In the last one year, my wife and I had to take two not-so-easy decisions - choosing the right house and a right car - from all the available options out there, we are glad both the decisions are done.
Had booked the Aspire on 2 Aug on a hunch without the prices announced at the time. Details
here. Background:
I was driving the Figo 1.4 ZXi TDCi 2010 model – the first batch of Figos made in India, the initial ownership report is posted
here.
After about 4.5 years and 95,000 kms, the car as expected, was up for tire change, AC coil upgrade, suspensions change, etc. These niggles notwithstanding, the car driving dynamics were still solid and drove like one solid block of metal. But I thought it would be nice to use this sweet spot of life of the car to exchanging a better Ford.
Hence the quest to buy a new car and the options were for the last 4 – 5 months Figo Aspire, Polo TDI, Vento TDI, i20 Active, S-Cross, Ciaz, Terrano, new Honda City. Yes the options ran across segments and across price brackets.
My requirement & usage pattern: Needed a car to be driven by a chauffeur on weekdays to and from office and in around Bombay/ New Bombay which was about 80 – 90 kms daily, a good mix of highway and bumper to bumper traffic. Self-driving over weekends for moderate to long drives. Should comfortably sit 4 people. Have comfortable rear and front seats and legrooms.
After my initial test drive of Figo Aspire, I was fixated on it as it gave me the follow through on the driving dynamics, pleasure, comfort and ease across all evaluation criteria after my benchmark of the old Figo.
Other reasons to buy: Eagerness and confidence of the dealer to sell and deliver the car and services as promised. Best exchange value for my old car, zero headache to sell the existing car from Pune in Bombay and the brand itself.
Reasons for choosing Titanium+ variant: Urge to quickly get behind the wheels of the new car. The Titanium version was available only by end of October.
Booking & delivery experience with the dealership
The estimated date of delivery on my booking form was Aug 24, 2015. Bhavna Ford (Nerul, New Bombay) and their teams of sales, old car exchangers, financiers, etc. were monumental in working towards meeting this deadline – two days before schedule.
After completing financing formalities – got 10.03% interest rate over 7 years from SBI, disbursal of loan amount in 3 hours – facilitated smoothly by Bhavna Ford’s team on Aug 19, the SA confirmed that I can take the car on Aug 22 with temporary registration. The number plates will be home delivered by Aug 25. I gave the old car to the dealer a day prior to the delivery approximately 24 hours before delivery of the new one.
At 12 noon on Saturday, Aug 22, was asked to arrive at the showroom to pick-up the car.
After a short meeting with the financing team, following was the break-up of the cost:
Ex-showroom price: Rs. 8,45,926 incl. taxes
RTO & Service charges: Rs. 93,053
CRTM (Temp. registration): Rs. 1,000
Extended warranty: 6,953
Depot charges: Rs. 6,250
Bajaj Allianz zero dep. Insurance: Rs. 37,009
Matting set + mud flaps: Rs. 5,000
Total on road price: Rs. 9,95,191
I had paid the following:
Booking amount: Rs. 30,000
Exchange car value: Rs. 2,35,000
Bank loan: Rs. 7,30,000
Cash outstanding: Rs. 489 (which I paid upfront)
By about 12:30 I was taken to the new car for demo and PDI. After crossing all the t’s and dotting all the i’s on my mental checklist and the dealer’s physical checklist, a short ceremony in the presence of SBI officials, Ford regional manager and Bhavna Ford owner, was handed over the keys. They informed mine was the first Aspire to be delivered in this region and hence the ceremony. So that was cool.
Some things I have requested the dealer to be added later which is not part of the car, but they said will be provided later: an extra set of fuses, engine cover under the hood, like the one Figo used to have. There are bushes to hold the cover in Aspire but the cover itself is not provided right now.
After driving out of the dealer at about 1:00 pm, the first order of business was to upgrade the tires and alloys. The OEM tires were Apollo Amazer 3G 175/65 R14. I was confident the ride quality would increase by leaps and bounds and had checked with my sources, visit to Ford’s Auto Expo stall where the concept vehicle was displayed, it supports 15 inch alloys and corresponding tires with no issues.
Went to Balaji Tires in Nerul and met Yogesh, the owner, who by the way is another maverick. He did some R&D with the tire sizes, we checked variations of wheels and tires and finally fitted Neo 15 inch alloys + 185/60 R15 Michelin XM2. With the exchange of OEM alloys and tires the deal cost me Rs. 18,000.
Next stop was the 3M Car Care outlet on Palm Beach road, Seawoods. Booked a yearly package with upfront essential Powershine + anti rust under body coating + engine coating for Rs. 18,000. A CR70 3M film was booked for front windshield at Rs. 7,000. Total cost was Rs. 32,000. Car will be sent on Monday to 3M for fitment and treatment. The 3M film is legal as it has 70% transparency and absorbs 99.9% UV blockage.
Teaser: