[navsjab]

Hello BHPians,

It has been a long time since I wanted to pen (type) down my ownership experience with the Ikon 1.6 EXI Nxt. One would not come across a thread today that would talk about an Ikon, especially the 1.6 as it is claimed to be very high maintenance and really low on fuel economy. However, when driving it makes you so happy you cannot just get rid of her.

Prologue

Year 2004 - My Dad booked the WagonR.

Year 2005 - My uncle booked the the newly launched Ford 1.6 Nxt edition. I still remember the delivery process at the Ganges Ford, Kolkata showroom. I had not yet reached legal driving age and was therefore sitting as passenger while my uncle tested the 0-100. It did that in less than 12 seconds.

I always wished to have a car during my college days and requested Dad for it whenever I would come home for holidays (my college was in Bangalore). Eventually, Dad sent the WagonR to me and booked the Etios for himself. I was more than happy having a car to move around and going for short road trips. After college, I drove the car back to Kolkata. I used it to drive to work daily.

Year 2015: In Jan, I felt it was time for a change. I happened to ask my uncle if I could keep the Ikon for a while. My uncle happily agreed, more so since he then had the Ford Fiesta and a Swift for his use. The Ikon was not used a lot since the Fiesta came home in 2012.

I weighed the pros and cons and then decided to keep it (obviously) after driving it for a few days. I named her Quicksilver

I took it to my FNG and spent a good amount on some important items.
This was done in the first 45 days (Jan and Feb) and by mid Feb I successfully upgraded myself from the driver of a hatch to the owner of a sedan. Yup, I bought the Ikon from my uncle

Mileage:

She gives me around 8-10 Kmpl in the city. The best I got was 13.80 during our trip to Darjeeling.

Performance

This is a true driver's car. The steering control and handling, the sharp and precise movements, something that would keep you engaged. The low end torque feels addictive. Even when you are not in a hurry, when the signal goes from red to amber to green you have to launch!

The brakes are not as powerful as the engine but after most of the brake components were replaced recently I felt bit more confident.

Initial Work

Jan - 2015 to Feb - 2015

Initial expenses included:

1. Full body paint
2. Alloys, front tubeless tires, alignment, balancing.
3. Headlight bulbs, fog llamp bubs, fittings
4. Clutch system
5. Rear shockers kit
6. Service
7. Other small miscellaneous things

Total - Rs. 70,340

The condition of the Engine oil


Work in progress




Finally


Some lights that I had on the WaganR previously were fitted onto the Ikon



The Alloys and tire


After the initial work was done and the car was being used by me to work daily, I decided to keep some money aside each month to maintain Quicksilver. My calculation was against a new car's EMI since I had almost finalized on the Figo at that time.

I had planned to get all work done from my FNG.

We went for a short trip to Bakkhali, West Bengal in April: http://www.team-bhp.com/forum/travel...h-kolkata.html

Work done on Quicksilver till date

March - May 2015

1. AC gas re-filled (re-done later)
2. Silencer mounts needed replacement and got the silencer welded at placed. Deferred the full replacement. (re-done later)
3. Front lower arm bush (later needed a replacement) - The car would move left and right when accelerated.
4. Water/Coolant pump and pulley bearing (re-done later) - The bearing on the pump was making too much noise.
5. Engine tappet cover gasket (re-done later) - Engine oil was leaking.
6. AC switch - The regulator was not functioning properly.
7. AC service - At Daga Autolek, as I was not too happy with the cooling capacity.
8. Cleaning of cooling coil and compressor repair - AC experts (Daga Autolek) recommended a compressor replacement. However, as they did not have the piece or the assurance from me to go for a replacement because of the price, they did not order it or persuade for the same.

Total - Rs. 19,550
Approximately 8k was wasted expense as there was re-work/replacement needed for those items in the future.

Tappet cover gasket


Coolant pump: old and new

June - August 2015

1. Car Cover
2. ORVM, right side - it broke on an occasion when a driver on the other side came too close and I did not move off his way.
3. Drive belt (local, replacement was required later) - Making noise, and was very old.
4. Service including engine oil change, oil change, power steering oil.
5. Silencer replacement (local) - Had a good number of holes due to rust
6. Fog lamp bulbs
7. Some minor accidental denting and painting

Total - Rs. 12,900
Re-work/replacement in the future, amount worth 6k

A bus gave this to Quicksilver


The condition of the silencer pipe



The new (local) and old silencer

September - December 2015

1. Water/Coolant pump replaced for the second time
2. Hella DynaEdge Wipers
3. Coolant elbow/Thermostat - due to a leakage of coolant from the part where the elbow is fitted
4. Lower arm (local, replaced later) - As the bush replacement id not work for long
5. Gear oil seal
6. Power steering seal replacement multiple times
7. I had an accident one day while returning from work. A swift desire (ola/uber) in front of me suddenly jammed the brakes and I rear ended him. It caused a pipe from the radiator to break causing coolant to spill. The desire guy sped away soon.

Total - Rs. 28,865 (8k was for the accident)
Re-work/replacement in the future, amount worth 5.4k

The reason for the power steering replacement

January - April 2016

1. Engine head block - Apparently the coolant elbow replacement did not help the coolant from leaking. The engine block had been worn out from the inside and needed a replacement.
2. Coolant elbow/Thermostat again (replaced later)
3. Rear tires, balancing and alignment
4. Under body painting

Total - Rs. 29,650
Re-work/replacement in the future, amount worth 3k

Reason for a new head block and another Thermostat replacement
It may not be very evident but the wall had become uneven

May 2016

• Fog lamps and socket conversion kit (part from Ford).
  Talk on my experience with Ganges Ford, Kolkata for all work/ parts from there: http://www.team-bhp.com/forum/assemb...ml#post4254420
• Front Shockers - developed a leak after the trip to Darjeeling http://www.team-bhp.com/forum/travel...h-machine.html (needed replacement again later)

Total - Rs. 15,930
Re-work/replacement in the future, amount worth 12.5k

The old fog lamp


The new fog lamp


After this I got busy with my wedding preparation which was in July and then the post marriage tours made me spend less time with Quicksilver

September 2016 - November 2016

• Denting and painting for a few parts
• Radiator clean up
• Engine oil change
• Lower arm replacement (part from Ford) - Since the left and right movements on sudden acceleration still did not stop.
• Thermostat (coolant elbow) (part from Ford) - Since the leak still did not stop.

Total - Rs. 17,100

New lower arm

December 2016 - February 2017

1. Main oil seal (part from Ford)
2. Tappet cover gasket (part from Ford)
3. Oil sump gasket (part from Ford)
4. Body work - Someone gave a nice scratch on the car while it was parked

Total - Rs. 13,820

Main oil seal


The damage while parked


Nothing in March and April.

May 2016 - June 2017

1. Front Shockers and mounts (part from Ford) - The right shocker leaked after the replacement just few months back. So
2. Coil spring (part from Ford)
3. Drive belt (part from Ford)
4. Minor accidental damage

Total - Rs. 16,740

Front shockers and mount


Drive belt


The accidental damage (from the bull-bar of a scorpio)

July 2017

One fine morning while driving to work, Quicksilver's brakes did not engage as expected. I had to pump them hard to hold ground. I drove slowly to the Ganges Ford Workshop as I was lucky that the fail took place not very far from it. After this visit I decided to go to Ganges Ford for future work on Quicksilver, essentially due to the quality of parts. For body work I will reply on my FNG.

1. Rear brake wheel cylinder
2. Brake shoes
3. Front brake discs
4. Brake pads
5. Repair of a brake pipe where there was a leak

Total - Rs. 11,600

August 2017

1. Silencer - 1.6 has two mufflers thus a very high cost
2. Silencer coating
3. 80k service
4. Replacement of fuses that were repaired by wire earlier
5. Brake reservoir cap that was not perfect since I had taken possession of the vehicle
6. And other small things
7. Philips X-treme Vision headlamps from amazon

Total - Rs. 24,685

[navsjab]

Since most of the work done was from a local garage and I had to get things replaced for the second time within a year or less, also investing my time to monitor the work done, I initially thought of sourcing the parts from Ford.

My experience with Ganges Ford, Kolkata:

Experience 1 - Good

It was in May 2016 when my family had decided to go to Darjeeling. I wanted the car to be as ready as it could be. As it was the hills that we were going to, I wanted the fogs to be changed.

I visited the Ganges Ford workshop, they agreed for a counter sale but did not have the replacement. They took an order and I got the lamps just before my trip, time taken for the shipment was 7-10 days. Our trip to Darjeeling

Experience 2, 3 and 4 - Fair

I decided to purchase anything that was failing, especially for the second time from Ford during the end of 2016-early 2017. This included the following

• Lower arm
• Tappet cover gasket
• Coolant elbow/Thermostat
• Oil sump gasket and main oil seal
• Drive belt
• Front struts including all necessary bushes and coils

Apart from the time taken by Ganges Ford to place the order and keep me waiting at the customer lounge there was no problem. I remember on one instance I had to wait for an hour just to place a part order.

Experience 5 - Fair

This was an impromptu visit for me. The car brake lines had a leak and I was lucky enough that it was close to Ganges Ford during my drive to work. I drove slowly and got the car to the workshop.

The car was taken by the service adviser and claimed a same day delivery. At the end of the day they replaced the rear brake shoes, wheel cylinders, front discs, front brake pads.

Problems:
They cut the heat shield (shield above the silencer pipe) brackets to access the brake lines and did not care to either weld it or set it right. It is now supported of the other brackets that hold it in place and rests on the silencer pipe.

While opening the silencer, they landed up dismantling the muffler at a part where it could not be welded or set right. I cannot complain on this as the part was really old and needed a change. They advised me to look it up in the second hand market once so that it can be cost efficient and place an order with them if required. I did the same and got back to them since I had no option. I was not wiling to go for local parts now.

Good part:
Braking ability was good.
Few small additions they gave to my surprise that were appreciated
(i) The rear number plate bulb housing was dirty ant not able to light up number plate. They cleaning the light housing.
(ii) The bush that holds the bonnet support arm in place was fitted (this was earlier lost somehow making the support arm lie loose)

Experience 7 - Bad

I went to the workshop to place an order for the silencer and few other parts, like the heat shield they dismantled earlier (due to its age I was okay to pay for it). They said that the parts would arrive in 7 days.

From my experience I called them after two weeks and asked for an update. They are too busy to call their customers to update them on delays, I am aware of this. We, on the other hand are not very busy and always have time for things we love you see.

So the part came after two weeks and I give the car on a Friday morning (Aug 4th 2017) expecting a same day delivery. I also asked for the 80k service and engine area cleaning etc that were recommended to be done.

I get a call in the evening saying that the silencer packing gasket was not ordered and not fitted causing the sound from the exhaust to remain loud. They said that it was a mistake from their end and should have order the gasket earlier as well.

Two options given to me were:

1. Take the car after payment with that sort of workmanship and come back on Monday to get the the gasket placed.
2. Leave the vehicle and they give it on Monday after the fit.

I went for option 2 and waited for Monday to come.

All their promises, only to sooth the listener. I get a call after a week saying that the car is ready and can be picked up on Saturday (a week and a day later). Obviously I called them a number of times before that and I heard about some good efforts they were making for the part to come asap.

Saturday comes, I go to Ganges Ford.

I see that my car does not have a roof mounted antenna anymore, my friend and bhpian Arav who was there for estimates on his new acquisition said that they remove it during service, and to check it inside the car. I see it on the back seat and am happy, thinking I will place it later.

I ask them to jack up the car to inspect the work done.

My observation:

1. I see this at the silencer gasket area:
   Usage of jute rope as the gasket??
   
   
2. I complain and they open the silencer and say that the jute rope was probably put by a mechanic to stop air leak. The mechanic who opened it up this time suggested to hammer the surfaces of the silencer to make sure the fit was perfect. He did that, removed the jute rope, got a better fit with the already present new gasket and fixed the silencer back.
   
3. The silencer coating is claimed to be a Zn-Al coating by their service adviser for which they take Rs. 1000/-. In reality this is only a Silver spray that can tolerate heat (why lie about Zn-Al blah blah? Zn-Al would mean electroplating right?). Since I was examining, the guy started applying spray so that I do not complain about poor work quality. This is what the state was as I started examining, before he started applying the spray again. My fault here was to agree for this nonsense. The spray is available on amazon.
   
   
4. There were double entries on the invoice for two parts which I pointed out and was sorted. Manual error maybe, happens.
   
5. All done and I thought of paying, but let us install the antenna before that. I go to the car to place the antenna and I learn that it is broken. They get a replacement from somewhere, not the one I had but a new age antenna and place it. I am okay with it and pay.
   4.5 hours gone from a Saturday and this is not even an FNG, this does not stop here.
6. While going home I observe an unusual idling behavior. I ignore it at first thinking it will be okay with time and could be for the ECU to learn the new back pressure due to the new silencer etc. I get home and disconnect the battery terminals to reset the ECU maybe? No difference. I see that the hose going to the PCV valve is cracked. This was probably when the engine bay cleaner tried working on an old car too rigorously. I applied insulation tape as jugaad.
   
   I complained to Ford India as I could not take the effort to call the dealer and get into the loop of him assuming that I am blaming him (though the checklist on accepting the car would mention no disorder but I am actually fed up with the time spent) and then the maal nahi hai sir, order de rahe hai sir etc. (The item is not there sir, We are placing an order sir). They reverted with a call back for concerns. I also received a call from Ganges Ford.
   
   Few days later they ask me to come to the workshop to fit the PCV value. I go there and in 10 minutes they replace the valve and the hose. This was not a brand new piece.

One usually does not expect to do such a thorough check up when going to pick your car from the authorized service center. I was not happy.

Ganges Ford has suggested some replacements that I need to go for which I plan to do with time. However, with support of this sort I really do not know what is the right thing to do.

Major upcoming jobs for the future as recommended by the workshop

1. Engine mounts
2. Alternator brackets - as one of the pulley does not have the belt going on it completely
3. Right axle

[GTO]

Thread moved from the Assembly Line to the Technical Section. Thanks for sharing!

[BlackPearl]

One of the most detailed refurbishing/ownership threads that one can come across. Maintaining the expenditure list at such levels is really commendable. Your Ikon 1.6 is one of the best kept that I have ever seen till date. Going by your thread, it seems that sometimes FNG might not be the best option to maintain an old car. Kudos to Ford for making parts readily available for a vehicle that they have stopped producing a long time back. Wish you many more miles of happiness with this gem of a car and please keep updating this thread.

[vnabhi]

Wow, you really seem to love the car, as you've spent nearly 2.6 lakhs on keeping it in shape! How many miles did you munch on it? Hope those were plenty enough to justify such a huge expenditure?

It looks like your uncle did not keep it ship shape, and hence you had to pay so much to bring it to shape.

Please do pen a few lines on the driving experience and any long trips you have made on t.

[BlackPearl]

Originally Posted by vnabhi

Please do pen a few lines on the driving experience and any long trips you have made on t.

This is one long trip with his Ikon that navsjab had posted on team-bhp -

http://www.team-bhp.com/forum/travel...h-machine.html

[navsjab]

Originally Posted by BlackPearl

One of the most detailed refurbishing/ownership threads that one can come across. Maintaining the expenditure list at such levels is really commendable.....

Thank you BP. Yes, the FNG was not a good idea for me. Though somethings were done very well by them and saved me a lot on cost, there were other items for which I was cheated. Maybe the experience will help me take better decisions next time on. I hope that way after spending so much.

Originally Posted by vnabhi

Wow, you really seem to love the car, as you've spent nearly 2.6 lakhs on keeping it in shape! How many miles did you munch on it? Hope those were plenty enough to justify such a huge expenditure?

It looks like your uncle did not keep it ship shape, and hence you had to pay so much to bring it to shape.

Please do pen a few lines on the driving experience and any long trips you have made on t.

Thank you vnabhi. Yup, I do love her. I have covered around 25k in little more than 2.5 years with her so far. Out of the expenses that are mentioned I landed up spending more than 50k on products that did not even last a year due to the poor quality. A check on this decision should help me going forward.

My uncle kept her well for quite sometime but once he got the Fiesta and the Swift, this being the third car then got a little less attention. Also, the items I spent on included new alloy rim and tires ~35k which were only due my taste , and certain other items in the list that were not solely due to poor maintenance.

Some of the trips I did with her are:
http://www.team-bhp.com/forum/travel...h-kolkata.html
http://www.team-bhp.com/forum/travel...h-machine.html