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-   -   It's Me and My Honda City i-VTEC - It's Us Against the World! EDIT: Sold! (https://www.team-bhp.com/forum/long-term-ownership-reviews/95840-its-me-my-honda-city-i-vtec-its-us-against-world-edit-sold.html)

Recently we bought an all new Honda city and here is how the whole things took shape.
I started out with a budget of up to 10 lakhs. Fuel efficiency, after sales service, inside space,fine drivability and resale value were my prime concerns. I needed a car with atleast 100+ BHP and basic features like power windows, ABS,airbags, keyless entry etc and would be reatining it for at least 5-7 years. I short listed three cars - maruti sx4, fiat linea, all new Honda city.

I took out Linea due to a few reasons.

Linea: Very good car. Has got mostly everyting I wanted. Scored high on my parameters (Except Power). However, I doubted about Tata’s service and also felt insecure after knowing past fiat behaviors in India( I mean what happened to fiat sienna, palio, Uno?).Tata has always been criticized for their lack of after sales support.

Now, I have two options – Maruti SX4 and Honda City.

No Discounts have been taken into consideration (Honda city won’t giveyou
much discounts unlike SX4). If you consider discounts, SX4 CNG
will be even more attractive. After dropping linea, I finally had to decide between SX4 and Honda city. I took a test ride with my friend for 30 mins on Maruti SX4 ZXi. I drove
my friend’s Honda City SMT. So, the following is a result of my own judgment.

Engine: Both cars have comparable engines in terms of power and there is nothing really to choose from.
Honda City has 118 PS power, whereas SX4 has 105 PS. Initially I thought more the power lesser the fuel economy, though I was wrong.

Gear Box: City’s gearbox is smoother and the gears shifting is easier as compared to SX4(as I felt)

GC : The GC of SX4 is a massive 180, now that even makes an Scorpio to feel shy over bad roads.While the Honda city GC is only 160 which is its major negative point.

Dashboard: Quality of Plastics seemed better/sturdier in SX4 while
in City, fit and finish of plastics is not that elegant.

Drivability : Both cars are good in this area, though there is more confidence in sx4 because of the higher GC.

Maneuverability: city is better to maneuver in traffic and it is
“Zippy”, compared to SX4 which is more huge/solid and hence
Difficult to maneuver, reversing an SX4 is a difficult task.

Cabin Space: City has more cabin space as i felt (though overall dimension is Less than SX4).

Seating: City has the advantage of driver’s seat adjuster which the sx4 doesn’t.(or it has?)

Smoothness: City has a smoother ride, especially for people at the
back.

Cabin Noise : City’s motor feels dead when it starts, its absolutely
quit and engine sound during drive is negligible.

Rear-Seat Comfort : Much better in City.

Mileage : City has been shown to give higher mileage. But the new
SX4 VVT claims to give more. Expect 10-14 Km on an average and
Nothing much to choose from here.

AC : SX4 has auto climate control, city has manual but the ANHC AC cools much faster than SX4.

Utilities : City has provision for four speakers, same for sx4
But the sound quality of sx4 music system is not remarkable. City integrated audio system’s sound is very good in fact appreciable.

Looks : SX4 is a huge car and looks majestic. Honda city’s got killer looks which is just unbeatable IMO.

After Sale Service/Spares : SX4 will be better entirely due to
Maruti’s wide extensive network

Resale: Will be better for maruti SX4

I had almost made my mind to buy the SX4 but following things put me off after test ride.

1. uncomfortable back-seat ride (Important because I need to
drive with 4/5 people consistently)
2. Overall not plush Ride
3. looks doesn’t inspire
4. Noisy Engine & Cabin as compared to city
5. Less Effective AC as compared to city
6. low mileage of 6-7 KMPL reported by several SX4 owners.

I got City S-MT (habanero red) at a discount of 30,000 (Due to a special Honda’s Promotion – the great Honda fest).I bought this car from Ring Road Honda, delhi and their sales team approach towards me was just excellent, every work was done in smooth and friendly manner.The car fulfills my entire criterion I noted down at the beginning.

The car has done around 2000 KM and hasn't given any problem, the RTMI is showing mileage of around 13-15 kmpl. The first service was done at 700 KM and only general check up was done but the engine oil was not changed, i was wondering why Honda people suggest oil change at 5000 km whereas in maruti the oil change is done at first service.

Congratulation bluevolt

Nicely written review and thanks for brining up the pictures.

I would like to add that City has a good resale value compared to SX4 and I have read in the same forum that SX4 plastic quality is not up to the standard.

Please do update the thread frequently with your experience.

Happy and safe driving

Congrats on the City! And an awesome color! My fav on the car, suits it very well!!
Am sure like the other regular city customers you'll be pretty happy with it. Super good package it is, truly an all-rounder!

Please pardon me for mentioning this on your thread!
I don't like the center-facia in the City at all! They should be doing/offering better for a 10Lakh car! The AC controls for one, look specially terrible. Changing these 'knobs' to the full disc type with chrome inserts on the edges would for sure make them a lot more pleasing! Just my 2 cents!

Congratulations on the ANHC bluevolt.:thumbs up The colour looks good on the car. The pics do complete justice to your buy.

What was the final OTR cost? Any mods planned? What are your views of the city tackling the speed breakers, are you comfortable with that since GC is low.

Happy mile crunching and drive safely.

The difference is in the quality of engines. When and engine comes out of the factory, it has metal dust particles and rough surfaces which smooth out during the first running period and cleaned up with the first oil change.

Honda being a world leader in engine technology, has refined the manufacturing process wherein all these issues are vastly reduced. The post manufacturing engine preparation at the factory also helps.

To put it simply, it is due to the difference between Honda's and Suzuki's manufacturing quality.

Thanks camchennai for the wishes. i would add more pictures soon.

Thanks dryice. i agree with you regarding the AC control knobs, they could have been better.
Thanks ghodlur. The ex showroom price for city SMT is 8,62,000 + 30,273 for insurance + 70,975 for registration = 9,63,248 INR.

I have just put on side moldings till now, was earlier planning to sun films too but one of my friend told me that it can damage the rear defogger so that put my plans for film on hold.

Thanks for sharing information vivriti

Few more photos.

PS - how the team-bhp sign appear on my photos, i am uploading through attach files option.

Very well written ownership report! :thumbs up

I find myself pretty happy to note that you've made a right decision regarding the car and color. Yeah, this is my favorite shade on Honda City!

I take your views on Fiat Linea with a pinch of salt. How come you say that Fiat Linea is low on power?

PS: I have assumed that you're comparing Honda City with Fiat Linea 1.4 T-JET.

Thanks Surviving brain for your compliments. we were earlier going for beige color but later my mom suggested to go for red.

when we booked the car in early oct 2010 the linea T-jet was not available, the first gen linea was taken into consideration. linea T-JET has respectable power for sure, but it was launched after we booked the car and hence we ignored it.

Congrats on your purchase. Lovely color, I must say. Buying a Honda is a safe bet. Reliability, after sales support, you name it.

In my opinion, the Sx4 feels bulky. Some do like that, but it comes down to personal preferences.

The Linea scores on looks. I'm a bit skeptical about the after sales.



Wishing you many happy miles!

Cheers!
Cartman. :)

Congrats on the ANHC ! You have made the right choice.

i do own one from past 2 years. The car is great.

I thought the new cars come with the rotary AC knob in the centre. I see the old type in your car. How come ? Can you check on this ?

Can you clarify what you are trying to say here please ?


Honda's support in terms of service and the quality of service simply sucks.
A lot is left to be desired.

Congratulations and welcome to ANHC club.

I own the same colour, ANHC has better resale value than SX4 as of now, might change once we have a diesel option.

Drive safe and have fun with IVTEC.

Cheers
Raghu

Thanks cartman for your wishes.

Thanks nandans2005 for wishes. The rotary AC knobs are like that only in Honda city(Mine is SMT variant).

Thanks raghu230506.

PS - I am applying formula one wax(original) every 30 days. Is it safe to do so frequently?

Nandan, SMT has the same knobs. It's VMT which has different ones.

No issues, you can use it, but make sure surface is smooth (clay it if required), else you would leave lot of swirls on the car.

Congratulations on the ANHC "bluevolt". I too have same colour and drive has been very good for last 8 months. Although ANHC does not have Auto climate control, AC has been quite effective so far. The real test will be in coming summer.

You can safely put the Sun film including the rear glass. It will not affect the rear-defrogger if installed with professional hand. You can refer to other owners thread or my thread for details of sun film installation.

Just make sure that you put the film from a genuine dealer (3M or LLumar or VKool, depending upon budget).

As ANHC has large glass area, sun film will definitely improve effectiveness of the AC.

Enjoy your drive and do keep updating the thread.