My Ford Figo ZXI TDCi

deevilslair · 13th May 2010, 21:07

First of all thanks for all of you following the thread. Can't quote everyone of you so let me clear a few things upfront:-

1) Got stuck with a agonizingly slow internet connection. So couldn't upload photos and continue the thread

2) Yes, got delivery of the car, and have already driven 700 kms in 6 days. You shall see more of that in part III

3) The color is Sea Grey - Hence the title, The Grey Devil

4) And utter dismay is not with the Car, and as you would see (and perhaps relate to as you read on) is with the people who deliver it to us.

Now for the Part I : Pre Booking

I've been contemplating my first car for quite some time now and after months and months of gleaning reviews, test drives, comparisons etc., I zeroed on the Swift - As a clear winner as the best VFM performance Hatchback. Moreover I belonged to the group of people who adored the swift's looks, so it was swift, the love of my life all the way till I booked a VXI.

Act II : Enter a few more test drives and reviews, Puntos and Quadrajets and diesel vs petrol arguments - my choice progressed from VXI to VDI. There was no long waiting lines for this one as my old friend in Maruti promised to arrange my car delivered in 2-3 weeks. And I was dreaming of my new and improved first love

Act III : Enter the temptress - Ford Figo
I had seen the figo earlier in lot of scoops and forums and it had not seemed that impressive. I had decided to pass on this one and stick to my good old selection. Then came the Mega Launch and Prices were announced and WOW. I Thought i might as well give it a look.

As I was searching more about the car online, I stumbled upon Team-BHP and of course GTO's awesome review. This review actually made me walk up to the showroom and get behind the wheel. The fact that this had the acclaimed TDCI engine as the fiesta's only made it more enticing, and then I went on that 'fateful' test drive.

Act IV : The Test Drive
Lot has already been said about how the figo drives. Well the test drive was all of that and much more. I was completely sold on the way the vehicle handled. It felt much larger than it was from inside - both in terms of space and the drive feel. Some things that made me fall in love with the car (ahead of the swift)

- The seating position and the road view - absolutely amazing
- Cabin, airy and nice. Not claustrophobic and dark.
- The steering wheel was very nice and chunky to hold. Looked classy compared to the sedate maruti.
- The low rev turbo spooling made it a hoot to drive. It felt so much like a petrol car.
- Cabin noise insulation was decent.

And then the thing that really made the biggest difference, the drive feel. It handled as a sedan, especially in the turns and corners. I was immediately sold on to this.

After a couple of days of hair pulling calculations and comparisons - finally figo it was.

So thats curtains on the first Part : Pre Booking. Photos and the most important part - the dealership experiences are coming below.

deevilslair · 13th May 2010, 21:14

Some pictures soon after taking delivery and during a short road trip.

deevilslair · 13th May 2010, 21:34

Part II : Booking and the Dealership Experience

After finally cancelling the Swift, I headed straight for booking my new Ford Figo. Having stumbled upon Team BHP, I decided to do some research on the two Ford Dealers in Chennai before selecting one. Since the ratings were more or less the same, I decided to visit both of them (and thereby test drive the car also longer)

Act I : MPL Ford

The people were courteous and showed me the car. However their product knowledge was terrible. (Maybe all of them should be given copies of the review here on this site).

The more I looked at the car, the more I began to like it. Choosing the color was a tough one as we did not have much choices. I would have loved the Maroon on the fiesta offered on the figo as well.

However, choosing the dash color was the easiest because the Coral Dash seemed atrocious. (My Opinion only as these preferences are very subjective, however, I for a moment thought that the Guava inspired Squeeze and Coral combo was actually designed by color blind artists)

I gave my contact details to the Sales Con there and headed to the next showroom.

Act II : Chennai Ford

This showroom was much more spacious than the cramped MPL Showroom in Teynampet. The cars were also parked in a bigger 'courtyard' which gave the confidence that your new car wont attract scratches just during parking at the showroom. So overall the dealer point looked better.

The sales con though was as good (or bad) as the one at MPL. People kept telling fictious stories about the car and its impending success and also claiming mileages upwards of 16 for the petrol and 20 for the diesel

After another round of test drive (i just loved driving the figo) I handed my details and headed home.

Act III : Responses

As I was getting a loan from the company, I had a lot of questions for the dealers. Somehow it seemed that MPL ford was not interested in selling cars to people taking loans. They just stopped answering calls or doubts. At one point of time, I felt as though I was the one trying to sell my car to them.

Chennai ford's response was much better. As this was my first purchase, I was apprehensive on each and every step - but they guided me through the process nicely and that fateful day I decided to skip MPL and chose Chennai Ford for delivering me my Figo.

Further details on the dealer experiences following soon. Mods please allow me another day as my laptop is out of juice and I need to head away.

mTorque · 13th May 2010, 21:43

Glad that i'm the first one to wish you happy miles! Nice colour dude, any ICE or upgrade planned?

BheemBoy · 13th May 2010, 21:59

Congrats on your new FIGO. So many Figo threads, gettting difficult to catch up with Figo

gemithomas · 13th May 2010, 22:02

nice report. precise and crisp

SilkDrive · 13th May 2010, 22:32

Congrats on the new Figo - One of the best among the diesel hatches in the country by any standards. A very good choice of colour. The sea grey and the black look really fab on the Figo. Please keep pouring in more pictures. Happy Fi-going !!

Brix · 14th May 2010, 11:47

Nice DL - Congrats !

You have a lot of patience, I just took the popular route for all my decisions regarding the Figo.

deevilslair · 15th May 2010, 17:44

Continuing from where I had left last time, and this time its going to be much shorter and crisper, akin to bullet points.

Ford Dealership Experience

1. Less than average ordinary and the worst part was the lack of transparency.
Beginning from the delivery dates (which still remain shrouded in mystery) to accessory prices, deals, tax and rto charges there was complete lack of transparency which definitely affects trust. Agreed, this was my first experience in buying a car, but then when one spends a fortune on a depreciating movable asset, you do not expect the dealer to be liability. Some key sore points:-

- Sales Con has no clue of the selling points about the car. I've mentioned this before and it seemed that I was taking a training session for him on Figo

- The car prices aren't consistent across dealers and they have no genuine explanations for that. I had earlier posted this on this forum too.

http://www.team-bhp.com/forum/indian...ml#post1857732

There was a clear difference in end prices for the car across dealerships within the state but mine could never give a proper explanation.

- The 'fleet discount' for certain companies that ford has again was not offered. This was given to me as 'alms' only when i put my foot down and insisted. Thanks to team-bhp for that.

These incidents only made me doubt every word the dealership said. So the dealership experience was the trough of the roller coaster ride that owning the figo has been. Of course the car and the ride has been the crest

deevilslair · 17th May 2010, 23:49

Its been about a week since I got my figo delivered and it has been an amazing pet to play with. I enjoy the driving even more now, far better fun than the test drive. In fact I've already clocked 800 kilometers in 8 days with the vehicle now

(Had been on a road / trek trip to Tiruvannamalai, shall post some pics soon)

Some amazing pluses on the car so far:-

- Great pickup and engine response. Doesn't feel like a diesel at all. Zippy to drive and low end turbo makes it truly responsive.

- I kind of like the low rev nature of diesels. (I am new to diesels). The car feels more in control and softer and easier to handle.

- The car is simply amazing on the highways. I struck to keeping the car below 3K RPM max, limiting my highway top speed to about 100kmph only but still the car was amazing. It handled very well and the ride was mind blowing. In fact it feels like driving a much much bigger car.

- Seat comfort is good. Tweaking with the height adjustment and push back controls I could set the seat for nice lumbar support. I did not feel any driving fatigue at all.

- Steering is very good, gives nice road feel. Hydraulic power steerings rock.

- AC is super chilling. On a super hot chennai summer, I could manage comfortably with the position on '1' for most of the journey. (with one co passenger)

Overall, the car is - beauty and the beast. Beauty outside and a beast inside. Great ride, handling, stability and gives a big car feel. But for the sub par dealership experience (which, going by posts on this forum, seems better compared to other ford dealers) this car deserves a perfect 10 for ownership experience

Amartya · 18th May 2010, 01:47

Thanks for sharing the buying experience and the overall review. The Figo has truly set the cat among the pigeons in the small car segment. Goes to show that Ford India did it's homework really well. I hope that the dealership experience improves as well.

If you don't mind my asking, did you get the chance to test drive the Punto MJD?

witwiky · 18th May 2010, 10:13

Quote:

Originally Posted by deevilslair

It feels like driving a much much bigger car.

- Seat comfort is good. Tweaking with the height adjustment and push back controls I could set the seat for nice lumbar support. I did not feel any driving fatigue at all.

- Steering is very good, gives nice road feel. Hydraulic power steerings rock.

- AC is super chilling. On a super hot chennai summer, I could manage comfortably with the position on '1' for most of the journey. (with one co passenger)

deserves a perfect 10 for ownership experience

Agree!

I just did a 1200 km road trip over 3 days with my Figo TDCi and I did not feel tired at all. It is a No Problem Car, so far.

sathya79 · 18th May 2010, 18:56

Excellent choice of colour deevilslair, I too have booked a Sea Grey (but with Coral dash) Figo 1.4 D Titanium last week with Lathangi Ford. The ETD promised is 4 weeks. Feels reassuring to see that you are enjoying driving her. I'm sure the turbo is addictive. Enjoy the driving.

My only concerns were on the low FE and the lack of rear/front bumpers (i mean decent sized bumpers which are at par with the competition). Read a few reports (in some of the ownership threads) where the 'bumper' and the boot door was damaged because of minor accidents. Hope these issues should not become showstoppers for potential figo buyers. What's your opinion?

deevilslair · 21st May 2010, 00:54

Quote:

Originally Posted by sathya79

My only concerns were on the low FE and the lack of rear/front bumpers (i mean decent sized bumpers which are at par with the competition). Read a few reports (in some of the ownership threads) where the 'bumper' and the boot door was damaged because of minor accidents. Hope these issues should not become showstoppers for potential figo buyers. What's your opinion?

On the one hand, yes the bumper is almost non existent, especially in the front, but then I don't think we should encounter problems with the that under normal driving conditions. How many of us actually bump our car head on into something in even a complete ownership cycle? However, with the figo, it seems quite possible that some stupid driver who reversed hard and knocked your beauty in the nose would end up damaging the ac pipes too. However, I am sure this is NOT a shows topper.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Amartya

Thanks for sharing the buying experience and the overall review. The Figo has truly set the cat among the pigeons in the small car segment. Goes to show that Ford India did it's homework really well. I hope that the dealership experience improves as well.

If you don't mind my asking, did you get the chance to test drive the Punto MJD?

Hi Amartya,

Of course I Test Drove the Punto too. In fact, I had checked the punto before deciding on the swift, before Figo forced itself into the scene. Definitely an amazing car. Some great pluses like great handling, steering feel, equipment and of course styling. The engine is a hoot too (it after all feeds tha swift and the vista too). You would get most of these up to a 90% in the figo too. Ride and handling definitely goo, so is the engine etc.,

However, one thing that Figo beats the Punto is the price. Simply killer pricing by Ford on the Figo. I somehow feel that the swift and palio are little overpriced cars too.

cossack · 21st May 2010, 02:39

Quote:

Originally Posted by deevilslair

Hi All,

So here comes yet another Figo Ownership Thread. After a lot of research, analysis, 3 bookings and 2 cancellations I finally stopped at the Ford Figo ZXI TDCI
Well, the car has been all that it has been written about to be as in this forum - and much more. It has been an absolute roller coaster ride between extreme exhilaration and utter dismay ever since I booked this car

Posting my experiences with the car, the dealer and the drive and some pictures to begin with.

Welcome to the club deevilslair, I really can relate to the '3 bookings 2 cancellations' part here LOL.

~

13th May 2010, 21:07	#1
deevilslair BHPian Join Date: Apr 2010 Location: Bengaluru Posts: 57 Thanked: 102 Times	My Ford Figo ZXI TDCi First of all thanks for all of you following the thread. Can't quote everyone of you so let me clear a few things upfront:- 1) Got stuck with a agonizingly slow internet connection. So couldn't upload photos and continue the thread 2) Yes, got delivery of the car, and have already driven 700 kms in 6 days. You shall see more of that in part III 3) The color is Sea Grey - Hence the title, The Grey Devil 4) And utter dismay is not with the Car, and as you would see (and perhaps relate to as you read on) is with the people who deliver it to us. Now for the Part I : Pre Booking I've been contemplating my first car for quite some time now and after months and months of gleaning reviews, test drives, comparisons etc., I zeroed on the Swift - As a clear winner as the best VFM performance Hatchback. Moreover I belonged to the group of people who adored the swift's looks, so it was swift, the love of my life all the way till I booked a VXI. Act II : Enter a few more test drives and reviews, Puntos and Quadrajets and diesel vs petrol arguments - my choice progressed from VXI to VDI. There was no long waiting lines for this one as my old friend in Maruti promised to arrange my car delivered in 2-3 weeks. And I was dreaming of my new and improved first love Act III : Enter the temptress - Ford Figo I had seen the figo earlier in lot of scoops and forums and it had not seemed that impressive. I had decided to pass on this one and stick to my good old selection. Then came the Mega Launch and Prices were announced and WOW. I Thought i might as well give it a look. As I was searching more about the car online, I stumbled upon Team-BHP and of course GTO's awesome review. This review actually made me walk up to the showroom and get behind the wheel. The fact that this had the acclaimed TDCI engine as the fiesta's only made it more enticing, and then I went on that 'fateful' test drive. Act IV : The Test Drive Lot has already been said about how the figo drives. Well the test drive was all of that and much more. I was completely sold on the way the vehicle handled. It felt much larger than it was from inside - both in terms of space and the drive feel. Some things that made me fall in love with the car (ahead of the swift) - The seating position and the road view - absolutely amazing - Cabin, airy and nice. Not claustrophobic and dark. - The steering wheel was very nice and chunky to hold. Looked classy compared to the sedate maruti. - The low rev turbo spooling made it a hoot to drive. It felt so much like a petrol car. - Cabin noise insulation was decent. And then the thing that really made the biggest difference, the drive feel. It handled as a sedan, especially in the turns and corners. I was immediately sold on to this. After a couple of days of hair pulling calculations and comparisons - finally figo it was. So thats curtains on the first Part : Pre Booking. Photos and the most important part - the dealership experiences are coming below.
	() Thanks

13th May 2010, 21:14	#2
deevilslair BHPian Join Date: Apr 2010 Location: Bengaluru Posts: 57 Thanked: 102 Times	Some pictures soon after taking delivery and during a short road trip. Attached Thumbnails
	() Thanks

13th May 2010, 21:34	#3
deevilslair BHPian Join Date: Apr 2010 Location: Bengaluru Posts: 57 Thanked: 102 Times	Part II : Booking and the Dealership Experience After finally cancelling the Swift, I headed straight for booking my new Ford Figo. Having stumbled upon Team BHP, I decided to do some research on the two Ford Dealers in Chennai before selecting one. Since the ratings were more or less the same, I decided to visit both of them (and thereby test drive the car also longer) Act I : MPL Ford The people were courteous and showed me the car. However their product knowledge was terrible. (Maybe all of them should be given copies of the review here on this site). The more I looked at the car, the more I began to like it. Choosing the color was a tough one as we did not have much choices. I would have loved the Maroon on the fiesta offered on the figo as well. However, choosing the dash color was the easiest because the Coral Dash seemed atrocious. (My Opinion only as these preferences are very subjective, however, I for a moment thought that the Guava inspired Squeeze and Coral combo was actually designed by color blind artists) I gave my contact details to the Sales Con there and headed to the next showroom. Act II : Chennai Ford This showroom was much more spacious than the cramped MPL Showroom in Teynampet. The cars were also parked in a bigger 'courtyard' which gave the confidence that your new car wont attract scratches just during parking at the showroom. So overall the dealer point looked better. The sales con though was as good (or bad) as the one at MPL. People kept telling fictious stories about the car and its impending success and also claiming mileages upwards of 16 for the petrol and 20 for the diesel After another round of test drive (i just loved driving the figo) I handed my details and headed home. Act III : Responses As I was getting a loan from the company, I had a lot of questions for the dealers. Somehow it seemed that MPL ford was not interested in selling cars to people taking loans. They just stopped answering calls or doubts. At one point of time, I felt as though I was the one trying to sell my car to them. Chennai ford's response was much better. As this was my first purchase, I was apprehensive on each and every step - but they guided me through the process nicely and that fateful day I decided to skip MPL and chose Chennai Ford for delivering me my Figo. Further details on the dealer experiences following soon. Mods please allow me another day as my laptop is out of juice and I need to head away.
	() Thanks

13th May 2010, 21:43	#4
mTorque BHPian Join Date: Apr 2010 Location: Chennai Posts: 160 Thanked: 34 Times	Glad that i'm the first one to wish you happy miles! Nice colour dude, any ICE or upgrade planned?
	() Thanks

13th May 2010, 21:59	#5
BheemBoy BHPian Join Date: Mar 2010 Location: Hyderabad Posts: 107 Thanked: 17 Times	Congrats on your new FIGO. So many Figo threads, gettting difficult to catch up with Figo
	() Thanks

13th May 2010, 22:02	#6
gemithomas Senior - BHPian Join Date: Jan 2007 Location: Trivandrum Posts: 2,366 Thanked: 143 Times View My Garage	nice report. precise and crisp
	() Thanks

13th May 2010, 22:32	#7
SilkDrive BHPian Join Date: Apr 2010 Location: Hyderabad Posts: 172 Thanked: 24 Times	Congrats on the new Figo - One of the best among the diesel hatches in the country by any standards. A very good choice of colour. The sea grey and the black look really fab on the Figo. Please keep pouring in more pictures. Happy Fi-going !!
	() Thanks

14th May 2010, 11:47	#8
Brix BHPian Join Date: Dec 2008 Location: Chennai Posts: 585 Thanked: 24 Times	Nice DL - Congrats ! You have a lot of patience, I just took the popular route for all my decisions regarding the Figo.
	() Thanks

15th May 2010, 17:44	#9
deevilslair BHPian Join Date: Apr 2010 Location: Bengaluru Posts: 57 Thanked: 102 Times	Update Continued Continuing from where I had left last time, and this time its going to be much shorter and crisper, akin to bullet points. Ford Dealership Experience 1. Less than average ordinary and the worst part was the lack of transparency. Beginning from the delivery dates (which still remain shrouded in mystery) to accessory prices, deals, tax and rto charges there was complete lack of transparency which definitely affects trust. Agreed, this was my first experience in buying a car, but then when one spends a fortune on a depreciating movable asset, you do not expect the dealer to be liability. Some key sore points:- - Sales Con has no clue of the selling points about the car. I've mentioned this before and it seemed that I was taking a training session for him on Figo - The car prices aren't consistent across dealers and they have no genuine explanations for that. I had earlier posted this on this forum too. http://www.team-bhp.com/forum/indian...ml#post1857732 There was a clear difference in end prices for the car across dealerships within the state but mine could never give a proper explanation. - The 'fleet discount' for certain companies that ford has again was not offered. This was given to me as 'alms' only when i put my foot down and insisted. Thanks to team-bhp for that. These incidents only made me doubt every word the dealership said. So the dealership experience was the trough of the roller coaster ride that owning the figo has been. Of course the car and the ride has been the crest
	() Thanks

17th May 2010, 23:49	#10
deevilslair BHPian Join Date: Apr 2010 Location: Bengaluru Posts: 57 Thanked: 102 Times	Its been about a week since I got my figo delivered and it has been an amazing pet to play with. I enjoy the driving even more now, far better fun than the test drive. In fact I've already clocked 800 kilometers in 8 days with the vehicle now (Had been on a road / trek trip to Tiruvannamalai, shall post some pics soon) Some amazing pluses on the car so far:- - Great pickup and engine response. Doesn't feel like a diesel at all. Zippy to drive and low end turbo makes it truly responsive. - I kind of like the low rev nature of diesels. (I am new to diesels). The car feels more in control and softer and easier to handle. - The car is simply amazing on the highways. I struck to keeping the car below 3K RPM max, limiting my highway top speed to about 100kmph only but still the car was amazing. It handled very well and the ride was mind blowing. In fact it feels like driving a much much bigger car. - Seat comfort is good. Tweaking with the height adjustment and push back controls I could set the seat for nice lumbar support. I did not feel any driving fatigue at all. - Steering is very good, gives nice road feel. Hydraulic power steerings rock. - AC is super chilling. On a super hot chennai summer, I could manage comfortably with the position on '1' for most of the journey. (with one co passenger) Overall, the car is - beauty and the beast. Beauty outside and a beast inside. Great ride, handling, stability and gives a big car feel. But for the sub par dealership experience (which, going by posts on this forum, seems better compared to other ford dealers) this car deserves a perfect 10 for ownership experience
	() Thanks

18th May 2010, 01:47	#11
Amartya Senior - BHPian Join Date: Mar 2008 Location: Evanston Posts: 1,748 Thanked: 736 Times	Thanks for sharing the buying experience and the overall review. The Figo has truly set the cat among the pigeons in the small car segment. Goes to show that Ford India did it's homework really well. I hope that the dealership experience improves as well. If you don't mind my asking, did you get the chance to test drive the Punto MJD?
	() Thanks

18th May 2010, 18:56	#13
sathya79 BHPian Join Date: Oct 2009 Location: Bangalore Posts: 36 Thanked: 0 Times	Excellent choice of colour deevilslair, I too have booked a Sea Grey (but with Coral dash) Figo 1.4 D Titanium last week with Lathangi Ford. The ETD promised is 4 weeks. Feels reassuring to see that you are enjoying driving her. I'm sure the turbo is addictive. Enjoy the driving. My only concerns were on the low FE and the lack of rear/front bumpers (i mean decent sized bumpers which are at par with the competition). Read a few reports (in some of the ownership threads) where the 'bumper' and the boot door was damaged because of minor accidents. Hope these issues should not become showstoppers for potential figo buyers. What's your opinion?
	() Thanks