And the winner is Fiesta... Review on Ford Fiesta

After reading several reviews which helped me to make mydecision I decided to post my experiences here. After driving Zen for over5Yrs, I decided to upgrade to a sedan. Before hitting the road I made my wishlist and the list of available options. Here is how Fiesta won over othercars.

Requirements:

Car Type: Sedan

Budget: 8-10L range.

Features: Airbags & ABS.(Willing to trade Air bags for another reasonablefeature)

Fuel Consumption: Over 10KMPL in City with AC

Fuel: Petrol(Average usage of around 1000-1200 KM per Month)

Options Available:

1. Fiesta

   
   




2. Verna

   
   




3. City

   
   




4. SX4

   
   




5. Linea

   
   




6. Aveo

   
   

Process of elimination:

To save time, I eliminated Aveo & Linea right away(If choice was Diesel, Linea would have been on the top of my list). Next in the process of eliminationwas ANHC based on the Value for Money parameter. That left me with SX4, Verna& Fiesta. After reading about FE of SX4, I still went to the showroom forthree reasons. First was to see what additional value it offers over other twocars in the list and second as a Maruti owner I am comfortable with theirservice network and third I love my Zen which is from the same company. Butafter looking at the car up close, I decided against it. I don’t know why butboth me and my wife didn’t like it(one of those rare occasions where thechoices meet:-). Well a big relief that it’s down to two.

Process of selection:

Finally it was down to Verna & Fiesta.

First I test drove Verna Petrol and I really liked this car. It was a smoothand refined engine. Pick up was good gear shift was smooth and Cabin was noiseless.At both low and high speeds this vehicle was really composed and easy to drive.

Next was Fiesta SXI and to save you and me time let me sum it up as "NotImpressed" with the handling and ride. It might be the 14" steelwheels and Hydraulic power steering Vs EPS of Verna. Not sure what went wrongbut I just didn’t like the drive. Anyway I decided to test drive their Sport variant1.6S.

All the equation changed immediately. I just loved driving this car so much sothat I did two laps of their test track immediately. I can’t tell you the technical differences as I am not the guy for that. But just as a plain andsimple driver of the car I enjoyed the drive. Basic things like pick up anddrive was good. I felt the car was more composed and safer at high speeds.Power steering was precise and gear changes were smooth.

At the end I have two good cars to choose from. Verna VTVT & Fiesta 1.6S. Itwas really a tough choice. So I decided to go with my instincts and picked Fiesta(well, 1.6S looks sexier than Verna). I didn’t care for marginal diff in resale and spares cost b/w them, as I plan to keep the car for few years and drive safe.

Process of Ownership:

Waiting for delivery on 30th July. While we are happy with the choice of the car, wife is happy that the hunt is over:-). Comments welcome.