[sgiitk]

@adarsh76 & @amitkb; Wait for a couple of years and the maintenance of the VW will teach you a few lessons. God forbid if you need any repairs.

[wilful]

Originally Posted by sgiitk

@adarsh76 & @amitkb; Wait for a couple of years and the maintenance of the VW will teach you a few lessons. God forbid if you need any repairs.

I'd love to believe this is true (since I am a 3 time Honda owner) - but is it really so? Has someone done an average maintenance cost comparison of these two (and maybe a couple of other sedans in the segment like Verna and Ford) over a 3 or 5 year period? If it is so, I wonder what the cost percentage is.
For eg. My recent 20000 kms service of the City cost me 9350/-. Wonder what a Vento (petrol) 20000 kms service costs.

[Rajeevraj]

Originally Posted by wilful

I'd love to believe this is true (since I am a 3 time Honda owner) - but is it really so? Has someone done an average maintenance cost comparison of these two (and maybe a couple of other sedans in the segment like Verna and Ford) over a 3 or 5 year period? If it is so, I wonder what the cost percentage is.
For eg. My recent 20000 kms service of the City cost me 9350/-. Wonder what a Vento (petrol) 20000 kms service costs.

Vento's service interval is 1 year/15,000 KM (Even the first service after you drive it out of the showroom is actually only after a year/15,000 KM- But since customers were so used to the 1 month, 3 month 6 months service, VW introduced a 6 month/7500 KM 'Check-up'). So a Vento will not be due for a regular service at 20,000 KM. Guess that is one point that's missed by many. From a regular maintenance perspective, I think the longer service intervals balance out any increased regular maintenance costs.

If you need major repairs/fixes not covered by warranty, agree it can end up being much more expensive than the Hyundai's and Honda's.

[geotracks]

Originally Posted by tejas08

Finally the Princess (Snow White) Arrives. Took the delivery of V MT iVTEC yesterday evening.

I am so in love with this car. (This is my first car, why wouldn't I be in love with it)

Went to the Showroom (Arya Honda, Bhandup) at about 03:30 PM completed all the formalities and a small Pooja in the Showroom and took off at 05:00 PM. Drove Straight to a Ganapati (Ganesha) Mandir in Mulund (West) did a nice Pooja of the vehicle over there.

From there headed directly to the Tyre Store and upgraded the Tyres. I was lucky enough to have Michelin XM1s as Stock, but then decided to upgrade anyway to Michelin XM2 195/60. Got it at Rs. 6200 for a set of 4 tyres after exchange of the Stock Tyres (Thats Rs. 1550 per tyre). The Dealer did not have another one of the XM2 hence had to settle for 4 right now. Will be getting the Spare Tyre changed by the weekend from the same dealer once stock arrives.

Did not do much of a photo session at the showroom but here's a picture I took while the car was being readied for handing over. Have a couple of more photos in my Camera while officially taking the delivery which I will upload shortly.

Congratulations! Great buy and wishing you many miles of trouble free drive, after all it is a HONDA . The white color looks nice and is in demand.

Do post more pictures of your princess.

[amitkb]

Originally Posted by sgiitk

@adarsh76 & @amitkb; Wait for a couple of years and the maintenance of the VW will teach you a few lessons. God forbid if you need any repairs.

Originally Posted by wilful

For eg. My recent 20000 kms service of the City cost me 9350/-. Wonder what a Vento (petrol) 20000 kms service costs.

I'd love to carry this discussion forward, including getting feedback from @sgiitk about the horror facts/figures he surely knows, but that would hijack this thread. I posted my story here only because I canceled my City booking.

Noopster, the moderator, would be a solid contributor to this discussion.

Moderators, please open/merge with an appropriate thread so we can discuss this issue threadbare.

Amit

[jesrani]

I need a replacement for my SX4 Zxi as my running is 1500km a month. Took a TD of the top end diesel a few weeks back. The car is excellent. Comfortable, easy to drive, acceptable acceleration, excellent brakes, superb short gears, big boot. What else does one need.
The noise and GC are the only factors which I am not sure about. The SX4 is good in both these departments. Can anyone give advice whether the car is comfortable in these aspects. We regularly travel as 2 adults plus 2 kids on the highway, with some luggage. So a low GC will be a problem. Also, roads in my town are not good. The SX4 has never given any problem but the Punto scraps sometimes.
I am also thinking that "V" seems to be more VFM than "VX", or is the "VX" worth the extra money?

[Rocketscience]

Originally Posted by Rocketscience

Things that i noticed today :-
3-Engine refinement is a huge improvement over the test drive vehicles and the car is very refined till about 2500 rpm (like ravenavi pointed out) , noise levels at those rpms were lower than my Cruze!
4-Although it seems on paper that the SV variant comes with 4 speakers and no tweeters , so its naturally assumed that the speakers would be the same as V and VX variants but the tweeters are missing but sadly that's not the case.The speakers that come with the SV variant are downright pathetic and are even worse than my 2010 i20's OEM speakers! Upgrade was on the cards anyways but it'll happen much sooner now , these speakers are amongst the worst speakers i've ever heard. (was playing itunes m4a files via my ipod which was connected with the USB cable)

Things i'd like to add after driving the car for 500 Kms , 20 days.

1-I have no idea if there is a run-in period for speakers but the speakers now sound mediocre on the scale of pathetic to excellent , they sounded downright pathetic when i got the car but slowly the bass improved a little bit and they don't distort and merge frequencies like my friend's ecosport's.Update is still on the cards and will happen soon.

2-The overall Ride quality with Yokohama R1s is satisfactory (improves with increase in speed) , never got a chance to test the car with 15 inch wheels on broken tarmac but with 16 inchers , almost all the potholes are felt inside the cabin at low speeds , the ride is very stiff and everyone complained about it being bone jarring.Even my i20 took the potholes better. (That could be because of higher profile tyres it was running on)

3-The grip levels , high speed behavior and braking saw a huge improvement with the yokohamas and i'm glad i went with them , grip levels are superior to Primacy LCs in our Cruze.

4-The Air conditioner feels strictly average at 39 degrees and is by no ways a chiller , the coming months would put the AC to a hard test , i just pray they didnt go for a smaller compressor with the city (than Amaze) to compensate for the excess weight of the car just to keep the mileage and acceleration in check. (Please excuse my scepticism , but having driven i20 with a pathetic air conditioner i'm just scared they didnt went that way)

Other than these small points the car on the whole is excellent and i'm loving it , we'll always be driving the car in city and the car is more than Fit for this job , the low end torque makes City driveability a breeze , the brakes do their job very well and the high speed stability (over semi broken roads) is good too , the space inside is abundant and post the 16 inch alloy wheels , i feel the car looks excellent from the outside. The noise from the engine has not been bothersome at all.

Overall F.E so far 14.4 , which is lower than what other bhpians are getting but pretty satisfactory overall. Ive adopted a sedate driving style so far and have completely changed my driving style for this car (as of now) , just to check the maximum efficiency (with the added benefit of parents being happy and surprised with this kind of driving) and this is the best i could manage. fun will begin post 2500km Run in period , when i come back to my way of driving.

[vsrivatsa]

Originally Posted by jesrani

I need a replacement for my SX4 Zxi as my running is 1500km a month. Took a TD of the top end diesel a few weeks back. The car is excellent. Comfortable, easy to drive, acceptable acceleration, excellent brakes, superb short gears, big boot. What else does one need.
The noise and GC are the only factors which I am not sure about. The SX4 is good in both these departments. Can anyone give advice whether the car is comfortable in these aspects. We regularly travel as 2 adults plus 2 kids on the highway, with some luggage. So a low GC will be a problem. Also, roads in my town are not good. The SX4 has never given any problem but the Punto scraps sometimes.
I am also thinking that "V" seems to be more VFM than "VX", or is the "VX" worth the extra money?

The 2014 Honda City does not have any GC Problems - Honda has made the suspension stiffer. Given that your needs include highway driving regularly, an upsize of tyres would be recommended to 195/60R15 which will further increase the GC by another 3-4 mm.

If you are moving from a Petrol car then the noise may bother you for sometime. I moved from a 3 cylinder diesel and did not have anything to complain about.

That depends on what you prefer: the VX will provide you a Sun Roof, leather upholstery + leather wrap for Steering wheel, Button Start and remote trunk opener as extra. I went in for the V and I am happy with the car.

Originally Posted by Rocketscience

2-The overall Ride quality with Yokohama R1s is satisfactory (improves with increase in speed) , never got a chance to test the car with 15 inch wheels on broken tarmac but with 16 inchers , almost all the potholes are felt inside the cabin at low speeds , the ride is very stiff and everyone complained about it being bone jarring.Even my i20 took the potholes better. (That could be because of higher profile tyres it was running on)

Overall F.E so far 14.4 , which is lower than what other bhpians are getting but pretty satisfactory overall. Ive adopted a sedate driving style so far and have completely changed my driving style for this car (as of now) , just to check the maximum efficiency (with the added benefit of parents being happy and surprised with this kind of driving) and this is the best i could manage. fun will begin post 2500km Run in period , when i come back to my way of driving.

Agreed the the ride is stiff at low speeds and we do get the feedback inside quite a bit. Again, I guess this has been done to overcome the low GC problem. Mileage appears to be decent for the tyres that you have gone for and the upgraded Rim.

[adarsh76]

Originally Posted by amitkb

I'd love to carry this discussion forward, including getting feedback from @sgiitk about the horror facts/figures he surely knows, but that would hijack this thread. I posted my story here only because I canceled my City booking.

Noopster, the moderator, would be a solid contributor to this discussion.

Moderators, please open/merge with an appropriate thread so we can discuss this issue threadbare.

Amit

The service cost is going to be same for all cars considering that Honda/Hyundai cars service interval is 10000 kms / 1 year whereas for most European cars it is 15000 kms / 1 year.

It is the spare parts cost which makes a huge difference. Just quoting one example here. My ex company boss back in 2007 had a Skoda Octavia. Service costs about 12000 every 15000 kms. But what he'd a shocker was that the AC compressor failed at 50000 kms about 3 years back. Skoda quoted an amount of 45000 bucks including labour charges and taxes. What he did was, through his friend he arranged the compressor from Singapore (Evaded import duty.. dont ask me how, I dont know) and got it fixed through an outside AC technician. The cost now was 19000 including everything.

In fact, I visited this AC technician and found many luxury branded cars including BMW, Audi for AC repair

Whoever, buying European cars should be prepared to pay huge amount (mostly taxes and labour cost) on spare parts. The scenario will continue until there is a localisation of manufacturing these spare parts. Hope the localization will not reduce quality.

[tosathyas]

Got a call from SA informing that I can expect the delivery next week. Can you help me with what all should I do/don't before/during/after delivery. Having waited for abt 4 months wonder if I have to do PDI and what if I find anything. Any specific experience from Pride Honda, Madhapur, Hyd ?

I am thinking of front grill change, scuff plate, tyre (confused). Is there any solution to cover the interiors of bootlid and some floor mats for boot? Anything to be checked at 3M?

Is it possible to get auto headlights on enabled/installed?

What else should I look out?

[_raVan_]

Originally Posted by tosathyas

Got a call from SA informing that I can expect the delivery next week. Can you help me with what all should I do/don't before/during/after delivery. Having waited for abt 4 months wonder if I have to do PDI and what if I find anything. Any specific experience from Pride Honda, Madhapur, Hyd ?

PDI is a must. You can follow the TBHP PDI guidelines.

I am thinking of front grill change, scuff plate, tyre (confused). Is there any solution to cover the interiors of bootlid and some floor mats for boot? Anything to be checked at 3M?

Tyre change is highly recommended. You can get excellent rates if you change your brand new OEM tyres. As of now no solution has been proposed to cover the boot lid. Rest like grill change, scuff plate and 3M detailing are cosmetic and can be done later on.

Is it possible to get auto headlights on enabled/installed?

What else should I look out?

I dont think auto headlights can be installed/enabled unless there is a part released by Honda itself.

[avdhesh15]

Originally Posted by jesrani

I need a replacement for my SX4 Zxi.

I was in exactly the same boat as you... I had a 2010 SX4 ZXI running 1200km per month in Mumbai. Totally agreed that it had set high expectations but I went on the hunt since it had to be changed.

I TD'd all competing cars but none came close to the SX4 in terms of most factors. However, I saw the City during launch and booked the petrol version (without driving).

GC isn't an issue yet on the pathetic Mumbai roads, but you will have to curb the trucking instincts which comes naturally with the SX4... the car is way more silent than the SX4 and only makes noise when you rev it up (that's not noise, that's music!).

Finally, I went for the V-MT over the VX-MT as I didn't want to pay Rs 1.5 lacs extra for leather seats, start button, leather seats, etc. The V version is good with the reverse camera, alloys, retractable mirrors, etc. If it came with CVT, I might have considered it, but I wasn't willing to pay Rs 2.5 lacs extra by going from V-MT to VX-CVT.

If you need any further info, you can PM me.

[Jyotil]

Originally Posted by tejas08

Finally the Princess (Snow White) Arrives. Took the delivery of V MT iVTEC yesterday evening.

I am so in love with this car. (This is my first car, why wouldn't I be in love with it)

Went to the Showroom (Arya Honda, Bhandup) at about 03:30 PM completed all the formalities and a small Pooja in the Showroom and took off at 05:00 PM. Drove Straight to a Ganapati (Ganesha) Mandir in Mulund (West) did a nice Pooja of the vehicle over there.

From there headed directly to the Tyre Store and upgraded the Tyres. I was lucky enough to have Michelin XM1s as Stock, but then decided to upgrade anyway to Michelin XM2 195/60. Got it at Rs. 6200 for a set of 4 tyres after exchange of the Stock Tyres (Thats Rs. 1550 per tyre). The Dealer did not have another one of the XM2 hence had to settle for 4 right now. Will be getting the Spare Tyre changed by the weekend from the same dealer once stock arrives.

Did not do much of a photo session at the showroom but here's a picture I took while the car was being readied for handing over. Have a couple of more photos in my Camera while officially taking the delivery which I will upload shortly.

Congratulations and wish you many miles of fun filled driving!!

You got a great buyback value for XM1s. Which dealer did you replace it from? Am also waiting for my VX - CVT delivered and tyre change is on the top of my to-so list.

[//M]

Should engine oil be replaced before 10000 kms on the City i-DTEC? My SP and the workshop personnel insist that I get it changed only while nearing 10000 kms and till then I need not worry about the performance of the engine as it has been designed to run upto 10000 kms without the first oil change. The user manual also suggests the same. The SP says lot of testing and investments have gone into making the engine modern and handle such situations and if Honda says 10000 kms that means no owner should be worried about the engine's performance.

Should I go the traditional way of getting the oil replaced in the first/second servicing or shall I go with the user manual and the workshop personnel and wait till the 3rd servicing to get the oil replaced?

[harry10]

Originally Posted by //M

Should engine oil be replaced before 10000 kms on the City i-DTEC? My SP and the workshop personnel insist that I get it changed only while nearing 10000 kms and till then I need not worry about the performance of the engine as it has been designed to run upto 10000 kms without the first oil change. The user manual also suggests the same.

Should I go the traditional way of getting the oil replaced in the first/second servicing or shall I go with the user manual and the workshop personnel and wait till the 3rd servicing to get the oil replaced?

I had discussed this with the service advisor on my last visit to the showroom. He stated the same that it should be change at the service interval stated as per manual. Personally I will go with whatever manual suggests as the manufacturer knows it's car the best.