Highly under rated performer :
2 year ownership review of ford freestyle 
#fordfreestyle

Need to buy a new car Phase

 Beginning of 2018 is when we started thinking seriously to buy a car , and the intial thought was to TD tata tiago the hot budget hatch, back then
since my maximum budget was 8 lakh and was looking for something strong and sturdy for the price and have heard some good reviews from one of my buddy who owned it so decided to go for a test drive .
Test drive car was petrol, and truly speaking wasnt impressed at all

by the interior fit and  quality especially the steering wheel controls and the power window buttons
i was TDing a petrol engine and not sure if it was because of a test drive car the engine wasnt refined and it was pretty loud ,nvh levels were bad . i felt very crunched inside the cabin may be due to my height so decided to drop  tiago from the list

Next up in the list was Grand I10 , and the showroom experience was entirely different from what it was in tata, as soon as we entered the showroom  sales advisor came in and asked about our requirements and budget and he recommended grand i10 sports variant with mindblowing cash discounts ???? There were hell lot of features for the amount you pay, was a vfm proposition if you see the build quality and features
so quickly went for a test drive , felt like it was a decent car but only draw back was the steering feedback and handling , coming after driving a polo for couple of years ,the bat was set a bit high as far as handling and dynamics were concerned.
It had all the safety features and blings like airbags , ebd , infotainment system with AA
so i almoast decided to go with i10

but things changed drastically when i saw an ad  
  next day  about a new car from ford it was a brownish coloured high GC hatchback with nice looks and looked like a pretty big car , and  it was ford freestyle  with ex showroom 5.59lks
.

 so contacted the nearest ford dealer which was fortune ford and booked a test drive next day , Sales executive came with a petrol variant and i went for the TD

things that striked me during the TD were
 • Very ligh short travel clutch
 • High seating postion due the GC may be 
 • Nice responsive steering wheel

All in all me and my wife loved the car especially the feel you get when you drive it , driving dynamics was top notch , i did go for a long distance TD :D

i was only sceptical about the maintenance cost as the little birds used to say that ford maintainence was at par with the germans , but the sales executive cleared the doubts and he told that gone are those days when ford was only an ameeron wala car , and he insisted me to go through https://www.fordservicepricepromise.com/ that really cleard all my doubts :) So i enquired  for a PDI before i make the payment and they agreed and took me to the stock yard in the outer limits of the city and i got a chance to choose my car  :) and i went for a Canyon ridge Titanium petrol variant :D

Just delivered!! : 

On sept 14 2018 , was the day the beauty was delivered to us and it coincided with our marriage anniversary as well, got the key from Mr.Naresh (sales executive from Fortune ford hyderabad ) And i did give a small gift as a token of appreciation for all the soeedy service he did for us
So finally we got our ford freestyle titanium Petrol variant after 4 months of extensive research on several cars .

Pros of the car
There isnt a perfect car , there will always be pros and cons and they are.  

1.The USP of freedtyle is its driving dynamics offcourse and it is comparable  with VW/Fiat
it will surely bring a smile on your face when you do a tight cornering :)

2.New 1.2 l dragon engine , 1.2l three cylinder engine is one of the   most powerful and refined  engine in the segment 

3.Back seat passenger comfort

Back seat is pretty spacious and have good thigh support and knee room, 3 passengers of average build can easily sit and travel comfortably and no complaints whatsoever

4 Driving Comfort

Peppy and enthusiastic drives on highways due to fords dna and top notch de ving dynamics is clearly evident  , i have the car in hyderabad and have done couple of long drives clocking 950+ kms one side to my hometown  Thalassery,Kannur , and i can clearly say that its  a no nonsense car.

5.Fuel Consumption:

Average mileage figures are pretty decent for a car of such weight (kerb weight is  1031kg) best figures i have got till date is 21kmpl using tankfull to tankfull calculation for a journey of 950kms. usual city mileage is around 13 in hyderabad traffic and highways average is around 19.
 

6. Annual maintenance cost: 
There is a misconceprion about ford vehicles , that the maintenance costs are sjy high and its very difficult to maintain a ford car , yesh its true that there was a time in the past when the maintainence cost was cery high , but now that has changed a lot and its pretty cheap now cheaper than the "major" brand 
i had two major service during these 2 years and a free checkup at 2500km

1. 10000km or 1year 
Total cost 1500
 
2. 20000km or 2 year
total cost 4000

maintainence cost details can be checked at  https://www.fordservicepricepromise.com/ amnd you dint have to pay anything more than that abd thats promise from ford to its customers.
The service exoerience at Fortune ford hyderabad and Malayalam Ford kannur were top notch :)

7.Safety 
Ford has given high importance to safety features,  TCS, EBD HLA,dual airbags(6 air bags available in Top variant) are available   Anti rollover protection (ARP)  is also available and this means that the chances of the car turning "turtle" is very less. 

Cons 

1. Interior could have been better , during  2018  it was pretty upscale and new but now comparatively its feeling   outdated 

2.Headlights , the power and throw of the headlights are pretty low  and its a nightmare to drive at nights especially if its raining

3.Suspension stiffness 
Since the ground clearance is high the suspension is set to be stiff , so driving through small potholes and humps may be felt and there is a thud sound 

4.Boot space
Boot space is  less when compared to other cars in the segment thats mainly due to the increased legroom in the backseat

5.Cruise control and arm rest 
Personally one of the biggest miss was cruise control , which is necessary for highway drives , and an armrest

these are the process s and cons i felt.

Long Drives till date

 • Hyderabad to Hampi
 • Hyderabad to Bangalore
 • Hyderabad to Kannur
 • Kannur to Kochi

All in all im pretry happy nad content with the purchase of ford freestyle and if anyone looking for a car with in 9lakh budget then this is one of the eligible candidate for a test drive 

this one is indeed an "Highly under rated performer "
#fordfreestyle

- Manas Chandran

I bought a VW Vento, TDI, 2019, DSG Automatic. I took delivery on 01st November 2019 and the dealership did not give the promised accessories and also the Chrome Door Sill which is a Standard Equipment. After lot of follow up and one mail to the VW MD set the things straight. From the start there is noise in the door rubber and aftrer 6-7 visits it is still not rectified. Another problem with the Highline Plus Model is the LED Headlamps which neither offer good throw nor good spread and are a big problem and nowhere is comparision to

that of Honda City, Seltos Etc. So Helogen lights are the best choice since LED Assembly design is itself defective. I had booked a Skoda Rapid and due to inclination towards LED Headlights I cancelled the booking of Rapid and purchased a Vento.

One more problem in VWs are squeeking doors of the cars due to rubber on the door and the service centres do not have any answer for that and I am facing this since inception. 

Front Seats lack under thigh support and so does the rear seats. Space is good if seen on stand alone basis and better than Verna but no where near Honda City. The large transmission hump in the rear restricts the car for only 4 passengers. The car is not very practicle since it lacks cubby holes to storage. Glove box is large and cooled and will gobble up lot of stuff, but small storage areas are a miss for storing mobile phone, wallet, change, coins etc. Seats are comfortable but people with large built will miss the under thigh support as the seats are flat and not raised to support thigh. Seat are leatherette and made of good quality and are neither too soft nor too hard. Head room is ample, foot room is good and leg room is adequate. 

The ergonimics of the car are good as everything falls in place and you need not take off your eyes from road for almost anything. The rear AC vent is a problem since it cannot be closed. The Air conditioning is good but not excellent since it will either freeze you or boil you and getting something in between is hard work. 

Side view mirrors are solid and aerodynamic but very small which limit the rear view but are not deal breakers.

The car is Automatic with DSG transmission with Diesel Engine. The initial pick up of the car is too slow due to DSG transmission and you will miss the torque convertors or CVT for initial pick up. Once it shift to third gear it starts rolling like a normal car. Engine is preety refined with very less NVH inside the cabin. 

 Now lets come to the positives. 

The car is built solidly like a tank. You open the doors and you would realise the solid build quality. The doors open in three steps and are robust. All the switches in the car are nicely built and have a tactile feeling. All the power windows are auto up and down which are highly convenient. 

The drive is solid, planted and very stable even at three digit speeds. The suspension works fine at high speed and set of firmer side which gives excellent control and stability on high speeds. 

The DSG is butter smooth for upshifts and once it reaches in 7th gear the engine is very silent and refined and will never get our of steam and you can press the excellerator and it will keep on rewarding you. Downshift from 3rd gear to 2nd is jearky. Braking is good but not great. 

Steering is heavy but not unacceptable in city, rather on highway it becomes a delight. Fuel economy is around 16-17 on higway and 12-13 in city with a light foot. 

Overall it is a driver oriented car for people who travel more on highways. It is less practical and lacks gizomes and gadgets. Honda City is a practical choice for most of the people but if you really want a solidly built, driver oriented mile muncher you choose the Vento. 

Service has not been a problem though they were helpless in resolving some issues. I would rate the car 3.5 out of 5.   

- Aarish Khan

Despite the "cheapest car" tag, the Nano is actually the best example of Engineering ingenuity and is a true Marvel. My Nano has seen and been to all sorts of roads in and around Tamil Nadu. Every drive has been pure bliss. Although there's not a surplus of power, it can easily cope up and satisfy you on everyday drives. Bare minimum maintenance costs, yearly once service, easiest to park and navigate in the City. It's also seriously capable off road with the all independent suspension setup. The steering is a breeze too. Stability is decent even at Highway speeds

and long overnight drives are cakewalk. With larger 13 inch wheels, it's even more comfortable and capable than before.

The stock audio system is good enough with 4 Harman speakers, there are Power windows and remote locking too. What more you need?

Wish Tata brings back the Nano with a more powerful engine and better brakes.