[R2D2]

Originally Posted by ImmortalZ

@viddy : Do you know how many more lakhs you need to spend to get a Jetta DSG? That too, a DSG box that is notorious the world over for being problematic, unreliable and expensive to fix. In our country, with the nearest VW service center being nearly 200KM away. We did consider it though. But we thought better and decided the money is better spent on petrol. And by we, I mean me.

Another problematic car from the VW stable after the over glorified Octy and Laura. These guys could sell anything here under the "German" label. People expect German cars to behave and last like the Mercs & BMWs of yore. Little do they know those hallowed marques are facing reliability problems of their own. In the same breath I'd add that a BMW 5 series is my dream. Its the heart ruling over the head.

Rgds,

[ImmortalZ]

Originally Posted by R2D2

But as time passes by, when you buy a car for the family, you choose one that the family is comfy in and doesnt need red line RPMs to get it moving.

Rgds,

Pfft, sensible cars are for old people.

Some day, my future wife is going to tell me off for buying the Civic. But that day is yet to come, so I'm still pushing my luck.

Originally Posted by R2D2

Another problematic car from the VW stable after the over glorified Octy and Laura. These guys could sell anything here under the "German" label. People expect German cars to behave and last like the Mercs & BMWs of yore. Little do they know those hallowed marques are facing reliability problems of their own. In the same breath I'd add that a BMW 5 series is my dream. Its the heart ruling over the head.

Rgds,

Heh, reminds of this comic and the couple ones following.

Real Life

That said, a BMW M car does have a place in my dream garage.

[R2D2]

Originally Posted by ImmortalZ

Pfft, sensible cars are for old people.

Some day, my future wife is going to tell me off for buying the Civic. But that day is yet to come, so I'm still pushing my luck.

That said, a BMW M car does have a place in my dream garage.

Oh yeah...boring old folks. Dont you worry maybe your to be wife will be an auto enthusiast.

My wife wouldnt mind me owning the Civic (we had an OHC) but she's allergic to what I call spirited driving. Red line RPMs and speeds over 120 kmph are no-no for her.

I saw a Delhi registered white M5 in Pune couple of months back. I could only stare. Yeah thats my dream too but let me get to the 5 series first. Step by step.

PS - The comic is hilarious!
Rgds,

[Vid6639]

Originally Posted by ImmortalZ

@viddy : Do you know how many more lakhs you need to spend to get a Jetta DSG? That too, a DSG box that is notorious the world over for being problematic, unreliable and expensive to fix. In our country, with the nearest VW service center being nearly 200KM away. We did consider it though. But we thought better and decided the money is better spent on petrol. And by we, I mean me.

The fully loaded Jetta DSG costs exactly 4L more than the Civic AT. It also comes with a 4 year warranty and a free 3 year maintenance plan. If I were able to stretch the budget by that much then the Jetta would be my choice. Not only is the DSG box better to drive than the other 2 AT's, it also has better FE being a diesel and does not feel underpowered at all. Also, the Jetta comes with 8 airbags, ESP and lots of other features along with the best ride and handling compared to any of the cars below the Audi/BMW/Merc segment.

The VW after sales is also much better atleast from what I've heard in Bangalore. There are 2 dealers here.

I agree the DSG box is not 100% reliable but that's a risk I was ready to take a few months ago when I had almost finalised on the Jetta. The Civic AT, Altis AT and the Accord AT were just too boring.

I'm not a fan of AT boxes at all. I didn't even like the 5speeder on the Merc C220. The DSG was the only exception. It was just awesome fun when I first drove the Passat then the Jetta and then finally got to experience the second gen 7 speed DSG box in the 1.8TSi Superb. These completely change the view on AT boxes and are actually more fun to drive than the MT counterpart. I hated the MT of the 1.8TSi Laura after driving the DSG Superb 1.8TSi.

ps: Sorry for bringing the Jetta in picture but I think it's a good option in AT.

[Ramsagar]

The civic is more classier than corolla.Civic is looks very mean from every angle than corolla.
corolla suits good for aged people and Civic for youngsters.
Now-a-day Dad's are becoming more younger than their children.hheeeehh!!!!!

[ImmortalZ]

Back when we were in the market, they didn't have a maintenance plan on offer. Also, like I mentioned before, there is no dealer in Trivandrum, so we'd have to go to Cochin for every little thing.

DSGs are brilliant, I do agree.

[Ym-enjn]

Originally Posted by R2D2

Do consider that the current Civic has been in the market for 3 years and is due for a change in the next 12-18 months. What we are witnessing is the natural drop off in sales when the product moves towards the end of its lifecycle.Rgds,

Originally Posted by akj53

1. Yes I rejected Civic becuase the current model had become an end-of-life product.

Sorry guys, me and my big mouth, if a car’s life cycle ends in 3 years don't we call it a flop model. Ask Honda are they able to recover their machinery cost set aside the R&D cost?

Instead of relying on their snob value Honda should already have thrown a facelift Civic in Indian market with more features and made it competitive. But no they want to sell only coz it’s a Honda.

CRVs sales to zero in just less than 2 years, is that also end of life cycle..? Hybrid already closed, don't we need to question Honda's brand image again? What happens to the resale of such expensive cars don’t we need to question that?

And why do they call themselves a premium brand they don't have any premium product. Toyota on other hand call themselves a VFM brand and have the highest priced base product and have premium products upto the price range of 81 lakhs.. A brand is called premium by its products not by its marketing gimmicks.. (even if compared with Skoda)

No personal offence to anyone just not too happy with Honda's policies.. It all comes down to policies after all..

[ImmortalZ]

They should've launched the facelifted Civic, I do agree. However, your statements are contradictory. On one hand you say that they should launch the new Civic, but then you say that if they do that, the old model should be branded a flop, which it clearly isn't as it wiped the floor with everything else in the segment until Toyota & Co. finally caught up recently.

They have stopped the CR-V to make way for a new one. Hybrid is back to being sold as a direct purchase.

Once again your statements are contradictory. You cry foul about resale value when it is known that updates to an existing car demolishes the resale value of the outgoing model. But you want the new model. Stick to your guns please.

As for having expensive models, one can just import the most expensive Acura in the world and have an expensive Honda. It's not like Toyota is localizing their high end cars and selling them. Everything from the Camry and above is a CBU.

On that thought, I'd love to see Acura and Lexus have at it here. But I don't think the luxury market is big enough for all these companies to duke it out and still turn over a tidy sum.

[raj_5004]

this is turning out to be a honda v/s toyota debate!

what i hate about toyota is they price their cars very high & still are very stingy about some basic necessities in the car. no standard mudflaps in a car costing 13 lakhs!

honda is no less. i know honda is a good brand name but the pricing of the jazz, CRV & ANHC is just ridiculous. even civic could have been a bit cheaper.

all for the brand name...!

[Vid6639]

Which Toyota does not come with mudflaps?? All variants of the Altis have body coloured mudflaps.

I'm surprised you say that the Altis is priced high. It has xenons, electric seats and many more features for a cool 30K lesser than the Civic.

Also, the thread title is Civic vs Altis so it has to be a Honda vs Toyota debate.

[akj53]

Civic was a very good car when it was introduced and thats why it nearly decimated Corolla. If I had to buy to a car 3 years ago, I would have definitely bought Civic and not Corolla. However a car needs to be upgraded every year either cosmetically or feature wise, to keep up with the changing scenerio in the fiercely competitive world.

Unfortunately Honda has a policy of not upgrading till the car almost stops selling. They did that with the 2nd gen City and now they are doing the same with Civic. We hear even the forthcoming upgraded model will be only a cosmetic upgrade which may fail to bring more customers, unless Honda decides to give more features.

I am not into Honda vs Toyota debate, but as a customer I will go for a car which makes more sense to me in terms of quality, features, A.S.S., VFM, comfort, safety and many other parameters, at the time of purchase.

Normally a car model has a life of 6-8 years with a full upgraded midlife version being introduced after 3-4 years.

[manish123]

Originally Posted by raj_5004

what i hate about toyota is they price their cars very high & still are very stingy about some basic necessities in the car. no standard mudflaps in a car costing 13 lakhs!

all for the brand name...!

Altis does have mud flaps i.e. if you are referring to Altis here. Moreover, ii its category, it is the most VFM car than any other car. Please compare the standard fitments of Civic and Altis and you would realise that if Civic came up with equivalent fitmens, it would cost not less than 2 lacs more than what Altis costs right now.

[raj_5004]

Originally Posted by vid6639

Which Toyota does not come with mudflaps?? All variants of the Altis have body coloured mudflaps.

I'm surprised you say that the Altis is priced high. It has xenons, electric seats and many more features for a cool 30K lesser than the Civic.

Also, the thread title is Civic vs Altis so it has to be a Honda vs Toyota debate.

does the altis come with mudflaps as standard? good. well, the innova does not & the older corolla also dint have mudflaps.

the top-end altis which you are talking about costs 15.37 lakhs on road in mumbai, for the automatic. a 4 speed automatic... for 1.5 lakhs more, i can get the jetta diesel with a much better DSG transmission. the jetta petrol costs 14.5 lakhs! the honda civic auto with paddle shifts & 5 speeder costs 15.45 lakhs on road in mumbai. the price difference between honda & toyota is not huge.

hence, i feel both toyota & honda cars are overpriced.

[inferno]

Originally Posted by akj53

Unfortunately Honda has a policy of not upgrading till the car almost stops selling. They did that with the 2nd gen City and now they are doing the same with Civic.

No dude, you can blame HONDA for being snobs and over-pricing their cars but not this. The don't follow that policy which you are telling and good example were 2nd gen City and accord. As far as I remember 2nd gen city sold very well during its last days also.

[cuttingcrew]

Both Civic and Altis are overpriced in India. Can somebody explain why they are costly compared to US even though they are not CBU? Are certain parts imported as CBUs?