This is my first review on MouthShut, so bear with me if my writing style is not up to the mark. But the points I am writting in this review are straight from my experience with the cars after doing about 8000 kms, so it is going to be a lengthy review.
Last year in sep I and my friend were in search of a new car. This is going to be my fisrt car where as my friend owns a maruti 800.
Our requirements:
1) Price range between 5-6 lacs on road.
2) Good space, adequate performance and mileage.
3) maintenance cost - Truly speaking apart from Maruti products the maintenance of other cars is more or less same.
4) Service support.
We had visited Hyundai, Ford, Maurti, Tata and Fiat dealers and we had test driven all the vehicles.
Findings after the test drive.
Hyundai GLE : Good package, very good looking, Ride comfort is good - Shorlisted. Hyundai Accent CRDi : Superb car, its really excellent, but not in the budget.
Ford Ikon Flair : Superb handling, good rear seat comfort - Shortlisted. Insist for the test drive on your choice of road as the dealers test drive root does not allow you to really test the car.
Maruthi Esteem : very good in Performance, badly cramped - Rejected. Its not a family car especially if are going to do long trips.
Tata Indigo petrol - Great space, rest all just Ok nothing great which impressed us. Fiat Petra : Superb performance for a car in its range, adequate space. First shot I decided to buy this car, though I am bothered about the service.
After the Test drive ,bargains with the dealers , owners feedback from friends and Colleage we finally ended with two options Hyundai GLE and Ford Ikon Flair. But my heart is out with PETRA. After speaking to couple of my friends who own a pallio I gave it up due to the pathetic service and dealers attitude.
Finally I opted for Ford ikon Flair, my friend opted for Hyundai GLE. Trust me we both are not 100% sure whether we had made the right decision. I feel I should have also gone for Hyundai GLE and he felt he should have gone for Ikon Flair. Then came the diwali holidays and the weekend so we planned for a long trip of about 1200KMS round trip.
The basic idea for this trip is to test the cars. We are joined with four more friends and had planned to go to their home towns for diwali. I had driven both the cars for about 500 KMS each.
Our findings after the trip...
Ford Ikon Flair :
+ve :
1) Superb handling, . S,U,C turns are real fun to do with this car.
2) Its move quick of the blocks compared to GLE.
3) The power steering is very direct and very responsive even at speeds at 120+
4) Its Mileage (highway) of 15KMPH with mix of A/c on and off compared to 12-13 with GLE. In city the milage of flair is 11-12 KMPL and for GLE its 9-10 KMPL.
-ve:
1) With A/c on you can feel the drop of power and is bit sluggish to move from 0 to 40 with A/c on.
2) Mid range acceleration speed (60 - 100) is not as quick as GLE.
3) Dash is useless you can't keep any thing on it.
4) Suspension is hard (Not sure if it's a +ve or -ve, depends on the roads your frequently drive).
5) Road noise is more.
Hyundai GLE :
+ve :
1) Good ride comfort. Good family car.
2) Interiors are bit better then Ikon Flair.
3) Driver Seating position is better then ikon Flair.
4) Mid range acceleration .
5) Quite cabin.
-ve :
1) Does not give confidence to the driver while cornering hard.
2) Power steering is lifeless at speeds at speeds of 110+.
3) 0-40 acceleration not quick as Ikon Flair.
4) Mileage of 12-13 KMPL with mix of a/c on and off.
Its a mix of +ve and -ve for both the cars.
Ford Ikon Flair for handling and for quick low end speeds.
Hyundai GLE for ride comfort, mid range acceleration , good family car
Tilldate I had done 8000 kms and I love each bit of my car. The only thing I curse the car is for its performance with A/c . It has a good 0-40 acceleration time which makes it a good car in the city (mind you with a/c off).
The service and response of the dealer Metro Ford, bangalore is good. Overall I am happy with the car, especially its handling is superb, you always desire to get behind the steering.
