Honda Civic Independence : CNG'd. EDIT: 1,13,000 km up and SOLD!

[jatinpatel]

@sumeet

to which i might add always point down your rear-view mirrors to a level that you cna the see the lower sidewall of the tire hence having clear view of low objects and also observer the parking sensor display and not sloely rely on the sound.

[sumeethaldankar]

Got Indy's bumper fixed and aligned.Total cost 150 bucks all labor.The bumper had to fixed on the inside using metallic wires to hold it firmly in place.There is however a crack on the side of the bumper .Attached below is a picture.



Had resolved yesterday to drive the car more carefully after having to get to see the car getting hammered to fix the bumper properly, only to nudge a parked swift in my building compound today as i was pulling in after a drive .

Anyways thanks to the washerman and his son who were washing the swift any damage was avoided and the car thankfully came out unscathed as his son alerted me on time.God bless those two but such things tend to get me down.

The Civic' s a great car to drive and own.There is a lot of feel good factor when you are showing it off to your friends and colleagues, however parking, reversing,driving through congested areas and traffic is a major pain which sometimes make me feel if i had should gone for a smaller car.But one look at this gorgeous beauty again makes me forget all the pain and i know that i have made a right choice in buying this car.

[sumeethaldankar]

Car theft is a reality these days.It's kind of difficult to have a peace of mind knowing that even engine immobilisers can be broken into.I know most people said to me that the Civic had a good factory security system but in the back of my mind i always wanted that extra bit of security.I wanted something mechanical and sturdy and not electronic based as i have had a bad experience with Autocop fitted on my oldie 800.That damn thing gave up in 2 months after giving me sleepless nights due to false alarms and left 2 batteries(one of them brand new) drained and dead.

I wanted to get a gear lock for Indy but i was not able to source one.The one i got did not fit the Civic (even though the box said it was made for the Civic) and had to be returned.I have a steering lock( the pedal to the steering) kind but read that these can be picked easy as they are locally made.I searched online for sites for alternative mechanical locks and came across the Club auto brake lock (The Club Auto Brake Lock -- Winner International Online Store to go for the same as it seemed to offer a decent protection of the mechanical type.

Placed a order online with 20north.com on the Oct 29 2011 and it was delivered today evening.Good service from 20north in my experience.The price came out to 4560.I know this is very steep but then i thought this will be like a long term investment.Not many people will justify this but i thought it will be worth every penny considering the extra bit of security.
Here are some pics of the lock.Will post pics of the lock installed in the civic later as it was to dark to take any snaps.As usual pardon my poor quality mobile camera.














The device was a bit tough to get it on the 1st time as it was dark inside the car and i was fumbling with same but after a few sweaty moments i managed to get it right.Maybe i should get a floor light installed so i can see the pedals properly.The way to install is , get the hook under the clutch or brake pedal,put your foot on the lower of the club,remove the club's key and pull till the club comes in tight around the pedal.Now i am not saying this is going to make my car totally theft proof,no sir , probably no such thing such as a theft proof car but it will surely be a tad more difficult to steal.

[Akshay1234]

Frankly it makes no sense and is not going to stop anything from getting stolen. It is near impossible to start the car with a factory fitted immobilizer unless the original key is used or the thief has pretty advanced equipment which I think would be unlikely here. If anything they will break the glass and steal maybe the music system or something from inside. No IMO this serves no purpose. You could have got a pro-detailing job done with that amount. No offence meant.

[jatinpatel]

@sumeet

No offence but the gear lock which you bought can also be broken by just an battery powered metal cutter, god forbid if your car has to get stolen it will and nothing will be able to stop it.
Its all fate and nothing else.

Now coming to technical terms
as akshay said the immobilizer in civic is pretty darn advanced and it has the rolling key code feature hence the encryption changes everytime you lock the vehicle and which is very very safe.

but something that gives peace of mind differs from person to person. No offence.
IMO you could had got a stock replacement K&N filter or something of that sorts.

[sumeethaldankar]

Originally Posted by sumeethaldankar

Not many people will justify this but i thought it will be worth every penny considering the extra bit of security.

Now i am not saying this is going to make my car totally theft proof,no sir , probably no such thing such as a theft proof car but it will surely be a tad more difficult to steal.

Originally Posted by akshay1234

Frankly it makes no sense and is not going to stop anything from getting stolen. It is near impossible to start the car with a factory fitted immobilizer unless the original key is used or the thief has pretty advanced equipment which I think would be unlikely here. If anything they will break the glass and steal maybe the music system or something from inside. No IMO this serves no purpose. You could have got a pro-detailing job done with that amount. No offence meant.

Originally Posted by jatinpatel

@sumeet

No offence but the gear lock which you bought can also be broken by just an battery powered metal cutter, god forbid if your car has to get stolen it will and nothing will be able to stop it.
Its all fate and nothing else.

Now coming to technical terms
as akshay said the immobilizer in civic is pretty darn advanced and it has the rolling key code feature hence the encryption changes everytime you lock the vehicle and which is very very safe.

but something that gives peace of mind differs from person to person. No offence.
IMO you could had got a stock replacement K&N filter or something of that sorts.

Hello Jatin and Akshay, i understand the cost of the device is a too much for just a wee bit of peace of mind.You guys are probably right but as i mentioned in my post before (in bold) not everybody will justify the cost but i am considering it a long term investment and as a extra bit of deterrent (I also have a 800 wherein i can use the same.The device comes with 3 keys). As for the immobilizer, we pratically hand over the keys to HASS during service.What stops a unscrupulous employee from making a copy etc of the same?I have also mentioned before i don't expect the car to be totally theft proof but at-least more difficult to be stolen.

Jatin yes you are right, everything depends on fate but atleast i tried to keep it safe.Such things and habits go a long way.I remember reading in newspapers police keep saying that people spent lakhs of rs on buying a car but don't bother to spend a few thousand rs's for it's security.

Btw no offence taken from either :-)

[Akshay1234]

Originally Posted by sumeethaldankar

What stops a unscrupulous employee from making a copy etc of the same?

The fact that it costs 5k+ (in a.s.s). And in the cases of some cars needs to be ordered from somewhere else.

[jatinpatel]

@sumeet

as far as i know in H.A.S.S for civic key it costs 15k+ for single remote key and for that too they need all kinds of customer details and physical presence of customer is mandatory when the reprogramming with new key is done.

This policy is followed in linkway honda.

But as you said we have to do whatever which is in our hands, to safe guard our investment.

can you click the pics with the gear lock attached in the indy?

[sumeethaldankar]

Had waxed the car myslef last week using Formula1 usa wax.





Try as i might to get the car's overall picture may be due to light or due to my camera phone the car does not appear shiny and bright as it actually looks.



Anyways the surface now is smooth to touch and the car does look a little better than before.

[S_U_N]

@Sumeet: The car looks very nice - I am sure a better camera is needed to capture the details.
I don't know if you did any claying before waxing. If not, do that next time so that your wax lasts longer and you are able to get rid of tar spots etc. which might be there towards the lower portions of the car in the front and the sides.

[sumeethaldankar]

Originally Posted by S_U_N

I don't know if you did any claying before waxing. .

Frankly i do not know what claying is and i just applied the wax after cleaning the surface.May be you explain the claying process to me.

Meanwhile i decided to hide chipped away portion of the rear bumper with a t-bhp sticker.I have posted below pics and i hope the car does not look weird with the sticker.Let me know if it looks awkward maybe then i would remove it.

Thanks.

[Enigmatic]

Originally Posted by sumeethaldankar

Meanwhile i decided to hide chipped away portion of the rear bumper with a t-bhp sticker.I have posted below pics and i hope the car does not look weird with the sticker.Let me know if it looks awkward maybe then i would remove it.

Thanks.

The sticker does not look out of place at all !! Infact it hides the chipped portion really well.
A great ingenious solution

[sumeethaldankar]

My two babies. Freedom (r) and Independence (l)



From the side.









As usual pardon the poor quality pics from my old mobile camera.

Also a pic of when car hit the 37777 kms mark.

[sumeethaldankar]

Just yesterday i took Indy for a short trip around the Corner.Just a 3 kms to and fro kind of drive.As i drove only on narrow streets i found myslef doubting if i had made the right choice by buying this car as i found the poor low end torque and poor visibilty (blind spots) a bit too much cumbersome.I at times find myslef revving the car upto 2-3 km in 1st gear to just get her moving.I had to prove to myslef as i have made the right decision by buying this beast.I mean nobody buys a Civic to go on short 3km trips now do they?

I hadn't driven Indy very much this month.Had filled up 1500 bucks worth of fuel last month and more than half s still remaining.I drove the 800 more this month simply because i found it easier to park to where i was going.Part of the doubt came because of the fact that i found it easier to drive and park the 800 compared to the Civic.

I decided to take the car for a spin today, just a Sunday cruise kind of thing nowhere to go really.Took her out on the western express highway onwards toward Bandra.Decided to get off the highway and took the road to kalina .Wanted to stretch her legs a bit as i wanted to remind myslef as to why i had bought this car.

As usual there was the Police "nakabandi" which makes you pratice your maneovering skills as you sway around the obstructions created by the law enforcers.Drove a little ahead and found a decent stretch of road ahead.

On green, i slammed the go-pedal,the beast within growled.I had woken up a sleeping monster.As the needle rose to the 6K mark decided to shift to second,the beast was fully awake.Approached 70-80 something,slammed in into 3rd and the car surged ahead like a roaring Jet fighter and the digital speedo had already crossed the 1 ton mark. I dared not to look at the speedo as world ahead was being hurled towards me in fast forward fashion...up comes a smooth bend and a BEST bus ahead.

I hit the brakes , the ABS tickles my feet and the car slows down, no skidding,screeching,complaining..just as it woken ,the beast goes back to its slumber.Wow,"what a rush".The true potential of this car can only be discovered on highways.This ain't no city car meant for round the corner trips.For that i have my oldie 800 and God willing hopefully i can manage to keep both with me in the future.Any doubts that i had in the back of my mind with respect to my buying decision were laid to rest.

[skdking]

Originally Posted by sumeethaldankar

Got the reverse sensors installed.They are from a brand called DHC.I know i should have stuck with RD or xenos but this one's got a 1 year warranty.

How is the sensor kit faring? Can you recount your owners experiance?

Will you recommend it to others?