Team-BHP (https://www.team-bhp.com/forum/)

-   Official New Car Reviews (https://www.team-bhp.com/forum/official-new-car-reviews/)

-   -   4th-gen Honda City : Official Review (https://www.team-bhp.com/forum/official-new-car-reviews/145656-4th-gen-honda-city-official-review-486.html)

Let me first compliment you for the milestone figure of crossing 2 lakh Km in City. It's rare these days that one has such a patience with the Asset. The mindset of "Use and Throw" is slowly trickling into personal mobility products despite newer vehicles come with many compromises on critical mechanical aspects with much steeper price tag

The engine which is a Heart of any car has given a life of more than 2 lakh Km is truly commendable albeit you had done few service interventions

I liked some of other points in your post and they are worth considering in purchase and ownership cycle for any car owner :

(1) Opting for extended warranty way back in 2014 !!
(2) Sticking with ASC as much possible even after warranty expiry.
(3) Changing stock tyres at 30K km if they warrant to do so. Tyres are usually the most neglected area despite they are extremely vital for Ride, Handling and Safety point of view.
(4) Keeping a log book recording all the stuff that gets into the vehicle such as Batteries, Clutch plates, Suspension, Seats etc. This is an excellent practice and comes handy while discussing with Service guys and even while selling the car.

Your running appears to be on higher side and which merits Electric or Hybrid. However note that these are altogether two different categories of vehicles. While electric public charging infra is coming up in India, the pace of development is slower compared to what it should have been.

Apart from the Cars you have shortlisted, you can also consider MG ZS EV. I drove the petrol version (Aster) of it as Test drive and it impressed me with its build quality, fit and finish. It's miles ahead as compared to other cars in its segment. What let it down was a sluggish petrol engine for that size of the car. With 50 kH battery pack and electric Powertrain of 129 KW, EV should be agile.

Above recommendation is only if your running is fairly within cities or relatively nearby places.

However if your trips are mostly longer Strong hybrids will make more sense while you have to compromise a bit on the luggage space as some portion of it is occupied by the Battery pack.

Best wishes for the New car !!

Request to Mods: I was editing and replying in the above post, by the time I wanted to save, my 30 minutes were up. Could the above post/reply be deleted and this new one kept?

Hello HondaSport,

I have personally not done any performance mods to my Honda City 2014 except for a K&N air filter swap, but I can answer some of your questions and point you in the direction where you can get more information. (linking to the relevant threads)

Also, I am from down South India, so regarding installers, I will mostly be of no help to you.

Regarding the K&N air filter, if you wish to go for the basic one (part number 33-3030), which will be a basic fit in your stock engine air filter box, you can request any of your friends or family in the USA to purchase it for you and ask them to bring it down to you. It would come up to 4000-4500 rupees after conversion.

My experience with the K&N air filter 33-3030 has been mixed. At first, immediately after installation, it does improve the stock low end, but ever so slightly. The headache for me was the cleaning. It takes quite a bit of time and the instructions specifically mention you to air dry the filter. Along with this, after I started using the K&N filter, I noticed that a lot of oil residue from the filter was gumming up the throttle body. I have now swapped back to the regular paper filter.

Also, if you are keen on improving performance, Cold Air Intakes will give a better bump in power and torque figures, especially with a remap. (Costs will go up though, the exact costs involved depend on the installer and the plumbing used to route the air.)

Now regarding performance mods, multiple options exist, such as the free flow exhaust, decat delete, better fuel injectors, better spark plugs, and of course, turbo charging the 1.5 VTEC or engine swapping to a 1.8 VTEC from the Civic or 2.4 VTEC from an Accord.
Remember that along with the performance, always upgrade the suspension and tires to handle the power. (upsize to 205s, bigger rims, better coil-overs, better shocks/struts, anti-roll bars, and strut braces to name a few).

BHPian frankmehta's CRIO
https://www.team-bhp.com/forum/modif...delimited.html
https://www.team-bhp.com/forum/test-...ty-engine.html

BHPian Dr. Naren's Stage 3 S Cross 1.6
https://www.team-bhp.com/forum/long-...d-pg-61-a.html

Details on engine swapping a Jazz (felt it will be relevant as the Jazz is based on the City)
https://www.team-bhp.com/forum/modif...onda-jazz.html

BHPian bhuvan prasad's Turbo 2.4 i-VTEC Civic
https://www.team-bhp.com/forum/modif...nda-civic.html

BHPian Nikhilb2008's Turbo Civic
https://www.team-bhp.com/forum/modif...t-end-era.html


There are many more threads that can give you ideas on performance modifications, these are just the ones off the top of my head. Regarding costs, it all comes down to the installer doing the work. Some installers do their work with precision and attention to detail, while others leave it like a messy bedroom. Do check posts on Team-BHP before venturing out. There will always be one post or thread somewhere on the forum for the query you are looking for.


Hello 007maverick,

Thank you for the kind words.

The City is a daily driver for me, and I treat him as how I would treat one of my close friends.
Will be keeping the City, even if a new car comes along.
Just last week I had done for a 1700km round trip between Kerala and Karnataka.

Regarding your points,

1. Extended Warranty was a no-brainer, especially since I was allotted my car from the first batch of petrol City's.
2. I tried and tested many FNGs. Did not like many, and my experiences were below average, hence stuck to the ASC. It is only in the last 2 years I have gotten hold of good FNGs.
3. & 4. Yes!

Yes, I should have opted for diesel when I bought my car back in 2014, but I did not like the Honda i-DTEC (no offense to owners out there, just a personal preference). The reason for my dislike was the loud diesel noise and the car felt sluggish to drive. (My guess for this is that the initial batches and especially the test drive vehicles were rather, ahem, hastily done. Hence I got a City Petrol.

Regarding the new car, I am thinking along the same lines as you suggested, either Hybrid or Electric. The Grand Vitara/Hyryder twins and the MG ZS EV were on my radar until my heavily built and 6' 3" frame sat in one of them. It felt quite cramped for me. The Innova Hycross and the BYD Atto 3 are being closely followed. Waiting for any price cuts on the BYD, as the massive price cuts came for the MG earlier last week. Leaning towards electric cars, thanks to many of the long-distance drive report threads done by the current EV owners. It is definitely possible to do long drives, provided with a bit of planning and Backup for the charging stations.

Seems like a no go for me given the challenge of dusty conditions year around and the hassle of maintaining the K&N filter.

This is exactly the real world feedback i needed. :)Much appreciated.

Hi. I have a 4th generation Honda City (i-VTEC) that I bought in July 2022. When I bought the car, the salesperson had said that the car engine is BS6 and hence the service frequency will be once in a year.

But now the service guys call and tell me that the service frequency is once every 6 months and not once every 1 year. As per them, it is only the 5th generation Honda City that has 1 year service interval. They told me to check the service manual where it does say that the service frequency is once every 6 months. They also said that since the car is under warranty, it is better to give it for service soon.

My mileage is very low like 4000 km every 6 months.
Considering my mileage and BS6 engine, it doesn't make sense to me, to give the car for service every 6 months. What do you all think ? I double checked with the salesperson when I bought the car and he was sure about it. I even have the Whatsapp message from him where he confirmed on the 1 year.

Thanks in advance for any inputs from the community.

I have a 2019 Gen 4 City as well. Got sick of the pricey 6 monthly service regime and have now shifted (at the 5 year mark) to Bosch service centers. My car also runs less than 10,000 kms a year since I have another car which does most of the highway and long distance running. I have now switched to a 1 year service interval.

Hi,

I came to get my dad’s car serviced today. It is a 2021 Honda city Gen 4. The car is 30 month old and has been driven 8000 km. During the service we noticed traces of water in engine oil.

Senior Technician was called and he couldn’t figure out the reason for the water in engine oil. The coolant level in radiator and water reservoir was full.

The oil was changed after a year and later they concluded that this could just be normal. I am attaching the pic of the oil cap and I need suggestions from the forum please.

We also checked the oil that was removed and it was slightly cloudy while being drained. It is a sign of gasket failure but since the coolant or water levels were not reduced, the technician is ruling out that.

Hello Tiago_Boy,

I understand your concern. That engine cap image is the stuff of horrors in a new/used car checklist.

I want to clarify, whether any of the following have taken place:

1. Was the coolant reservoir checked after the car was standing still and parked for a few hours (2-4 hours)? Usually, what I have noticed is that whenever I check the coolant reservoir tank immediately after a drive (within an hour), the tank appears full or over the MAX line. It is usually more accurate after an overnight parking over level ground can one estimate the coolant level.

2. Was the engine bay cleaned/pressure washed with water in the past year or so?

3. Any drives over flooded areas where the water level may have been higher than the midpoint of the tyres/wheels?

It is rare for a head gasket leak in a new car with low kms, but not unheard of.

I am assuming that the Honda ASC technicians have changed the engine oil and have said that the engine is alright and sent your dad home with the car. If this is the case, may I suggest checking the engine dipstick and engine filler cap for such a creamy image and at the same time noting the coolant levels. Also, check for any smoke from the exhaust under acceleration. If the creamy oil persists, then it might be a gasket failure as you have suspected.

If it is a gasket failure, I hope you have extended warranty for the same.

The car was moved to the service bay at 8:30 am and the car was parked for 2.5 hours before the engine oil was drained. The temperature in delhi is low so the engine was cooled before inspection.

No, the engine bay has not been cleaned since past 6 months.

No, the car has not been driven in water logged areas. The car was mainly stationary for last 4-5 months and it only moved in and out of the house everyday. This is less than 10 meters of drive

I was in the service bay all the time. The dipstick was checked and it was normal. There is no smoke/misfire. I do have an extended warranty.

Also, do you think that this could be because of condensation since the car was almost stationary and it was just driven in and out of the home on daily basis during the delhi winter season?

I came across this video on Youtube and I feel this could also be the case.

https://youtu.be/5HIJfG8YwH4?si=fRG9DP73sLZm_pta

Hi

Can anyone please enlighten how to resolve the rattling issue and gear lever vibration ?

Driving with such noises makes me go crazy.

Hello Tiago_Boy,

Thank you for enlightening the forum and me :)
I did not know about the condensation/moisture accumulation in the engine, thereby leading to the buildup of the same under the engine oil filler cap.

For your car, it would most likely be the same.

So, here is an update. Over the last 5 days, I drove the car extensively. Ensured that it reaches the optimal temperature for the condensation to evaporate.

I again checked the engine oil cap and there was no sign of moisture. The dip stick also looked clean.

This also confirms that the moisture in oil was condensation mainly due to weather and limited usage of the car

I am facing a very peculiar issue with my 2018 Honda City Petrol. The car alarm randomly goes off without any interference. I have been facing this issue for a week now with the service centre unable to diagnose the cause. The door latches were checked by the service centre and they found no fault with it. Would anyone have any idea as to whats going on since the alarm randomly goes off at night waking up people in a residential area. CCTV shows no activity whatsoever around the car.

Some details:

1) The car is in its 6th year and has run 60k kms so far
2) The keyfob is always in range. I live on the ground floor and the car is parked right outside my door which keeps it in range at all times, enough to lock/unlock the doors via the fob but far enough for the door request sensor to be disabled

I have 2017 Honda city zx cvt and will complete 7 years with the car this Mar24. I have been regularly getting the extended warranty for the car so far and the current extended warranty gets over this Apr24. I am having second thoughts of renewing the extended warranty after Apr24 but the service guy is suggesting to continue renewing the extended warranty citing the scenario of CVT engine failure which may have a repair/ replacement cost of upwards of Rs.3 lakhs.
Appreciate any advise from Team BHP in this regard - to go for the extended warranty or not? My car usage is limited to around 10 km / day city usage with the occasional long distance trips.
Thanks for the help in advance!

Service guy is just trying to sell you Extended warranty in the name of CVT failure. Its a very rare probability that CVT will fail. However I would recommend you to purchase the Extended warranty anyhow as some other parts may fail which will cost very high. You will be getting peace of mind.

Thanks for the quick response ��