[DevilsCry]

It has been over five years and 68,500 km in this ownership.

Problems faced and solutions:
1. Slow power steering fluid leakage: Ford had recalled Figo to fix this problem but it was never fixed properly. At every 10k or 20k km interval, we tell service guys to top up power steering fluid. This solution has sufficed all five years of ownership.

2. Slow coolant leakage: I have bought a 5L coolant bottle from Ford. I top up coolant every 7k-8k km. This solution also suffices for now.





3. The annoying AC gas leakage problem: Could not figure out where the leakage was happening. Since workshops estimate more than 8k rupees to fix the problem with no guarantee, I simply have been refilling the AC gas at start of every summer season. This solution works well.

General stats:
1. There are no other problems yet. The car spends almost all its life on smooth Delhi roads. Outstation trips to the mountains happen only once a year. Guess this is a reason Figo has been running smooth and reliably. We probably have had 6-7 services so far. Average service cost has been 3.7k rupees.

2. There has been almost no change in the car's characteristics since day one. Performance is same, mileage is same, suspension behavior is same. Tyres need changing in next few thousands of km. There is plenty of thread left but the rubber is hardening up.

Random photoshoot with a Honda Brio:











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I know that people would have expected a longer summary after 5 years and 68k km but honestly, nothing to report other than what I wrote above. The car behaves pretty much same when it was new.

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Next car/additional car could be an automatic so that other members in the family don't have to use the clutch while driving. So, we had done TD of some random cars. A brief report:
1. Grand i10 manual petrol: I would have talked about performance, space and all but its suspension, it bounces so much and bottoms out easily. This was the only thing I kept noticing throughout the drive. The car feels okay to sit in and drive around but has terrible suspension. Poor suspension and zero star rating in crash tests mean that I can't pick a Hyundai as my next car.

2. S-Cross manual 1.6L diesel: I was given a brand new car without number plate and with odometer disconnected. I refused to drive. I was then given a brand new car without number plate and with odometer connected. I asked if it is a TD car. The SA lied by saying yes. I drove it nonetheless. Spacious car. Surprised by a suspension which is actually good and European like. Performance was so-so. There is plenty of torque but when it comes to acceleration, it is only as quick as 1.2L petrol from Maruti and Honda. All wheel disk brakes did not feel any different from two wheel disk brakes. But then of course, I did not test the limits.

Nice car but gotta remember Nexa does not sell new cars but rental cars. Your car will have odometer disconnected and reset and be abused in several TDs before being handed to you claiming to be a brand new car. Rental cars for price of new cars at Nexa and zero stars in crash test for regular Maruti cars mean that a Maruti/Nexa can't be my next car.

3. VW Vento 1.5L diesel with dual clutch auto: I wanted to TD Ameo diesel dual clutch auto but it was not available. VW promised to send an Ameo TD car home the next day but I requested drive of a Vento instead.

Sat in the Vento. Wow, so cramped. Rear seats have really poor thigh support. Moved the car expecting an explosive performance which I read about so much on T-bhp. Ended up getting disappointed due to turbo lag for over 95% of TD drive. You can't really spool the turbo inside a city because it comes too late and is too violent. I need a smooth performance graph to navigate in city traffic. Waiting for 2-3 sec before turbo spools up and then having to abandon throttle because of more power surge than needed, made it impossible to overtake other cars. This problem is not fixable by tuning either because of large turbocharger.

Despite the monster torque, the performance was nothing to write about. It is only as quick as a 1.5L NA petrol engine. Poor space and unusable power curve ruled out VWs for next car.

4. Honda Amaze 1.2L petrol CVT: The puny 1.2L engine is actually nice. CVT makes low end torque better than in manual. Good things end here. CVT means I failed to overtake any vehicle. There is simply never power when I need it. Interiors are shockingly spartan. An Alto might have better interiors! City CVT costs over 10 lac, well out of my budget so I did not bother driving it.

5. Ford Aspire 1.5L petrol dual clutch auto: Phew! Finally a car which was actually a good purchase consideration. The 1.5L NA petrol is peppy, has smooth and predictable power curve. Dual clutch autobox is quick as expected. Its suspension behaved well at 80 kph and at corners. I can immediately see that the autobox will give more fuel efficiency than my manual driving (by going in higher gear and eliminating engine braking) but will eat up brakes much faster.

The space inside was decent. Boot space was pretty disappointing. It feels a lot less than in my Figo. I've no idea why Aspire costs 1.2 lac rupee more than Figo! Absolutely not justified at all considering that both the cars probably cost same to make.

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I hope Toyota will give Etios further updates (Platinum updates are not enough) or at least give an autobox. I'm quite keen to have Etios 1.5L petrol as the next car (or as a companion to the Figo).

End of the post.