Rs 500 part failure on my Ford Figo left me stranded, had to call RSA

This part generally fails after 5-6 years and I have heard many people being stranded because of this.

BHPian AYP recently shared this with other enthusiasts.

A couple of events took place recently.

Event 1

I got to use one of the least used features of the Figo, or for that matter, any car. The warning triangle.

The gear lever came loose and wasn't slotting in any gear and as a result, my car came to a halt right on top of a bridge on the Thane Belapur road, just before Ikea in Turbhe. This happened on 13th January at around 6:30 pm. I wish that it had stopped a few hundred metres before as stopping right in the middle of a bridge was frustrating and embarrassing at the same time. I called HDFC Ergo and the pickup truck was allocated within 30 minutes though it took him an hour to arrive at my location.

Some pics from the unfortunate event.

It was good to see that they had sent a pickup with a flatbed at the back.

I sat in the car while they transported the car to the Ford service centre. When the flatbed was being lifted, it felt like I was on a ride since I was sitting in the car while looking down from the bridge.

What was the problem you may ask? The same old gear shifter bush which costs 500 bucks. This part generally fails after 5-6 years and I have heard many people being stranded because of this. This was an issue with the previous gen Figo as well since it also had the same gearbox.

Our earlier Fiesta (2007, 1.4 petrol) never encountered this problem for all the 9 years it was with us. Truth be told, the gear shifts (especially the 3rd and the 4th gear) had become extra rubbery for the past few months but I chose to ignore it. I have made a mental note to myself that I will get it changed again proactively in 2027. If you do own a car with the IB5 gearbox, it is better to get it changed proactively. Will hardly cost you 500 bucks. The part number of the bush.

I also got the brake pads changed. I had changed my pads earlier at 17k, 2nd service. The replacement pads lasted for about 3.5 years and 14k kms. I also got the rear bumper replaced under insurance. A bike had rammed into my bumper a few months prior during monsoon. The damage was minor though.

In my vehicle check-up report, I observed that my rotors are in the 'yellow' category (green being good and red being bad) and may need replacement next year if not in 2023. Has anyone got them replaced? How much do they cost?

The damaged bumper

Event 2

Visited the Samruddhi Expressway on the 25th from Navi Mumbai. I only went till Aurangabad which is 98km from the Shirdi interchange. The total distance was slightly over 700km.

The detailed post can be found here.

The current odometer reading is at 31,750 kms. Next update is mostly going to be about the tyre change. I plan to stick to the stock size to avoid warranty issues and to avoid any error in speedo reading. I also plan to take the extended warranty for the 7th year in July.

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