Team-BHP - My Black Figo TDCI ZXI

Hi All,
With so many Ford Figos raining on Team BHP, I have also got mine on 6th Aug, 2010. It’s a Black Figo TDCI ZXI. Here goes my initial ownership review:

Scene:
I had a Ford Ikon Flair Oct 2007 Model. I bought it from one my friends when it was hardly run 15,000 kms. Just like new. Old Ikon looks with all beige interiors (like new Ikon).
I was happily running it until a friend came to me asking if I would like to sell it. I greedily asked his offer. He gave me a very good offer & it all started from. I asked him for a week’s time and started my thought process.

Why Figo:

A tight budget of 5-6 lacs as I had no plans to change my car & it all happened suddenly. I was more inclined towards hatchbacks due to budget & 90% city driving. Maruti Suzuki was not in my list because of numerous reasons. I test drove almost all the hatches including Fabia, i20 & Polo. My Wife accompanied all the time. I was about to book Fabia petrol as I was getting 80K discount.

Indica Vista – with DriveTech4 I felt its faster now. Value for money. Very good suspension. Plastic quality & interior feel let us down.
Punto – very good driver’s car but my wife didn’t like it because of space issues.
i20 – only petrol was in my budget but I found it a very bumpy ride. Diesel is a hoot to drive though.
Polo – very spacious & most beautiful hatch but lacks features. Only top end has features. That too no USB, Aux in & electronically adjustable ORVM. Petrol was in my budget.
Fabia – The best of all. Full of features at 80 k discount petrol Ambiente was my choice. IMO Fabia’s quality & features are way ahead of Polo. After Fabia I drove Polo & found a lot of cost cutting in Polo. Even the sound insulation. But then Polo’s pricing is good.
Micra – simply did not like it.

Last TD was Figo. I liked it from outside but my wife didn’t. We were pleasantly surprised as soon as we got into the car. It’s very spacious & feature laden for that price.

Test drove the Diesel one & again impressed with Ford’s Ride, handling & the same DNA of my Ikon. I always loved this engine from the time I drove Fiesta.

We came home & did a lot of calculations/comparisons. Conclusion – all the propositions looked overpriced when it came to Figo’s features, driving dynamics, Diesel & price. Built to price & Value for money.
I must say that Ford has got it right this time.

Why Diesel:

I plan to use this car for a longer period around 5 yrs. In fact My wife has got it in writing from me this time as Figo is my 5th car in last 7 yrs ;)
I felt 1.2 petrol is very underpowered after owning Ikon Flair for last 1 yr.
The Diesel model was within my budget.

Dealership/Delivery Experience:

We went to Planet Ford on Satara road. Number of prospective buyers were already circling the car. A Sales person promptly came to us & asked if we would like to know the car in detail. He explained us all the features of the car (I already knew all after reading TBHP member’s reviews). He quickly arranged for test drives of both Diesel & Petrol models.

Ford is taking a lot of efforts to change the dealership experience & it’s evident by what we have gone through.

I booked the car on 19th July & got delivery on 6th Aug. while booking, he did not gave me a proper date & promised me that he will arrange my car as soon as possible. He called me many times whenever some other color/model got opened. Loan process was done in 1 week.

My choice was Black color. This is a different story as we did not like any color strongly. Ford should introduce new colors in Figo. Finally it came down to black as Ford wrote in his autobiography, "Any customer can have a car painted any color that he wants so long as it is black".

On 29th July The sales person called me saying that the car is on its way & he can deliver it any time after 3rd Aug. I told him that I want the car on 6th morning as it was a good day according to Panchang. Also, on 1st Aug Ford increased Figo’s price. I got a call from the sales person that I will get the car at old price. Ford is giving price promise even if you book your car a day before price increase.

The car was ready with accessories fitted & shining with garlands & satin ribbons. In fact this is the first time in my life that I went to collect my vehicle & it was waiting for me. In my previous experiences only I had to wait ;)

After we reached only a small formality was done for 3rd yr extended warranty which we got free as a corporate discount. The car was ready with Puja thali. We did a proper Puja. The sales person then explained me everything right from service schedules to car’s basic know-how. He also introduced me to the Service Manager. I thanked the sales person with a small gift & we headed straight to the Michelin store.

For many of you prospective buyers out there I would highly recommend sales person Siraj 9763701346. He is a very humble person & did not lose his patience how much ever I bugged him.

Time with her till now:

It’s a pleasure driving this car to office every day. My office is around 15kms each way on Karve road so I have to go through peak traffic starting from Nagar road. Being new entry in the indian market & that too Black, My Figo is a looker & grabs a lot of attention all the time. Very progressive pickup & no turbo lag. Power is awesome.

In office parking last night while going home, security guard told me that a lot people come & do inspection of this babe.
I am not able to do the run in properly as this car lures me to push the pedal. On Yerwada cement road patch it does 100 easily. Plan to take her on highway this week.

The Bluetooth functionality is awesome & very useful. The music system is too good for an OE at this value.
So far no problems. Only a minute vibration on driver side while at low speed. I don’t know where that little sounds it coming from. I plan to get it fixed at 1st service.

I am very happy with Figo. May be its also because I did not expect too much for that buck & it keeps on giving me the best of what one can have in a hatchback of today… may be more sometimes.

Accessories:

Changed the stock cheapo GoodYears to Michelin XM1+. Stock is 175/65 R14 & I changed to 185/65 R14. After changing the tires I came to know that the proper up size should be 185/60 R14. Whenever width increases, profile should come down. Well, can’t help now. Will take care next time. There is a very diminutive pull on left side when I leave steering wheel on an open road. I paid total difference of 7 k.
Alloys – Borbet (German). Cost – 14.5 K. Model 124. There are lots of designs available in market, but all usual. I wanted something different. Not much variety in 14 inch as compared to 15 & 16 inch. Finally we came across this one & grabbed it. Thanks to fellow member & my best buddy ‘ThrottleKing’ who accompanied me.
Door safety moldings. No body color. Simple looks good. 850Rs.
Fog Lamps – 4.7 K – must on this car.
USB cable – Still waiting. Out of stock.
Car cover – Still waiting. Out of stock.
3M – next month
Lumar D35 filming – next month

Paise hi nahi bache yaro! lol:

Positives:

Very comfortable ride.
Powerful. Can overtake anytime I wish.
BlueTooth hands free has become part of my life.
Light steering & clutch as compared to other Fords but still has enough feedback.
Excellent rear view due to generous glass area.
Gear lever has no vibrations at all. Compare it with any car in its segment.

Negatives:

With more than a week of ownership I feel steering adjustment should have been there. Its little high placed. Not much of an inconvenience though. Habituated.
Rear glass window came down by 2-3 cms on 2nd day. Keeps on repeating once in a week. Made it a habit to frequently check. But this is a serious flaw & very basic to be taken care by Ford. BTW I use 100% A.C all the time & we never ever used rear windows so ignored that Figo doesn’t have rear power windows.
Right side A pillar is an obstacle sometimes. May be needed to get used to.

Last but not the least Thanks to fellow membersRamsagar, gemithomas, scorpio07, Brix, kage9091, joethomasv, rajushank84, trrk, yamaha 100, RGK, thunderbird77 & GTO for brining value addition to TBHP through their own Figo reviews. You all helped me a lot in decision making. IMO main thing is being stable after booking a car, reassuring yourself that it’s a right decision.