies are improved and i may get mine within 2 months. It sounded too good to be true. I chose the color we all liked: Mars Red and Titanium(O) for those 6 airbags. Yes our budget shot up by 2L but it was worth doing so. Meanwhile after a week i got a call from Kaikan Ford asking me if i have taken any car yet. He was laughing when he heard that the other Ford dealer assured me to deliver mine in 2 months. I kept waiting with my fingers crossed.

The Endless Wait

Two months passed, still no calls from the dealership. I rang them back. The sales girl told me that Ford didnt send them any Mars Red Tit(O) model yet, please wait few more weeks, it will probably come June end. I decided to wait and didnt press them as i had other things to worry about. Meanwhile my friends called up asking if i had got the car. They said some people in their office who booked their car from Kaikan Ford got delivery within 3 months. I was hopeful of getting mine soon and kept consoling myself that its taking longer for me as i was specific about my choice of trim and shade. Mid june i heard rumours that the excise duty benefit will go kaput from next month and i made a dash to the dealership to prevent eroding my bank balance by another 50k. I told the sales girl to try allocating me a car as soon as possible,and that i am flexible with Titanium trim and other color options also. She said that she will look into it and let me know. Finally at the end of June she called me up enthusiastically telling me that she found a Diamond White Titanium(O) for me! I was happy and told my dad about it. However he said that according to latest news excise benefits are here to stay so wait for the red. Although red was on top of my list, i love the white color also. Anyway i told the sales girl that i am going to wait for the red and give this a pass. She seemed to be unhappy with my decision. This was one big mistake i made. Come July i was shocked to find out that Ford increased Ecosport prices again and the same car costs around 30k more onroad ! Titanium(O) trim which costed a little below 11L onroad here is way above 11L now. I decided that its almost 4 months, no point waiting further, they will either deliver or ill look for other options. I rang up the sales girl and she seemed not to pick up my calls anymore. I went to the dealership and had a discussion with her senior regarding this behaviour. He said that they have one red Titanium model and grey Titanium Option model. Please take one as we are not sure when we will get our next lot of Mars Red Tit(O). I took a day to decide. No point gambling for the red Tit(O) model and waiting more. I dont like the grey color much. Besides the Tit(O) has crossed 11L while Tit is well within 11L. Yes i will miss those 4 extra airbags, leather seats and the nice black interiors, but then thats life. I rang him up and sealed the deal.

Pre Delivery Formalities & Rip-Offs

I was given the following quote from the dealership: 10.75L OTR.

I told them i wont be taking the body care package and insurance. They said its not possible, why am i bargaining about this now, body care package is done by manufacturer and everybody needs to take it ! What a big lie. They indirectly hinted me that they will offer me zero support if i do insurance from outside. I dont like bargaining much and most of the time if i dont like a deal i get things from some other place. Whats bad about them is forget discounts, they are ripping off customers by inflating insurance cost, registration cost and making body care package mandatory. All prospective Ford owners watch out. They give discounts on some cars like figo, classic etc but those discounts are after inflating your OTR by around 20-30K and essentially that big discount may not be that big in reality. After some discussion they offered to give me a discount of 5k and brought the OTR to 10.7L.

So the final cost breakup is as follows:
Ex-Showroom(9,45,444) + Insurance(32,987) + 5 Year Registration(66,000) + Body Care Package (6000) + Logistic Charges(4000) + Essential pack(4500) + 3rd Yr EW with RSA(11,069) == 10.7L

Considering the average premium of zero dep insurance for a IDV of 9L is around 25k, the actual registration cost is 53k and that teflon coating cost wont be more than 3k, the actual breakup is more like this:
Ex-Showroom(9,45,444) + Insurance(25,000) + 5 Year Registration(53,000) + Body Care Package (3000) + Logistic Charges(4000) + Essential pack(4500) + 3rd Yr EW with RSA(11,069) + Dealership Scam(23,987) == 10.7L

Had i knew about this before i would have never booked ecosport, and after waiting for 4 months, watching the price go up by 30k i had little energy left to fight, cancel the deal and wait more days for alternate options. I completed all the formalities and waited for the PDI.

PDI

Finally they gave my VIN. After decoding i found its manufactured on the same month which is July 2014, no surprises here. They gave me the address of the godown where they keep all their cars. That place is shared by both Ford and Mahindra. I took the team-bhp PDI checklist and went there. After searching for a while i found her beside a silver Ecosport.





Only 14KM on ODO


A bunch of other Ecosports


I found out that my car came with MRF's which the whole community loves to hate. I called my sales person to see if i can swap them for Goodyears of some other car. She said its not possible to do that, however if i can find another car of similar spec and shade which come with one, she can remap the VIN and give it to me. I found only one car like mine and that too came with MRFs. Most of the cars in that godown had MRFs. I saw only two which had Goodyears. I also noticed that the white seat fabric of Titanium looked cheap and didnt match the red color of the car. Maybe in a white/silver car it will look ok, but definitely not matching the red one.

Delivery

Finally after booking the car for over 4 months, the delivery date was finalized to be on 5th August. They wanted me to take the car few days before, but i had other engagements. I went to the dealer at 1pm, did another round of inspection, checked if all the accessories ordered are fitted and verified all the documents. Surprisingly there were no key handling ceremony, nor did they bother to take any pics. Forget giving gifts or anything as such. Did i say they only offered us tea on the day of delivery and never before. Wonder how cheap ford dealers can get even after raking in all the moolah.

Dad with the car on delivery day.


That day their customer relationship manager came and wanted to know my overall experience with the dealership. She was very much interested to know how will i rate their dealership when Ford does the survey. She wished that i give only highest rating to them so they receive benefits and serve us better. Basically when it comes to customer satisfaction they dont care but want the best rating. After a bit of chit chat with my sales agent, i took the car home.



Pimp My Ride !

At the time of delivery i took the following accessories:

Vinyl Seat Cover - 6.4K
Yes i miss those leather ones of Tit(O), but this is the closest it can get. I initially searched for aftermarket covers in reputed accessory shops like Glix and Xtreme, but this looked exactly what i had in my mind & fitting is nice. One thing to note is that they fitted it over original fabric, unlike my bestie's Beat where they removed the original fabric and stitched the seat cover back in. This gives better fitting and the fabric stays in place for a long time.



Beat's Seat Cover


Illuminated Scuff Plates - 4.6K
Another overpriced accessory from ford, i bought them mainly because i didnt want to risk warranty, love superior build quality of the product and soft hue of the led looks sophisticated compared to bright ones you get aftermarket at 1/5th the price.



Interior Ambient Light - 2.3K
Makes a great pair with the Illuminated Scuff Plates along with Sporty Pedal Covers, bought them due to same reason mentioned above.



Car Cover - 1.6K
I searched for some covers online and most cost roughly the same. The quality is nice and fits perfectly.





Fancy Number - 1K
In Calcutta, if you want to customize your registration number it costs minimum 1k for the choice of first 100 options and 10rs for each digit afterwards. I wanted my number to end with 00, but didnt want to spend much on it. So settled down for 50 which came within 1k.

Planned Upgrades

I have planned to buy the following stuff as soon as i have more Vitamin M:

• Engine Guard
• Roof Rack Tray
• Front & Rear Bumper Appliques
• Garware Suncontrol Film 50%
• TomTom Smartphone Charger and Mount Car Kit

Surprisingly the dealers didnt want to sell Sporty Pedal Cover as Ford has given them a bunch of defective pieces and yet to replace the same.
As i am having Teflon coating on my paint, i havent planned to do any waxing for at least one year. I only use a car shampoo to clean my car.

My Cleaning Kit


Tit-Bits

• Sync applications are not supported but there in the menu. Isnt that possible with a simple firmware upgrade? ooh wait they made it Fiesta exclusive.
• Key Ring 200rs, Document Holder 200rs.. Come on Ford, dont be so cheap. Give these things free!

The Flippy and the Spare Key


First Aid Kit, Replacement Lights and Fuses.


Manuals and Interactive CD


3 Months/2K Km/1st Service Update



Following are my experience after driving her for 3 months:

+ I love driving diesel engines over NA petrol ones, and this 1.5L is no different. Car can move from standstill even in 2nd gear. Manoeuvring through stop and go traffic is done mostly in 2nd & 3rd gear.

+ Driven her multiple times on highways. Engine is quite rev happy and 100-120km comes up effortlessly. I did not test the max speed as run in period isnt over yet.

+ I was pleasantly surprised by the fact that none of the bone jarring stiffness of the test drive car is present in mine. I dont know if Ford has modified their suspension setup of if the TD car had wrong tyre pressure, but the ride quality of mine is far from unpleasant, although slightly on the stiffer side.

+ Although my car came with MRFs, i didnt find them to be that bad at all. Maybe i am not that picky, but road noise/grip levels never bothered me. Moreover its more practical for our streets as the last thing i want is changing a flat michelin on a bad stretch of road.

+ Coming to the interiors, seats are pretty good and driving position is spot on. Backseat space is adequate for 3 slim people.

+ The stock music system has lot of bass which i enjoy, probably the best sounding stock system i heard in sub 15L cars. I wish Ford had given us the tweeters which the AT and export models has.

+ Ford has done a good job with their child part strategy. I broke a ORVM cover once and they replaced that cover only instead of the whole assembly.

- Although a lot of hype is made around Sync, i think the technology is quite dated compared to the smartphones we use these days. Any smartphone has a lot better voice recognition capability and Sync forces you to remember the "phrases" which it understands.

- Features like electronically foldable ORVM, cruise control, auto dimming irvm present in export models are sorely missed.

- I somehow dont like the light (Warm Neutral Grey) interior of the Titanium model. Tit(O) model with its dark (Dark Shadow Grey) interiors are a notch above the lower versions.

- The boot opens in the wrong direction. So you need a lot of space behind to move luggage while the car is parked on a road.

5 Months/5K Km Update

+ Did 3 long drives with her, each covering over 500Kms. No issues in any of the trips.

+ Car performs wonderfully in highways, very stable at high speeds which urge you to push it further.

+ Brakes are also pretty good too. I normally cruise at 120+ speeds on highways.

+ With 4 people on board and luggage i clocked high speeds a few times. I wish i had more power as the car wasnt unstable at all at those speeds.

+ NVH levels are very good even at high speeds @3-4k rpm. A very refined diesel engine i must say.

+ I got a fuel economy of 16.5 in without AC and 12.5 with AC in the city. On highways i normally get around 14-15 as i always drive north of 100 mark whenever possible. I am not the kind of person who will drive at low rpms in highway for the sake of fuel economy. To me enjoyment matters more than saving few bucks on fuel.

- I wish the car had a more powerful diesel engine option. I wish i bought the ecoboost version.

- The car doesnt have a proper engine guard. I already hit my oil sump once (more on that later) and had to give it for repairs. I think all cars here need to have a proper engine guard given the bad road conditions and the roadside debris from construction work which nobody bothers to clear.

- The stock headlights and horn are a bit weak for my taste and needs upgrade. Tyres on the other hand are pretty durable and i hardly notice 1-2psi drop in pressure even after two weeks of moderate driving.

- Being a tallboy, some bodyroll is indeed present. I normally slow down while taking turns where i wont in a low slung sedan or hatch.

[Samfromindia]

My Ownership Experience

While i wanted to make this more of a buying and ownership experience thread specially for those staying in Calcutta, the forum rules force me to write an extensive review of the car. Well i have avoided writing a ownership review for long due many reasons. Firstly there is the official review where everything is there till the last detail. Then there are multiple great ownership reviews by other fellow Bhpians. I didn't want to rewrite things which are already present in those threads. I will recommend the following threads to those looking for ownership review of the car in diesel avatar:

• My Silver Ford EcoSport Titanium (O) TDCi. First delivered in India!
  
• My First Car - Ford EcoSport 1.5 TDCi Titanium (O)
  
• My Ford EcoSport Diesel Titanium-O (Sea Grey)
  
• Ted - A Diamond White Ford EcoSport Diesel Titanium
  
• My Urban SUV: Ford EcoSport Titanium TDCi - Moondust Silver
  
• Ford EcoSport TDCi - The little Beast
  
• Ford EcoSport 1.5D Titanium - Owner's Log of the Beauty, or the Beast?
  
• Ford EcoSport 1.5L Diesel, Trend variant - The machine I love
  
• My Smoke Grey Ford EcoSport - 1.5L Diesel (Trend Variant)
  
• My Chill Pill – Ford EcoSport 1.5L Diesel (Ambient Variant)

Better late than never, here's my experience after owning her for 10 months / 10K Km.

EXTERIOR

1: Design
The main USP of this car undoubtedly is its styling, and it continues to turn heads even now after 2 yrs of launch. The thick A pillars do bother while taking turns, but i got used to looking around it. Another problem i find is security guards are very confused how to open the tailgate. 50% of the time i have to get out and show them how to open it. Also the gate opens on the wrong side of road. Ford should have changed the euro orientation for Indian market.

2: Quality
I am pretty much satisfied with the overall quality of materials used in this car. The doors feels solid and close with a thud. Same can be said with the tailgate. The roof rails have provisions for attaching luggage rack for additional load carrying capacity. One thing i like about Ford is their child part strategy. So if any part is broken, chances are that you may not need to replace the whole unit. Take for example the ORVM. You can buy the full assembly, or the mirror only, or the indicator part. This may turn out to be cost effective in case of repairs. The lack of proper engine guard is a glaring omission for a car marketed as SUV. Diesel models have a soft engine guard which doesn't offer any real protection. Also in my case that part hangs down a bit decreasing ground clearance. I noticed the same thing happening in many diesel Ecosport. The service center guys said they cant replace it as its not damaged. There is a ABS plastic option available from OEM but that protects against small stones only. The only option left is to look for aftermarket ones and that needs to be done carefully as in case of crash, the engine is dropped as a part of crash safety protocols and the guard needs to dislocate and let the engine down.

3: Wheelz
I am a big fan of Ecosport's alloy design, although i wish we had the 17' option they have in Europe. I have literally tortured the car by going flat out over bumps and potholes, driven at highest speed attainable and not once did they or my tyres suffer any damage. Maybe i am lucky. Like i said earlier i got the MRF ZV2K which is having a very bad reputation here. I didn't upgrade due to lack of vitamin M, but it turned out that i can happily live with it. Sure they are noisy, but never had any real world issues with grip. Not a single puncture after 10k Km of harsh driving. I found the tyre pressure drop only 1-3 psi after 1 month/1k km of driving. I normally keep my tyre pressure at 35/40 (front/rear) which is recommended by Ford for full load. The anti theft nut on spare wheel is a nice feature and needs to be opened with a keyed spanner.

4: Lights
I am used to driving with HID/Projectors on my bike. The headlamps seems to be pretty weak in comparison. I wanted to upgrade to projectors, but don't want to risk the electrical warranty, plus no insurance coverage in case of crash. Maybe after a year or so i will take the plunge. The reversing light is pretty decent which i use while parking in dark. The fog lights are decent and does their job.

5: Reverse Parking Sensors
Although i would have loved a reverse cam, the parking sensors turned out to be pretty usable. The audio-visual indicators does a good job to aid parking. There is also a OEM reversing camera available for around 13k which is similar to the ones in i20 and Verna.

INTERIOR

1: Seats
Driver seat is the place where i will be 99.9% of the time and it seems to have all kinds of adjustments to give most comfortable position including height adjust and lumbar support. I love the bolstering they have on seats which hug you. The rear seats can be reclined for comfort, split and folded for additional storage. I would have liked if ford gave the middle headrest like euro models have and maybe a rear armrest. The rear seat space is comfortable for two full sized persons and adequate for 3 normal/slim persons. Rear bench legroom is decent and none of my friends complained about feeling uncomfortable in back seat. Once i even packed 5 people in back seat. The driver armrest makes driving comfortable especially for me as most of the times i keep my left hand on gear knob. However the fabric seats in non Titanium Option model is a bit of a downer compared to the leather one in top model. I fitted seat covers right away.

2: Cockpit
The steering is sporty and nice to hold. The leather wrapping feels nice but could have been a bit soft. I had to get used to the middle horn button as the conventional position is taken by steering audio controls. Lack of cruise control button is another cost cutting done for emerging markets. Good thing it can be rake and reach adjusted. Again the Euro style stalks for lights and wiper are a bit of bother as i cannot use light stalk without removing my hand from the gear lever. Coming to the gear lever, its leather wrapped and nice to hold. Shifts are decent, although someone who owns a Polo found it to be not as smooth as VW. Sometimes i have trouble in engaging reverse gear. It slots in wrong position making a shrill tone instead of going backwards. Happens one in 10 cases i must say. Need to check this at service. Another Bhpian who drives a Vento found the clutch to have less play, although it works fine for me. Love the Speedo & Tacho meter dial design & illumination and the fully functional MID.

3: Music System & Sync
Another big USP of the car. Love the bass the stock speaker produces and the sound quality is quite good. I normally stream my music over Bluetooth and the tracks can be forwarded/reversed and volume adjusted right from the steering mounted controls. However Sync voice search for music is only supported in USB mode and not over BT. Also i was surprised to find the interface doesn't support ID3 tags for displaying song information in BT mode which is a bit of a downer. Once i tried using a 32GB pen drive loaded with songs and the navigation seemed to be sluggish. Works fine for lower capacity music. The pen drive needs to be formatted in FAT. NTFS is not supported. The interface is very convenient for making phone calls and checking SMS. In the age of whatsapp and FB, SMS is a rarely used feature. Hope Ford gives us app link and include these messaging platforms as well. I found auto SMS preview feature to be a little harmful for privacy as i seriously don't want my co passengers to know my bank account balance each time they send a SMS. I turn this off but the feature seem to get enabled every now and then. Also i experienced few instances of Sync hanging. I was driving and the person on the other side of the phone was going to tell something which i didn't want my co passenger to hear. Unfortunately even after repeated presses of call end button in steering wheel nothing happened. I tried pressing the call end button on head unit and it got stuck. Finally i had to pull up my phone from my pocket and end the call and by that time the damage had already been done.

4: AC
AC is quite powerful and cools the car quickly. The auto climate control makes it easy to operate and get the right temperature. Ford recommends keeping it at 22 degrees C for best mileage/cooling compromise. I didn't find any noticeable drop in performance while running AC. However while starting the AC the fans operate at high speed and the cabin becomes quite noisy. This can however be turned down manually. I also noticed that the recirculation bug is not present in my model and it remembers the recirculation status even after turning off.

5: NVH
Most of my friends who drove this car couldn't believe how silent and refined it is for a diesel engine. The noise insulation is pretty good in cabin and it is only in higher rpms of 3k+ you really get to hear the engine. Vibration is also very well controlled and only a tiny amount can be felt from the pedals in higher speed.

6: Ride & Handling
Like i said earlier, the ride was very stiff in the TD car. However this seems to be much better in my car, maybe Ford did some changes down the line. Yes the bumps and potholes still filter through, but i have got used to it. On the highway its a different story altogether. Ride is flat and the chassis beg for more power. I never had problems with the EPS unit they have here. After learning to drive in Beat diesel, this kind of light steering is not alien to me. I believe its a matter of individual preference.

7: Acceleration and Braking
The turbo starts at 2k rpm. Below that this guy is a average performer. Unless you lug the engine you have usable power in stop and go traffic. Once you hit the highway and cross the 2k mark the engine becomes quite responsive and it can pull to 120/130 in no time. Acceleration after that takes a hit, but will move gradually till it reaches top speed. Engine is rev happy & refined. Brakes are pretty decent too. Never faced any braking related issues. ABS engaged many times for me under hard braking.

8: Kitna Deti Hai ? (Fuel Economy)
Fuel economy doesn't bother me much. Anything above 10 is acceptable for me. I feel this has got a lot to do with your driving style, rather than asking
people how much a car they are driving is returning. I drive with AC 95% of the time, keep my engine running in traffic signals which can last 2m+ and in those conditions i get around 12-13 kmpl. In highways with AC on i get anywhere between 14-15. Without AC once i cruised at 80-100 and car returned 19kmpl. Normally flooring the gas on highway returns me around 15.

Parting Shots









Finale

Thats pretty much it. Loving every moment behind the wheel. While this car matched and many a times exceeded all my expectations, the poor sales experience and so so service was a bit of a downer. Well times have changed and gone are the days where waiting periods are in the line of 6 months to a year and customers were at mercy of the dealerships. Now Ford is trying to lure customers as countless Ecosport ads run on TV daily. I would definitely recommend this car and hope Ford improves their customer satisfaction and takes steps against errant dealerships.

I will like to thank:

TeamBhp: for giving a wonderful platform to all Indian automobile enthusiasts.
All Bhpians: you guys rock !
Jeremy @TopGear: You really got me into cars !
Brian Cooley @CNETonCars: My fix for the latest and greatest on 4 wheels.

[Rehaan]

Thread moved out from the Assembly Line section. Thanks for sharing!

[petrolhead_neel]

Let me be the first one to welcome you to the Ford family. Congrats on acquring your urban SUV. Wish you many happy and safe miles on your car Sir!

Greatly written review with superb attention to detail. I am sending this link to someone I know at Ford who can guide customers to read it. It was a great read, I must say again.

Keep the thread updated. Subcribed to it.

Keep revvin' that TDCI
Neel

[Samba]

Hi Sam, there is a saying- 'Better late than ever'! Your review might came up late but at the end it came up fantastic! Any one reading this review from the first will say, you must be a perfectionist! You have given stress to every minute details. Be it the scuff plates, the ambient lighting, the deal with the showroom or the seat covers. I must say at the end its really a great review and was worth reading it. Wish you 1000's of happy miles ahead.

Every car looks best in a particular color and for Ecosport it has to be the Mars red!

I test drove an Ecosport diesel few months back at Kaikan Ford with my friend. We liked the car and he wanted to book it too. But unfortunately a week after the test drive Ford increased the price by nearly 50k and my friend settled for the new generation Scorpio S4.

My observation's from the test drive-

1) The engine performance was decent. I didn't feel much lag below 2k rpm. The mid range was good. I didn't push the vehicle above 100 so cant comment on the high speed performance. Till 100km/hr it was decent. Not a slow car nor a hot performer. The performance was to my likings.

2) The body role was acceptable. Did some sudden lane changes and the car behaved well.

3) Though its a sub 4 meter compact SUV, the road presence was good enough to scare small cars ! The higher seating position aids more confidence on bad roads than driving a low slung sedan.

4)The brakes were excellent.

5)The A/C was a chiller.

6) Some how in the test drive vehicle the driving seat head rest was placed in such an odd angle i was not comfortable resting my head. It was tilted towards the front! The Ford guy told this particular car had this problem, in other Ecosport's it should be fine. I trusted him.

7) The ride was on the stiffer side but still it was comfortable.

8) Interior space was more than adequate for 4 adults and if required the 5th person can be accommodated without any issue. The interior looked nice and the quality of fit and finish was top notch.

9) Nice boot space.

10) Over all i found it to be a very practical yet modern family car. Those who prefer to go for more long drives this car will make more sense than any sedan considering the road condition's of our country. From my personal experience i can say the extra ground clearance do come up handy in many occasion's.

[Samfromindia]

Originally Posted by petrolhead_neel

I am sending this link to someone I know at Ford who can guide customers to read it. It was a great read, I must say again.

Keep the thread updated. Subcribed to it.

Thanks Neel ! I appreciate your enthusiasm. Met you at last meet, looking forward to see your Ford Classic this time. Haven't seen the car in Titanium trim yet. Dont worry, more updates are on the way. But seriously don't expect the Ford guys pass this info to customers, as they probably wont want their cheap scamming tactics to come out in the open.

Originally Posted by Samba

Hi Sam, there is a saying- 'Better late than ever'! Your review might came up late but at the end it came up fantastic!

My observation's from the test drive-

6) Some how in the test drive vehicle the driving seat head rest was placed in such an odd angle i was not comfortable resting my head. It was tilted towards the front! The Ford guy told this particular car had this problem, in other Ecosport's it should be fine. I trusted him.

Thanks Samba for your kind words. My review is insignificant compared to the high standards set by the countless threads you posted on Team-Bhp. Sorry to hear about your friend, hope he is enjoying the Scorpio which is a different beast altogether. I agree with all the points you mentioned about your experience with the TD car. The headrest can only be height adjusted and not tilt adjusted and it is indeed tilted to the front. I believe this is how it is for most cars. I personally had no problems, neither did any of my friends who drove it. You can check this in next meet, maybe you are used to a different angle in your cars. You can compare the seat cover pic of both the Ecosport and Beat to have an idea.

[wilful]

@Samfromindia - enjoyed reading your detailed ownership review. Hope you have many miles of driving pleasure in the Ecosport.
I am a bit surprised that you took a hit on the oil sump despite the high GC. Must have been a large rock or something?
I have also had some minor issues with the SYNC system like you.

[Samfromindia]

Originally Posted by wilful

@Samfromindia - enjoyed reading your detailed ownership review. Hope you have many miles of driving pleasure in the Ecosport.
I am a bit surprised that you took a hit on the oil sump despite the high GC. Must have been a large rock or something?
I have also had some minor issues with the SYNC system like you.

Thanks Wilful ! Appreciate your contributions on Ecosport threads in this forum.
Yes hitting the oil sump was a very unfortunate event. Lets just say i was speeding down a familiar stretch of road at night and they happened to have construction work going on at a particular section. There were some big boulders strewn from the left to middle portion of road which nobody bothered to clear. I noticed when it was too late and a boulder hit my under body. Oil pressure warning light came after 15 mins of driving and it kept going on and off. The sump pan got a big dent which got replaced along with oil.

Meanwhile my 2nd 10K service was done yesterday from Ganges Ford workshop. They did a pretty decent job. Cost me around 2.4k including a optional Waxoyl engine care (water-less engine compartment cleaning @ 300 RS). Also picked up the long due front & rear bumper appliques for 7.7K. Some shots after servicing:







The workshop guys said wheel alignment is not necessary in 10k service and Ford recommends doing it on 20K. However i saw many workshops elsewhere are doing the same in 2nd service also. My vehicle report card is showing pretty uneven wear of tyre treads especially between front and rear.



Will i be worried ?

[Swapnil_Alto]

Brilliant write-up Samrat Da. The ecosport looks lovely in this shade and IMO this is the most preferred shade for ecosport. The Illuminated Scuff Plates and Interior Ambient Light go very well with the interior. As per my knowledge, not only Ford charges this much for Skuff plates, other companies also do the same. A friend got Skuff Plates in the front two doors on his Honda City, Honda guys charged him 2k if I'm not mistaken. Wish you happy miles with the American Beauty.

Regards,
Swapnil

[Samfromindia]

Originally Posted by Swapnil_Alto

The ecosport looks lovely in this shade and IMO this is the most preferred shade for ecosport.

Thanks Swapnil ! Beauty is a cruel mistress, and had it not been my color fixation, i could have avoided the price hike and got my car cheaper by 30k

Meanwhile i ordered a bunch of items from Aliexpress, and two of them reached home after 17th & 18th day of placing the order.

Storage Area Mats [Rs 0.00]

http://www.aliexpress.com/snapshot/6...67097648544634



Actually they cost around Rs 600 Rs (or Rs 1500 on ebay). Almost all sellers have Ecosport branding on mats which i dont like. I finally found one seller selling clean looking mats devoid of branding. However i received the same ES branded mats sold elsewhere.



I made a dispute and got full refund. Essentially got the item free. One thing i noticed is that the white borders glow in dark in neon green color, which looks cool and can be used as a party trick to impress friends. Quality of mats is so so, then again you cant expect much at this price. Now Ecosport is written in too many places in my car including door sill, seat cover and 16 storage areas. In case of accident i may forget everything including my name, but never what car i am driving

OBD2 Bluetooth Adapter [Rs 350.00]

http://www.aliexpress.com/snapshot/6...67097648534634



A standard chinese replica OBD2 adapter, does its job without fuss. Aside from playing with the stats and extra dials, i plan to use this with dashcam recording software like Caroo which allows you to embed stats like speed/rpm information and gives a whole new perspective to recorded videos. Ecosport supports a host of sensors, as shown in pictures below:











There is one major glitch in the placement of OBD2 port in Ecosport. Its enclosed in a compartment towards right leg of driver and that area can be used for storing small stuffs like toll tickets, coins etc. While this design makes the interior neat, if you attach a OBD adapter, the compartment wont close and the compartment door will touch the driver's leg which is irritating, if you plan to use the adapter while driving. Unless some mods are done like maybe taping the door or removing it altogether, driving the car with the adapter is not feasible.

[AJ-got-BHP]

Samrat,

A very extensive ownership review of the Ford Ecosport from you; a well awaited one too.

Your family and specially your friends must be extremely happy with your decision of buying the Ecosport. Indeed a good buy barring the waiting period that you had to go through. I quite liked the snazzy accessorizing that you have done to your Ecosport.

Attaching some pictures of your EcoSport from our last Team-BHP Kolkata Chapter Winter Meet in December 2014 :




This one from one of our impromptu meets :


Wishing you an ownership experience of endless miles which would bring you seamless smiles !!

[BlackPearl]

An extensive and honest review Sam. Though I was quite against the looks of the EcoSport when it was launched, I have started to like it slowly. Saw a white ES yesterday with black alloys and it was looking hot. The interiors of your vehicle is very nice and it matters as you will be spending most of the time there . I wish I could say the same about my vehicles. Wish you many miles of happiness and excitement.
Now that even Samba's alto has been up and down our beloved SP, it is time for the ES to do it once
PS: Did you really write the review for 8 months? I think I saw the thread start date sometime in September!!

[Samfromindia]

Originally Posted by AJ-got-BHP

Your family and specially your friends must be extremely happy with your decision of buying the Ecosport.

Attaching some pictures of your EcoSport from our last Team-BHP Kolkata Chapter Winter Meet in December 2014 :

Thanks Arav! My friends are really very excited as i am first one in group to own Ecosport. Few friends also tried getting one before me, but backed off due to waiting periods or price hike. Parents are also happy, only complain they have is the stiffer ride compared with other sedans.

Your clicks of the meet are lovely. I will always remember the first time you showed up in white Figo, and i was totally smitten by her wheels. I told myself, hell yeah! i am in the right place Here's my beauty parked by yours.



More pics at:
http://www.team-bhp.com/forum/team-b...-2014-a-7.html

Loved reading your review of the Figo:
http://www.team-bhp.com/forum/test-d...ip-review.html

Originally Posted by BlackPearl

An extensive and honest review Sam. Though I was quite against the looks of the EcoSport when it was launched, I have started to like it slowly.
Now that even Samba's alto has been up and down our beloved SP, it is time for the ES to do it once
PS: Did you really write the review for 8 months? I think I saw the thread start date sometime in September!!

Thanks BlackPearl ! Glad to see you finally started liking the Ecosport. No hardcore 4x4 enthusiast like you will like the fact that Ford is heavily marketing a small crossover as a SUV and giving wrong impression of SUV to common people. The interiors are indeed nice, and i am glad to see manufacturers are really stepping up the game and giving their cars a global appeal with new launches.
Yes i understand your excitement to test each & every car in SP. Maybe in future i may muster up enough courage and take the leap of faith Here is a video of my ES climbing a small incline in Bishnupur:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FmdMrpzUnUI

For those of you who are wondering what SP is, its a abbreviation for "Sukno Pukur" which means Dry Lake in Bengali. That lake is used by fellow Bhpians from Kolkata for softroading & 4x4 fun. Here is a video of some Thars and BlackPearl's 4x4 Bolero in action:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CZZzJn3Hzqk

Yes you have read the start date of the review right ! It indeed took 8 months to get published, but that doesn't mean i was writing for so long. I basically wanted to write more of a buying experience thread instead of a full blown review of the car. I felt that there are a lot of places where you get detailed review of cars like independent car magazines, forums like teambhp etc but there are very few places where you get buying and dealership experience threads, especially for a city like Kolkata which is very underexposed online. If you read my review you will feel the same, and i wrote upto the 2K review part. But according to the TeamBhp policy for writing a detailed car review, this thread didn't get approved. I didn't like their attitude as i felt i contributed a lot of information and for a person with a full time job & other priorities in life writing a full blown review may not always be feasible. Besides i am not getting paid to write this. So i shelved this thread, updated again in 5K KM and finally after getting some spare time recently (thanks to new project with less work) finished what was long due.

Leaving a parting shot of me with her from a long drive few months back:

[Samfromindia]

Originally Posted by Samfromindia

Planned Upgrades

I have planned to buy the following stuff as soon as i have more Vitamin M:

• Engine Guard
• Roof Rack Tray
• Front & Rear Bumper Appliques
• Garware Suncontrol Film 50%
• TomTom Smartphone Charger and Mount Car Kit

With my Waxpol car shampoo almost getting exhausted, i decided to upgrade my cleaning kit. Moms/Megs/Sonax cost a bomb. 3M and Formula 1 seemed reasonable. I ordered the following items from autofresh.in:





These days they are available from flipkart/snapdeal/amazon also and you get a better deal than autofresh. Coming to the items i found the shampoo to produce less lather than the Waxpol one i was using before, which i didnt like. The dashboard cleaner is decent and the perfume smells nice. I loved the smell of the stock car perfume which came with the car, but didnt like the dash mounted case. This one can be neatly tucked in one of the bottle holders. The Megs microfiber cloth is very nice but expensive I also picked up the fabled Jopasu duster combo for 810. However i found the smaller duster to be pretty useless on bikes/interiors which i wanted to clean.



I also headed to one of the more popular accessory shop here named Xtreme (Ballygunge Branch)



Picked up the tomtom smartphone mount & charger combo:
http://www.tomtom.com/en_in/products...t-9UUB.001.26/



Its expensive, but the quality is very nice and the holder is very compact, so doesn't block the field of view much. Provisions are there to mount on the dashboard also by using a double sided 3M tape. There were wire management clips also, but it was not sticking into the textured plastic of my car. Need to find alternative ways to fix them.

Wanted to tint windows for long. Got the following quotes:

Roadside garage: 800rs-1.5k.
Average accessory shops: 2K for Garware.
Xtreme: 1.5k for Garware basic, 2.5k for Garware classic and 3.2k for Johnson.
Glix: 3.5k for Garware.
Ford Sales: 3.8k for Garware.

Somehow i liked the person at Xtreme, he seemed to be nice and helpful and that place is a stones throw away from my home. Installed the Johnson film [50% VLT all around] which he was heavily pressing for. Installation was done properly save for a few tiny air bubbles at the glass area in the wraparound section of the rear window.

http://www.johnsonwindowfilms.com/automotive-products/

[Uprasenjit]

Excellent thread Samrat . Your thread has helped me a lot to choose between EcoSport and other competitors . Please post some update as well.


Regards,
Prasenjit
Whatever it is, its better in the wind