Hello. Fantastic thread Mr. Nair. Thank you,and apologies for the long post.
I hope this is an appropriate place to ask my questions (Mods: please excuse me if this location is not right and do divert me to the correct thread).
I have a Palio 1.2 and need to upgrade now. I test drove the 1.6S at Bhavna Ford, Santacruz a couple of days ago.
What a car! I had a silly smile on my face for pretty much the whole drive. Just love the whole look, the sporty, "ready to rocket" stance, and boy. what an engine!
I was considering the new SX4, the i20 CRDi, and the Linea apart from the Fiesta and I am sold on the 1.6S! To my mind, its buy it now, or in Feb 2010.
The overall experience at Bhavna was also good. Bhavna Ford looks to be one of the better service centers too. The sales guy did not try to sell me the moon, neither did he push the Zxi for stock clearance sake. He did mention that they have pretty good bookings this month, around 250+. I was at the Showroom / Service center for nearly 2.5 hours and had a long chat with him about service, maintenance issues and the usual "high cost of maintenance" thingy. Ford seems to have woken up to address these issues now. A few things he mentioned:
- Apart from minor cosmetic changes, and an engine tweak for the BSIV norms, no major changes to the Fiesta in 2010.
- For 2010, Ford will be focused on the Figo. Sales staff will be on a a training program from 15th - 25th Dec.
- There is a plan only, to re-launch the Mondeo with a 1.8L engine, pricing upwards of Rs.16L. Can't say how reliable this info is.
- There may be a small price hike in Jan 2010, but no official word as yet.
Regarding prices and discounts for the 1.6S:
Ex - Showroom Mumbai: Rs. 750477
Life tax: Rs 59733
Insurance: Rs 30223
Depot Charges: Rs 2000
3rd year/20K kms warranty: Rs 5530
Total: Rs. 847963
Discount on OTR Price: Rs 35000
Net: Rs. 812963
Additional Option: 2+2 years/1.5L km warranty: Rs 9980
Car will have underbody anti-rust done by Ford (???). Do car companies do this, or is it the dealer who does this at extra?
Exchange bonus of Rs 10,000 in case I exchange my Palio.
A verbal offer to give floor mats, mud flaps and small accessories like idol and perfume in this deal.
Schemes are controlled by Ford and not by the dealer, therefore he cannot extend the cash discount beyond Rs 35k.
Applicable till 13th Dec 2009, subject to stock availability.
Car will be a Nov 2009 manufactured model, if I book within 13th Dec.
Does this seem OK? Is the discount normally on the OTR price or the Ex - showroom price?
I intend to keep the car for 5 years, so I am not too concerned about the Nov or Dec 2009 issue, considering that the discount now, may offset any potential re-sale value loss because of Mfg. year.
However, does one need to be concerned, in any way, about the BS norms, or Euro norms, since the existing engine is BSIII. I do remember a mention of this in one of the earlier posts on this thread.
I am a little confused abt whether this deal seems to be good enough. The car is a beauty...just can't wait to get my hands on her.