Dark Knight: My Panther Black Ford Endeavour 3.2L Titanium 4x4

[dockap]

My existing vehicle XUV 500 W8 AWD was approaching 4 years of age. Link to ownership report. http://www.theautomotiveindia.com/f...-my-volcano-black-mahindra-xuv500-w8-awd.html

I generally keep my vehicle for 5 years but this time the itch to upgrade to an auto transmission was in the back of my mind from the last one year. Niggles apart I was totally satisfied with my XUV and the plan was to upgrade to a XUV W10 AWD AT in February - March 2016. I had been casually mentioning this to my wife but every time she would say no to the idea of buying another XUV. She wanted me to purchase a vehicle from a segment or two higher but I did not like any of the SUVs which were in the market like the Fortuner, Pajero Sport, Santa Fe, Rexton or Koleos.

The alternatives that were considered- None till the last minute. There was a 3 week delay from the promised time of delivery. During this period I got a call from BMW dealership and later checked out Audi. Both of them were offering 10 lakhs off on the OTR price for 2015 stock 3 series and A4. I almost purchased the 3GT luxury line but then common sense prevailed and I took back my booking amount cheque the next day.
Photo of the GT i had booked



When my wife rejected the XUV W10 I started searching for SUVs to be launched in India in the next few months and came across the Endeavor preview at Chiang Rai, Thailand in August 2015.. I was smitten by its butch looks, powerful engine with AT gearbox, 4x4 with terrain management system and long list of luxury features. Online search on YouTube showed several reviews of the Endeavor (named Everest abroad) in Australia which sealed the decision to go for it. Then the Chennai floods happened and the launch of the Endeavor was pushed to January 2016.

Booking & delivery experience-
Initial budget was 30 lakhs max 35 lakhs if the top end model was worth it. I had met the Operations head of Cauvery ford Mr Rajesh Shetty 2 years back (He is also in charge of Advaith Hyundai which has a common owner so 8 dealerships are under him).Instead of talking to some sales executive who would most likely have no clue on the launch and booking I spoke to Mr Rajesh Shetty. He was very straight forward and refused to take an unofficial booking till the vehicle is launched on 20th January 2016.

Three days before launch he calls me and gives me the list of allotted endeavors to the dealership for February 2016. There are four trends, one 2.2 titanium and one 3.2 titanium in Panther black. He wants me to select one from the list so that he can block it but by this time there are already reports that the top end would cross 40 lakhs on road so I refuse to commit on the vehicle. I tell him I will let him know on 20th January when the price is announced.

On 20th the prices are announced and wow fantastic pricing by Ford. I call him up and rush to the Dealership and put down a booking amount of 50k for the Panther black 3.2 titanium 4x4. I meet Mr Umesh Moolya who will be my sales manager. I return home with a smile on my face with a promise of delivery in the 3rd week of February. I confirm this from Ford customer care by email next day. These must be the longest 30 days of 2016 for me waiting for the delivery. Then came the reports of Ford having only limited stocks of 3.2 titanium kits and waiting period running into months for the 3.2 titanium. 3rd week of February approaches but no news of my Endeavor. I have by now started calling both Rajesh and Umesh almost daily but they have no news from the Chennai factory about 3.2 titanium dispatch. I now start calling Ford customer care every two days and sending them emails reminding them of their promise of delivery in 3rd week of February. This gets pushed to last week of February and then 1st week of March. Throughout all this Mr Rajesh Shetty and Mr Umesh Moolya were very helpful and supportive and also Mr Rajesh Shetty escalated this matter to the Higher level and finally on February 27th my vehicle gets billed from the factory.

Three days later on March 1st there is the budget announcement of increase in tax but I am not affected as my vehicle was billed before that. Vehicle reaches Dealership on 5th March Saturday and on Sunday and Monday the underbody coating and paint protection with door visors installation is done. Unable to register vehicle on 7th as it is a Government holiday so registration is done on 8th. I get the registration number on 8th morning before registration as I have paid 1.5k to a broker to get a number ending with 7 in the running series. On 8th noon 3.30 pm I get a call from the driver who has brought the vehicle to the RTO for registration. I rush to the RTO and find that people from other car dealerships who have come for registration eager to have a look at my Endeavor. The registration formality hardly takes 2 minutes and the driver offers me the keys to drive my Endeavor back to the dealership. I hand over my XUV keys to him and take over the Endeavor. All along the drive I could see people in cars and SUVs from higher segments slowing down and turning to have a look at the Endeavor. It looks massive on road and dwarfs the X1,Q3,GLA and even the Q5 and X3. At the dealership I reluctantly surrender the keys and drive back home in my XUV.

Delivery is fixed at 6:30 pm and Mr Umesh Moolya offers to send the dealership car to pick us up from my home. I inform my wife to wind up her clinic work by 6:15 pm and I go and purchase gifts for Mr Rajesh Shetty and Mr Umesh Moolya and return home. Dealership car is waiting for me at home driven by Mr Deepak my sales executive. Me and my son get into the car and go to my clinic where we pick up my wife and go to the Dealership for delivery. I first hand over the gifts I purchased to Mr Umesh Moolya and then I get all the receipts and documents and a box of chocolates. Delivery formality is done by Mr Umesh Moolya and Mr Deepak. Mr Deepak then tries to explain the features of the Vehicle but I already know much more than him and end up showing him the features. From the Dealership we went straight to the Sharavu Mahaganapathi Temple for the customary Pooja.

I would like to Thank Mr Rajesh Shetty and Mr Umesh Moolya for all the patience and help from them for making this purchase experience and delivery so smooth and pleasurable and also Ford for the pre budget billing. If not for that I would have to shell out almost 1.5 lakhs more. Also thanks to Deepak and Deepak my Sales executive and Accessories guy.

On-road price, discounts & Extended warranties -
Discounts Nil
Ex showroom price Rs 2869635/-
Road tax and registration and Rs 573355/-
Handling charges Rs 10,000/-
Insurance from dealership Rs 63064/- ( I had 50% NCB otherwise it was Rs 128896/-)
Extended warranties for 3rd year with 1 year RSA Rs 20600/-
Accessories and essential pack Rs 28800/-
Total On Road price Rs 3565454/-

Accessories from dealership- paint protection and under body coating, door visors, neck rests and pillow and carpet and boot mat.
DIY noodle mats from local mat shop similar to 3M Nomad mats at 1/3 the price.

Accessories I brought online-

Dashcam, Hard wire kit for Dashcam,
http://www.snapdeal.com/product/tran...dorCode=S3ee91
Dashcam Quick Installation KIT USB Plug MICRO2 Fuse Dash CAM Hardwiring KIT | eBay

HUD,
A8 CAR HUD Head UP Display Screen OBD2 Interface Plug Play KM H MPH Warning | eBay

Satnav
MapmyIndia Lx350 3D Navigator: Buy MapmyIndia Lx350 3D Navigator Online at Low Price in India on Snapdeal

At night the interior looks like a airplane cockpit with the 3 LCD screens of the vehicle and another 3 of the Dashcam, MMI Satnav and HUD along with the multiple back lit buttons and controls of the vehicle

Engine type- Diesel 3.2 Ltr, 200 PS, Torque of 470 Nm. Variant - Titanium 4x4, 6 speed AT with Terrain Management system, 4L and rear diff lock.

Pictures below (Please excuse the quality, taken with mobile phone camera auto settings) starting from the RTO office for registration.

 

[dockap]

Had to split review into two posts as it was crossing the word limit. continued below

The good-
where to start and where to end. So many features I would have to copy paste the brochure. Listing a few features-
LED DRL and tail lamps
LED map and dome lamps
Four 12 V power outlets
Interior ambient lightning in 7 colours
Power adjustable driver seat
Leather upholstery and wrap for steering wheel and gear knob base
Front and rear parking sensors
Auto parking
Triple zone A/C
Sync 2 with Voice controls
TPMS, Battery saver
Adjustable speedlimiter with cruise control
Rain sensing wipers with rear wipe and wash
Light sensing BiXenon Projector Headlamps with auto leveling and jet wash
Panoramic sunroof
Global open and close front and rear side windows
Active noise cancellation with 3 microphones
Power folding tailgate and 3rd row seats

The bad-5 things
No satellite navigation built in. Have to remove the unit and send it to Bangalore for fitting the Nav module will take 5 days and cost Rs 1.13 lakhs, Totally not worth it. I brought a MMI Nav for 6.8k online.
City fuel economy is 5.5 to 6 kmpl.
Last row seats- If you get in and out of the last row 6 times a day you will get a full body workout. No need to join a gym.
No push button start.
Sometimes the vehicle just freezes for a second or two when you floor the accelerator. It is difficult to say when it can happen but this does not occur every time you floor the accelerator.

Safety & related equipment-
ABS, EBD, 7 airbags including front dual, side, curtain and driver knee airbag.
Traction control, ESP, HDC and HHA.
Emergency assistance, Engine immobilizer
Driver and front passenger seat belt reminder
Seatbelt pretensioner, Ford MyKey
Volumetric burglar alarm
Terrain management with full time 4x4 and 4L with rear diff lock.
Front and rear parking sensors with semi auto parallel park assist.

Number of kms at the time of writing this review- 1050 kms. 50% highway, 50% city driving

My usage pattern 20 to 25 kms daily in dense bumper to bumper traffic, idling at traffic lights, 40 km on highway on weekends.

Exterior styling & design- Butch looks with High bonnet line with minimal curves give it a masculine look and Massive road presence. Huge chrome grill with ford logo flanked on either side by BiXenon projector headlamps with LED DRLs. Rear end in contrast is a bit muted. Huge wheel wells wit 18 inch AT tyres give the look of a proper offroader.

Overall build quality, fit & finish, paint quality and panel gaps- Excellent fit and finish. My car had 2 pinhead spots on the paint. 3M guy said it is a paint defect due to air bubble in the paint, Other than this the paint quality is good but since mine is black I have to be extra careful maintaining the paint. The doors close with a soft thud with minimal effort. You get the feeling of sitting inside a Tank.

Wheels & tyres- The 18 inch alloys look awesome and on the titanium, they are gunmetal in colour. The stock MRF wanderer 265/60R18 AT tyres are pretty decent so far in the dry. Good grip and ride quality with hardly any tyre noise at high speed or screeching while braking. Have to see how they perform in the wet once the monsoon starts. Ground clearance is a massive 225mm with 2.8 feet water wading depth.

Interior design & quality is excellent but the beige leather requires regular maintenance. The titanium looks much more premium inside compared to the trend variant as it has black interiors from the window level upwards. The panels on the dash and door handles are dark glossy in colour compared to the trend variant which has full beige interior and Matt silver panels. The leather used on the seats is soft and comfortable. This along with the powerful A/C can put you to sleep while driving.The quality of the plastics is pretty good and appear scratch resistant so far. The Dash is covered with leather giving it a premium look and feel. The leather covered steering is of perfect size and feel.

Interior space & comfort- Front & middle row is excellent leg room and under thigh support with decent headroom if you are below 6 feet tall. Back row is OK for kids. The drivers seat has 8 way power adjustment. The co passengers seat has manual adjustment. The second row seat can be reclined and slid backwards and forwards. Open the inner cover of the panoramic sunroof once the sun eases and the interior is flushed with light giving an open and airy feel. Getting into the vehicle is like climbing onto the saddle of a horse. A person told me that the vehicle looks like a horse (Black Stallion). You need to hold onto the grab handle (there are 4, one on each door pillar) and place one leg on the side step and another into the vehicle. Elderly people may have a problem climbing into the vehicle.

Driving position is good with a commanding view of the road and the huge glass area with the soft leather seat and superb leather wrapped steering wheel but because of the size of the vehicle you need to be careful while changing lanes and taking turns.

Ergonomics- I miss the telescopic adjustment for the steering a little as I like to sit a bit away from the dash but it is not a big negative as the 8 way power adjustment for drivers seat makes up for it. The pedals in the foot-well are nicely spaced with a big dead pedal to rest your left foot. All controls are within arms reach, especially love the motorised tail gate.

Controls & MID are fantastic with 3 LCD screens and 24 buttons on the steering wheel to navigate through the options. The screens are pretty bright and clear even during day time with buttons to control the brightness intensity. You can control your phone through the buttons on the steering wheel without having to use the touch screen on the center console. The central screen has 4 zones and of which 3 are functional for phone, entertainment and A/C controls. the fourth zone displays the compass and cannot be selected as it is meant for navigation which is missing.

Visibility is good & with huge glass area, commanding view from drivers seat, big size ORVMs with convex outer most edge and auto dimming function in the RVM. You can have a clear view of the road ahead as you can look over the roofs of the smaller vehicles in front.

Air conditioner cooling & effectiveness is Superb with 3 Zone climate control and roof mounted ducts for 2nd and 3rd row. Individual climate control for driver, co passenger and rear passengers. There is a max A/C button which sets the temperature to 15 degrees and blower at max speed. even with outside temperature at 35 degrees plus the interior gets cooled in a couple of minutes.

Audio system & sound quality is pretty good with 10 speakers including rear woofer and front center speaker with tweeters and mid range in each of the 4 doors. There are multiple inputs for the Head unit- 2 USB, 1 Aux, 1 SD card slot, Bluetooth and WiFi. The system has adjustments for bass, mid, treble, balance and fader control with auto volume control.

Interior storage is ok for such a huge vehicle with 1 glove box, Center storage bin under center arm rest, 2 cup holders in each row and an area to keep mobiles under the center console, Even though the door pockets are huge the bottle holders in the doors suck. I am unable to find a bottle which will sit in them. Boot space is just OK with the 3rd row up but with the 3rd row folded it is 1000 liters plus and with the 3rd and 2nd row folded it is 2000 liters plus.

Special features- Emergency assist and Ford Sync 2 system with voice recognition for up to 10000 voice commands. Front parking sensors with display in addition to the rear parking sensors and rear view camera. The terrain management system with different 4x4 modes with 4L and rear diff lock. In addition the 3.2 titanium has over the 2.2 titanium the following features- A Panoramic sun roof and Semi auto parallel park assist, Heated side mirrors with puddle lamps and power folding 3rd row seats.

Engine performance & drivability in the city is excellent helped with the superb EPS, feels like driving a midsized sedan instead of a huge SUV. There is hardly any turbolag. Highway performance is good with excellent ride quality and decent high speed cornering. Sometimes if you want that sudden acceleration and floor the accelerator the beast will not respond for a second or two (This happens very rarely) other than this you can drive fatigue free form morning to night.

Additional comments on the engine- Very powerful and refined engine with excellent NVH inside due to the active noise cancellation technology.Overall opinion on the engine is good but the gear box needs some improvement- Gear shifts in the Auto are smooth without any jerks. Sports mode is better with slightly more aggressive gearshifts. Did not try manual mode as it beats the purpose of buying an auto.

Overall NVH levels are superb. You can hardly hear any outside noise and the engine noise is more like a purr than a roar inside the vehicle due to the 3 microphones inside with active noise cancellation technology.
The front parking sensors keep beeping every now and then in bumper to bumper traffic or when bikes and autos cut across the front. There is a button to switch them off but you have to do this every time the vehicle is started.

Fuel efficiency- City 5.5 to 6 kmpl in bumper to bumper traffic during peak hours. after 9pm or on sunday when traffic is less you can expect 6 to 7.5 in the city. Highway fuel economy depends on your driving style. Aggressive driving with flooring the gas pedal will result in fuel economy of 8.0. Sedate driving at 60 to 80 kmph will give you fuel economy of 10 to 11.5 depending on the traffic.

Suspension & ride quality at low as well as high speeds is excellent. Vehicle glides over small bumps, potholes and speed brakers. The thud of the suspension present in most vehicles which makes you grimace is absent.Handling, on-road behavior, grip levels, stability is really good. There is some body roll if you try to take curves at high speed like a sedan but that is expected for a vehicle whit a high center of gravity. Turning radius is decent for such a massive beast.

Steering is EPS and its excellent, Nil vibrations, good grip, hardly requires any effort to steer in the city. It is of perfect size and with the leather wrap is a pleasure to handle. Has 24 buttons on it to control the phone,and audio controls on the left, vehicle info display and cruise control on the right.

Braking- With all 4 wheel disk brakes is decent if you gently squeeze the brake pedal but stand on it and the huge beast comes to an abrupt stop. There is no screeching of tires or sliding or any other drama.

Ground clearance is a massive 225 mm with 2.8 feet of water wading depth. Other than offroading this with the auto box should be helpful for people living in areas with seasonal flooding as it should prevent stalling of the vehicle while driving through flooded areas.

Headlights with BiXenon projector setup and auto leveling function with LED DRLs are good in the city with excellent near illumination but on the highway the throw is long but far illumination is not very good. They have jet washers which pop out when the windscreen washer is used. There are also front and rear fog lamps useful for low visibility weather conditions and foggy ghat drives.

Niggles- There is condensation of water on the roof over the right rear tyre when the rear A/C is on in the evening or night. Service center says this is normal but i doubt they have a clue.I need to follow up on this.

Quality of after-sales service- No problems so far. Very helpful and polite but i doubt they have received full training on this vehicle.

Cost of upkeep & maintenance- Has standard 2 year warranty with 1 more year of extended warranty so it is too early to say. So far only expense is fuel cost. First service is at 2500 km with second after another 7500 km. With 50% NCB yearly comprehensive insurance should cost you between 25 to 30k add to that around 10 to 20k for routine servicing depending on your running cost of upkeep should be around 50k a year excluding fuel expenses. This is pretty decent for a vehicle that costs nearly 40 lakhs.

Likes- Tough butch SUV with proper full time 4x4 and 4L with all possible luxury features. No need to sit up craning your neck for the next pothole or speed braker. Superb ride quality on any road. No road, no problem, make your own Road.

Dislikes- Absence of Sat Nav, Last row seat entry, City fuel economy. Absence of push button start and rarely non responsive gearbox.

This is my Dream vehicle. Butch SUV with Auto transmission, Terrain management with full time 4x4 and 4L, Solid build and massive road presence with all the safety and luxury features you can think of.

More pics below

Headlamp with the BiXenon projector with auto leveling and jet wash


BiXenon Headlamps with front fog lamps


Led tail lamps with the rear fog lamps



Reverse camera at night. It is crystal clear


Windscreen and dash during daytime and at night with the dashcam, Satnav and HUD



The engine bay


Leather covered dash


Front and rear door pad



Dark glossy dash inserts


Rear A/C controls- Temperature, blower speed and direction


Clockwise from Top is the external ORVM controls, Headlamp, fog lamps and instrument cluster illumination controls and last is the motorized tailgate control


Dashcam


OBD port where i have plugged in the HUD. you can see i have cut off a few mm from the bottom edge of the cover for the same


Panoramic sunroof controls with the led dome light switches


Rear roof A/C vents with the led map lights


The key fob- Sturdy but plain Jane. Press unlock twice and hold down for global open. Press lock twice and hold down closes all 4 windows and sunroof. Last button is for the motorized tailgate.


The grab handle on each of the 4 door pillars. Hold this to climb into the beast.


Massive 225 mm ground clearance


Some more pics taken at sea side and back waters

 

[dockap]

2nd post also full so continued below-

Drivers footwell with DIY noodle mats. The pedals are spaced out nicely with big size dead pedal. The noodle mats are really good and swallow all dust and debries. Even after 5 days not even a speck of dust seen on them compared to the stock mats which look dirty with mud and small stones at the end of the day.


Video of the dash and windscreen at night with the dashcam, MMI satnav and HUD. Looks like an airplane cockpit.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ns93tNdVz3o

 

[$@ndy]

Man that is some good looking Machine congrats for the new ride :)

 

[navnit013]

Wait! Your wife said NO to XUV and advised you to go a segment or two higher! JAI NAARISHAKTI.

Congrats for the Endevour. Too many gadgets you got going there.

 

[shabri]

wow congrats on your new endeavour friend .It really looks awesome in black colour.

 

[Iron Rock]

OOOO - now that is what is called an upgrade!
Inspiring

Congratulations and have a many a safe miles!
will be hooked to the thread.

 

[mukesh]

@dockap, Congratulations for the Endy, it looks massive. definitely a head turner!!

 

[abhi17]

Awesome post as well as awesome beast....Really a dream car. Welcome to ford

 

[FordFiesta1.6]

Hi Dockap, Sir your Endeavour the Dark knight looks amazing especially in the panther black colour, and wish you a lots of happy smiling and safe miles ahead with your Dark Knight and also with your Black handsome Cheetah The XUV5OO . And sir may i know what mileage your getting so far with your dark knight? And a Big Welcome to the Ford Family.

 

[GM88]

Wow what an absolute beauty you've got there. Its looking drop dead gorgeous in black. And those alloys are absolute drool material. Heartiest congratulations on acquiring such an amazing ride and I guess the first one on TAI.

One question, did you test drive the 2.2 version as well before buying? How does it stack against the 3.2 version if you have compared?

Keep us updated with your experience with the new blue oval in your garage. Wishing you many many miles and smiles with the Dark Knight. Cheers.

 

[Nanofreak]

Congrats Doc, your monster truck looks awesome, you seem to be having all the tools to give your vehicles a 3M kind of once over.

All the best

 

[dockap]

Man that is some good looking Machine congrats

Congrats for the Endevour. Too many gadgets you got going there.

wow congrats on your new endeavour friend .It really looks awesome in black colour.

OOOO - now that is what is called an upgrade!
Inspiring. Congratulations and have a many a safe miles!

@dockap, Congratulations for the Endy, it looks massive. definitely a head turner!!

Awesome post as well as awesome beast....Really a dream car. Welcome to ford

Thanks guys, It is 1 month now since i got the beast but i am yet to come to Terms that i own it. It still feels like a dream

 

[Akash1886]

Brilliant Review for a equally brilliant beast of a SUV! SUV & BLACK are like the most lethal combo. Wish you the best experience with the beast. Do update on the services and costs you may incur on it.

Regards

Akash

 

[dockap]

Hi Dockap, Sir your Endeavour the Dark knight looks amazing , your Black handsome Cheetah The XUV5OO . And sir may i know what mileage your getting so far with your dark knight? And a Big Welcome to the Ford Family.

Thank you. XUV is sold. Endeavor gives me 5.5 to 6 kmpl in city and 8 to 11.5 kmpl on the highway.

Heartiest congratulations on acquiring such an amazing ride
One question, did you test drive the 2.2 version as well before buying? How does it stack against the 3.2 version if you have compared

Thanks, Sorry the test drive vehicle was also 3.2 but someone i know has purchased the 2.2 and feedback from him is that it is refined and with adequate power. Also 2.2 has much better fuel economy and will give you 2 to 3 kmpl more than the 3.2.

Congrats Doc, your monster truck looks awesome, you seem to be having all the tools to give your vehicles a 3M kind of once over.All the best

Thank you, I do have a small collection of car care items. Comes in handy on weekends or holidays to pamper the beast.