12th August 2009, 14:45
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| BHPian  | Ford Fiesta 1.6 Duratec ZXI, Platinum : Ownership Experience! About 6-7 months ago, a couple of days after the Linea had launched, I quitely reminded Dad that his Tavera was going to be 5 soon and that he should consider switching cars! He was still quite happy driving the Tavera around town, infact we had clocked over 58,000 KMs on it in the last 4.9 years with no complaints whatsoever! He absolutely loved every bit of driving an SUV, and so did I!! However, more recently, the car started developing niggles that increased in frequency and the day it's cooling system (water pump) gave up on him, he decided it was enough and thus our search began!! He wanted to switch to either a sedan or a premium hatch, Petrol! (our approx monthly driving was limited to around 350 kms, so going for a Diesel again did'nt make much sense!). The Linea and the soon to be Jazz were high on our list of choices then! Ofcourse the Fiesta was definitely in the back of our heads somewhere. Verna ruled out because we did'nt like the design of the car very much (the rear of the car seemed very bland and not so impressive), ANHC well over our budget of 9.0L and SX4, well it was a Maruti!! (purely our personal views only, no offence to anybody owning these cars.) May 09: We headed for Concorde Motors to check out the Linea, both our jaws dropped the moment we looked at it! 'Admiration Guaranteed' for sure! Anyway, we TD'd the diesel version of the linea as the petrol variant wasn't available then! We were quite happy with the drive and loved the overall performance of the car, yeah it lacks pickup on the 2nd gear but that was the last thing on our mind! and no, i have no complaints about the quality of plastics used on it's interiors (atleast not on the emotion pack variant), we loved the interiors as much as we loved to look at it from the outside!! We were quoted 8.6L onroad for the emotion pack petrol! We also enquired on the trade in rate for our tavera, the seconds sale guy @ corcorde evaluated our car and advised the best rate he could offer us was 3.4L!! We decided to wait until the Jazz was launched to make a decision! June 09: The day after the Jazz launch, we eagerly drove down to Magnum Honda to check it out! It was a beauty for sure, looked like a mini-suv to me more than a hatch!! no doubt Honda had a winner in the Jazz, or so i thought until i heard about its on road price!! Did'nt even bother asking for a Test Drive then probably because we were so put off by its price already! 8.9L on road with the active kit! daylight robbery we thought! It was all leaning towards the 'Linea' for sure when he suggested we go check out the Fiesta!! July 09: We had already seen quite a lot of Fiesta's on the road and heard very good reviews about them, especially on the mileage bit on it's diesel variant. Very much knowing what to expect, we drove down to Metro Ford! No, although our jaws did'nt drop the moment we saw it, we were quite happy with it's looks! On the inside though, it was a totally different story! the interior trims on the SXI looked more appealing if not better than what we had seen on the Linea! the price however was a very pleasant surprise! we were quoted 7.99L for the fully loaded 1.6 SXI Duratec (petrol) & 7.31L for the ZXI! With much enthusiasm, We settled into a 1.6 sports version for a test drive, drove it on the outer ring road on a rather traffic-less afternoon and thoroughly enjoyed every bit of the drive! everything seemed just about right, starting with the engine (way more powerful than the Linea's petrol engine, the exhaust note in particular was damn addictive, took some heart to get that foot off the accelerator pedel!), the gear shifts were as smooth as a baby's bottom! the overall handling of the car was flawless and it felt planted on the road at all times, very solid feeling! truly, a driver's car as we had read! What really tilted the decision in favor of the Fiesta was the price Metro was ready to pay for our Tavera! post eveluating, their personnel agreed for a trade-in of 4.0L on a 'as is' condition, which was a good 60k more than what Corcorde quoted! So effectively, going for a Fiesta would not only save us 80k on the cost of the car but we'd also get an addition 60k on our existing vehicle!  Although i wanted him to get the Sports version which looked much better with the side skirts & alloys et all, he was keen on the SXI because of its interiors! he wanted more comfort than sporty looks, aka leather upholstry etc! That meant it was going to be the SXI until ford decided it was time to upgrade their existing SXI to a premium one, well the price for the premium one increased by 20k than what was originally quoted. (We were quoted 7.99 for the old sxi after all the dscounts and freebies on offer). Now the additions on the premium sxi included 14" alloys, chrome front grill, and chrome ovrms (8.2L after discount). well, though the price was worth paying for the alloys addition, the moment i looked at the new car, i knew they had totally messed up with its looks esp with the complete chrome addition to the ovrms, it totally put me off (no offence to the new SXI Premium owners). so, it was then decided that we'd settle with the ZXI and have some stanley leather seats thrown in later!! (the ZXI is almost a fully loaded version minus the Airbags and a few interior trims missing from the old sxi version) So, here's a summary of the final price we agreed on: ZXI - 7.31L Trade-in - 4L We pay - 3.31L So, we finally made the booking for a 1.6 ZXI Platinum in the last week of July 09 and were promised delivery the following week! (which never happened, another long story!) It's the 12th of August today and as i was writing my experiences here, i received a call from Metro confirming that the vehicle had arrived yesterday from the Chennai factory and is currently undergoing PDI at their Peenya stockyard and would get to their showroom by 4PM! I am leaving for Metro in a few minutes and am super excited to go see our Car, Finally!! Before i post this thread, i'd be doing wrong if i don't thank Shajufx and everybody else who posted on his thread with their ever valuable comments which really helped us narrow our choices down to the Fiesta along the way!! So, thank you guys!!  More updates to follow!! Happy Driving! |
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12th August 2009, 14:54
| #2 |
| Senior - BHPian  | wow another Fiesta convert.Congratulations raamki, i dont have to tell you how good the vehicle is  Have a wonderful ownership experience and welcome to the Ford family (which suddenly seems to be growing by leaps and bounds ).Do post the pics and report. |
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12th August 2009, 14:58
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| Senior - BHPian  | |
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12th August 2009, 15:10
| #4 |
| BHPian Join Date: Aug 2008 Location: Kolkata
Posts: 342
Thanked: 95 Times
| Fiesta is a lovely car.Enjoy the drive  |
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12th August 2009, 18:38
| #5 |
| BHPian | Hey guys, just returned from Metro after inspecting my car! it was parked in their basement which was rather dark, had to get them to switch on the lights before going around with my inspection. I was surprised that the ODO read 61, considering the fact that it's not gone out for Registration yet! as per the sales person, the vehicle has travelled from their stockyard to the showroom which is around 25kms away, at the max!  thoughts anyone?a little extra coat of paint (spray) caught my eye near the edge of the bonnet, metro has promised that will go away during the final polish, i really hope it does! not a big cause of worry but anyway! Attaching a few pictures i took from the inspection. Sorry about the low quality on the pics, was taken in the basement with artifical light! Also took a picture of a Morello SXI Premium that was on display, its one of the premium SXI Models that was launched recently! |
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12th August 2009, 18:58
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| BHPian | Quote:
sure, will do!!Quote:
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12th August 2009, 19:48
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| Senior - BHPian  | WOW WOW WOW, another proud owner of Fiesta is standing !!  Congratulations and celebrations, let us all know where you want to treat everyone !! Waiting of 15 days is very normal and I am very happy for that. ODO reading of 61 is double the figure I got the vehicle on delivery day (31kms). First thought that came to me was your experience of 'wrong delivery to some other dealer then tracing' etc. So this double figure might prove that right. Extra paint on bumper, I doubt if it was due to poor lighting there or a touch up. You could have asked them to bring the vehicle out of the basement to do a proper checking in bright light. Hope its a layer that goes off at final polishing for delivery. Platinum has a light golden shade right ? Its a very pleasing colour. Not seen many on road. We have more things to share and discuss when it comes to upgrades. Keep this thread active, post lot of pictures and make it lively. All the best and I really doubt if you will sleep well tonite ! |
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12th August 2009, 20:22
| #8 | |
| BHPian | Quote:
Btw, I looked up my VIN, its very similar to yours, MAJBXXMRJB9A47XXX, decodes to July 2009 as per the VIN on link used by Franky!! Still trying to figure out a logical reason for 61! am not sure about the tracing part because metro said they had given up and made a fresh booking at one point, do you think they could have tested it before loading it onto the truck at the factory, just as a random case maybe? The PDI article here states that as long as the ODO is less than 100, there should'nt be a cause for worry! Well, yeah, maybe i could have asked him to drive it out for a proper inspection! really hope that paint is gone tomorrow, it's not visible to the naked eye unless observed very closely! if it does'nt go, am asking them to give me a letter stating it will be touched upon during the first service, don't really want to make a fuss out of that issue! like you rightly said, it all applies until the first scratch is made, LOL! Yep, it's got the light golden shade! there are quite a few on the road! Dad wanted a light color to go with the black borders on the doors and went for it, mum approved and there you have it!! My opinion of the 'Thunder' was'nt even considered! so, you know, I had absolutely no say!  | |
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13th August 2009, 10:00
| #9 |
| BHPian | |
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13th August 2009, 12:09
| #10 |
| BHPian Join Date: Jul 2009 Location: Bangalore
Posts: 460
Thanked: 63 Times
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13th August 2009, 12:12
| #11 |
| BHPian | thanks buddy! apparently, that's how it arrives from the factory to the stockyard! the wheel caps are all in the boot, they'll put them on before delivery today, they better!! well, i've decided to use the stock tyres for at least 6 months before upgrading!! so, no alloys for now!! |
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13th August 2009, 12:16
| #12 |
| BHPian Join Date: Jul 2009 Location: Bangalore
Posts: 460
Thanked: 63 Times
| cool, i didnt know that. And please do check for any bent rims as with the case of one of our fellow member who took Ritz which had a slightly dented rim. Probably you might have a good look at the car in a broad day light. All the best and do post us your delivery experience. |
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13th August 2009, 12:22
| #13 | |
| BHPian | Quote:
Yep, lots of picture coming your way!!  | |
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13th August 2009, 19:19
| #14 |
| BHPian | Delivered!! Hey folks, Just got back home after taking delivery of the car! Stopped over at the 'Circle Maramma' temple (very famous for vehicle puja's) for a puja before heading home! The delivery experience was a very pleasant one, Metro went through all the checklists in time and we were handed over the car as promised at 5pm!! Attached are a couple of pictures! Looking forward to absolutely 'going fida' in the coming days!! Updates on immediate accessories: Red Soul guys are on their way to fit the reverse parking sensors. @Shaji - the paint on the bonnet is still there (can only be seen if observed closely), Metro has promised to remove it during the first service of the car! Will keep you guys updated! MODS: Please change the title of this thread to, FORD FIESTA1.6 DURATEC ZXI, PLATINUM : NOW DELIVERED!! Last edited by raamki : 13th August 2009 at 19:32. |
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13th August 2009, 19:27
| #15 |
| Senior - BHPian  Join Date: Feb 2005 Location: Melbourne
Posts: 4,376
Thanked: 5,105 Times
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