[AYP]

Got my second service(10K km) done last week. The total expenditure came out to Rs. 3179. This includes Rs. 1300 for wheel alignment and balancing. I could have got it done outside the FASS for around Rs. 500 but stuck to Ford for the sake of convenience. I opted out of other 'services' being offered to me like interior cleaning and 3M spray services.

Also, last weekend I got a chance to test drive the Baleno Petrol over the last weekend. As you know, the Baleno petrol was one of the strongest contenders when I was searching for a car. This was the Delta variant. The first thing which stuck me was the interior design, especially the beautiful looking MID. The car being a segment higher was definitely bigger and the footwell was very spacious as well. First thing which I noticed was the smooth gearshift of the Baleno. Compared to this, my Figo's gearshift feels very hard. Initial impressions of the car were very good.

All the cons of the car became visible after I took the car out on the highway. After getting used to my Figo's power delivery, I found the time taken by Baleno to reach higher speeds frustrating. On the top of that, the brakes are quite weak. It took some time for me to get used to them since I am used to the brakes of my car. I took the car upto 120 and it did feel reasonably stable at those speeds. Overall, the car did impress me but my decision to go for the Figo was re-affirmed after the drive. Also, I remember saying that the Baleno K12 is the best engine in the segment, I wonder how a drive in let's say an i20 petrol will feel like after having driven the Figo diesel for so long.

[abhinav.s]

Originally Posted by AYP

Also, I remember saying that the Baleno K12 is the best engine in the segment, I wonder how a drive in let's say an i20 petrol will feel like after having driven the Figo diesel for so long.

Have you hit the 10k mark? If so, congrats on the milestone. After the Figo Diesel an i20 petrol will make you feel like you are getting old in the drivers seat waiting for it to reach 100-120!! Just kidding, but yeah, after you get used to a turbo diesel, a small NA petrol in a heavy car will feel sluggish and not very exciting. Unless of course you dont mind red lining the car in each gear to achieve swift progress!

[AYP]

Originally Posted by abhinav.s

Have you hit the 10k mark? If so, congrats on the milestone.

Thanks! And yes buddy, I have reached the 10k mark. The car odo is now at 10.5k after 9 months and 11 days. I was expecting my monthly running to be around 800-900kms but it has actually turned out to be around 1100km per month.

Originally Posted by abhinav.s

After the Figo Diesel an i20 petrol will make you feel like you are getting old in the drivers seat waiting for it to reach 100-120!! Just kidding, but yeah, after you get used to a turbo diesel, a small NA petrol in a heavy car will feel sluggish and not very exciting. Unless of course you dont mind red lining the car in each gear to achieve swift progress!

True that. If we redline a small NA car in each and every gear, we may extract more performance but there are times when even we enthusiasts like to take it easy and drive leisurely. With the Figo, the performance comes 'naturally' unlike the naturally aspirated petrol engines in the segment.

[bhpindian]

Originally Posted by AYP

So, the itch for a new car became too hard not to scratch after I completed a year with my first job. The hunt for a new car started in the first week of August 2017(5th of August to be precise). The budget was fixed at around 7 lakhs. I didn't care about the body type and the engine type of the car as long as it came under my budget and made me happy. My main criteria was having a car which is nimble to drive(read- good handling) and provides good amount of power at my disposal. With a budget of 7L, I knew that I could not be choosy when it came to power but I had to make the best out of the options which were available. Got to say, the Jetta had me completely spoilt. Features and the build quality of the car had the second preference in my books. Interior look was much more important than the exteriors'. Space was not too important, it just had to be enough. And of course, I was going to consider all the above parameters only if the car came equipped with dual airbags and ABS.

The cars in contention were-
....

Thanks to your excellently written detailed review, I didnt have to go through all the test drives of cars in contention with Figo diesel.
Went straight to ford and booked a Berry red Titanium diesel.

[AYP]

Originally Posted by bhpindian

Thanks to your excellently written detailed review, I didnt have to go through all the test drives of cars in contention with Figo diesel.
Went straight to ford and booked a Berry red Titanium diesel.

The Titanium diesel is indeed a very VFM package, especially with the facelift. Congratulations! I envy you for the colour though.





I have been guilty of not updating this thread as frequently as I would have liked. A few updates from my side-

1. Ever since I moved back with my parents about 6 months back, the running of the car has reduced. The car has run only 3k in the last 6 months. The Figo completed 17k on April 20th.



2. Got touched by a truck at a very busy junction on the way to my office.





The owner of the transport agency was a good Samaritan and willingly agreed to reimburse me the insurance claim amount of 1k. I had lost the NCB on a prior claim and thus there was no issue regarding loss of NCB.

3. While I took my car to the service centre for the bodywork, realised that the service of the car was due next week, hence decided to get the service done as well.

I had completed the first 10k within 9 months of buying the car, however, this time, 12 months later, the car had run only 7.5k kms.

The insurance repair along with the formalities took around 10 days and the rear fender was repaired.

4. Service experience at Bhavna Ford Turbhe-

Along with the routine service, I had these issues-

1. Hard gear shifting, especially while engaging the 2nd gear. There was a muted rubbing sound while engaging the 2nd gear. This used to happen about 25% of the times while engaging the 2nd gear.

2. AC duct flap noise while changing the AC flow direction. This has been documented very well and has been reported by multiple Figo and Aspire owners.

https://www.team-bhp.com/forum/offic...ml#post4447655 (Ford Aspire : Official Review)

3. Buzzing sound from the sensor below the steering column. This has been documented as well.

https://www.team-bhp.com/forum/offic...ml#post4510992 (Ford Aspire : Official Review)


The good part-

1. In the words of the SA, some 'oiling and greasing' was done. It has indeed worked. To be very frank, the gearbox is the smoothest that I have experienced so far in my ownership.

2. The AC flap motor was changed. The noise has gone away while adjusting the AC flap. I was worried about the re-fitment of the dash due to this procedure, but thankfully, the fitting was perfect.

3. The SA denied replacement of this sensor despite my insistence. He got the same adjusted. I have started observing the noise again though it is much subdued. I guess I will have to push for replacement the next time.

The service cost came out to around 11k. Out of which- 5.5k was for service(which matches the Ford service promise).

The rest 5.5k included wipers(1k), interior cleaning(1k), balancing and alignment along with the weights(around 2k) and around 1.5k for brake pad replacement. It did feel a bit early for brake pad change but I do drive with a heavy feet, so I guess it is alright. I could have saved some money by doing some of the things from outside but decided to stick to the service centre primarily due to convenience.

The bad part-

1. During the initial test drive with the mechanic(before giving it for service), the mechanic was unable to hear the buzzing sound. For this, he called a technician who identified the sensor issue at the very first instance. However, he was dead against any replacement of the sensor and kept on insisting about 'adjustment'. Ok, can't blame him much. However, the issue was when mechanic told him about the gear stick rubbing problem in the second gear to which he just engaged the gears(while the car was static) and gave me a weird questioning look as if nothing is wrong and that I am a fool to have reported this issue. He was trying to convince me that there is no issue in the first place and later, when I did not budge, he was trying to justify the sound will come only in the 2nd gear(as it is engaged the most). I was able to counter all the bullshit he saying, but the point is a customer should not have to explain all this in the 1st place to a person who isn't willing to listen.

2. The AC motor flap replacement was promised in 2 days, but it took 7 days. And on the top of that I was not informed about this delay. It was I who called the SA on the 7th day and not the other way around. It took 3 calls from my side before which he finally took my call and then asked me to come and collect the car. So in short, I actually self invited my self to collect my car.

3. There was no support regarding loaner car despite my insistence. Since the car was in warranty, and the lead time for the part was long, a customer should be provided with a loaner car or at least should have been reimbursed(for cab travel) for the ordeal. But no, there is no 'Family waali feeling' with this service centre.

4. On the day of collection of my car, the day when I had self invited myself to the service centre, I was made to wait for around 2 hours before I could finally receive my car. This has been a general trait which I have observed with Bhavna Ford Turbhe. Since this is the only service centre nearby, I feel stuck 'in this family'.

5. I had informed the SA about my intention to buy 4th and 5th year extended warranty. However, even after having a week's time, the SA confirmed the rates only at the last moment which took another 20 minutes. Also, according to him- 'We can't take the 5th year warranty right now, but it can be taken only next year'. I was found looking for logic in this statement of his.

As a result I took only the 4th year extended warranty(I already have the 3rd year extended warranty). I later got a confirmation from Ford India that the warranty for the 5th year can be taken anytime unlike what the SA had suggested. Since there is no cost benefit of taking it right now, I may as well take it when the 4th year warranty is about to expire.

6. All my records like-

i. My registered mobile phone
ii. My registered email-id.
iii. My car registration details. (it was showing January 2017 when I ahd taken the delivery on 31st August 2017).

were wrongly updated in their system.

They agreed to update my contact and email details readily. When I asked them to update the registration details(so that I may have the right dates printed on the extended warranty document), they checked their records and found that it says that my car was sold on 31st July.

Now, I don't know what really happened there. I do know that my car was manufactured in July. So either the sales person has pulled a fast one or the data which the service centre guys had was actually of the car VIN. I feel that it is the latter. Upon questioning the SA about the same after showing him my registration copy and original vehicle invoice, the SA said that it might be because of your booking. I was dumbstruck at hearing this, I mean how can a person working in a automobile industry suggest to a customer that the actual warranty period starts from the day of booking? And by the way, I had booking the car sometime in mid-August.

I have mailed Ford Customer care regarding points 5 and 6 and they have assured me that they will change my record in their database and revert to me with the updated warranty agreement as well.

Due to wrong records being stored in the system, I never get any calls from Ford India regarding the service experience, which brings me to the 7th point.

7. After giving a very average rating to the overall experience, the service manager comes to me and asks me to justify the rating when it should have been the other way around. If I need to justify the bad ratings to anyone, it should be Ford India and not the service manager at Bhavna Ford Turbhe.


At the end of it, the Ford Figo is a good car. The Figo part of it is great, however, the Ford part leaves a lot to be desired.

@bhpindian, since you are a prospective customer, I don't mean to scare you away and I hope that you get a better experience in Sangli.

Leaving you all with pic of the 2 cars at our place. Standing together in the workplace which is common for both me and my father, on a rare instance when we both decided to go separately-




P.S. Those who are wondering- 'Kitna deti hai', earlier my drives used to consist of about 30-70 running in favour of highway and the mileage which I used to get was around 16kmpl. Quite acceptable IMO, considering my heavy foot. However, from the past 6 months it is more like 70-30 in favour of city. You don't really get to bury the accelerator much in the city and it doesn't make much sense as well. Thus, in-spite of this change in driving conditions, I am still getting 15.5-16kmpl.

[bhpindian]

Originally Posted by AYP

At the end of it, the Ford Figo is a good car. The Figo part of it is great, however, the Ford part leaves a lot to be desired.

You are right, Just like the wife(Figo) may be hot and beautiful but you may have to sometimes put up with nagging and ugly inlaws(Dealers and Company).



But you use and drive your car on daily basis while you interact with dealers/service centers periodically/accidentally. Too many frequent interactions and you know its time to part ways and sell your car.


Similarly if you consider What will be the resale value after using your car in future and settle for a car with less performance and compromise on daily basis, you will be saving some bucks at the end but not be delighted when that turbo kicks in numerous times a day making you grin like.


This is what has exactly happened when I chose market favorite i10 over others with better performance few years back.


But now the choice was clear and awaiting our Berry red Figo Diesel Titanium next week eagerly

[AYP]

So IIRC, back in early 2017, Ford did a variant rejig which led to the Figo and the Aspire losing features across the range. The Titanium variant lost the driver side sun-visor with mirror(changed to without mirror) and also lost the height adjustable seat-belts. I don't think that we can do much about the latter but I really wanted to get the former. The presence of the driver side mirror on the Jetta which we have plus its earlier presence on the Fiesta which we had made me miss it even more.

After trying to vain to get the part sourced via Ford via the disinterested Service Advisers, I decided to take the matters in my own hands and had a look at Boodmo.

However, looking for the right part was easier said than done. I requested help from the Boodmo team and was given this link to search for the part-

https://oriparts.com/42/442/3283/821370

However, even with this link, there was a lot of confusion about arriving at the right part as some parts are described as being suitable for both the Figo and the Aspire and we know that the Aspire has a beige coloured visor. After a lot of deliberation, decided upon this part-

https://boodmo.com/catalog/part-e4b5...34x1-36605158/

Now you visit the above link, you can see the actual part but it wasn't visible earlier and a very generic picture was attached. I think they updated it after ordering the part for me.

The part was delivered after a long wait of 4 weeks.

Find attached the pics-

Before installation-






This is how it will latch on to the roof liner-





The part number mentioned-



Took it to a nearby FNG who did the job, though it should not be too difficult to it on your own. You need to pry open the highlighted cap like plastic element and then pry open the side from which it is attached to the roof liner.

The final results-







A small yet significant addition to the Figo.

I think this part will be suitable for the new 2019 Figo Ambiente and the Titanium as well. The Figo Blu has a darker, almost black coloured visor.

[NaXal]

How about trying the sync 3 touchscreen installation from present facelift?

Ford dealership asking 54k, I read somewhere. Could it be done at cheaper rate?

[AYP]

Originally Posted by NaXal

How about trying the sync 3 touchscreen installation from present facelift?

Ford dealership asking 54k, I read somewhere. Could it be done at cheaper rate?

It would be great to have this option. If the dealership is willing to do this keeping the warranty intact, it would be awesome. Where did you get the quote from? All I have heard is about the myalien android systems which totally looks out of place.

[NaXal]

Originally Posted by AYP

It would be great to have this option. If the dealership is willing to do this keeping the warranty intact, it would be awesome. Where did you get the quote from? All I have heard is about the myalien android systems which totally looks out of place.

I am unable to find that post but someone posted here in this forum itself about Ford dealership quoting around Rs. 54k for installation of facelift infotainment system in previous generation Figo/Aspire.

I didn't enquire further since it is a very expensive retrofit & not sure about warranty also.

[saurabh041086]

Originally Posted by AYP

A small yet significant addition to the Figo.

I think this part will be suitable for the new 2019 Figo Ambiente and the Titanium as well. The Figo Blu has a darker, almost black coloured visor.

Thanks for sharing this. I have always felt deprived of mirror while in driver seat. Also my wife keeps complaining of this when she is behind wheels. Will get one soon.

Originally Posted by NaXal

How about trying the sync 3 touchscreen installation from present facelift?

Ford dealership asking 54k, I read somewhere. Could it be done at cheaper rate?

Trust me on this there is no such thing from Ford for Figo. Though I wish there was one. Ford used to provide one for pre facelift Ecosport but nothing for Figo. Whatever you pick from internet is just everyone's desire to have 2019 Aspire/Fresstyle/Figo touchscreen in earlier models. Best way is to get stereo fascia and 7 inch double din touchscreen from reputed brand or the Hypersonic(gives you option of 7/8/10 inches) one.

[AYP]

So, the itch of getting a dash cam finally became too hard not too scratch.

Of course, all the videos on the accident thread and multiple posts where a dash cam was able to prove the innocence of the driver with a (bigger) car made me gravitate towards the concept of having a dash cam in my ride.

Hence started my search for a suitable dash cam. I didn't want to spend too much and hence decided upon the 'budget options', ideally less than 5k unless a camera offered either-

1. Great value for a slightly higher price.
2. Non- Chinese brand for a reasonable premium( yeah, I am brand conscious, would love to own the Hector though ).
3. Or both.

After searching online, I had almost finalised on the YI Smart Dash Camera which has multiple reviews online as well as on Team-BHP. Other 'reputed' brands like Garmin were selling their product for upwards of 30k. A few other reputed brands were available at slightly above 10k but that would have pushed my budget too much plus those products were fairly outdated in terms of features, mainly in terms of connectivity. This market is really dominated by Chinese OEMs.

The 70mai Pro was a product which had got good reviews online and on our forum as well. But since the YI too had great reviews, I decided to stick to it, until I saw this video-

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

It is quite clear that the 70mai Pro is superior, especially at night. Hence, decided to go ahead with the 70mai Pro. It had met my 1st criteria of offering a better value at a slightly higher price.

Went ahead with the Non-GPS version which costed me 6.5k from Amazon since I was a bit apprehensive of the Chinese shopping sites. It is currently available for 7k-

https://www.amazon.in/70mai-Camera-I...ef_=ast_bbp_dp

The next part was to determine its positioning. Behind the IRVM was an ideal position, behind the passenger side. Now, the more important part was the wiring of the camera. I was totally against hard-wiring and to be frank, had a slight hesitation in routing the wires through the A-Pillar trim as well.

Other options were-

1. Power it directly from the 12V supply.

This would have made the whole setup look ugly and would have affected the interior aesthetics of the car.

2. Power it from the USB slot in my dock.

This would be an ideal solution as only a small part of wire would be visible and I wouldn't need to reroute the wire via the car trim.

However, I had read some views online stating that it shouldn't be powered from a direct USB connected to the stereo as it will have a low power output, plus the car would keep on trying to access the device. I still went ahead to see if this would work.

And it did work! The camera was working perfectly fine and had no issues absolutely in recording the footage. If this wouldn't have worked, I would have probably routed the wire through the interior trim of the car.

The box comes with 2 sticky pads(1 extra) which are to be stuck on the windshield(from the inside). On this sticky pad, the main holder for the camera is stuck via a double sided tape. If you go for the GPS version, this holder itself is GPS enabled and syncs with the main camera to provide GPS related added features. It can be brought separately as well.

Other than this, the box comes with a long USB cord, the main camera and a prying tool.

Some important features of the camera-

1. The pictures and videos of the camera can be accessed via the 70mai app via wifi.

2. You can save the video either in 720p, 1080p, 1440p or 2560*1944p. It is better to stick to 1440p as the 1944p has a weird aspect ratio. The video quality is indeed very good.

3. The device has a Always-on Protection feature which turns on the camera upon detecting an 'impact' even after the car is switched off. I kept its sensitivity to low and hit the bonnet with a 'decent' force and it did turn on and recorded a clip of 1 min. Such emergency clips aren't overwritten once the memory is full.

4. You also have the option of taking screenshots plus you can manually record an emergency video.

5. I was expecting the camera to feel much more budget in terms of feel but was pleasantly surprised at its build quality.

Time for some pictures.

View from the driver side-



View from the passenger side-



View from the rear passenger seat-





I thought that the My-Dock feature of the Figo has been rendered useless since I got the Note 10+. Until this happened-



A close up of the camera from the outside-



From some distance-





Overall, a highly recommended buy.

[AYP]

I had been using a universal armrest in my Father's erstwhile Fiesta. I really like using the armrest in the Jetta as well. I was really missing one in the Figo.

I didn't want to go for the universal one in the Figo mainly due to the creaking sound it makes. Other option which I used to come across often was the wooden ones, but I was unsure of how stable and long lasting they will be. I had more or less made peace with the fact that I won't be using an armrest as long as the Figo is with me, until I came across this-

https://www.aliexpress.com/item/4000...chweb201603_53

This came to my attention via a post on Figo Owners Group on Facebook. It did look impressive. If you visit the page, you can see that there are 4 options for the armrest. I went with the option C as it felt the most premium of the 4. Within the option C, I chose the black option with contrast red stitching to match with my steering leather wrap. The total which I paid was $51. No customs was charged. I had selected the China Post option. The parcel arrived at my home after 31 days.

The armrest comprises of 2 main parts, the base and the upper portion. You also have 2 separate plastic element, screws, locking element, a USB charger, a USB-A to USB-A cable and installation guide.

Time for some pics-

The base is actually hollow with a plastic cover at top. This cover needs to be screwed to the base-





The upper portion-





The base of the armrest has foam type pads stuck to it at four sides. Thus, the foam acts as the interface and provides locking between the rear most bottle holder slot and the armrest base. There is no direct plastic to plastic contact.





The base of the armrest has to be 1st slotted in the rear bottle holder and the 1st plastic element needs to be screwed at top-





Then the second plastic element needs to be screwed at the top of the base. This second plastic element will allow for the horizontal movement of the upper base.



This is how the base of the upper portion looks like. This will slide through the slots of the second plastic element.



The base fitted with the second plastic element-



Now you need to slot in the base of the upper portion in the slots of the second plastic element. This is easier said than done. The upper portion needs to travel the whole length in the slot and reach its further most position. However, it was getting stuck halfway. I then applied some Vaseline to both the slot of the base as well as the base of the upper portion and Voila!, it went to the furthermost position without any issue.







The locking rings have to be placed at the end of the slot to prevent the armrest from falling out of the slot-





You technically don't loose the rear bottle holder. The armrest has one at back and it is surprisingly quite stable-



It also comes with a removable ashtray-



It comes with front USB(2+1) and rear USB (4 nos.) as well-





A view of the complete armrest from different angles-











While the armrest was quite comfortable and easy to use, it was very difficult to operate the handbrake with this setup. Now, I knew that handbrake operation would become slightly tricky with an aftermarket armrest, this was much more than tricky. So I moved the armrest back to its rear most position and now the handbrake is much easier to use. Though, I am gonna have to modify the way I use the handbrake now.

Armrest at the rear most position-






Pros of the armrest-

1. It quite sturdy compared to the universal armrest which I have used earlier. The overall quality, especially the base where your arm rests is quite good. The cushioning provided is decent.

2. It is very easy to operate the gear lever while resting your hand on the armrest.

3. It is possible to hold the steering keeping your hand on the armrest. Not advisable for long times though as it is difficult to reach the 9 o'Clock position.

4. Dual storage compartment with the one at the top suitable for your phone while the bigger one at the bottom can be put to multiple use. While the Figo always have good storage, in the times of increasing phone screen size, it was difficult to store the same below the ACC unit. That space is quote narrow and shallow for my Note 10+.

5. Multiple USB options- One of the ports needs to be kept charging at all times via the USB-A to USB-A cable. It then powers the other 6. These ports were able to charge my Note 10+ from 80% to 100% in an hour. While this is not fast, it is still quite acceptable, especially considering the bigger battery size of my phone.

Cons-

1. Tricky handbrake operation.

2. Iffy quality of plastics at the back, especially around the ashtray area.

3. You lose one of the 2 cup holders in centre area. Doesn't matter to me much as I have rarely used these cup holders. Plus, I used to keep air freshener in one of these cup holders. Now, it has been permanently moved to the rear cup holder.



Some other points-

1. While the armrest is sturdy, it isn't rock solid like the Jetta. Unfair comparison, but still.

2. If you aren't a fan of armrests or don't miss an armrest in your car, then this one and any other non-OEM armrest is better avoided.

3. If you do however plan to get an after market armrest, this is one is a really good option.

[AYP]

No news is generally, good news.

The ODO is at this peculiar figure-



I am quite used to the arm rest now. Handbrake operation doesn't feel odd at all. With that being said, the itch to do something about the stock stereo grows day by day. A few constraints which stop me are-

1. Warranty(will extend upto 5 years from current 4).

2. Weird design of the infotainment system/central fascia leads to limited options.

3. Options like Hypersonic look out of place on this car. The sales of this car is/was too low for them to specifically design a facelift like floating touchscreen system for the pre-facelift cars. Even if such an option exists for the Pre-facelift Figo/Aspire, the awareness is non-existent.

I am open to suggestions by fellow Figo/Aspire owners though from what I have seen, most of us have bitten the bullet and are making do with the OEM stereo.

[AYP]

So, the car turned 3 today. No niggles to report.

Got the 3 years /30,000 km servicing done in June at Bhavna Ford Turbhe.

Ford Service Promise stated a cost of INR 5300 while I was charged INR 5500. Got the tyre alignment and balancing done at FASS itself. Was also charged for replacement of a single headlight bulb. Total inclusive cost was about INR 7800.

Also got the insurance renewed for the 4th year with IDV as 4.47L(I wanted to go down lower to about 4.2L but this was the lowest HDFC ERGO was willing to go).

The current ODO reading is at 22,098 Km.