[sap.mukh]

After a long and confusing wait I am glad to let you know that I have finally got my first car.

To start off I wanted to buy my first car for which I was looking around for sometime now. Budget 5-6 L Fun to drive, good handling and ride, Good space in rear seat.

The ones in my shortlist were:
Grande Punto MJD
- Pros: Great car to drive, stable and excellent ride and handling. Not of forget the gorgeous looks which can make any man drool over it
- Cons: Fiat A**, slight turbo lag at low RPMs, Resale value

Ford Figo TDCI
- Pros: Great car to drive and good ride and handling, least turbo lag, decent interiors, good space on rear seat
- Cons: Ford A** not as great compared to MS or Hyundai, average looks, no power window on rear seat

Swift P/D
- Pros: Fun drive, excellent resale and A**
- Cons: Not the best in ride and handling, least features of all the three and plastic quality is just average

After seeing the Punto I was all gaga about it. What looks! But the thing is I wanted to get the Top version of the cars only and Punto Emotion Pack MJD was approx. 6.7 L which was out of budget for me. So with a heavy heart I had to decide between the other 2 cars - Figo Or Swift.

This is when the financial getting into my mind and I wanted to get a good VFM car. So wanted to play safe and went ahead and booked Swift VXI ABS.
Reason: Tension free readily available MS A**, great resale value, Less price (5.2 L). Wanted to go for Swift Diesel but it really didn't make sense to go for it where I can get Figo much more accessorized at a lesser price. The waiting period was told to me during booking was 1.5 months. In the mean time I had applied for the loan from SBI and it got approved in 10 days. So the waiting continued while I was constantly following up with the MS sales guy to know when I would be getting the car.

To my surprise they started changing the time line for delivery date by 3 weeks more and that too about 1 week before the expected delivery. I didn't want to wait any longer for the car. So I went ahead and canceled the booking after the promised delivery date and went straight to ford and booked Titanium TDCI Chill color which was available in a weeks time. Also my wifey was more inclined towards Figo as she found it more spacious.

Then came the tedious formality of changing the details of the car at SBI from Swift to Figo. To my surprise the processing guy in SBI were asking me to stick to Swift and as according to him since there is a longer waiting period in swift it is a better car than Figo. I had a discussion with him and had to follow up with him for a couple of days to get the car details changed from the bank end. I wanted to buy the car on Dhanteras (4th Dec) but unfortunately it didn't materialize by that date, but got it a week later.

Took delivery of the car on 12th Dec going by the PDI checklist of TeamBHP. Thanks for your valuable inputs regarding PDI.

Had a mishap after 2 days of buying the car and that too on TC number. I had parked the car outside my house. Some car went through that way and that guy hit the rear wheel arc while passing by. There was a scratch and dent on the right wheel arc. had to fix it from my pocket as on TC number the insurance couldn't be availed. Total amount which came was 7.7 K for repaint and dent fix which I think is a bit over the top.

Have been driving the car for over a month now and it has run for 1500 kms already. I never thought the monthly running would be more than 1100 but still went for the Diesel version as its more fun to drive and tried and tested engine of fiesta. I must say I am thoroughly enjoying every bit of the drive. Only time I get really get tensed is when these truck walas and taxis drive rash esp on Kolkata roads. Fear they will hit any instant. Chennai has better road manners in this regard.

Now about the drive and experience.

After having driven the car for a sight more than a month @ 1300 kms for the first month. Driving the car has been a wonderful experience. I have done 2 trips (150 kms each) at my in-laws place. Though it was highway the road isn't great but the ride on the car was pretty good. The car has appreciable road character. I made sure I don't cross 3000 RPM at-least till the first servicing. I try to maintain between 1800 and 2800 RPM.
I am maintaining the gear changing at the below mentioned speeds:
1st gear - 0-10 km/h
2nd gear - 10-40 km/h
3rd gear - 40-60 km/h
4th gear - 60-80 km/h
5th gear - 80-120 km/h

I have done max of 120 km/h but made sure the RPM is below 3000. Please let me know if this driving style is ok or I need to alter it.

Interiors
Quality of plastics is much better than that of MS and comparable to counterparts. All round ambiance of the cabin is to my liking (subjective though). One mentionable point is the factory fitted music system is just awesome. PS: Mine is a ebony black dash.

Rear
The rear space is very good for a hatch and also the leg room is generous. The boot space is massive. The absence of rear power window is huge put off.

The fuel efficiency I am getting 16 km/l. Filled up for 1000 and noted the DTE. Total kms driven by the time it reaches the same DTE. Probably this may not an effective method to check the efficiency. Please let me know a better alternative method to do the same.

Hope to get your valuable comments regarding my experience.

[sap.mukh]

Extra Add-Ons:
1. Under body coating (Ford)
2. Puncture kit (Ford)
3. Fog Lamps (Ford)
4. Seat Covers (Local)
5. Bumper guard (Local)
6. Steering cover (Local)

[jayded]

Congrats on the "Chill"er, glad to know you are enjoying your new ride.
For the gear changing technique, though I'm still to figure out a jerk-free method of shifting, I would suggest you shift based on the engine RPM rather than the speeds, that would be more correct. While upshifting, just try not to lug the engine i.e., keep it above 1200 RPM as much as possible. That should work just fine.


For getting a near accurate value for the fuel consumption, you can try the tank-full to tank-full method.
Fill her up from a pump that has an auto cut off facility, reset the Trip meter to 0. Now you can run her till the tank is at least half empty. Now again fill her up till auto-cut off, note down the trip meter reading at that point and also the additional fuel taken in. Rest you know

Have a great time with your new Figo! Happy Mile-crunching.

Do you have any extras in mind? Alloys? And do post some pictures to spice things up a bit

EDIT: Just saw your "Add-Ons" list. Kindly provide pictures so that we get to see them, cheers!

[selfdrive]

Congrats on your Figo, pics please!
I think that the DTE changes according to your previous running method/ track. so if your last run was on the highway, your DTE would be higher than if it was in B2B city traffic. the best way would to do a tankfull to tankfull reading (without shaking/ pushing the car to accomodate extra petrol for rounding off the amount!)
you can then note the kms run during both fillings and divide by the no. of litres filled the second time. this is how I do it, but you lay get better suggestions from some of our friends here
As for the bank guys, I really dont know what to say

[camchennai]

Congrats on your new buy, you have purchased a excellent car and its voted as the car of the year.

Please post some pictures to justify this thread
Also please post the OTR price and FORD dealership experience.

One question out of curiosity, I see that your are from Kolkata and when talking about road manner why did u compare with Chennai and not any other city?? Were you also living in Chennai for sometime??

[ghodlur]

@Sap.mukh

Congratulations on buying the Indian Car of the Year. Its a total Value for money buy.

The Figo is one spacious car allright and truly appeals to everyone esp the family oriented ones. Would request you not to rely on DTE for fuel consumption calculation. Please do so by tank ful to tank ful method. All the best.

Happy mile crunching and drive safely with seat belts.

[sap.mukh]

Here are some pics of my ride. Hope you like it.

[sap.mukh]

The interiors:
Art Leather Seats (5000)
Steering Cover (500)
Garware Ice Cool and Ice Cool Shield (6000 + 3000)

Let me know your feedback.

[shk 8896]

nice car mate,Nice color but remove those ugly bumper protecters and put a thinner one and not one from MGA.Rest everything is okay
Drive safe
SHK

[kpzen]

Congrats Sap.mukh.

Don't think too much about RPM, drive normally as you do. Don't redline, drive between 1500~3500 rpm.

[anilisanil]

Congratulations on your buy!

For gear shifts rely on rpm, I guess you are shifting a bit (not very though). The first two gears are short. But do not lug the engine (you sometimes cannot avoid it in second gear though).

For refueling use tankful to tankful method. That is most accurate calculation.


Those bumper protectors' profile did not go well with that of the car's, they are looking a bit out of place, so may be you are better off removing them!

[kartikk]

Originally Posted by shk 8896

nice car mate,Nice color but remove those ugly bumper protecters and put a thinner one and not one from MGA.Rest everything is okay
Drive safe
SHK

+1

the wheel caps are dirty and right backside mud flap is missing. Oh I'm a bit of a rant I know I just like stuff clean , nice ride.

[jayded]

Few comments/suggestions

1) The seat covers look great, Can you mention the brand name?
2) I'm not a fan of such ribbed steering wheel covers, but I believe the type you have provides more grip. Also the stitching do not look well done especially at the spokes, kindly get that corrected to get the perfect tight fit.
3) Keep the bumper protectors if you are not too sure about judging the car dimensions and would like to play it safe while driving in traffic. I for one, got a tiny scratch exactly at the spot where that right front protector is fixed on your car
4) For the door scratch guards, shouldn't the rear door ones be moved towards the wheel arch area to be really effective?
5) The sunfilm stuck on the rear windshield has been applied in 3 strips with lines visible across it. It would have been better if a single sheet of film was used instead to give that clean look. Also try to get rid of the stickers on the hatch door.

P.S:- In case you decide to reinstall the sunfilm on the rear windshield, be very very careful since you would not want to damage the defogger in the process. Just a word of caution.

Enjoy driving your car around!

[vignesh_ny]

Congratulations on the Figo! It's the best value for money diesel hatch around.

The Seat Covers look great.

What brand of tyres did your car come shod with?

[sap.mukh]

Originally Posted by jayded

Congrats on the "Chill"er, glad to know you are enjoying your new ride.I would suggest you shift based on the engine RPM rather than the speeds, that would be more correct. While upshifting, just try not to lug the engine i.e., keep it above 1200 RPM as much as possible. That should work just fine.

For getting a near accurate value for the fuel consumption, you can try the tank-full to tank-full method.
Fill her up from a pump that has an auto cut off facility, reset the Trip meter to 0. Now you can run her till the tank is at least half empty. Now again fill her up till auto-cut off, note down the trip meter reading at that point and also the additional fuel taken in. Rest you know

Have a great time with your new Figo! Happy Mile-crunching.

Thanks for your comments jayded. The gear shift is based on rpm only. Just that i feel its comfortable to gauge by speed for up-shifting or down-shiftling.I am going to try the tank full method and will give an update on the same.

Originally Posted by selfdrive

Congrats on your Figo, pics please!
I think that the DTE changes according to your previous running method/ track. so if your last run was on the highway, your DTE would be higher than if it was in B2B city traffic. the best way would to do a tankfull to tankfull reading (without shaking/ pushing the car to accomodate extra petrol for rounding off the amount!)
you can then note the kms run during both fillings and divide by the no. of litres filled the second time. this is how I do it, but you lay get better suggestions from some of our friends here
As for the bank guys, I really dont know what to say

Thanks selfdrive. I am going to try the tank full method today.

Originally Posted by camchennai

Congrats on your new buy, you have purchased a excellent car and its voted as the car of the year.

Please post some pictures to justify this thread
Also please post the OTR price and FORD dealership experience.

One question out of curiosity, I see that your are from Kolkata and when talking about road manner why did u compare with Chennai and not any other city?? Were you also living in Chennai for sometime??

Thanks camchennai. The ford dealership experience was kind of ok. The car cost me 5.85 on road and extra accesories worth 24 k. The sales guy was a bit over the top but didnt give much attention to it as wouldnt be dealing with them too often. The service guys are good though. They listen and are good with timelines.
Yes, Before coming to kolkata I was in chennai for 2.5 years and chennai road are far better than kolkata roads, especially the highways.

Originally Posted by ghodlur

@Sap.mukh
Congratulations on buying the Indian Car of the Year. Its a total Value for money buy.

Thanks ghodlur.It surely is a fun car to drive.

Originally Posted by shk 8896

nice car mate,Nice color but remove those ugly bumper protecters and put a thinner one and not one from MGA.Rest everything is okay
Drive safe
SHK

Thanks shk. Had added the bumper protectors because of the traffic here in kolkata. Would change it once these are off.

Originally Posted by kpzen

Congrats Sap.mukh.
Don't think too much about RPM, drive normally as you do. Don't redline, drive between 1500~3500 rpm.

Thanks kpzen. I am driving it most around 2500 rmp.

Originally Posted by anilisanil

Congratulations on your buy!
For gear shifts rely on rpm, I guess you are shifting a bit (not very though). The first two gears are short. But do not lug the engine (you sometimes cannot avoid it in second gear though).

Thanks anilisanil. Point noted. Unfortunately the bumper to bumper traffic during office hours makes the drive mostly in 2nd and 3rd gear.

Originally Posted by kartikk

+1
the wheel caps are dirty and right backside mud flap is missing. Oh I'm a bit of a rant I know I just like stuff clean , nice ride.

Agreed. Was on a highway trip the day before. My car needs a proper bath now.

Originally Posted by jayded

Few comments/suggestions

1) The seat covers look great, Can you mention the brand name? Thanks. Thats a local brand. Got it for 5k.
2) I'm not a fan of such ribbed steering wheel covers, but I believe the type you have provides more grip. Also the stitching do not look well done especially at the spokes, kindly get that corrected to get the perfect tight fit.Yep need to tighten the onces near the spokes.
3) Keep the bumper protectors if you are not too sure about judging the car dimensions and would like to play it safe while driving in traffic. I for one, got a tiny scratch exactly at the spot where that right front protector is fixed on your car Thats the very reason I got them. Will keep it as of now and when it waers off would try for some new design.
4) For the door scratch guards, shouldn't the rear door ones be moved towards the wheel arch area to be really effective?Effective true, but I think it would spoil the look.
5) The sunfilm stuck on the rear windshield has been applied in 3 strips with lines visible across it. It would have been better if a single sheet of film was used instead to give that clean look. Also try to get rid of the stickers on the hatch door.I spoke to the accessories guy earlier too. He told me the onces in the rear are done in 2-3 sets of films rather than one single one. Let me know if what he said is true.

P.S:- In case you decide to reinstall the sunfilm on the rear windshield, be very very careful since you would not want to damage the defogger in the process. Just a word of caution.Yep.

Enjoy driving your car around!

Originally Posted by vignesh_ny

Congratulations on the Figo! It's the best value for money diesel hatch around.
The Seat Covers look great.
What brand of tyres did your car come shod with?

Thanks vignesh_ny. The car tyres were from Apollo.