My Yeti !
A short Endy episode !
Being out of the country for most part of the year, a new vehicle didn’t make sense. Through a friend of mine, got to know of a wonderfully maintained Ford Endeavour AT 4x4 on sale. The deal was closed quickly and the vehicle brought home on the same day. It was a 2011 model which had clocked around 86k km at the time.
What I liked
- Robust build. Very abuse friendly SUV. Plastics, other materials used, fit/finish- all top notch.
- Good safety features- 4 airbags, ABS etc.
- Great road presence. The exclusivity helps as well
- Oodles of usable space inside
- Dedicated AC controls for each rows of seats
- The massive torque available from the 3.0L motor
- Cruise-ability on open 4-lane stretches is amazing. The overdrive selector helps, works like a 6th gear
- The convenience of the AT. Provides a stress free driving experience, especially in the stop-start traffic
- The convenience of 4H and 4L. Though didn’t venture in to any serious 'dirty' off-road sessions, did go off the tarmac many times. A couple of birding trails as well.
The Not so Good
- Low seating – both driver and passenger – went on to be a deal breaker.
- Harsh engine noise inside the cabin. The engine's growl and the initial lag get annoying at times, especially during those quick overtaking manoeuvres on congested narrow roads. On open stretches, it’s a different story though. Just press the gas pedal, the beast takes off in no time to a cruising speed with smooth and quick gear shifts. The gear shifts are felt most of the time and most of the time, the slush box requires you to ease off the throttle to make it shift up.
- Harsh ride at the middle row. P.S: The last row was never used.
- Braking - not confidence inspiring at all. Even after changing the brake pads, during a service, the beast simply wouldn’t stop quickly from cruising speeds. The lack of engine braking, once you leave the accelerator, doesn’t help either. The moment you leave the accelerator, the rpm suddenly drops below 1000 as if it goes to neutral which takes away the fun factor too, to some extent. One needs to be extra-cautious to ease off the throttle for a smooth driving experience.
- Poor fuel efficiency. Around 6.5- 8.5km. Never got to any respectable double figures even on highways.
Other points:
- Never used the roof mounted DVD player
- Decent ICE and sound quality. Couldn’t use my iPod classic as it required another cable/hardware installation
- Turn off OD for spirited driving experience; the FE goes down further though
Though driving this AT wasn’t as fun as my earlier MT M-hawk, I wasn’t planning to sell the Endy off soon. In fact at around 92000 km, I guess, I got the 1 lakh km service done. Changed most of the belts including the timing belt. The serviced costed close to Rs.45k. Spent another 21k and got black custom seat covers with additional cushioning + premium floor mats stitched at the trusted Leatherman @Palakkad. The vehicle was, both cosmetically and mechanically, in top shape.
Then, why did I let it go ?
It was just a few days after the 1 lac service, one evening as I was parking the beast in a small town in Palakkad, the gearbox simply gave up. I could slot the stick in to every single mode, but it wouldn’t change from ‘N’, as also displayed on the MID. Pushed the beast and parked on the road side. Called the SM who promptly sent a person within 30 minutes. It was around 7.00 pm, if I remember it right. The gentleman was the spare part manager who didn’t have any clue on the breakdown. Long story short, got a couple of technicians to arrive by 9.30 pm. The issue proved to be quite simple – a cable connecting the gear stick to the internal gearbox assembly was broken and dislodged. Got a sturdy zip tie and fastened the cable on to the gear stick after having the gears aligned, as a temporary solution.
The cable would cost around Rs.6000 but was not in stock. Took the vehicle to the ASC and got the zip tie removed and reattached the cable with a sturdy bolt. Placed an order for a brand new cable and left. Did travel some 1000 km after that before flying out of India eventually.
Now, being away from India, two things I was worried about
- the break-down incident
- the ride
Though the cause of the break-down wasn’t anything serious, the unavailability of the parts was a bit of a concern. Meanwhile, I was also thinking of upgrading the suspension with a comfort kit from either OME or Ironman. Called up Mr.Sam based out in Kottayam and discussed further on the upgrade. Either one would set you back by around 1 lakh, but again neither of them were in stock.
Decision time. Since my relocation back to India was uncertain, spending more on it didn’t make sense and started to think of letting it go for a ‘lighter on pocket’ stopgap car. Since the car was in top shape, getting a buyer wasn’t any difficult. With a heavy heart, the journey with the Endy had be shortened. It fetched a decent price too.
P.S: The payment was done and the application for the ownership transfer was initiated at the buyer’s RTO office. While all these happened, I had forgotten that I had placed an order for that gear stick cable. I immediately called up the ASC at Palakkad. Since the part had arrived, I asked them to pick the vehicle and get it installed on the next day itself. Got the brand new part fitted and an overall vehicle inspection performed at Ford ASC. Confirmed ( on the KMVD portal ) the transfer of ownership and handed over the vehicle the following day.
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