[hellspawn]

i havent driven one but i was chauffered in one,i had two medium sized suitcases in the trunk,and the car scraped over a couple of speedbreakers even though the driver would drive the car at an agle over the bump.
a lot of people,and even some of the members bought the car just for the dash,the instrument console and the flappy pedal gearbox.And a lot of friends are regretting this decision,as most of these guys being businessmen have to travel to small towns where the civic's GC issue becomes pronounced.a majority of them have shifted over to skoda's.
my neigbour(58yrs old) after retiring from work finally decided to buy a new upmarket car,and he chose the civic.now its usually parked most of the times,since due to his back,he cant bend that low to get into a car.
no doubt,its a very good car as an overall package.it has good handling,power,driver centric console etc etc but Honda missed out on the most important part required in our country...GROUND CLEARANCE.

[devarshi84]

Originally Posted by marjun25

I was planning to book a Civic V AT, but looking at the feedback from the owners in this thread, I am confused now.

so I request the owners to suggest me whether its really worth going for this car ...

I would like to know, if the GC is a real issue, does the scrapping damage the car or any of the parts of that....

I am a partial owner of a civic in Abad. A really good friend of mine owns one but its me always driving it.

Somehow I have never had this gc issue while driving but he complains about this in the same car all the time and is actually looking for a replacement. I believe its more about how you approach the potholes and speedbreakers.

THe best thing is to take a test drive of the civic over a really bad patch of road with lots of speedbreakers. And please dont buy based on its futuristic interiors only. There is much more to Civic. Do a proper pro and con on the car.

[VMG]

Marjun25

if you live in Bangalore, I think you should think twice before you decide on Civic. More people in Bangalore in this site are complaining about GC issue because of the road condition.
If you are going to drive by yourself then go for Cedia (amazing car in all respects; owning cedia sports for the past 6 weeks) else go for Corolla.

[csentil]

Originally Posted by marjun25

I was planning to book a Civic V AT, but looking at the feedback from the owners in this thread, I am confused now.

so I request the owners to suggest me whether its really worth going for this car ...

I would like to know, if the GC is a real issue, does the scrapping damage the car or any of the parts of that....

I've had the Civic for almost a year in Bangalore. Its my second car and I've clocked 10K in it and another 8K in my first car. 75% of that on trips... Personally I just love the car, its awesome to drive, corners great, handling is easy with the sporty steering. Lot of space and very comfortable. I'll not talk about the looks & interiors as thats been spoken about enough.

In Bangalore, road conditions have improved except for some stupid speedbreakers. Whenever I used to approach a breaker I was a little bit apprehensive. However I found if I was alone or with two people I didn't have a problem. Usually this is 90% of the time. However with 4 or 5 people and luggage some speedbreakers are a problem. I have two in my area... one scrapes when I'm fully loaded if I drive straight over it.. the other doesn't.

The other area that I found a problem was the mysore ring road. Not had issues with the others on Outer ring road and within the city.

Take the car for a test drive. Thats the best way to decide. Also whether u will be driving regularly in areas with bad speedbreakers.

I've driven to Coimbatore, Erode, Chennai, Hogennakkal, Wayanad, Mudumalai, Mysore on my Civic with 4 onboard and I've had some minor scrapes. I've checked everytime during service and there's not been any damage. I must say that the underbody of the Civic is very strong. Probably Honda knew this would be an issue and did something to the underbelly !!

[marjun25]

Hi Senthil,

Thanks for your response....Most of my driving is usally within the city

I was worried abt the underbelly getting damaged if I hit the speed breakers very often...Did U face any issues with your suspension as reported by others. Also can you provide me your regular maintenance costs and FE

[csentil]

Originally Posted by marjun25

Hi Senthil,

Thanks for your response....Most of my driving is usally within the city

I was worried abt the underbelly getting damaged if I hit the speed breakers very often...Did U face any issues with your suspension as reported by others. Also can you provide me your regular maintenance costs and FE

Well this question shouldn't be in this thread... anyways.. . :-)

Nope.. I haven't had any problems with my suspension. But the suspension is stiff in the Civic, while this gives an excellent ride on rough roads where you will not feel many of the small potholes and bumps, however if you go into a larger pothole the suspension will bottom out. Also if you are fully loaded you are bound to feel it, especially the back seat passengers.

I have an AT and I get 8-9 (mostly 8) in the city and 12 on the highway. You should get a km+ if you have a manual. Also driving style can give different results.

Maintenance? All I've paid is 550 for the first paid service I did and 400 bucks for an oil and filter change. Thats it. Oil change is once in 10K but I got it done around 6K kms itself.

[supremeBaleno]

This might be OffTopic, but :

Originally Posted by csentil

400 bucks for an oil and filter change.

What is the quantity of oil that goes into the Civic ? I mean, oil price/litre should be the same across cars (with only the qty differing) and 400 bucks for oil+filter sounds too low.

[dinu2506]

I have been driving a Civic in bangalore for the last 15 months and have clocked around 12000 km so far. I think this issue has been blown out of proportion. While I understand there is a GC issue, all we need to do is be a little careful over really bad speedbreakers. I am talking with experience in the Civic. Let me tell you, I have driven all sorts of so called roads in Bangalore. I have scraped my underbelly probably just couple of times. I admit you need to be careful, thats about it. Deciding the fate of this beautiful piece of machinery on GC is probably an overkill.

The car just grows on you. With 12000 km on the odo, I should say the engine and gearbox has really freed up and its such a pleasure to drive. No rattles, squeaks etc etc. I consistently get 10km/lit in the city and 13-14 on the highway. I recently touched 175 on the Chennai bangalore highway and it had so much more juice left. Wife started giving me the looks not when she felt the speed but when she saw the speedo. Had to slow down, sigh.

I should say, I really recommend a buy for anyone contemplating it.

[indivic]

Originally Posted by csentil

Maintenance? All I've paid is 550 for the first paid service I did and 400 bucks for an oil and filter change. Thats it. Oil change is once in 10K but I got it done around 6K kms itself.

I paid 880/- for an oil and filter change, I have about 4K on the odo but the oil+filter change is 10k or 6 months whichever is earlier.

[StarScream]

If you are not careful, the Civic will scrape speedbreakers. I remember going over one in my dad's car with five people in it. It hit the speedbreaker with a sickening thud. It was night and he didn't see the speedbreaker and brake in time. This was in Gurgaon.
In full daylight, with two fat ladies in the back, I've managed to do the same with my NHC in Noida. And this happened when the car was dead slow. I've done the same with another speedbreaker in Noida with just two people in the car but in this case the car was traveling faster. Im just more careful about those breakers now. I travel over one of them everyday on my way to and from work. I've learnt to respect it and haven't scraped it again.
The lesson is this: Honda's are good cars. They do scrape if you are not careful. It really isn't a reason to not buy them. Both the cars mentioned above are running fine.
For that matter I remember scraping the underside of my Esteem and Zen many times. We just have to realize there are some nasty speedbreakers in this country and we have to learn (the hard way sometimes) how to negotiate them. Don't blame the car.

[csentil]

Originally Posted by supremeBaleno

This might be OffTopic, but :
What is the quantity of oil that goes into the Civic ? I mean, oil price/litre should be the same across cars (with only the qty differing) and 400 bucks for oil+filter sounds too low.

Sorry about that goof up. I'm extremely sorry for putting out wrong numbers.

I just got hold of that bill to check. so here's the breakdown

Engine Oil (100ml) - Rs. 13.94.
Qty - 37 (so I guess it means 3.7 litres) = Rs.515.78/-

Oil Filter Cartridge - 134.70/-

Total Cost - 650/- + tax.

[Chat]

Some of us ( Cedia owners ) are not surprised with this fact. All Honda has done is given Civic a nice overall aerodynamic look, jazzy dash and instrument panel and fooled the world. Perhaps Honda engineers tested it on Japanese roads before launching it in India.

Somebody had rightly pointed out in one of the threads, I guess Civic vs Cedia, that this craze of frill product would die in first month and then people would regret their buying decision. Three of my colleagues who bought Civic regret their decision now. And I tease them everyday as my Cedia is a high performance car. Sure it does not have that jazz dashboard but I didn't pay that extra 3.5 lacs for that. Frills do not make any car great, check the machine first and then if you also have frills then buy it and not vice versa.

Cedia gives me so much more that Civic would not have. Not only on GC but other things like best in its segment FE, turning radius, ABS with EBD, high torque, great handling and suspensions etc. True VFM! I am sure as time passes by, there would be more Civics exchanging ownership in seconds market than being driven out of dealer's shop.

[devarshi84]

A better comparo with the civic would be the new Lancer ex. Mitsubishi cedia would be a previous generation product in comparison. But not to spoil your party, cedia is an excellent car and gets top points for the fun to drive factor that many like me and you look for first in a car.

And to say that Civic is all about jazz also would not be true. There's much more to the car.

[diabloo]

Its all out in open - test drives, owner reports. There is no hiding & nothing to fool anybody.

Originally Posted by Chat

All Honda has done is given Civic a nice overall aerodynamic look, jazzy dash and instrument panel and fooled the world.

Cedia was launched in Civic bracket, but was price was reduced later. Hence the VFM. But there was no price reduction for Civic. Premium stuff do cost bucks. Maybe Mitsubishi can charge more for Cedia & give that money to designers so that they design a car to match Civic in looks.

Sure it does not have that jazz dashboard but I didn't pay that extra 3.5 lacs for that. Frills do not make any car great, check the machine first and then if you also have frills then buy it and not vice versa.

Cedia is 115BHP while Civic is 132BHP. So city FE might be 1Kmpl less. But highway FE is same. Considering turning radius, Civic is more since it is a longer car with better rear leg room. So it evens out. Torque figures are same. Both have ABS/EBD but Civic scores in have BA-Brake Assist. Also Cedia doesn't have an AT option. Thanks Honda for giving AT option in all your offerings.

Cedia gives me so much more that Civic would not have. Not only on GC but other things like best in its segment FE, turning radius, ABS with EBD, high torque, great handling and suspensions etc. True VFM! I am sure as time passes by, there would be more Civics exchanging ownership in seconds market than being driven out of dealer's shop.

[amit]

Originally Posted by hellspawn

my neigbour(58yrs old) after retiring from work finally decided to buy a new upmarket car,and he chose the civic.now its usually parked most of the times,since due to his back,he cant bend that low to get into a car.

Sounds like a typical case of buying a car based on the logo it sports and listenting to what your friends and relatives tell you.

a lot of people,and even some of the members bought the car just for the dash,the instrument console and the flappy pedal gearbox.

And the Honda name.