Review of Ford Figo

Why the Figo?

The main factors that I was looking for in a car were
* Diesel - My daily commute is 50+ KM
* Price - 5 Lacs
* Hatchback - We are a family of 3, going to become 4 soon.
* Solid Build - My last car was 5 year old used Ford Ikon 1.6 ZXi, but still felt quiet solid without any rattles.
* Fun to Drive - Again, thanks to my previous car, this was a must.
* Built in Music system, Central/Remote Locking, etc
* Should be available in Black Color

The options that I had apart from the Figo
* Fiat Grande Punto - Punto is a fantastic car and met my criteria except for the price factor and the active model which was in my budget was lacking in features.
* Maruti Swift - Did not consider it as I find it quiet common.
* Maruti Ritz - Did not consider it as I hate the looks.
* VW Polo - Way above my budget and currently not available
* Indica Vista - Did not consider as I don't like the build quality or driving experience of Tata Cars

Last year when the Figo was announced, I sort of made up my mind to go for it. The pricing announced in March was perfect and had decided to go in for it after the test drive.

The Buying Experience

I decided on the EXi model as it had everything that I was expecting as far as features is concerned and did not want to stretch myself for the Titanium.

In Navi Mumbai there is only 1 Ford dealer - Bhavna Ford, so did not have much choice as far as picking up the dealer is concerned. I had second thoughts after I read the review of Iceman and his experience of dealing with Bhavna and thought I would also approach Wasan. However, the SP at Bhavna, Swapnil Sawant was very helpful and hence did not face any issues with the overall buying process.

I was pleasantly surprised when I went to Bhavna to see the there were 4 Panther Black 1.4 EXi models readily available with them in stock. I wanted to check out the color as I had not seen any black color cars in the showroom. The SP obliged and asked me to goto the stockyard and check the cars out. I went to the stockyard and choose the car that I wanted after a brief PDI and noted down the VIN number. Gave the same to the SP and made some payment to block it. I had to wait for 1 week for my bank loan to get processed. On 16th I got the balance payment from the Bank and went to Bhavna and paid them the complete amount to start the registeration process. The SP was suggesting me to pick up the car only after full registeration was complete and they were facing some issues getting cars registered in Pen RTO for folks who were living in rental accomodations. But I was adamant, I wanted to take the car as I could not wait anymore. On 17th, I was in Powai with my clients and got a call from the SP at 3PM, he was ready to deliver the car on a temp registration as my docs were OK and he felt there will be no issues with the registeration process.


It took me 3 hrs to come back home, pick up my family and goto the dealer to pick up the car. I arrived at 6PM and saw my black beauty all clean and shinny waiting for me. Met the SP, he gave me the user manuals, invoices, Temp reg doc, etc. He mentiond that the mud flaps would be given later as they were out of stock. Went down immediately and was ready to leave the place when a person gave me a brief demo of all the features and a 5 lt slip to get fuel from the nearest pump. Drove straight to the pump, got the tank filled and had a pleasant drive back home.

The Cost

Ford Figo 1.4 TDCi EXi - 4,72,900
Depo Charges - 2,000
Insurance - 13,500 (Got a 20% discount on the dealer pricelist)
RTO - 38,603
Temp Reg Charges - 1,000
Accessories - 6,168 (4.5K for the fog lamps and the rest for the essential kit)
Extended Warranty - Free (Corporate Discount)

The Car

There is a lot said about the car already on the forum so I'll stick to things I like/Dislike.

Positives
- Well proportionate design, I especially like the (mini CRVish) back design.
- All black interiors with decent plastics and upholstery used. I hate Beige or Gray interiors.
- Fantastic diesel engine with almost no turbo lag
- Spacious interiors and the fantastic boot
- Big car like ride quality and fantastic driveability
- Tacho available, even though it's a EXi model
- Sound Quality of the OEM music system
- Small things like Vanity mirror, small storage bin below the steering for my Ciggis, boot opening capability on the remote, electric boot open right on the dashboard, air vents design.

Negatives
- Ride quality especially at low speeds is very bumpy. Thought it might be for the Tyre pressure, but even at 30PSI, it is quiet bumpy at low speeds especially on concrete roads
- Rear power windows absent. usually not a problem, but sometimes my 6 yr old son plays with the lever and I have to stop to close them again
- Accessing the toggle switch on the speedo while driving is quiet a challenge
- Bonet release switch is on the passenger side

Finally some pics of my Panther..

Dad had booked the Ritz Zxi some weeks back and it finally arrived. Here's the story.

Chronology:

Wednesday (Aug 5): Got a call from the Maruti dealer that our car has arrived in the stockyard. I had already told him that I want to do a pre registration inspection so I will need to see that car *before* he sends it for registration to the RTO.
He had already given us the engine and chassis number as soon as he was informed of dispatch by Maruti so I thought that was a plus on his side and there would be minimal chances of trying a switcheroo on us. And since Ritz is a new model there would be very less chances of getting an older model (Also I knew the dispatch date).

He said that we had 2 options - either we could go to the stockyard or he would get the car to the showroom anyway so we could see it there.
We opted for the second option since the stockyard is very far away.

Thursday (Aug 6): Went to the dealer and saw our car standing there. Did a thorough visual inspection plus checked the engine and chassis number as well as most of the points mentioned in the pre reg inspection thread on team-BHP.

The odometer was connected and showed 27 KM which I thought was pretty reasonable since the stockyard is at least 20 km away.

I had seen on one of the threads that some chap got a non alloy 5th wheel with his Zxi, so I made sure to check the spare as well.

Talked with the sales guy and he said that the car would be registered the next day and we could pick it up by evening if we wanted to. I told him that I want to do a thorough inspection and would like to take delivery in the morning. He agreed to that.

Saturday (Aug 8): Went in the morning at around 11 o clock with family. Did the paperwork in terms of getting the insurance note, receipts etc.

The sales person called a maintenance supervisor over to give us a demo. It was fairly detailed and covered most of the points in the PDI checklist. I covered the remaining points on my own and noticed a small scratch on the rear bumper which he promised to take care of. Rest everything seemed ok. Note the stress on "seemed"!

After the photo session we took the car and filled in 5 litres petrol for which they had given a coupon.

I had decided to change the stock tyres from the existing JK tyres to Michelin XM1+ (Thanks to Nikhilb2008 for his help and advice). So off I went directly to the tyre shop.

Imagine my consternation when I saw that one of the tyre rims was slightly bent!!
And this despite my so called inspection!!

So I obviously didnt upgrade that tyre and instead kept it aside and showed it immediately to the Maruti dealer. He agreed that it looked like a manufacturing defect and asked me to come with the tyre on monday and get it replaced.

Now for the driving experience:

After driving a WagonR for almost 10 years and 800s before that, this car feels very different. As many have attested, the engine is super smooth and quiet and peppy as well.

Things I liked:
1. Feeling of space in the cabin
2. Engine smoothness. As Ada mentioned in his review, one needs to look at the tachometer to reassure oneself that the engine is indeed running
3. Have to really keep a light foot on the accelerator. Speeds of 80-90 kmph are reached effortlessly
4. The tyres are really good and inspire confidence while cornering (hmm or is this due to the Michelins?)
5. The gearshift is good and each gear falls into place properly. Only reverse seems a bit stubborn at times.
6. Driving position is very comfortable and the height adjustment lever is a boon.
7. The steering to handles well and isnt as light as some other cars. It does allow you to feel the road and hence feel more in control.
8. Quality of stock ICE is average but it didnt have any trouble playing a number of MP3 CDs I had burnt.
9. The looks are suprisingly appealing and even the rear which is everyone's favourite bugbear looks much better in real life than in photos and it has started growing on me already.

Things that could have been better:
1. Clutch seems a bit hard and has a lot of play. Might be a problem with just my car. Can other Ritz owners please provide feedback.
2. I dont know if its the ABS or something else, but braking occasionally produces a kind of groaning noise.
3. The headlights are a big let down. Though the front and rear fog lamps are a plus.
4. Where's the engine temperature gauge???
5. I would have preferred a regular fuel gauge than the digital one
6. The boot space or rather the lack of it (yeah I know, and I want the moon too!!)

Overall its a very good car and well worth the money spent. I think Maruti has a winner on its hands. Now time will tell whether it ages gracefully or develops issues (read rattles and squeaks)

One interesting thing I learnt from the sales person was that its the Petrol top end model which is more in demand than the Diesel variant.

Next steps:
Accessorize, Accessorize, Accessorize: I just got the rubber mats and mud flaps from the dealer.
Follow up with Maruti dealer to get the tyre replaced
Follow up with Maruti dealer to get the scratch touched up or bumper replaced
Check out the FE
Oops. I missed the color - Its "Silky Silver" as dreamt up by the Maruti marketing Guys!
Will post some photos soon.