[littlebrother]

Most of the Service dealership is pushing to achieve their higher targets now a days I feel. I own 3 Honda's and as mentioned here, I too have noticed their inflated service quotes, however I insist on seeing the estimate before service begins and also recommends no value added services. Only what's mentioned on the service book, no wheel allignment and balancing as I prefer it from my truster tyre supplier. Despite all this my last three services at honda, the same service advisor who services all our cars says he will mail me the estimate and sir you can leave. He never did mail me the estimate and went on with the service. Some dense and hot words were served as feedback once the Honda India executive called me and the service advisor calls and apologises and acknowledges the same. But they still repeat it. I feel their targets are on the higher side now a days especially with Covid and job crisis hitting all industries.

With Honda's the service advisors try to push you change the parts which are known to generally fail in that particular model with age. As mentioned here, for a Honda City it's normally a steering rack and suspension. The shocks even though a single one or may be the pair is enough they insist on getting their entire suspension kit as a package. If your vehicle has crossed 4-5 years and 60000kms, it's like they see it as a good opportunity to bill you high.

[suzuki san]

Hi Guys,
As one can see from my user name, I am a Maruti loyalist. However, recently I have not been impressed with Maruti Suzuki offerings or their prices and decided to shift to Honda.
I have to say that the vehicle itself is pretty good. Definitely superior to a Maruti product and also gives one a good feel while driving.
Within a day of getting it, a strange tell tale light came up on the dash. As I was in the vicinity of a Honda ASS, I dropped in and asked them what the problem could be. Two senior SA's could not answer me. After 20 minutes, they brought a "Technician" saying they would have to scan the car. The technician also had no idea. Meanwhile, I had taken out the Owner's Manual and located the error. I showed it to them. "Push button engine start button not depressed properly"! Three Honda technicians had no idea!!!
First time I am using a button start so I had no idea as well but for a Honda Service guy not to know is pathetic.
This would never happen with Maruti who used to give me trouble shooting tips on the phone. My SA there knew their cars inside out.

[itsashishsharma]

Honda India is on a decline slope for a long long time now.
This is evident as Hyundai India started operations after Honda, with the humble Santro, while the later had the mighty City to start their portfolio. The aspirational value of owning a Honda stood out of your street, in tier 2 and tier 3 cities, people knew who in the town owns a City. Honda could have done anything with that kind of brand value, that too, given the fact that we Indians value brand a lot more than the product itself. And what did they do? They exploited this nature of the general Indian buyer.
They launch the CRV at a price point that it was bound to fail, while the previous generation CRV that they sold in India did well. They stopped the Civic in 2013 and didn't bother with launching the next gen for the next 5-6 years, only to comeback with an automatic only option with that 1.8 iVtech which is the same as the one that was launched in 2006 (which still is good, just that the missing manual option can't be digested). Moreover, the manual would have been more FTD and cheaper, making it the perfect choice for the enthusiasts.
Their other products Brio, Amaze, Jazz, BRV, WRV didn't fair well as well. Look at this range and you will see one thing common, all were half hearted attempts.
On the other hand, Hyundai India kept launching promising products with all kind of drivetrain options and features, and today have a portfolio that would suffice any car buyer. They have a product for you, in every price segment and most of them seem to do pretry well.
It was in 2013-14 that the new (4th) generation City was launched with all kind of cost cutting measures exposed. Water seepage issue, rubber beadings around door panels being of inferior quality, rust, noisy diesel, poor quality interiors and exteriors all around, that gave away the fact that Honda brand is on a downhill. They have diluted the brand City and there is not much explanation to give either. I remember GTO saying that in India, for your brand, you must have a USP. Honda had their USP, but they lost it. We have had a thread dedicated to the way forward for Honda in India here - https://www.team-bhp.com/forum/india...y-forward.html (Honda India : The Way Forward) since 2011, so after 9 years I think there is no debate left.

[low_rider]

I think that the auto companies should move away from owning and operating the Service business. As an alternate, they can ensure adequate supply of genuine spare parts in the market and can carry out training-cum-certification programs for the FNG mechanics. Somewhat on the lines of industry certifications that we have today.

So, the customer will get to know who is a Honda/Ford/XXXX trained and certified mechanic. His creds (photo, name etc.) can be verified online on the manufacturer website/app.

With certified mechanics and genuine spares available in the market, the customer will not be afraid to try out the brands with low ASS presence (Kia) or poor experience (Skoda).

Most of the manufacturers who have competent products but low ASS presence will surely benefit from this initiative.

[paras7229]

In 2018 I was looking for a automatic beater car for my city use as my Scorpio was too big for it. I got a good deal on a 2005 Honda City automatic and bought it. The next day I went to Solitaire Honda to get it serviced.

The service adviser was just disinterested to say the least, The first thing he told me without looking at the car was I should sell the car and buy a newer model. Since I was going out of town the next day , I told him to keep the car and give me a quote on the phone. The next day he calls and gives me a quote of Rs. 80000/- for a list of parts to be changed. I told him to just do a general service which was not done even after 3 days.

I service the car in a local garage and spent approx Rs. 9000/-

The car till date has not given any major issue and runs like a charm.

Lesson learnt: I am never going to Honda SVC especially for my old car.

[NarediAni7518]

I agree to the post dude. We bought our first Honda in 2015 , a city diesel VX. The car was very nice undoubtedly , but the service centre experience has not been great. The car was always dirty after a service , it was never cleaned properly. We replaced our city with a 2019 civic zx CVT and till date I get the enquiry calls sometimes for the civic ( more than a year after we bought it ). And you should definitely see the way a car gets handled at the service centre. Also , the quality of their cars have reduced drastically.

[Gildarts]

One of my colleagues bought a 2018 Honda Jazz. It was his 1st car and he was not a competent driver then. So he went with Honda's brand value even after checking out Baleno and i20. When I got the opportunity to drive his car, to say I was disappointed would be an understatement. When I operated the power windows I can feel the door panel flexing prominently. The gear lever was longer than expected, with longer throws and the cover was inadequate for the stick length. Even more alarming, the steering would not self centre fully. It would stop short by half a turn. I was sure that this problem could be corrected and advised him to take it up during 1st service. The SA told him that this is normal for all honda cars and there's nothing wrong. I also hated the quality of the interior. Definitely the worst in the segment. My 3 years and 55K old, i20 felt comparately more premium than a brand new honda Jazz. That's the state of the once "legendary" Honda cars in India.

[CoffeeBeans]

Just read a news article saying that there will be a cheaper variant of CR-V planned for India starting around 22 lakh.

https://gaadiwaadi.com/exclusive-hon...nd-rs-21-lakh/

Don't know how reliable this site is, but even if true I think it's case of too little too late. This should have been the price of current gen underpowered CR-V from the launch.

[DeKay]

It definitely is time to move on from Honda unless they pull their socks up and overhaul their entire operation, pronto.

2014 City VX MT - I pre-booked and brought home a car from the first lot. Didn't think I needed to worry about quality/niggles because it was a Honda City after all. Boy was I wrong - The door panels would flex noticeably every time I rolled the windows up or down, the dashboard was full of annoying rattles and squeaks. The car had leakage problems in its first monsoon, which needed 2 visits to rectify.
As far as the rattles are concerned - Honda couldn't even place where they were coming from, let alone fix them. I sold the car in under 2 years.

2018 City ZX - A close friend purchased a City as his daily runabout, other than the leakage, he had all the problems I faced. The dashboard rattles and squeaks were even louder in his. Honda's solution - Put foam sheets in the dash which were visible to everyone sitting in the car. Imagine buying a 15 Lakh Honda City only to drive around with foam hanging out of the dash to prevent rattles. Absolutely pathetic.

I took a test drive of the new Civic last year, hoping to finally see Honda "Quality", but nope. The rubber lining on the windows was misaligned and popping out, door rubber beading was loose, the test drive car with less than 2000 clicks on the odo had an insistent dashboard rattle. I don't see myself going back to Honda anytime soon. Their service is expensive, cars are uninspiring tin cans, just a notch above Maruti in terms of build quality at this point. Just look at what a joke of a car the WR-V is in its segment.

[Sarinkrc]

In my experience of owning a Honda , the manufacturer Honda Makes reliable vehicles. But unfortunately the dealers tries to fleece customers with unwanted repairs. One main reason you hear honda service costs are is due to the fact that these dealers are adding unwanted services. Mostly the car runs well with oil and filter changes. The other problems that can occur is suspension related. Once i had an issue with the AC my Honda City zx model which had run on 17000 kms and when i gave it to the dealer i got a quote for Rs 90000 to change the compressor & condensor & keyless entry not working for that was quoted 8000rs. I took it the local garage who cleaned up the ac clearing all waste since the car was parked at the garage for more than 6 months and it cost only 3000rs. When you go to the Honda Dealer just do the service what is mentioned in the Car manual and inform the dealers not to do any additional work . If they give a quote for expensive repairs better to seek second opinion from an outside trusted garage. Honda usually makes reliable even though the quality has come down for the new gen cars. When u go to the dealer they make the car too sick that if we do not do what they say car will always face issues , when actually the Honda cars are perfectly running with zero issues.

[sarathlal]

Originally Posted by CoffeeBeans

Just read a news article saying that there will be a cheaper variant of CR-V planned for India starting around 22 lakh.

Don't know how reliable this site is,

Based on what we could gather from the dealers so far, CRV Diesel is very less likely to come back. Its primarily going to be Petrol only model.

The current ambiguity regarding the CRV are;
1. Whether they will launch the facelift version or not
2. Will there be a price cut or at the least, offers similar to the 2019 year end offers

If there are no updates on these before Diwali, then most probably it will be status quo until beginning of 2021

[JishD]

Going against the tide here - for all its faults , Honda still has the best backseat experience in most segments it operates in ( Amaze /City) . I own a remapped GT TSI and of course Honda can't hold a candle to it in terms of real world performance. But as we hit the 40's and ride with families , rear seat comfort takes a priority over effortless performance and driving dynamics.

That's where Honda scores - unless you have lunar craters like in Gurgaon, in most other cities , Honda will give you the most comfortable back seat ride if you be just a little careful. And for those complaining about highways, they're practically tabletops compared to cities nowadays

[dsnaveen21]

Originally Posted by Kartman

Finally I got it done from outside and my problem has stopped.

Hi Kartman,
I got the honda civic, last time i gave my car to Regent honda, thane for water leakage issue, still the problem persists, from where did you got the beading changed, please let me know.
Thanks,

[Kartman]

Originally Posted by dsnaveen21

Hi Kartman,
I got the honda civic, last time i gave my car to Regent honda, thane for water leakage issue, still the problem persists, from where did you got the beading changed, please let me know.
Thanks,

Hey,

I got it done by a mechanic near Hari Niwas Circle. I got the parts from Parul Motor accessories at the time but I believe if you can get the part numbers then you can get it online at boodmo. Regent Honda refused from accepting that it is a beading problem so I did not bother with them.

Hope this helps.

[eccentric]

Jumping to this thread after the exit of Ford from the country. Rather than 'us' deciding to move on from brand Honda, it would be honorable for Honda to follow the footsteps of Ford and save themselves from further embarassment that lies ahead.

- Fundamentally flawed product portfolio. What's next after the City?
- Is WRV a C-SUV? You must be joking, right?
- No 4m+ C-SUV to rival the likes of Kushaq, Creta
- Not reliable anymore. Poorly screwed together assemblies, mass-less sheet metal pieces, awkward plastic interior bits, non-robust suspension and rubber parts
- Incompetent service centres. Lethargic chief test drivers, Irresponsible service advisors and tardy Customer Relations Manager

The arrogance to replace the whole assembly though the OEM sells the unique part that needs replacement! The courage to park the car in scorching sun for 4 days straight without entering a job card, only to later inform the customer that spares aren't available! Washing the hands off on a stereo error that occured during that time frame.

- Expensive spares coupled with prolonged lead time for procurement. In my case, it took 1.5 months for a fuel filter to arrive. Again, I was never kept in the loop during the time frame
- Slumber management that's unwilling to bring in global developments. Where is the Turbo petrol?

I presume the downfall of Honda started after Usha International exited their JV in 2012. Those generation Hondas were aspirational vehicles! Remember the City, Civic, Accord, CRV in all their glory, had immense road presence, were designed to inspire envy and had soul in them. When the Civic was launched in 2006, it invoked such an emotion among men, lads, boys and kids alike. Everyone aspired to own one. To me, Honda just feels long gone. The closure of the Greater Noida plant just signals their end, a wakeup call that their glory days were over and the writing is on the wall.