Finally got my Ford Figo (Diesel) Titanium!! Hi all,
I finally took delivery of my Diamond white Ford Figo Titanium on the 25th of March(yippeee!!).Have been busy with work hence couldnt post earlier.The whole process of buying the car right from booking to taking delivery was nothing short of a roller coaster ride. Booked my car with BHAVNA FORD at Nerul,Navi Mumbai on 7th March with a booking amount of Rs 25,000. There were no test drive cars at this point and no information from the dealer in terms of price either.Thanks to Team-bhp , i had a fair idea of what the price would be and GTO's detailed test drive report helped me book the car without a test drive or price.I was promised delivery around the 14th of March or latest by Gudi padwa i.e 16th of March, although i had my apprehensions about the optimistic dates promised by the dealer. But the Sales Assistant was so sure about this and even showed me a stock list of cars available with them in different variants and different colours that i just couldnt argue with him. I booked the Titanium in Diamond white with black dashboard.Was promised free mats,mud flaps, perfume and idol. Finally the price of the figo was out on the 13th and with it began the list of excuses and reasons as to why I cant have the car by 16th and that they can only deliver by the 19th-20th. Decided to wait and watch.Called the dealer after a few days and this time i was given a delivery date of 25th. i was a bit annoyed as i was being given different stories each time i call them.Stories varied from Ford not sending them enough cars, to Ford sending them cars of their own colour choice and not the dealer's request , to the most creative one which was that the Cars were leaving the chennai plant on a container truck and that it would take another 4-5 days to reach mumbai and although they are on the truck , we still dont know what colours are being sent. This was it. I had had enough. I did not have a problem waiting for a few more days for the car but i was sick of being given a different story each time. When i said this to the SA, he said to me that he was only passing on the information to me as told to him by the management. I finally decided to meet the manager incharge and i explained to him that i need a firm and accurate answer as to when i will be recieving the car to which he said he is very unsure about that and it could be around the First week of April as he himself wasnt getting proper replies for his queries from Ford. He was very apologetic and assured me that they were trying their best. The Titanium variant especially in white was very hard to get hold of as said by him. But he offered me an alternative.HE said he has a White Titanium in stock that he had recieved that morning which ws supposedly booked by his collegue.Only problem was that it had the Coral Dashboard. He said i could have that if i wanted else wait for the one with black dash board but he could give no commitment on the date.I had to take a decision there and then.I didnt quiet like the coral dash at first hence had decided to go for the black but the uncertain waiting period was putting me off.Had a look at the coral Dash once more on the car on display.Sitting in the white car on display with the coral dash , i finally decided that i will go for it.Although i wasnt too sure about this but decided to go for it as wifey said that she actually thought it was quiet different and didnt look that bad at all. Informed the SA that i will take that car and to have the car ready by evening for me to have a look at. Went back to the dealership in the evening and the car had arrived but wasnt ready as it wasnt cleaned properly.Did some primary checks and everything seemed to be in place. The ODO showed 22kms. I was a happy man.Took down the chasis number and returned the following day with the PDI check list and everything cheked out just fine.Informed the SA that i will be taking delivery the following day i.e. 25th.Arrive at the dealership at around 2pm on the 25th and made the final payments. Completed final formalities. The car wasnt ready at this point which was a bit dissappointing and i had to ask them to get it cleaned.
Finally the car was ready for delivery at around 3pm and i was about to drive away when i noticed that the Music System lights (back lights) just would come on. Although the system worked perfectly fine, the lights simply wouldnt come on. was surprised i missed that during PDI check.By this time we had around 4-5 dealership employees hovering around the car trying different tricks but none of them seemed to work.I was heart Broken. I was asked to take delivery and that was promised that they would look into it at the earliest which i flatly refused.Finally they figured out that it was some sort of loose connection and that if you tap the dashboard right next to the glove box, the lights do come on!! I was told that they would have to open the music system and check the wiring. I was assured everything would be taken care of. I decided to go home and return after an hour.Got a call in 45 mins that the problem has been fixed.Checked the system thoroughy and was happy with it and i finally took delivery.The problem has not re surafced so far and i am hoping that it has been fixed.
The other things that were a bit upsetting was that the dealer said that the perfume and idol are not part of the deal which was clearly promised when we booked the car.I wasnt too keen on them anyway and decided not to spoil my mood over this and let this be. Then at the time of delivery, i was told that they didnt have the mud flaps in stock and they will fit it as and when they get it.Very annoying. And you should see the Quality of mats these people give out!! probabaly the cheapest one available in the market which smells really bad if the car is parked in sunlight.Absolutely ridiculous!! The other annoying thing was that these were initially meant to be freebies but by the time i got the car, i had to pay Rs 5200 for the mats,mud flaps(which i havent recieved) and 3rd year extended warranty.And this is mandatory if you want to buy a figo!!! Also , the insurance has to be purchased from the dealer and again that is mandatory as well if you want to buy a Figo!!Imagine that. however i was given the insurance at Rs 15400 instead of Rs 19000 but they flatly refused to price match HDFC's offer which was around the RS 13000 mark or even allow me buy from them direct. You can call it 'MAKING HAY WHILE THE SUN SHINES''.
Coming down to the car, it has run 250 kms so far and i am absolutely enjoying it .Much has been already said about the car so i will not go into details. Few of my observations are:-
* The boot lid has to be closed with some force to actually close it.
* Having issues pairing my iphone with the music system.I can make and recieve calls and it has picked up my contacts and all but i am having trouble playing songs from my iphone. some help on that would be great.
Also the system just cant be switched off even with the ignition keys off.Huge problem if you have kids.
Although the Buying experience has been a mixed bag of events, i think the car offers great value for money.Will to try to post some pics tomorrow.
Many thanks.
Last edited by Eddy : 30th March 2010 at 17:25.
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