I bought Ford Ikon TDCI in 2009 After doing lots of research but still had a doubt about its overall package .Now after driving it for More than 20000 km I can say its very good car much ahead than Swift Dezire in almost all parameters except dealer network.
Lets first talk about Ikons Positives:
Great driveability . Very stable even beyond 140km/hr
Excellent steering . I think its simply the best .People say its bit heavy but personally I find it very responsive & stable
Great Mileage . If I drive it between 70km/hr - 80 km/hr without ac on delhi - ludhiana highway I get 32 km / litre & with ac 27km/litre
If I drive Beyond 90 - 110 without ac 25km/litre & with ac 21km/litre, you just have to know correct gear ratio to achieve perfect balance of power & mileage
Superb suspension: with 4 people on board bumps & holes of infamous punjab roads still driving can be pleasure
No turbolag: I have driven this car in all testing circumstances & can easily say its much better than dezire in this department you can easily put 5th gear even at 40km/hr & she will not complain.
Affordability: My service cost has come at Rs 2885 including waxoplol treatment. So this myth of high service cost has been overcome. Moreover they provide you with tentative service cost upto 50 k kilometers & it never goes beyond Rs3500
Now The Negatives:
Poor noise filteration: When you drive at high speeds the noise insulation seems to be poor
Vibration can be felt if u keep your hand on the gear liver
No other variant available
No defogger & double rubber insulation is not provided at doors
Worst :
Their Dealers: they can really take you for a ride if you don’t ask about all the details of service costs.they have a habit of putting all treatments like waxopol engine treatment & paint finish etc as part of service whereas they are not. Their dealers I think are the biggest culprits in bringing about the fall of this great Product.
Best:
Ford is very responsive to customer complaints. I faced this problem of service in which they did waxopol treatment for engine without my knowledge & later tried to pass it to me as part of as service . I wrote mail to ford on their website & so immediate was the response that by next day the dealer apologized & offered to reverse the charges & till the moment I didn’t say to ford that I was satisfied they really kicked the hell out of the dealer & even ford apologized for the same.
This kind of customer service I have never experienced from any of our auto companies in India .
I faced a problem with my zen d & my complaints to maruti fell on deaf ears . they never even call back to check whether your complaint is attended to or not. Even my meeting in person with maruti technical team head at their region head office failed to offer any solution . ultimately I had to write a mail to their senior most person Dr. K Kumar after lots of searching & links for his mail id .& even then they took more than 2 years to replace my cars pump that too after persistent mails & countless visits to their regional office in Ludhiana.
I think ford is more customer friendly , they have a great product & they are really serious for their reputation& its their dealers who are real problem but they also fall in place if you complain to ford. which is not the case with maruti etc