[saratjyo]

Originally Posted by knockout

My Honda dealer has suggested not to get the front parking sensors installed. According to him, even if the switch is turned off, the beeper turns on automatically when proximity is detected. Apparently the system overrides the switch and this could be irritating while driving in traffic.
Pls share your experience, if you eventually got them installed.

I have been using it for the past 9months and it is a wonderful add on for close city driving and tight parking spaces. I will recommend it to anyone who buys the car.

[AnnaRocks]

How I met your Mother - The Honda City version.

Dear Kids,
My beautiful wife and I decided to buy a new car. But before I tell you how we decided which car to buy, I would like to tell you how I met your mother, my wife. (Heads up-People not interested in reading my love story can skip to CAR PURCHASE STORY section ahead )
Kids, as you know, I am an introvert. I always had limited but good friends. My friends in college were Zafar, Catherine, and Deepa. I met Zafar in College, Deepa in high school and Catherine was around me since my KG days. All three were in different zones as far as their general nature was concerned. Zafar was an extrovert, always active on Social media and with hundreds of followers, an exact opposite version of me who barely had 20 in the friends list. Catherine was a little bit of Zafar and a little bit of me by nature. Deepa was a paranoid girl and was very wary of anyone getting close to her other than us. But being a simple guy with limited expectations from people, I bonded well with all three of them.
Zafar was head over heels in love with his girlfriend Sakina who used to study in another college in the city. Zafar met Sakina during a trip to Europe and they hooked up. Mention the girl’s name and Zafar would start talking with the same zeal of an Indian politician who has been handed over a mike to speak. Zafar and his girlfriend were very active on the social media and Zafar would often show us the beautiful pics of Europe where he and Sakina met during the summer tour. I once noticed a beautiful lady in Sakina’s group in those pics and just casually asked Zafar about her. He told me that she was Sakina’s friend Karishma and he said that she would be joining us next year in our prestigious college. There was a sudden spark in my eyes. Zafar noticed this and over the next few days and weeks consistently fed me details about how good a girl Karishma was and how hooking up with her would make me a better person or how we could spend a lot of time as couples together. Although I was a Sakht Launda, but being single for so long, this time Main pighal gaya.
For the next few days, which turned into weeks that in turn became months, all I could think of was Karishma. I stalked Zafar and Sakina on social media because just like me, Karishma too was not very active on Social media. With each day, the feeling that Karishma was the girl for me got stronger. I could not wait for this academic year to get over so that I could meet Karishma in person.
In the meantime, Deepa being the paranoid one and the one who cared for us the most, hinted that I should not keep my hopes high about Karishma. She narrated incidents of other people where similar stories ended as a one sided love affair. She even said that Karishma was not the girl for me as she belonged to a well to do family and I belonged to a middle class family. Although that got me thinking, but I was determined to raise my financial standards in future to make her happy. Deepa once went to the extent of finding out that Karishma had affairs with some people and for most of them, the relationships ended on a sour note. I am sure some of you know the feeling when we are blinded by love/infatuation that we block all such negative comments like Dravid blocked a yorker in test matches.
Finally, the day arrived when freshers landed at our college. I remember that I bunked my classes that day to see Karishma. The wait ended and she finally arrived in a European luxury car that coincidentally stopped next to my old Honda bike. She got down wearing an orange dress. Then she blew a kiss to the driver. Was that her boyfriend? I got nervous. Could not sleep that night, doing all probability calculations trying to convince my heart that this was just the first day and the first glimpse could often be deceiving. Over the next few days, I realized that Karishma was far from what I had imagined and maybe Deepa was right. Zafar introduced me to her and even tagged me along on his movie date with Sakina when Karishma was joining them. Let’s just say that I realized that Karishma was not the girl meant for me.. I was heartbroken. Deepa was right. I had raised my hopes too much in excitement. Once, when we were chilling in the campus cafeteria, I confided in her. During the counselling session that followed from Deepa, she told me that she always knew that Karishma was not the type of girl for me. I would be a perfect match for someone like Catherine and that is when it struck me. Yes, why not? I mean here was a girl who was there along with me since childhood. I knew her very well. She may not be a stylish or hip girl like Karishma, but one thing I knew for sure over the years is that I could trust Catherine. That was it, the moment of realization. I could not find a justification as to why I did not see the gem that was right in front of me since so many years. That is the case with many things in life. In search of the unknown better things, we often make simpler things complex. Anyway, I spent a lot of time with Catherine in the days that followed, and with each interaction, my love for Catherine grew stronger. I married Catherine and we are living happily today and that is how I met your mother.
Thank you for patiently reading my love story. So, Catherine is the City, Karishma is Kushaq and the rest of the characters might have resemblance to people alive. Read again if you missed connecting the dots.


THE CAR PURCHASE STORY
Moving on to the car purchase part, I was looking for a 5 seater or higher, automatic car. Going with the current trend, CSUVs were the first preference and under 20 lakhs was the budget. No Marutis(reason given ahead). Also, the road to my home is a bit narrow at places due to some of the neighbours’ obsession to stretch their boundary walls by that extra inch and hence the size of the car played a factor too. The following cars were considered/dropped.
Kushaq – The first choice. Was a fan of Skoda cars, even though their service reputation was a mood dampener. Nevertheless, decided to take the risk. As mentioned above, like many others on this platform, I was eagerly following this car. The slow and painful gimmicks like multiple reveals and delays were taken in a lighter mood in the hopes of getting hold of a good car. The features or the lack of it compared to competition was a downer but the ridiculous pricing was the final decider. What was supposed to be the OTR price was announced as ex-showroom. I had asked the sales person at the Skoda dealership in my city for any updates and even asked him to contact me once bookings began. I never got any update from him. The first call I got was in November, probably after the initial craze settled down. But by then, I had already booked my car. To be fair, I checked out this and the Taigun too.

The TATAs-After Kushaq’s disappointment, I started searching for the next option. I suddenly got that Deshi ki Mitti feeling charged up and decided to go for Tata. I checked out Harrier even though it was a slight stretch on the budget and the Nexon EV. I went to the showroom in Kochi, got a cold response. The saleslady there noted down my number assuring to contact when the test drive vehicle was available for either of the models. That call never came. I thought maybe I was not lucky enough to get a good salesperson when I walked in. So I tried the Trivandrum Tata dealership. Here the initial response was better but somehow, the salesperson fizzled out during follow-ups. I might have given out that Window shopper feeling I thought. I finally went to the Kayankulam Tata and let’s just say the attitude of the sales person I met there made me swallow the Desh ki mitti feeling and I made up my mind to try Tata probably the next time. Three back-to-back sales guys with whom the wavelength wasn’t matching. I said Tata to TATA with that. I strongly believe that the sales persons of any product or service are the most important aspect of the system as they are ones who represent the brand to the customer. I guess the sales numbers were so high since the pandemic that the response from most showrooms was very casual. This applied not just to Tata but most of the car dealerships.
Even in the case of the car that I eventually bought, I had almost made up my mind to buy my car from Kollam but decided otherwise due to the tone of the sales person.

Koreans - Next, half-heartedly checked out the Korean twins. Again the ‘Buy it if you want or leave’ type response made me let go of whatever little intention I had of getting one of these. The Hyundai guy was more keen on selling me a test drive car at a discount for some reason. Verna did not appeal as the design was a little bit aggressive(purely subjective) and the rear seat space was also not that great. Never got a call back or follow up from Kia post the Seltos TD from Kochi and Kollam. But the sales guy was honest enough to admit that the orders are so high that they are not able to service many customers who need the car urgently and I needed one.

Nissan/Renault looked too outdated especially with other markets already offering its new model. Kicks was a risky option and hence skipped.

Toyota – Innova was excessively pricey for what it offered IMO as an overall package and anyway the length of the car was a concern in getting it to my home. There was no other offering from them that catered to my needs.

Vento/Rapid - I like these cars but both were in a phasing out mode and hence avoided this. After the delay caused by Kushaq and their pricing strategy on display, I did not want to wait for Slavia.

XUV 700 - Car of the year IMO.Voted for it in our poll here too. Ticked all the boxes on launch, but again I did not have the patience to wait for Mahindra's infamous initial niggles to be ironed out and also play the waiting game for another year. Had my purchase been a year or two later, this would have topped the list of probables then.

Maruti again - We have been a Maruti family for long with a Fiat Palio and a VW Polo being an exception. Our previous three cars were Marutis and hence we decided to just stay away from Maruti and look for a different brand, preferably a European car. I remember reading an article here on the forum, regarding car brand fatigue. Probably that was the scenario in our case too. The poor response from the showrooms made me rethink that and I went back to Maruti. S-Cross was the car I considered for Test Drive although the people there were keener to push Ciaz. I must say, I was pleased with the service. I dropped my number on some online portals and got calls from three different Marutis in town and all three of them had excellent follow-ups until the day I confirmed that I had booked another car. Since I wanted an automatic, I hope you can assume how the TD with the Maruti automatic must have turned out. How I wish Maruti had good options car in the 10-20 lakhs segment. I did not buy a Maruti this time but I will say aloud that they have the best service among all and that is the reason why they are the number one and will stay so for some more time for sure, no matter what substandard abomination they bring out as a car.


CITY - One day, while going through the TBHP pages, I noticed the City, something that was there right in front of me. Yes, it was not a CSUV but there were many other things in favour of the city. I have driven the third gen City automatic 2009 model extensively and used to love it. In fact, that car made me consider the Automatic as a future purchase. The ground clearance of the Third Gen was a downer and the rubber band effect too weighed in, although it was decent enough considering that the car came out over a decade ago. Therefore, I decided to take a TD. The ground clearance surprised me. It handled all major potholes on my usual route near my home and did not scrape even once. The Rubber band effect was very minimal and I only felt it once when I raced it on an isolated strip. Negligible. Considering the condition of our roads, was were lucky to find the road empty during the TD.

Couple of mentions- Ask for Iqbal from Sai Service Kochi for Maruti Nexa or Chinnu from Palace Honda Kayamkulam if you are considering buying either from any of these towns. Excellent sales folks.

So, the 5th Gen Honda City ZX CVT was decided. Once again checked with a few dealerships across different towns. The overall sales experience from where I bought it was average. The advance amount was paid. A Whatsapp group was formed. Let us just say that the Goa Trip Planning WhatsApp group of my school friends was more active than this one. The car arrived in a month’s time. There was not much communication from the company/dealer side during this one month and I used to call up/mail and check for any updates. The car delivery day was normal. Handed over a gift to the sales person. There was no additional bargaining for freebies. No covered car revealing or any such stuff. A cake was cut. The staff gave a cheering send off while I took the car out. That was it. Never heard from the sales guy after that. Although I once called him up to check about a warning light that was popping up during my first long trip. He did not have a clue and neither did he bother to check later if it was sorted out. LOL. Had to google to find the solution. I used to get continuous calls from another guy at the dealership to rate them 5 stars on Google and put in a few good words. His calls stopped once I obliged. I would like to mention that the sales people from where I bought Marutis 8 years and 4 years ago are still in touch. Either the dynamics are changing or perhaps I was unlucky this time about the sales people I walked in to.

The first service is done. The experience at the service centre was good. Their followup and overall approach was also good.

Here she is.




Accessories.
I did not buy any accessory from the showroom as they were priced exorbitantly. I bought the following from Amazon.

I bought a 7D mat. Providing the image from Amazon of what I bought. The detachable mat on the top does not stay in place as the hook comes off as you can see in one of the pics below. However, I will insist that you try out a 7D mat in some other brand maybe. The beige color complements the look IMO.









Another addition was the DDPAI Mola N3 dash cam. Okayish product. The Antivirus software on the mobile regularly detects the DDPAI app as a malware.

A night image of the way home. You can see how narrow it is and even riskier is the turn ahead.



Malware?


Then, I bought this wooden car freshener with some cartridges. The smell was not that strong. I replaced the cartridge with camphor, sorted out.



I bought the hammer and seatbelt cutter. I hope I never have to use this in the car.



My Ownership story so far:
I was a little skeptical as Sedan is a diminishing segment and Honda does not seem to be focused on India. I got a call from the Honda Company after 3 months of showing an interest on their portal. Some of my friends even suggested that Honda might be on their way out with their factory closures, VRS for employees and higher management exits and no new exciting product on the horizon. With their laziness in introducing any new product in the hot SUV or EV segments or any segment for that matter, and squeezing the max out of the City and Amaze like your local sugarcane juice seller does out of the cane, Honda exiting the country seemed a likely possibility. Amidst all these doubts, I decided to take the leap of faith. The company and the dealership experience so far have been meh , but I absolutely love the car.
I drive mostly on the Kochi-Trivandrum route, a bulk of which is 2-lane highway. Very rarely do you get a stretch on those roads where you can safely push the pedal gleefully during the day. And whenever I have tried my luck, there have been cops hiding in bushes at the most convenient spots where people are bound to speed. Driving on these pothole-loaded roads also comes with a bonus challenge provided by the government - maneuvering and escaping the state run KSRTC buses.
So I wasn’t exactly looking for a race car. I must say that I am happy with the linear acceleration that this NA petrol engine provides. People coming from a diesel or turbo backgrounds might be a little disappointed but for my purpose and usage, I have no complaints. I have not been able to use the cruise control feature for more than 30 seconds at a stretch on the above-mentioned route. However during my trip to Tamil Nadu, I was able to use it extensively and this was the trip where I got 21kmpl+ . The usual mileage ranges from 14 to 18 kmpl on the above Kerala routes depending upon the traffic.

I feel the NVH level could have been a lot better on this car. It is a bit noisy for the category it is in. I am thinking of getting a sound dampener in future. Another couple of features missing is TPMS with readings for individual tyres and maybe ventilated seats. Have not missed the latter though, so far.
A C-cable charging point would have made it future proof.
The lane watch camera and the reverse camera reminds you of the VGA cameras from the ancient Nokias. I use the lane watch camera mostly for parking and while turning in tricky areas.
The touch screen is not bad or unresponsive but the camera quality makes it appear bad. Nevertheless, the UI and look is fit for a car that was launched 10 years ago, not a segment leading car.
The engine gets noisy when revved and whether that sounds like a grunt or music to ears, depends on my mood and the reason why I revved.
I read many comments that people do not use sunroof/moonroof after the initial few days. I drive mostly with the blinds open and sometimes open it fully to let the air in.The ingress/egress can be a slight pain for maybe 70+ elders. Although they have provided the grab handles.
Boot space is more than sufficient. Helped me well in shifting.


I like the little features like controlling the ignition and window open and close and all those little fancy things that can be done using the remote. The Honda Connect app provides good info including reminders.

The more I drive this, the more I love this. This is one car that you will definitely look back at least once after you park it for the day. The way to home is still a challenge but I am getting used to it. I am sure I will soon be able to park it without a second person's help.

I would like to thank Latheesh, Autoconsultant(awesome travelogue) , TrackDay(beats most official reviews here) and all other friends of Team-bhp, especially SRC(your go to guy for anything). All you folks' posts and interactions helped me in this journey. Humble thanks to all of you in the forum.

[mAndArk]

Originally Posted by knockout

My Honda dealer has suggested not to get the front parking sensors installed. According to him, even if the switch is turned off, the beeper turns on automatically when proximity is detected. Apparently the system overrides the switch and this could be irritating while driving in traffic.
Pls share your experience, if you eventually got them installed.

Part of the reason why your dealer suggested so, could be due to lack of parts availability.

I've been chasing my dealer for about 6 weeks now, with no luck of getting the front sensors in stock. They claim Honda is facing a manufacturing vendor issue for this part and hence stockouts everywhere.

Originally Posted by AnnaRocks

CITY - One day, while going through the TBHP pages, I noticed the City, something that was there right in front of me. Yes, it was not a CSUV but there were many other things in favour of the city. Therefore, I decided to take a TD. The ground clearance surprised me. It handled all major potholes on my usual route near my home and did not scrape even once. The Rubber band effect was very minimal and I only felt it once when I raced it on an isolated strip. Negligible. So, the 5th Gen Honda City ZX CVT was decided.

I would like to thank Latheesh, Autoconsultant(awesome travelogue) , TrackDay(beats most official reviews here) and all other friends of Team-bhp, especially SRC(your go to guy for anything). All you folks' posts and interactions helped me in this journey. Humble thanks to all of you in the forum.

Congratulations and welcome to the club!

There is an uncanny similarly to our entire car buying journey. From looking at similar CSUV options to realising the New City is a no brainer choice (I've always loved sedans but kept dismissing it due to ground clearance scares in pathetic Bangalore roads). Heck, we even got the exact same dashcam model and car variant (purchased around the same time?) as well

And yes, BHPian SRC is an angel. He has been guiding me from my pre-delivery days and I cannot thank him enough for all the valuable help!

Off topic, IIRC you've been active on the BH registration thread as well? I had been hopefully waiting for it here, until I gave up and finally took the plunge on Diwali last month.

[Born 2 Be Wild]

Originally Posted by Born 2 Be Wild

Any ways it looks like the car is going to be with them for at least a week more,It drove like a dream,hoot to drive and i was loving it as my daily beater after driving SUV's for the last 8 years. If it indeed is a cvt issue i am going to keep it for another 2 years by when it would have touched the lakh mark and sell it off. Will post whatever updates i get.

Well update on this as follows, car was at courtesy honda from 06/12 till 11/12. Without any progress as to what the root cause was hence the service advisor sent the car back to me. Saturday evening i was free hence shot a mail to honda, made some noise on twitter and boom got a call back from honda customer care to enquire about the issue, monday the 13th i get a call from courtesy honda saying they will get the car picked up on tuesday @0900 hrs as a team from honda is coming to inspect hence i let the car go.

No calls to update on what is happening and no revert from them so i called back on wednesday the 15th and no revert from either SA whose no. I called! Found the no. Of the service manager, called him up he says he will revert in 15 mins and he does so, informs me that the team from honda has asked them to replace the axle and steering knuckle joint with the demo cars and see if it resolves the noise otherwise they are instructed to dissect the car with parts from the demo car like we did in biology class in 12th with the frogs

Also he says he cant update till friday evening and he will revert on friday and let me know where they are at with the problem resolution. I sort of never could imagine a japanese brand known for its quality and service to actually drop to this level of service delivery! Have pretty much made up my mind to get it fixed and get rid of it next year by then hopefully toyota launches the hilux, in god and toyota i trust lol will pick up the truck as the daily beater then
A shot of the wounded katana!

[AnnaRocks]

Originally Posted by mAndArk

Congratulations and welcome to the club!

And yes, BHPian SRC is an angel. He has been guiding me from my pre-delivery days and I cannot thank him enough for all the valuable help!

Off topic, IIRC you've been active on the BH registration thread as well? I had been hopefully waiting for it here, until I gave up and finally took the plunge on Diwali last month.

Thank You!
True about SRC.
Some contact in the RTO told me back then that they had not got any communication regarding BH from ABOVE. It was likely that they would push BH to Jan 22 at least if not April so as to squeeze out the max from the year end rush before giving some relief to the public. I needed the car asap and hence decided to contribute extra to nation building.

[rayjaycleoful]

Originally Posted by Born 2 Be Wild

Well update on this as follows, car was at courtesy honda from 06/12 till 11/12. Without any progress as to what the root cause was hence the service advisor sent the car back to me. Saturday evening i was free hence shot a mail to honda, made some noise on twitter and boom got a call back from honda customer care to enquire about the issue, monday the 13th i get a call from courtesy honda saying they will get the car picked up on tuesday @0900 hrs as a team from honda is coming to inspect hence i let the car go.

Very surprising to hear of these issues so quickly in a car as common as the Honda City. I think a member mentioned this before me but did they try changing the CVT oil first?
Unfortunately from what I've seen at Honda ASC, they struggle to diagnose & fix anything beyond routine oil/filter/gear oil change.
How about a second opinion from an FNG?
Makes sense about changing the car soon - no one would be comfortable driving a car which was dissected like a frog

[Aakash118]

Hi City owners, can someone please tell me if City has the refresh mode seats like Jazz. They can be highly useful over long journeys. If not, then what’s the max angle we can recline the co driver seat to? Thanks in advance.

[Born 2 Be Wild]

Originally Posted by rayjaycleoful

Very surprising to hear of these issues so quickly in a car as common as the Honda City. I think a member mentioned this before me but did they try changing the CVT oil first?

How about a second opinion from an FNG?
Makes sense about changing the car soon

Actually there aren't multiple issues, the car was driving flawlessly, it was just that humming noise post 80kmph that was an issue,its usually the noise bad tyres make or a worn out bearing but in this case tyres as well as bearing are perfect. The issue is Honda has absolutely zero idea on what maybe wrong and are not able to diagnose and rectify which is least expected from a brand such as honda. They are checking the front axle and steering knuckle mount today,post which they will check the CVT. My trusted mechanic bets its the cvt issue and i also think so because 30k kms is way less for axle wear or steering knuckle to go kaput,and had that been the case the noise would have been prevalent throughout the speed range increasing as it went along.

Changed the cvt oil but no difference,lets see what update they give me and how this pans out.

[TrackDay]

Originally Posted by Born 2 Be Wild

Only issues reported to SA were a humming noise at 80 kmph which started coming about 2 K kms back so i thought to get it checked during the next service due at 30 K, and a slight squeaking noise from the brakes up front.

If possible can you post a video of the same as it could give us a better understanding of the sound.

[Aravind_M92]

Originally Posted by Aakash118

Hi City owners, can someone please tell me if City has the refresh mode seats like Jazz. They can be highly useful over long journeys. If not, then what’s the max angle we can recline the co driver seat to? Thanks in advance.

In fourth gen City, You can very well do that!
Covid duties literally had me live out of my car. Steps to do that is quite easy.
- pull the seat to max front position.
- recline the seat and remove the headrest and stow it
- recline all the way back and enjoy the recliner seat!

[Aakash118]

Originally Posted by Aravind_M92

In fourth gen City, You can very well do that!!

Thanks for the quick reply, I hope that 5th gen has this option too. Will soonly be checking it out.

[singhvikas101]

Originally Posted by Born 2 Be Wild

Actually there aren't multiple issues, the car was driving flawlessly, it was just that humming noise post 80kmph that was an issue,its usually the noise bad tyres make or a worn out bearing but in this case tyres as well as bearing are perfect. out.

I think i might have noticed similar thing, I would say it was kind of whistling noise of the wind which didn’t persist for long like it was intermittent, I thought it was the tyres noise at high speeds. Not sure if i articulated that well but please do record a video/audio as suggested by the other member, lets see if we are talking of the same thing (Hope not )

[ketan007]

Congrats on the new car!

The City is one of the classy cars I have always loved. The awful road conditions (while going to my hometown) keep me away from buying one.

[Born 2 Be Wild]

Originally Posted by TrackDay

If possible can you post a video of the same as it could give us a better understanding of the sound.

I had tried so that I could show the Honda guys as well however the mobile cam Is not able to pick it up during video recording quite clearly. They are changing the front axle and wheel bearing, saying that's the issue, will be getting the car back on Sunday post which I can check for myself whether its sorted.

[Excommunicado]

@AnnaRocks
I simply read your love story and skipped everything that followed because I already know that the City is a great car. In fact, any Indian who owns the City can focus on other targets in life because the City is a very well rounded car. Everything above it is simply fulfilling your fancy taste.
Anyways, congrats on focusing on the simpler things in life and living life the easy way. All the best!