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15th October 2009, 11:59
| #1 |
| BHPian  Join Date: Sep 2009 Location: Bangalore
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| Ford Fiesta 1.6 SXI! I read…I went… I saw… I drove… but it conquered!!! I have taken more than six months of time to take one decision in life (maybe, dint think so much even to choose my girl!  ) and I guess its worth to share my experience with all car enthusiasts. Yes, I am talking about the decision of buying the Ford Fiesta 1.6 sxi (Morello). The story started just like how it is for many others; the tagline being “I want to upgrade to a sedan from my Alto which I have been driving for around 2 years”. And the same questions came to my mind – “which car? In what budget? Petrol or diesel? Powerful or fuel efficient? European or non European? … First the budget was fixed at around 8 lacs and then I decided to go for a Petrol car as my usage is not very high and more importantly I want a powerful vehicle. I wanted a car which I would love to drive. I have ripped my poor alto at 140 kmph (my display pic was taken when I was driving  ) So I wanted a car of my own which can do 150 kmph without crying too much. So three of the above questions were answered i.e. 8 lacs, Petrol, powerful yet Fuel efficient!!. I realized European or non European shouldn’t be a criterion. So I now start short-listing cars which meet one or more of my expectations below. And the following cars came to my focus. The following is my state of mind in February 2009 All New Honda City – wow! It looks so good. So sleek, looks sporty. Guess should be powerful too. Ford Fiesta 1.6 - Oh its powerful! Stayed in Mumbai for 45 days once and my cab was a fiesta (diesel). But rather than a driver, I had a pilot. Yes, he used to fly in the busy Mumbai roads and kept on telling me that it is because of the great handling of the car. Then got a chance to drive friend’s Fiesta (again diesel) on a 60 km stretch and I did agree to my Mumbai driver. If diesel is so good, then petrol should be even better Fiat Linea – Admiration guaranteed! Yes, saw the car and fell for it. Nothing else came to my mind except ‘I want to own this beauty’. Oh! So many features. That adds to my desire SX4 – It's a man thing! Looks muscular but somehow looks unfinished or crude. Looks so big as well. Well, worth a trial Hyundai Verna – heard that it's a good car. But looks as if someone has chopped off it's a**. Doesn't feel big at all. The small cars of Hyundai are good but is it the same about the big cars as well Swift Dzire – Swift is a good car but Dzire looks messed up. It looks disproportionate. Will it be a big car in a small cars engine? No I don't want this. Skoda Fabia – it's a SKODA! Have driven my friend’s fabia lots and its indeed a nice car Chevy Aveo – Oh! No GM please. With this list, it time to filter even further and have my options cut to 2 or 3. So I started doing a detailed analysis/ test drives and here is my impression about these cars by July 2009 All New Honda City – Have sat in my colleague’s Honda city a few times and every time, it takes a hit in one of the famous Bangalore bumps. I don't want my new car to get hurt everyday. But the engine specs are good. So worth further analysis. But then, it is little above my budget as well and doesn't prove to be value for money. I felt it was more money for the brand than for the car. I wasn't really impressed by the interiors as well. So my score is 45/100. JUST PASS! Ford Fiesta 1.6 – I am already biased. I know this car is good. And it perfectly fits into my budget. So I immediately call for a TD. I test drove the 1.6S model and it was a flyer. Was absolutely impressed by the engine. The interiors weren’t so great. But the dealer assured me that sxi interiors are far better. Went to a showroom to see the sxi and I did like the interiors as well. So fiesta 1.6 sxi is a good option. But I should additionally put alloy wheels so that would cost around 25K more. But overall all, it definitely exceeds my expectations. So my score is 70/100. FIRST CLASS! Fiat Linea – Love at first sight! So went for a test drive immediately. Sat in the car – Wow! ; Felt the car – Wow! ; Start the car and heard the engine sound – Good! ; put first gear and move – Whats wrong! Did I forget to release the Hand brake??? ; drive for one km around Diary circle traffic – oh my god! It is better to drive an alto. This has the same power as my alto but is even bigger and heavier; parked the car and analyzed the features – good! ; saw the plastic quality – Yuck! So my overall score is 20/100. FAIL! SX4 – Again, this is worth a Test Drive as it looks manly and it also fits into my budget. When I sit in the car, I dint feel it to be so big. The car looked to be powerful and it was not refined. The handling was not so great that I can use all its power. Overall the car did not have a rich feeling at all. To add to it, the dealer did not have answers to all my questions and I didn’t have a positive feeling after my test drive. So my score is 30/100. FAIL! Hyundai Verna – I had recently bought an i10 for my fiancée. So I knew the Hyundai dealer well and asked him about Verna. He was very enthusiastic and I was also impressed by the engine specs. I requested for a Test Drive immediately. The interiors were more spacious than I expected. The road view was even better. And the power was too good. My fiancée liked the interiors as well. I drove on a lengthy stretch and the car was really powerful. But I had to change gears often. Even a small speed breaker couldn't be crossed in 2nd gear. And then there was a Honda city which overtook me. This woke the animal in me and since it wasn't my own car I wanted to go for the kill. I transferred all my energy onto the gas pedal and in no time the City was behind me. Well the car can really go fast. So my overall score is 70/100. FIRST CLASS! Swift Dzire – maybe biased again. But I don't really like the car. It doesn't look big, doesn't look good and doesn't impress me at all. So dint go for a test drive at all. So ELIMINATED! Skoda Fabia – I know it's a nice car. I have driven it for more than 500 kms. So I don't need a test drive again. The only problem is that it isn’t a Sedan. Its more of a small car. It also is too expensive for its size. After a lot of analysis and thought this car is also REJECTED! So now my choices are Fiesta, Verna and ANHC. But ANHC is only secondary option and every second person I know who is buying a sedan is choosing this car only. So it is becoming very common on the roads and I took this off as well from my choice. So now it is really between Fiesta and Verna. The research now becomes more IT oriented. I collected as much information as possible about these two cars, read reviews and finally bumped into Team-bhp. I saw the threads of Shaju, Raamki, Vnabhi, FrankMetha etc and then did one more round of test drives of both these cars. Then comes the news of sxi premium which makes my decision making even easier. I wanted to put alloys and this car comes with it and it also looks face lifted. Finally, I decided that it should be a FIESTA! Fiesta won over better handling, better reviews, better feel of the car, plush interiors etc. Had it been a diesel car, then my obvious choice would have been the Verna. But Fiesta wins over Verna in the Petrol version. So that exactly summarizes how I decided on my car. Now come the next questions – Which dealer? Which color? I was negotiating with both Lathangi and Metro Ford in Bangalore. Although the quotes were the same, Metro won over in terms of freebies, customer focus etc. Since it's the new sxi, dark color was the preference. Fiancée liked black the most but for known reasons black wasn't immediately welcome by everyone in the family. So the next available choice was Morello. So here it is – Ford Fiesta 1.6 sxi Morello from Metro Ford Bangalore. I booked the vehicle on 20th September and the dealer first told that he will give the delivery by Sep End. But the next day, they called me again and said that ‘Ford has stopped production!!!! Temporarily and that he can deliver my car only by 15th october’. I could hardly believe his reasoning. I was disappointed but had no other choice but to wait. So my endless wait continued and all through this while my dealer was always prompt and friendly and kept me updated. Finally my car arrived at their Godown by the 7th itself and I was promptly given delivery on the 09th October. The following are the freebies that I got with the car. Sunfilm – Garware, mats and flaps, Body cover (I don't have a covered car park). I also bargained the ford spoiler for Rs. 6000 from the quoted Rs. 8000. Te car was delivered with all accessories fitted and the whole delivery process was butter smooth. I have driven around 240 kms so far and I have no words to describe my happiness and excitement. It has solid power and is very good to drive. Very good to handle and very responsive Engine. I can literally talk to the car using my fingers and legs and it listens to all my signals promptly. Wow! What a car I am taking it on a long drive today with my friends. I am going to drive on the Bangalore Salem highway and I just cannot wait for my journey to start… Will post some pictures of my priceless possession soon. |
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15th October 2009, 12:39
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| Senior - BHPian  | |
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15th October 2009, 13:54
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15th October 2009, 14:49
| #4 |
| BHPian  Join Date: Aug 2009 Location: Bangalore
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15th October 2009, 14:59
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| Senior - BHPian | |
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15th October 2009, 15:14
| #6 | |||
| BHPian Join Date: Sep 2009 Location: Bangalore
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| Thank you all for the wishes Quote:
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Its the same for me. I am starting to like all the chrome. I am loving the Morello color even more now. Yes, pics will come up soon. | |||
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15th October 2009, 16:01
| #7 |
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| Congratulations mate! and enjoy the long drive ! Please observe the engine rpm in the sun in period so it stays butter smooth for ever ! Most of all, Enjoy!  |
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15th October 2009, 16:11
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| Senior - BHPian | |
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15th October 2009, 21:42
| #9 |
| BHPian  | After August month's rule to go for platinum now is it September months  to go for Morello color? Congratulations and post your delivery experience too  Last edited by kumar7 : 15th October 2009 at 21:44. |
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15th October 2009, 22:14
| #10 |
| BHPian Join Date: Jun 2009 Location: Chennai
Posts: 333
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15th October 2009, 22:45
| #11 |
| BHPian  Join Date: Feb 2005 Location: Chennai
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16th October 2009, 10:58
| #12 |
| BHPian Join Date: Sep 2009 Location: Bangalore
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| Again, thanks all for your wishes. Yesterday's drive was awsome. It is really a driver's car. and (un)fortunately, during the drive i had to apply sudden brakes thrice. Once, because a lorry came into my lane without any signal, and later because a car abruptly stopped ahead of me and once more because someone crossing the highway dropped something on the road and came back to the road to pick it up. All three times, fiesta's brakes proved to be very effective and I could feel the iimportance of the ABS. My alto would have crashed or skidded on at least two of these occasions. I was very hard to keep a check on the rpm. very hard indeed. I couldnt succeed after around 50 kms and for the rest of the 250 kms, the rpm was hovering around the 3K mark only  . Really hope it doesnt take a toll on the engine. But the overall driving experience was great. My parents saw my new car for the first time today and they also liked the interiors and the color. Morello indeed is a very nice color. I will be out of town for another 5 days and dont have a camera with me. So wouldnt be able to post pics until then. |
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16th October 2009, 13:54
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| BHPian  | hey jack, awesome comparo there mate!! congrats again on the morello!! yep, the brakes are super effective!! my fiesta went through a similar routine (braking) not long ago on purpose though by a service personnel trying to fix a noise that was originating from the brake shoes. anyway, all's well now!! come back and treat us with pictures man, i guess your's is the only morello sxi premium on the forum!! bring it on buddy!! |
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22nd October 2009, 17:02
| #14 |
| BHPian Join Date: Sep 2009 Location: Bangalore
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| I am back in Bangalore after the trip. I used to cover the same distance in my alto in 5.5 hours and yesterday it took me only 4.5 hours  in my Biesta. But I observed a strange creeking noise in uneven roads. it was as if some bolts have become loose. It was so scarry that I stopped the car and checked every bolt of the wheels. But i did not have any other option but to contibnue and reach home safely. i couldnt figure out from where this noise was coming  And today morning this noise is gone! Has anyone faced this before? |
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22nd October 2009, 17:57
| #15 |
| BHPian  Join Date: Aug 2009 Location: bangalore
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Thanked: 809 Times
| @Jack - Congrats and welcome to the Club. great writeup and a nice rating system, pass fail . wishing you many safe and happy miles in your Fiesta. Please do post pics Go Fida |
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