[prateekvidya]

Now that I have driven this car for more than 72000 km over 850 days, I felt it was time to pen down my experiences and a personal review of what has been a pretty fabulous and adventurous journey so far.

PS - Credit for photos goes to a lot of people - a big thank you to all of you !

What I like about the car:

• Super light steering - just doesn't let you know that you are driving a 2.5 Ton car - I think its the best in this category - a very superior offering
  
• Just the right suspension set-up - super comfortable especially on highways - great rear seat comfort on long drives
  
• Sunroof and moonroof - heavily utilised in my case especially for standing up and enjoying the wind, love the vent mode too
  
• The front look - Very butch and gives it road-presence (I personally prefer the stock grill over Raptor ones)
  
• No questions asked warranty - I have had multiple items replaced through without much hassles
  
• Low service cost - Engine oil is somehow really cheap and most of the other filters and wear & tear parts are reasonable - great work there by Ford
  
• Build quality is fantastic - I have plucked the bumpers out multiple times and not a single clip has broken ever. Even other components of the car take abuse fairly well
  
• Super elegant and classy cabin - love the symmetry around it - the leather finish is an additional wow
  
• Loaded with all the tech - android auto is a huge plus - Ford does play around with marginal improvements on Sync but would love for them to figure out a way to get Sync 4 for everyone
  
• Adequate torque and power - never felt that it needed more (my usage is 90% highway - 10% off-road)
  
• Adequate headroom in front and rear seat - I am 6 ft+ and find no discomfort. The 3rd row is just for short-distance travel and rather tight to get into
  
• Safety features - its always good to know that you have airbags all around
  
• Wiper blades - I have not changed mine yet and looks like I can do another season with them (that would be 3 years of heavy usage)

What I don't like about the car:

• Warranty limits - the 100k limit is just ridiculous given that competition is already offering 200k+ (Ford seriously needs to look into this)
  
• Everything has a motor with no fallback option - the rear seats and trunk are strong examples of how they can come inoperable if the motors fail.
  
• The rear looks - I think Fortuner looks way sharper - even the new one has an appealing rear shape
  
• Spare wheel - 17 inches steel rim is a very poor choice for a car at this price-point (and no space or other benefit)
  
• The process to access the spare wheel is tedious - especially on a fully luggage-loaded car
  
• MRF Wanderers are a puncture prone set with below-par performance in off-road conditions
  
• Terrain Management System is not of much use - the direct options for 4L, diff lock and selecting the gear on Sports mode are way more practical
  
• High beam isn't that great for a car this expensive, fog lamps are pretty mediocre as well (no wonder so many owners are upgrading)
  
• Layout of the engine bay hardly leaves space for other components like aux battery, air compressor etc. Also - I wonder how difficult could it be for Ford to install the rat mesh in the factory itself
  
• Traction control is not that effective (especially on front wheels) - the new Fortuner aces this to great effect
  
• Rear camera position could be made better - it attracts dirt easily especially during rains
  

Selection of the car

I had driven the Hyundai i20 for 100k+ km (in 6 years) when I decided to upgrade. I wanted to keep myself within a budget of about 20L (yeah - that’s how it started) - I did a few test drives and liked what the Creta had to offer amongst all 2WD choices available. However, in the 4WD category, the only options were Tata Safari and Hexa. I ruled out the XUV after a series of bad TD experiences at the dealership (the TD car had a horrible clutch and brakes, too many sensor errors and rode like a 20 year old car), and Hexa was ruled out primarily on account of the sales rep who did not seem too keen to sell the car.

Just out of curiosity, we decided to test drive the new Toyota Fortuner and the new Ford Endeavour. The sheer value which these cars had to offer over anything in the sub-22L segment was astonishing. The engineer in me did some arithmetic to convince myself that it may be a better decision to spend 40L now than to buy a not-so-happy 20L car and look for a new one within 4-5 years. This of course was significantly biased by bhpian ragh_bhushan who willingly gave me the keys of his Furteela every time he was around, and once you have driven a car that size (and are used to driving i20) - its really hard to go back !

Two choices then led us to the very popular and ever-lasting debate - Fortuner v/s Endeavour. Toyota offered heavy reliability but apart from that its offerings pretty much ended and felt sub-standard - a rather boring looking extra-high dashboard, poor audio systems and interface (no android auto !!) and not so plush interiors. It also seemed to me that Toyota had decided to cut some corners knowing that their car would still be selling in large numbers - missing cladding, poor noise insulation, no sunroof etc. etc. Ford, on the other hand, came with challenges around quality of its maintenance, significantly lower re-sale value, and a bunch of unknowns since this was a new model with hardly any high mileage cars on the road for us to know the depth of the problems. The product, however, was very appealing - I could hardly find anyone who did not enjoy the Endeavour TD irrespective of whether they ended up buying it or not. Eventually my thought was - you drive the car most of the days and spend only 3-4 days on maintenance every year - I was willing to invest that time into the car and that made Ford Endeavour an easy choice.

Delivery Experience

I purchased this vehicle from Bhavna Ford at Nerul in Navi Mumbai. The overall purchase experience was very smooth - the salesperson at the dealership promptly agreed to all of my requests which included a PDI before the car went into registration, my choice of insurance (they ended of matching the lowest quotation I could get from the market but there was significant saving there) and a free 3rd year warranty. The car arrived in two weeks, as was promised by the dealer, and took another week for registration.

Overall I was very happy with the purchase and delivery experience. I chose NOT to buy any accessories from the dealership - just the usual mats and cargo cover (all of which is dumped somewhere in my store-room now). The car cost me ~36L - this is a 3.2L 4x4 Titanium model and yes - it came in BLACK, and finally into my hands on 31st July 2017.

This car has been reviewed multiple times on this forum and ownership reviews especially by bhpian Ace F355 and A.G.. I have summarised my personal experience with the car here.

Performance of the car

Engine : 200 bhp is adequate - just simply put. Power is delivered in the right fashion and you wouldn't feel any deficit even in tight overtaking conditions. On the contrary, this power delivery with the steering makes overtaking a lot easier. Power kicks in at higher rpms which takes time getting used to (especially if you have moved from driving a similar engine/sized car). I find the engine noise (or whatever manages to seep inside the cabin) pretty sweet for a diesel. There are ways where you can cruise it on the highway keeping rpms constant and the engine noise practically goes away.

The power-to-weight ratio of ~75 BHP/Ton is quite okay and at-par with most other cars. Torque is more than adequate for off-road situations.

I would have loved a hybrid version where power can be cut-off on its own especially in traffic signals but I guess it comes with its own set of cons. Overall verdict - pretty good engine. PS - this may actually be the last generation of such large displacement engines so we should enjoy it while it lasts.

My usage largely falls into 3 buckets - I pretty much get 9 kmpl across
a) Daily office commute - (~15 kms) @ 6-7 kmpl
b) Weekend highway drives - (~200-300 kms) @ 11 kmpl
c) Occasional off-roading - never figured the mileage there !

That being said - there are ways of making 6-7 in a city to a 8 - let the engine warm up adequately. Similarly - its easy to get a 12 on the highway on the 3.2L - you will just have to drive very softly and be okay with cars of all sizes overtaking you (:P).

Suspension & Ride Quality

The ride and driving experience are simply no match. Just 2 words which summarise the driving feel of this product - steering and suspension. The car competes with Prado in the more mature Australian and South African markets and the kind of handling it offers makes it completely deserving of that category. I have done significantly long trips on this car without feeling any tiredness whatsoever. Manages curves easily (especially in mountainous terrain) and has good high-speed handling. There is some body-roll in 2nd row but nothing alarming for such a large body-on-frame car.

Gearshift

Gearshifts are quite decent (I have no complaints whatsoever) and the best part about it is that Ford improves it with every upgrade and releases upgrades roughly twice a year. Sports mode is handy thought I barely use it on the highway (except if you need to make a series of overtakes in hilly terrains). A paddle shift would have been a big wow ! However, in my opinion, the absence of the paddle shift does not put the car at a significant disadvantage for someone to change their purchase decision.

All that said - the transfer case for the older new generation Endeavours remain a challenge - quite a few of them have been replaced and it may be in everyone's interest to get make sure that early warning signs are accounted for before the car slips out of warranty.

Interior storage, practicality & boot space

The glove box and center armrest console have adequate space to hold a lot of items. I have added a rack on the armrest console (from Amazon) and that allows quick access to smaller items like gauges, keys etc. All doors have provisions to keep water bottles - the rear ones can actually store 2 in each which I find very handy.

Boot space, for me, is reasonably decent. It does need a layer of protection though - the rear portion of the seats is fabric which gets torn off easily and the beige plastics are scratch prone as well. I would have liked Ford to provide more tie points for bungee cords (I like to strap everything tight so that nothing moves even when off-roading, also good from a safety standpoint).

For longer trips, pop down the 2nd row and its a small motor home then !

Other Callouts

Overall quality of plastics inside is pretty good. Handles provided are adequate - could have provided a better way to get into the 3rd row perhaps !

18-inchers are okay - its fairly balanced except that it reduces the number of tyre options you can choose from. 17 inchers would have been way more handy (and also helpful in off-road conditions) but I understand how Ford would have wanted to optimise on looks, turn stability and performance to make the 18 inch selection. Steel spare sucks ! MRF is horrible !

Air conditioning is powerful and effective - no concerns there whatsoever.


Off-road performance

From a purely off-roading perspective, while its overall competitive as a package (the on-the-fly diff lock is very useful), there are some major gaps.

• Traction control is not very effective and often disconnects power to the front wheels completely (and if your rears don't have enough grip - you are in trouble)
  
• Throttle response needs calibration with the driver - power only gets delivered at higher revs so it becomes important to understand how that behaves (unlike Fortuner which gives you power instantly) - there are ways around it (using i-drive for example)
  
• The break-over angle is horrible which leads to multiple situations - a) getting beached easily, b) damaging fuel tank protection and c) damaging the footsteps (in fact the car pivots on the footboards and refuses to move). Here is an example showing this situation (Video courtesy bhpian .anshuman)
  
  

  Video 1 - Minute 4

  
  

Apart from these - I wouldn't say there are any other significant design challenges. Bumper modification etc. become a must if you plan heavy off-road use (like some bhpians here including Ace F355 have done).


Design elements worth calling out with pictures

The visor can be extended to cover the entire side window - its a really useful feature which almost goes unnoticed:

A-Pillar blind-spot is pretty significant (or so I feel) - there are often right turns where one needs to be really careful:

The center console looks super elegant and classy:

And Android Auto is almost a necessity:

The LIM feature is useful - avoid speeding tickets and improve mileage:

The sunroof can give you pretty pictures like this one:

And you can have BMW for company (thats Manish bhai's Endeavour in background):

Playing around with Sync3 (thanks to bhpian A.G):

Modifications and Upgrades

When you buy a large SUV - you make sure your credit card is never out of touch with a machine ! The khujli to make changes to the car gets easily supplemented by YouTube videos, WhatsApp groups, and fellow group members (in my case - the good folks at Northern Overlanders who provided a smooth demonstration of the smaller toys you could attach to the big toy and also connected me to all the good toy shops around !!).

1. Tyres - Out went the MRF Wanderers with just 24k on it - in came Yoko Geolanders G015 which were good in every way EXCEPT 14 punctures in 5 tyres in their first 20k kms of running. The tyres are still in decent shape - will probably last me a total of ~55k kms in all. I plan to upgrade to Falken Wildpeaks next (keeping the same size)
   
   
2. Rock sliders - Out went the footsteps and in came rock sliders - my design deviates from what an “ideal” shape and angular position should be and that is only to enable the slider to be used as a side-step esp. by my parents and other rear seat occupants. It was fabricated at Classic - Noida
   
   
   
   the rock slider design with more width for rear seat passengers
   
   
   
3. Fuel tank protection - After suffering damage throughout - I finally had to replace it with a stiff 2mm plate - fabricated at Classic Noida
   
   
   
   

   almost half of the plate came off exposing the fuel tank

   
   
   
   
   new fuel tank protection plate (being painted)
   
   
   
   
4. Ford OEM Snorkel - the usual set-up
   
5. Lights - changed the high beam bulbs and installed a LED bar from MICTUNING - it is a reasonably balanced product offering for its price - better than Chinese knockoffs but nowhere close to Rigid
   

Building your SUV is always a 'work in progress'. For me personally - the next set of items would be Oldman EMU suspension and bumper mods

Service and repairs

My car has been serviced at Bhavna Ford (Nerul), Tanish Ford (Gurgaon), Harpreet Ford (Gurgaon) and Tricity Ford (Panchkula) - mostly a good experience everywhere. Bhavna and Harpreet usually took longer and are crowded, Tanish is crowded but good, Tricity has been the best so far and the quickest.

I have thoroughly enjoyed warranty privileges and simplicity of the processes (even if it takes time on occasion) around it - I have so far changed all lug nuts, front hood shockers, rear trunk shockers, one engine mount, USB point slot, brake discs, front parking sensor, TPMS kit, lifting jack, EGR sensor, AC re-circulation flap motor and probably some more items without a lot of haggling.

Another point worth calling out is that Black as a color is difficult to maintain - the car gets dirty really quickly (be it dust during the dry season or wet mud during rains) - needs Jopasu duster to be used frequently alongwith regular visits to your nearest reliable spa. I would NOT recommend Black as a color for this car unless you are prepared to invest time and money here. That being said - when the car is clean and shiny, there is no way you can't fall in love.

For interiors - I use Meguiar's leather treatment (spray and balm) every month. I only have cracks on the driver right side - perhaps its the abrasive nature of jeans and the action of getting in & out of the car which has caused these - rest of the seats are in fully healthy condition (my rear seats are rarely used).

EGR sensor being replaced (under warranty)

Engine mount being changed (under warranty) - eliminated vibrations which I had gotten so used to that it felt like a new car again !

Some memorable moments

The first wash (side effects of buying a car in the middle of the monsoon season in Mumbai):

Golden Quadrilateral - We (me and bhpian Ragh_bhushan) decided to drive non-stop through Delhi - Kolkata - Chennai - Bangalore - Mumbai - Ahmedabad - Delhi route. The car was driven (rather pushed) for a good 73 hours in a go as we finished the entire route in 77 hours (missing the Limca record by just 1 hour - you will know why in the video). We had one minor and one major niggle - Loose horn cables meant we had to drive without one from Chennai to Bangalore and the lug nut issue (fixed later) meant it took us ages to get a punctured tyre out (remember Yokohama Geolanders!). On another note - it took 3 rounds of washing to get all the dirt out.

The GQ Video

the trip odo - summarised

Mission Accomplished

Ladakh Trip - Perhaps most strenuous trip from car abuse perspective - - high altitude did not pose any problem with performance (except for a momentary 15 mins !). Mileage at high altitudes was ~7 kmpl which I found okay given that we were pushing most of the time. Conquered some good high mountain passes (will probably be writing separately about it). The only damage in the entire trip was the stabiliser bar which came off and had to be tied using jugged in the second half of the trip. Yokhama did its job really well and somehow managed to carry a nail inside it through the trip - zero punctures.

alongwith Chandra's 3.2 !

probably the highest car wash in the world

Spiti Valley - Two major highlights for the car from this trip - a) it started in one go despite being in minus 28 overnight (11+ hours) - I had only changed coolant with an undiluted one, put up diesel antifreeze and a new battery. b) there were some squeaks from suspension during the snow drive - which was rather scary but friends at Northern Overlanders confirmed that it is pretty usual at those temps. Car performed absolutely fine in snow - I think Snow mode is perhaps the only one in TMS which comes close to being useful.

those temperature readings (the external TPMS could not even register a reading)

[prateekvidya]

Jaisalmer Dune bashing - Performed really well (mostly on 3L - open diff) with some opportunity areas - a 2-inch suspension lift is required, and both bumpers are prone to being torn off from time to time. The best part is that its very easy to put the bumpers back in position and the clips don’t break that easily (like what Ford has done here in terms of quality). This was all under tyre pressure of 15-18 psi.

with bhpian Ace F355's Lal Ghoda and the rising sun - read more about the lal ghoda here


red and black








reasons to go off the road - the views !



Endeavour doing what it does best



a view with the sun setting down

Red, White and Black - Ford everywhere

Northern Overlanders afternoon desert camping

Apart from these major trips - the car has been driven pretty much across the country - here are some more snapshots :

in familiar territory near ORAZ

driving into the sunset

airing up after a snow drive near Manali

the pleasures of 4W-Life

White on Black !

it gets amazingly dark inside with snow all over you !

playing with mud

with bhpian Ragh_bhushan's Furteela

when it almost looks like a Range Rover !!

Overall - its been an amazing ownership experience - I still look forward to getting behind the wheel as though as car is still new.

To many more miles... ... ...

[varunraizada]

WOW ! This was one review that I was so waiting for !



The car (SuZie) has been an inspiration in terms of what all you have done with it . Every one you have mentioned is special. That GQ trip, we were all so glued to the progress, the trips to the Himalayas were all so inspiring (read depressing for us who couldn't make it) and those small trips around Mumbai when you were around and I was lucky to accompany you in were all so amazing.



I doubt many owners of SUVs would actually use it the way you have making it do whatever it was built for.



Keep inspiring and a superb writeup with majestic pictures.

[Ace F355]

Wonderful, just wonderful. Prateek, your Endeavour journey has been really commendable and you have summed up about the car so nicely. Lovely writing and some of those pics are absolute master class shots. Looking forward to many many more trips and adventures to come our way.

I feel regular updates on this thread and mine will go a long way to establish reliability parameters, especially from a 4x4 perspective, for this generation of Endeavour. Let's keep munching more miles and keep sharing notes.

[ruzbehxyz]

Originally Posted by prateekvidya

Now that I have driven this car for more than 72000 km over 850 days, I felt it was time to pen down my experiences and a personal review of what has been a pretty fabulous and adventurous journey so far.

Thanks for sharing.
Very informative. This makes me proud of owning one. This SUV is easily the best Ford vehicle ever launched in India. Sadly it has come when Ford is not doing well worldwide.
Hope the next generation BSVI Endeavour is a game changer.

[GTO]

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

Your car will go to our homepage today

[sub.g84]

Originally Posted by prateekvidya

[*]Sunroof and moonroof - heavily utilised in my case especially for standing up and enjoying the wind, love the vent mode too

I hope the sunroof and moonroof isn't utlised to stand up and enjoy the wind when the car is in motion?

Overall loved reading your ownership experience and the pictures, especially the off roading ones. Some of them are wallpaper worthy

[sandeepmohan]

Originally Posted by prateekvidya

The product, however, was very appealing - I could hardly find anyone who did not enjoy the Endeavour TD irrespective of whether they ended up buying it or not.

Sure is. One other way to assess a product is to see how the response is in International markets and in the Endeavour's case, it has done well. The Ranger is the highest selling Ford and UTE in New Zealand and tails the Hilux in Australia.

The foundation of the Endeavor series has always been solid. The first generation that we received was also very good except that it lacked after sales support from Ford India and 20lacs for a Ford, back then, was a bit much.

It is good to see a SUV being used the way it should. 99.9% of SUV's sold in our country probably don't do much more than riding over the kerb once in a while and that ends up being the reason to buy an SUV or some high riding vehicle.

Thanks for sharing.

[PapaBravo]

Wonderful review Prateekvidya. The review has been very honest and provides complete ownership experience.

The pictures are pretty amazing as well.

Are you on stock suspensions ?

Wish you many more miles on the Endy !!

Cheers,
Pawan

[RahuKetu]

Excellent ownership report, Pratik. Loved the mud bashing picture the most. I would also have picked Ford Endeavour over Toyota Fortuner any day between the two.

But one thing which I don't like in current SUVs is that they have lost their boxy & butch looks and somehow I don't like those curves on cars at least. Anyways looks are subjective.

Loved design of Old Endeavour more than the present one. Old Pajero had very killer looks.

[arvi86]

That’s an ownership report Ford wouldn’t mind sharing on Endeavour’s official website. Be it the clarity in penning down the vehicle’s pros and cons, the photos that do the car (and the landscape) justice or the crisp narration, this thread was an excellent read!

The Endeavour is the best premium SUV on sale in India and deserves to sell more than what it does! I’m not saying it’s a flop but seeing the Fortuner run circles around the Ford month-on-month on the sales charts has been disappointing. The Fortuner is good, no doubt, but the Endeavour is in a different level altogether. As folks pointed out, the Everest competes with the Land Cruiser Prado globally and Ford India has done a stellar job in offering it here at these price levels. I'm glad they tasted success with the Endeavour here.

Keep conquering terrains with your beast! Happy mile-munching!

[Sandeep500]

A very well written review. You are using your brute the way it is meant to be used. Some of the pictures are really outstanding . It is a clearly better vehicle than the Fortuner, but the one major advantage Fortuner has over Endy is that it is like F.D which can be encased anytime.

[RAHS]

Awesome review! Wish you many more happy miles with the truck!

My current ride is Duster. Thinking of upgrading to a pre-owned Endeavour sometime later this year. Nothing comes close to Endy in this segment. It's a B.O.S.S any day

Cheers,
RAHS

[anandhsub]

Super review with even better pics. Like others have mentioned you are using the machine as it is meant to be.

I was planning my next upgrade in 1-2 yrs to be a 7 seater AWD in the XUV/Gravitas range but these kind of reviews are definitely making me consider waiting another few years to save for a bigger upgrade.

[prateekvidya]

Originally Posted by varunraizada

and those small trips around Mumbai when you were around and I was lucky to accompany you in were all so amazing.

Those small trips together were a lot of fun Varun, and they paved the way to discovering what our cars can do ! Look forward to some more in the Himalayas soon !

Originally Posted by Ace F355

I feel regular updates on this thread and mine will go a long way to establish reliability parameters, especially from a 4x4 perspective, for this generation of Endeavour. Let's keep munching more miles and keep sharing notes.

Thank you so much Rohit ! Fully agree there ! and I do have to call out that a lot of pictures here would not have happened without your help on techniques and what-not !

Originally Posted by ruzbehxyz

This makes me proud of owning one.
Hope the next generation BSVI Endeavour is a game changer.

Appreciate that the car is a great product indeed ! And yes - the announcement just came in today, the 2L - 10-speed gearbox should be a game-changer with its mileage and nearly at-par performance.

Originally Posted by sub.g84

I hope the sunroof and moonroof isn't utlised to stand up and enjoy the wind when the car is in motion?

Thank you
Well - sometimes it is (usually on remote roads or off-road) for very short periods of time !

Originally Posted by PapaBravo

Wonderful review Prateekvidya. Are you on stock suspensions ?

Thank you so much Pawan !
Yes - I am on stock suspension - its served me well so far (barring a few offroad situations where the exta 2 inches of Oldman EMU would be of help) but I will be upgrading sometime this year (within the next 10-15k kms).

Originally Posted by sandeepmohan

Sure is. The foundation of the Endeavor series has always been solid. The first generation that we received was also very good

I couldn't agree more. Build quality wise - Ford has always been up to the mark. We have an old Endy in our group as well and it still does everything which these new models can. In-fact, for non NCR folks, the old Endy could be a really good pocket-friendly 4x4 option one can build up on.

Originally Posted by RahuKetu

But one thing which I don't like in current SUVs is that they have lost their boxy & butch looks and somehow I don't like those curves on cars at least

Thank you so much. I agree there - the older generation of Fortuner and Pajero still scores really well on looks. I guess the newer designs are appealing to more people (both in India and outside). I personally still like the older Fortuner look-wise !

Originally Posted by arvi86

As folks pointed out, the Everest competes with the Land Cruiser Prado globally and Ford India has done a stellar job in offering it here at these price levels. I'm glad they tasted success with the Endeavour here.

Thank you so much for your kind words

I do hope with the BS6 model - the Endeavour sales actually become way more competitive. The thing, however, is that Fortuner enjoys such a strong brand position in India that there are owners who wouldn't even have gone through the exercise of test-driving the Endeavour before buying the Fortuner. And as a market which still cares about re-sale value, Toyota becomes the preference for most.

Originally Posted by Sandeep500

It is a clearly better vehicle than the Fortuner, but the one major advantage Fortuner has over Endy is that it is like F.D which can be encased anytime.

Thank you
Yes - thats true. Fortuner does command a higher re-sale value. I, however, believe that the compromise on driving experience and comfort is still way more than the gains on resale if your intended ownership is anywhere in the 7-8 years mark. Besides - who knows what the resale value of these large diesel cars would be post 2025 ! The smart move would be to enjoy the best product before electric/hybrid them all.

Originally Posted by RAHS

My current ride is Duster. Thinking of upgrading to a pre-owned Endeavour sometime later this year. Nothing comes close to Endy in this segment.

Thank you
That will be a good choice ! Look forward to your experience and pictures !!

Originally Posted by anandhsub

I was planning my next upgrade in 1-2 yrs to be a 7 seater AWD in the XUV/Gravitas range but these kind of reviews are definitely making me consider waiting another few years to save for a bigger upgrade.

Yes - I would recommend it as well. There would also be a lot more pre-worshipped ones in the market from later this year OR the new model with 10-speed gearbox which should be something to drive ! On a lighter note - once you have test driven a car like this, its very easy to say yes to those greedy banks offering 'attractive' EMI solutions. Listen to your heart and fall in that trap