Has the time come to say no to the OHC.

[rahul_intlad]

The good Old honda city,set the standard for engine refinement in India.Not only was it a drivers/enthusiasts car but also light on your purse not only in terms of Fuel economy but also maintainance costs,unless you had an accident[But insurance hain naa].

Then one sad day for all Honda stopped production of this model and came up with the NHC,just did not have the same charm as the OHC,even though FE was better[at the cost of engine performance],is a very refined engined,Interiors class apart from the OHC.

What this meant was however that people in the seconds market could lay their hands on this dream machine[OHC especially the vtec].Seconds market choices were also pretty clear it was mostly the OHC all the time.Most queries on the what car section ended with Go for the OHC,or now bought OHC.

But all good things have to come to an end.Has the time come for us to also say bye-bye to OHC dreams.

1>. Age has caught up with the OHC,you get pre 2002-2003 models now ,ie. cars older than 5 years[4 if you are lucky], so that rules out the finance option if nothing else.

2>. Most cars will now have run a sinificant amount of kilometres

So should we still consider buying the OHC or is it time to say goodbye,whats your take on this.

[Fuelled]

You have a point there Rahul. But nobody can disagree that the OHC is still one helluva car to drive and regards the age of the model. I really dont think its that big an issue either cos the car is near bullet proof in the core mechanicals.

Like i have an OHC 2000 model which has done about 80K kilometres and to date I havnt spent anything on the car except a suspension overhaul(18k rs).

All that matters is how good/bad a car has been maintained. If one can find a well kept piece I'd say go for it.

[amitverma]

man, someone out here is a mind-reader.
i was just thinking abt the same. the ohc, howsoever, exhillarating it may be, has aged. it true that it is a beauty to drive. but, if u are in the market for a used car, u have to make do with 4 year old car. and that is a lot.
4 years down the line, the car would need much more maintainence, then say, a baleno 2 years down.
but then again, baleno doesnt present the same picture as a Vtec, does it?
i would regard this as a matter of heart ruling over the head.

[Shan2nu]

Depends on what you're buying it for. For performance and modifcations, i'd still pick the OHC over any other car in its class.

Even in the recent speed run, OHCs won almost every event they took part in.

The OHC 1.3 maynot be in great demand, but the 1.5 and Vtec do attract customers.

Shan2nu

[Equus]

Wow, this is quite a coincidence! Just today, I came across a 1999 1.5 EXI. It must be one of the very first in Bangalore. Already 2nd user and its done 73k. Owner is asking 3L. May be slightly nego too. Is it a strict NO?
I am not really inclined into buying a used car except the OHC.... Also, I have no burning desire to get a car now and am currently waiting for the new Baleno..

[karizma_devil]

i have been searching for a good condition OHC post 2001 for abot 3.5 lkhs..but i cant find one.. the ones i find either are badly abused or which look great from outside but have no service record to support there tall claims !!
i have only succeded in finding a few 1st generation OHC 98 model for about 2.5-2.75.. though they are in good shape.. and done about 75-95 kms.but dnt want to buy those 1st generation OHC .

[esteem_lover]

i recently found a 2003 OHC in the used car market priced at 4.5L. i'd say it is still a good buy. even older, better maintained cars are good to buy. first let us see a worthy replacement & then say goodbye to OHC.

[iraghava]

I would say that as an affordable performance machine the OHC still rules. It's now available relatively cheaply (though a bit hard to find), gives decent FE & the parts are not too expensive either, so until a good substitute comes along there's not much to replace it with.

But as an owner the areas where the car has begun showing its age are:

1. Lack of safety equipment like ABS which it needs desperately considering the speeds she can do.
2. Outdated interiors now look quite poor.
3. Lack of refinement compared to newer cars.

[esteem_lover]

@iraghava.. cant you fix ABS now in your OHC ?

[ajmat]

Originally Posted by iraghava

1. Lack of safety equipment like ABS which it needs desperately considering the speeds she can do.
2. .

The Thai version of the OHC comes with ABS and drivers airbag......alas indian market tastes are suicidal

[iraghava]

Originally Posted by esteem_lover

@iraghava.. cant you fix ABS now in your OHC ?

Retrofitting ABS is a difficult process & is generally not recommended. I don't know of anyone who's done it in India or on the forum.

[narayan]

slightly off topic...
1.5 years back i was in the market for a used OHC and i saw atleast 10 cars. ALL the owners were typically middle aged types ( 35-50 year olds) who bought the car as a luxury car and not for its performance pretensions. these ppl have since then sold their OHCs and upgraded to other luxury cars like OPTRA/INNOVA/ACCORD etc.

now, if u look at the mix of OHC owners, you would see more of performance enthusiasts like us constituting a larger portion of the overall owners. now this segment frankly does not have a choice to upgrade at a reasonable cost to any other car now. for e.g if ive bought my OHC at around 4.5 lakhs and im looking at upgrading, is there any car which i can get for , say, 2 lakhs more which would give me the same/ better experience. the answer is no bcos a good OCTAVIA RS would not come for anything less than 9 lakhs. hence almost all of this category of owners just hold on to their OHCs and this i think has created a good shortage in the market. probably when we have another new car in the 6-7 lakh bracket which can match the OHC or when used OCTAVIA prices start falling, the market would again be flooded with some OHCs from their second/third owners

[Shan2nu]

OHCs have good demand in Hubli. A 2001 Vtec was offered 5.5L, but the owner wont sell it for less than 6L. If he gets that price, he'l be really lucky.

Shan2nu

[manveet]

Originally Posted by narayan

slightly off topic...
now, if u look at the mix of OHC owners, you would see more of performance enthusiasts like us constituting a larger portion of the overall owners. now this segment frankly does not have a choice to upgrade at a reasonable cost to any other car now. for e.g if ive bought my OHC at around 4.5 lakhs and im looking at upgrading, is there any car which i can get for , say, 2 lakhs more which would give me the same/ better experience. the answer is no bcos a good OCTAVIA RS would not come for anything less than 9 lakhs. hence almost all of this category of owners just hold on to their OHCs and this i think has created a good shortage in the market. probably when we have another new car in the 6-7 lakh bracket which can match the OHC or when used OCTAVIA prices start falling, the market would again be flooded with some OHCs from their second/third owners

Although it's a bit generalised - still, a good piece of analysis there.

[garvit2002]

i think yes it is the time to say no to OHC . agreed to the facts that they are atleast 4 years old and have more kms logged. the left ones are for pure fans coz thinking practically this car doesn't makes sense any more .its not an eyecatcher as it used to and there are other cars with better performance and better mileage....So Why an OHC??????