Bought a 15-year-old Ford Ikon with 1.9l km on the odo: Here's why

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.

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