Thread Starter
#1
I believe this is a right time to share my experience with Figo Diesel since the last 2 years. Hence this thread here.
Buying Decision:
Wanted to switch to a diesel car - and when doing my research - read about Figo having the same engine that runs in Fiesta and there I go my decision was almost made. Still I was little concerned about the After Sales Support of Ford but in Chennai I have couple of my friends owning a Ford and they never had such issues. So decided to go for Ford after comparing Fiat and Ford.
Booking and Dealer Experience:
Was pleasant - called up MPL ford in Nandanam on saturday 4.30 PM - SA said sir no cars available now please leave me your number and I will call you. I gave him his number and I thought I might have to go to their showroom on monday directly. But surprise surprise - sunday morning 10 AM I was relaxing at home and the SA called and asked me If he can come in another 10 minutes for a TD. I was elated and replied Yes please. He reached home in 15 minutes and took her for a drive on RK Salai and Santhome High road and also on the Beach road. I was happy to sit inside a miniature fiesta - the console and dash resembled fiesta - including the steering. Happy with TD - booked the car on monday and signed documents and arranged for a loan with SBH - loan sanctioned on tuesday - wow that was too fast for me and I went to their bank on wednesday morning to sign the documents - payment dispatched the same day to ford and car went for registration on Thursday and delivery on Friday.
All said, the process was smooth and fast(really fast) I gave him a small gift after a week of taking delivery of the car (a wall hanging of lord krishna as I found that during my conversations with him) and he was surprised and happy.
Service experience:
First service - free at 2500 kms - second service 10,000 kms and free. Between both these services I had the usual problems of rear right window rolling down by an inch automatically while driving. And the rattling noise from B and C pillars from the right side. I took it to the service center about 3 times for the same issue and they fixed it once and for all (I thought so) during the 3rd trip. Now after 23k kms the rattling noise has come back again but this time not so severe as the first time so I can live with it for few more months until I take her to the service center again.
The service at 20k kms - was not a free service and the usual fear of expensive to maintain ford thoughts came to my mind and I was preparing to shell out 8 to 9 k for the service but voila it was 3800 Rs +/- 200 Rs. for oil change - filter change - some other consumables - labour and VAT. I was surprised and my ford-hater friends were shocked as they shelled out more than 6k to get their swift diesel serviced during similar kms - so no more easier to maintain marutis.
On-Road Assistance:
Well once during my trip to coimbatore - during pongal holidays - I was packing things into my car at my home in coimbatore and accidentally I left the keys in the boot and closed the doors - without realizing that all other doors were locked still. Called up ford care - asked for my number and address - I was told I would be contacted in an hour - I was not happy - one hour is too long - but after hanging up I called up couple of local mechanics to see if they could open up the doors somehow.. they tried - usual scale and hooks - but no luck they said no not possible.. I was Happy and Sad. Happy that my car is not easy for local thieves to break into and sad that my keys were still in the car. So I was waiting and in 30 minutes I got a call from the local ford service center and he said he will reach my place in an hour - as it was holiday he was sitting in his home town was about 40kms from coimbatore. I was happy and sad again![[cry]](https://www.theautomotiveindia.com/forums/images/smilies/Cry.gif "Cry [cry]")
. Okay so while was just looking around the car trying to think of something - got an idea ![[evil]](https://www.theautomotiveindia.com/forums/images/smilies/Evil.gif "Evil [evil]")
[not going to share it here just to avoid any kind of security concern for other figo owners - msg me in private if you are really keen to know] and was able to open the door and retrieve the keys by myself. so I was happy about the on-road assistance team trying to help me asap so I called up the service guy who started already from his home and told him not to come and he was more than happy too.
Driving:
Car well suited for city driving - in chennai during regular traffic - I don't have to worry too much about gear shifting as Figo can pull along at 20+kms speed in 3rd gear by itself and upto 50kms happily in the same gear - so very less gear changes in the city and giving me a better mileage of 16km/litre of fuel always. I do notice the turbo-lag in figo but is way less than what I felt in a swift vdi and fabia. The turbo kicks-in at 1800 RPM and with that I can just zoom out of the traffic in couple of seconds. I don't drag race so a few seconds delay is acceptable for me.
On the highways - while at 100kms speed and RPM is around 2500 - 5th gear - push the pedal a little further - it takes some time to reach 2800 RPMs but once there there is a hidden power that is gifted to the driver suddenly and with this I could easily overtake without having to downshift and also easily reach 130 to 140km/h. This is a very big advantage of Figo but after 140 Figo struggles and I can feel the engine crying. So I didn't really push it after 140 so far. with a tankfull I would get a DTE of 720kms and I have always made 680 kms with a tankfull - I won't topup after cutoff and I will refuel when it reaches reserve.
Cornering: the low stance of the car really gives good confidence in sharp turns and with seat belts on - its easier to zip through tight turns. Hydraulic steering gives a precise control of the wheels and passes on the feel of the road to the hands and I could visualize the road easily. I love the steering -though its a lot heavy when comparing with electronic steering wheels - just for the confidence it gives when holding the steering.
The huge windshield has its advantages - gives good visibility of the road and yes the bonnet is visible in my casually seated position - gives good confidence and can easily position the car precisely in tight edges - especially in the streets of mylapore, royapettah and mandaveli where I drive around often. And it also passes on lot of heat - un-avoidable.
Conclusion: Figo is well suited for city driving - for occasional spirited driving and don't have to worry about highways too.
* Powerful AC - only when there wer e 5 people in car and driving in chennai afternoon - I turned on the AC to 3rd level - never before / after I have crossed the 2nd level with the cooler set to somewhere in the mid position.
* And it could seat 5 adults comfortably - if adults are not more than 6ft high.
* ground clearance - I haven't found this an issue coz the manual clearly says - if 5 people sit in the car increase the tyre pressure (somewhere in 36 at front and 41 at the back) and if only 2 sit - drive around in 31psi in all wheels. I have been following this and haven't scratched the underbelly till now. Yeah and I am a careful driver as well.
On the highways - It does lose its breath - and a Swift could passover Figo when I am at 130km/h - doesn't matter much to me because I didn't get this car for its speed but for its driveability in city and character on road. I would get a BMW or Merc If I wanted to cruise around at 200km/h :)
Buying Decision:
Wanted to switch to a diesel car - and when doing my research - read about Figo having the same engine that runs in Fiesta and there I go my decision was almost made. Still I was little concerned about the After Sales Support of Ford but in Chennai I have couple of my friends owning a Ford and they never had such issues. So decided to go for Ford after comparing Fiat and Ford.
Booking and Dealer Experience:
Was pleasant - called up MPL ford in Nandanam on saturday 4.30 PM - SA said sir no cars available now please leave me your number and I will call you. I gave him his number and I thought I might have to go to their showroom on monday directly. But surprise surprise - sunday morning 10 AM I was relaxing at home and the SA called and asked me If he can come in another 10 minutes for a TD. I was elated and replied Yes please. He reached home in 15 minutes and took her for a drive on RK Salai and Santhome High road and also on the Beach road. I was happy to sit inside a miniature fiesta - the console and dash resembled fiesta - including the steering. Happy with TD - booked the car on monday and signed documents and arranged for a loan with SBH - loan sanctioned on tuesday - wow that was too fast for me and I went to their bank on wednesday morning to sign the documents - payment dispatched the same day to ford and car went for registration on Thursday and delivery on Friday.
All said, the process was smooth and fast(really fast) I gave him a small gift after a week of taking delivery of the car (a wall hanging of lord krishna as I found that during my conversations with him) and he was surprised and happy.
Service experience:
First service - free at 2500 kms - second service 10,000 kms and free. Between both these services I had the usual problems of rear right window rolling down by an inch automatically while driving. And the rattling noise from B and C pillars from the right side. I took it to the service center about 3 times for the same issue and they fixed it once and for all (I thought so) during the 3rd trip. Now after 23k kms the rattling noise has come back again but this time not so severe as the first time so I can live with it for few more months until I take her to the service center again.
The service at 20k kms - was not a free service and the usual fear of expensive to maintain ford thoughts came to my mind and I was preparing to shell out 8 to 9 k for the service but voila it was 3800 Rs +/- 200 Rs. for oil change - filter change - some other consumables - labour and VAT. I was surprised and my ford-hater friends were shocked as they shelled out more than 6k to get their swift diesel serviced during similar kms - so no more easier to maintain marutis.
On-Road Assistance:
Well once during my trip to coimbatore - during pongal holidays - I was packing things into my car at my home in coimbatore and accidentally I left the keys in the boot and closed the doors - without realizing that all other doors were locked still. Called up ford care - asked for my number and address - I was told I would be contacted in an hour - I was not happy - one hour is too long - but after hanging up I called up couple of local mechanics to see if they could open up the doors somehow.. they tried - usual scale and hooks - but no luck they said no not possible.. I was Happy and Sad. Happy that my car is not easy for local thieves to break into and sad that my keys were still in the car. So I was waiting and in 30 minutes I got a call from the local ford service center and he said he will reach my place in an hour - as it was holiday he was sitting in his home town was about 40kms from coimbatore. I was happy and sad again
. Okay so while was just looking around the car trying to think of something - got an idea [not going to share it here just to avoid any kind of security concern for other figo owners - msg me in private if you are really keen to know] and was able to open the door and retrieve the keys by myself. so I was happy about the on-road assistance team trying to help me asap so I called up the service guy who started already from his home and told him not to come and he was more than happy too. Driving:
Car well suited for city driving - in chennai during regular traffic - I don't have to worry too much about gear shifting as Figo can pull along at 20+kms speed in 3rd gear by itself and upto 50kms happily in the same gear - so very less gear changes in the city and giving me a better mileage of 16km/litre of fuel always. I do notice the turbo-lag in figo but is way less than what I felt in a swift vdi and fabia. The turbo kicks-in at 1800 RPM and with that I can just zoom out of the traffic in couple of seconds. I don't drag race so a few seconds delay is acceptable for me.
On the highways - while at 100kms speed and RPM is around 2500 - 5th gear - push the pedal a little further - it takes some time to reach 2800 RPMs but once there there is a hidden power that is gifted to the driver suddenly and with this I could easily overtake without having to downshift and also easily reach 130 to 140km/h. This is a very big advantage of Figo but after 140 Figo struggles and I can feel the engine crying. So I didn't really push it after 140 so far. with a tankfull I would get a DTE of 720kms and I have always made 680 kms with a tankfull - I won't topup after cutoff and I will refuel when it reaches reserve.
Cornering: the low stance of the car really gives good confidence in sharp turns and with seat belts on - its easier to zip through tight turns. Hydraulic steering gives a precise control of the wheels and passes on the feel of the road to the hands and I could visualize the road easily. I love the steering -though its a lot heavy when comparing with electronic steering wheels - just for the confidence it gives when holding the steering.
The huge windshield has its advantages - gives good visibility of the road and yes the bonnet is visible in my casually seated position - gives good confidence and can easily position the car precisely in tight edges - especially in the streets of mylapore, royapettah and mandaveli where I drive around often. And it also passes on lot of heat - un-avoidable.
Conclusion: Figo is well suited for city driving - for occasional spirited driving and don't have to worry about highways too.
* Powerful AC - only when there wer e 5 people in car and driving in chennai afternoon - I turned on the AC to 3rd level - never before / after I have crossed the 2nd level with the cooler set to somewhere in the mid position.
* And it could seat 5 adults comfortably - if adults are not more than 6ft high.
* ground clearance - I haven't found this an issue coz the manual clearly says - if 5 people sit in the car increase the tyre pressure (somewhere in 36 at front and 41 at the back) and if only 2 sit - drive around in 31psi in all wheels. I have been following this and haven't scratched the underbelly till now. Yeah and I am a careful driver as well.
On the highways - It does lose its breath - and a Swift could passover Figo when I am at 130km/h - doesn't matter much to me because I didn't get this car for its speed but for its driveability in city and character on road. I would get a BMW or Merc If I wanted to cruise around at 200km/h :)
![[:)]](https://www.theautomotiveindia.com/forums/images/smilies/Smile.gif "Smile [:)]")
![[frustration]](https://www.theautomotiveindia.com/forums/images/smilies/Frustration.gif "Frustration [frustration]")
. I now keep the second key in my wife's hand bag as it is always in her safe custody.
![[clap]](https://www.theautomotiveindia.com/forums/images/smilies/Clap.gif "Clap [clap]")
I was expecting a little more upto 10k but was surprisingly less (based on my expectations). So a happy customer till now. 
