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Old 12th December 2011, 11:59   #1
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Dhanno meets Banno – My Silver Civic VMT

Ladies and gentleman please meet Dhanno and Banno.

Dhanno meets Banno – My Silver Civic VMT-baleno-front-1.jpg
Dhanno meets Banno – My Silver Civic VMT-civic-front-1.jpg
Dhanno meets Banno – My Silver Civic VMT-civic-front-2.jpg

As a child horses, their gallop and speed have always mesmerized me. Any movie/comics featuring horses was an instant favorite. Around the same time the famous movie Sholey was released. Loved that movie (although as a kid I hated Gabbar), full of action and horses sprinting around. So much was the love that we pestered dad to buy the LP of Sholey dialogs with Songs (the 3 LP set) (Thank you Dad).

There is one scene where Basanti on her Dhunno is being chased by dacoits and she says Bhaag Dhanno Bhaag …… (Leaving the rest aside as it did not made sense to me as a child then ) and the lady horse sprints like crazy giving me a rush of blood/Goosebumps and the male horses chasing a run for their money.

So for someone who loves horses it wasn’t very easy to come up with a cheeky female horse name, which also signified speed, age and love. So while talking to someone in the family I was casually asked How is your Dhanno running? That sealed it, and I named my Baleno Dhanno. She sure sprints like crazy when pressed hard surprising me many times, I get the same rush of blood and Goosebumps when she touches speeds that I never thought she was capable of with no drama. All I have to do is say Bhaag Dhanno Bhag (and press the accelerator).

One more horse name excites me Hero (Hero, the fastest horse in the world; owned by the legendary The Phantom - List of fictional horses - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia).

So when the new ride was decided, I decided to name her keeping in line with Team BHP tradition and was looking for something similar sounding like Dhanno. Here comes Banno.

Also ran were the usual suspects

Butter smooth Laura (which really impressed us very much), if only Skoda A.S.S was like Toyota this baby is a winner all the way. To top it all one continues to hear horror stories about fixing fog lamps as an accessory and a ridiculous price quoted by the dealer for that. Over a 8-10 year ownership one is bound to change a few things to make the car drive enjoyable (Like the music system etc.) and Skoda are not really well suited and trained in this.

The Stunning Cruze, Looks really cool with a Diesel heart (Which although economical I find difficulty to adjust to especially in Sedan). Has ultra soft suspensions and hence even the small speed breakers look like mountains.

The new kid on the block Kizashi, and the Grand Vitara. Both are typical Suzuki cars. Decent engine, good pickup and good space. Loved the drive of Kizashi on the smooth roads but was a bit unsettled on uneven surface. Low GC was another problem and it almost always touched the bigger speed breakers even after I tried all the gymnastics. While driving over the Sarjpur Speed breakers (Railway line ones) I could see worried looks on the face of SA (Making us also slightly worried). Grand Vitara was dropped mainly because of long waiting (3 months) and no discounts and of it being petrol. Also we have been owning a Suzuki all this while and would like to try something different (variety is the spice of life you see).

Civic was test driven, it’s a nice car with decent amount of space the discounts made it simpler and easier to decide. Dealers apart from cash discount were throwing in the Caska system with Bluetooth and rear parking camera. So it was shortlisted.

Altis was also test drive multiple times, the older Altis was not fun to drive but the new one was much better. Also the video player and the new ICE made it easier to decide. We also felt having a Bluetooth system helps, as you don’t have to carry the Bluetooth hands free when driving alone. Hence Altis was also shortlisted.

Fortuner is one car (Oops SUV) we both loved. Although lack of equipment did bother but was never a deal breaker. With the launch of XUV we felt this segment will take some time to mature as competition is just waking up and possibly in few years time we might have better cars/deals coming through. Hence although a tentative shortlist we wanted to wait for sometime.


Need peaceful ownership (Until recently I had rarely opened the bonnet of the car, now I do it regularly) and low cost of ownership hence the Skoda’s sisters Laura (Petrol/Diesel) were out. VW was never considered as they never really called back or made any effort at all to give me a well deserving test drive (Absolutely pathetic IMHO). Tata Aria was test-driven and we felt the 2.2 to be not very responsive, Ford Endeavor had too low seating and that created problems with visibility. Safari was never considered (although a great looking SUV I must add) as new Merlin is around the corner and better fit and finish is something of a must. Innova was suggested, my response, well! I would rather walk or continue to take the Volvo bus (No offence to anyone just my opinion)

It was 2008 when I had sold my Indica and since then Dhanno has been constantly busy with school dropping/picking up business (Which meant she had to run like clockwork and only time her problems could be attended to were weekends or holidays). Dhanno occasionally threw tantrums (although very minimal I must add) that sometimes got us worried especially while taking her on the highway as some of the parts availability for Dhanno is not instant (sometime it takes folks a few days to get them and about a week to get the car ready). Apart from this the space inside Dhanno was just enough for three folks with luggage (We village wallas travel with everything that we might need you see).

We were in a flux as to which one to buy. Toyota as usual were slightly high headed they have wonderful cars and I would love to own them someday, but you see as a customer I need to be pampered a little, given attention. Toyota already have too many customers hence maybe did not pay as much attention or were not as interested in coming to the negotiating table.

Apart from this there were hardly any colors in Altis to choose from and a different color meant waiting for about a month and constant pressure that they would raise the prices anytime soon (like sword hanging over my head). My view was either you deliver the car in a weeks time so as price increase does not impact me or give me a price protection at the time of booking. Either way i don't like to be in a negotiating position of weakness having no elbow room to negotiate. Hence dropped the Altis (for good) and Fortuner (for now).

On the other hand Honda cared that I had considered their car for my next purchase. Did almost everything possible under to sun to help me come to a decision. Multiple test-drives on Civic (to test its GC problems). Calls were responded fairly quickly. Last but not the least freebies and discounts made it look like a killer deal.

Some of you might be wondering why on earth such a wide range of cars considered (right from 14/15L to 25L OTR Bangalore), Petrol and Diesel both, Sedan/SUV/MUV, it really does not make sense. To me it does here is why. Dhanno is 6 years old and @ 62K and in most probably would be with us till it touches 90K-100K (3-4 years time). Now we need a bigger car/SUV so if I go for expensive SUV Dhanno would be needed in service for surely 5 years as it would be difficult to manage another Car loan (Which is slightly long shot), if I buy a Car (~15L) then I have the capacity to finish this new car loan in 3 years time and then Dhanno can be replaced with something more spacious and bigger (possibly an SUV). So for us both options were on the table.

Last edited by mayankjha1806 : 12th December 2011 at 23:13.
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Old 12th December 2011, 12:38   #2
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Re: Dhanno meets Banno – My Silver Civic VMT

Once the Civic was decided I made a down payment cheque to one dealer, is when another dealer called to sweeten the deal by around 50k more. Quickly decided to check with other dealer if they could match the price, when they said No, I decided to cancel the booking (and put the stop payment for the cheque).

Called up dealer to check the car in their stockyard. They reluctantly agreed. Took an auto from office to the showroom/stockyard to check the Civic VMT Silver color.

While checking the silver beauty (Civic) saw a black fury peeping . She was interested in saying Hello.

Dhanno meets Banno – My Silver Civic VMT-accord-front-small.jpg

Suddenly I was interested in the black fury, she had a wonderful stance, awesome grace. Decided to call my Malkin.

Me – Suno, How about Black Accord?
Malkin – Kitne ki hai?
Me – 21.5L
Malkin – ok, how is it.
Me – It’s got the thing you wanted, Sunroof.
Malkin – ok ask them to get the test drive car here. Lets see.
Me – Ok.


The car just blew us away with huge amount of power, amazing space, and excellent drive. Press the accelerator and feel the rush of blood within ones body and rush of fiery petrol in the engine. Engine hurriedly rushes through the revs to pull faster and faster. Was only able to touch speeds up to 120 and ran out of road. Passing through our favorite speed-braker on Sarjapur road. I was sure the car would scrape underbelly but surprise-surprise while going the car did not scrape. Every other car (including Altis) had scraped it. This babe although was sitting low (read Low GC) as compared to Civic and Altis still did not scrape.

Finally the tussle between the mind and heart started, Civic made more financial sense, and Accord made more emotional sense. Gave the cheque to the dealer and asked to block both Civic and Accord (As we were inching towards Accord). Finally it was decided we would stick to Civic for now and look at any other bigger (possibly an SUV) car in 3 years time when we decide to change our Baleno. So grudgingly I called up the lady and said we would go with Silver Civic. Another reason for dropping Accord was the new car will be used by malkin (me the old one, always ☺) and she was not very comfortable to drive such a huge car in narrow roads. On highway it was perfect though.

Whitefield Honda (and earlier Dakshin Honda) both were very courteous my case in Whitefield Honda was handled from Cunningham Road office and the outlet in KR Puram was only supportive. Requests were addressed delivery was done on time as promised and was smooth, Car delivered was clean.

Note on SBI Car Loan
Whitefield Honda do not deal with SBI but I insisted that I would like to take the loan from SBI (Why? Here is the reason). SBI, although gives floating rate car loans which are slightly more expensive then the private banks but do not charge any penalty on part payments or pre-closure. Both considered vital in my case as (5% penalty is looting IMHO), they are slightly slower then the rest, one will have to visit the branch once for loan formalities but once done it’s smooth sailing thereafter. The Loan account will be linked with the Savings account and one can transfer any amount to the loan account at the click of the button, thereby reducing the tenure of the loan. Hence the deal with SBI. If I ever need another loan (I am sure I will in future) SBI will be the bank of choice.


First impressions

Positives of the car
  • Amazing revved happy engine, just press the gas and zoom. Question to existing Civic owners does the engine uses synthetic oil by default?
  • Being a Honda I am sure this one would last well and longer then my Baleno. I have seen Hondas and Toyotas are absolutely problem free even after 8 years.
  • Amazing stance (albeit a little low). Drives better on smooth highways and struggles on bad roads.
  • Has everything I need for now, Good Music System with Bluetooth, Video player, Leather seats (Miss the Sun roof though)
  • Honda A.S.S
  • Fuel Efficiency (The MID displayed to me from 10.5 to 17.8 over a 30Km drive through Hosur).
  • 4 years 80K warranty – Awesome (Is there some feedback on this already?)
  • Caska system just blew us away with its features, the Satguide (mapmyindia), Bluetooth (For music and Phonecalls), Yet to try video.
  • Over the longish drive yesterday i initially felt jittery, later as we both were connected it was easy to push this car.
  • Extremely difficult to keep it under 3K rpm, one would not notice and it just crosses 3k with a snap.
  • Whitefield honda gave a framed picture of us taking the keys, have asked for a soft copy as well (Priceless)
Negatives
  • Not that many, but low GC has to be one. But over a decent long drive yesterday, over the railway line speed brakers it did not scrape. Also it never scraped over multiple bad roads and speed brakers.
  • Not really a negative but will keep an eye on total cost of ownership.

Few Questions
  • While filling up petrol at Shell in Whitefield (Mahadevpura) it took 36Lt, Looks like the tank has 50L capacity?
  • Over a 100'sh kms drive yesterday the fuel indicator lost 3 bars already, not sure if its ok or i should be worried?
  • While taking the car Whitefield Honda gave me two keys, one with remote the other without the remote. I asked shouldn't there be two with remote as if the battery goes down. He says it will last close to 5 years?
  • Another question to existing Civic Owners, when do i refuel, In Baleno when it reaches the red mark i refuel as there is already ~10L or petrol beyond this point. Not sure where to do it on a LED fuel indicator.

Toyota!, hard luck this time, maybe three-six years in future we might cross our paths again (As it happened six years ago with Honda)

Last edited by mayankjha1806 : 13th December 2011 at 09:27.
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Old 12th December 2011, 23:19   #3
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Re: Dhanno meets Banno – My Silver Civic VMT

Few more pictures, more pictures to follow.

Dhanno meets Banno – My Silver Civic VMT-civic-back.jpg

Dhanno meets Banno – My Silver Civic VMT-civic-front-3.jpg

Caska Reverse camera, this one is taken in day time but even in night its clearly visible.
Dhanno meets Banno – My Silver Civic VMT-caska-reverse-camera.jpg

As a proud Bhp'ian the LTD goes before the RTO number plate. Sorry for a bad picture quality.
Dhanno meets Banno – My Silver Civic VMT-ltd-back.jpg

Caska FM Radio
Dhanno meets Banno – My Silver Civic VMT-caska-fm.jpg

Last edited by mayankjha1806 : 13th December 2011 at 09:22.
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Old 13th December 2011, 14:58   #4
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Re: Dhanno meets Banno – My Silver Civic VMT

As the first BHPian to spot you in your purchase process (remember the sticker spotting thread), let me be the first one to congratulate you on the delivery of the civic also! Wish you many many happy miles with the Civic! The silver color looks smashing

How much did the upgrade to Caska unit cost? If I may ask you

Please upload some more pictures of the beauty, for our viewing pleasure

Last edited by KarthikK : 13th December 2011 at 15:00.
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Old 13th December 2011, 15:25   #5
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Re: Dhanno meets Banno – My Silver Civic VMT

@Mayank

A big Congratulations on the new purchase. The car looks really superb and ever since I read GTOs preowned Civic thread, it has started to fascinate me a lot.

The Caska Unit looks cool as well as the rear image. Does the rear camera comes on autiomatically when the reverse gear is engaged?

Happy mile crunching and drive safely. Your Banno too looks nicley maintained.
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Old 13th December 2011, 15:32   #6
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Re: Dhanno meets Banno – My Silver Civic VMT

Quote:
Originally Posted by mayankjha1806 View Post
Few Questions
  • While filling up petrol at Shell in Whitefield (Mahadevpura) it took 36Lt, Looks like the tank has 50L capacity?
  • Over a 100'sh kms drive yesterday the fuel indicator lost 3 bars already, not sure if its ok or i should be worried?
  • While taking the car Whitefield Honda gave me two keys, one with remote the other without the remote. I asked shouldn't there be two with remote as if the battery goes down. He says it will last close to 5 years?
  • Another question to existing Civic Owners, when do i refuel, In Baleno when it reaches the red mark i refuel as there is already ~10L or petrol beyond this point. Not sure where to do it on a LED fuel indicator.
First of all many congrats Mayank for your purchase, welcome to the Civic Club. To try and answer your questions:
1) The tank is 47.5 litres
2) Its okay, once the car gets serviced first time, then would be the time to check Fuel Efficiency, till then enjoy the ride and be easy on her.
3) Yup, they are right. One key is with remote and the other without. Weird, but that's how it is. My key hasnt had a change of cells for the last 4 years. So they are right. The cell change process is very easy. And there is manually opening option too, nothing to worry.
4) There is a yellow light that will come on right above the bars when there are about 2 bars of fuel left. That would be the time when you should visit the pump. The car should take it, 38 to 40 litres of petrol at that point. If you are unable to reach pump even then, nothing to worry, civic can easily go on for 50 odd kms after all bars have disappeared.

Drive safe and enjoy the beauty! Meanwhile, would you like to reveal the final Price you paid, can help other bhpians in squeezing out maximum possible discounts from Honda on Civics before the next generation is launched.

Last edited by Technocrat : 14th December 2011 at 00:39. Reason: corrected quote
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Old 13th December 2011, 16:02   #7
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Re: Dhanno meets Banno – My Silver Civic VMT

Quote:
Originally Posted by KarthikK View Post
How much did the upgrade to Caska unit cost? If I may ask you
Thanks, Yes i remember you spotting me at Dakshin Honda. The deal finally did not go through with Dakshin as explained in the thread. Well the overall came to 14.4 so i guess Caska costs about ~50K.

Quote:
Originally Posted by ghodlur View Post
The Caska Unit looks cool as well as the rear image. Does the rear camera comes on autiomatically when the reverse gear is engaged?
Thanks, Yes the reverse camera comes on automatically once you engage reverse.

Quote:
Originally Posted by gaurav_diavolo View Post
1) The tank is 47.5 litres
2) Its okay, once the car gets serviced first time, then would be the time to check Fuel Efficiency, till then enjoy the ride and be easy on her.
3) Yup, they are right. One key is with remote and the other without. Weird, but that's how it is. My key hasnt had a change of cells for the last 4 years. So they are right. The cell change process is very easy. And there is manually opening option too, nothing to worry.
4) There is a yellow light that will come on right above the bars when there are about 2 bars of fuel left. That would be the time when you should visit the pump. The car should take it, 38 to 40 litres of petrol at that point. If you are unable to reach pump even then, nothing to worry, civic can easily go on for 50 odd kms after all bars have disappeared.
Thanks @gaurav the final price has been mentioned above. Also appreciate all the detailed responses, this will help me in not getting surprised.

Finally some more pictures

Dhanno meets Banno – My Silver Civic VMT-20111213-15.15.52.jpg

Dhanno meets Banno – My Silver Civic VMT-20111213-15.15.19.jpg

Dhanno meets Banno – My Silver Civic VMT-20111213-15.14.10.jpg

Dhanno meets Banno – My Silver Civic VMT-20111213-15.15.43.jpg

Dhanno meets Banno – My Silver Civic VMT-20111213-15.14.43.jpg

Dhanno meets Banno – My Silver Civic VMT-20111213-15.13.22.jpg

Connected through Bluetooth to my Android mobile and plays music through A2DP (Advanced Audio Distribution Profile (A2DP) - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bluetooth_profile).

Dhanno meets Banno – My Silver Civic VMT-20111213-15.17.52.jpg

Last edited by mayankjha1806 : 13th December 2011 at 16:04.
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Old 13th December 2011, 17:05   #8
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Re: Dhanno meets Banno – My Silver Civic VMT

Congrats on bringing Banno home. The car is still a head turner for me, even with so many cars on road.
My uncle has a 2007 VMT and i just love it. It's a car which is at home both in the city as well as on the highway. All this while keeping you happy too.

AFAIK,the Civic is quite inexpensive to service. My uncle's Wagon R used to be more expensive to maintain.

AFA fuel efficiency is concerned, it returns around 10kmpl in city and 13-15kmpl on highway(with full AC in both condition). Just let it settle down till first service and then FE will improve.

Wishing you many happy miles in(or is it on?) banno....

PS: Doesn't the V come with a sunroof. I thought the new Civic V came with a sunroof. Correct me if i am wrong.
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Old 13th December 2011, 17:28   #9
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Re: Dhanno meets Banno – My Silver Civic VMT

Congratulations on the Banno Mayank.

This is a completely problem free car (2 colleagues at office can vouch for it).

Do not let valets and drivers mess with the remote though.

Wishing you and your family many safe miles.
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Old 13th December 2011, 17:56   #10
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Re: Dhanno meets Banno – My Silver Civic VMT

Congrats Mayank. Civic is a wonderful car to own. It is absolutely trouble free (touch wood!) and a joy to drive and travel in. The caska unit fits well and looks completely OEM. You seems to have got a great price as well. I paid nearly 15.6 OTR for my V-AT in Feb 2010. FE will be typically around 9-11 kmpl in city driving conditions. It can go up quite a lot on highways, about early 20s for MT.
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Old 13th December 2011, 18:00   #11
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Re: Dhanno meets Banno – My Silver Civic VMT

Congratulations. Your new car looks stunning. The Caska unit looks fabulous. As you perhaps already know, answers to most of the questions can be found in the long term Civic thread. Enjoy and drive safe.

Last edited by dot : 13th December 2011 at 18:03.
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Old 13th December 2011, 19:36   #12
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Re: Dhanno meets Banno – My Silver Civic VMT

Congratulations Mayank. Awesome deal and car is great, the Caska unit gels very well with the interior - a great package overall. Thanks for this very useful thread, will help a lot of us when researching for cars. And special thanks for the live demo and ride. Wishing you very Happy Civic drives !

Last edited by NPV : 13th December 2011 at 19:39.
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Old 13th December 2011, 20:54   #13
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Re: Dhanno meets Banno – My Silver Civic VMT

Congratulations Mayank!

I think you took the right decision, since a part of you still wants a SUV. The Accord is as expensive as a good SUV (Fortuner, say)- might as well buy a truck that can take you anywhere a few years down the line instead of spending on an expensive D segment sedan that gives incremental benefits over a C+ segment sedan.

That Sarjapur road bumper that played an important role in your evaluation: I cross it regularly. I don't bother about it much given that my other vehicle is a SX4 :-)

Last edited by nilanjanray : 13th December 2011 at 20:57.
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Old 13th December 2011, 21:05   #14
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Re: Dhanno meets Banno – My Silver Civic VMT

Congrats on the new Civic. I would say buying this now is better than waiting for the facelifted car as I find this model much more sexy! Wish you miles of happy & safe motoring!

Quote:
Originally Posted by mayankjha1806 View Post
Suddenly I was interested in the black fury, she had a wonderful stance, awesome grace. Decided to call my Malkin.

Malkin – ok, how is it.
Me – It’s got the thing you wanted, Sunroof.
Just to check, a Civic with sunroof is available as option now - so why didn't you choose it? From the above post I make out that your wife would have loved to have a sun-roof.
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Old 13th December 2011, 21:42   #15
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Re: Dhanno meets Banno – My Silver Civic VMT

Note: The below comment is not meant to offend anyone, it is purely my personal opinion.

I guess it is just me, but from the pics you have posted (esp. the front) Baleno looks more commanding than the Civic, yeah Civic looks more modern and stylish and sexy (as some would call it), but Baleno looks rock solid (May be the black color of the Baleno is playing tricks on my mind) .
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