[TheBigV]

IMHO the management at Honda India are smoking some dope stuff. First the pricing blunder with City Hybrid, then these penny pinching measures. In today's world of social media, these kind of news dent the brand image very much.

[tsi_niks1989]

Originally Posted by Flying Shadow

4) The biggest or worst of the updates:- The 5th gen City VX and ZX variants will lose the 16" Alloy spare wheel and will be getting 15" steel wheel instead.

Really shameful move by Honda Car India if true, existing tyres on the Honda City already looked so tiny on an otherwise good looking car. Now to remove it from the top model also where customer is paying almost 17-18L on road price is really pathetic.

[skarthiksr]

An off-topic doubt: I was always under the assumption that the LaneWatch camera in Honda City is Honda's term for 360 degree camera, but just learnt that the LaneWatch camera is something which is present only on the left mirror side. Can someone explain the rationale behind why this assistance is needed only for the left lane shift? Is it because a shoulder check can give comparatively better visibility on the driver side?

[saisree]

Originally Posted by skarthiksr

Is it because a shoulder check can give comparatively better visibility on the driver side?

Yes and it also helps in overcoming the blind spots specially during tight parking.

[Dead_Pedal]

Originally Posted by skarthiksr

Can someone explain the rationale behind why this assistance is needed only for the left lane shift? Is it because a shoulder check can give comparatively better visibility on the driver side?

When we turn right, we look towards our right/right ORVM and not to the left(where the infotainment system is located) and that probably defeats the purpose of having the LaneWatch on the right.

[AKSarkar1]

Would not be surprised if they start deleting these features and then selling some of as "OEM Accessories" couple of weeks down the line. Wondering if a price drop will follow given that they are deleting such features, looks highly unlikely as of now.

Looks like majority of the car manufacturers have taken a course on cheap cost cutting

[AutoConsultant]

I was so agitated when by brother-in-law had to buy the mud guards separately for his top spec Kushaq as it is such a basic accessory. That’s just not cost cutting, that’s just a very lame method to save a very small amount in costs.

As for the spare wheel, a lot of other manufacturers are also not providing an alloy spare wheel so this was kind of expected as still not that big a deal breaker.

Also, for the hybrid, if they could add all that ADAS and electronic parking brake, did no one at Honda have the brains to add ventilated seats and wireless CarPlay? I can bet the hybrid will be out of production by the end of this year. Very few people are going to pay a premium of ~4 lacs for better FE and a technology which is still pretty useless in Indian driving conditions.

[lemedico]

Nothing surprising in today's near stagflation economy.
I would recommend Honda to take a step further and delete those rubbish LED headlamps which are just eye candy, and provide near zero illumination of the tarmac. That'll save you some more cash.

[ranjith_cbz]

Nothing surprising! Some brands increase prices and few brands delete features. At the end its all attributed to inflation and higher input prices but leaves us wonder with the volumes Honda is pulling for city how much they are saving by removing mudguards, chrome on inner door handles etc. It's not like they are doing huge volumes like Alto/santro where savings are considerable but for a sedan like CITY this seems petty.

Goes to show that all they care is squeezing every paisa where they can and not investing any efforts to position their car the segment it is in deserves. Implement couple of such penny pinching strategies and we can speculate Honda's future in India once again.

[midazolam]

Originally Posted by tsi_niks1989

Really shameful move by Honda Car India if true, existing tyres on the Honda City already looked so tiny on an otherwise good looking car. Now to remove it from the top model also where customer is paying almost 17-18L on road price is really pathetic.

Only the spare alloy wheel is being replaced with a steel wheel. It will continue to come with four 16” alloys.

[McLaren Rulez]

Originally Posted by midazolam

Only the spare alloy wheel is being replaced with a steel wheel. It will continue to come with four 16” alloys.

Yet every review (including Team BHP's) will state that it comes with a spare alloy. Very annoying bait and switch if you're shopping for cars and get outdated information from all the reviews.

[Bluto18]

All other OEM’s are developing new SUV for Indian market and HONDA is cutting costs on CITY 😂🤣 .. especially removing mudguards and painting door handles in black instead of chrome on V Variant looks very cheap from HONDA.

I wish their management realises before it is too late.

[saisree]

Originally Posted by Bluto18

All other OEM’s are developing new SUV for Indian market and HONDA is cutting costs on CITY 😂🤣 .. especially removing mudguards and painting door handles in black instead of chrome on V Variant looks very cheap from HONDA.

I wish their management realises before it is too late.

Honda is also developing a news SUV to be launched in 2023.
Cost cutting is happening everywhere and Honda is no monk here to continue with what they had.

[sam264_2000]

Originally Posted by McLaren Rulez

Yet every review (including Team BHP's) will state that it comes with a spare alloy. Very annoying bait and switch if you're shopping for cars and get outdated information from all the reviews.

It did come with a spare alloy when it was launched. I have a 5th Gen ZX CVT with the spare tire being an alloy.

[congruent.cars]

I was not sure if this warrants a new thread and hence posting here. Mods can take necessary action, as appropriate.

This is to highlight and socialize an experience that I am currently going through with Honda India and Arya Honda, Bhandup, Mumbai. My Honda City 5th gen ZX CVT (Purchase Date: 15th November 2021 & ~2800 kms run) started showing errors on the dashboard like Hill Hold Assist Error, Emissions Control Error, Power Steering System Error, Tyre Pressure Monitoring System Error continously. Also there was slight jerking while accelerating the car. I duly called Arya Honda, Bhandup, Mumbai and got the car into the workshop on Monday, 2nd May 2022. The car was connected to the laptop and scanned. There were some errors which were rectified through the scanning software itself. The second routine service was also anyways due and hence I left the Service Centre.

Later in the day, I got a call informing me that rats had gotten into the engine bay and chewed portions of the air filter and air filter duct (there was clear visible damage). The damping cushion on the bonnet also had visible signs of rat bite as also the rubber around the sun roof. The air filter duct was not available in stock and hence was ordered from Honda Gurgaon with a part arrival date of Thursday, 5th May 2022. The part did arrive as expected. After replacement of air filter duct and air filter- the car was taken on a trial run- during which the jerking issue was still noticed.

Upon further investigation- a diagnosis was made that because of the rat bites- METER ASSY AIR FLOW sensor has got damaged & needs replacement. This part was also not available in stock and here comes the real shocker...Honda India Gurgaon also does not have availability of this part and hence it has been put on back order. There is no clear timeline provided- but a ballpark range of 15 to 20 days(no assurance) has been mentioned by Arya Honda. The part would be delivered from Honda Japan, I was told. If I go by this, we are looking at a total downtime of close to a month for a car that's barely 6 months old!

5th generation Honda City is a running model under active manufacturing. Is it normal that Honda does not have the METER ASSY AIR FLOW sensor part at all anywhere and it has to be ordered all the way from Japan?

The intention behind this longish post is:

01. To bring to the attention of potential buyers of Honda India cars, the potential lead-time/downtime in case the car needs parts like the aforementioned one
02. To seek guidance, and help from the esteemed members on what my options here are and how should I go about fast-tracking this. I have written an email to Honda India and also posted it on their Twitter handle to seek their help in expediting this whole process of the part provisioning. Also opened up an insurance claim for all the damaged parts over the weekend, which is supposedly approved
03. To check if it is a reasonable ask that Honda India arranges for a loaner car- if the part procurement for an active running model is indeed going to take about a month
04. Is a temporary swap from some other spare car a legit, workable solution till the new part arrives?

Looking forward to hearing the opinion of the experts. Thanks in advance!