[wilful]

Goodbye to you my trusted friend
We’ve known each other since... the past six years (just modifying the words to suit this context).

She has gone – taken by another finally, yesterday. So I guess this is the appropriate time for me to share my long term user experience in a nutshell.
I bought the Honda City ZX CVT in the last week of April 2006. It was my first automatic car. For long I had been wanting to make the daily grind of driving in the city an easier experience – more so since I do not keep a driver. Options were, at the time, limited to just the Honda City (at my budget). Since I was an existing Honda user, it was fait acompli. Within a day or two, I was a complete slave to the automatic.
The car did approx 60,900 kms in the six years of ownership.

Likes (are many)--

The design.
Space & comfort – the family just loved it.
Ease of driving – especially the EPS which is the bugbear of many an enthusuiast. I just love the extremely light steering.
The fit and finish.
The smooth engine.

Dislikes (not too many) --

Lack of safety features like airbags & abs.
The low clearance.
(The aircon I always felt could have been a bit stronger – but I wouldn’t really call it a dislike)

Faults –

In all the years of use the biggest problem for me was tyre wear. Of course I would attribute this mainly to the extremely poor roads in Cochin (especially on my daily route) and my laxity in keeping check of the tyre pressure regularly. I changed the original set of tyres – Bridgestone - at around 23000 kms (they probably had another 5000 kms of use) - went in for Goodyear which lasted till 55000 kms. Put in Bridgestone again – but this time with better roads and care on my part, it looks as if they’ll last for much longer than the first two sets.

After 2 years of use, I started experiencing a kind of engine jerking (I can’t express it better) during sudden acceleration and at certain speeds. The service centre told me it was a problem with some electronic part which was replaced free of cost. This has come back in a much milder form of late (just the odd occasion). The service centre could not find any fault.

Steering rattle – this developed after 50,000 kms. The rattle was noticeable on uneven surfaces. According to the service centre, the permanent solution was to replace the rack – which would have set me back by 40 K. They however did a temporary fix which they said would keep it going for a while – the rattle came down considerably.

Slight judder while taking off with a slight metallic sound and a jerkiness while braking – developed after 50,000 kms. Again checked with the service centre – diagnosed as drop in CVT fluid quality and replacement done. Some improvement thereafter.

FE was approx 9 kms within town and approx 13 on the highway – tank to tank – aircon working all the time.

Overall it was a happy experience using this car and it was with a tinge of regret that the decision was taken to part with it.

[HorsPwr]

Its very difficult to part ways from a car, which we would have loved and attached emotionally. Which car are you going for now ? Another offing from the Honda stable or some other brand for a change. Going by your record, my guess is you are going to bring another Honda home.

[s4ch]

What made you change? The New Honda City or something, bigger, better, faster?

[eagles_ts]

Nice experience. Its always hard to let go of your car. I was/am so attached to my first car that when I bought a new car I decided to retain the old one as a second car. Do let us know which car you've bought.

[wilful]

Originally Posted by HorsPwr

Its very difficult to part ways from a car, which we would have loved and attached emotionally. Which car are you going for now ? Another offing from the Honda stable or some other brand for a change. Going by your record, my guess is you are going to bring another Honda home.

Originally Posted by s4ch

What made you change? The New Honda City or something, bigger, better, faster?

Bang on Horspwr & s4ch! I have zeroed in on the New Honda City AT - will take delivery tomorrow. There never was another other contender. Will be my third City in a row.