I dunno on this point...

Along with my deciding between the Fiesta and the Forte in the other thread, I've been asking around about SDAC and Naza as well.

Just like how some (emphasis) people have been saying that Naza/Kia have improved by a fair bit lately, after the Kia Picanto fiasco, many existing Ford owners have also said that SDAC have improved as well, with a change of management and operation personnel.

The way I see it is that the Fiesta, with all the publicity and orders it has been getting, is SDAC's one good chance to bring Ford back into the mainstream of the Malaysian automotive market, after so many years (decades?) of being 'half dead'.

If they don't buck up now, they don't stand a chance at succeeding at upcoming Focus, Mondeo and C-Max launches. After all, they don't have the benefit of explicit government protection like Proton and Perodua do.

Scarily enough, I think they have a whole forum site to themselves

Fiesta Club Malaysia

Just has a bad experience with one of the sales staff at the Ford Roadshow at The Curve in Mutiara Damansara, when I went to look at the Ford Fiesta (again) earlier today.

I mentioned that I was a little concerned because the Fiesta with the dual-clutch 6-speed DuraShift auto was pretty new and untested. He outrightly lied and said that it has been around in UK for 2+ years. I told him that the DuraShift transmission AND the 1.6L petrol engine isn't even CURRENTLY available for purchase in UK models. Both were brought out for the US and SEA markets, and just MAY be available in UK from this year onwards . He shut up immediately and made excuse to get out of the car.

I mean, I understand sales staff trying their very best to earn their commission, but to outrightly lie made me a bit angry . If you don't know about something the customer brings up, just say so. SDAC needs to seriously reconsider their sales techniques. Pretty tempted to go back and take a picture of him and post it

If I end up with a Fiesta, that particular guy is NOT getting the commission. Maybe I will sit all 7-8 of their sales staff and do quiz on Fiesta. Person with the most correct answers, and who lies the least will get the commission from my booking

I really hope there's some from SDAC PJ lurking about this forum, reading this thread.

This post has been edited by tritonite: Mar 5 2011, 09:02 PM

This is true for all mid-range car franchises locally anyway. The upper-end ones like Mercedes, BMW, Volvo and Audi tend to treat you very well. They do have the brand name to look after.

I'll admit that customer support is an important factor, but for Ford (and any other mid-range brand), I wouldn't rule out the entire brand just because of the dealership/servicing. After all, once you're past their 60k mileage free servicing period, you don't need to endure SDAC, etc's crappy attitude anymore. Just take the car you love to your trusted and dependable mechanic who will tell you the truth.

You're driving the car, you only run into the dealership people until the warranty/service period ends.

The perspective I gave him was explicitly just that... DRY-TYPE Dual-Clutch 6-speed PowerShift PAIRED WITH the 1.6L petrol engine IN A FIESTA, which like I said, isn't currently available as an option from Ford UK. Whether he wasn't choosing to listen properly or he really thought his salesman knowledge was better than mine makes no difference. He was out of line, in my book.

My intention at the time was to get an answer out of him as to whether he was confident that his friends at SDAC service centre were skilled and confident enough to fix it if it goes wrong.

I'd talk to his colleague I met at his base at SDAC PJ when I went for a test-drive. At least he was honest about the Fiesta's shortcomings versus its competitors, and at least tried to give a balanced opinion.

This post has been edited by tritonite: Mar 5 2011, 09:46 PM

Mmm, pweeety!

To put it into perspective, as with all other makes, including the local makes, you tend to hear the bad experiences much more often and more vocally than the good experiences.

I'm sure there are plenty of Fiesta owners out there who have had satisfactory routine servicing at the SCs. They just didn't choose to go to the Facebook wall to say thank you, recommend SC location and personnel, etc. to 'balance off' the bad experience posts.

One bad apple doesn't ruin the whole basket. I'm not saying 'Michael' is wrong and should be ignored. Maybe he got a lemon car and/or lemon service personnel. It's just something you need to be aware of.

I have friends and acquaintances with Focuses and Lynxes who have had next to no problems with their cars and service centres, stretching back to the AMIM days, before even SDAC took over the franchise.

I'm not defending SDAC and their conduct to any extent. I just liken it to the Chinese proverb that tell you that when you get married, you are not just getting the girl, you're getting her extended family as well . It just goes hand in hand.



This post has been edited by tritonite: Apr 1 2011, 04:17 PM

Ah, but as long as you like the car itself, there's no reason why you can't do the 'eloping' bit

If I decide to get a Fiesta, it will be when my trusted workshop mechanic is confident that he can deal with the car. I place ZERO point emphasis on SDAC's free 60k/3 year service warranty for the purchase. I may take it in for the token 1 or 2 routine servicing, but if I am not happy with them, I'm not going to go rant about it. it doesn't solve anything. I'll just take it to my mechanic.

At the end of the day, I'm happy with the car itself, give or take how well the nice workers at Rayong put it together



This post has been edited by tritonite: Apr 1 2011, 04:33 PM

*shrugs* YMMV. I myself would just like to be prepared for the day that the 60k warranty period expires, certainly would be under 3 years in my case.

'One apple' being a metaphor.

Yes, I go read the Facebook wall every so often. I also get the impression that there are also a fair number of shallow people with a 'SC ppl didn't treat me like a king' attitude. I think the Cantonese term is 'yeh maan'.

The ratio of happy vs disgruntled Fiesta owners is obviously up for debate, just like Proton owners and Kia owners.

I'm not going to take the wild rantings of a few people as the gospel truth.

Frankly, even though the Rayong car is substandard to the Euro model, I still think the Fiesta offering here is a good car in itself. I just hope there will at least be a few Fiesta owners disgruntled with the car or the SC (kind of like the Teana and CRV owners in the other threads). I can exploit the fact and buy one of their 2-3 month old cars at a discount for 'happy fun use'

This post has been edited by tritonite: Apr 1 2011, 04:58 PM

And I commend you for it. 'Public service announcements' are welcome, as long as they don't cause wholesale panic unreasonably .

In the past 15 years, I guess I've been lucky. Have had no real significant problems with any of the cars or the SCs of 6 different makes helping family members maintain their cars. Also learnt a bit on how to communicate effectively with and 'press the right buttons' of SC personnel.

This post has been edited by tritonite: Apr 1 2011, 05:19 PM

And this is what it means when people say that relationship with your car is sometimes more complicated than relationship with spouse

Yup, I will be very honest. The PowerShift gearbox is the MAIN thing I am most concerned about. It is a big factor in my decision process currently. No track record globally since it's not even available as an option in the Euro Fiestas. Rayong and US Fiesta are the first ones in the world with it. I've had to read up on it in the Volvo forums to get an informed opinion.

So far, no real massive complaints on the performance and reliability of it on the US forums. Primary complaint is that it doesn't have a manual override, which in itself is already a difference with the Volvo version.


Same analogy with cars, lor. If you are not willing to have an 'interesting and stimulating' relationship with your car, get a dependable and maybe a little bit boring Toyota or Honda.




This post has been edited by tritonite: Apr 1 2011, 05:43 PM

Well, still considering both the Fiesta and the Forte for the price segment I'm willing to pay to replace my Waja as my second car.

Heart says Fiesta... but a bit cramped at the back.
Mind says Forte... more space, more gadgets, but ride and handling not as good.

Refer to initial discussion thread. Decisions, decisions

This post has been edited by tritonite: Apr 1 2011, 06:06 PM

Since one costs RM30k more than the other, in my case, it's easier to justify the Fiesta. I'm not in the position to spend over RM100k on a 'happy fun ride'.

Stated (on paper) or established (through experience)?

I don't think there are a lot of established numbers currently for the Fiesta.

But as for stated numbers, per the US fueleconomy.gov site (NOT Ford), the equivalent model to our Malaysian Fiesta S is

29(Urban)/40(Highway)/33(Combined) (in mpg), which translates as 8.11/5.88/7.13 (in litres/100km)


Scoff at it, if you must... or just take it for what it's worth.

This post has been edited by tritonite: Apr 1 2011, 07:42 PM

Still out of my budget.

But if budget's not a consideration, I would prefer one of these instead. Emphasis on the Euro design over the Japanese/Asian one.



or one of these if have carte blanche budget

Sound proofing and NVH are still factors in the updated Forte. The SA even readily admits to it being worse than the Fiesta in that respect. The little niggling problems with the aircon and radio reception are still there. But the Forte remains good value for money, and the modding potential is very good for people who like to constantly fiddle with their cars.

I am personally not convinced about hybrids yet. I still have concerns with the batteries and the ability locally to deal with them. I would also prefer a Civic Hybrid over the Insight, if I were to get one.

But I digress, even in its ASEAN-ised spec, the Fiesta is still a good car. Shame about the issues with the aftersales service we've been reading about. If you can accept or overlook that, it will probably give you years of reliable service, albeit being a little bit cramped in the back

Maybe it was just me, but from my trip up to Penang last weekend, I had the impression that there was a higher ratio of Fiestas, and Fords in general, around than there is here in the Klang Valley.

Is Penang a haven of Ford lovers, or is the SC there just that good such that no one has any complaints?

We knew it was coming in some form or other....

Per article at paultan.org, here you go... the Malaysian equivalent of the Fiesta S1600/RS.

Four doors instead of two doors. Hideous-looking pair of mismatched stripes, blue colour scheme in cabin, bodykit, 7 airbags instead of 2.. and all for RM88,888 - RM6000 over the price of a Fiesta Sport.

Not worth it, imo, unless it comes with some more extras inside the cabin or under the bonnet that hasn't been mentioned.



This post has been edited by tritonite: Apr 25 2011, 06:26 PM

What is the waiting period for a Fiesta S like these days? Still 2 months even for a non-white?

Depends on whether you 'assistance' includes being able to arrange one for me within a month