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We love some things in life to the moon and back. Driving a four wheeler is one such love for me
What started as a hobby of sitting in the passenger seat when my Dad drove an Ambassador grew in me to become a passion for automobiles. A Maruthi replaced the Ambassador and I continued to accompany my dad over weekly trips across scenic locations around Visakhapatnam. I grew up with the car and fell in love with it. When I learnt to drive and started driving on my own, It gave a feeling I can’t express in words !
The woods are lovely, dark and deep, But I have promises to keep, And miles to go before I sleep, And miles to go before I sleep – Robert Frost
Then the most challenging, interesting and sometimes frustrating period of a Middle class born 20 something boy came into play. I graduated from College ( 2012 ) moved to Bangalore to earn my bread and butter little did I know I earn enough money to survive till the 30th of every month, forget about even driving a car even with ZoomCar
Done, boring you guys !! Fast forward to 4 years of Job and 2 years of MBA, I earned just enough to think about a car. Thanks to the Big hearted Banks who are willing to lend you any number of loans and sink you in debt, I decided to get one for myself ( I still sometimes can’t believe that I own a car )
So it was the Freestyle Ambiente Diesel !
Why diesel ( Again ) :
The Buying Experience :
The whole world was going towards E shopping and so is car shopping. I tried a portal called trycarpal.com who operate at Chennai and Bangalore as of now, run by a very energetic Vignesh ! I liked the fact that I had to visit the showroom only for delivery, the negotiating, follow-ups everything was taken care by Vignesh’s team
October 11th was the D Day and the Car rolled off :)
The car has covered over 10500 kms till date, here are my few observations:
Few memorable trips :
Few Pics :
Somewhere near nellore during my solo drive from Chennai to Vizag
With my father's swift somewhere near Rajahmundry
At home with my toys :
What started as a hobby of sitting in the passenger seat when my Dad drove an Ambassador grew in me to become a passion for automobiles. A Maruthi replaced the Ambassador and I continued to accompany my dad over weekly trips across scenic locations around Visakhapatnam. I grew up with the car and fell in love with it. When I learnt to drive and started driving on my own, It gave a feeling I can’t express in words !
The woods are lovely, dark and deep, But I have promises to keep, And miles to go before I sleep, And miles to go before I sleep – Robert Frost
Then the most challenging, interesting and sometimes frustrating period of a Middle class born 20 something boy came into play. I graduated from College ( 2012 ) moved to Bangalore to earn my bread and butter little did I know I earn enough money to survive till the 30th of every month, forget about even driving a car even with ZoomCar
Done, boring you guys !! Fast forward to 4 years of Job and 2 years of MBA, I earned just enough to think about a car. Thanks to the Big hearted Banks who are willing to lend you any number of loans and sink you in debt, I decided to get one for myself ( I still sometimes can’t believe that I own a car )
- Budget – Started with 3 Lakhs and ended at 7.3 Lakhs ( I know many of you were in the same boat ), shifted between petrol/ diesel, switched between Old/ New.
- The range of cars stretched across Alto, Kwid, Swift, Polo, TUV 300 ( Dad’s choice
- Petrol/ Diesel – After driving my dad’s Swift diesel for a couple of years, I kind of got addicted to the diesel’s driving dynamics. To be continued....
- Old / New – Since I was inclined towards Diesel, a second Hand car did not seem very attractive ( the swifts were too pricey, the Figos/ Fiesta’s were cheap but the maintenance were not very pocket friendly ) So finally decided to get a new one
- At this point there was again the dilemma of petrol vs diesel ( Don’t blame me, but the base models of Ignis Petrol and Freestyle Diesel were 1.5 lakhs apart – both similar hatchbacks) . But the test drive cleared out the doubt – Heart always wins over the head :)
- Now, in my narrow budget I had very few options that I liked – New Swift, Freestyle, Polo I ended up buying the Freestyle Ambient Diesel reasons below
- Driving dynamics were not really great compared to my dad’s 2011 swift.
- The Steering wont come back to centre position upon taking a u turn, this was a big turn off for me
- Too many swifts on the road
- Build quality, some might argue against it, but the panels were too thin for my comfort and considering the traffic in Chennai, any vehicle is bound to take a hit. I dint want to keep doing patch work for any small hits here and there
- Service costs were not very friendly
- Somehow the felt the clutch being too hard especially after TDing the Freestyle. And to drive with that in B2B traffic could be a nightmare
- Price was a bit too high ( Agree it’s a premium product and great safety rated car )
So it was the Freestyle Ambiente Diesel !
Why diesel ( Again ) :
- It was so much fun to drive in the highways and equally in the city, literally no turbo lag at all
- Mileage is great ( Highway 24 - 30 @ 80 – 100 KMPH )
- It ticked all the boxes in terms of function over form, the one thing I miss is the Temperature gauge ( from a safety point of view )
- It has 2 Air bags, ABS, Rear Parking sensors, Day/ Night IRVM , Floor mats as standard – Perfect VFM for first car buyer like me
The Buying Experience :
The whole world was going towards E shopping and so is car shopping. I tried a portal called trycarpal.com who operate at Chennai and Bangalore as of now, run by a very energetic Vignesh ! I liked the fact that I had to visit the showroom only for delivery, the negotiating, follow-ups everything was taken care by Vignesh’s team
October 11th was the D Day and the Car rolled off :)
The car has covered over 10500 kms till date, here are my few observations:
- Never underestimate your running when you compare between petrol/ diesel when purchasing your car
- This diesel motor is India’s best one till date at least in the sub 1500 CC category for a reason. It is a breeze to drive in the city and loads of fun in the highways
- Mileage is a great benefit apart from the pure driving dynamics of this beauty , the steering feedback is just right
- There was left pulling issue twice, once canter angle was fixed and the second time steering software had to be updated
- Being the base model, the interiors are dull and bare minimum, but very functional , thanks to Tons of storage spaces in the front
- I swear I will buy another Ford as my next car if at all they continue to exist after another 10 years
Few memorable trips :
- Chennai – Vizag solo drive ( 850 kms )
- Chennai – Trichy – Madurai – Chennai – 1100kms
Few Pics :
Somewhere near nellore during my solo drive from Chennai to Vizag
With my father's swift somewhere near Rajahmundry
At home with my toys :
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