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Finally I went ahead and bought the autofold unit in Malaysia and got it installed in my CITY. Everything seems to work fine. Three wires needed to be tapped and one wire had to be drawn from the battery. The sockets were a perfect fit. Since this unit is not available in India I know I took a gamble.

I didnt find any problem with the battery after the installation of this unit.

That's great to know. Some questions.

Which site you bought it from?
What was the total cost and were any customer charged?
Are there any wires cut for the installation?
Did you get it installed From Honda or from outside?

Honestly, a lot depends on whom you are dealing with. Keep everything in black and white when it comes to delivery terms and it should be OK. I had finalised a CIAZ but the MASS guys were not committal on delivery dates. Assume that you are going to spend a few days either way on getting the car.

Hi Guys,

Need advice on couple of things.

1. My car's (Nov 2014; V MT; i-VTec) insurance is due in the next 45 days. The current insurer is IFFCO-TOKIO through Honda Assure. I received a renewal quote from them and it is around 23K including zero-dep. Is this a fair quote? I paid around 30K last year when I bought my car. Also, it would be the same regardless of the insurer I choose through Honda Assure. Can I bargain? I have not been able to check quotes from outside but am a little inclined towards renewal through the dealer for peace of mind. I also would like to change the insurer. Please suggest on this as well.

2. Am a novice when it comes to car chargers. Which are the best brands for car chargers?

Thanks.

1. Yes you can haggle to some extent. I for some reason switched the dealer where my car was being serviced and hence also the dealer from whom I bought insurance under honda assure. First year I got good discount and some discount coupons as well. My experience is that outside you may get few hundred max 1k worth cheaper insurance. Even if you get it insured outside it is not going to be any difficult or easy to make claims through Honda dealership.
How I see this is that dealers earn some if you buy insurance through them and hence you can get a better rappo/ better service through them and hence makes sense in buying through honda dealer. Assume the excess if any as convenience fee. Alternatively you can generate a quote online and tell your dealer i'm getting discount outside and dealer would throw in some discount.
2. Belkin makes good quality chargers, try and get the one with dual usb ports and having 2 amp as the current output for fast charging. I am assuming you have a battery hogging smart phone.

It's not about only Honda A.S.S. I have been dealing with Maruti A.S.S as well and more or less both are kind of same.

What I am trying to convey is that - after selling the car to customers, these guys change their face when you take the car for servicing.

It happens mostly everywhere - whether its cars or bikes!

So at least go for a car that is close to your heart :)

1) & 2) I bought it on a visit to Malaysia for MYR 180 (~ INR 2700). You can get it online from the site I mentioned in my post no. 4223 but the shipping cost could be high.

3) No cutting is involved as such, but 4 wires need to be tapped either by removing the insulation to connect new wires or by using a T tap.

4) Honda ASS refused installation , so I had to get it done locally from outside. :Frustrati

Maybe this would have compromised the electrical warranty.:mad:

All headlights are aligned that way. Right is little lower so that you don't blind the on coming cars, while left ones are little higher so that you are able to read road signs on left side. This gets reversed in left had drive nations. I have observed this across maruti hyundai honda

Hi Guys,

This would be my first post in Team-BHP. I had been following all the official reviews in deciding my first car. Finally I set on Honda City V MT Petrol. It ticked more boxes than my other options. I was working, so my parents helped me book the car in August.

When I was back the first thing I did was take a test drive and see the car in real for the first time! The car is supposed to be delivered in a 2-3 days hopefully. I just can't control my excitement! But yes, I might get the VX Petrol variant if its available sooner.

When I was scrutinizing the display vehicle (V MT Diesel), I had one question which the SA did not come up with a proper response: How can we set the map lights in the cabin to activate when we open the door?

Secondly, just before I was leaving i saw this on one of the cars in the storage area. The front discs looked rusted! Is this normal?




The dealer is Pinnacle Honda in Asansol, West Bengal.

After a lot of contemplation and frustration, I finally decided to take a plunge into HIDs in Low Beam.

Got Osram Xenarc 4200K (Warm White) installed in Low Beams for 10.5K including installation. The results are amazing.

Here's a comparo Image of Osram Xenarc HID Vs Philips Xtreme Vision Halogen Bulbs.

Aren't HID'S to be used only with the projector setup and not in it plain reflector setup?

Wouldn't it be disturbing the oncoming vehicles etc?

That is one of the main reason (not to blind oncoming traffic) that I've stuck to the stuck to the standard 55W stock halogens.
Unless there is a projector setup, the normal reflectors will definitely scatter the HID light and dazzle the oncoming traffic.

Over the last few weeks, I've done some night driving in the ghat sections.

During the first drive, I had a tough time taking turns on the twisty curves in pitch dark with glaring truck lights hitting the eyes.
The low beam in the 2014 City is pretty spread and the high beams are pointed straight ahead which didn't appear to help in visibility in curvy sections. I was blaming the headlights and at the end of the ghats, when I cleaned the windshield and realized I should have done it before the journey.
(My previous car had an angular high beam which spread like a "V" towards the sides. This setup is good for curvy roads but is not optimal to see far ahead on straight sections while cruising)

The second time around on the same ghats, I ensured that the windshield is crystal clear before the ghat drive. With a clear windshield, the stock lights were more than adequate on the curves, I faced no glare from the oncoming traffic. The stock OEM headlamps felt good enough to deal in this difficult situation.
The stock headlamps are good enough to go anywhere at night comfortably. One has to just ensure that the windshield and rear-mirrors are very clean before the drive.

Installing the higher intensity lights has the risk of blinding the oncoming driver. The manufacturers have stuck to the standard 55W halogens which is under the legal norms.

Also the light from the higher intensity bulbs are usually at a higher colour temperature (4500 to 6000K). Higher the colour temperature, bluer is the light. While the light intensity may be high and headlamps dazzle the oncoming traffic and appears to light up the surroundings better, it doesn't help much in the visibility on dark roads, because the human eye is not designed to process the images from the higher colour temperature as efficiently.(as the wavelength gets shorter).
The standard halogens is at around 3200 K and is a bit yellowish white. It is more comfortable and efficient for the eyes to process visual information at this lower colour temperature range that the standard halogens produces.

Thanks Naikameya, your explanation sounds quite logical. I too was wondering for the reason for this anomaly and the service station guys were just helpless on this.

While the doubt about dazzling oncoming traffic due to HIDs is fairly valid, this would happen if the HIDs are installed in high beams. If you look at the image I posted, the cut-off point of HIDs is exactly same as that of the regular Halogen bulbs. There is not scattering of light. It is only the illumination in front of the car on the ground that has increased.

I myself tried looking straight at the low beam by standing in front of it. I could easily look at it without any glare on my eyes.

With regards to manufacturers sticking to 55W Halogen, these manufacturers themselves offer HIDs as accessories at their dealer network.

Your point about HIDs being under higher temperature range and giving bluer share is partially true. There are a lot of manufacturers which provide HID from 3000K to 4300K too which is yellowish to warm white shades. The readily available Osram Xenarc was 6000K rating. I asked the shop guy to get me a 4200K as I did not want the 6000K rating.

The whole point I want to make is that there are a majority of the people who are unaware of all of the above aspects and still go ahead and install HIDs. Me on the other hand have taken care that I get myself better illumination in front of the car without causing any discomfort to any oncoming traffic.

With regards to you mentioning that the Honda City Headlamps are sufficient, this is something each individual's preference. I personally am not happy with the stock headlamps and was not happy even after upgrading to Philips Xtreme Vision. I still went about with Xtreme Vision for about 16 months before finally deciding to take the plunge into HIDs, as I plan to do a little more night driving that I have been doing till now.

Coming Today! Got a call from Pinnacle Honda that they have the VX Petrol offloaded and can deliver it. Checked-out out the car and tracked the VIN number too. Manufactured in Oct 2015!

They are doing some final cleaning and accessories fitting. It would be delivered in a few hours. Can't wait; time seems to go slow now. :uncontrol




Can't thank enough Team-BHP for all the plethora of information that helped me with the purchase!:)