Jul 09, 2007 03:48 PM
8613 Views
(Updated Jul 10, 2007 01:10 PM)
I was impressed with Ford Ikon right from the time it was launched. It is one beauty of a car compared its counterparts ‘Accent’, ‘Indigo’, ‘Sienna’, etc. I always dreamt of owning one and envied the proud ‘Ikon’ owners when I saw them zooming past me on the roads.
Once we were stuck Chennai traffic with my family in an ‘Ambassador’; on a sunny afternoon & we all were sweating in the scorching heat of Chennai. As I looked out, I noticed an ‘Ikon’ beside me. There was a small family in it and they had rolled up the glass with the AC running. I noticed that they were so comfortable and they wouldn’t have even realized how much heat it was outside. I showed them to my wife and said, "We would also go like that one day". "Don’t day dream" she said teasingly. When the traffic was cleared the ‘Ikon’ zoomed pass us and was gone. After some months of getting into a new job, I had sufficient amount to make my dream come true.
I went to Chennai and bought a used Ford Ikon, 1.8D – 2003 model which had run only 43000 kms. As I am from Trichur I had to drive it from Chennai to Trichur(675 kms) and that was a great experience altogether. Here I was able to test this car on different types of Indian roads, at different speeds with and without AC and also filled up the tank from Chennai to study the mileage. After running exactly 300 kms, I again filled up my tank and it took only 15 litres to fill the tank again and after calculation, I was amazed that I was getting a whopping 20 km/ltr for this car on a highway. I was very happy with my new buy.
About the car, the 1.8 D Diesel engine is powerful for a car of this size. With the full AC running the car moves very smoothly and there is no slag. There is no vibration or unnecessary sound except for the soft music coming out of the music system. The interiors are also good looking, but the quality of plastic seems to be cheap and the ‘Grey’ colour they chose is very dull looking. It could have been beige colour to give a good posh look to the interiors. I replaced the seat covers with leather beige colour and it looks great now.
The visibility for the drive is also quite good as all the sides are easily visible. The problem is while reversing you can’t see anything as the back on the inside is very high. But then if you are good at reversing by looking at the rear view mirrors, it shouldn’t be a problem at all.
The boot is big and can accommodate enough luggages for a world cruise.
Now my car has run 14000 kms after I have bought it and I have only done the regular oil changes and preventative maintenance on this. For any car, if you keep up with the preventative maintenance with your daily checks and service the car on time, then it would surely give you a headache free performance.
My car still looks new as you can see from the attached photo. I have put new set of Chrome alloy wheels that has added to its majestic look.
It is very unfortunate that the company has stopped production of such a fine car, but did not replace it with any other car. Of course, they say ‘Fiesta’ is good but I have never driven it so far. But I don’t have any intentions to sell my beauty as she is still in excellent condition.
I have noticed people turn their heads when I drive along. Unfortunately I have called for a lot of envy in the neighborhood, but anyway for me it’s the owner’s pride that counts, isn’t it?
