And with that, my 8+ year ownership stint came to a very abrupt and watery end. I had hoped to hold on to my first car for as long as possible, but in the end nature, had a different plan.

BHPian Joshua_Ray recently shared this with other enthusiasts.

Hello Everyone! Welcome to a thread which I'm sure, no car guy would ever want to write... my 2005 Ford Ikon was drowned by the December floods and is no longer with us

The story unfolds in the beginning of December 2023, Chennai is known to have wild monsoons and for the last few years, almost every December, some major weather-related phenomenon wrecks havoc on us.

The last year, was no different and in the beginning of the month, Dec 2nd to be precise, we were warned about a Cyclone Michaung that was headed our way.

Now, we live in an area that doesn't usually flood and even in the December floods of 2015, we had a little below knee deep water (half tire depth) in our area - something that my trusty Ikon had already survived once before. With all the storm water drain work that has been going on over the last 8 years and with our area not being flooded since 2015, we hoped that this time too, the flood alert would remain as just another minor event - boy were we wrong!

On a serious note, my heart goes out to all those who have been severely affected by the Chennai floods of 2023. In my personal case, the loss was limited to my beloved Ikon, but so many people had their houses flooded to the roofs and their belongings washed away, not to mention the thousands of lives that were negatively impacted.

A little back story...

Every December, we are bombarded with flood alerts and usually it ends up just being false alarms that trigger panic among the public. Now, being a car guy and having faced the floods once, I generally move the cars (Honda City and the Skoda Laura, in those days) to higher grounds for every flood alert. The trusty Ikon is usually parked at home and raised on bricks, depending on the intensity of the alert. For the last 8 years, not once have we had more than 2 inches of water on the road and this time too I felt the same would happen, hence I did not feel the need to raise the car.

3rd December 2023

Given that the flood warning was in place and having owned my precious 320d for just a little over 6 months at that time, I was extremely proactive in protecting it at all costs...

My neighbor was very badly affected by the 2015 floods, to the extent that he spent a fortune on raising his entire house by almost 2 feet! Since, he had moved abroad, we were lucky enough to utilize the parking for the 320d and the City. At this point too, many in my street thought I was over-reacting and that the floods won't be that bad - 24 hours was all that was needed to change this perspective! In retrospect, I too had become complacent to so many flood warnings and decided to keep the Ikon as-is, without jacking it up on bricks... a decision which turned sour very quickly!

Never expected that the previous drive, would be her last

4th December 2023

Light rains had started the previous night and from around 1:00 AM on Dec 4th, it started pouring like crazy! By 7:00 AM, power was cut and we already had almost a foot of water in our street, and the predictions were for even more rain! At 10:00 AM, I had waded through above knee deep water to re-park the City in a better position to protect it even more and even jacked the rear of the 320d to give it a few precious cm of additional height... the Ikon however, we could not to anything as my parking already had half a tire depth of water and the streets around my area had even more water. Driving through would have been even more risky, so I did what I could and disconnected the battery. Apart from that, all we could do was to wait and watch as nature's fury unfolded.

The rains continued all day and since our entire street was in darkness, we had no idea how high the water was getting on the street. It was really painful from 6:00 PM onwards, wondering if the water level would reach the other cars. My family and I had a very unromantic and forced candle-light dinner as by that time, even the inverter had conked off. At around 9:00 PM the signal in our phones went off, as even the tower nearby had no power back-up. The last update we got on Twitter or X, was more rains ahead, till midnight - My heart wanted me to wade through the flood waters just to check on the cars, but my parents and my brain did not let me do any such thing. All we could do, was wait.

5th December 2023

The rains had subsided around 1:00 AM and I was up at 4:00 AM, having hardly slept at all. It was still dark, but I managed to use 2 phones for lighting and take a picture.

The grim sight outside at 4:00 AM

My neighbor's Mondeo (that we used as a depth indicator of the flood) that was half submerged the previous evening, now had water almost touching the door handles!

Just after the rains had stopped and the water level started receding

The rains had stopped but the water was receding at a snails pace. My ground floor was flooded and we could not step out at all. We could do absolutely nothing the entire day, except play UNO and walk on the terrace hoping to get some reception on our phones. By evening, the water had receded enough to walk and below was the pitiful state of my beloved Ikon.

Super grateful for my neighbor's raised parking

The next day...

First thing in the morning, I checked the dipstick in the Ikon and alas, water had entered. I had a sinking feeling inside, as this meant that water had gotten absolutely everywhere. The car did have a valid insurance and PUCC, so I made a call to our insurance agent, to get his views on the situation. He told us not to start the car at any cost and register a claim asap.

I had another head vs heart moment, logic stated that filing a claim and getting an amount higher than what the car was worth was the best option, but the heart wanted to get her running again.

The heart won this time and I made a call to my trusty mechanic, whom at this time had become busier than anyone in the PMO, thanks to the sheer number of flooded cars!

The mechanic paid a visit and within 10 minutes, the Ikon had her fate sealed. The ECU was soaked, the Engine had water inside, the Fuel tank had been submerged and on top of all that, it was an 18 year old car! The previous flood left me with a lot of issues and I was not prepared to deal with it again, considering the money, time and effort it would need to source the spares, let alone fix the car! I had to face facts, my Ikon was no longer a functional car

The water line can be seen clearly on the front door

The Silver lining (literally!)

With the Ikon in the state she was, I was on the lookout for a replacement. After considering a variety of options, I had decided to look for a neat and clean pre-loved Swift. After a week, I came to understand the harsh reality of the used car market under ₹5L, all the cars were either mis-treated, abused or had a lot of rattling with only around 30K km. The prices were sky high too, there was a 2020 VXI on sale, with only 11K km, for ₹6.4L... and a brand new 2023 VXI was only ₹7.5L with the year end discounts! Also, with the magnitude of the flood, there was no guarantee that the used cars on sale, were not partially or completely drowned cars...
With this discovery, on 31st December 2023, I went ahead and booked a brand-new Swift ZXI in Silky Silver.

The new daily!

This car takes the place of my new daily, with the 320d being promoted to weekend car status - thanks in no small measure to the wonderful road conditions post the flood.

With the big bro!

A dedicated thread will come on the Swift and the 320d, but for now back to my poor Ikon.

The End game

We got the car towed to my mechanic's garage, as we are still waiting for the insurance formalities to be done. In my mind though, I know for a fact that she cannot be restored to any reliable form of transportation - and this is a bitter pill to swallow.

Goodbye, my old friend!

And with that, my 8+ year ownership stint came to a very abrupt and watery end. I had hoped to hold on to my first car for as long as possible, but in the end nature, had a different plan.

I would like to conclude with a simple but important moral, everything in life happens for a reason and in the timing of the Universe - the Ikon came as my first car, kept me safe throughout my stupidity in my driving adolescence and when her time came, she silently accepted her fate. In all honesty and in retrospect, this was the only way that I would have parted ways with the Ikon....

Unfortunately, since I could not take one final drive in her, I would like to dedicate this post, on this esteemed forum, as my tribute to 9379!

Farewell my friend and Thank you for all the memories! You will be missed!

Read BHPian comments for more insights and information.

The mechanic vehemently discouraged repairing the manifold and further added that it will almost certainly leak again.

BHPian Sanidhya_Mukund recently shared this with other enthusiasts.

23rd year update and how I nearly got scammed:

So the Ikon turned 23 on the 13th of September, 2023, but I couldn’t post then as I was out of the country. First order of business upon my return last week was to fire up the Ikon and take it for a short spin round the block.

Connected the battery and the car fired right up. Drove it for about a kilometer in my residential lane and parked it back. Things were working well, barring a few electronic gremlins. However, things started going south as soon as I went away to connect the hose pipe to give it a wash. I was shocked to see a pool of coolant under the near-side front wheel:

Panicked, I opened the bonnet to find a leak emanating from the point where the Intake Manifold is bolted onto the engine block. (Screenshot from the internet to show the area clearly.) apologies for the grubby engine bay. Picture was taken just before a wash:

I sent a video of the leak to D-BHPian Vigsom, and he was of the view that it could either be the Manifold itself that is leaking, or, it could be the Manifold gasket. Armed with some preliminary information thanks to him, I rang up a mechanic from Palika Bhawan (a place known for car repairs in Delhi), and within a few hours, the mechanic was at my doorstep, ready with his tools to take apart the vehicle. (With the NGT order in place, everything has to be done at home) After some disassembly, he was able to pull the manifold out:

He told me that there indeed was a leak in the manifold and that he will look for a replacement at the usual junkyards in Delhi, as it is impossible to find a brand new replacement. I gave him the go ahead for this, and off he went. Meanwhile, I had a talk with D-BHPian Vigsom and came to the conclusion that repair could also be a viable option, since the leak was not too big. The viability and availability of a second hand manifold was also doubtful, given the fact that most Ikons, especially 1.3 Endura models have been off the road for quite a while now.

I called my mechanic up and discussed this with him too, however;

1. The mechanic vehemently discouraged repairing the manifold and further added that it will almost certainly leak again.

2. He claimed to have found a used replacement at a shop in Mayapuri for ₹ 6000. However, the scrap seller would only give us a replacement if the one coming off the car is given to him.

This did raise red flags, but since I was desperate to have my car up and running again, I told him to go ahead. The next day, he came to my house with a “shiny new” manifold, claimed to have been sourced from a car that was scrapped just a few days ago and fitted it in about half an hour. The car was back to its non-leaky state, and I was happy. However, while I was going through the video of the leak that I had sent to Vigsom sir, something caught my eye. The “replaced manifold” and the one that was on my car had the exact same scuff marks! I immediately realised that rather than replacing the manifold, he had simply repaired it and was trying to pass it off as a different one:

Confronted the mechanic then and there, who vehemently denied any wrongdoing. Realising that he wouldn’t admit, I sought some help from some rather assertive individuals, who were able to make him admit it in a jiffy! However, he claimed that it was the parts dealer that scammed him and that it was him who was the victim.

Anyway, instead of paying him ₹ 6000 for a “replacement”, I paid him ₹ 1600 for repair and labour.

I also had the oil, oil filter and air filter replaced and the coolant topped up. Also had the throttle body cleaned and the car is now smooth as ever. All of it done in my driveway:

While the amount I could have potentially lost was not very high, it pains me to see how casually do these chaps go about ripping people off. It’s somebody’s hard earned money, and they have no right to be doing this. Had I not noticed those two pre-existing scuff marks on the manifold, I would have happily paid him his ₹ 6000 plus labour. Needless to say, he’s not getting any more business from me.

Read BHPian comments for more insights and information.

The engine was the Fiesta/Figo one, so parts availability is not a problem. That is the only plus point.

BHPian Nanolover recently shared this with other enthusiasts.

You must think I am mad. In this day and age, getting hold of a car known for its monumental running costs and that of diesel is. But as is the case with BHPians, common sense sometimes escapes the equation and until you really fall into the fire you will not 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 college 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 55k INR with the fees for the name change also included. Thought I covered everything. BIG MISTAKE. during the name change upon checking came to know there were 10,000 rupees for multiple challans pending since 2014. Those have to be paid for a 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 the police portal.

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

Took to my workshop and over the course of a month almost everything changed.

The brief list is 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 tyres were 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 a 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)
• Scrapyard 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 for 4500 bucks, antenna for 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

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

Negatives

1. it's a 15-year car, after all, so LOUD engine noise. Something like the S-cross diesel which we also had, whispers quiet in comparison
2. Heavy hydraulic steering
3. Low seating position and poor clearance between low-set steering and seats
4. Heavy clutch
5. Non-existent visibility from those side mirrors and they don't hold their adjustment.
6. Family questioning your sanity!

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

Check out BHPian comments for more insights and information.

The car does enjoy a good wash once in a while and does get started up frequently enough to stay alive, but I can tell that it really misses hitting the road.

BHPian Sanidhya mukund recently shared this with other enthusiasts.

The Ikon turned 22 today! Nothing much to update because the car doesn’t have a very happening life. But I must say, I am really pleased to still be able to keep it. The car does enjoy a good wash once in a while and does get started up frequently enough to stay alive, but I can tell that it really misses hitting the road. If you remember, my car as also featured in a Ford India TV ad earlier this year.

Hoping that something changes the laws and cars like this get to see the light of the day again, but till then, the hibernation continues!

Here's what BHPian GForceEnjoyer had to say on the matter:

A very happy birthday to your Ikon! Our 2006 Fiesta 1.6 also shares the exact same birthday (I was making a post on my thread a few hours ago), what a coincidence! It gets even wilder, since we had a 2004 Ikon 1.3 flair until 2016.

I've always respected your dedication to keeping your car by your side at all times, clearly shows your love for it. Hats off. Hopefully you get to let your beauty hit the road sometime. The twisty roads beckon in longing.

Here's what BHPian sagarpadaki had to say on the matter:

Is FC renewal not possible for 20+ year old car? What is stopping you from driving it legally?

BHPian Sanidhya mukund replied:

Actually the FC and all other documents are up to date, but the NGT order prevalent in Delhi-NCR mandates that all petrol cars older than 15 years have to go off the road. DL register cars can’t even get FC renewals anymore and are simply deregistered once they hit their cut-off age.

The authorities don’t care if your car is fit, non-polluting and well maintained.

People with diesel cars have it worse. They get deregistered once they hit 10 years! You’ll see many a well maintained car going to the scrap yard because of this rule.

Here's what BHPian boniver had to say on the matter:

Sorry if I'm being too instrusive (but also asking because I'm in a very similar boat), did you change the car's registration to BR recently? I see pictures on this thread from not too long ago showing the car bearing a 0039 number, and that has now changed to 1947. Would be interested to know how you managed to obtain NOC so late and re-register it in BR.

Lovely car, btw! Happy 22!

BHPian Sanidhya mukund replied:

Thanks for the wishes!

The car was purchased in Delhi-NCR, so it had HR26 plates initially. Later, it came with us to Assam and got AS plates. We finally got it transferred to our native place in BR at the time of the previous renewal. NOC was obtained from Assam without any issues. Had the car not been transferred to Assam previously, it would have become impossible to get an NOC from the HR26 RTO. 0039 was the number it had on AS plates.

The car is 100% road legal all over India, except for the place I live.

Here's what BHPian anjan_c2007 had to say on the matter:

What you did was an excellent and timely googly due to the totally concocted thinking on the part of the judiciary and the government. Such a thinking process manifests with eccentric and cranky decisions that severely affect the common man.

We all know and have discussed who all are behind influencing such very skewed and eccentric decisions.

Congratulations for saving the Ikon, whose population is already dwindling. The Josh Machine needs to live.

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The car now runs well but has started to sound even more throaty after the leaky exhaust was fixed.

BHPian Sanidhya mukund recently shared this with other enthusiasts.

A leaky door garnish beading caused water to enter into my Ikon and the carpet had got wet. The car had also suffered some rodent damage.

Sent the car to the garage and got the following work done:

• Door garnish replacement
• Rear brake shoes replaced
• Rear wheel bearings replaced
• Exhaust leak fixed
• Front strut mounts changed
• Fused bulbs replaced, damaged wiring repaired, fuses replaced
• New wiper blades
• Got the floor a new coat of anti-rust paint, commonly known as ‘Japan Black’

Total damage? Around 15k. The car now runs well, but has started to sound even more throaty after the leaky exhaust was fixed. They told me that it is better to replace it. Other than that, the car is largely in good health.

The oil change is due in a couple of months. I am planning to replace the battery, coolant, front brake pads and the silencer along with the oil change. The boot release switch has also given up, but I am unable to find a replacement.

Check out BHPian comments for more insights and information.

I unscrewed the petrol pipes under the bonnet and asked somebody to crank the car. No petrol was being supplied.

BHPian Sanidhya mukund recently shared this with other enthusiasts.

All was going well with the Ikon, but one fine day, it refused to start. The car was cranking, power windows and horn were working, so I knew that it wasn’t the battery at fault. Up next, I unscrewed the petrol pipes under the bonnet and asked somebody to crank the car. No petrol was being supplied. I thought that the car was out of petrol, so I got about 10 litres in a can and poured it into the car. The fuel gauge moved, but the car didn’t start. Up next, I checked the fuel pump fuse, but even that was fine.

Distressed, I got in touch with D-BHPian Vigsom, who asked me to listen carefully and see if I can hear the fuel pump turning on when I crank the car. With my ears alert, I cranked the car and sure enough, the pump wasn’t turning on. Vigsom sir then guided me to check the fuel pump wiring, since he felt that there could have been rodent bites. However, the wires were all okay. He then asked me to check the fuel pump relay, which was also fine. (Might I add, the fuel pump relay is located behind the fuse box, inside the dashboard in the Ford Ikon). Now that even the relay was okay, he reached the conclusion that it was the fuel pump motor itself that had gone bad.

The fuse box has to be lowered to access the relays.

Now, I don’t have the competency to replace the pump myself, so I got the car towed to a local garage. They sourced a new motor for around 3k and sure enough, the car fired up!

The car hoisted on the ramp to remove the fuel tank assembly:

I must sincerely thank Vigsom sir for his help! Without even seeing the car, he was able to diagnose the issue!

Read BHPian comments for more insights and information.

After ensuring that the car is running fine, it struck me that the car cannot be driven down to their location.

BHPian Sanidhya mukund recently shared this with other enthusiasts.

So I recently got a call from Ford India asking me if they could borrow my Ikon for an ad shoot. Since it normally stays under closed storage and doesn’t need to be driven all the time, I agreed. The car has been stored away for about a month or so. I opened the garage, and connected the battery and the car fired up in a single crank, just like it does.

I had placed a few bricks under the car to prevent it from sagging:

Removed the bricks and had my driver give it a quick once over:

After ensuring that the car is running fine, it struck me that the car cannot be driven down to their location. When I told them this, they were more than happy to send a flatbed truck to pick it up from my residence:

Very pleased to see my Ikon getting featured on Ford India’s official YouTube channel! The background music indeed made me shed a tear or two, as it perfectly sums up the emotions associated with this car.

Check out BHPian comments for more insights and information.