1. Buying: I had booked a Baleno & waited 6 months for it to come, and then when it came to the dealership I was out of station and they gave my car to some other buyer. When I came back to city, they said they could not keep a Baleno unsold for few days when there are thousands of customers waiting for a Baleno car. I cancelled booking & decided I would never go to a Maruti dealer again in my life. And I do NOT feel any regret at all now.... I think God had a better plan for me. Went to the Modi Ford dealer the following day(30th Dec 2016), did a test drive in a Aspire TdCi 1.5L and I fell for it. Booked it on the same day. They gave me discount of 50k + Insurance free. Took the delivery next day 31st Dec 2016.... and my new year began with a shiny, sexy, new hot Ruby Red Ford Aspire car :)
2. Riding : Its clocking 44000+ km as of today. Ride quality is slightly stiffer than Maruti or Hyundai cars. Cabin feels very spacious as for a sub 4 meter car. Seats have good under thigh support. You wont feel tired after 500-700 km run in a day. You will feel the pot holes & bumps in slower speed though. MRF stock tyres make lots of noise.
3. Looks: Look is subjective. I loved it. You may or may not.
4. Performance: Power is more than sufficient, in fact most of the time you will feel yourself sitting in a most powerful(power to weight ratio wise) car on the street that are within 10-15 lac rupee price range. 0-100 km can be achieved under 10 seconds. It can give Polos & Swifts & i20s & Rapids a run for their money. Turbo lag is almost negligible after 1200 rpm. Handling corners is better than any other car in the same segment. Steering is light but very precise & accurate, in fact I would say its better than or in the same league of Polo or Punto(without the weight of HPS) kind of pedigree..
I drive 50-60km everyday for office commute. I had done 6 highway runs(up & down) so far, 3 times hyderabad to goa, 1 hyd to Sitapur(in UP), 1 hyd to Sagar(in MP) & 1 Hyd to Tirupati(in AP). And the car performed without any issue at all... no rattle, no break down & no other mechanical issues. It drives like a bigger Sedan in higher speed on the highway. It can do 120km/hr all day non-stop without letting you be in any uncomfortable situation. Braking power is awesome. Apply brake and it stops at any speed without any drama. ABS is extremely sensitive & you can never skid the car at any speed.
AC is very strong & can chill the cabin within minutes. Music system is just average.
Fuel Efficiency: I get 14 km/l in city on those days when I try to have some fun.. :) 17-19km/l in city on those days when I drive with a very lite foot.
Similarly I can get 19-21km/l on highway when I drive at speed above 100km/hr all day, and I can get 25-27km/l on very smooth highway when I drive with a lite foot and speed within 80-100km/hr. So it all depends on you, what you are doing with the machine.
Servicing: If you are not careful or mechanically aware individual then those Ford service center folks might screw your happiness. Those so called mechanics at Ford service centers are bunch of A**holes.
Maintenance: I find service cost is competitive to other car companies. Maybe a few 100 rupees less or more than the Maruti or Hyundai. But its nothing overwhelming.
I give my specific instruction to the service center agent while giving my car for service and I dont fall in their trap of "change this or change that or this coating/that coating". :)
Pros: If you are to buy only 1 car for all purpose with 8-9 lac rupees of money then this is it!
Cons: 15/16 inch wheel with 185 or 195 section tyre would have been a very nice compliment to the car & it's power. 14 inch wheel is not good enough. Music system sounds very ordinary. And of course the service center folks are of some pain. 4 star is for this. Though I am not sure how the mechanics at Maruti or Hyundai service centers would act. I guess it would be same in all service centers for me. :)
Disclaimer: I am a bit mechanically aware about the Automobiles and so I find fault in almost all service center folks. It sounds to me that they talk clueless most of the time... I feel their only agenda is to get your money and change the engine oil and somehow get the car out of service center... :)