[sandeepmohan]

Maytes.....got myself a 2001 Ikon 1.6 thats run just 58000km for a high 1.90L. I realized that it was a bad buy (for the price) very late. The only saving grace being that the car had never been through a shunt & it was a direct sale between me & my neighbor. My neighbor turns out to be an automobile enthusiast himself. The other thing that did not worry me during the purchase was the owner gave me the keys much before I decided to confrim the purchase so that I can get a clear picture of the car. I had driven the car for a little over a week on a daily basis & then made the payment. This hardly ever happens when you are buying a used car. During the initial analysis when I had the car to drive I had pegged an expenditure at Ford for about Rs. 5000. This ended up at Rs. 20000. Add another Rs. 2600 to this figure as my Air Conditioning Divertor Valve packed up a week ago. I will give a full break up of my expenses at Ford in my next reply to this thread.

Every part mentioned in the Test Drive Section that is prone to failure has failed on my Ford within 6 months. The most expensive parts being the brakes, Thermostat & Air Conditioning divertor valve. The suspension is due for a near complete over haul. The car rides alright but the springs have gone too soft due to age so the handling is not the way its supposed to be. Being a CLXi variant the rim sizes are also 13".

I also had to replace all 5 tires as the car was still running on its original set of tires. Yeah; 9 years on the stock MRF's. I had used the car for a month on these old tires and I was lucky not to have had a single flat inspite of the near worn threads. My car is now running on Bridgestone Tubeless & this set me back by another Rs. 17000 for 5 brand new tires.

The car came with a old school Pioneer Tape deck with Pioneer Ovals for the rear and Blaupunkt Speakers at the front. I have replaced the ICE with a complete Blaupunkt package starting with the HU, Velocity Ovals, Velocity 8" Sub, Velocity Amplifier and the RC10 Steering Wheel Remote. This set me back by another Rs. 38000. Yes; Blaupunkt Velocity Series are very expensive but are simply awesome.

What I did get with the car as a bonus was a K&N Cylinder Filter and a custom made exhaust. I do not know if this contributes to any performance gains but the car is a hoot to drive. I compared my car to stock Ikons and felt no gains in terms of performance.

Fuel Efficiency is spot on by Ford's official claims. I get no more than 9kmpl in chock a block city traffic. 9Kmpl achieved in the city cycle with the RPM never crossing 2000 rpm for gear changes. With the kind of torque this car has you don't really need to go above 2000 rpm for gear changes. You can probably shifts gears even at 1800 rpm and still have enough grunt to move ahead. Fuel Efficiency climbs to 13Kmpl on highway runs. I have done just 2 long distance drives & the car was loaded to the gills with lugguage & 5 passengers and driven at speeds above 100Kmph so I find this alright. Don't ask me about how I braked with a fully loaded car. Well there was no issue as the car was recently out of Ford Service & I had new Brakes Rotors, New Front Brake Pads & 1 Master Cylinder replaced at the rear. The sad thing is all this feels wooden now & in just 3000km the brakes are absolutely rubbish. Fade is ultra fast on Ikons.

Till date I have never had any major issues with the car packing up in the middle of nowhere or a random brake down. As the car is old I do check fluids every week.

I was infact surprised to know that the car was running without any issues inspite of the cooling system running on water. The engine never showed signs of high temperature. The car is now running on coolant after I gave it to Ford. I have heard the cooling fan kick in at high speed just a few times so this means my engines running cool & good.

Refinement is not what the Ikon is all about. Its a crude car in every area. The plastics are good but the overall fit and finish is a nightmare. The engine though smooth by Ikon standards sounds like a mixie when compared to a Honda of for that matter even when put next to the refined Duratec mills.

Being a car from the earlier lot my gearbox has long throws. It works well but is more suited to just 1 person using it and be familiar with the car.

The Air Conditioning in my car is great. The car has not had a single gas re charge of component failure from the Air Conditioing system. Yes; the Divertor Valve failed a week ago & I have replaced it. Cools the car well without making much blower noise.

This is a car to drive and thats the best part of owning a Ford Ikon 1.6. It will guzzle gas & give you occassional nighamares when you go to Ford for a service. I have yet to find a engine thats as responsive as this ROCAM unit. I have driven my colleagues Fiesta S and its still no a match for the old ROCAM unit. It sure is a more refined engine and far more fuel efficient but the ROCAMs got all the torque that comes in early to get you going. Engine Specifications are one thing & then really experiencing it during a drive is another feeling & this engine lives upto this. It has such amazing throttle response.

I have not explored the handling of my car as the suspension struts are week.

The one main drawback of this car are its brakes. It actually non existent. You really need to plan your stops well ahead and the only way of getting it right is to down shift and apply the brakes. Too much use of the bakes & it will fade before you know it.

Trust that the above helps a lot for those who wish to take the Ford Ikon route. Its a real drivers car; minus brakes :-)

[throttleman]

Great Write-up Sandeep. I'm sure it is going to be useful!

All the best.

[BurningHeart]

Used to own a 1.6 Sxi NXT for 4 years. Never had this issue with the brakes. Change to a new service station and get a thorough check done on the, brake fluid, the hydraulic system, the front discs and the rear drum. As for me, I realised pretty late that rear drums go soft very quickly, after the initial couple of years and needs adjustment at every service interval. You can find it out by checking the bite of the parking brake (it should bite in 2 - 4 "crrrreeeek" sounds, else you should get it adjusted). In fact, the brake fade was not a problem, even when we had driven it back from Manali to Delhi.

I dont know if you paid a high price for this car. I know of a friend in Pune who bought a 2003 1.6 pre Nxt for 2.25 L, in 2008. I would imagine for 58k run on stock tyres (which means it was driven pretty well and carefully) 1.90 is an okay price.

BH.

[kiku007]

Sandeep, glad to see a report from a Ikon owner.

The price you have paid for the Ikon is just too much Even my 2003 Ikon 1.3L doesn't fetch that amount here in Chennai. Add your replacements/repair bills and it's just ridiculous.

Car enthusiast running with stock MRF tyres for 9 years/58,000 Kms? Tough to believe.

Anyways as long as you are happy with the car it doesn't matter I guess.

[phamilyman]

Sandeep, That is a thorough and extensive report. Glad to see that the car brings a smile on your face.

My other suggestion would be to find a good FNG like in this thread: http://www.team-bhp.com/forum/techni...l-service.html

@BH - Mate - your maths is out of whack. 5 years old car for 2.25, 9 year old car is okay for 1.9? And a high depreciating model? No way.

[phamilyman]

Sandeep,

I (and am sure many others) are curious - did you not take it to a mechanic/*** for an estimate?

saving grace being that the car had never been through a shunt

how did you know this?

[sandeepmohan]

Thank you ALL for your comments.

phamilyman
No; I did not take the car to a mechanic. Felt I was knowledgeable enough to judge things for myself. I had full trust with the owner. Something that is silly but I have been seeing this car on a daily basis for close to 6 years. The car did go through a small shunt but nothing serious in terms of the chassis coming into contact. It was the rear fender area that was damaged. The scars of this small accident is still visible if you look closely. I was informed about this before I bought the car.

I felt that this car was well maintained but I was wrong. Closer inspection revealed several niggling issues & all this took place after I bought the car.

The car would have run absolutely fine even if I had not given it to Ford. I wanted certain things to be perfect and hence ended up with a huge bill at Ford. I had to go back to Ford for re sealing of the New Thermostat as the sealing failed. This was done free of charge.

Whats FNG?

BurningHeart
I find your points regarding the brakes quite true as I did drive a 2005 Ikon 1.6 Nxt. This was again for a colleague who wanted to pick it up from the used market. The brakes on this car were sharp. In fact they were so sharp that it made me wonder why my car never felt this way in spite of new Brake Rotors, Pads & the new Master Cylinder in place. I go to Metro Ford in Lingarajapuram, Bangalore. They are probably one of the better places to head for getting your Ford serviced if you live in Bangalore. I now know a lot of their engineers cause they have seen me come in there over half a dozen times for various small issues. I shall try a different engineer when I go next for the Suspension Over Haul. Another friend who had a wonderful experience at Metro Ford, Lingarapuram has recommended a particular engineer. Its unfortunate that this person was on leave on the day I gave the car for a major service job. I was also in a hurry to get the car serviced and drive it for a bit before I hit the highway.

[phamilyman]

FNG = friendly neighborhood guy aka nearby trusty mechanic.

[arnabchak]

Originally Posted by kiku007

Sandeep, glad to see a report from a Ikon owner.

The price you have paid for the Ikon is just too much Even my 2003 Ikon 1.3L doesn't fetch that amount here in Chennai. Add your replacements/repair bills and it's just ridiculous.

Car enthusiast running with stock MRF tyres for 9 years/58,000 Kms? Tough to believe.

Anyways as long as you are happy with the car it doesn't matter I guess.

+1 to that.

A car enthusiast running on stock tyres seems extremely improbable.

Moreover, a 2001 Ikon at 1.9 lacs is way too high.
On bargaining, you can get the 2004 Nxt or even a 2005 Flair at a price lower to that.

Moreover, the replacement costs would really increase the car value considerably.

[Gilead]

Nice report. The Ikon 1.6 has much better low end torque than the Fiesta 1.6, but take it above 3k or 4K RPM, the ROCAM 1.6 is no match for the Duratec 1.6.

Regarding your custom made exhaust, is it just an end can or a FFE? If it's the latter, there will be a definite improvement in performance.

[sandeepmohan]

arnabchak
I agree but he is a hard core car buff.

Gilead
Never really went to such RPMs when I drove the Fiesta S. I am sure it is good. Power tapers off on the ROCAM as revs increase.

There is an small end can. However at higher RPMs & very high speeds (140Kmph) the noise is a little disturbing.

Now that I own this car I don't quite care how much I have paid to buy it & bring it up to scratch. Its all paid for & everything is over. I can never reverse it but be more cautious in future when it comes to buying a used car.

[sandeepmohan]

arnabchak
It is impossible to get a 2005 Ikon 1.6 at a price lower to what I have paid for my model. Going by your location I guess Bombay is way cheaper for cars in the used market. Bangalore is stupidly expensive. The only thing is cars bought in Bangalore have very little chances of rust creeping in early. This is a huge problem in a coastal city. A colleague of mine has just bought a 2005 1.6 Nxt that has 38000 on the odo for 2.7Lac. Again; this car has been running on its original set of tires from the day it was bought and runs the stock Ford CD Only Stereo. This car has a far superior gear box than mine. Throws are shorter.

[mooza]

Originally Posted by sandeepmohan

Now that I own this car I don't quite care how much I have paid to buy it & bring it up to scratch. Its all paid for & everything is over. I can never reverse it but be more cautious in future when it comes to buying a used car.

Rightly summarised, Sandeep

I too bought a used Ford Ikon. I bought a 2002 model 1.3L Ford Ikon IRIS in the year 2004. It had clocked 40K on the odo, looked spanking new. I got the vehicle checked at Metro Ford, St. Marks Road, where it was certified good. I did several test drives too, before purchasing it.
But when I took it for its first service, I was given a list of repairs (that included suspension overhaul, exhaust repairs), all coming up to 20k ! I put off the suspension work to the next service, and just attended to a few niggles (power windows, boot lock etc) and exhaust repair, to keep the bill at 12k.
But, believe me, I have been very happy with the vehicle ever since (for close to 6 years now), several long drives included.

[ramzsys]

Just got a 2001 1.8D for 1.45 lakhs, with odo around 1 lakh mark, mine being a diesel, hence no worries about the clocked mileage. And yes to get a nice deal, you have to scout for some time.

[sandeepmohan]

ramzsys
Thats a lot of money for a diesel.