[Nanolover]

You must think I am mad. In this day and age, getting hold of a car known for its monumental running costs and that too a diesel. But as is the case with bhpians, common sense sometimes escapes the equation and until you really fall into the fire you willnot get burnt, or so goes the saying.

Well, why did I do it. I wanted to kill many birds with one stone. I have never kept a car LONG enough to know how dependable it will be at intergalactic mileages. Second wanted a European dream car from my collage days ( forget Opels as these really have become dinosaurs), diesel obviously as I am from Kerala and the itch of restoring something to a good daily use condition, all led me to this adventure or disaster ( per my parents).

Coming quickly to the car. Saw this one in a really sorry state at a dealer. To be honest was not expecting much, but it started on the first crank, engine drove well despite the mileage and had the original company alloys and spoiler. Plus the engine was the Fiesta/ Figo one so parts availability is not a problem. Those were the only plus points. Everything else was crap- shot suspension, cheap and horrible tires, paint in need of TLC, crap seats well crap everything else. Got it for 55 k INR with the fees for name change also included. Thought I covered everything . BIG MISTAKE. during the name change upon checking came to know there was 10,000 rupees for multiple challans pending since 2014. Those have to be paid for name change to happen. Swallowed my pride and paid it. Lesson 1 learnt. Don't trust parivaahan only in Kerala for fines ( i had cross checked it), BUT i missed police portal.

So please check the below website with the registration number, especially if anyone wants to buy a second hand car in Kerala

https://payment.keralapolice.gov.in/epayment.com

Took to my workshop and over the course of a month almost everything was changed. Brief list below.

All logos ( non OEM)
Front & Rear Struts ( Monroe)
Strut Mounts
Timing Belt and pulley
Drive belt
Lower Arms
Tie Rod
All fluids
All door beadings
Gear bush kit
Indicator/ Wiper Combination Switch
Door/ boot/ Ignition key and barrel ( Uno Minda- boodmo)
Driveshafts serviced and greased
EGR Cleaning
Air filter, Fuel filter, Oil filter
Relay for High beam headlamps
Various bulbs and fuses
All tires changed to MRF ZLX 175/70 R13
Complete Paint job
Interior cleaning and upholstery
Remote locking and stereo
Roots Vibrasonic horn

And all this resulted in me spending 3 times the purchase price of the car on restoration ! Call me mad but had to get this itch out of the system.

Lessons Learned
- Engine parts and other regular running items are freely available in boodmo / Swaraj ( spare parts shop in TVM)/ Ford / scrapyard depending on what you are looking for and in that order
- Trim parts are extremely difficult to find and hope/pray a ford rolls in for scrap and you are there at the right moment ( well highly unlikely)
- Scrap yard rates are very elastic. For e.g. for future use i got a good condition turbo and MAF sensor for 6K from scrap.
- Ford OEM parts are expensive ( 2 mirrors 4500 bucks, antenna 750 bucks, side indicator 650 bucks), but the best quality and worth it.

Parts pending replacement:
Front wheel bearings
Clutch ( later stage)

Coming to the car:

Positives
- not many around, so people think you are good or MAD ( depends) for keeping a car in this condition
- good all round visibility. Kids love this as they can see out of the window without standing up
- effective ac
- precise gearchange
- reasonably tractable engine
-huge boot for the coconuts ( cumo'n man, its Kerala, everyone or their relatives have a few coconut trees)

Negatives
- its a 15 year car after all, so LOUD engine noise. Something like the s-cross diesel which we also had, is whisper quite in comparison
- Heavy hydraulic steering
- Low seating position and poor clearance between low set steering and seats
- Heavy clutch
- Non existent visibility from those side mirrors and they don't hold their adjustment.
- Family questioning your sanity !

So, have been there and now done that. Without further adieu, I will let the pics do the talking.

[eyesice]

Car looks in top shape post repairs. Although you did not take into account sense or sensibility, you had sensitivity! (Mammooty's dialogue )

Would request you to post the ownership experience over time regularly!

[GForceEnjoyer]

Whoa, what a thread! Clicked on it immediately after seeing the title. Great to see the car in tip-top condition post the service! I'd love to keep reading your updates in the future. The car looks absolutely stunning in black.

The other cool thing is that my family had a 2004 Ford Ikon 1.3 Flair that I often rode around in when I was younger, which ran for well over 175000 km in the 13 years we owned it for (the car was two years older than me). So, this is nostalgia with a bit of a (diesel) twist! Wishing you many happy miles for the future.

[DocwithFiesta]

Originally Posted by Nanolover

Got it for 55 k INR with the fees for name change also included.

Congratulations and welcome to the Ford family! A family where, once you enter you cannot leave- you will always want to drive a Ford hereafter- other brands will always feel inferior in terms of driving feel, ride quality and steering feedback. We own a 2010 1.6 Fiesta, my uncle owns a 2004 1.6 Nxt Ikon among other cars and there are no plans to get rid of the cars in the foreseeable future.

As @GForceEnjoyer mentioned, I too clicked on the thread as soon as I saw it.

Ford parts might be little expensive, but they are available easily and will continue to be available for a few years atleast, so you might not worry regarding that. And yeah, your Ikon looks absolutely factory fresh after the works you have done on it, a refreshing treat to my eyes.
Have a great time with your Ford in the months/years to come.

[XLR8.443]

The car looks amazing post restoration. Always admired this generation of the Ikon during my school days which one of my friends family owned.

[AKSarkar1]

There is just something that hits different about owning cars that one couldn't 'afford/have' back in the day, extremely satisfying and worth the big bucks if you ask me! For me this 'college time' car was the Octavia, especially the estate version of the car.

Knowing old Fords, these cars were quite dependable, we used to have an Ikon and almost exclusively used it for long highway trips and never did it give us a problem ever. I would say you made the correct choice

Please do share more photos and hoping that you double the mileage on the car in the coming years! This post really made me happy

[mayankk]

Reading through the post, I was imagining a rust bucket, barely mechanically sound. The images, though, blew away all the mis-expectations!
The itch was strong in this one....

It looks absolutely lovely, and there's some link in everyone's mind about buying a Used ford, and being branded a twit! I know from experience too.

Have fun. Cars from that gen of fords have that X-factor that makes you just want to head out for a drive!!

[raj4466]

Originally Posted by Nanolover

All logos ( non OEM)

-huge boot for the coconuts ( cumo'n man, its Kerala, everyone or their relatives have a few coconut trees)

Loved the car and your effort to restore the josh machine.
Gave me the push to do the restoration of my 2010 ikon in the same panther black shade.

I have been trying to get hold of the front ford logo for quite some time, could you share the link from where you got it?
The boot was the reason why we went for the ikon instead of swift back in 2010. I was tired of sitting with legs up with coconuts on the floor in our Zen.

Mine needs a clutch replacement and a paint job, lack of a good FNG for Ford is holding me back.

[Nanolover]

Originally Posted by raj4466

Loved the car and your effort to restore the josh machine.

I have been trying to get hold of the front ford logo for quite some time, could you share the link from where you got it?
.

I got it from the local biggie spare parts shop - SWARAJ, though non OEM and quality is strictly third grade.

As for FORD parts, as mentioned by Doc Fiesta they are readily available on Boodmo also. But some parts are frankly ridiculously priced.

See the below set of original FORD mirrors. They cost an eyewatering 4500 bucks for the pair! I brought them, MAD ! ( although non OEM ones are in the 700 -1000 range, the quality is atrocious)

I have also ordered another de riguer item in my collage days - the back collapsible curtain ( seen on some new cars like the CIAZ also). Will share the snaps once installed.

[VijayAnand1]

Once a Ford, always a Ford, I always say and Ford should be appreciated when it comes to service back up. Now, can they do better? Definitely. But in my experience, most of their SVCs have all the parts necessary and pretty much very communicative for queries, break-up and what not and proactively follow-up for any discrepancy. For now, the journey's a fruitful one .

Well, you bought an Icon and Ikons live forever, don't they.. D

Old schoolers have a charm of their own. My favorite would be the Ford Escort, the front fascia, the grille all of it just made me go awe back, the full green console, sexy personified.

Keep her shiny and enjoy her!

[VwRabbit]

Ford lover here,I love all their cars especially the old ones with not many modern electronics, a driver’s delight those cars were.

About the Ikon I had one briefly that was a diesel with a lot of miles on it, not in the perfect shape but still a hoot to drive, the brakes were pathetic which was typical to all Fords of that era but other than that the connected feel behind the wheel, Ford used to nail it back then.

Had a brief experience with one of their service centre near where I was living and it was great because they had parts in stock even for a discontinued model ,which surprised me back then, but still i had gone in with the first generation Figo at that time which by the way sold in good numbers along with the Fiesta classic so that might have added to my benefit there.

Sad that they left India but still service support has to be good because i still see a lot of Fords at that service centre going in to get work done, even the old ones.

[sandeepmohan]

Originally Posted by Nanolover

You must think I am mad. In this day and age, getting hold of a car known for its monumental running costs and that too a diesel.

Respectfully, I do.

I say this as a past Ford Ikon owner, some of which I have documented on this forum.

I went down the same Rabit hole as you. Found what I thought to be a nice, well kept, sparingly used car and picked it up. It was my neighbors car too and was well looked after. I knew the owner loved to drive as nobody bought the 1.6l petrol otherwise and he had also fitted a free flow exhaust. When he floored it, it was music to my ears.

Cash was tight. A new car was a no-go and I did not want to be seen in an Alto. No freakin way. Thinking back about my decision, the Alto would not have been so bad after all.

From the day I picked up my Ikon, the car spent more time at a Ford workshop than on the road. It drove me borderline broke. Non stop part failures. At times, even the new part failed after a year. The most common being the thermostat housing. Horrendous part quality and many were imported under the Motorcraft brand. This was not a case of the engineers being incompetent at the Ford workshop. The part quality was bad. Nothing held up.

By the end, I must have spent >50k INR to fix the car and thats when I decided that was enough. My wife had also managed to put some sense into me.

The one thing that I simply cannot forgive Ford India or Ford Globally was the horrendous brakes on this car. I would ask that you give it up cause it isn't safe. I know you have spent a lot. You cannot fix or improve the braking ability of the Ikon. Its bad brakes by design. The sad thing is Ford repeated this mistake even on the Figo. Its as though they were no lessons learnt along the way.

All of this led to a sort of anti Ford campaign in my house. While I have a soft corner for the brand and had even considered picking up a modern Ford Mondeo Ecoboost (Had test driven one too), the experience with the Ikon scares me no end.

I hope it all goes well for you.

[BeemerBug_06]

No matter what anyone may say or think, the Ford Ikon will always remain one of my absolute favorite cars. We had one when I was a kid, practically grew up around it. Although ours was a 2000 model 1.6 ZXI in a shade they called Cayman Green I think. It was a lovely car with a great engine, maintenance costs aside

My dad let go of it around 2006 and the next owner seemed to enjoy it thoroughly before ultimately sending it to the scrappers as it met with an accident.

Congratulations to you on your car!
I'm not a big fan of the looks of this facelift, but I must say that your car looks absolutely superb after the TLC you've given it. The 1.4 TDCI is a brilliant engine. I've had the chance to experience it in the Fiesta and Figo and enjoyed the torque and power along with the fabulous handling of those cars. I am sure the Ikon is no less or maybe even better
Wishing you many happy miles here on

Hoping I get a chance to drive an Ikon sometime soon !

[JaiHanuman]

Can you please post picture of your car before the restoration? i.e. The condition in which you brought the car.

[Nanolover]

Originally Posted by JaiHanuman

Can you please post picture of your car before the restoration? i.e. The condition in which you brought the car.

As is condition upon buying. Believe me these pictures don't do justice. It was horrid. I couldn't gather the courage to take the interior shots as it was hopeless. Both front seat belts were shot ( replaced with Fiesta seatbelts) , stereo missing , bith mirrors internal adjustment stalk missing, carpet shot, huge holes in the parcel shelf for missing speakers,HVAC missing the fasteners leading to water dripping on the carpet, a gazillion problems !