[fiat_tarun]

So there I was in Pune, a little over 3 years since I'd started working and content with my dear old Zen. I had always wanted a Zen and I got her in November 2010 from Maruti true value. The Zen was my first car and will always remain special. She served me very well and was always a pleasure to drive.


Taking delivery of my Zen from Maruti True Value in November '10

Around Feb. 2013, my boss offered me a new bigger role, but the catch was that I had to re-locate to Chennai. Chennai isn't a favourite destination (no offence to anyone) and I asked for sometime to think about it. My family being in Mysore / Bangalore meant I would be a lot closer to home from Chennai and more so I didn't want to turn down an opportunity for growth so early in my career ! And common, how long does it take for a bachelor to move ?! Just pack your bags and leave !!

Once the decision to move was taken, the car was next. I really loved the Zen and thought I'd take the car along with me to Chennai. Then on deeper thought, it made no sense. The car was already 8 years old & had done around 80k. My running in Chennai was going to be on the higher side, besides I would have to run around for the transfer of registration - NOC, pay tax, etc and it would have been too much. I needed to get a new DIESEL car and my budget was on road 7L. I was up for a 5L loan and 2L down payment.

I was told I would need to move by may end and to plan accordingly. The only thing that I had to do was sell my Zen. My Zen was in top notch condition and scratch-less as well and I definitely wanted a good price. I honestly expected around 1.4 to 1.5L. It was a Nov. 2004 Red Lxi fully stock, except for aftermarket alloys and a iPod compatible Pioneer headunit with JBL components. I waited too long to start advertising the car and finally closed the deal via olx.in @ 1.3L. I think this is a decent price for a 8 year old second owner Zen, but if time had permitted I probably could have squeezed out 10k more !!


She was a real beauty :-). A lot of good memories with this car. The freedom that your first car brings.. Priceless :-D

I am not a big diesel fan to be honest, but then the wallet also has it's say in such matters and it had to be a diesel. The next step was short listing my options for a diesel hatch. I love driving and hence it had to be a drivers car. The only options that I deemed worthy of being driver's cars were the Swift, Punto & the Figo. The Polo loses out due to the engine & steering feel.

Swift - Firstly too common and I don't like being with the herd ! I like to be different (I use a Motorola phone for instance.. lol ! ). Secondly, I wanted ABS and it's offered only on the Zdi which was crossing my budget.

Punto - There is already a Punto 1.4 at home, so was not keen on getting another one. Plus I was under the impression that the Dynamic didn't have ABS. As pointed out by a Bhpian on another thread the Dynamic does come with ABS. I think this change happened when the variants were shuffled (or was it always there ??). Anyway, if I feel like driving a Punto I can always exchange at home !
PS - The Punto at home is my mom's car and I really like the 1.4 engine. It is severely underrated if you ask me, even on the forum. The Punto 1.4 is one of the most involving cars in that segment. Period. I advice all people looking at a petrol hatch to test drive this car.

Figo - The Figo has always been the enthusiast's budget diesel hatch and it was for me as well. Even with the couple of price increases, the Titanium @ 6.2L ex showroom, Chennai is way cheaper than the competition. Plus, since the company I work for supplies to Ford, I could get a supplier discount as well. This, combined with the free insurance offer made for a good deal. The no rear power windows, absence of a proper MID, etc were things that I wanted, but had to make some compromises.

I have driven all these cars before so didn't go for any test drives as such. The only cars in this segment that I haven't driven are the Micra / Pulse sisters, but they didn't appeal to me anyway.

So there I was in Chennai, sweating through every pore of my body going around with agents looking for houses to rent. My office being in Sholinganallur, I wanted a house around Perungudi so I wouldn't be too far from office / city and would avoid the traffic as well. It was a tough first week sorting things out and re-working finances with the absurdly high rentals in this part of Chennai ! Everyone blames the 'IT crowd' for increase in rentals. A shout out to all my IT friends here - Stop paying high rentals !!

I managed to find a place, but it was a kilometer off the main road, which meant I would have to walk a lot till my car arrived.


See, I wasn't lying !! The famous Chennai auto drivers want 50 bucks to go a km !! Some hope they've got...
And no, I did not have a cycle. It was probably me walking fast that got google now a little confused !! :-P


In between all this, I visited the closest Ford showroom - MPL Ford at Tharamani. A friend had recently bought a car from the same dealership and he referred his sales advisor to me. Figo diesel's were in stock and the waiting period was 7-10 days, mainly for documentation formalities.

Now I had to choose the colour and I find Ford's colours quite boring. I liked the red, grey & blue. My Zen was red, so didn't want a red car again. The Grey is the most common colour on the Figo, so dropped that as well.

Kinetic Blue it was and after about a week with the car, I really do like this colour. You don't see too many blue Figo's around, so my car is different in some way !

I booked the car on 13th June and had already initiated the loan process with HDFC as I had a pre-approved loan. Now being new to Chennai, I needed local address proof and this was the reason for the delay. Rentals agreements less than 3 months old are not accepted ! Managed to get my address change done on an LIC policy, after which the loan cleared. All this took quite some time and it almost the end of June.

Things were finally moving ahead and the final deal I got is;

Ex-Showroom - 620,272
Tax - 63527
RSA - 1045
Extended Warranty - 5730
Handling Charges + Number plate - 8000
Insurance - Free - Conversion to '0' Dep. - 4500
Supplier Discount - 13400
Essential pack - 2060 (Matting + Mudflaps)
Free - Parking sensors + Car Cover

Total On Road - 691762

I had quite an argument with them on the handling charges, more so because we paid 6k handling charges for our Ertiga (in Mysore) & they wanted 8k for a Figo. I escalated this to their manager & to Ford as well, but in vain. Apparently the dealer is charged half the supplier discount so his margin has already taken a hit and they actually have to pay higher 'agent' charges in Chennai. Beyond a point you cannot push it, lest you want to sour the relationship.

I must also mention here, that the dealer did try to force more accessories on me saying they are compulsory - 3M polish which I flatly refused since I was anyway planning to get it done at 3M. The dealerships don't do the job half as well as the 3M centres.
I asked for the VIN and to inspect the vehicle before paying in full, but their yard is the other end of town. The SA said he could get the car, but the thought of my new car being driven by some driver up and down for inspection was not very nice. I would have preferred to have gone to the yard myself to inspect the car, but that was also not possible. I broke one of T-Bhp's most important rules, but I took that chance since I had my contacts at Ford if something were to go terribly wrong. The VIN number provided indicated a March 2013 car which the dealer says he received in end April. Apparently, all the blue's they had were from that month. With the industry being so sluggish, 3-4 months in the yard is not something to be too worried about.

Finally, by the time all this was done it was July already and delivery date was fixed for 5th July. My daily office commute was by 'share auto' coupled with the 1km walk to & from home in the Chennai heat !! I WANTED MY CAR and FAAASSTTT !! My delivery almost got delayed as I was called to sign the form 20 when I was at the other end of Chennai (Ennore) with a customer ! I arranged to meet the dealership guy midway and finish all formalities, as I had to have the car over the weekend.

All's well that's ends well ! Friday seemed to be a never ending day and finally it was evening. Delivery was scheduled for 6pm. I reached the dealership around 6 and saw my car getting ready for delivery. Did one quick inspection and everything seemed in order (Thank God !). The parking sensors had also been fitted. Finished the formalities and it was time for delivery...


Getting ready for delivery

The dealership did a small pooja and handed over the keys along with the documents and a packet of eclairs. The feeling of driving a new car out of a showroom is something ! I was so tense and trying to be super careful. There was sufficient fuel in the car to go around a little - the low fuel light wasn't on ! Went to my friends office, picked him up and from there went to the temple for the Pooja. Finished that, filled some fuel and came home.

There is a covered parking in my house, but it's a pain to park. Luckily the lane outside is a dead end, so there won't be any vehicle movement. There aren't any trees above as well, so I should be protected from bird poo !



The Titanium models now come with a grey blue dash and thankfully it isn't as loud as the coral red dash. I would have preferred black, but this doesn't look too bad.

[fiat_tarun]

Initial Impressions & First Incident !

What I like (in no particular order)

• The strength of this engine - Negligible turbo lag
• Nice steering - perfectly weighted with good feebback
• The car does not feel cheap
• NVH has improved in the refresh Figo. I remember the older version had quite a lot of engine noise seeping into the cabin
• Space is pretty good - I think rear legroom is better than the Punto
• Music system is pretty good for an OEM fitment
• I like the fabric upholstery - It's got this nice blue stitching and looks and feels good
• The lane change indicator is very convenient
• The refresh version, with the new headlamp design seems to have solved the poor headlights complain. I am satisfied with the headlights and find the throw pretty good. Even the fog lamps light up quite a portion of the road.
• Perfectly weighted clutch is easy on the legs in bumper to bumper traffic

What I don't (in no particular order)

• No rear power windows (Why Ford, Why ?!!)
• Even with the improved NVH, the engine doesn't feel as 'refined' as the MJD
• The music system does not play the iPod via USB. Another irritant is if I'm playing the iPod via AUX, I have to remember to pause the iPod when I switch off, otherwise it keeps playing !
• Although the turbo lag is low, below say 1400rpm the car feels dead and one needs to frequently use 1st gear in stop go traffic
• The steering audio controls are placed differently. Would have preferred them on the steering wheel
• Like I said initially, I would have liked a full MID, instead on just the DTE
• While I like how the headlights function, I don't like how they look ! Visually, the older headlamps look way better. Will be looking at getting these lightly smoked.

I am yet to take the car out on the highway, so no comments yet on braking, highway manners - although braking feels good in the city. I'm sure the list might change as I get used to the car and learn more...

Coming to the first incident that I had...

Being in Chennai, I had decided to visit 3M immediately to get the under-body rust protection done. I had read good reviews on the forum about 3M Care Care, Nungambakkam. The Manager there, Mr.Dushy is also a thorough gentleman.

I got there on Saturday at around 12-45 pm and met Mr.Dushy. He is very familiar with T-bhp and after pleasantries we came out to see the car. I opted for their monsoon offer, where there is Rs.1000 off if one takes Underbody + paint sealant. There were a couple of cars already waiting there already, so Dushy told me he could give me the car earliest by 8pm. I agreed and decided to wait around and see how they do it. They immediately prepared the job card, noted down all the things in the car and I handed over the keys.

The waiting room is pretty nice and they have free wifi, 2 tablets, a tea/coffee vending machine, so you can keep yourself occupied. My car's turn finally came and the under-body coating was done after the car was scrubbed / foamed & washed. This is the 5 year warranty option (they also have a cheaper option with 2 yr warranty). The good thing here is that even the wheel wheels are coating with this rubberised thing, so it will help with NVH as well.

Post this the polishing started and by around 7-30pm they were almost done when I was called to have a look. I was impressed with their work and when I reached the rear I saw it - There were 3 small scratches on the rear bumper, above the centre parking sensor. The location was such that it was definitely not a hit, but something had either fallen on it or the buffing machine had caused it. Dushy was with me when we discovered this and he was very professional. The first thing was trying to identify what had caused this and if it was there before the car came in. They called in the guy who applied the wax and he said it wasn't there when he started the polishing. Dushy assured me that they would arrange to have this cleared with minimal inconvenience to me. Mistakes do happen and I was glad the issue was being handled properly. That is more important.

I was not charged at that time. Dushy said the bill can be cleared after this was sorted out. 3M got in touch with MPL Ford directly, came to my office (all the way to OMR road) on Monday morning and took the car to get the scratches removed. There were 3 options that the Ford body shop suggested;
1) Touch up
2) Lightly sand that area, paint and polish & clear coat the full bumper to match colour
3) Re-Paint the whole bumper.

The scratch was quite small, but 3M went all out to get it fixed. They suggested option 2 and I agreed. The car was returned by around 5pm that day after the painting. They would need it the next day as well for the polishing + clear coat. The next day again they came to my office, collected the vehicle and returned it in about an hour. The scratches are gone, the paint looks fine and I'm happy - more so at the way the whole issue was handled. Full credit to Mr.Dushy here To top it all, they are waving off Rs.500 from the bill for all the inconvenience, fuel used in taking the car to get it fixed, etc !!

End Result - I am super impressed with 3M and I highly recommend this place, both for their work and the people.

By the way, the paint sealant treatment really does wonders on a bright colour like the blue, but the problem is in keeping the car that way. I've bought the Jopasu duster for daily dusting and a 3M microfibre cloth for washing the car. I hope I can maintain this colour.

Some pictures... (All mobile pics. Will plan a proper shoot one of these days)


The fabric upholstery with the blue stitching. I like !



Even the door pads get this treatment. It matches the blue car !



At 3M during the wash (before the under-body treatment)



Before the treatment - Nothing from the factory. Coastal area like Chennai will need more than that.



After the treatment. It's a pretty thick coating and feels rubbery to touch



Polishing in progress. During this the under-body coating dries.



Beautiful shine after it was done



The scratches ! They (And Me) are still wondering what could have caused this



All Shining !






I shall keep updating this thread now and then with updates on my ownership with the Figo. I hope it'll be an enjoyable trouble free experience.

Let me know if there are any specific points that you need clarifications on and I shall try to clarify. Hope you'll enjoyed my story !




EDIT - Adding a more comprehensive report

Its been about 800 km now and I've got to know the car better. Here are my observations:

Engine / Drive / Suspension :
Like I mentioned earlier, the TDCI units are pretty noisy, even with the enhancements made in the refreshed Figo. This is more pronounced when the engine is cold. It has this very agricultural clatter to it ! Once the engine warms up, it quietens down quite a bit and when cruising on an open road you hear no engine noise. I particularly like the gruff growl when you accelerate (And I thought I'd hate a diesel as a daily drive). Having said that, I'd still take a sweet revving petrol over a diesel.

This engine has very good driveability with the minimal turbo lag and is perfect for stop go traffic, although one has to use first gear quite often. The clutch is not too light and not too hard as well. I have faced no problems even in choc-a-block traffic, although I would have liked a dead pedal. I must say the worst cars that I've driven in this regard are the Bolero and the Duster. I pity you Duster owners in big crowded cities.

The gearbox is a pretty good unit with short throws. It isn't brilliant like in the Polo, but not bad as well. There's none of that rubbery feel like in the Punto.

I have not really had problems finding my driving position in most cars and the Figo is no different. I found my driving position and pretty comfortable. I will taking the car on a long drive this weekend, so let me see how tired I feel after this.

On the suspension, I'd say its on the stiffer side but I prefer it this way. The Figo rides one level below the Punto. In the Punto one gets the feeling of being in a much bigger car and it rides that way too. The area where I stay in at Chennai has drainage work going on because of which all the internal roads are not laid yet (there are big societies, but no drainage - talk about planning !). With the rains here it has become terrible. During one of my 'off roading' sessions I noticed a metal clanking sound had started from the front suspension. This sound could be heard on bad roads. Took the car to the A.S.S and it was traced to a defective link rod ! They fixed it all in half an hour, but I'm still surprised that a part has failed so fast.

On the tyres, I got the crappy (so I've heard) MRF ZV2K's. They seem okay for the city. I shall see how they perform on my long drive later this week.

On my first fill up, I got about 13.5 kmpl (100% city driving). I have filled up the tank now and going by the DTE it seems to be around the 14 kmpl mark. I'm sure this will improve as I put in more miles.

Features / Other points

The new Titanium versions get 2 new additions with the refresh - The so called 'steering' audio controls & a new design alloy wheel. I quite like the new alloy design. It looks smart.

Guys - A question to you'll - How would a Kinetic Blue Figo look with the OE alloys painted a gun metal shade ?

Coming to the steering audio control, its mounted on the steering column and is not as convenient as on the steering as for example it does not turn with the steering wheel, so sometimes you are searching for the buttons. Having said that the audio system quality is pretty good apart from the no iPod support as mentioned earlier.

Another area where Ford have compromised is the rear seat headrests which are fixed ! In my car the back seats will hardly be used, but adjustable headrests should have been there atleast on the Titanium. Talking about cost cutting, there is another one - The rear fog light ! There is a switch for it, a dash board indicator which turns on to indicate its on, but nothing turns on outside. On close observation you will see that there are no bulbs in the fog light enclosures !! I also wish the seat belt had a height adjuster.




Overall a pleasant experience so far, barring a part failing so fast ! I shall update the thread next week after my 1000 km drive and will put up better pictures as well. I should get a better idea of its highway manners, braking, tyres, etc over this drive.

[Technocrat]

Thread moved from the Assembly Line to the Initial Ownership Section. Thanks for sharing!

[drvhplyevraftr]

Let me be the first one to congratulate you. Nice color. I like. Very well written.

How much did the 3M treatment cost?. (sorry if you have already posted).

Thanks.

[Satshan]

Thats a very comprehensive review, fiat_tarun!

Heartiest Congratulations for the Titanium version of Figo. The Blue color looks superb and the refreshed version has more decent looks with improved headlight illumination. Don't understand why Ford omitted rear power windows, atleast they should given them in the refreshed version. Overall, a true VFM!

Also, good that you went to 3M right away and got the necessary work done. Do keep us posted on the mileage figures (both city & Highway).

Wish you a safe driving experience, mate.

[a4anurag]

Originally Posted by fiat_tarun

What I don't (in no particular order)

• While I like how the headlights function, I don't like how they look ! Visually, the older headlamps look way better. Will be looking at getting these lightly smoked.

A BIG CONGRATULATIONS for the new car.

Love the blue colour for this car and suits very well. The only bad is the extra chrome on the headlights. The top part has too much of it and makes the headlamps look bulbous.

Originally Posted by fiat_tarun

I've bought the Jopasu duster for daily dusting and a 3M microfibre cloth for washing the car. I hope I can maintain this colour.

Where did you buy the Jopasu from and for how much buddy?

Cheers,
Anurag.

[slicvic]

Tarun, I guess 3M should copy your pictures for a before and after advertisement! Never really understood what the under body treatment was until now.

[fiat_tarun]

Thanks Guys !

Originally Posted by drvhplyevraftr

Let me be the first one to congratulate you. Nice color. I like. Very well written.

How much did the 3M treatment cost?. (sorry if you have already posted).

Thanks.

Hey drvhplyevraftr (Does the handle mean anything?!). The 3M under-body + paint sealant came to 6150 including taxes after the Rs.1000 discount.

EDIT - Just got it - 'Drive happily ever after' !

Originally Posted by a4anurag

A BIG CONGRATULATIONS for the new car.

Love the blue colour for this car and suits very well. The only bad is the extra chrome on the headlights. The top part has too much of it and makes the headlamps look bulbous.



Where did you buy the Jopasu from and for how much buddy?

Cheers,
Anurag.

Totally agree with you. The extra chrome on the headlamps is really overdone and looks quite tacky. I will definitely be looking at the smoking option.

I got the Jopasu duster off ebay. It costs around Rs.450. It is very effective with dust. With rains every night in Chennai, I've not been able to use it for the past few days.

Originally Posted by Satshan

.
.
.
Do keep us posted on the mileage figures (both city & Highway).

Wish you a safe driving experience, mate.

First fill up seems to be giving me around 14-15 kmpl with 100% city driving.

Originally Posted by slicvic

Tarun, I guess 3M should copy your pictures for a before and after advertisement! Never really understood what the under body treatment was until now.

Actually 3M provides you with those photos. They take pics of the car befoe and after to show you the difference.

They also have some contest on now, wherein you have to upload pictures of your polished car and person with the most likes / votes will win some prizes.




I got some terrible number plates from the dealer and had to get rid of them fast ! Ordered the IND punched plates and got them fixed yesterday. They cost Rs.900. The car also got stickered. Not a very apt sticker for the Figo, considering the 68 horses, but I had only 2 stickers left - 'I Drive Safe' & 'Got Bhp'. 'I Drive Safe' comes with too much responsibility , so it had to be this one.

[ghodlur]

Fiat_tarun,

Heartiest congratulations on the Kinetic blue. The colour looks rocking on the car, the same way it used to make the Fiesta 1.6S stand out in the crowd.

I agree with most of the dislikes mentioned and was one of the reasons to chuck Figo out from my list when I was searching. Also the "I dont care if you owned a Ford earlier" attitude by the dealer made me think twice about owning one. The position of the audio controls is absolutely ridiculous.

What were the stock tyres which you got with the Figo? Good to know that 3M went out of the way to rectify the scratch issue.

Happy mile crunching and drive safely.

[anachronix]

Congrats Tarun, the little Ford in blue looks nice and welcome to Chennai

This is in front of Car Fancy @ Kandhanchavady?

Originally Posted by fiat_tarun

Attachment 1109458

[Sommos]

Tarun, Many congratulations for your first "New" car.
The fabric with blue shade looks nice. The dash also looks fine compared to the red one in the initial version.
Hope the Figo gives a niggle free performance and wish you many happy miles with the car.
Drive safe.

[Reinhard]

Hey Tarun, congratulations on the Figo. Great car, sparkling colour & lovely review. If only I had PM'd you earlier, I'd have got my friend to purchase your Zen. Alas. Anyway, wishing you unlimited safe & happy miles with the new Figo.

Aren't these the so called "high security" number plates? which are supposed to break when tried to steal? You should have got them attached in the anti-theft way I think. Using the standard screws slashes the purpose of High security number plates.

LOL @"I drive safe sticker comes with too much responsibility"

[swami.n]

Many Congratulations on your first new car Tarun. Looks cool in blue. Figo is my first new car as well.

I too felt the same about the new headlamp design. The older ones, though on the dull side, suited the car's design better.

But regarding the NVH levels, though I have not driven the older version, the build is much better than the new one. The thud when the door is closed is much more assuring in the older version. So I presumed it ought to have better NVH levels.

Also my wife's cousin brother who works for Ford(in the Ecosport Project) agreed that the facelifted Figo had undergone a lot of cost cutting measures which he pointed out when looking at my car. That is the reason for the new car being just around 3000 more than the old version.

OT: And by the way, where is your office at sholinganallur. I do pass by the place everyday on my way to Siruseri.

[sups]

Originally Posted by fiat_tarun

I love driving and hence it had to be a drivers car. The only options that I deemed worthy of being driver's cars were the Swift, Punto & the Figo. The Polo loses out due to the engine & steering feel.

Congratulations on the new car.

How does the figo suspension compares to that of a punto in good and bad roads?

[W.A.G.7]

Hey, congrats on your first new blue oval car! The kinetic blue colour on Ford cars looks really nice. Is there an option to fit power windows at the rear in the Figo? Also is the spare wheel an alloy or a normal steel one? Enjoy the car and do keep your experiences posted here.