Ownership Review: Ford Classic 2014 - Moondust Silver

[monoclonal]

Dear Neeraj

You got ABS and Air Bag that's matter, do not think anything else. I do remember we discussed in detail about the car before you bought, You were extremely confident with your decision. If I am not wrong you bought the car with brain and Heart.

Have a happy and safe drive. Keep posting.

[sachins]

Neeraj, I don't think there is any reason for you to feel bad about your decision to go for Classic.

I still think it's a very decent and sober looking car. With very good ride quality, handling, FE and basic safety features, I don't think one requires anything else.

Infact, I am one of those who don't like this under 4m compact phenomenon.

Sadly, Ford also (due to market demands and conditions) had decided to go this way with Aspire and stop Classic production.

I have heard from people (who saw Aspire) that due to cost pressures and highly competitive CS market, Ford also seems to have compromised a bit on the built quality that was typical of them.

So in hindsight, I feel people who owns these > 4m sedans with good built quality are a luckier lot.

With this there are hardly any sedans in C1 segment left now.

[neerajd]

@Sachin and @monoclonal - I have no qualms about buying this car at all. I only wanted to point out that this diesel does look a little dated now into the market.

@Sachin, I'm also in the same wagon as you on the sub 4 meter CS.. that's the main reason I bought this car than anything else. It just doesn't make any sense to buy a hatch trying to act as a sedan. Would have rather settled for either a Punto or an i20 if I was looking for a sub 4 meter car.

There isn't any other car that could have fit my requirements other than the Linea Classic. But as @monoclonal said, this decision was with head and heart. Absolutely no regrets.

About the build quality, I believe this car when it was known as Fiesta and not as Classic, had better build quality in terms of internal plastics and metals being used - the Classic comes with the same dashboard from the Figo. When I checked a few Fiesta in the servicing bay, man those cars have heavy doors and solid interiors!

I own a Swift as well, so my Classic's interiors are way better in quality than the Swift's. But to be honest, the Swift's doors shut much convincingly than this.

Bottom line, I was on the lookout of a car which was around 8-8.5 lacs, had all the safety features, was frugal to run and maintain and importantly not a hatch since I planned to keep my Swift. This car ticked all the boxes. And at no point have I felt it was a bad decision.

[LeoRahi]

Good to hear you are going good with the Classic. It's really a great car, Neeraj, may not stand out but it's a winner! Ticks all the boxes.

[neerajd]

Again a long time no ownership update from me. I had decided to keep this as up-to-date as possible so sometime at a later stage, I can peek into this thread to see how the car gave me company

A bit late, but here I am with another update...

Like I mentioned, due to a job change a year and a half ago, my daily runs were just about 25 kms to-fro. Wasn't really doing justice to my decision of buying a diesel (Oh! the 1.6 petrol would have been so much fun to toss around!!!) But twist in the story here - my previous company offered me a better role and I'll be again looking at some gruesome traffic and a total of 50 kms to-fro. Considering the traffic, the diesel wins here. The new job starts July. So here's to "no-regrets-buying-a-diesel" Cheers!

My 3rd service came in the month of Dec 2015 - cost me around Rs. 4200. Basic stuff - oil and oil filter change, diesel filter, air filter, AC filter, brakes bleeding and brake oil change etc. The oil takes the most ~2800 there. But okay considering its semi-synthetic.

4th service was just done a couple days ago. Although the car has clocked only 23000 kms, the service due was for 40,000 kms.

The mandatory things to be done and my insistence on the brakes being weak took the bill to Rs. 5300 including the inspection charges of Rs. 800 for the brakes Too much money for just inspection and cleaning of drums etc.

The result wasn't satisfactory at all. But I know the problem lies in the front disc pads. Ford has made their OE very hard to last longer and it grips too less as it starts getting worn out. Will change it to Bosch pads soon. Team-BHP is full of such information.. I so love it.

Planning a trip to Goa next weekend. So the wiper blades are going to be new too. Already bought them off from Amazon at a steal deal of Rs. 320. The new disc pads should inspire on the long drive too.

All in all, no mechanical issues raised by the car yet - touch wood. Although the AFSS team mentions to change the AC filter once in a year, I've found that changing it every 6 months is way better. You may attribute it to the fact that our surroundings are too dusty and that I always drive with AC on.

The low kms that I did for the past 1 year have returned me an average of about 16-17 kmpl in the city. This should improve now since my daily runs are going to increase.

Looking at the same 18-20 kmpl range I used to get a year and a half earlier.

For now, looking forward to the Goa trip more than anything else. It should be lovely to drive there in rains.

Happy motoring guys!! Drive safe.

[monoclonal]

Bang for the one's Buck.

Go on. ..

[neerajd]

Another update. I almost forgot to add this.

A couple of months ago, I put in the RaceDynamics chip on this car. Gives me 2 performance modes along with Stock and Economy ones. Have never driven on Stock ever since

Regular driving is in P1 mode which gives me a turbo boost right from around 1400 RPM. Makes the car much more driveable and fun too. P2 is just awesome on spirited expressway runs.

This box cost me just Rs. 20,000.

Installation was a bit tricky but the end result is far too satisfactory. Whoever has a Fiesta diesel should go for this tuning box.

Did not face any issue during my service either as I put that into stock mode when I gave it there. Have a year of warranty left on the car.. so far so good.

[neerajd]

Reviving this thread. Realized that I haven't updated this since the last 2 years.

The Fiesta is doing just great. 

On 10/6/2016 at 4:01 PM, neerajd said:

The result wasn't satisfactory at all. But I know the problem lies in the front disc pads

Update around this ^^ - It were the tires and not the brake pads. Got them changed at 36000 kms on the odo. The Goodyear GT3 are told to be notorious and go out of shape pretty soon. There was no warranty left on it by the time I realized they were bad.

Have changed to Michelin XM2+ and the ride has changed drastically.. for the better. The vibrations are gone. It's like a new ride again.

The car is so cost effective to maintain!! ~4.5k at max a year, this is cheaper than almost any new car.

The launch of the Jeep Compass had me thinking but then I've decided to hold back on this for the life of the car. Another 3 years for sure.

BTW, Year 2017, I did a road trip to Mysuru, Ooty and back to Pune. A total of 2400 kms in 9 days. I'll start writing a nice travelogue on that soon. 

The car was filled to the brim. Me, my wife, 2 ½ year old son, my sister and her husband & luggage for all of us.

The Honda Amaze may have 420 ltr of boot space - similar to that of my car here. But it sure does not swallow that much amount of luggage that could fit in the Fiesta.

On money spent other than maintenance, my Fiesta had a repainted front bumper recently. genuinely my fault. I halted at the parking at a mall when I had been to test drive the Jeep Compass. Talking on the phone with my wife who wasn't really happy with me at the Jeep showroom, I pulled the handbrake and let go of the clutch. Then BANG!!! 

The car was in first and as I let go the clutch, it jilted forward. I managed to brake it but it had touched the rough wall of the parking ahead of me. Most of the brunt was taken by the number plate. But the bumper also had a few dimples. No snaps of that actually.

So I got it repainted. But apart from that, there have been no additional expenses other than regular oil and oil filter change.

Such a lovely, no nonsense car really. It makes me wonder why the new age cars really run bills upwards 12-15k for regular yearly servicing. 

Average has been steady at 17-18 kmpl and the car has done mostly city runs so far. This is with 0 luggage and 2-3 on board.

A tank-full generally runs for 750-800 kms and refills ~45 liters of diesel.

 A couple of recent Mahabaleshwar runs gave me ~20 kmpl because of the long open stretches. This figure with minimum 3 on board with their luggage.

[sachins]

Nice to see you back Neeraj with the update.

I fully agree with you that Fiesta/Classic was a great car from Ford.

Don't know why Ford or even other manufacturers have exited the C1 sedan segment. Now you only have compact sedans (which I personally don't like) or you have C2 segment sedans which doesn't offer anything great over C1 sedans for the premium they command.

I guess it's an era of people giving more importance to bling rather than simplicity and practicality.

 

[neerajd]

2 hours ago, sachins said:

Now you only have compact sedans (which I personally don't like) or you have C2 segment sedans

I totally stand by it. The sub-4 meter sedans are all pretentious (wannabe) 3 box cars. Their B2 segment counterparts are far more superior to them. Case in point Xcent to i20, Amaze to Jazz. 

The Dzire outclasses the Baleno in almost all aspects. But I still do not give in to the sub-4 meter sedan here.

My only next upgrade would have been the Jetta/Octavia or given that I do end up scraping the car with a load full, a crossover or maybe the Jeep Compass kind of a vehicle. I'll still stick to a 5 seater.

The Japanese/Koreans are no match to the solid builds and ageless designs. The Jetta still does not feel outdated, neither does the Vento or even the Rapid (newer one).

The Honda City has become one tin can.. the build quality and sheet metal being no better than the Ciaz's. 

Jeep Compass and any car that I actually liked are all beyond 20 lacs and that's a huge sum to pledge for a car, at least at this point for me.

I see a lateral upgrade to be they way ahead.. trying to find a used one would be difficult but will give me a chance to get more for a C2 sedan's money.