June 2005, 1.5 Exi Honda City - 50k of trouble free ownership

[married2speed]

It seems like yesterday but has been full 3 years exactly from today and boy o boy. Am I . U bet I am.

It all started out with my gf. As it's said in the movie Jannat " No car = No pyar", I was relling under a similar situtation at that point of time. Not that my gud ol' palio was not into existence but then again, then palio wasn't the "dating car" over a longer period of time, epspecially when you've found the perfect girl and don't want to s**** it up 'cuz of a car failure, right in the middle of "THE IMPORTANT STUFF". So the search began, Innova, scorpio, safari. I was adamant that a miserly me would end up buying a diesel variant which was actively supported by my dad as well. Almost finalised the Innova sighting the pet dog excuse but then came the word out of my lady love's mouth, Honda City and little did i know that the car which i really didn't admire(purely of its' looks) would end up taking us so many places without even saying, "ouch". So after much argument and my gf winning on each and every count, (pyar ke side effects) I reluctantly said ok. Since my hometown during my bachelor days was chandigarh, the car had to be purchased from there in order to complete the post purchase formalities known as registeration and loan etc. So, my dad got into the thick of things and managed to get a good deal from HDFC bank(ICICI was a strict no no as the dealer duped us of 10k on behalf of free insurance for dad's santro. Anyways, he's currently fighting out a litigation in the consumer court).

I left for Chandigarh from Gurgaon at around 11 at night and reached home by 4 in the morning, managed to catch sleep for about 3 hours and was up and ready by 8, left the house and reached the showroom dot on 9. The guys were slowly coming in and I was now checking out the interior of the cars parked etc and was also getting restless due to lack of sleep. My dad only kept asking me 1 question, Are you sure you want to buy metal on a saturday and I said yes, I don't have any other day to buy. Besides, how could i say no to my gf. She would have killed me over the phone. So after some waiting and drinking of coke and coffee, the HDFC bank guy came over checked with my dad, if i was there to sign the paper-work. After a while, i was busy signing on 1 paper or the other and eventually a whole cheque book, which really really really made me tired. Anyways, after curbing my irritation, the car was finally rolled out and brought to the front of the showroom after the completion of the PDI. A photo was taken which I haven't received still and we rolled out of there straight to the gurudwara. That was the experience with the dealer. Smooth! and do I miss that here in Gurgaon. You definately bet. Although things have gotten progressively better with pearl honda opening up, their service station is quite a distance. Even now-a-days, I prefer to get the car serviced from Prestige honda but sigh!

So, after the gurudwara visit and the regd and the car staying in chandigarh for some time, getting the ICE and all in it, ( the one who pays for it gets to keep it kinds = dad), I took the car with me to Gurgaon. It's when I was driving this car, I really felt what I was missing. The smoothness offered during the drive is so slick that I can honestly say that no other car in this segment would offer. Rock-Solid. You cruise at 120 and the engine noise... what noise? Although the braking and the scrapping of body on speed breakers is something that does put a question mark, this is something I overcame and we'll talk later about this. The suspension, is really really good and the build quality is also great. Every day, from my home to me dropping wifey to work, we have to go througha stretch of road which is not a road but a disaster but dare i say if there's 1 small rattle. I could take it over a "kuccha" road in 2nd gear at a speed of 80 and yet not hear a noise other than the stones hitting the underbody.

Having clocked 50k and given it for service today, I don't recall a single failure of anything during my continuous del-chandi-del drive at night or the extra drive to shimla or d'doon or jaipur or for that matter anything extra-ordinary being told to me at the service that "sir! yeh part dalna hai and that part dalna hai" and all that jazz. This is after my vehicle was parked for 9 months straight(when i was in london) and when I came back, all I had to do was Jump start the car and leave it in start condition for 15 minutes and get the auto-cop checked as the button would not respond cuz of the dead battery. The only thing the honda guy said, please get the oil changed.
Honda service is really good and it's nice to see that there's 1 company that offers a comprehensive package. ( apart from RR honda- g'gaon)

This being the good part, what I felt from the car was missing
1. BHP - 77 bhp for this car is way too less. It can easy go or should rather go close to 100 if not more.
2. The braking seriously needs to be looked into. When the car was new, I was **** scared of the sudden braking because the wheels would lock and the steering would just loose itself. It's over a period of time, that I've managed to understand the braking system and can control it from speeds of over 140 without a lock up or a crash.
3. The lights need to be definately improved. 1 light is definately not enough if the other 1 blows out on you but the original honda lights have lasted me 3 years, so... it's just that people with a bad vision might feel the punch.
4. THe underbody scrapping at speed breakers makes my heart bleed but I've managed to overcome that by putting in 195/60/14 michelin's. Not only the braking has improved but also the scrapping has disappeared.

So, if anyone is considering buying this car, feel free and one should not think twice before buying a honda. Just make sure that the service is done at the authorised dealers. Skipping this will cost you twice anywhere else. Service charge on an avergage is around 2K(only change+filter) and around 10K (max) if any part is to be replaced and is not covered under warranty/insurance.

Cheers!
M2S
P.S.: My gf's my wife now and we got her home in this very car

Note from Support Staff: Smiley usage is restricted to two per post, Also please post in proper English with less acronyms & swear words

[ashish22]

woah what an attachement you have with this car and your P.S. was very pleasing to know. This car surely has showered her lady luck upon you and you are really basking in its glory isnt it?
and yes you can never go wrong with honda and be sure of many more miles/years of happiness
did u get your tires upgraded?
so how's pearl honda because even i'm thinking of getting my car serviced there.
Enjoy mate..

[diabloo]

Thats an amazing narrative !!!
Good to hear that NHC was right there when you wanted

[married2speed]

No doubt about it. I've started beliving that the word "destiny" does have a significant meaning

Have the michelins now. from the stock size, moved to 195/60/14 at 49K

The best that ever is in NCR. My FIL gets his car serviced from the honda showroom in Okhla(missing the name right now) but got it serviced from pearl this time around. Even he agreed that they are definately better. They pick your car up and drop your car back too,so you don't have to go. More importantly they work. I got my 40K service done from RR honda in Gurgaon. Guess what did they do. For a 9 o clock appointment taken a week ago, they barely managed to return my car at 6. What was done, was washing+service(regular) instead of the 40K service of change of spark plugs etc. Besides, no wheel alignment as their machine was not working. I really wish they loose their dealership as they are a pain at all the wrong places and I'm glad that pearl's come up. It's only at the 45K service they asked why wasn't the service log filled and on me telling them, they asked if the spart plugs were changed etc and it was them who told me what all had to be changed and they did it at 45K.

Never leave home without it