Ford Fiesta TDCi - es de una belleza deslumbrante

oss · 28th August 2009, 14:47

It has been 15 months since i started to look for upgrade options in the C-segment. I have been driving Swift Petrol for the last about 2.5yrs and has been extremely happy about its sporty driving characteristics. Obvisouly i was looking to upgrade to a bigger car that would give me the similar driving pleasure and also will be economical to run - that unfortuately rules out Fiesta 1.6S

The priorities were,

Fun to drive
Spacious
Economic to run
Decent resale value
Trouble free (maintenance free) vehicle
Budget: 9 lacs (stretchable to 10 lacs max)

May-Sep 2008:

Started off with Cedia but had to rule it out due to the HM factor. Hardly few vehicles seen on the road, drastic dip in resale value. Looked at LPG version, but that practically eats up most of the boot space.

Fiesta 1.6S - ruled out due to fuel economy & poor resale value. This was the toughest decision, but i would have gone for it even if one of the two issues was absent.

Verna - Unimpressive handling, heard enough stories about how they compromise on quality of parts, so ruled that out too.

Optra Magnum - poor resale value; though it offered most of the stuff that were in my list, somehow didn't get motivated enough to buy it.

Finally narrowed down to two choices: Fiesta 1.4 TDCi & Honda City

Had a feeling that Fiesta diesel is underpowered, and was a diehard petrolhead then. Hence decided to go in for City ZX.

Then came the news in Team BHP that the new City i-Vtec is around the corner and the news about Linea, so deferred the purchase decision.

Oct'08-Feb'09:

Eagerly waited for ANHC launch; damn impressed with the exterior photographs. Bit disappointed when i heard the price vis-a-vis features list, but still rushed to the showroom to book the car, and what a disappointment the interiors were

Took a test drive, and had to admit that it was one of the finest car that i drove. It was really a pleasure to drive, but with that price and the crap interiors and lack of features couldn't really convince myself to write the cheque.

Waited for Linea launch. Impressed with the styling and price, but the interiors though looked good, the quality was a letdown. Loose plastics hanging around in the test drive car, and the car felt sluggish in the 1st & 2nd gears. Had my doubt about its city driveability.

Mar'09-Jun'09:

Back to square one and decided to check out used Corolla or Civic. Both cars were amazing and i chose to buy a less used Corolla H2 version. It was really difficult to find an used car (less than 2yrs old). Most of the cars thatr came for sale were either 5-6 yrs old or the J version. Corolla owners must be one satisfied lot, i guess.

Finally looking at the parking space restrictions & city traffic decided to ditch the C+ segment idea.

Jul-Aug 2009:

Fed up of my unending research wifey set a deadline for replacing the car.

It was back to Fiesta diesel or ANHC. Thought ANHC will spruce up the interiors and as expectede E-MT got discontinued and new of V-MT launch started coming in. Also was hearing news about Fiesta bringing in 1.6l TDCi engine, so activated my intelligence network to find details about these two.

Realised that ANHC facelift is nothing more than a con job to increase some more price, and 1.6l TDCi is not on the cards atleast for another year.

Decision time: Started collecting feedback on Fiesta TDCi and started reading up all the threads related to Fiesta in general to understand the drivability, service, longterm ownership aspects etc.

Took multiple test drives of Fiesta to see if it really makes a different in the real-world, day to day driving. PM-ed many Team-BHP members to hear about their Fiesta-D driving & ownership experience. Got a whacky idea and calculated the at-wheel torque of Fiesta, ANHC & Swift (which i drive currently) to see if there is any noticeable different at different gears & at diff RPMs on the power factor.

What i realised at the end of all these is Fiesta diesel is one excellent package, except that it lacks the top-end whack. Till about 90-100 kmph speed it is really good and nothing much to worry about. Beyond that it may not be as fast as ANHC or Verna but still manages to pull reasonably well till 120 kmph, which i think would satisfy almost 95% of my driving needs.

So here folks, atlast decided in favour of Fiesta 1.4l TDCi SXi Premium. Going in for Platinum colour. Not planning any major mods immediately.

Stock headlamps are powerful enough so i am going to leave them undisturbed. Don't want to touch the ICE as it is integrated with the dash.

Looking to change the tyres and also wondering if i should go for 15" alloys. So, pls guys, let me know your views.

If anyone has already upsized to 195/60 R15 on your diesel Fiesta, let me know the feedback. Need to decide on it in the next couple of days.

Thanks for your patience in reading this loooooooong post.

rajeshvin · 28th August 2009, 15:45

OSS Congrats, Have you booked the car, what discount and freebies your dealer is offering.

Even I inquired if Ford is launching 1.6L TDCi in near future, I was been told they don't have any plan to launch at least for one and half year, as they are more concentrating on launch of new hatchback in first quarter of 2010.

oss · 28th August 2009, 15:52

Would like to thank the members of this forum for having put up with my PMs and various questions.

Special thanks to 'trrk' who had to dig through the backissues of Autocarindia to get me info on Fiesta TDCi.

Thanks to 'gaurav911' who patiently replied to all my queries on the driving experience of his TDCi.

'SS-Traveller' and 'sidindica' helped in findout info on the forthcoming models through their network.

I have also immensely gained from the posts of various members of this forum (lamborghini is worth a special mention) and few others i would like to thank are:

vnabhi
kumar7
autocarcr
anochronix
unni.ak
frankmehta
devarshi84
shajufx
raamki
ashishgandhi_00

Will soon be posting my booking & initial driving experience. In the meanwhile request all to help me out on choosing the wheel & tyre upgrade

oss · 28th August 2009, 17:12

Quote:

Originally Posted by rajeshvin

OSS Congrats, Have you booked the car, what discount and freebies your dealer is offering.

Even I inquired if Ford is launching 1.6L TDCi in near future, I was been told they don't have any plan to launch at least for one and half year, as they are more concentrating on launch of new hatchback in first quarter of 2010.

I am getting insurance waiver and an additional 7000 corporate discount. The OTR worksout to Rs.8.69 lacs. It includes the usual extended warranty & road side assistance for 3 yrs, essential pack - mud flap, boot mat, 3M body coating.

Accessory negotiation is still on. Happen to know the dealership owner, so will speak to him over the weekend and settle the freebie part amicably

Yes, Ford is currently focussing on the small car - planned launch in Feb 2010.

There is a sudden spurt in activity in Ford and we can expect more launches to happen in the coming years. They plan to launch atleast one new vehicle/facelift every year.

Alan Mullaly the current President & CEO of Ford Worldwide has been specifically asking for the India strategy, so Ford India is getting lot of focus oflate. (Alan comes from Boeing for those who don't know his background, and India happens to be largest customer of Boeing. Hence his focus on India)

ashishgandhi_00 · 28th August 2009, 17:55

Congrats OSS,

try for the 4 yrs extended warranty - something new which Ford is offering, could be useful if you plan to use the car for that long.

reg accessories, since you know the dealer, am sure you will get a nice deal :-). Try for the spoiler with LED (like in the 1.6S, though its without LED)

keep us posted. and welcome to the club

Ashish

vnabhi · 28th August 2009, 18:04

Nice decision oss, and welcome to the Go Fida club!

unni.ak · 28th August 2009, 18:14

Congrats OSS. Wishing you miles of exciting and troublefree drive. Oh and what does "es de una belleza deslumbrante" mean? I'm challenged with English, forget the rest!!

oss · 28th August 2009, 18:47

Quote:

Originally Posted by unni.ak

what does "es de una belleza deslumbrante" mean?

She's a ravishing beauty

unni.ak · 28th August 2009, 18:53

Quote:

Originally Posted by oss

She's a ravishing beauty

That she is!!

Thanks for the clarification.

vnabhi · 28th August 2009, 19:31

Quote:

Originally Posted by oss

She's a ravishing beauty

Is that in Greek, French or Latin?

funkydude · 28th August 2009, 19:40

Absolutely the right decision made. Fiesta TDCi has the proven and tested engine. Driving would be a breeze on a Fiesta. Compared to others in the segment, Fiesta is a value for money.

I have a the all new ford ikon TDCi, running on the same fiesta engine. Must admit, pickup on this diesel engine is mind blowing.

Congrats!! for your new car.

oss · 28th August 2009, 20:46

Quote:

Originally Posted by vnabhi

Is that in Greek, French or Latin?

None; it's Spanish. And Fiesta means a Big Celebration/Party/Carnival

kumar7 · 28th August 2009, 21:26

Congratulations OSS!

So in September we will be having series of Diesel Fiestas who will be ruling BHP Forum

I really agree that the initial turbo pickup is mind blowing and as soon as I felt that I decided I got the car I am looking for!

Its difficult to move your Dil from 1.6S to standard variant and I also gone through this experience. I liked the 15' Alloys of 1.6S but the interior didn't impressed me much.

Initially I thought about upgrading it to 15' alloy but later dropped the idea as Ford is totally against it so don't want to lose the warranty.

Please share your negotiation experience with dealer as I feel this is the very funny part and we go for several rounds to get best deal

karanraheja · 28th August 2009, 21:38

Congrats OSS. I kinda got a hint of your interest towards Ford in some threads. Fiesta TDCI is a brilliant car. How much did it work out OTR? Any discounts? Pics Please!!!

raamki · 29th August 2009, 01:08

halalooyaaaa!! the fiesta is right up there with the linea's and the punto's on the forum at the moment!!

es de una belleza deslumbrante, indeed!! congrats my pal and welcome to the club!!

am not sure about the 15 inch rims, but as far as tires are concerned, i guess XM1+ is the way to go!! although, am still running on stock for the moment!!

Go Fida!!

28th August 2009, 14:47	#1
oss BHPian Join Date: Feb 2005 Location: Chennai Posts: 683 Thanked: 6 Times	Ford Fiesta TDCi - es de una belleza deslumbrante It has been 15 months since i started to look for upgrade options in the C-segment. I have been driving Swift Petrol for the last about 2.5yrs and has been extremely happy about its sporty driving characteristics. Obvisouly i was looking to upgrade to a bigger car that would give me the similar driving pleasure and also will be economical to run - that unfortuately rules out Fiesta 1.6S The priorities were, Fun to drive Spacious Economic to run Decent resale value Trouble free (maintenance free) vehicle Budget: 9 lacs (stretchable to 10 lacs max) May-Sep 2008: Started off with Cedia but had to rule it out due to the HM factor. Hardly few vehicles seen on the road, drastic dip in resale value. Looked at LPG version, but that practically eats up most of the boot space. Fiesta 1.6S - ruled out due to fuel economy & poor resale value. This was the toughest decision, but i would have gone for it even if one of the two issues was absent. Verna - Unimpressive handling, heard enough stories about how they compromise on quality of parts, so ruled that out too. Optra Magnum - poor resale value; though it offered most of the stuff that were in my list, somehow didn't get motivated enough to buy it. Finally narrowed down to two choices: Fiesta 1.4 TDCi & Honda City Had a feeling that Fiesta diesel is underpowered, and was a diehard petrolhead then. Hence decided to go in for City ZX. Then came the news in Team BHP that the new City i-Vtec is around the corner and the news about Linea, so deferred the purchase decision. Oct'08-Feb'09: Eagerly waited for ANHC launch; damn impressed with the exterior photographs. Bit disappointed when i heard the price vis-a-vis features list, but still rushed to the showroom to book the car, and what a disappointment the interiors were Took a test drive, and had to admit that it was one of the finest car that i drove. It was really a pleasure to drive, but with that price and the crap interiors and lack of features couldn't really convince myself to write the cheque. Waited for Linea launch. Impressed with the styling and price, but the interiors though looked good, the quality was a letdown. Loose plastics hanging around in the test drive car, and the car felt sluggish in the 1st & 2nd gears. Had my doubt about its city driveability. Mar'09-Jun'09: Back to square one and decided to check out used Corolla or Civic. Both cars were amazing and i chose to buy a less used Corolla H2 version. It was really difficult to find an used car (less than 2yrs old). Most of the cars thatr came for sale were either 5-6 yrs old or the J version. Corolla owners must be one satisfied lot, i guess. Finally looking at the parking space restrictions & city traffic decided to ditch the C+ segment idea. Jul-Aug 2009: Fed up of my unending research wifey set a deadline for replacing the car. It was back to Fiesta diesel or ANHC. Thought ANHC will spruce up the interiors and as expectede E-MT got discontinued and new of V-MT launch started coming in. Also was hearing news about Fiesta bringing in 1.6l TDCi engine, so activated my intelligence network to find details about these two. Realised that ANHC facelift is nothing more than a con job to increase some more price, and 1.6l TDCi is not on the cards atleast for another year. Decision time: Started collecting feedback on Fiesta TDCi and started reading up all the threads related to Fiesta in general to understand the drivability, service, longterm ownership aspects etc. Took multiple test drives of Fiesta to see if it really makes a different in the real-world, day to day driving. PM-ed many Team-BHP members to hear about their Fiesta-D driving & ownership experience. Got a whacky idea and calculated the at-wheel torque of Fiesta, ANHC & Swift (which i drive currently) to see if there is any noticeable different at different gears & at diff RPMs on the power factor. What i realised at the end of all these is Fiesta diesel is one excellent package, except that it lacks the top-end whack. Till about 90-100 kmph speed it is really good and nothing much to worry about. Beyond that it may not be as fast as ANHC or Verna but still manages to pull reasonably well till 120 kmph, which i think would satisfy almost 95% of my driving needs. So here folks, atlast decided in favour of Fiesta 1.4l TDCi SXi Premium. Going in for Platinum colour. Not planning any major mods immediately. Stock headlamps are powerful enough so i am going to leave them undisturbed. Don't want to touch the ICE as it is integrated with the dash. Looking to change the tyres and also wondering if i should go for 15" alloys. So, pls guys, let me know your views. If anyone has already upsized to 195/60 R15 on your diesel Fiesta, let me know the feedback. Need to decide on it in the next couple of days. Thanks for your patience in reading this loooooooong post. Last edited by oss : 28th August 2009 at 14:55. Reason: Typo correction
	() Thanks

28th August 2009, 15:45	#2
rajeshvin BHPian Join Date: Aug 2009 Location: Pune Posts: 199 Thanked: Once View My Garage	OSS Congrats, Have you booked the car, what discount and freebies your dealer is offering. Even I inquired if Ford is launching 1.6L TDCi in near future, I was been told they don't have any plan to launch at least for one and half year, as they are more concentrating on launch of new hatchback in first quarter of 2010.
	() Thanks

28th August 2009, 15:52	#3
oss BHPian Join Date: Feb 2005 Location: Chennai Posts: 683 Thanked: 6 Times	Credits Would like to thank the members of this forum for having put up with my PMs and various questions. Special thanks to 'trrk' who had to dig through the backissues of Autocarindia to get me info on Fiesta TDCi. Thanks to 'gaurav911' who patiently replied to all my queries on the driving experience of his TDCi. 'SS-Traveller' and 'sidindica' helped in findout info on the forthcoming models through their network. I have also immensely gained from the posts of various members of this forum (lamborghini is worth a special mention) and few others i would like to thank are: vnabhi kumar7 autocarcr anochronix unni.ak frankmehta devarshi84 shajufx raamki ashishgandhi_00 Will soon be posting my booking & initial driving experience. In the meanwhile request all to help me out on choosing the wheel & tyre upgrade Last edited by oss : 28th August 2009 at 15:54.
	() Thanks

28th August 2009, 17:55	#5
ashishgandhi_00 BHPian Join Date: Apr 2009 Location: Mumbai Posts: 200 Thanked: 0 Times	Congrats OSS, try for the 4 yrs extended warranty - something new which Ford is offering, could be useful if you plan to use the car for that long. reg accessories, since you know the dealer, am sure you will get a nice deal :-). Try for the spoiler with LED (like in the 1.6S, though its without LED) keep us posted. and welcome to the club Ashish
	() Thanks

28th August 2009, 18:04	#6
vnabhi Senior - BHPian Join Date: May 2007 Location: DC -> DC Posts: 5,958 Thanked: 2,393 Times View My Garage	Nice decision oss, and welcome to the Go Fida club!
	() Thanks

28th August 2009, 18:14	#7
unni.ak BHPian Join Date: May 2007 Location: Bangalore Posts: 777 Thanked: 84 Times View My Garage	Congrats OSS. Wishing you miles of exciting and troublefree drive. Oh and what does "es de una belleza deslumbrante" mean? I'm challenged with English, forget the rest!!
	() Thanks

28th August 2009, 19:40	#11
funkydude BHPian Join Date: Aug 2009 Location: Noida Posts: 110 Thanked: 54 Times	Absolutely the right decision made. Fiesta TDCi has the proven and tested engine. Driving would be a breeze on a Fiesta. Compared to others in the segment, Fiesta is a value for money. I have a the all new ford ikon TDCi, running on the same fiesta engine. Must admit, pickup on this diesel engine is mind blowing. Congrats!! for your new car.
	() Thanks

28th August 2009, 21:26	#13
kumar7 BHPian Join Date: Aug 2009 Location: Pune Posts: 320 Thanked: 28 Times View My Garage	Congratulations OSS! So in September we will be having series of Diesel Fiestas who will be ruling BHP Forum I really agree that the initial turbo pickup is mind blowing and as soon as I felt that I decided I got the car I am looking for! Its difficult to move your Dil from 1.6S to standard variant and I also gone through this experience. I liked the 15' Alloys of 1.6S but the interior didn't impressed me much. Initially I thought about upgrading it to 15' alloy but later dropped the idea as Ford is totally against it so don't want to lose the warranty. Please share your negotiation experience with dealer as I feel this is the very funny part and we go for several rounds to get best deal
	() Thanks

28th August 2009, 21:38	#14
karanraheja Senior - BHPian Join Date: Feb 2008 Location: Coimbatore Posts: 1,961 Thanked: 436 Times	Congrats OSS. I kinda got a hint of your interest towards Ford in some threads. Fiesta TDCI is a brilliant car. How much did it work out OTR? Any discounts? Pics Please!!!
	() Thanks

29th August 2009, 01:08	#15
raamki BHPian Join Date: Jul 2009 Location: Bangalore Posts: 395 Thanked: 97 Times View My Garage	halalooyaaaa!! the fiesta is right up there with the linea's and the punto's on the forum at the moment!! es de una belleza deslumbrante, indeed!! congrats my pal and welcome to the club!! am not sure about the 15 inch rims, but as far as tires are concerned, i guess XM1+ is the way to go!! although, am still running on stock for the moment!! Go Fida!!
	() Thanks