News

Bought a used Ford Endeavour SUV with 68,000 km on the odo

1st November 2021, 12:30 by Rahul Nagaraj

When people are selling off their new Ford Endeavour models, I have gone and purchased an 8-year-old SUV.

BHPian VW2010 recently shared this with other enthusiasts.

Ford Endeavour deserves this Journal. Thanks to the new old truck, I hope to at least keep my journey recorded somewhere online.

Previous car: Jetta, Swift

Current car: Nano

My viewpoint will be based on the above vehicles. I do not think this version of the car had close-up details and hence decided to go Django on covering this car details. (mostly I was bored and wanted to test my patience to write a big post)

Summary of this ramble

Likes

Space - I will address this as a truck. It is not a car.
Quiet Cabin
GC - Can cross over median if required
Excellent highway ride quality
Driving Position and Seat comfort
Big rearview mirror
Better Nighttime driving
Decent feature list - DVD player, Dual zone audio, FM/AM, CD, BT and Reverse camera
Road presence
The joy of taking it off-roading - Unparallel
Fit and finish is better than Germans or feels like that
My mother-in-law loves the ingress and outguess. She is 70+ and clearly prefers this truck over Jetta or Nano.

Can be better - Cannot find much.

Front AC vents could have been bigger
Bottle holders
Speakers and fidelity of music
Grab handle at driver side, Lack of light in the front row and new-age features like ventilated seats, better video system, rain-sensing wipers, etc.

As India is scared of Ford and when you see new owners wanting to sell a 3500 km run new Endeavour that they bought to enjoy one of the best experiences in driving I am glad I went and picked up a Ford White elephant also known as Ford Endeavour. My peace of mind is back. I had enough going on the personal front that I needed a distraction to living life and the result of the same is picking up this Endeavour.

Going to keep this simple. No stories of how mentally broken I was to pick a car or what amazing advice I took from known and unknown folks around me. What I am planning to do is just journal the journey with a lot of pictures and some text. On the way, I will interact and answer questions and even convince you to ignore the sedan and pick some 4*4 truck.

Why Endeavour?

Because I wanted to buy an Endeavour. My friends have a Pajero and a Fortuner and One of us had to do the honours of getting the other 4*4 home.

gsferrari is a college friend of mine and he is the fundamental reason for me even wanting a truck. I started with Espresso -> Brio -> Jazz -> Nexon -> Nexon EV -> Altroz EV(Wait and buy) -> Used Passat -> Thar ->Thar -> Thar -> (Now gsferrari buys a Pajero and I took 1 ride to decide what my next car should be) -> A Pajero or a Ford Endeavour.

What else I considered? Pajero had only manual 4*4. Nexon EV came once in thoughts, just once, and the reasons for moving to EV may never work in my favour. Immediately mind went to the car that is exactly the opposite of that notion (Better for the environment). One of the Fattest American Diesel.

Criteria: Big car. Strike - Huge Truck that compensates for my insecurities on the road, life and whatever life throws at me.

Finding the car: Challenge was to find something not too old, not too costly but clean. I am a sucker for clean interiors and OLX found me one. These were from the ad itself. This truck had 68K km on it, 2014 December make (Giving another 8 years to live with it),2 keys, manuals, and the original invoice.

Car expectations

Expectations were low. I drove a Jetta before this. Gsferrari drives a Pajero and a Fortuner and we came driving in the most awesome Creta. Our expectations were tempered that it's a truck and it will be slow, dull, boring and it compensates only on the off-roading capability. I did not expect anything major and my expectations were extremely dialled down, to be honest.

Note: That Creta is a spoiler. If you want a fully loaded SUV, a great service network, and an excellent ownership experience, Creta should be at the top of your list. I do see Kia in the mix, but the feature will never replace the ownership experience. That is my 2 cents based on the drive-in Creta for over 200kms. Excellent car for long drives.

Buying Process

I fairly buy my car like how I sold mine. Fix a price, ask the right question, evaluate risk vs reward, and move forward. I found a seller who was honest enough(mostly). Fast forward, we agreed on a number. gsferrari and I drove 300 odd km to check this car very well knowing we may have wasted a trip. Of the 4 to 5 cars I checked this one was clean, the owner shared more information and was ready to patiently listen to questions posted. I was ready to waste 5K on 3m to get the car cleaned. Germikleen package with ac vent cleaning was done on Friday and I requested the owner to not let anyone use the car till we checked and left. The owner was kind enough to drop the car at the 3M centre at an unknown person's request. The 3M guy played a good part in giving real feedback about the condition of the car and it helped immensely to confirm the car was indeed kept well if not babied. He confirmed the underbody was clean and there was no rust except some in the exhaust pipes. As customary he tried cross-selling exhaust pipe treatment which I gently refused.

D Day

We reached the place and checked out the car. Long story short I trust two people when it comes to cars. Gsferrari and JP(German Tech - Perambur/Chennai, My Jettas God Father).

At the location

Quick issues spotted:

Bald tires, Broken glove box, Rearview mirror adjustment button not working, reverse camera not working, footboard plate rust, CV boot leak on the left front wheel, and the stench of 3m cleaning which I believe will take a month in sun to evaporate.
There was one engine light check.

Good part

The engine sounded good, No sounds inside, Cylinders sounded normal, Cold start was instant, Battery had life (Maybe 6 months), Clean interiors, working 4*4 with good response from the differential, the suspension didn't show any major issues (But time will tell), No major tear in the seats except a small 3 cms tear in the driver seat sides. Now I realize that is a problem with most tall cars due to the way we enter and exit.

The Interior was extremely quiet during drives. A great testament to either zero off-roading and not busting the cars parts or the build is one of the best. The interiors probably sealed the deal for us when there was not even a single rattle.

First Test Drive Impression

From both Gsferrai and me after hitting the highway - "There is something wrong with the speedo". It was showing 100 in a jiffy while we felt we were doing 40. I did download an app to check speed. Expectations were shattered to pieces. We had a broad smile. The transmission is smooth and as with every online review you read, there is no engine breaking in D. There is some in 1,2 and 3 and with OD off there appears to be some engine braking.

Decision Time Took the car to nearby Ford and after some good cop/bad cop we got the light checked. It was a faulty MAF sensor.

At the Ford Service

The car has done 3000 odd km in the last year after the owner purchased a Thar so my guess is the MAF is simply dirty and needs an IPA cleaning. JP was not worried about this error and gave a green signal. We negotiated a bit based on this physical evidence and at first, the owner did not agree. We walked out and started driving back and we would have gone 5kms when the owner called and realized that we were ready to drive back 300kms without the car. He agreed to a price and we closed the deal. Took all necessary papers, manuals, original invoices. I was not so keen on the service history as I paid a price for the Car that is valid for the next 10 years and had only 68k km on it. 12K km a year on an Endeavour is nothing compared to offroading junkies.

Some Pleasures

I have seen kids sit in the bonnet of cars. I never once had the heart to do that on a Jetta. This car bonnet feels like concrete. I sit on this for the hot bottom massage after a drive. Extremely useful for getting your back massage and bottom massage done. You can definitely lie down and take a comfortable hot massage on the bonnet. Yes, this car has the heat massage feature after long rides. The height is right above your C5 and provides excellent relief when you get down and lean on the side of the bonnet.

Bring the Truck back to Chennai - The fun was in the final drive back home. At highway speeds, +-20% legal, this car can keep up with any modern car. It is neither slow nor bouncy for the driver and front passenger at least. You can throw it around and you won't feel scared once. It handles well on the highway and is extremely comfortable. Extremely stable in corners, body roll is probably there but the driver or the front passenger will not experience this. It appeared the car is just heavy and massive and it doesn't flinch in the corners. It almost moves nonchalantly. Bad roads aka Chennai-Bangalore roads never felt this comfortable, energetic(hardly tiring) and, like wanting to stop. I will give it some time but if you ask a new dog owner, he will say dogs are the best thing that ever happened to them (Ask them when it is their 3rd Dog and they will say this is their last). I am no different, today it feels way better than the Jetta that I loved.

Love it or hate it part? - This is so individualistic. The engine sound, the gargle, the bubble-bursting sound, the grinding sound(or like sound) is addictive. Jetta had a metallic sound or any TDI for that matter.

Niggles to fix: CV boot, MAF sensor, An inch tear in one seat, some minor electrical niggles, Clean up the footboard plate rust, and general service.

Tyres: Changed to Apollo. Cost vs benefit vs saving that extra for fixing the niggles made geolander the next buy. AT2 Apollo is not bad.

Size and Space: The car is fairly a 1 bedroom condo. There is space and a general feel of comfort once you get it. Very comfortable to get in and get out for the oldest person in my Family. I am equally surprised as I felt this car was difficult for old people. The second row is extremely generous. Fold both the rows and take the seat out, you can fit a queen-size bed and rest in a safe parking place and avoid taking a hotel in this pandemic time.

AC: Very good but I find it exactly like a 1 bedroom condo. You need to run the AC till the entire room is cool. So keep the rear ACs on to avoid feeling the cold air getting sucked by the hot rear compartment. The front ducts or vents could have been bigger. That would have meant higher fan speed. The ac chills to the bone quickly and the only time you feel it is not fully efficient is driving after parking in the hot sun. It takes a while for the car to cool down due to its sheer size.

The rest of the journey will be pictures and a few scribbles. Yes, a Journal or a Journey. I am going to have fun. I grew up hating SUV's and if you are like me, give these big cars a chance. They are the white elephants in every way but they bring some smiles which I feel is what I wanted today.

Thanks gsferrari, Leslie - The two guys who know what this buy means and what it is giving back to me.

A short comparison with my earlier cars:

Compared to Swift: Not a fair comparison. Swift will be better in fuel efficiency, practical take me around the town car, and in general a safe bet for most of the car-buying population. Swift feels refined and I had the Pete's box and it was very peppy to throw it around. The suspension was good enough but long drives did tire you out as it was a manual box. Given a choice and cost and a second chance to go back in time, will I pick a swift of the Endeavour, I think I will pick the Endeavour.

Compared to Jetta: It is a fair comparison to me. Both offer luxury in their own ways. Jetta was super fun to drive, and mine was mapped with Pete and it flew across states. Reliability was never a problem and never had to spend more than maintaining any other car. Petes mapping did cause a few errors here and there and I do not think it is worth the hassle to get Pete's tune into the Jetta. Jetta had the Bilsteins and overall ride in highways is not comparable. The area where Endeavour is making its mark is the overall comfort without majorly compromising on speed. Jetta ride was close to the ground and comfort was extremely high. With the Endeavor and its ladder chassis, they hardly make a dent into the cabin. Given a choice, I would still pick the Jetta over Endeavour at that age. Jetta was a classic car and it served really well. The only reason to let go was it being manual.

Compared to Nano: Nano beats the living days out of Endeavour when it comes to driving, parking, and roaming inside the city. It was always a city car and as long as we understand that, there is no other car that has space, comfort, and drives quality like a Nano. I am not even contemplating selling it and I want to retire it as a classic in my home. Nano is a marvel made by Tata. Beyond that 5 km circle, the Ford Endeavour with folded seats can carry the Nano around.

Some pictures at the end of the ride to showcase the buy.

Some shots by gsferrari (He is an automotive photographer and owner of Magumedia)

Day 2 - Some posing