Thread Starter
#1
I recently bought a new Ford Ecosport Titanium Plus Diesel MT. This is my review. I am not an expert with cars or writing reviews, so please bear with me.
The Need
I live at Kochi/Ernakulam in Kerala. My work requires a lot of travel. I did not have a car before. I did not really drive before either. Most of my travels were with a two wheeler and rest in public transportation. I had calculated my monthly minimum running to be atleast 1500km. My travel would be mostly in Ernakulam, Kottayam and Idukki District with occasional trips to Thrissur, with several areas having bad roads that require a bit of ground clearance.
I needed a car, preferably diesel, with medium to high ground clrearence, good safety and low maintenance cost. I wanted basic stuff like power windows, reverse parking sensors/camera, decent enough music system. I preffered them to be in the car right from the dealer, rather than getting it done outside. From safety point of view, I wanted minimum of 2 Airbags, ABS and EBD.
Features that were not really important for me to reject models were projector headlamps, DRLs, keyless entry etc. As I did not plan to drive very fast and aggressively, having massive power or torque wasn't a big thing either.
My initial budget was something in the 5-6 lakh range.
I plan to use it for 8-10 years if it doesn't give any problems.
The Search
So the first thing was to download apps like carwale and cardekho etc and researching all cars and removing the cars that don't fit my need. Since I give big importance to safety, after seeing lots of crash tests / photos and getting expert opinions, I decided to not pursue Maruti cars. It was a personal decision for me even though I would get everything I wanted at probably lowest cost than the competitors along with resale values etc.
The initial list had the following cars.
I had relatives and friends with Etios Liva and freestyle and I have travelled in both of them as passengers. I liked both of them.
Freestyle was a very updated car with lots of safety features, but would extent the budget upto 8.5 lakhs - 9 lakhs for top end version.
Etios Liva also costs about the same. Although it's looks and features were a bit older, that was a no nonsense car with my friend's car having absolutely no problems after 5 years and very low maintenance required. But it has a problem with low ground clearense, with my friend having to do some work done to get his Liva inside his plot without hitting the bottom at the small bump that prevents water from road getting into his plot. Even Maruti alto used to enter without hitting the bottom but somehow liva did that.
I was not very fond of sedans, so Amaze was out.
Asking people who owned Tata cars in Kochi about their after sale service experiences put me off getting the Tiago.
For some reason, the Hyundai's did not really catch my attention at all.
So I though I would go for the Freestyle.
Then comes the twist....
My relatives urge me to get an SUV ( which I really like, but was not confident enough). They gave me the confidence to go for it.
I have mostly travelled in Brezza and 2 ecosports of my friends, so I was very familiar with them and loved them..
Nexon also was a very good car, but the Tata ASS report from owners here dissuaded me.
So Finally decided on the Ecosport.
I went to the Maruti Driving School nearby to brush up my driving skills.
The Showroom Experience
My friend who has the 2014 model Ecosport came with me to Malayalam Ford Vytilla and met with the sales executive from whom he had taken his car.
The showroom was a bit small, being very close to the busiest junction in Kerala. All the Ford cars except Endevour were present inside the showroom. The staff were very good and friendly. After meeting and short test drive, decided to book White Titanium Plus Diesel MT model. I really loved the black colour, but my relatives and family discouraged me saying that maintaining the colour would be difficult. I was happy to have the safety features like Traction Control, ESP, Hill Hold Control etc. Anything to reduce the chance of accidents.
I paid Rs. 3000 to book the car on 7th November and they promised to get it by 20th. They also arranged for finance of the car.
The total amount on road was Rs. 12.6 lakhs.
I was given "free" 3rd and 4th year warranty extension, underbody coating and basic accessories.
I also bought the rear mounted tyre cover for an additional Rs. 8000 they charged me.
Since I did not have much credit history previously, bank loan took some time and was completed by around 20th. The car reached Kochi on 27th and I wanted to receive it on 29th and I was flying to Chennai the next day for a week long programme.
I went to their Service centre at Panangad on 28th, which is 6 km south of Vytilla Showroom, easily accessible since both the showroom and service centre are right beside NH 66(old NH47). I did a PDI there and was satisfied with the car.
I had ordered a dashcam (Blueskysea B1W), and had them run the power wire of the dashcam from the 12V socket at the front through the A piller until it comes out behind the Auto Dimming Rear View Mirror.
On 29th morning, they delivered the car. My friend drove it home as I was not very confident in getting it through the heavy traffic and construction work of Kochi Metro on the way.
About the experience at Malayalam Ford, it was mostly good. The executive was very friendly, knowledgeable, truthful (he said Kairali Ford Sevcie centre was better than Malayalam Ford Service centre and that he had got his car serviced at Kairali Ford).
Negatives of the Showroom Experience :
1. I had bought the rear wheel cover for my car and they were supposed to deliver it along with the car, but they did not get it painted and dried in time. I was asked to goto the service centre and get it at a particular time that day, but when we reached there, it was not ready. Had to wait couple of hours to get it.
2. My friend was promised(verbal) a Rs 3000 reduction in his next service as he was the one who brought me there. He had previously also brought some other friends of his who also bought cars from there. But it was not given and the executive moved to NEXA after couple of months.
The Struggle
My car porch has an arch where the car enters instead of a pillar. So I have to clear this arch and then turn 90 into the small road outside. Since the distance between the arch and the road is very small, it is not possible to turn in one go. The back of the car has to clear the arch(there is just enough space for a person to walk on both sides of the car at the arch) and then turn full into the road, stop, reverse a bit and turn again.
Back from Chennai, I struggled a lot to get the car out. First two days I could not get it out. I tried it only in early morning when my neighbours wouldn't see as I didn't want to be ridiculed or them seeing me scrape the car on the wall. On the third day, a Sunday morning, I succeeded. I went for a 10 km drive in the early Sunday morning low traffic. Got enough confidence that I could drive again.
Next few days, I would take the car for work related travels. Before leaving, I would debate if I should take the car in the heavy traffic. Then I would force myself to drive the car. I would sweat heavily even when the fantastic AC is on full power, due to the stress of driving in heavy traffic. I stalled the car at signals and other places several times, getting a cacophony of horns from behind. I drove relatively slow and kept the car under 2500 rpm and about 70 kmph. I did not do a lot of overtaking. I would overtake if I am 100% sure of making it. I put the car in wrong gears a few times. Forgot to change down gears after stopping at signals and stalled when it turned green. I got the nicks I was expecting, but strangely all of them were in the right ORVM. But I found myself getting better everyday.
Finally at about 2000 km, I went on a long drive to Thiruvananthapuram. At the end of that 4 day trip I had driven about 700 km and I finally felt that the car was fully in my control.
I also had constant pain in my left leg while driving for the first 3000 km or so as I was not used to having to use the clutch always during driving, especially in the city.
You can see the arch in the photos I've posted below.
The Disaster
Just after 1500 km was completed, I was driving through a small road at Thrissur, when a big lorry ahead of me stopped. There was little space on the right, and a swift ahead of me slowly overtook the lorry. So I also tried to overtake. Since ecosport is bigger(feels like it) or because I was afraid of scraping my car in the lorry, I decided to put my two right tyres on the grass just outside the road. There was a wall on the right side too. I was moving very slow in first gear and my front right tyre hit something and I could hear some scraping going on underneath. Whatever it was, it had gone behind the front right tyre and I had to make sure that I didn't hit the lorry on my left or the wall on the right. I felt that the steering was leaning to the left while the car was going straight. Once I cleared the lorry, I stopped and checked my car. Found a small scratch on the black cladding on the right side of front bumper. No other scratches. No fluids leaking from the underside except for water from AC. No warning lights flashing inside. Steering off by 30 degrees or so.
I called my sales executive and got the number of a person at the service center. He asked me to get to nearest Wheel Alignment centre and get it corrected and then bring the car to service. Driving with the steering wheel rotated 30 degrees to the left was very difficult. I got to the nearest Wheel Alignment shop and the guy said that the ball rod that contains the alignment adjusting nut is bent. I took a photo and sent to the service centre guy and he said that it would cost about 5K and would take about 2 hours max. So after getting wheels aligned temporarily, I went to Kairali Ford Thrissur and had the repairs done. It was as he had said - 5K and 2 hours. That few hours were very stressful and sad for me. First accident ever. But I got away easily considering that the cost was small, no injury to me/another person/another vehicle /wall. I decided not to use insurance for this amount.
Also it was Google maps that suggested I take this small road to save time. I have sworn not to take short cuts and keep driving on proper main roads as much as possible.
The Car
Exteriors : For me, the Ecosport looks very good. I love the tyre mounted behind look. White colour gets dirty very easily. But when properly cleaned, it looks very good. Getting in and out is very easy for me. Front Doors open very wide to accommodate for it and closes with a thud. Keyless entry is very useful as you can have your key in your pocket or a small bag and just hit the capacitive button to lock and put your hands inside the handle to unlock. Puddle lamps on both ORVMs make getting out of the car at night a bit easier and cleaner. ORVMs are very wider than usual and I feel no need to blind spot mirrors that are placed on normal ORVMs. That also means you get hit on the ORVMs. I stopped counting the hits on the Right ORVM after about 8 hits. It has scratches on it but the mirror is fine. Most scrapes occur during low speed high traffic conditions in small roads.
Interiors : some people don't like the all black interiors, but I do. There is enough leg space and headroom both at the front and back. Seating position is really comfortable for me and seats don't give me back pain even in long drives. 3 normal sized people can sit in the back easily. The middle person cannot put on the seat belt if he/she is not really thin. Being the one with 6 Airbags, there are no handles above the door to hold during getting In and out of the car. Enough space for 1ltr bottles on all four doors. Sound system is 5 speaker one which is quite good. The sync 3 infotainment is the best in class and the screen is superb. Touch screen is really fast and accurate. Bluetooth and android auto works very well although once in a while Android auto fails to load while phone is connected, probably due to issue with the cable. AC is really good. So far didn't feel the need for rear AC vent. 2 cabin lights are really useful as rear passengers can get light for their needs too. Auto dimming IRVM is a boon during night rides. The rear parking sensors work fine although I think it does not take the thickness of the rear mounted tyre. So we have to be careful. The reverse camera is really good with dynamic guidelines. The quality of video on the touchscreen is really good, even at night. At night the reverse camera video on the touchscreen is very clear and well lighted.
Driving : The car is really fun to drive. Although a friend complained that the car was not pulling well in second gear at a hill, I didn't feel that. One of the best thing about the car is its Electronic Power Steering. It's goes where we want it to go and is a pleasure to drive, especially in the curvy hilly roads. It gives you confidence during overtakes too. The design of the instrument console is outdated but can live with it. Just learned today that Ford updated Titanium and Titanium Plus instrument consoles with some design changes to the console, putting the console of S Model, which looks much better. Having just tested the Average trip fuel efficiency in the MID using full tank method, I found that in average, the MID average fuel efficiency was 1.35-2.15 kmpl more than actual fuel efficiency. More on that later. I haven't tested the cruise control yet. Few times traction control crept in while driving, so I'm happy it's always on to keep us safe. Hill hold control also came useful once or twice when I had to suddenly stop in a steep curve. But usually half clutch works fine. I haven't driven in the rain yet, so I cannot comment on auto wiper feature. The auto headlight switches on headlight too early, so I have disabled it.
Ride quality is very good. I think the suspension is on the stiffer side though.
I think the gear shifting could be improved. Not as smooth as I thought. But the high torque in low rpm means I can get to speed faster. I also like the acceleration it produces in second and third gear especially when you push the accelerator pedal.
There is absolutely no vibration felt on the gear lever or the steering wheel.
The steering mounted controls works well and when on android auto, the voice activation button on the steering wheel activate Google Assistant to make calls or navigate somewhere. It's very accurate in catching our voice commands. I did try the voice assistant that comes with Sync 3, but could not get the commands right. I did not try hard to correct it or set it up (if setup is required).
Boot : Boot space is good enough for me. Never had to load it fully or use the 60-40 rear seat split yet.
Others : It has ISOFIX anchor points that I have not used at all.
Negatives/possible improvements :
1. A piller : visibility is affected by A piller at some curves. Frequently have to move to front and view the road ahead through the wind shield glass or move back / to side and view through the right front window.
2. Boot Door : Need to make sure the back of the car is not parked towards the wall in places like shopping malls.
3. Gear shifting : I don't know if its my driving style, or some problem with the car, but I find gear shifting not so smooth. While changing the gear, it feels like the lever is scraping on a rough surface. It happens sometimes, not always. I make sure every time that I'm pressing the clutch to its max position, but despite that it happens. Very strange for me.
4. Alloy wheels : it's not ugly, but not really great looking either. I find several cars below 10 lakhs with better looking alloys.
5. Hand Rest: A forward sliding armrest would have been preferred.
6. 360degree view/front parking sensors : 360 degree view cameras or front 0arking sensors would have made it a bit more safer and easier to drive.
7. Sixth gear : I hit close to 2000 rpm at about 100 km in 5th gear. Could keep rpms down if we had a 6th gear(if 6th had a better gear ratio than current 5th gear of course)
8. Instrument cluster : pretty lame looking one. MID has font that looks like its from the 80's. Recently the TITANIUM Plus got updated with S Model instrument cluster.
9. Lumbar support : although I have not got any back problems, FORD should have kept their lumbar support from previous model.
Since it's the first car I've driven properly, I cannot compare with other cars. Some of the experience I had was maybe because of my non experience. Some maybe because I have no idea how it is to drive other cars. Some maybe because of my bad driving. So please correct me if I'm doing it wrong.
1st Service.
I got the vehicle with 18 km on the odometer. I was asked to bring it before 2500 km. Since I was going to be away from Kochi during that time, I had asked the service centre few days before if I could bring it at 2100 kms then or at 2800 km after I reach back from my trip. They said bring it at 2800 km. I reached there at 8 am on Jan 2nd as they asked me to come. One advisor reached the service centre at 8:30 am. Workers reached at 9 am. The workers had a meeting till about 9:50-10:00 am. Then they take up my vehicle and get it checked, topped up the fluids and cleaned and washed the car very fast. Next service is at 10000km.
Wheel Alignment and Balancing
After having wheel aligned at 1500km due to the accident, I did it again at 6000 km. It was done in a local shop. Alignment was a little off in the left side, they said. Front two tyres were interchanged according to the advice of the technician. Both the left tyres needed weights to get rebalanced. Used 30 grams in total. Next wheel alignment, balancing and proper tyre rotation to be done after 10000 km service. Air pressure was maintained at 34.
At a relatives place.
In the first "long" trip to Thiruvananthapuram...
At Home.
The problematic arch and road very close ahead. You can see the plot wall starting on the right side which means very little place to turn.
The ball rod bend after the crash.
Ball rod after removal.
The Need
I live at Kochi/Ernakulam in Kerala. My work requires a lot of travel. I did not have a car before. I did not really drive before either. Most of my travels were with a two wheeler and rest in public transportation. I had calculated my monthly minimum running to be atleast 1500km. My travel would be mostly in Ernakulam, Kottayam and Idukki District with occasional trips to Thrissur, with several areas having bad roads that require a bit of ground clearance.
I needed a car, preferably diesel, with medium to high ground clrearence, good safety and low maintenance cost. I wanted basic stuff like power windows, reverse parking sensors/camera, decent enough music system. I preffered them to be in the car right from the dealer, rather than getting it done outside. From safety point of view, I wanted minimum of 2 Airbags, ABS and EBD.
Features that were not really important for me to reject models were projector headlamps, DRLs, keyless entry etc. As I did not plan to drive very fast and aggressively, having massive power or torque wasn't a big thing either.
My initial budget was something in the 5-6 lakh range.
I plan to use it for 8-10 years if it doesn't give any problems.
The Search
So the first thing was to download apps like carwale and cardekho etc and researching all cars and removing the cars that don't fit my need. Since I give big importance to safety, after seeing lots of crash tests / photos and getting expert opinions, I decided to not pursue Maruti cars. It was a personal decision for me even though I would get everything I wanted at probably lowest cost than the competitors along with resale values etc.
The initial list had the following cars.
- Tata Tiago.
- Honda Amaze
- Ford Freestyle
- Hyundai Grand i10
- Hyundai Elite i20
- Toyota Etios Liva
I had relatives and friends with Etios Liva and freestyle and I have travelled in both of them as passengers. I liked both of them.
Freestyle was a very updated car with lots of safety features, but would extent the budget upto 8.5 lakhs - 9 lakhs for top end version.
Etios Liva also costs about the same. Although it's looks and features were a bit older, that was a no nonsense car with my friend's car having absolutely no problems after 5 years and very low maintenance required. But it has a problem with low ground clearense, with my friend having to do some work done to get his Liva inside his plot without hitting the bottom at the small bump that prevents water from road getting into his plot. Even Maruti alto used to enter without hitting the bottom but somehow liva did that.
I was not very fond of sedans, so Amaze was out.
Asking people who owned Tata cars in Kochi about their after sale service experiences put me off getting the Tiago.
For some reason, the Hyundai's did not really catch my attention at all.
So I though I would go for the Freestyle.
Then comes the twist....
My relatives urge me to get an SUV ( which I really like, but was not confident enough). They gave me the confidence to go for it.
I have mostly travelled in Brezza and 2 ecosports of my friends, so I was very familiar with them and loved them..
Nexon also was a very good car, but the Tata ASS report from owners here dissuaded me.
So Finally decided on the Ecosport.
I went to the Maruti Driving School nearby to brush up my driving skills.
The Showroom Experience
My friend who has the 2014 model Ecosport came with me to Malayalam Ford Vytilla and met with the sales executive from whom he had taken his car.
The showroom was a bit small, being very close to the busiest junction in Kerala. All the Ford cars except Endevour were present inside the showroom. The staff were very good and friendly. After meeting and short test drive, decided to book White Titanium Plus Diesel MT model. I really loved the black colour, but my relatives and family discouraged me saying that maintaining the colour would be difficult. I was happy to have the safety features like Traction Control, ESP, Hill Hold Control etc. Anything to reduce the chance of accidents.
I paid Rs. 3000 to book the car on 7th November and they promised to get it by 20th. They also arranged for finance of the car.
The total amount on road was Rs. 12.6 lakhs.
I was given "free" 3rd and 4th year warranty extension, underbody coating and basic accessories.
I also bought the rear mounted tyre cover for an additional Rs. 8000 they charged me.
Since I did not have much credit history previously, bank loan took some time and was completed by around 20th. The car reached Kochi on 27th and I wanted to receive it on 29th and I was flying to Chennai the next day for a week long programme.
I went to their Service centre at Panangad on 28th, which is 6 km south of Vytilla Showroom, easily accessible since both the showroom and service centre are right beside NH 66(old NH47). I did a PDI there and was satisfied with the car.
I had ordered a dashcam (Blueskysea B1W), and had them run the power wire of the dashcam from the 12V socket at the front through the A piller until it comes out behind the Auto Dimming Rear View Mirror.
On 29th morning, they delivered the car. My friend drove it home as I was not very confident in getting it through the heavy traffic and construction work of Kochi Metro on the way.
About the experience at Malayalam Ford, it was mostly good. The executive was very friendly, knowledgeable, truthful (he said Kairali Ford Sevcie centre was better than Malayalam Ford Service centre and that he had got his car serviced at Kairali Ford).
Negatives of the Showroom Experience :
1. I had bought the rear wheel cover for my car and they were supposed to deliver it along with the car, but they did not get it painted and dried in time. I was asked to goto the service centre and get it at a particular time that day, but when we reached there, it was not ready. Had to wait couple of hours to get it.
2. My friend was promised(verbal) a Rs 3000 reduction in his next service as he was the one who brought me there. He had previously also brought some other friends of his who also bought cars from there. But it was not given and the executive moved to NEXA after couple of months.
The Struggle
My car porch has an arch where the car enters instead of a pillar. So I have to clear this arch and then turn 90 into the small road outside. Since the distance between the arch and the road is very small, it is not possible to turn in one go. The back of the car has to clear the arch(there is just enough space for a person to walk on both sides of the car at the arch) and then turn full into the road, stop, reverse a bit and turn again.
Back from Chennai, I struggled a lot to get the car out. First two days I could not get it out. I tried it only in early morning when my neighbours wouldn't see as I didn't want to be ridiculed or them seeing me scrape the car on the wall. On the third day, a Sunday morning, I succeeded. I went for a 10 km drive in the early Sunday morning low traffic. Got enough confidence that I could drive again.
Next few days, I would take the car for work related travels. Before leaving, I would debate if I should take the car in the heavy traffic. Then I would force myself to drive the car. I would sweat heavily even when the fantastic AC is on full power, due to the stress of driving in heavy traffic. I stalled the car at signals and other places several times, getting a cacophony of horns from behind. I drove relatively slow and kept the car under 2500 rpm and about 70 kmph. I did not do a lot of overtaking. I would overtake if I am 100% sure of making it. I put the car in wrong gears a few times. Forgot to change down gears after stopping at signals and stalled when it turned green. I got the nicks I was expecting, but strangely all of them were in the right ORVM. But I found myself getting better everyday.
Finally at about 2000 km, I went on a long drive to Thiruvananthapuram. At the end of that 4 day trip I had driven about 700 km and I finally felt that the car was fully in my control.
I also had constant pain in my left leg while driving for the first 3000 km or so as I was not used to having to use the clutch always during driving, especially in the city.
You can see the arch in the photos I've posted below.
The Disaster
Just after 1500 km was completed, I was driving through a small road at Thrissur, when a big lorry ahead of me stopped. There was little space on the right, and a swift ahead of me slowly overtook the lorry. So I also tried to overtake. Since ecosport is bigger(feels like it) or because I was afraid of scraping my car in the lorry, I decided to put my two right tyres on the grass just outside the road. There was a wall on the right side too. I was moving very slow in first gear and my front right tyre hit something and I could hear some scraping going on underneath. Whatever it was, it had gone behind the front right tyre and I had to make sure that I didn't hit the lorry on my left or the wall on the right. I felt that the steering was leaning to the left while the car was going straight. Once I cleared the lorry, I stopped and checked my car. Found a small scratch on the black cladding on the right side of front bumper. No other scratches. No fluids leaking from the underside except for water from AC. No warning lights flashing inside. Steering off by 30 degrees or so.
I called my sales executive and got the number of a person at the service center. He asked me to get to nearest Wheel Alignment centre and get it corrected and then bring the car to service. Driving with the steering wheel rotated 30 degrees to the left was very difficult. I got to the nearest Wheel Alignment shop and the guy said that the ball rod that contains the alignment adjusting nut is bent. I took a photo and sent to the service centre guy and he said that it would cost about 5K and would take about 2 hours max. So after getting wheels aligned temporarily, I went to Kairali Ford Thrissur and had the repairs done. It was as he had said - 5K and 2 hours. That few hours were very stressful and sad for me. First accident ever. But I got away easily considering that the cost was small, no injury to me/another person/another vehicle /wall. I decided not to use insurance for this amount.
Also it was Google maps that suggested I take this small road to save time. I have sworn not to take short cuts and keep driving on proper main roads as much as possible.
The Car
Exteriors : For me, the Ecosport looks very good. I love the tyre mounted behind look. White colour gets dirty very easily. But when properly cleaned, it looks very good. Getting in and out is very easy for me. Front Doors open very wide to accommodate for it and closes with a thud. Keyless entry is very useful as you can have your key in your pocket or a small bag and just hit the capacitive button to lock and put your hands inside the handle to unlock. Puddle lamps on both ORVMs make getting out of the car at night a bit easier and cleaner. ORVMs are very wider than usual and I feel no need to blind spot mirrors that are placed on normal ORVMs. That also means you get hit on the ORVMs. I stopped counting the hits on the Right ORVM after about 8 hits. It has scratches on it but the mirror is fine. Most scrapes occur during low speed high traffic conditions in small roads.
Interiors : some people don't like the all black interiors, but I do. There is enough leg space and headroom both at the front and back. Seating position is really comfortable for me and seats don't give me back pain even in long drives. 3 normal sized people can sit in the back easily. The middle person cannot put on the seat belt if he/she is not really thin. Being the one with 6 Airbags, there are no handles above the door to hold during getting In and out of the car. Enough space for 1ltr bottles on all four doors. Sound system is 5 speaker one which is quite good. The sync 3 infotainment is the best in class and the screen is superb. Touch screen is really fast and accurate. Bluetooth and android auto works very well although once in a while Android auto fails to load while phone is connected, probably due to issue with the cable. AC is really good. So far didn't feel the need for rear AC vent. 2 cabin lights are really useful as rear passengers can get light for their needs too. Auto dimming IRVM is a boon during night rides. The rear parking sensors work fine although I think it does not take the thickness of the rear mounted tyre. So we have to be careful. The reverse camera is really good with dynamic guidelines. The quality of video on the touchscreen is really good, even at night. At night the reverse camera video on the touchscreen is very clear and well lighted.
Driving : The car is really fun to drive. Although a friend complained that the car was not pulling well in second gear at a hill, I didn't feel that. One of the best thing about the car is its Electronic Power Steering. It's goes where we want it to go and is a pleasure to drive, especially in the curvy hilly roads. It gives you confidence during overtakes too. The design of the instrument console is outdated but can live with it. Just learned today that Ford updated Titanium and Titanium Plus instrument consoles with some design changes to the console, putting the console of S Model, which looks much better. Having just tested the Average trip fuel efficiency in the MID using full tank method, I found that in average, the MID average fuel efficiency was 1.35-2.15 kmpl more than actual fuel efficiency. More on that later. I haven't tested the cruise control yet. Few times traction control crept in while driving, so I'm happy it's always on to keep us safe. Hill hold control also came useful once or twice when I had to suddenly stop in a steep curve. But usually half clutch works fine. I haven't driven in the rain yet, so I cannot comment on auto wiper feature. The auto headlight switches on headlight too early, so I have disabled it.
Ride quality is very good. I think the suspension is on the stiffer side though.
I think the gear shifting could be improved. Not as smooth as I thought. But the high torque in low rpm means I can get to speed faster. I also like the acceleration it produces in second and third gear especially when you push the accelerator pedal.
There is absolutely no vibration felt on the gear lever or the steering wheel.
The steering mounted controls works well and when on android auto, the voice activation button on the steering wheel activate Google Assistant to make calls or navigate somewhere. It's very accurate in catching our voice commands. I did try the voice assistant that comes with Sync 3, but could not get the commands right. I did not try hard to correct it or set it up (if setup is required).
Boot : Boot space is good enough for me. Never had to load it fully or use the 60-40 rear seat split yet.
Others : It has ISOFIX anchor points that I have not used at all.
Negatives/possible improvements :
1. A piller : visibility is affected by A piller at some curves. Frequently have to move to front and view the road ahead through the wind shield glass or move back / to side and view through the right front window.
2. Boot Door : Need to make sure the back of the car is not parked towards the wall in places like shopping malls.
3. Gear shifting : I don't know if its my driving style, or some problem with the car, but I find gear shifting not so smooth. While changing the gear, it feels like the lever is scraping on a rough surface. It happens sometimes, not always. I make sure every time that I'm pressing the clutch to its max position, but despite that it happens. Very strange for me.
4. Alloy wheels : it's not ugly, but not really great looking either. I find several cars below 10 lakhs with better looking alloys.
5. Hand Rest: A forward sliding armrest would have been preferred.
6. 360degree view/front parking sensors : 360 degree view cameras or front 0arking sensors would have made it a bit more safer and easier to drive.
7. Sixth gear : I hit close to 2000 rpm at about 100 km in 5th gear. Could keep rpms down if we had a 6th gear(if 6th had a better gear ratio than current 5th gear of course)
8. Instrument cluster : pretty lame looking one. MID has font that looks like its from the 80's. Recently the TITANIUM Plus got updated with S Model instrument cluster.
9. Lumbar support : although I have not got any back problems, FORD should have kept their lumbar support from previous model.
Since it's the first car I've driven properly, I cannot compare with other cars. Some of the experience I had was maybe because of my non experience. Some maybe because I have no idea how it is to drive other cars. Some maybe because of my bad driving. So please correct me if I'm doing it wrong.
1st Service.
I got the vehicle with 18 km on the odometer. I was asked to bring it before 2500 km. Since I was going to be away from Kochi during that time, I had asked the service centre few days before if I could bring it at 2100 kms then or at 2800 km after I reach back from my trip. They said bring it at 2800 km. I reached there at 8 am on Jan 2nd as they asked me to come. One advisor reached the service centre at 8:30 am. Workers reached at 9 am. The workers had a meeting till about 9:50-10:00 am. Then they take up my vehicle and get it checked, topped up the fluids and cleaned and washed the car very fast. Next service is at 10000km.
Wheel Alignment and Balancing
After having wheel aligned at 1500km due to the accident, I did it again at 6000 km. It was done in a local shop. Alignment was a little off in the left side, they said. Front two tyres were interchanged according to the advice of the technician. Both the left tyres needed weights to get rebalanced. Used 30 grams in total. Next wheel alignment, balancing and proper tyre rotation to be done after 10000 km service. Air pressure was maintained at 34.
At a relatives place.
In the first "long" trip to Thiruvananthapuram...
At Home.
The problematic arch and road very close ahead. You can see the plot wall starting on the right side which means very little place to turn.
The ball rod bend after the crash.
Ball rod after removal.
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