[phamilyman]

More than what you say, here's my subtext:

25k depreciation for driving 20k km and all the history - simply awesome!

Fiesta rocks!!

[Sugeeta]

drkritik,

All I can say that you did a very noble task of running a training school for all your cousins and friends on your fiesta!!

Some folks seem to have polished their driving skills at your expense.

All the reasons you have mentioned for incurring repair costs have been caused by human error.

In my 7+ years of 2 ford vehicles of different makes, I have not incurred as much maintenance expense as you have incurred in 12 months.

Most of the other cars I own incur approximately the same amount of expense per service as any Ford car.

Doc, a car is an extension of ones own persona, and as someone very rightly mentioned on the forum in a previous post, it has to be treated as a family member, no less. Unfortunately, many people treat a car as an assembly of metal and polymers.

It is blasphemous to let so many people handle your car. I am even wary of valet parking and parking assistants.

Please take good care of your next vehicle; and handle it exclusively yourself.

For a treat, open your doors to relatives and friends for a good meal. Don't extend the hospitality to use of your car. Sorry for being rude.

Good Luck
SM


P.S. : BYW, my next car will be again from the Ford stables : the 1.6 diesel sedan in 2011

[drkritik]

@ Sugeeta: Please read the all my posts again, it was in total four drivers, that too on long drives ! Most of the time I was in the car. & I can count the number of occasions. You can't plan a travel of 1500km stretch with single driver.. All of them loved the car as much as I did ! Car started giving problem suddenly after travelling 12k kms. It was driven by multiple drivers earlier also, I think it will be driven by multiple drivers in it's new home.

My other cars were also used by multiple drivers many more than 4, none of them had any problems what so ever. I know many households where cars are driven by multiple drivers

If your car is so delicate that you feel so much afraid to give it in Valet Parking, you seriously consider changing it. this much of insecurity is unwarranted. By the way, No car manual mentions the car should be driven by single driver (sorry to be rude..) You mean the demo cars should get the clutches replaced every week !!

I can understand this would irritate a ford owner, but this is the state of affairs.

I still remember when the first time clutch failed , My senior colleague (who owns fiesta diesel, who had many troubles with the car, driven almost 60k) advised me to sell the car, I argued furiously showing my brand loyalty (the same way you are arguing)

He told plainly " Once ford starts giving mechanical troubles, it is mostly endless" selling is a wise decision !(I could have saved roughly 50k). Many others in the forum had similar experiences with ford.

@sarmarishi: Abuse is a wrong word choice, I loved the car a lot. But I wasn't possessive. we'll see Ritz behavior with same multiple drivers.(sorry guys in a joint family like mine , i can't help it)

[gostel]

A well written experience with the realities faced under certain compelling circumstances. The picture of a departing beloved was touching indeed. I must say it is good that you docs try hard to repair before going for replacement; otherwise just imagine a guy going with a sore throat to your service center. I liked the part where WD40 did it in 20

[niranjanrvce]

doc, you have multiple drivers for your cars more as a necessity considering there being so many drivers in the family and a good car should be able to take that. Of course, having just one good driver handle the car has its advantages but surely no car comes with a 'one-driver' only precursor. But; please ensure that whoever drives the car is updated on the car's repair history and add some Dos and Do Nots. Tell them not to ride the clutch, tell them they need to take a break/switch drivers even if slightly sleepy etc. Watch how they drive when you sit with them and point out mistakes (do they rev too much too often/lug the car along on higher gears etc).
Sure this might erk them a bit, but its better than running up a costly repair bill and it ensure your ride stays in a better condition for longer.

[vnabhi]

Originally Posted by drkritik

He told plainly " Once ford starts giving mechanical troubles, it is mostly endless" selling is a wise decision !(I could have saved roughly 50k). Many others in the forum had similar experiences with ford.

I guess that statement applies to most brands of cars, and not just Ford.
Anyways, happy Ritzing!

[mobike008]

Originally Posted by vnabhi

I guess that statement applies to most brands of cars, and not just Ford.
Anyways, happy Ritzing!

Ford had that reputation until Fiesta came and cleared it for them. Besides, Ford became more friendly towards Indian users and slowly but, steadily lowered their spare part costs as well over the years.

From what i know, Ikon owners were pretty frustrated with their product due to the innumerable mechanical issues it used to throw up during the ownership for the buyer.

[suman]

Originally Posted by Sugeeta

It is blasphemous to let so many people handle your car. I am even wary of valet parking and parking assistants.

Originally Posted by drkritik

If your car is so delicate that you feel so much afraid to give it in Valet Parking, you seriously consider changing it. this much of insecurity is unwarranted.

drkritik, there's nothing unwarranted about not giving one's car for valet parking - I suffer from the same insecurity

Have you seen the way the majority of valets handle client's cars?

Originally Posted by drkritik

You mean the demo cars should get the clutches replaced every week !!

Maybe not every week but by the time they hit 50k kms, most of them would be in pathetic condition.

[abhinav.s]

Originally Posted by niranjanrvce

But; please ensure that whoever drives the car is updated on the car's repair history and add some Dos and Do Nots....

Went thru the entire thread. It was an interesting first post and the following posts as well. The above is the most reasonable post and think this is the best way to do it if there are multiple drivers driving the car.

Coming to valet parking, most valets give a damn about your car and rev it to such high limits in a very short distance that it gets on my nerves. So its quite ok to not hand over the car to valet. Of course there are exceptions.

I like your spirit doc and the way you added lesson 13 to your post shows that you are open to feedback. Great going and wishing you happy miles with the Ritz.

[MileCruncher]

Originally Posted by suman

drkritik, there's nothing unwarranted about not giving one's car for valet parking - I suffer from the same insecurity

Have you seen the way the majority of valets handle client's cars?

+10 to that. I keepaway from Valets like a plague as I know none of them will follow the turbo cooling off period and its a sure shot way to screw up the turbo.

@drkritik: Yes a 1500 Km trip can be done by one person, no great shakes here. Forget cars, even a simple electronic device like a Camera will show abuse if used by 4 people.

And I agree with most of the points raised by sugeeta but since you are not willing accept that multiple drivers are bad for a car, I rest my case. After all you can take a horse to a pond but can't make it drink.

Originally Posted by suman

Maybe not every week but by the time they hit 50k kms, most of them would be in pathetic condition.

Actually much before 50K. A TD vehicle is the most abused vehicle as every prospective customer wants to try out extremes, sometimes things that they will never ever do in their own car after owning.

[swiftnfurious]

@drkarthik -- With all due respect for your posts, my observations and points. My replies are in bold - just for highlighting purposes.

Originally Posted by drkritik

You can't plan a travel of 1500km stretch with single driver..

Did you mean that you used to travel 1500 with not much gaps - like no long breaks of 4-5 hours ? [I understand food breaks and small rests in between]. If so, this also can lead to problems in a car - The mechanicals should not be strained to this extent for better performance is what I believe [I know buses do almost to this extent without much breaks in between].

Originally Posted by drkritik

All of them loved the car as much as I did !

I love all my friends' cars which I get to drive and where I dont have to be bothered about the maintenance.

Originally Posted by drkritik

My other cars were also used by multiple drivers many more than 4, none of them had any problems what so ever. I know many households where cars are driven by multiple drivers

I believe all these cars were brand new! The one in question here is a pre-owned one. You never know the actual conditions in which it was driven or maintained [ You might have got an overall idea as to how it was maintained -- but not to the minutest details]. In addition to this, after you got this car, it had a major accident as well [or more than one?]. This could always lead to multiple problems and usually because of this, people sell off their accident cars without a second thought [the sell off part might be due to an assumption but holds real good in real life situations]

Originally Posted by drkritik

If your car is so delicate that you feel so much afraid to give it in Valet Parking, you seriously consider changing it. this much of insecurity is unwarranted.

No cars including Nano [since this is the cheapest car available right now] is delicate to be avoided from giving to valet parking -- the point is the way the attendants treat the cars. It breaks hearts to see the way sometime they drive the cars [ofcourse to someone for whom a car is an intergral part of themselves - this is a forum of exactly that kind and You and I fall into those categories; may be the extent of passion varies]. Also there are multiple examples in this very forum where the valet parking guys scratched or dented the cars given for parking. You could search for those.

Originally Posted by drkritik

By the way, No car manual mentions the car should be driven by single driver (sorry to be rude..)

If this was the case, you would not have bought the Fiesta 1.6, a pre-worshipped one right [it was already driven by someone]? Plus there would not have been a used car market itself !

Originally Posted by drkritik

I still remember when the first time clutch failed , My senior colleague (who owns fiesta diesel, who had many troubles with the car, driven almost 60k) advised me to sell the car, I argued furiously showing my brand loyalty (the same way you are arguing)

I have not heard much of issues with Diesel Fiesta and have heard of high mileage ones without any complaint at all -- Could you provide more details on this? May be it will help some other Fiesta D owners.

Originally Posted by drkritik

He told plainly " Once ford starts giving mechanical troubles, it is mostly endless" selling is a wise decision !(I could have saved roughly 50k). Many others in the forum had similar experiences with ford.

Originally Posted by vnabhi

I guess that statement applies to most brands of cars, and not just Ford.

+1 to this -- this is in no way specific to Ford.

Originally Posted by suman

drkritik, there's nothing unwarranted about not giving one's car for valet parking - I suffer from the same insecurity

Have you seen the way the majority of valets handle client's cars?

+1 to this -- I have seen guys hitting red line in my car to move over a distance of 15-20 feet, trying to wheel spin and end up hard braking in style ! But at times, you cant help it !

Originally Posted by drkritik

You mean the demo cars should get the clutches replaced every week !!

Originally Posted by MileCruncher

Actually much before 50K. A TD vehicle is the most abused vehicle as every prospective customer wants to try out extremes, sometimes things that they will never ever do in their own car after owning.

May be apart from 800s & Altos not sure how many newbie's go for a test drive ! And if the people taking a test drive is experienced enough, there are high chances they will not screw up the product. You can definitely test the limits of a machine the correct way. But as said, they might still change some of the parts at 50K or even way before that.

One question here -- how many SAs have told you that they replaced the TD vehicle's parts in xxx kms ??? Its simple logic that they will not tell all these details about products they want to sell -- and not even logical to think that a similar vehicle's parts will be required to be changed the way the TD vehicles did -- Ofcourse the driving styles are different for a TD vehicle and our own vehicle right?

[pankaj_sachdeva]

I do not want to comment on all the discussions and lessons learnt by the OP, as much has already been said. Just like to add that I own a 1.6 ikon and the original cluth for my car held till 89000 Kms and 7 years. and yes the car is a single handedly driven by me from the day it hit the road.

Mind you, the ikon had the reputation of high maintainence and failures and yes my car has it's share of problems too, read ignition coil, fuel pump but we can justify the replacements in a car which has served me for 98K kms and will be 8 years old in Jan 2011.

Apart from, normal service, timely change of oils and good driving has kept the car in a condition that it still pulls to manage a smile with its sweet engine notes and the occasional 1st gear wheel spins.

OT --- I paid just Rs- 200/ as the labour charges for the last 95K service

[Sugeeta]

[quote=drkritik;(sorry guys in a joint family like mine , i can't help it) quote]

I agree on this, I have many colleagues who face the same dilemma.

However, you can advise younger members in the family to imbibe good driving habits so that vehicle incurs minimum repairs.

Don't get discouraged by the cost of repairs. You can always negotiate these (seriously). Always tell your service advisor to prepare an estimate of the repairs and their corresponding cost. Then negotiate. For any additional work, tell them to call you and proceed only if you approve it.

My car is due for service this weekend @ 70000 kms. will make the exact cost of repairs available to all.

Sugeeta

[karthik123]

I read an article in BSM magazine that Ford India is trying really hard to reduce the cost of the spare parts and they are training their engineers to mend and cherish instead of replacing the parts, looks like it didn't make any difference.

Most of your expenses went in fixing stuff right? I mean if the mis happenings did not happen, you wouldn't have spent so much on its repairs , but the clutch is really expensive.

What FE did the car return( in hyd driving conditions ? )and how much was the cost of a regular service? was it serviced in Mody Ford,begumpet?( sorry but i don't have any friend / relative who owns a Ford here in hyd)

I'm thinking of buying a used fiesta petrol too, the used market price for this car is really a steal, however i plan to keep the car with me for a long time if I happen to buy it.So please advice.

PS: The pic of the car leaving is very saddening, reminds me of the dog I brought home and my parents didn't let me keep it so after playing with it for two days i had to let it go and somebody came and took it away.

[btirthankar]

I liked your writeup and shared it with a Ford Official too.