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Honda City collides head on with a Tata Sumo at Jasola, Delhi. Airbags don't deploy!

One-off incident, or a sign of things to come?

Their response may be correct. Unfortunately, a low slung car can slide under a high vehicle like a Sumo, causing damage without triggering airbag sensors. Which is why Western countries have laws asking trucks and UVs to have under ride protection systems (even if they are not always effective)

The car seems to have taken the impact very well though. Taking the impact where it should and leaving the main parts in relatively good condition.

That's a nasty one. But, it seems the impact has been borne by City quite well by bumper and the hood. Amazingly, both the headlights and indicators are intact though grill is gone.

I am a bit concerned about the airbags not deploying which is happening a lot these days with many cars. Can someone tell me where exactly are the airbag sensors located in City?

Also, if the driver was belted how did he got injured?

One way to explain the airbag issue is I think the driver was not really belted up and that fact didn't allow the airbags to deploy. Of course he won't own up. That's a possibility. Don't know if there is a way to confirm seat-belt status at time of impact. Or else what Honda is saying is also possible as the main front apron of the car (the grey coloured horizontal piece of metal situated behind the bumper which is visible) is at least visually undamaged and the airbag sensors are mostly located adjacent to them. Most part of the collision force seems to have been borne by the bonnet.

Well, airbags not deploying in this scenario is correct as the crumple zones haven't crumpled. The front apron as mentioned by pixantz doesn't seem to have any damage. The car has taken the impact pretty well. Also, the shoulder injury isn't described properly. It is normal to feel some pain after the accident due to sudden deceleration. Had the airbags opened he would have had body pain as well.

It seems that the city went under the spare tyre of the sumo that was previously mounted on the rear door which is why the headlights are ok and only bonnet, bumper and grill is damaged.

Honda is right in this case but the way they are responding is damaging them in this situation. Someone senior from customer relations should take control of the situation.

There's a lot of Questions that arise from the Photo.

1. Was the impact really Full Head-On or was it just the Spare Tyre Mounted on the Sumo which was the culprit? From the Photo it clearly Seems to be a case of Spare Tyre Impact. The Bonnet is deformed from the Center first and transferring the impact through the whole of the Bonnet.
2. Was the Driver wearing Seat-Belts? The cause of Shoulder Injury could be either by the Driver hitting the Steering Wheel or it just could be because of the Jerk received by the Shoulder due to the Seat Belts.
3. The Bumper seems to have only given away with minimal damage. There does not seem to be any major impact on the Bumper to cause any deformity of the Bumper.

Yes, we have had a lot of cases reported recently about Airbags not deploying. But analyzing the impact zone is also a key criteria before blaming the manufacturer for Air-Bags not deploying.

Just to give a different scenario for Airbags not deploying, Had this impact been with a Truck instead of a Tata Sumo, the driver would have had more serious injuries without the Air-bags being deployed, as the car would have just gone under and the impact would have happened half-way through the bonnet and possibly the Wind-shield.

A shoulder injury would happen , most likely due to the seatbelts tightening due to the impact of the accident . As far as I know , most cars have the impact sensors for the airbags in the front bumpers or just behind them at that level , and by the looks of the photo , the bumpers look fairly intact . I'd guess the seatbelts did their job and left the owner with a sore shoulder .

My horn has gone kaput again. Already replaced both hi and low horns about 3 times under warranty. I don't know if this either due to low quality horns as part of cost cutting or problems with some particular batch of horns.

The cost of replacing horns including the complete set comes to around 2000+ bucks. If cost cutting was the real reason for this problem, then the strategy is backfiring for Honda. Once I get the horns replaced for the 4th time that would mean 8000+ bucks cost for Honda to replace under warranty.

What are Honda doing with the previous 3 set of horns that were pulled out of your vehicle?

What Maruti does is sends it back to the R&D (at least in my case where I have asked for a root cause to them) and gets it checked for what the fault be.

This is NOT good for Honda especially with their sole model that sells. They are stooping down to the limits just save money by cost cutting.

I was told these would be send back to Honda. What happens afterwards I'm not sure.

JFYI - I had replaced my right electric ORVM under warranty as well. Initially, I was told it was due to some hit by outside object but later it was confirmed it was the motor issue. The replaced ORVM is still working well. 4000+ bucks for that. But I think this is a rare issue and not a prominent one.

Adarsh, Can you please help us understand the issue better - is it that the horn makes less sound, or changes its pitch quality, or is it that it doesn't make any sound at all?

Outdoor - It's all of them mainly for the high horn. On hard press, it changes the pitch quality and on normal use there would be less sound. There are times when the high horn doesn't work at all.

Same issue I am facing since sometime. The horns are pathetic and I will have to go for an after market one soon.

I'm sorry, I can't agree with your hypothesis. This is just blaming the victim

The fact that the currenty City is more problem-prone is not due to the customers demanding more value for their money. Even if they were being unreasonable, it's unconscionable that Honda chose to meet the demand by shortchanging quality. It is difficult to accept the hypothesis that since Honda had to meet a fixed cost, they cut corners & the problems are a result of that. The Hyundai Verna, which is currently cheaper than the City, has sold as many numbers as City but one rarely hears of quality issues with it. Yes, Verna may have many faults (soft suspension being the primary one) but Quality isn't one of them.

A childhood friend of mine bought his 1st sedan last year, a City. In the 11 months he has owned this, he's had the AC Condenser replaced once, Engine Mounts replaced, Horns replaced twice & there's a persistent rattling noise coming from the dashboard no one has been able to figure out a solution to. Believe me, he spent close to 12L on it & he is justified in holding Honda responsible for it. He tells me that he should have gone for a Verna or a Vento rather than Honda.

Honda, in their greed for money, has let down the customers. The Indian customer never forgets & regaining their trust after delivering a turd is difficult. (Fiat can attest to that fact)