[anumod]

Originally Posted by drkritik

Initial Service and Change of brake pads + Interior cleaning Rs 6200/- (LESSON 1: Ford Service and parts are costly)

I have just changed my brake pads and the par costed me just 1098, that too from Fortune Ford Hyderabad (Please refer to my long term ownership expereince http://www.team-bhp.com/forum/long-t...12-months.html)

Secondly regarding clutch, it is mainly because of bad driving style, otherwise you are unluckier but as you have to change it multiple times, ......... When my father started driving a Wagon-R, we had to change the clutch two times (Costing almost 10K, 3 years back)

I have been owning my second Ford car now, I never felt that the spares are expensive now. I Feel that Honda spares are far expensive than Ford (We have a Honda NHC at our home town)

[joshguy]

drkritik i can understand your situation and its your bad luck and nothing else.

My advice: cars are maintenance free if driven single handed.i would put the blame on you for the clutch and partly on ford for the warranty less spares.

on you ? yes because you let lots(atleast 3) of people drive your car.remember that one person driving with a foot on the clutch for just 50-100 can burn your clutch.

But you should also be happy that it saved your family during the accident, which otherwise you would not be here to tell us the tale.

Now let us know the story about the ritz vdi

[naj]

Originally Posted by joshguy

drkritik i can understand your situation and its your bad luck and nothing else.

I also feel, drkritik, your first car experience ,is sheer bad luck.

My Ikon 1.6 is 6 years old now.I have had a very good dealer experience with Planet ford ,Pune.
Initially even I felt the spares are costly .But when I have compared with other cars in the segment ,they seem ok.

I have found the Ikon to be utterly reliable.Sadly there isn't a Ford car in the Civic/Corolla category.I wish the Mondeo or Focus was around and I would not have hesitated to upgrade to yet another Ford.

Do have a great drive with your Ritz.

Cheers,

Naj

[dashoin]

Good write up - and welcome to the tin can stable - Maruti`s or should I say Suzuki`s. Hope Ritz build quality is better than the Esteem.

Originally Posted by (Alok)

Every one knows that ford service is costly & poor but why all ford owners always goes to ASS? I had rarely seen ford products in multiple car workshops. Even you didn’t did the clutch work outside for 6k and paid double amount at ASS?

In addition to what Suman said, my 2 cents - even in a place like Gurgaon, you would find experienced mechanics who say " Saab, Ikon ka design achha nahin hai kyonki usme distributor nahin hai. ab dekho esteem main kitni asani se set kar sakta hoon". Felt like kicking him because it was the third time this monsoon I had to dry out my distributor !
Either take the risk of having someone carrying out experimental "surgery" on your baby, or go to the Service center.
I do believe SA`s are given targets for sale of spares, so generally consider their advice with a pinch of salt.

[sbala]

Its just mere bad luck for you.. Thats all i can say.. Sorry dude..

Ford Fiesta is such an awesome car.. 80% of your expenses are not related to car's failure.. clutch replacement after 50k may be expected depending on driving style. I have done 65k and my clutch is still good . Now, the Ford fiesta parts are localized and its on par with Maruti and others.

[(Alok)]

Originally Posted by suman

Guess you've answered your own question haven't you? Spares are not available in the open market for Fiestas (they're available to a certain extent for the older Ikons).

I've scoured the market when my Fiesta went out of EW but didn't find a single garage who were willing to undertake any work.

Originally Posted by dashoin

Good write up - and welcome to the tin can stable - Maruti`s or should I say Suzuki`s. Hope Ritz build quality is better than the Esteem.





In addition to what Suman said, my 2 cents - even in a place like Gurgaon, you would find experienced mechanics who say " Saab, Ikon ka design achha nahin hai kyonki usme distributor nahin hai. ab dekho esteem main kitni asani se set kar sakta hoon". Felt like kicking him because it was the third time this monsoon I had to dry out my distributor !
Either take the risk of having someone carrying out experimental "surgery" on your baby, or go to the Service center.
I do believe SA`s are given targets for sale of spares, so generally consider their advice with a pinch of salt.

Thanks for replies.

Better to pay more at A.S.S. than to do experiments with machines and spoil them for ever.

[sandeepmohan]

Originally Posted by drkritik

Tyres had many Punctures Needed a replacement: 4 Tyres Rs 14000 Yokohama A drive 185/65R14 (LESSON 3: Always include cost of New tyres while bargaining for used car)

Excellent report but sad to know you had to part ways with the car.

Ford is expensive. Very expensive. I went through the exact same experience but my car has not given me problems after all the repairs. The reason for all this was entirely my fault. I did not judge the car well, did not bargain much & ended up paying a lot more than what I should have for a used Ikon.

I too have spent a good 1 lac as over heads on the car but all of this was for things that just needed replacement. Suspension, Tires, Brake Discs, Blaupunkt Car Stereo & a lot of other things. Details of my expenditures are available on my car thread thought I have yet to update it after the suspension over haul. I kept the car cause the over heads already spent did not justify selling it again as I would not get the price I paid for it. Besides; the car has never given me any mechanical problems relating to the engine, clutch or gearbox.

Apart from expensive service I am quite happy with my service station in Bangalore. Problems well attended & I ended up with a good engineer and the car is always handled by the same engineer only. Moreover in 10 months of owning the car I have clocked only 8000kms and the car has never left me stranded.

I too fitted larger foot print tires from Bridgestone and am sort of regretting it as fuel efficiency has take a big hit, down by nearly 2kmpl, the power steering is straining and I can feel it at parking speeds, road noise but then this is a problem due to poor insulation on my Ford Ikon and is a problem with all Ikon cars.

[rpmx1000]

Originally Posted by swiftnfurious

+5 to that !

My Swift's brake pads cost nearly 4000/-. So I think 6000/- for a Fiesta is pretty nominal considering the premium that Ford commands [Or is it even lower as you mentioned some interior cleaning also was done?].

The interior cleaning cost me close to 1k each time. My car had small dents which I sent to the body shop for, twice. Each time they do this interior cleaning by 3M .So I suppose it is not all that costly. A few months before I bought my Dec'09 fiesta, I walked in to Lathangi Ford in Bangalore and they were highlighting the fact that service and parts cost (TCO) has come down significantly by comparing iKon to DZire and for most of the parts ,truly there was not much difference, probably of the order of 1k or so max. So overall I would disagree with the 'costly to maintain' tag. It is a thing of the past, but not so much any longer.

[drkritik]

@niranjanrvce: Thanks for Correcting on the tyre sizes, You clearly feel that the tire size wasn't responsible for the clutch failures.

@swiftnfurious: I had many more issues with service engineers. The ford cars are indeed very safe, If I were to experience a similar accident once again in My life .. I wish I should be traveling in a Ford !

@ suman, (Alok), Rohing, rajeev k, puneet8796, dashoin, joshguy, sbala, naj : I was aware that this is going to create a mixed opinion pool, I have tried to be as much unbiased as possible. This is just an honest & unbiased account of my side of story; this is bound to irritate Ford Owners, as It used to be for me few months ago ! Thanks for replying.
First of all You won't get a car mechanic who is willing to repair a Ford.. Even if you get one, Opening a gear box, I don't think should be given to first time acquaintances..

@deepfusion: Great line ''Ford service spoils what Ford tries to give to customers" +1 for that

@~~h: yeah Indica toppled Thrice, both the driver and & my mom were unhurt. Car was in very bad shape. We sold it within two months of repair and bought swift VDi. (some strange rule as car should not be kept after an accident..)

@Brix: The new cars should be problem free, wish you many happy miles, (even I might buy a 1.6 again, but I will make sure that I find a right Service Engineers both inside and outside Ford service to minimize the impact of problems !)

@sandeepmohan: There are many more instances that i forgot or just didn't feel very important, like

1. when I changed the OEM ICE to Pioneer, the Pioneer 2din Ice had some problem 2days later so I was told to replace it with the OEM till he gets a new one. The OEM stereo holder (the black plastic frame which compartmentalizes 2DIN space to two Single DINs) was misplaced by the ICE guy, the Ford asked 3.8k for replacing it !! we went back and searched at the ICE guy's garbage, luckily it wasn't thrown away so I was Saved.

2. The Horn on the steering wheel wasn't operating from one side, It was replaced for 800Rs, a small spring bush on the right side was broken. Which is routine bush, could have been replaced; instead of replacing the whole steering horn.

3. After the Car was repaired from the accident (I went for the payment) the service engineer, showed me a large crack in the front plastic which covers the front of Engine, just behind the Bumper. Needs a replacement and costs Rs 7500. I asked him why this wasn't shown to the insurance guy? No answers. I replaced it. The service engineers are totally useless.

I don't remember , as there were many instances, I could not go behind them as, I had very little time for all these..

@EVERYONE : Avoid multiple drivers driving your car (LESSON # 13)


I had used many smilies like this in the original post after many of the Lessons, they were removed by the Mods to make the post more reader friendly, I knew very well that, there were mistakes from my end also. If my experience is of some use to the largest autoforum users in India, my purpose is Served.

[aniketi]

You are unlucky guy i would say. Expenses you mentioned are too much in one years time. What you mentioning is all the drivers are good then its a problem with the spares for sure. All the lessons are good.

I am glad that i didn't buy ford. When i bought my Dzire, some of my friends where suggesting me to go for the Petrol Fiesta. But i stick to Maruti. I am glad that i have done that after hearing your story.

Anyways wish you very best for your new car

[pramod]

@drkritik

I saw the cost of spare parts that you replaced on your Fiesta. But its the same state of affairs among most of the cars in that segment. Do u think SX4 is cheap, being a maruti. No, it isnt.

As i see, most of the cost you had to incure was due to accidents and NOT wear-out.

I am a proud owner of a 2007 Fiesta 1.6 zxi which has run 41,000 Kms without any major issues.

I agree on a few counts very strongly:

1. Upsize of tyres, atleast on Fiesta is HIGHLY undesirable. The car is designed so beautifully for its dynamics and superior handling. The stock 175 tyres are given for a purpose. After i upgraded to 195-60 BF Goodrich, i am suffering. Potholes and undulations on the road leads the front tyres to displace itself. It can be felt in the steering.

2. The Steering feels very nice after a service. But with time, it becomes a bit heavy.

Other than these, its a GEM. Verna, SX4, Aveo, Accent are not even close wrt Engine, Gearbox, driving pleasure/Fun factor.

Cheers
Pramod

[deepfusion]

Originally Posted by (Alok)

Very balanced and unbiased article kritik.

Your write up clearly shows that there is no irritation/ frustration about ford product but the costly spares & poor service are the issues.

You are the man like my type. I also do not treat my bikes & car as just iron pieces but they are our family members.

As you owned a FORD car for almost 1 year, please tell us (me) one thing….

Every one knows that ford service is costly & poor but why all ford owners always goes to ASS? I had rarely seen ford products in multiple car workshops. Even you didn’t did the clutch work outside for 6k and paid double amount at ASS?

Your view of Ford Service being expensive is not IMO , justified. It is normal for the segment we are dealing with here.

What happens with the A.S.S. is that they replace the whole part, when replacing a sub-part of that part is faulty, and the bill shoots up.

Moreover, *** people don't bother going into the technicalities of the issue. For example, in Modern day diesels, turbocharger is an essential component, regulating teh speed and fuel efficiency of the car.

Suppose, if teh turbo goes kaput, and the service advisor you are dealing with tells you the problem lies with the clutch and doesnt even bother about the turbo, we as laymen are taken for a ride.

I am writing this having gone through this experience.

So, in a way, you can't help it, but have to live with it.

But, with an improvement in quality of service, I think, Ford outperforms every japanese car one or two notches above its segment.

[swiftnfurious]

Karthik, I appreciate your attittude to learn from mistakes and also adding "lesson 13" ! your friends may be angry at you -- but your baby matters to you more than that right [or atleast to the same extent] ?

So am sure you have learnt much more tips from these 4 pages than in the last one year when you had your car with you.

Also I would say that these tips will help you much more in maintaining your new baby and having a lot of fun time as well.

One thing I would strongly advise you is to figure out the best service station for any car that you buy and own going forth. If possible try to get the best SA as well for your jobs -- this wil help you tremendously.

If you are thinking how to find the best SA, here it is -- T-BHP again. talk your fellow mates and find out who do they deal with and who do they recommend.

And if those guys [service centre] know about t-bhp, all the more good, they will not mess with you -- please make sure to say t-bhp around 10 times [like a magic spell ] when you talk to them. They will be consious about this and will give the best of their efforts. I for one does enjoy that in Surakshaa, Bangalore [Maruti service].

[ghodlur]

Karthik,

Its good to know that you have learnt from your mistakes. But IMO the mistakes were mainly due to human error rather than with the car itself. Squarely blaming the brand and showing huge costs incurred is totally unjustified.

Have you thought of going for a brand new Fiesta and then trying to find out whether by avoiding the mistakes would it still cost so much as your pre worshipped Fiesta. I bet it would not be the case. I am a happy owner of Fiesta and have already completed 10K on the odo and the cost till date spenrt on Fiesta is 1K only. But defitnely if I would have drive the same way as you did I might have ended up with a huge bill which in any brand would have been more or less the same.

I hope you are tracking the costs on your new Ritz. Drive safely. Hope you dont end up learning more lessons than you have already done.

[sarmarishi]

Please dont abuse your Ritz as you did with the Fiesta! It can take it Multiple drivers is an absolute no-no if you want a very good ownership experience. Also, be careful about the way you use the clutch. Looks like someone in your family rests his/ her foot on the clutch while driving or overrides it too often! Happy motoring