The smell of a new car. The thrill of discovering and understanding the vehicle, uncovering it’s secrets. And the joy of doing her up. It’s that time again, and loving it !
Four years & 73k with the Indigo Marina, which came after an earlier 4 years & 83k with our faithful pre-V2 Indica. A change was quite natural, I guess. So as luck would have it, mom was off at my brother’s place for a few months and my dad had a daily ride to work. These, coupled with the driver having to attend to his personal stuff meant that the Marina was going to be idle for a while. Made sense to give her up.
It’s not every day that you get time on your hands like this. Being able to give up your ride, and wait for upcoming launches – and not having to worry about not having a ride. I had the time to look around & evaluate the options. And being on TBHP is something invaluable – you know what’s coming up, you get the information, you get to know of the criticisms of anything coming up .. you get to know the bouquets & brick-bats that any car receives. You know what to expect.
But it’s hard to keep things under-wraps, as I soon found out. A simple, innocuous question about any news of the Ikon TDCi was answered by Diwa. And Benny was quick to spot it. :p
The requirements : no particular order.
Entry level sedan. More than cost, because of the last point listed here.
Reliability.
Passenger comfort. Car was to be used primarily by parents, who dont drive.
Servicing.
Budget About 7L.
Costs – operating & maintenance.
Boot required – this is not something that can be added later, right ?
- Driven mostly by driver.
Tata & Fiat:
The search began after bidding goodbye to the Marina in early Sept. The Vista had been launched, and it was natural to check it out. Especially because of the comfort I have with the A.S.S that I have been getting. The car is a pretty big change from the Indica family that we were familiar with. Loved the engine & the space inside. The car was fresh, and may have actually picked it up but was not happy with the exchange price offered by the dealers. Importantly – it did not have a boot. And when GTO started the thread about the Vista not being sufficiently different, the discussion there changed my look-out for a car away from this baby.
The few small complaints I have about the Vista are posted in the Vista TD thread ..
The Indigo variants were not even considered because it would have meant continuing with the same interiors & exteriors for another 4 years alteast, after the 8 years we had already done.
Palio Stile :
Would have been a serious contendor if it had been a hatchback. But without the boot, and the discussions we have been having about Fiat Spa, not to mention about spare availability meant that the Palio was not coming home this time either. (For those of you who missed it, the Palio D ELX was what I had almost picked up, before I changed track to go for the Sumo). I still love the Palio, though.
Linea :
was still a little beyond the horizon. And as expected, was outside the budget.
Getz:
I love the styling of the Getz. Took the TD, and found it to be a lovely car. (This was my first drive/ride in a Getz). Again, like with the Palio, would have definitely been on the short-list if I was looking for a hatch. But the 1.1 is under-powered. Hesitant about the 1.3 because of FE in city, where the car would have been used mostly. The under-powered nature of the car was made more pronounced when I tried the i10 Kappa.
The
Getz CRDi is a beauty, I hear. But there’s no way I am giving 100 horses to a driver. And the cost of the vehicle was definitely on the higher side for a hatch. Could not TD it either.
Accent :
May be an old faithful for Hyundai, but I feel goodbyes are definitely due.
i20 :
No confirmed launch date. No details about pricing. And then, with the slow-down, the news of a post December launch trickled in. Looking back, if a hatch, then it would have been the i20.
DZire:
If you get past the looks, be ready for the rattles. And like a fellow TBHP-ian said, the long waiting period gives you enough time to review your decision to buy this one While never a fan a of the looks of the Swift itself, I tried to push myself to like the DZire. But the looooonng waiting period was not something I wanted to put up with. The sporty suspension & the rattles reported were two other major reasons that kept me away.
Chevy's were out of question because of their service network.
And we do travel a bit to non-metro locations, so I did not want to ever end up in a situation where service was not near at hand. Not that Ford is as good as Tata / Maruti / M&M, but they are still better than Chevy etc.
Logan ? How could you think of it ? I’d take an Accent instead, anyday. I still pulled myself to the dealership. The one quick look inside put any, small doubt of change of mind, to rest. Also feel it is over-priced.
August was when the companies were giving some decent discounts. Ford had a very good offer on the Fiesta, with the base version available at a whooping 53k off it’s regular tag of 8.49L OTR. This was due to a discount of about 37k for their preferential customer list (companies). Was tempted. But the 1.4TDCi is better suited to the Ikon, than this bigger car. From past experience, I prefer factory fitted features than having to do things up post delivery., These are not stuff like ICE, upholstery, etc .. but those that are better done in the factory. Selecting a Fiesta would have meant going beyond the base version – and definitely above my budget. So out of the door she went ..
As October end neared, the Ikon TDCi launch seemed closer. And were finally spotted on Hosur Rd. A week later, got the sales people to let me see the vehicle in metal ..Looked lovely. Much better than the current Ikon, I thought .. the grill-less look was reminiscent of the ealier Mustangs. Now, after the initial thrill has died down, and the vehicle is becoming more familiar, I have to agree with the Ikon fans – the design is something one can easily live with. But the smartest of the Ikon’s is the NXT / 1.6 / just closed 1.3.
The soft launch happened on Nov 5, but could not make it to the dealership for the TD that day or the next. Did go a couple of days later, but by then the dealership had been overwhelmed by the number enquiries. This had resulted in them taking the car off TD duty and turning it into a show-room piece.
Having decided on the car, wanted to TD it before finalizing it. But since the Ikon itself was out of TD reach, had to either delay the booking, or take a chance. And it’s not hard to guess. The TBHP TD reports were out by then. These, coupled with the TD’s I had done on the Fiesta & Fusion (same engine), gave me a fair idea of what to expect. Paid Lathangi Ford the booking amount on a Paprika Red Ikon TDCi, and less than a week later, the PO from my office was with the dealer. (Have opted for a CLC).
OTR for Bangalore was 6.16L. Being with a company that’s on Ford’s list of preferred companies meant that I got a 10k off on ex-showroom pricing. This discount is because Ford invoices the car directly in the buyers name – and not the dealers name as is normal practice. The OTR price, as quoted by the dealer came down to 6.04L.
Initial delivery estimate was about 2-3 weeks. Or so the dealer said. Was ok with this since there was still some time before my mom was to come back, and this would have given me sufficient time to run-in the vehicle before I handed it over to the driver. While things did go beyond this, I did not push it since I was pre-occupied with another issue. The car was finally delivered about 6 weeks after booking, and luckily for us, after we had come through some more urgent & important matters.
I am not sure why it took so much time. Another person (a colleague who I dont know) had booked a black TDCi in early December, got his in 2 weeks flat - with the same lot as mine came in.
The car was delivered to the dealer on 26th December, registered & delivered on 29th December.
Congrats on the new buy. Hope the car pics you have put is your car itself. Good justification for going to ikon tdci although you had a wide variety of cars to choose from. Do keep updating on your driving eperience.
congrats on your new car.looks awesome and the pics just look too good.nice work on it.
i had got my fiesta on Dec 26 and even thought i had heard many views on the servicing etc.im happy about things till now and seems they were helpful and up to date.
the ford engines are just too nice and a pleasure to drive.cheers:
PART 2: COMING HOME
It was a casual call to the manager to ask for updates, when he said the car is coming in. Confirmation came in 2 days later, and I was in two minds whether to register it in Jan 2009, or to not get fussy about the dates.
Benny has been helping me with a lot of things about the car… talked with him, and a couple of other people before deciding to get her home right away. Could not do a proper PDI before delivery, save an external check on 27th Dec we had done. Actual delivery was past sun-set, so could not use our PDI check-list or get the advantage of daytime lighting to check the car. A quick check of the functions of the car and the usual explanations by the dealer, and I was finally driving the baby home.
Home, and then straight to the temple for the pooja.
Scene at home for the rest of the week:
Had to wait a bit for the alloys to come in, which were fitted on Saturday – 3rd Jan. Two weeks since, have done 700km. And loving it !
Had initially thought of a two stage tread upgrade : tyres first, on 14” Indigo rims. Alloys later. Finally decided to keep things simple & went the distance to get Aura 31455’s with Yoko A drives, trading in the stock Goodyear 175/70-R13’s to one size up at 185/60-R14.
The car itself has built a reputation for being FTD – and yet comfortable for driver & passengers. The TDCi engine has already proven itself. The combination has shown no reason for doubt. The 1.4 TDCi is the right engine for this car, not the Fiesta. The Ikon TDCi feels like driving the 1.6, but on diesel. Responds beautifully, & is comfortable. And with the A-drives, it feels planted to the road.
Colors:
Paprika Red is the most attractive, IMHO. I would have loved the Jeans Blue, but they don’t have it. The new silver has a certain fresh tinge to it, and looks nice too.
Looks :
While the NXT is the smart one, can definitely live with this.
The first version of the Ikon was one that I had not liked, and that had made me stay away from the Ikon all this while. Thankfully, things have changed over time, and not just with this car :-P
That the TDCi does look a little Escort-ish is not entirely un-warranted.
Visibility & Mirrors :
Visibility from inside is good, but mirrors continue to be small. There is no way one can place blind-spot mirrors to boost visibility.
The mirror’s outer-surface is rough, and this tends to collect dirt over time. Planning to get this painted – atleast in black, to help make cleaning & maintenance easier.
The Console’s new, but neither better nor worse. Just that the bottom right corner of the console seems to lack alignment – the fuel-gauge seems recessed inwards.
No clock ! And missing a lamp for the rear seats. Small, fundamental things, I thought. The cabin light in the front is not sufficient to light up the rear half of the cabin.
There is
no audio
warning for seat-belts – or even the almost mandatory visual warning (LED) that the seatbelt is not engaged. Man, we are not talking of airbags – but just a sensor switch connected to the seat-belt setup, and rigged to a led & and a beeper !
The cabin-light’s config w.r.t the doors needs a little adjustment. Lights come on only after the door is pulled about 7-8 inches outwards, Consequently, if you were to leave your door slightly open (upto 7”), the cabin light will not come on and you may never realize that you have not closed the doors properly.
Seats:
The seats, though very comfortable, would have been perfect with another inch of under-thigh support. Height, contouring, and cushion softness is just right. Lumbar support is not present on the front seats.
The arm-rests on the doors would have been more comfortable if they had been two inches further front. The door opener could have been moved to the inside of the arm-rest, as seein the pic. (A complaint that I carry forward from Tata & the Indica family). This position would have been more natural than what we have now, where the hand has to be held back-wards if one wants to grip the handle on the arm-rest.
Another miss by Ford : No
Rear De-fogger. This is another feature I prefer to be factory fitted, but will now have to rely on after-market options, or may be carry a de-mister liquid. Especially because the rear-windshield seemed to get misted very easily.
The engine bay looks packed.
Also, there is not much breathing space behind the bumpers – either in front or the rear. The car is already at 4145mm long – about 14.5 cm’s more than the 4m cut-off. Would have preferred a little more free space inside the bumpers which could have been used to beef-up protection to internal parts.
The intake is routed away from the engine, to the side. Functions like a CAI
On The Road:
The car has a nice clean stance, be-lying it’s 167mm GC. It seems ready to take on our famous speed-breakers. GC has so far looked good, but I have not checked with a full load yet.
About a couple of weeks after booking the car, I did get to finally TD the car. Found the car to be sufficiently good, without much to complain about. Special attention was towards braking, since many had said hard braking was found wanting. Tested this from about 60-65kmph to stand-still, and was better than the Fiesta I had tested out.
The car soaked the rough patches will that characteristic dull / muted thud. The short drive took away most of the butterflies I had in my stomach. Now, after about two weeks of driving, the baby is opening up.
There is some noise initially when the engine's cold, but once the engine warms up, it gets more silent. Acceleration is good, and so is the no-clutch-no-accelerator crawl when you need to.
A quirk that I have noticed in stop-&-go traffic is in 1st gear: When I press the accelerator a little to get it moving, and then take my foot off the accelerator, I find the acceleration continuing for a 2-3 seconds more. So need to watch out for traffic in front of me suddenly braking in such situations.
Road Noise:
Top speed touched so far is 110kmph, during a airport run I had done with about 100 on the odo. No complaints again, but found overall noise when above 90 to be a little high. Looks to be a combination of the engine & the A-drives. Or may be it was the time of the day (early morning), and no ICE to drown out the sounds. Noise is not a concern in city driving, or even upto 80-85. Got to check things during day-time driving.
The inside ot the bonnet does not have any lining. May be a fiber lining like we see on many cars can help.
Clutch is sufficiently soft. And gear shifts easy. No hunting / searching for the slots, or rubberiness.
Running-In & Gear-Speed Ratio’s :
While the owners manual does not say much about running-in & gear-speed ratio’s, except for varying the speeds and to touch 3k on the tacho once a week. I have been doing my own experimentation and am comfortable with :
1st : 0 – 15(20 max)
2nd : 20 – 35
3rd : 35 – 50
4th : 50 – 70 (min 65).
5th : 70 & above.
It is not that the protest is evident when you change earlier. But up-shifting earlier definitely increases the gear lever vibrations. The above gear-speed rations (seem to) keep the car in the power-band.
Cranking / Re-starting the engine :
Need to hold the key in ‘crank’ position for more than a second, till the engine comes to life. Was a little surprised by this.
Also, if you stall in traffic, need to turn the key to ‘Off’ before you turn the key to ‘On’ position & then crank it.
Power-steering seems motorized / EPS. The effort required is steady, irrespective of speed. No details about the type of PS is provided in the owner’s manual. I would have said Spec sheet, but there is no spec sheet in the manual ! Apart from the dimensions, any other tech specs actually provided are scattered over the manual.
Turns & U-turns are easy.
A/c : Blow Hot, Blow Cold !
Another quirky thing about this car : Switch on the A’c, and it will blow hot air for a few second before the cooling starts. Have noticed this with the compressor engaged/dis-engaged.
Other wise: good & effective. No direct outlets to the rear of the cabin.
Importantly, A/c does not show any affect on the engine speed, and no effect on the vehicle’s running (have not been able to check the affect on FE yet)
FE:
She's possibly doing about 15-16 currently. Had filled up early on, but had stopped at auto-cut-off. At second re-fill, decided to top-up. But the tank took in another 5 litres after cut-off, so I don’t know how much she’s actually drinking.
Apparently, the auto-cut-off will happen twice. Ford advices stopping after the second-cutoff.
The Horn : a successful squeak !
Honk, and you couldn’t scare even a mouse. Forget warning other folks on the road. The secret behind this is the single horn at the front left corner.
Wonder if this Ford’s way of a smart double – save costs and help prevent noise pollution !
Wanted to swap the stock horn with another I have (the stock Sumo horn), but not able to figure out how to disconnect the wires here.
Any ideas ?
A possible mount point for the second horn is this, on the front right. Remember, the engine bay is packed with not much space for anything more.
Tyres & Alloys
Stock : Goodyear GPS2 175/70-R13.
Would have been a shame if I had not been thinking of upgrades in this critical area, after being a TBHP-ian so long. The steel wheels are out, and so are the stock tyres. And am I glad ! The car looks so much better with the Aura’s. A one-step up-size is safe on any car, and that’s what I have gone in for.
Check the space on the inside, after the upgrades : there is sufficient space to safely upsize upto 195/55’s too.
While Ford provides 175/70-R13 and we hear about up-sizing being not advisable, this sticker inside the driver’s door (facing door frame) shows the pressures for 175/65-R14’s. May not appear contradictory, but 175/65-R14 is noticeably bigger (as noticed on the odo & speedo error) than 185/60-R14’s
The car has one of the biggest differences in rear vs front track : 1429mm vs 1384mm - 45mm !
Windshield wipers : Programmable intermittent speed !
Pleasantly surprised with this.
• Switch on intermittend speed wiping. Let it wipe once, then Switch off.
• Wait n seconds (between 1 & 25 seconds). Switch it on again. The number of seconds you wait, is the speed/delay of the intermittent wipe action !
Ref page #14 of the owners manual
Another improvement noticed by Benny : compared to the earlier single 2 –hole outlet in the center of the bonnet, there are now two (2-hole) outlets on the bonnet.
Panel Gaps:
Some panel gaps seem a little large -– esp between the body panel & the rear bumper ; and also between headlamp & front bumper.. Benny’s Ikon seemed to have better tolerance While this is not much of an aesthetic or functional issue when look at the car itself, it does cause a problem during wash & wipe. Water tends to stand between these gaps, and as you wipe the car dry, the water flows out to mess the dried area & the chamois leather.
Anabond is one thing that I have found very useful. Have sealed these gaps, and things are much better now. Note the whitish part between the panels.
Mud-flaps Half-mud flaps from Ford : OE accessory. And we have to pay for this !
ACCESSORIES:
Remote Locking : Ford branded Auto-cop. Surprisingly, no users manual !
It does an auto re-lock if you unlock & do not open the doors.
ICE : yet to be done.
Confused about the speakers. Have checked the EFX’s in Satya’s Zen, but his setup is relatively more elaborate, and I am not able to visualize how will a plain HU-speaker setup of the same speakers sound like. I am looking for just the HU, components & ovals. Have had an audition of JBL’s too, but still in square 1 : confused on choice of brand.
Also, searching for an internal antenna. Would be good if I get a Blau Autofun wire antenna, like the one I have in the Sumo.
Upholstery : had a tough time with the color combination, but have finally been able to decide. Now to schedule it & complete it.
Teflon coating / Paint protection : done. Cost me about 2k.
Sunfilm : SunPro Carbon 35. Find the shade just right.
MODIFICATIONS:
Aren’t upgrades, modifications & DIY’s infectious ? Started on 4th Jan, even before I really started using the car. Something simple, yet important : the remote boot release.
http://www.team-bhp.com/forum/modifi...se-set-up.html
This one’s been helping me every single day since, as I enter our office campus. How could Ford not do such a simple thing ? Did they really need to have just the lone option- and relatively much more expensive 6.5k motorized setup ? After all, I only need to be able to open the boot – nobody asks how I do it.
Looking-out for:
Better mirrors ?
Side-strips. Evaluating other options too.
Rear cabin-light. May go with Ford stuff.
Rear chrome strip- above the licence plate (boot lip ?)
Side skirts, may be.
Mud-flaps
Others .. some miscellaneous points:
The seat incline adjuster is provided on the inside (adjacent to the hand-brake lever). As Satya pointed out while exploring options to fit a small utility box –cum- elbow support between the front seats for Benny’s car, the adjuster being here means that the box/support is not going be simple, or even if we did put it in, using the adjuster is not going to be easy – you will need to reach from behind to get to the adjuster knob. This is not a big thing, though ..either having it nor not having it.
The owners manual , while often lacking in details (of the technical type), does provide some nice insights on how to use the head-lamp leveler. Page #17 states what position to use, for what load, and the distribution of the load.
Another point there is about washing the car – we are supposed to use luke-warm water and car shampoo. Not something we would have normally thought of !
Servicing :
1st – 3 months / 5000km
2nd – 6 months / 10000km
3rd onwards – every 6 months / 10000km.
Simple, isn’t it ?
Warranty :
Base wty : 2 years, 1L km
Have opted for a 1 year extended warranty at 7.8k, which stretches the total wty to the 3rd year & 1.2L km.
The other option was to take a 2 year extended warranty at twice the price – 15k, to go upto 4 years & 1.5L. Was not convinced about the pricing for the 2 year option.
Some more tit-bits from the owner’s manual, about the standard warranty :
pg 84- #6
“Any claim where the damage to a covered component is caused by a non-covered component … “
“… or claims of insignificant defect that do not affect vehicle performance (including without limitation) sound, vibration and fluid seepage.”
Don’t these two points create a biiigg Loooop Hole ?
What if Maruti had this second point in the Swift’s warranty ?! I hate to think of it.
OTR price : 6L.
Includes insurance, but before Extended Wty & Accessories.
Nothing given free by dealer - no mats, no mud-flaps, no offer for sun-film. In a way, works for me so I can get the stuff that I like !
Insurance :
The OTR of 6L was helped by a further saving of 4k on the insurance. Was quoted 17k by the dealer, with Iffco-Tokio. But got Cholamandalam to match the 13k provided by Bajaj Allianz, given as a preferential pricing for our company (who I am with).
Moved to Chola since my cousin’s an agent for them. General feedback for Chola was also good. This also means I now move away from ICICI Lombard with whom I had a small tussle last year to get my policies issued.
Overall :
A steady buying experience. The delay worked out to our advantage so I am not going to complain about it this time. Dealership experience at Lathangi was fine, but what counts will be the servicing part. In the small interaction I had with the Sales Manager Mahesh Kumar, he was helpful. The sales people who I interacted with, did what was expected of them.
Credits:
Title :
Benny
Photos :
Benny again doing the PS’ing. And my
SE k810i for some more photos.
Tyres : tyre-guru
Ishaan for helping select the brand & size.
Nikhil (Nikhilb2008), for getting & fitting the alloys, tyres, and the mounting & alignment.
And importantly : Thank you !
It's going to be 3 years for me on TBHP soon. There's a lot I have learned over these years. The experience of buying a car has been much better this time. And there's only one reason for it.
Will keep you posted about this sweet red-headed beauty. Till then, Drive Safe.
A very well written and detailed review/report Kudos. Congrats on your new addition :)
A good detailed review. Congrats.
Congrats and a great / detailed write-up.
Thats a superbly detailed write up mate. Congratulations are due both for your new ride as well as your writing skills.
AFAIK the Ikon's have hydraulic PS, wonder if they would go for a EPS for this one.
Congratulations condor. Nice and detailed review. 15k for 2 years extended warranty??. Nice color and good choice of alloys too. happy and safe driving friend.
