[Cartman]

What a roller-coaster ride! I enjoyed reading every bit of it! Great narration!

[rr_zen]

@Sandy: Congrats on your purchase and sorry to hear about the theft and the other unpleasant incidents that ensued.

IMO, Sundaram Honda has not been favoured by many Honda owners in Chennai for their attitude and poor service. Their honeymoon(read that as monopoly) came to an end when Capital Honda set up shop. Now we have a third Honda dealer, Olympia Honda that belongs to the Khivraj group.

It would benefit the forum if you could narrate in detail your experience with Capital Honda.

Excellent choice of colour, by the way ! Congrats once again.

[oss]

For theft, the insurance should have paid the whole amount to you (net of deductible). Even if they consider accidental damage, as the incident happened within 6 months of purchase, you are entitled a full refund. Think you should take it up with the insurer for refund of the remaining amount.

How do you find the service experience at Capital Honda? Sundaram is totally incompetent when it comes to servicing.

[sandy261]

Originally Posted by Laxminarayan

So now back to square one choosing between the new ANHC and the Toyota.

Best wishes for your new car. Both Hondas and Toyotas are pretty good. You should hassle free and enjoyable ownership.

Originally Posted by nandans2005

How does one guage a good plastic? i am an illiterate at it ?

Its just relative. With a premium badging for the City, it could have been better.

Originally Posted by StarVegabond

Often the injuries and illness teach us the value of good health and fitness. I am sure the theft would have made you value your car and its features much more.

Definitely. No more parking without a security guy around

Originally Posted by anekho

Sandy, very nice review. Very unfortunate though, about the theft.
Just wondering - how do you find the performance in Chennai's city traffic? Is the car easy to handle?

Its a breeze to drive in the city. The car is very responsive and maneuvers well in traffic. Very comfortable taking those tight U-turns.

Originally Posted by vnabhi

Nice narration, Sandy. I am sorry about the theft though.

BTW, you paid more than 50% of the repair bill----is that not way to high for a car that is less than a year old? AFAIK, you' d only need to pay for the sun film and the total cleaning package.

90% of the parts were considered plastic with only 50% borne by the insurance company. Beyond 3 months had a depreciation to it. Need to re-look at the insurance side when its due for renewal

[Mevtec]

Originally Posted by sandy261

ANHC was never the car I wanted to purchase when I started looking for a new car in Jan 2009. Considered hatchbacks only due to budget (started with a budget under Rs. 5L).

Decided to go ahead on a Polished Metal Metallic SMT variant.


27-Mar-09 was the D-Day.

To do in the furture - DO A PDI. The emotions of waiting for 3 months to buy a car made me think - "Let me get the damn car. It should be good". Heart over head. One thing I have promised myself not to do again.

Overall - Clocked 15000 Kms.

Hi Friend congrats.I just checked.I got my car on 28 March 2009 and the car (White SMT) has run 11000km.No faults till now.Car is going for 4th service in a few days.



I also started on a low budjet,but after driving the iVTEC I fell for it.Only thing I was worried about was the fuel efficiency.But the car is almost as efficient as NHC.



Going for SMT was a wise decision.Thanks for bringing to notice that the ICE can be stealed.I thought inbuilt car sterios cannot be stolen!I am worried.
I also didnot do a PDI,after reading Team Bhp for more than a year.
Please continue to update.

[nandans2005]

Sandy,

I just logged on this morning.

Its disgusting to see your car like this man . I am really sorry about this incident. It hurts seeing the pictures itself. I understand what you would have undergone seeing it in your eyes.

Why dont you think of a good secured parking place?

Pick up and carry on mate.

[sandy261]

Originally Posted by rr_zen

It would benefit the forum if you could narrate in detail your experience with Capital Honda.

Originally Posted by oss

How do you find the service experience at Capital Honda? Sundaram is totally incompetent when it comes to servicing.

I am putting together my thoughts on the Capital Honda service. Should be out soon

Originally Posted by Mevtec

Hi Friend congrats.I just checked.I got my car on 28 March 2009 and the car (White SMT) has run 11000km.No faults till now.Car is going for 4th service in a few days.



I also started on a low budjet,but after driving the iVTEC I fell for it.Only thing I was worried about was the fuel efficiency.But the car is almost as efficient as NHC.



Going for SMT was a wise decision.Thanks for bringing to notice that the ICE can be stealed.I thought inbuilt car sterios cannot be stolen!I am worried.
I also didnot do a PDI,after reading Team Bhp for more than a year.
Please continue to update.

Our ownership of AHNC started almost at the same time. Good to hear that you are enjoying your car. Breaking it to car is easy. Thats my experience. I am looking for a good security systems to be installed in the car. Couldnt convice anything better than a physical security guy. Asked the Sundaram Honda guys about a security system. Honda does not recommend a security system is the response I had got. Any after market installation would void the warranty

Need to update my first post with security of the car being poor.

Originally Posted by nandans2005

Sandy,

I just logged on this morning.

Its disgusting to see your car like this man . I am really sorry about this incident. It hurts seeing the pictures itself. I understand what you would have undergone seeing it in your eyes.

Why dont you think of a good secured parking place?

Pick up and carry on mate.

The car is always parked in a secured area. My building has a security for each block and its pretty safe there. The office area is also like a fortress with all sorts of security. It was an one night stay outside when the breakin happended. Parked the car at midnight and was supposed to drive back to Chennai early morning. Few hours of misfourtune!!

I am no more worried about the incident. It is just a small memory now. Seeing the car in a broken condition was difficult but was sure to get it back to its original condition. Why brood over the past when you can enjoy today and the future. The car is fixed and I am enjoying every ride in it The experience gained is valueable though.

[sandy261]

On the first week of Dec I reached 15000Kms mark. It was time for my 4th service. Due to my previous experience with Sundaram Honda I had decided to do this service with Capital Honda. Capital Honda had opened a new service & sales facility at Perungudi Industrial Area (opened during the 1st week of Dec). Being closer to my place I decided to take the car to Perungudi service station.

I called the Service Manager on 11th Dec. Booked an appointment for 12th Dec 8:30 am and asked him for directions. He offered a pick and drop service and I preferred to go in person. He was very friendly and helpful all through the service. Arrived sharp 8:30am. I was the only customer at the service station. There were 5 other cars for service. All of them were pick and drop service.

- Service manager puts me on to a Service Advisor.
- A test drive was done by a Capital Honda. I am told they have a person whose only job is to test drive cars. I am told he is trained for test drive and only authorized person to do it (no sure if this a norm. Never had a test drive done at Sundaram Honda). No issues found after the test drive
- Since Synthetic oil change done at 10000 Kms. SA says no oil change for this service and only 15000 Kms check.
- No complaints on the car from my end.
- I ask for a wheel balancing and wheel alignment to be done.
- Estimate for service Rs. 2500/-
- I ask the SA to lift the car up so that I can check for damage due to scraping on the speed breakers. Scrape marks on front & rear (on what looked like a protective covering - not sure what they were called as). Looked for any rusts. None. Run through again with a mechanic. He says everything is fine.

I take my place in the customer lounge and have look at the service through the glass partition. Customary coffee/tea offered. One sales guy brings out a floor mat (Rs. 650/-) and seat cover (Rs. 6500/-). After a 1.5 hr work, the car is moved out to wash area.

The cleaning was done very well. Took them more than an hour and half - one round of pressure wash, one round with soap water, cleaning of exterior (normal cloth then with 3M cloth), one guy went patiently around clearing the dead insects from the front bumper, vaccum for inside, soap wash for interior plastics, glass cleaning, wheels (tyres+brake dust). The SA was all along standing with me making sure everything was done perfectly. The car looked like the new one I picked in Mar '09.

Sundaram Honda sticker come out and in goes Capital Honda. I ask for a monthly fee for free advertisement and we have laugh. Road test done. All ok and the car is ready for delivery.

About the garage (my opinion):

1. Location is little difficult to find the first time
2. Small compared to Sundaram Honda facility at Mount Road (have not seen their service area in Meenambakkam). Dont think they would be able to handle large nos.
3. Though they have a 8 member sales, the facility is not suitable for sales (my opinion). No display cars (not setup fully?). One TD City V and Jazz available. Location too is not suitable (on OMR would have been better).
4. There are initial starting problems
5. Not sure about how good their stores are stocked. Did enquire about items like alloys etc and they didnt have it.

Chit-Chat with multiple people around - nothing official:

1. Dealers are asking Honda for price cut for Jazz.
2. Prices for accessories are reduced eg. Jazz mudflap down from Rs. 6000/- (Crazy!!) to Rs. 1600/-, City alloys down to Rs. 30000/-
3. Multiple alloy options/design available for City: Indian make for Rs. 30000/-, Taiwan make for Rs. 58000/-.
4. Warranty will not be void on tyre up-size. I am planning to call up Honda and check this one.
5. "Completely redesigned" Civic expected to launched in 2010

Items 3,4 - not sure if this a dealer initiative. Sundaram Honda does not recommend any changes but found Capital Honda very accommodating. Anyone dealer offering these changes?

Total Bill: Rs. 1787/- (Rs. 735 for 15K service + Rs. 400 for wheel alignment + Rs. 375 for wheel balancing + Rs. 108 for parts + tax)
Overall Experience: 9/10 (Found lot of enthusiasm to assist and lot of effort to ensure I was satisfied with the car. It would be excellent if they can maintain it once their nos. grow)

(CAUTION: I have never been to their Meenambakkam facility and dont have any experience with Capital Honda prior to this visit. Personally I would build a firm opinion after multiple visit)

[edassery]

Thanks for your review... I had considered ANHC before putting another 2 lakhs to switch to Altis. The problems (despite a good engine, exterior design) I found with ANHC were

- Cheap plastics
- No alloys, no fog lamps, no electrically foldable ORVMs
- Not a great fabric
- Ground scraping as you said - it was really bad on Bangalore roads
- Overall feels cheap inside as compared to the old Honda City
- Smaller tires

I found the engine exciting if you were to do a 0-100 shoot out, beyond that it was probably not all that stable.

[INDIAN_VAGABOND]

Originally Posted by edassery

Thanks for your review... I had considered ANHC before putting another 2 lakhs to switch to Altis.

I found the engine exciting if you were to do a 0-100 shoot out, beyond that it was probably not all that stable.

I second the decision on altis.

I STILL REGRET THE OPTION OF NOT GOING IN FOR AN ALTIS OVER MY ANHC - SMT, THOUGH I HAD THE FINANCES TO DO IT.

In an overall perspective, the ANHC is just about an average package. Go for the CIVIC if you are persistent on the H badge.

ANHC not being steady after 100kmph is a pue myth. Agreed its not comparable to an Altis but the IVTEC is greatly refined and the CITY is stable as a rock till 150 KMPH.

[rr_zen]

@Sandy: Great review of the service centre. Its good that you got personalised attention which again as you mentioned is to be seen in future when more number of cars pour in.

One sales guy brings out a floor mat (Rs. 650/-) and seat cover (Rs. 6500/-).

I did not quite get this point of yours. Was the guy trying to sell you these ?

[sandy261]

Originally Posted by INDIAN_VAGABOND

ANHC not being steady after 100kmph is a pue myth. Agreed its not comparable to an Altis but the IVTEC is greatly refined and the CITY is stable as a rock till 150 KMPH.

I have done 140~145Km/Hr max on the car. Its ok in drives in a straight line but definitely not comfortable on the corners. There is a "floating" feeling. If its not a common experience then what can be checked on the car? (Gurus help please). Or simply its just me & the way I drive

Originally Posted by rr_zen

I did not quite get this point of yours. Was the guy trying to sell you these ?

Yes they were trying to sell them to me and didnt go for it.

I tried Xenos (at Nandanam) and Haute Cars (OMR) for the rubber floor mats. The price quoted was Rs. 950/- First time I am finding an accessory higher priced than in Honda showroom. Mats shown by Xenos was much better quality than Haute Cars. Xenos guys mentioned it as imported and perfumed.

[INDIAN_VAGABOND]

Originally Posted by sandy261

I have done 140~145Km/Hr max on the car. Its ok in drives in a straight line but definitely not comfortable on the corners. There is a "floating" feeling. If its not a common experience then what can be checked on the car? (Gurus help please). Or simply its just me & the way I drive

Iam a regular weekender on the Mum - Pune Expressway and still ahead on NH4.

Never felt the need to come down on speed in my ANHC at most of the corners - they have all been negotiated in the 130 - 140 speed range and if they was a floating feeling then i dint probably realise it

[abishek2222]

No floating Feeling for me Either,Car corners well even at 130.Went upto 185 didn't feel any diffrent on the straight line.However suspension and brakes don't quite add up at that speed. At least from personal experience while driving behind a skoda i found that the skoda was simply rolling over the pot holes and speed breakers as though they didn't exist, at the same time my ANHC was producing bone jarring shocks forcing me to cut speed & drive slowly over Speed Breakers and Pot holes

[sandy261]

With Odo at 193xx Kms and a 2 week off from office, decided to do 20000Kms service little early. Picked up a week day to beat over the weekend rush.

Workshop: Capital Honda, Perungudi
Work Done: Synthetic Oil change, Oil filter change, Air Filter change, Wheel alignment & balancing, 5 wheel rotation, throttle body cleaning, clutch bleeding
Total Cost: 5215 (Parts: 2666; Labour Cost: 2010; Service Tax on Labour: 207; Local Sales Tax: 333)

Workshop experience: 4/5 With low number of cars to service, you get a personalized service. The atmosphere is relaxed and service team is friendly and accomodating. Would definitely recommend the workshop for service.

Ready for delivery: