Honda Civic AT - One Year/11000 km report

[csentil]

My Civic (technically its in my wife's name) is going to celebrate her one year birthday come Jan 5th. Since I had some lag time now, I thought I'll do a long-term ownership review now.

Model : Civic 1.8S AT
Paid through the nose: 13.42 lakhs (12K discount coz my wife worked for an MNC)
Wife picked the Colour: Alabaster Silver
Doomsday: 5-Jan-2007
Chauffeured people around: 10980+ kms
Kilometrage: 8 in city, 11-12 on highway.

Fitted her with:

Fog Lamps from Honda itself. (Cost 15K)
Nappa Leather Seats from Ovion (Cost 33K)
V-kool sunfilms all around. (Cost 30K)

Want to fit her with:

A nice rear spoiler & a reverse sensor.

Some Before & AfterThoughts:

I wanted a car which could be dependable, fun to drive and with safety features. Budget was 7 - 9 lakhs. I wanted it primarily for long distance driving.

However Fiesta/Aveo/City disappointed me for various reasons.

In the next higher segment Skoda & Corolla were passe. I liked the Optra but it just didn't give me a single wet dream to substantially hike my budget. ;-)

Then the Civic was launched. Here was the car for which the only compromise I had to make was with the budget !! Fell in love with the car the day it was launched. Ooh La La !!

Anyways I had to wait 6 months to save some moolah.

Pros & Cons

I think this has been flogged to death in this forum.

From a personal standpoint: (in no particular order)

1. Awesome design and interiors.
2. Extremely good driveability and excellent cornering.
3. Very very stable at high speeds and in braking.
4. Maintenance? What maintenance? Except for 800 bucks odd for oil change and 550 for the service I haven't paid anything. No major complaints except a little squeak considering the roads I drive in.
5. Automatic is peaceful to drive in the city. The paddle shifts are real fun on the highway. I love the rev noise when it holds on to the same gear.
6. Good seating space in the back as well.
7. I do like the audio system though everyone in the forum wants to change it. A lot of people who've travelled with me have liked the audio system.

Negatives for me would be:

1.Getting in or out of the car ain't easy for elderly people.
2.Will scrape few speedbreakers if fully loaded (4 people + luggage)
3. Had to replace bumper. Cost of bumper was 3.3K. Labour cost was 4.5K (painting and fixing)
4. Suspension is firm. Not exactly a negative coz it smooths out rough roads. But will go thud if you hit big potholes at speed.
5. No lumbar support on driver's seat. Can feel the effect at times.
6. Little bit of road noise seeps into the car.
7. Doesn't get automatically locked after I switch her on. Bit of a irritant.

Accidents had:

1.Stone hit front windshield. Have a star crack on it. Have not replaced the windshield and the crack has not extended even after 8K of driving. Have a small circular sticker from Windshield experts stuck on top of the crack.
2. Dog committed suicide on my bumper at 4.30 am. The dog's ghost lives inside my car. Cost of the dog: 8K though I got some % back from insurance!!
3. Pushed into a death-hole-pot-hole by oncoming traffic. Slashed my left front tyre wide open.
3. Some nice guy tried to do graffiti on my car. Minute scratches.
4. Wayanad Monkey on my car's roof. Couldn't get through the window, so tried digging through the roof to get inside !!

Trips done:

5 or 6 trips to Chennai
2 trips to Coimbatore.
1 trip to Top Slip, Wayanad, Mudumalai, Hogenakkal & Salem.

Trips to be done:

North & West Karnataka, South TN & Kerala. However till road conditions improve in West Karnataka & Kerala I'll have to put these off.

80% or above of the Civic's 11000kms has been on these trips. I still drive my Matiz in town.

Well thats the long and short of it. Dunno if I missed something.

[thefreak]

Nice report mate!

You must love monkeys and dogs!

[kutlee]

well done civic!!.....well put of Kerala trip (or watch for current conditions of roads in Kerala thread.) automatic should be more lovable in town driving..

[mobike008]

Wonderful report and that tinge of humor just made the reading even more fun. Btw, in a year you had a fair bit of adventure with your civic and looks like the moolah spent on it also is quite a bit ( 8k + new tyre) and sun film for 30K..whoaa. I would rather spend that kind of money on ramping up my ICE

On the whole, looks like your enjoying the car. Drive Safe!

[snaronikar]

Good report though I feel you could have avoided some of the accidents. Man treat her carefully.

[csentil]

Thanks folks. Yes I do love her a lot. She's called Angelina II. Named after you know who. Interior & exterior is super. I meant the car.

@thefreak:- You mean put up a board on the car saying "Monkeys Prohibited". I was in their territory. :-)

@snaronikar:-
Couldn't do anything about the stone. Freaky accident. The dog jumped out of the median(which has bushes) onto the right lane (the wrong lane for the bitch) directly in front of my car. That was probably the only time I drove so early in the morning and that was due to my Mother in law. Well you know how they are. ;-) And Angelina II likes being driven hard.

Well, my friends keep insisting on putting up a "Dogs Beware" sign on my car !

@mobike:-
Sometimes when you get a beautiful wife you do tend to splurge a little bit on her. I thought about the ICE but my wife overruled me there. V-kool I got done by saying it would protect her complexion.

You can see the Wayanad Monkey (actually a Rhesus Macaque) on my windscreen/car in one of the pics I posted in my gallery. Reminded me of my brother actually. (I hit the emoticon limit)

[alabjarus]

Originally Posted by csentil

V-kool I got done by saying it would protect her complexion

Brilliant indeed..!

[Jaggu]

excellent reporting there. only one doubt, you have mentioned the suspension to be firm and i thought the description is that of a soft set up, smooth ride and thuds on potholes?

[hrman]

Nice write up Senthil. Especially on the Ghost of the Doggie and the Loderunner Simian..
I still think she has been through a lot in one year. Do take good care of her.. She will be happy and so will you.

[csentil]

Originally Posted by Jaggu

excellent reporting there. only one doubt, you have mentioned the suspension to be firm and i thought the description is that of a soft set up, smooth ride and thuds on potholes?

eh ? You sort of lost me there. I feel the suspension is stiff. (Or am I putting it the other way!!). Basically what happens is on rough roads you get a much pleasanter and smoother drive, meaning it doesn't feel like you are going in and out of every small hole. However at moderate to high speeds with passengers at the back if you hit a pothole the suspension sort of bottoms out which makes the thud noise. Now does that mean the suspension soft or stiff ? Its too late in the nite and I'll be sober tomorrow morning.

[vid6639]

lol. csentil it means the suspension is very soft. If you feel all the rough roads and it's not smooth then it's a very stiff suspension.

[rr_zen]

Quite an interesting report there csentil. One thing that caught my attention was the cost involved in replacing the bumper. Am wondering how the labour incurred (Rs 4.5k) is more than the cost of the bumper (Rs 3.3K) itself. This is India we are talking about and labour is supposed to be relatively cheap. Or is it that the 4.5K you had quoted the final and cumulative figure ?

[gr8guzzler]

Originally Posted by rr_zen

Am wondering how the labour incurred (Rs 4.5k) is more than the cost of the bumper (Rs 3.3K) itself. This is India we are talking about and labour is supposed to be relatively cheap. Or is it that the 4.5K you had quoted the final and cumulative figure ?

Originally Posted by csentil

3. Had to replace bumper. Cost of bumper was 3.3K. Labour cost was 4.5K (painting and fixing)

4.5K was for Paiting & Fixing. Nice report there csenthil.

Cheers!!!

[androdev]

Nice report!

Originally Posted by csentil

3. Had to replace bumper. Cost of bumper was 3.3K. Labour cost was 4.5K (painting and fixing)

That is very reasonable I think!

80% or above of the Civic's 11000kms has been on these trips.

I was wondering how come only 11K even after so many trips :-)

I still drive my Matiz in town.

Hmmm.. a bit of temptation to overcome?

Happy driving!

[GeekSrik]

cool report sentil. and nice detailing too! enjoy your drives!