27th May 2010, 23:35
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| Senior - BHPian  | "Blackcat" (Figo Diesel Zxi) - initial report Started off wanting to buy a Swift petrol. Ended up buying a Figo diesel. Well, the whole story of how and why I decided on Figo is here, but to put it in one line: I fell in love with the way it moves! I did a lot of analysis and decided that Swift makes the best sense, and then dumped all that analysis and good sense, and went with what my heart longed for - the Ford experience. Buying: Last Thursday, I waded through the rains in my Xeta, went to MPL and booked it. The sales lady remembered me who had test driven Figo a couple of months back. I paid the booking amount, was told about a 50-day waiting period which I didnt mind as I already had a car. I told her that whatever amount the Xeta will fetch in exchange, will be the down payment. Rest needs to be financed. My color preference was in this order: Sea Grey, Black and White. Booked Zxi diesel with black dash. Same evening, while I was returning from my in-laws' place, the SA called me asked me if I would like to take a black ZXi which another customer had not taken, and yes it had the black (ebony?) dash. I said hell yes, I want it immediately. Everything went blazing fast! Next day I had applied for loan, loan was approved in 2 days, Tuesday I traded in my Xeta, Wednesday (yesterday) Figo went for registration and today (Thursday) it is delivered with the number plate! WOW - One week flat! That includes loan processing, exchanging my current car and registration that too with permanent number, no temp number plate! Am I lucky or what! THANKS TO NANDANAM MPL, they handled everything very well! I did not take my camera with me when taking delivery. Will take some better pics this weekend, and post them. Just a couple of pics clicked with my mobile cam at the showroom before the number plate was fitted.      Now the important part: How does the car feel? Well, I have driven 50 kms as of now, so take this as "initial impressions". I will keep adding to this thread as I move along. Driving: A Thriller! 1. Steering is the best of all the hatches I have driven. Yes, this includes Punto. I have never driven a Palio. Highly responsive, and it offers feel and feedback while being easy to operate at the same time. 2. Car changes direction / changes lanes very willingly. This is the single most loveable aspect of Figo, I would say its USP. 3. Engine: This is a gem! If lightfooted it potters along with the loads of torque pulling effortlessly. If pressed slightly it lunges forward with a huge turbo kick! Ford have successfully mastered the art of giving a turbo kick without a turbo lag  .4. Ride is actually better than my Indica. Yes, I swear. I did try driving over exactly the same bad patch of road multiple times that I used to take my Indica over regularly. Surprised that Figo actually beats Indica in ride quality. 5. Handling: I am able to chuck the car into corners confidently and it feels very, very stable. Full points here. Comfort and interiors: Could be better... 1. The driver seat is too narrow and too hard. Will definitely give back pain, but seat height adjust comes as a savior. If I keep changing the position, there is no problem. 2. Steering position and pedal position are spot-on. 3. There are far less storage areas in Figo than in my Indica. A storage spot below the steering wheel would have been good. 4. Boot space is enormous! Features and value: This is where I think Figo is a winner! 1. The bluetooth sync with phone works like a charm! Attending to calls when driving is no longer a hassle. 2. The audio system sounds good! 3. AC is a chiller! Kept getting cold with the AC in "1" position. This is Chennai. 4. Rear wiper will be useful in rains, or when the rear windshield gets dirty. 5. Seat height adjust as I mentioed is a must in this car. Otherwise one will get back pain. Now I am going to talk a little bit about how to sync the phone with the music system. Here are the main points in a nutshell: 1. You need to press and hold the button with the bluetooth icon 2. Of course, you need to have BT turned on in the phone. 3. It will search and detect your phone. Will ask if you want to pair. Say "Yes". (selection button is the "next song" button "">>"). 4. After pairing, it will synchronize. Will take several minutes, should be patient. 5. Once this is done, the system will detect this particular phone whenever bluetooth is turned on in the phone ... and thats it, done! I am able to make and recieve calls sitting in the car without touching the phone. I think this feature is really cool! As I mentioned, these are all just initial impressions picked up from 50 kms. I will keep updating my experiences with this car, in this thread. It should eventually (hopefully) turn into a long term ownership thread. Feels good to have my Figo! I am one happy camper right now.  |
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27th May 2010, 23:41
| #2 |
| BHPian  Join Date: Feb 2010 Location: calicut
Posts: 317
Thanked: 51 Times
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27th May 2010, 23:52
| #3 |
| Senior - BHPian  Join Date: Sep 2009 Location: Chennai
Posts: 1,400
Thanked: 122 Times
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27th May 2010, 23:54
| #4 | |
| Senior - BHPian | @aditya: no, i am not planning on any mods as of now. No cash  A few more details: 1. USB cable is not in stock, the sales lady will inform me when it is. 2. Seat covers are not in stock (!). I need to place an order if I want them. 3. F.E: Too early to tell. I set the tripmeter to zero when getting the tank filled, so all I have to do is drive a few more kms and tankfull again to get an idea. But the DTE (distance to empty) suggests an FE of 13.9 so far. Is that good or bad? 4. The sales person went an extra mile to get me a better price for the Xeta, than what the Maruti TrueValue guys and other third party dealers offered after negotiation. That too in such a short timeframe. 5. The finance coordinator went extra miles to try and get my loan approved asap. 6. As I was in a hurry, they did the whole delivery process (including fitting number plate) in less than an hour. Thanks to MPL again! 7. Initially I had heard that MPL is opening a service centre in Sholinganallur, but now learnt that it will only be a sales outlet. Quote:
Xeta (2007) went for 1.6 lakhs. I know, its on the lower side - but I couldnt get a better price for it elsewhere. Guess I could have sold it for at least 20 more if I had taken say a month to sell it personally without any dealer. But I am in a hurry to change the car, and this worked better for me than the other dealers. Last edited by Dippy : 5th June 2010 at 22:45. Reason: Back to back posts | |
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28th May 2010, 02:34
| #5 |
| Senior - BHPian  Join Date: Dec 2007 Location: KL-01
Posts: 2,303
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28th May 2010, 08:34
| #6 |
| BHPian  Join Date: May 2010 Location: Chennai
Posts: 35
Thanked: Once
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28th May 2010, 09:18
| #7 |
| Senior - BHPian  | Congrats Friend. Good to hear your great experience with Ford Dealers.  Enjay! drive safe. |
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28th May 2010, 09:50
| #8 |
| Senior - BHPian  | Congrats rajushank84, Wonderful VFM,Car and Color indeed  you are lucky to get the car within 1 week time. Enjoy and Drive Safe |
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28th May 2010, 11:50
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| Senior - BHPian  | Congratulations Raju. Its a very well packaged car with performance & build quality! Quote:
Check this thread, there are many places in Chennai which offer good range of custom made seat covers. http://www.team-bhp.com/forum/modifi...y-chennai.html | |
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28th May 2010, 13:23
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28th May 2010, 19:29
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28th May 2010, 19:35
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28th May 2010, 20:03
| #13 |
| BHPian  Join Date: Dec 2008 Location: Chennai
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28th May 2010, 20:49
| #14 |
| BHPian  Join Date: Apr 2010 Location: Chennai
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28th May 2010, 23:10
| #15 |
| BHPian Join Date: Sep 2009 Location: New Delhi
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