[witwiky]

I wish to extend a warm thank you to everyone here writing anything and everything about the Ford Figo since March 2010 because my decision to buy the Figo has been largely due to the positive reviews, initial ownership reports and responses to threads by all of you very helpful members here!
So the story goes something like this:
In March 2010, I was not even remotely planning to buy a car for myself thinking that the EMI would be too much to handle. Somewhere, sometime in April I came across the specs of a new car – Ford Figo and I loved it. I checked the prices, found it affordable and took a TD, the SP at Planet Ford, Satara Road, Pune was very helpful, came across as a trustworthy gentleman. He explained to me the payment break-up and EMI details. I went home did some rough calculations and arrived at a conclusion that a car in this price range would be ok to handle. Oh, did I mention, I also TD’ed the Chevrolet Beat before this and I did not like the car because it was not spacious and did not find it powerful enough.
What would I use the car for?
Me and my wife are travel freaks and have made travel plans for every weekend from the day we got the car till March 2011 (exaggeration included). I will be using Figo to drive about 30 kms per day in the city and over 150 kms over the weekend. Also, I travel very regularly on the Mumbai-Pune Expressway and I have come to believe that this drive is the ultimate way to test a cars versatility, dynamics and power. I would need a car that would be great to drive on the expressway, highway and in the city.
How did I get my car?
I applied for an auto loan from HDFC Bank on April 12, it was approved within 3 days, negotiated the interest rate with the loan manager and freezed on 9.75 percent.
[Here’s a tip to negotiate loans in banks: call up the call center of the bank’s loan dept., initiate a process to apply for a loan, negotiate the best rate of interest they can offer you. Next day, go the bank branch and speak to the loan manager at the same bank’s branch and inquire about a loan, initiate a loan application process there, negotiate the best rate of interest with this guy as well. Wait for 2 days and see who calls you first, the call center or the branch, speak to the first one to call and ask them to freeze on a lower interest rate than initially quoted or you will go their colleague who has offered you a better rate. I followed this procedure and negotiated the rate of interest from 11 percent to 9.75 percent]
I was asked to make a down payment of 25k by the SP at Planet Ford, told him I would pay only 10k first, he agreed, booked Figo on April 19, Colour: Panther Black Variant: Zxi TDCI. I was told that the waiting time would be atleast 30 days a max. of 45 days. I agreed.
My bank loan was disbursed to the dealer’s account on April 23, I got a call from the SP on the same day that he had an EXI (Petrol) in Silver colour available, I declined the offer. He phoned the next day and offered me a ZXI (Diesel) Sea Grey colour which was in stock. I told him to wait till next morning. Went home, checked what a Sea Grey colour looked like on the corporate website of Figo. Let me tell you folks, the colours on that website are not a good representation of what the car would really look in a respective colour. I called the SP the same day and said no. Later in the night while going through T-BHP, I came across pictures of the Sea Grey Figo and I loved the colour, even better than Panther Black, my wife agreed. Called the SP next day and told him to allocate that car to me. On April 30, I took the delivery of my new Figo!

11 days flat from booking to delivery.

[witwiky]

Driving experience:
The car has been a pleasure to drive so far. There has been almost no Turbo lag compared to all cars running on the Fiat’s MJD engines. I have driven 1400+ kms so far on highways, in cities (Pune and Mumbai) and some strenuous ghat sections. The engine response is superb.
Pros (apart from the ones mentioned by other members before):
1) After driving on the expressway with a top speed of 140 kpmh, I found the car to be extremely stable, like a sedan. Even without ABS, the car brakes well, the 4th and 5th gear pickup is also good.
2) Good build quality (I will tell you why: Yesterday an Indica bumped into my Figo from behind in Pune traffic, I was surprised to see there was not even a scratch on the rear bumper, reason: the bumper is extremely flexible and bends inwards if pressed by hand lightly and hence could absorb a jerk like that!)
3) If you buy a top end variant of this car, you do not need to take this car to any after-market products’ shop for accessorizing it. It’s on road price is really on road price apart from the standard sun films, polishing, waxing and mats.
4) The sound system is very good. Bluetooth works flawlessly well. (Ford has grown by leaps and bounds in the infotainment area recently)
5) The area covered by the headlights is good and does not need at upgrade of headlamps as of now.
6) Good fuel efficiency – 16 to 17 kmpl (Tank full to tank full method)
Cons (Again the ones not mentioned before):
1) The quality of the Fuel cap lock is not upto the mark. Ford has used plastic there and I have my doubts on the longevity of the lock.
2) The ICE that comes with Figo does not have an USB drive plug point, though the system is enabled with an USB drive reading circuit. Question is if it costs just Rs 1,100 as an accessory, might as well include it with the package. USB is now almost a standard feature in car audio systems.
3) There is scope for improvement on the interiors of the Figo. With the use of blue LED in the dashboard (ref: the new i20) gaining presence in the Indian market, the Figo owners will feel a little left out.
4) From my experience so far, if you want to focus on getting optimum FE from Figo, you need to be really skilled in driving your Figo to extract the best FE. The right gear ratios, speed, etc. which is a little difficult in the city traffic.
5) The reverse gear is not as powerful as the first gear which is normally the case in most cars. Engine stalls in most cases if not used properly.
Fuel Efficiency:
I have driven the Figo on highways, expressways, ghats, cities and bad roads. My driving style is, you could say a little spirited. With 50-50 highway-city combo and two cycles of tank full to tank full method of FE calculations later, I have got FE of 17.3 kmpl in the first cycle and 16.5 kmpl in the second cycle.
I was pretty happy at this considering the reviews on T-BHP of Figo regarding FE were disappointing.
Below is how I (try) to drive my car and AFAIK is the reason to get this kind of FE:
0-15 kmph – 1st gear
15-40 kmph – 2nd gear
40-60 kmph – 3rd gear
60-90 kmph – 4th gear
90-140 kmph – 5th gear
I try not to let the tacho cross 3000 rpms. Also, avoid running the car without the turbo kicked in (keep your engine above 1500 rpm).
Maintain a pressure of 32 psi in all four tyres.
Keeping my fingers crossed for better FE after the first service!
Issues cropping up so far in my car:
1) The rear left window rolls down (a little bit) voluntarily after consistent high speed driving.
2) The rear left speaker responds badly to higher levels of bass output.
3) Front right power window shrieks while open-close function, needs lubrication I guess.
Will keep posting new experiences of my relationship with my Figo as and when it happens.

[nkrishnap]

Congrats on the Figo. The color looks nice. Nice FE as well.

Do enjoy many more miles on the FIGO

[esteemer]

Oh she looks great. Awesome colour choice.

I love the 5th pic.

I suppose you must have gone through "the Running in your vehicle" thread. If not, then do go through it.

[Utopian]

Congrats witwiky for the Sea Gray Figo. Most VFM hatchback currently on offer.
OMG!!! 140kmph on a new car is way too much. Be easy on the car for first thousand kms.
Happy mile crunching with the oil burnder.

[vikram.vns]

Congrats and you are a lucky man to get the delivery in flat 11 days.

I too like the 5th picture and Figo looks awesome in Sea Grey.

[gemithomas]

COngrats Witwiky. 11 days from booking to delivery? You must be one of those lucky ones. Ah! yes. Those F.E figures are showing it. You indeed seem to be lucky. :LOL

You use your 5th gear only after 90 and 4th gear only after 60!!! And still you are getting this kind of F.E. That sounds pretty interesting. But does that mean you dont even use 4th and 5th gears while driving in city.!!??

[sumathindra]

Originally Posted by witwiky

11 days flat from booking to delivery.

Ditto, i got delivery in 10 days flat. I was given the same color option as you have now however decided to settle for my silver ghost!!! Happy motoring...

[xingamazon]

Congrats on your new car, the car color seems to be good enough as you said in photos than in the website.

I wanted to know if the dealer allowed you to perform PDI or not, how was the response from him, given the fact that there doesnt seem to be a std procedure across Ford dealership.

[Latheesh]

Congrats on your new babe, and she looks beautiful in this colour.

[Schoudhury]

Congrats .
Yes the color really looks nice .
Yes go through the "Running in your vehicle" thread,it will help in long term

Cheers

[witwiky]

Originally Posted by gemithomas

COngrats Witwiky. 11 days from booking to delivery? You must be one of those lucky ones. Ah! yes. Those F.E figures are showing it. You indeed seem to be lucky. :LOL

You use your 5th gear only after 90 and 4th gear only after 60!!! And still you are getting this kind of F.E. That sounds pretty interesting. But does that mean you dont even use 4th and 5th gears while driving in city.!!??

Yes, guess was one of the lucky one. About the FE, I dont think that is something we should rely on luck. But yes, I hope everyone including me gets the best out of their cars and Figos.

Most common gear I use to drive in city is 2nd and 3rd gear.

[witwiky]

Originally Posted by xingamazon

Congrats on your new car, the car color seems to be good enough as you said in photos than in the website.

I wanted to know if the dealer allowed you to perform PDI or not, how was the response from him, given the fact that there doesnt seem to be a std procedure across Ford dealership.

Well, when I was told that the car was allotted to me, I wanted to see the car before making the balance payment. He readily agreed and took me to the yard and showed me the car.

After that I asked for the PDI checklist, he informed that the workshop does the technical PDI themselves and then on the day of the delivery I (as a customer) can do a second level of PDI, for that he took me to the car gave me a checklist and made me approve on each item including demos to electricals, electronics, engine maintenance, spare tyre, emergency measure, etc.

So in all, I think they were pretty systematic and professional in their approach.

[witwiky]

Originally Posted by esteemer

Oh she looks great. Awesome colour choice.

I suppose you must have gone through "the Running in your vehicle" thread. If not, then do go through it.

Is there a particular thread you are referring to or these are the running in threads of all similar vehicles?

[gr8guzzler]

Congrats! witwiky. Isn't the ride stiff with 32 PSi? The recommended Tyre pressure is 30 PSi.