My experience so far

 

Ford Fiesta 1.4TDCi Diesel SXi (Nov 2006 model)

GOING IS GOOD: I have relied on my car extensively. Have driven it for 48000 kms. The car has seen all kinds of road and terrain. It's running @ 14kms/L in chennai city, while on highways I get 19/L. On highways I had kept it going at speeds of 120 - 135 Kms, where ever possible and felt no issues, but for the engine noise. I had heavily relied on its braking abilities. A/C had been fantastic so far. I use the car almost daily for around 30 kms - Up/Down to my office. I do services only at 10k intervals and not every 6 months. I like the comfy interiors/ride and the car's looks. 

PARTS CHANGED SO FAR: Battery at end of 3yrs. At 25k kms 3 shock absorbers. The radiator fan assembly at 40k - the electronics inside had become corroded. Right hand side Mirror assembly with all the motors for the reason of stem crack. Twice changed the Pulley assembly - was producing a hissing noise. Other parts changed are consumable category.

ISSUES SO FAR: Seems FORD has no policy for repairs. Whenever a small part of an assembly get's broken, they ONLY have the option of changing the entire assembly. I really hate them there.

I was told to change all brake shoes and brake clutch assembly at 40k kms by the service personal at MPL Velachery. I took a chance to say - leave them without changing and that I would see what happens if not changed, for I had not experienced any issues with the brakes really. The service personal said that they would work for another 1500 kms approximately. It turned out that they are doing good even after 8000 kms, with no issues.

After I changed my shock absorbers, I did not feel any great difference in ride quality, but they gave me 3 faulty ones :). Not sure how to introspect the ones installed. I felt that they just are waiting for a chance to replace any parts that one complaints about, on top of their list.

Quality of service at MPL Velachery had been very poor. I had to visit the service station again on 2 occassions after taking the vehicle back from regular service. Once was for a faulty gear rod assembly - They were getting hard to operate after a drive of 45 mins. Second time I had steering column vibration at speeds of 40-60K. This time they had done wheel balancing and completly messed up with it. I had to take the vehicle to MRF tyre care to fix this.

I have anti rust coating done on the underbody. But I could see the door hinge area getting rusty. When I put sun film 10 mts back, I noticed the interiors of the doors had rust formations. That's very poor quality standards maintained by FORD. I park my vehicle on a open parking lot. The same was the treatment given to my earlier cars a HONDA Accord and MARUTI which I used them each for 4 yrs, without any complaints on rust. So I don't think FORD can make that an excuse. I should admit that the exterior paint finish quality is good and shows the vehicle equivalent to a new one; deceives potential buyers.

I don't want to hear anything more on resale value. They are the worst one can get, as far I have heard. So I am now compulsively bound to the vehicle and continue to use the vehicle as long I can.

 

Reliable, Good Overall Design, MileageQuality of build, Service, Spares cost, Resale value