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Did the 50,000 kms paid service today.

Total Amount: 3781

Kilometres Driven - 28000+ kms

Scheduled Work details:

Periodic service charges
Wheel Alignment and Balancing
Honda Diagnostic Scan

Additional requested work:
Rodent Repellent Spray

Work Refused from my side:
AC Disinfectant

Note: Service executive said to me that Honda had changed the engine oils to synthetic for both Petrol and Diesel models. The Petrol model would be having 0W-20 Honda Genuine (Idemitsu) oil.

I had changed oil to synthetic (0W-30) during my 40,000 kms paid service back in May.

Asked the service to check the condition of the tyres. They said since mine is a petrol model it would go up to 40,000 - 45,000 kms. But for Diesel, as per them lasts till 30,000 - 35,000 kms only. Not sure if that information is correct though.

So my battery died last week! Shocking to say the least considering running has been only 25k km in 2.75 years.

Pushed and started the car and drove it to the local Exide shop. Thankfully this happened close to home and not on my weekly highway run.

The Honda fellow said warranty is only 1 year and hence replacement is from my pocket.

Checked other brands but not wanting to waste time, plonked in an Exide with 4 years warranty (2+2). That's enough for me because hopefully car will be sold by then.

Paid Rs 3800 which was duly accepted in old notes (another reason to just put the Exide).

The mechanic said that the original battery is very poor in the City and multiple cars have had this issue after 1.5 years of running. I guess Honda has tried to cut corners here also.

Hi Avdhesh, what brand of battery did you get factory fitted on your car? Mine came with Amaron and thats a good quality brand.

I would recommend Sonic SF batteries for all automobiles. It's a lesser known brand these days but originally quite a reputed and reliable brand. Used to be labelled as Standard Furukawa earlier and was OEM for Hero Honda etc. These guys have enhanced plates for better performance for the CNG cars. Hope this helps.

Tata Green also is a good brand. Can't see much of it of late.

They are spot on about the tyre life for the Diesel, the carbon based MRF ZVTV on mine lasted for about 31K Km. I've upsized to 195/60/15 higher rated silica based tyres and they seem to be holding up well (touch wood).

Thanks for the tip about the Synthetic oil, hope they do a proper flush before swapping from mineral to synthetic.
One lingering thought always at the back of my mind is whether they really change all the oil as claimed (general, not specific to Honda). I do check the dipstick later at leisure just for satisfaction :) I've had a poor experience with some Hyundai service stations in this area. Any pointers?

I'll need to get the 40K(run about 39K) servicing done in a couple of weeks and I'm wondering what the expected service cost for a diesel will be.

Last service they had mentioned that I can change the disks next time, pads were changed.
Whether they ask me to or not, I'll definitely get the cabin filter replaced under the glovebox.
I'll get the balancing, rotation and alignment from outside.


Ditto with mine.
On a general note, new cars atleast in India usually seem come with relatively poor quality batteries as a factory fit, atleast that's been the case with me typically lasting for 3 years.

My car's battery had died a few weeks back. I took the car to my trusted battery shop only to find that Honda in its infinite wisdom had used a 45amp battery. Now, 45amp is an odd size for a diesel car and is very difficult to find in stock anywhere in the market. Another nice way to ensure extra moolah for the dealers, me thinks.

Finally, after a lot of brainstorming, we installed a new SF Sonic 55amp battery. This is slightly taller and wider than the std size and doesn't fit in the OEM battery tray. Hence, a new tray and locking stems were fabricated for it.
I don't rememberer the exact amount I paid, but it was in tune of Rs 5000 or so.

[quote=Shreyans_Jain;4092717]My car's battery had died a few weeks back. I took the car to my trusted battery shop only to find that Honda in its infinite wisdom had used a 45amp battery. Now, 45amp is an odd size for a diesel car and is very difficult to find in stock anywhere in the market. Another nice way to ensure extra moolah for the dealers, me thinks.

Finally, after a lot of brainstorming, we installed a new SF Sonic 55amp battery. This is slightly taller and wider than the std size and doesn't fit in the OEM battery tray. Hence, a new tray and locking stems were fabricated for it.
I don't rememberer the exact amount I paid, but it was in tune of Rs 5000 or so.

Also, car is currently in the shop for the 60k km service. SA didn't mention anything about synthetic oils. I'll check up with him tomorrow.

Sorry, but I don't remember seeing it. I was on a call when the exchange was happening so missed it.

Did you check with Honda? In Mumbai, the Honda dealer quoted the exact same amount as the Exide fellow for the same model. I just choose the Exide dealer due to convenience.

NO. Do not do engine flushing. Honda do not recommend that even if it is a change from mineral to synthetic. If your A.S.S recommends to do an engine flushing take the car to some other A.S.S.

They do change engine oils and I have watched it personally.

As per JD Power survey, Honda has scored the highest along with Maruti Suzuki in CSI (Customer Service Index) study. Below is the link:

http://india.jdpower.com/press-relea...market-segment

Still some A.S.S. would make some kind of fraudulent methods.

I had not heard about the Synthetic oil for Diesel. Has this been introduced recently? My understanding is that the Synthetic Oil costs a bomb over the normal Mineral based one. Has anyone tried it (for Diesel City)?

Car returned from the 60k km service today.

I specifically asked about this synthetic engine oil thing. SA confirmed that they are using the same proprietory semi synth oil they have always been using for the iDTEC. No change whatsoever. I paid 1900/- for 4.2ltrs

Other parts changed include air filter, oil filter, diesel filter, AC filter and transmission fluid.

Pleasantly surprised by the cost of gear oil - just Rs 675 for 2ltrs. Gears have become a lot smoother. Also, they seem to have adjusted a clutch a bit, although this is not mentioned on the bill. It feels significantly lighter and more progressive to operate.

Car is driving a lot netter now. Makes the think if the 10000km service interval is actually a bit too much for Indian conditions. Perhaps I should get the car serviced at 7500km next time. That's what I have been doing with my Scorpio and it has worked out perfectly for over a decade.

Classic Honda Faridabad did a fair job overall. Doors have been adjusted and rattling noise has reduced. Final bill amount was a shade under 9000 bucks. No fancy add-ons were opted for, including alignment and balancing.

No, I didn't check up with the dealer about this. I don't bother them about things like tires, batteries, alignment, balancing and interior detailing as a matter of principle. I trust all of these to specific shops in the market.

Peninsular Honda Trivandrum is where I got the confirmation. They had pamphlets from Honda mentioning about the same.

A display model was also at the desk of the service executive showing the comparison of mineral oil and synthetic oils in two enclosed test tubes in a wooden frame with a ball going upside down when tilted perhaps to show the viscosity. I was in a hurry so I did not ask much on that and I forgot to take the pamphlet as well.

I will try to get the pamphlet and a photograph of the display model in case I am passing by the service center. I did not change the engine oil this time since 10,000 kms were not completed and there was no compulsion from service to change this time.

The cost as they said is affordable. For petrol cars the cost would be 1600 excluding taxes I believe.

Its not possible for fully synthetic oil to be 1600 bucks for 4 or 4.5ltrs. This translates to 350-400 a liter and is actually cheaper than what I have been charged. This has to be semi synth oil, and market prices of semi synth oil are similar as well.

Fully synthetic oils are priced at around a 1000 rupees a liter. If this is 1600 a liter, it is anything but affordable!

That is 1600 for an engine oil refill. That's around 3.5 litres. Or maybe 4 litres, leaving 500 ml as a "margin" for the dealer so he gets 1600 every 7 oil changes

Idemitsu 5W40 that Honda uses is Semi Synthetic.

I've been using Shell Ultra 5W40 fully synthetic in my car for the past nearly 6k kilometers and it is still silky smooth, my FNG guy suggested 1 year or 10k km whichever is earlier for my next oil change.

I have tried Helix Ultra 5W40 in my Scorpio. Yes, it ran a lot smoother.

However, during our visit to Badrinath, the engine struggled. It took an age to warm up and just didn't rev until it was up to temperature. I had to leave the car at idle for more than half an hour every morning. Once the engine got up to normal operating temperature,everything would become normal. This experience, coupled with the obviously higher costs meant that it was ultimately a one time experiment.

I agree, there are obvious benefits of using fully synthetic oil. But at the same time, it is prohibitively expensive for a family car or a daily use workhorse kind of car