Search for a new hatch begins - Ford Figo Delivered !!

Hey Friends,

I have today started to look for a new diesel hatch replacing our Indigo CS TDi which is now 4 years old & 56K run. We had no plan to change it before Diwali 2012 but suddenly we though of changing it before Budget 2012, where we fear that additional tax on deisel cars will come into effect.

Even after searching the whole of congested market for diesel hatch, I am still confused !! I have a budget of 6 lakh on road

Today I visited at Nissan for Micra,Ford for Figo, Toyota for Liva , Tata for Vista & Punto & finally Maruti for Ritz. Good news, no waiting period for any of the cars mentioned above. If they do not have it at their stock yard they will get it from the factory within 15-20 days.

1. Micra was not available for test drive, but the sales person was very curteous & helpful. Its quite pricy starting at 6.5 lakh on road & 7 lakh on road. I liked the space & feel of the car. Car feels very premium & stylish but out of my budget.

2. Test drove the Figo. Didnt very much like the pick up of the car.Dunno, but may be after a few thousand kms it could improve. Interiors was OK. Good VFM at 6 lakh on road for the ZXI version. 5K discount. No rear power windows. Will let me know the value of my Indigo tomm

3. Liva was N.A, so test drove the Etios diesel. Amazing car with very good pick up & gr8 engine. Interiors are a let down. Liva GD (with ABS) is at 6.25 lakhs on road.No Discount. Sales person was very knowlegable, very courteous. I liked the car very much. They valued my old Indigo at 1.2 lakhs only

4. Punto 2012 Active was a very stylish car. Very impressive drive.Rock solid build. I like dthe interiors as it was no beige. No rear power windows. Its price is 6.30 lakhs on road. Discount of 20K & exchange bonus is 10K. Final price is around 6 lkah on road with music system. Service interval at 15K kms or 1 year. Valued my Indigo at 1.75 lakhs

5. Vista VX is prices at 6.25 lakhs on road. Very good drive, comes with ABS. Steering & gear box is a huge improvement compared to previous model. Pretty loaded too with all the goodies only air bags & alloy wheels missing. GR8 job done by TATA. I am again tilted toward the Vista, although I thought of not buying a TATA again.

6. Ritz VDI was dissapointing, dunnno why. No discounts, no goodies , I somehow didnt like the drive of the car, felt it was too heavy. Only 10K exchange bonus, but its a gimmick since they will value your car 10K less & then allow the exchange bonus to please you. How you know that?? I was hell bent on buying a Maruti since we have MASS very near to our home, but I dont like the car. Priced at 6.1 lakh on road

I am so confused again. I liked the Liva & Punto so much. I am especially worried about resale value of Punto. One more point. Could it be that I liked the drive of Punto, Vista because they were TD vehicles & Ritz & Figo was a new car since TD vehicles was N.A. Since new engines take their time to open up ?? 

Friends, pls help me with some of your inputs.

Hello, If you like punto & are satisfied with it than there should be no other better option to buy & if not punto than liva should serve you well.

You drove the ritz and figo which were not TD vehicles? That means they were for the delivery to some customer if I am not wrong. Do confirm

How long do you intend to keep this car? If its for more than 5 years or so then why worry about resale? 

If I were in your place I would prefer the punto followed by vista, ritz, liva, figo and micra since you already have good experience of TASC

@manish Close your eyes and opt for Liva. I believe that a comfortable car with decent performance and peace of mind would be your top priority.  Liva fits the bill perfectly.

There was a very good piece of info that I read on Toyota cars somewhere (I am unable to locate the source right now - will link it if found). It was a comment by an engineer of some reputed automobile company (may be VW) that Toyota products are designed to be "SERVICED". This means that you can take an unskilled person and TRAIN him to service and repair a Toyota vehicle within ONE day. According to him, FIAT and Ford are the worst cars for "SERVICE". They are simply not designed to be "SERVICED". (I am not sure to which FIATs and FORDs he may be referring to. They may be the ones which are available in USA or Europe).

Father's Innova (Company provided) is at 3.5 Lakh kms. Driver says that he used to get the oil and filters changed at every 10,000 kms and be done with it. Flawless.

Regarding interiors, none of the Toyota products have good interiors in the segments that they operate. If you sit inside an Innova, Altis or Fortuner you will not feel that you are sitting in a car worth 11 - 15 lakhs or 23 lakhs as such. However the interiors are functional and durable. 

Now since you have finally shortlisted the final two cars Fiat Punto and Toyota Liva its time to reconsider you needs and requirements as well your likes and dislikes.For this you can discuss with your family or friend circle ,if needed again take a TD of both the cars to hit the final nail on the coffin.

Both are competent enough products.If you liked most of the things in Punto including interiors and all then I would suggest you to go for Punto.If resale value is major concern then I would suggest you to go with Liva though its a new product and its resale is unknown but according to the present scenario Toyota vehicle are sold at a premium

Don't worry about the servicing capability of a vehicle as suggested by one of the members since you would be getting the car serviced at an auhtorised service centre not any local workshop.

Cheers !!

@Siddharth

About FIAT cars - In one word, they are LOVELY. The tank like build, gorgeous looks, rail like handling and that too at a terrific price point are absolutely fabulous.

However, if you go through the user reviews, you will find that in case of any troubles, these wonderful Italian beuties are messed up by A.S.S.C people.

Every person has his or her own requirements and priorities. For e.g. for my case, I own a single car and since I use it for daily commuting to office, I am totally dependent on it (Our labs are in a remote area, there is virtually no way to go there except your personal transport. If you are stranded then God may save you). As such absolute reliability and painless after sales becomes imperative for me. That's why I am inclined towards Japanese manufatureres in general and Toyota or Honda in particular. I can live with lousy handling of Honda or drab interiors of Toyota and their tin can like bodies but not the reliability or good After Sales.

European cars like Skoda, FIAT and VW are beautiful, solid and high tech products (really crafted with passion). They need equally competent people to look after them.

If Manish is satisfied with Tata A.S.S.C as per his current experience, by all means I would recommend him to go for FIAT.

Sri,

Yes, I drove a new Ritz & figo. Could that be a reason behind ??

Tata Vista & Fiat Punto has been dropped from the race for the time being.

Although Vista is being offerred at mouth watering price, & is BEST VFM, I dont want to go with TATA again, no specific reason apart from that I am bored from it.

Punto service still not reliable, as one of my relaitives is having a torring time with his petrol Linea run only 12K & he has made up his mind to sell it off. He is literally pissed of with the ASS. Main reason is no spare parts avialbility.

I am left with Liva & Figo !! wish they would have added a tacho atleast in Liva !!

If its between the liva and the figo then my suggestion is the figo over the liva. You get a VFM car with the same engine that did rounds on the fiesta. It even feels more sturdier than the liva. The only downside is the ground clearance. So do check that before you tale a call

News cars are generally not very smooth. So that could be one of the reasons

+1 to centaur. However there is one difference between the Figo and Fiesta engine. The Fiesta uses a VGT with intercooler but Figo is equipped with FGT only without intercooler.

One of my relative's Figo's oil sump was completely broken over bad roads. So check for GC issues very thoroughly.

Figo is reliable, proven, very frugal and cheap to maintain.

Manish, I think you could get 3 lakhs + for your cs diesel. It has only run 56k and not even 4 yrs old. Check the resale outside exchange you should get a much better deal. Demand for diesel in the used car market is quite high these days. And yes, I would go for the figo too. It has proven its reliability and it is quite spacious too. GC will be an issue only if you travel in bad roads. Some care and you will be fine. Lots of good reviews in this forum for the figo diesel.