I love the car and intend to keep it until the government allows me to because I know can last much longer than that, so I do not care about the low resale value Ford cars have nowadays.
BHPian brokana recently shared this with other enthusiasts:
Hi everyone, this is my first time writing on teamBHP and I write to share my first car buying and ownership experience with you all. The story starts with my first job in Mumbai and the desire to own my own car just after 6 months for office commutes and weekend fun. I started initially with a budget of 4-5lacs for a used car on Spinny which would be just enough to get things done. Cars considered:
Toyota Etios (2014 petrol+CNG) – Fit most of my needs, highly reliable and large boot-space even after CNG but rejected due to boring interiors and age-old design, also because it was a 3rd owner.
Honda City (2014 petrol) – Loved the interiors even though it was old but condition was good enough. Almost booked it but rejected due to high possible maintenance and low mileage.
Toyota Corolla Altis (2014) – Rejected for the same reasons as the City.
Honda Jazz (2016 Petrol) – A practical and spacious compact car for city but rejected for old design and lack of necessary features.
Then after 3-4 months of delaying the purchase and watching endless reviews of new and old cars, I decided of buying a new car and started test drives. I increased my budget to 9-10 lacs since I decided of taking a car loan. Cars considered –
Tata Tigor – Considered the attractive CNG+AMT option but rejected due to high vibrations at high speeds and poor service reviews of Tata. Also I realized I do not need CNG as my driving would be less only. It also felt a little too compact for me (my height is 6’1”).
Tata Punch (Accomplished AMT) – Did a small test drive, almost finalized it but thought of seeking some more options. Later rejected it due to poor legroom at back and no fun-to-drive quotient.
MS Fronx (Delta + AMT) – Test drove it with my father, back in my hometown, Jaipur, and we both loved it. Decided to buy this one after going back to Mumbai. It was checking most of my needs although it was just a lac over my budget.
Now enter the main character 3XO, it was launched right after I came back to Mumbai, I test drove it and just loved it. I loved its looks and ride quality over the Fronx and it had much better safety also. I thought I can compromise over mileage given everything else the 3XO had to offer. I booked the base (MX1) variant considering my budget and thought of adding accessories as per my needs because it was well within my budget and no other variant upto the AX5 felt like value for money, which was way above my budget. The dealer promised to deliver in 3 months’ time and foolishly I believed them.
2 months after the booking was done, I contacted the dealer several times and none of the team members had any idea when the car would be available. Some said a month, some said 3. I had had enough and did not have more patience. I thought of immediately buying a car through Spinny since rainy season was incoming and a car was much needed for that.
I considered and booked was an Ameo (2016 Highline petrol) on the app as it looked like a good deal at a very low price. 2 days later, a Figo (2019 Titanium Blu diesel) came on the app and it just felt right, I felt like finally I had found a car which is in my comfortable budget, has all necessary features, and most importantly, is a diesel. And we all know a diesel is a ……
A little background about me, I learnt driving on a Beat Diesel we used to have and then I drove a Duster diesel my father still owns, both manuals. So, I have always loved diesel engines and their feel.
I had watched enough YT reviews on Ford diesel cars to know that they are fun to drive but I wanted to have an experience of my own. I immediately booked the car and a test drive at my home.
Initial impressions, the car looked almost like new, the paint quality was good, all electricals working and it was all clean and tidy. I got a neighborhood mechanic with me to check the car thoroughly and even drive it. He did his job well and I did mine, which was to see if all the “fun to drive” reviews are true or not. And I enjoyed every bit of the small test drive. I knew this car checks all the boxes I need in a car. It had a strong structure and 6 airbags for safety. It has all useful features like navigation, auto headlamps, auto IRVM, rain sensing wipers, one touch window, decent music system, etc. And most importantly, a 1.5L diesel engine which gave the car capability to do triple digit speeds at ease. It seemed like a good enough deal to me at 6.25L. I cancelled my Ameo booking, did not even bother test driving it and immediately bought the Figo and got it delivered the next day right at my home. Smooth and easy buying experience and fully digital. 
(You may think that I may have got a similar or maybe better car through local used car dealers for a cheaper price but I only trusted this platform so I did not visit any car dealers.)
From that day, it’s been 9 months and I’ve driven it almost 5500kms. Most of it has been driving around in Mumbai city but I have also made trips to Lonavala, Harihareshwar, Karjat, Ambey Valley and Nashik with it. There have been several memories with this car with my family and friends on road trips. From such experience I can confirm that it is indeed fun to drive and I look forward to many more such trips with it. 
In this duration, for maintenance, I changed the engine oil and oil filter once since I did not know when it would have been changed last time, I also topped it up once since there was a little oil leak in a pipe which was fixed by my mechanic easily. Other than that, the car runs smoothly and all its features work fine too.
I also attended the recent event Generation speed with my car and got a few praises for it being a rare “hot hatchback” to find running these days. Most people in my circle don’t understand why I bought this car as Ford is not selling currently in India since many years, but when I explain what a complete package it is for me and that no car in a 6L₹ range can get me a diesel engine, which means performance and efficiency and the features I mentioned above with a strong build and 6 airbags. And for those who still don’t understand, I ask them to drive it once and they’ll know.
Also, the compact size helps a lot in traffic and personally I don’t mind the manual transmission being a problem for city driving. I love the car and intend to keep it until the government allows me to because I know can last much longer than that, so I do not care about the low resale value Ford cars have nowadays. It currently has 70k on the odo and I intend to take it to atleast 2L kms. I also intend to do a few mods in it, starting with a tune but only after enjoying the stock for atleast a year more. Any suggestions are welcome on this topic and also maintenance tips from fellow Ford owners will be appreciated. Lastly, I would thank the teamBHP community for just existing, I visit it daily and enjoy reading people’s experiences and thought of sharing mine too. I would love if this finds a space on this blog.
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