This is My first full length article, kindly feel free to correct me,
I was happy with my Honda Shine till Last Year August, when My Parents visited me at Hyderabad. The Easy cabs (Rented) Logan though served their purpose well; but they successfully implanted an Idea of buying a car for my personal use.
With a savings of around 3 lakhs I was in search of premium hatch in August 2009, from Wagon R, Swift, i20 & i10 I was confused with Choices. As I was in the phase of forced bachelorship (wife was pursuing her final yr. Post graduation in Karnataka) I was in the utter confusion as to which one to go for. Took test drives but wasn’t convinced.
My Senior at Hospital offered his Ford Fiesta 1.6 ZXi (Sept 2006) with Roughly 50k on the odometer for disposal. I knew the car from the day it was bought, clean history, very well maintained, only 2 scratches all over. I took a TD with my friend on Sunday morning (I can still remember every detail) with 100horses under the hood I was simply bowled over. The power, the Handling, road grip simply no match for any of the cars I had considered before. I started searching Team BHP with Ownership reviews Ford fiesta(just to justify my decision) , GTOs two articles one on Lateral upgrading and another on keeping your five year old car and my decision was very clear.
With Little negotiation for around 2.95lakhs I bought the beauty home. The car had everything I wanted; style, space, handling, power everything. Surely it was a steal at that price !
Then started my long journeys with Fiesta, in and around Hyderabad drove around 12000kms in 4 months!! Mostly used to be a fight among friends and cousins on who is going to drive. I had to sit and just SMS so that everybody gets equal chances of driving! The car was unquestionably the best Drivers Car in India.
Then Started a Painful experience with FORD Service
Initial Service and Change of brake pads + Interior cleaning Rs 6200/- (
LESSON 1: Ford Service and parts are costly)
Changed the OEM to basic Pioneer ICE Rs 9600/-
Car Insurance Rs 12200/- Reliance General
Sister and adhoc Driver accidently Filled the tank with Diesel!! Towing the car to service station plus Service charges Rs 2900 (
LESSON 2: Always put Fuel type marker on Fuel Tank!)
Needed to Replace Spark Plugs Rs 1950/- Revision of Lesson #1
Accidently broke the rear Tail Light Cost Rs 3400 !! Revision of Lesson #1
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)
There was a significant drop in Fuel efficiency, Steering wheel had become Heavy, though road grip improved a bit, but handling was cumbersome & the Tyres produced lot of Noise on Highways, (
LESSON4: NEVER Upsize the tyres, Don’t buy Yokohama A drives). Tried many tips on the forum but no use, problems continued:
Three days of changing (Upsizing) the Tyres Clutch Disc Failed !! Rs 11000/- (Revision of Lesson #1
Some water and mist started accumulating in Front Headlight, Ford Service Engineers advised to change the wiper fluid container and Headlight!! Total Cost Rs 6650/- I had become a bit clever by this time; went to a road side mechanic who corrected it with Feviqwik ! Charged 50bucks only!! (
LESSON 5: Ford doesn’t have any Service engineers in India; only replacement engineers! they know only how to replace! Don’t know how to Repair anything!)
City bus in front braked accidently & had bonnet damage: cost 13000/- 70%paid by insurance, I was charged Rs 3272. Insurance cheque came 2 months later after lot of negotiations!! (
LESSON 6: Buy the insurance which gives cashless transaction at your service centre, and NEVER drive without insurance!)
Had a major accident as my cousin took a small nap during night driving. Car stood on side after sliding. Luckily none was hurt. Mostly under body damage to the car, neither car outside nor the travellers had even a small scratch. Truck drivers were very helpful, some 10 of them came instantly & got us out of the car & changed the stepney. I still remember their faces when they refused to take the money I offered. How much we used to curse them on highways…
Ford Service Charged Rs 85000/- !!!Changed almost everything in the car, radiator, gear cover etc.. I had to pay Rs 45000/- Rest paid by Insurance guys (
LESSON 7: Don’t drive when u are sleepy, Ford Cars are Safe, Truck drivers are GOOD PEOPLE)
Four days Later Clutch Failed Again! At Karnataka border, There was no Service centre In Raichur. Every mechanic comes inspects and goes. Ford quoted a huge sum for towing the vehicle. Finally Vehicle had to be towed 250kms to Hyderabad Service centre by a local Tata Sumo! In Just 3 months of clutch replacement clutch has failed! Some multicar workshop fellow came for help asked me 6k for replacement of clutch. I thought Ford should be fixing it as it was less than 3 months, asked Ford service engineers: No Warranty on accessories & Spare parts; though their ad said otherwise; (
LESSON 8 & 9: no need to Buy Expensive Genuine Ford Accessories & spare parts as they don’t carry any warranty, BUY a car which has GOOD SERVICE CENTRE REACH; You don’t know when you will need them)
Ford Charged Rs 11000 for clutch disc replacement (I did not go to the local workshop as it needed the gearbox to be opened)
Ford people gave Lame excuses stating that it could be due to faulty driving, upsized tyres etc. Honestly we have been driving more than 40k kilometres, no issues so far & why now?:
Got frustrated from frequent car repairs, Parents clearly indicated to change the car immediately and buy some other car which can be repaired anywhere.
Started visiting used car dealers at Hyderabad for selling my car with roughly 70k kilometres on the odometer(I had driven 20k in 11 months). I got only one answer, there are no takers for ford petrol 1.6, we will call u when we get an interested buyer. Two three buyers with mechanics came and evaluated for Rs 1.9lakhs to 2.1lakhs! a depreciation of 80000 straight away? Mahindra First choice offered highest at Rs 2.3lakhs. The Carwale website evaluated it at 2.95 lakhs to 3.2lakhs !! One more week passed without much help. (
LESSON 10: Ford petrols have very few takers, and very poor resale value)
Finally advertised in local English newspaper, Four genuine buyers came, inspected the car were willing to give Rs 2.5lakhs straightaway, one of them came with cash in hand !! I stuck to 2.75lakhs and nothing below it; else I will keep the car with myself! Finally the buyer with cash in hand agreed after lot of negotiations for 2.70lakhs (I can keep the ICE with myself) (
LESSON 11: Do not talk to brokers, talk to direct buyers)
Asked him to come tomorrow and take the car, changed the ICE to OEM and gave away the car. It was sold in a day, I could not believe myself. Drove her for the last time, around tank bund & with a heavy heart kissed her a goodbye. I knew how much I loved driving her. I promised to myself , will buy the brand new Fiesta 1.6 once I become a self-employed professional, Ford, definitely is not an affordable car for Salaried class(
LESSON 12) !!
I enquired whether the prospective owner will take good care of her: Sharp came the reply.. He already has two ford fiestas 1.6 in his Garage; He once again wants the same Car for his younger brother!! He told me that he does not feel like driving any other car, other than Fiesta1.6! Happily handed over the key, filled the forms as per the brilliant article by GTO sir on checklist before selling your car, retained the duplicate key to be handed over once he furnishes the copy of changed registration
Last Picture is car being driven out of my Gate by new owner
Coming up: How did I end up Buying Ritz VDi & initial ownership review (from Fiesta 100 BHP to Ritz VDi: addictive euphoria to peace of Mind)
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