Team-BHP - 4th-gen Honda City : Official Review

Quote:

Originally Posted by samitjain (Post 5761022)

The a/c is bad, especially for North Indian summer and there is nothing you can do about it. I had 4th Gen tried the following things.
1. Gas top up - didn’t work
2. Filter clean - didn’t work
3. Condenser clean - didn’t work
4. High pressure switch setting - didn’t work
5. Heat reflective film on windshield - still didn’t work
6. Changed compressor - under warranty - no use

Finally sold the car - only option left that too within warranty.
Has word with several service advisors and they said there is nothing much they can do and ac is weak. They carry about the above things just to satisfy the customer, but when inherently ac is weak there is not much they can do.

3rd Gen honda city ac was a chiller. Has owned that as well.

Finally sold after doing only 32000km.

Hi,

When my 4th Gen Honda City had alternator issues and we were waiting for parts from Noida, I ended up using my Polo as the main car for a week. The contrast in air conditioning between my 2017 1.2L Petrol Polo and my 2016 4th Gen Honda City was striking. The Polo's AC was super effective, even in hot conditions, while the City's felt lacking. After reading your post, I'm thinking maybe the City's AC is indeed really weak.

Cheers,
Dev

Today morning I experienced a momentary loss of power on my 4th gen Honda City diesel – engine went to idle even as I was pressing the accelerator. An amber "PGM-FI" light glowed on the instrument cluster.

I made a snap decision to pull over to the side and go get my other car (and get somebody from home to get this towed) before I remembered that my other car's already in the workshop rl:(routine service).

However, the next moment the light disappeared and the power was back on as if nothing had happened. All of this happened within a matter of 2 or 3 seconds. The rest of the trip was uneventful. And my return trip back home in the evening was also uneventful.

At the time of the incident, I was barely 200 m away from home on my way to my office. The blue light (the one which goes way after the engine has sufficiently warmed up) was still on when this happened, but both the blue light and the PGM-FI light turned off at the same time. I was doing about 50-60 km/h and was in 3rd gear, and was accelerating.

There were more than 3 quarters of fuel left in the tank.

Regarding the blue light in the instrument cluster, it usually has a tendency to stay on until I'm about half a kilometer away from home; it does not matter how long I idle after start, it would only go once I drive about half a kilometer. Speaking of which, I also have a tendency to idle for a couple of minutes immediately after starting the engine – the time to verify I have everything I need for the day, connect my phone to the car audio, and picking out what to play. Would this long idling cause any problem over the long term?

Anyway, coming back to the issue at hand, I did search for this issue in the older posts here on Team-BHP, and have found some (mostly focused on the Amaze):

Quote:

Originally Posted by kjayant (Post 3997135)

During the slow heavy clutch driving, the PGM-FI LED on the dashboard turned on and stayed that way for the entire length of the 12 kms journey. I also experienced loss of power, the vehicle wasn't really picking up, it was slowly limbering to pick up.

Quote:

Originally Posted by SumitBahl (Post 4160149)

My instrument cluster shows PGM-FI light sometimes.

Posts related to the above have revolved around water entering the engine. Although it's been generally raining here, I haven't driven through any flooded areas. I did give it a thorough wash yesterday evening though. A major service was done in March this year.

This car is a little over 9 years old. Although it's a diesel, our running has been low and the car has only covered a little over 55,000 km till now.

Quote:

Originally Posted by for_cars1 (Post 5761091)

Have faced this a couple of times on a loaded car on highways with especially the rear passengers complaining about feeling hot.
The only thing that made a positive difference to the cooling was setting the temperature dial to "Lo" with the AC blower at a higher speed and turning the airflow to recirculation mode.

Even with the AC settings at Lo, the AC doesn't do justice. It gets pretty annoying that even after I drive the car for nearly 30mins, the car still doesn't cool down and just blows moderately cold air.

Quote:

Originally Posted by irdevanand (Post 5746538)

Called a technician and he advised to switch off AC, audio etc and drive gradually towards a service center. He said the battery is draining again and again and it could be due to alterNow I'm left wondering the potential causes:
1. Could it be rodent damage, despite the brief duration of parking and the car's operational status?
2. Is the battery at fault, despite no prior indications of issues during the last service?
3. Might it be an alternator malfunction or a more intricate problem?

I would greatly appreciate any insights or expertise on this matter to facilitate clearer communication with the service center staff.

Hello Dev, sorry for the late response,

I just came across your query. I hope the issue has been sorted already.

To share a similar experience I had with my 2015 Honda City Petrol MT. last year in the month of March, as i was driving around the city completing a few chores with my cousin, I parked the car for a brief 10 mins and later when I tried starting her up, the dashboard lights flickered but did not turn on. Every attempt the lights got dimmer until nothing worked at all. Later we tried to push start it but due to traffic and space restrictions, could not, got a mechanic to jumpstart it. He told us the battery is probably dead and it just so happens for no reason.

While driving towards the battery shop the ABS light came on couple times and so did the steering light. Each time the steering light came on I could feel the steering get much tighter and difficult to turn. Got the battery replaced and did not have any lights or other issues at all. Running fine since then.

So for anyone that sees the same signs on their City in future, get your battery checked.

REGARDS,
SAN.

Quote:

Originally Posted by S.A.N. (Post 5776587)

Thanks SAN for sharing your experience. Though it looks similar, in my case it was the alternator which had gone faulty and because of that the battery was getting drained again and again (resulting in same situation as above). ASC tried a new battery and the problem didn't go away as in your case. Finally we changed alternator and the car is still running fine on old battery itself.

Regards
Dev

Quote:

Originally Posted by themonster (Post 5763145)

9. For the road noise and wind noise, you can start with changing tires, but ultimately you would need to do entire Dampening for the car, a topic for another day.

Hi,

I was wondering if all the 4th gens had back door locks which cannot be unlocked manually. This is a pain for the back seat passengers to rely on the driver to unlock the back doors everytime it needs to be opened.

Is this a safety feature? Or is it just my car which has this problem?

The service centers have repeatedly mentioned it is a safety feature, but it seems very dumb to have that feature like this for adults when there are child locks available already for children to not unlock by mistake.

Is this common across the 4th gens?

Quote:

Originally Posted by revvingbeast (Post 5783574)

Hi,

I was wondering if all the 4th gens had back door locks which cannot be unlocked manually....

Is this common across the 4th gens?

I have double checked and confirm that the above is not true.

The rear doors can be manually unlocked (and locked) using the turnable plastic knob above the door pull lever in the 4th gen City.

The above action is independent of whether the driver has central locked (or unlocked) all the doors.

So there is a manual locking and unlocking on all doors.

Quote:

Originally Posted by for_cars1 (Post 4541621)

Don't get me wrong, I strongly believe that the Honda City is still the best you can get in the C2 segment in every aspect, no other car even comes close to it (my personal honest view, no offence). It is like the 'Innova' of C2 segment cars.

Hi,
My Honda city back door cannot be unlocked manually at any given point of time. The car simply doesn't unlock once it gets automatically locked. Everytime I ask the service center, they keep saying it is a safety feature. It doesn't make sense at all since there is already the option of child lock. Have you faced this issue in the 4th gen?

Quote:

Originally Posted by irdevanand (Post 5769235)

Hi Dev,
Yes, the City's AC is very bad. I have come to my aunt's home and they have a 7 year old WagonR. The WagonR puts out cold air in a matter of seconds under a roof, and gives cold air in few minutes. My City takes over 10 or 15 minutes to cool the cabin to room temperature(not even cold) on a sunny day. There is a stark difference which the service centers are not able to rectify.

Regards,
VP

Recently, gave our 2014 Honda City iDTEC for 1,80,000 Kms service though the odo is at 1,87,000 Kms and also found that engine oil along with coolant was leaking in our car. As a result, we got the timing kit replaced along oil seals and radiator.

Also got the new set of clutch along with master slave cylinder (replaced this one for the first time in 7 years of ownership) as the previous set has run 1,15,000 Kms.

The bill I got is close to a lac though I'll be posting the final bill once I get the car.

After getting everything replaced, I'm good to go for another 1-2L Kms though I've an itch to get a new car replacing this one though we bought a Hycross Hybrid last year, which was bought as the replacement for our previous OG Innova that we sold in 2022 and is our primary car used by dad. Still thinking whether to sell off this car or retain even after we get its replacement and retain as a 3rd car whenever any of our cars go for service or for major repair work. The plan is to let go of this car as soon as it completes 2L Kms on the odo, which will happen next year mostly and by this time till I move back to US next month, I guess I'd be adding another 2-3k Kms on the odo.

Was supposed to let go of the City this year and get an EV or Petrol AT as running has decreased significantly after I moved to USA last year. But, with a heavy heart, had to keep this car for atleast an year as my parents said big no in selling off this car due to economic reasons and with me not being in the country for at least 1-2 years, it doesn't make sense to sell it off as per my parents and few folks I know, who advised me against selling off this car.

In the last 2 years, with the intention of retaining this car for another 2-3 years, I guess we have spent nearly Rs.3-4L, which is the resale value of this vehicle if I sell it off now, by getting repainted at Honda ASC, overhauling the suspension, replacing the engine mounts and gearbox mounts, getting fresh set of tyres (present ones have run 30k Kms already), new battery, radiator fans as they were busted and now, spent money on getting the timing kit replaced along with new radiator, coolant and new set of clutch.

But, according to me, being a 10 year old car, it no longer makes sense to splurge more money on this car. Told dad this will be the last major expenditure on this car as I got sick on splurging more money on this car. If any major expenditure comes, insisted my folks to sell it off ASAP even with my absence.

Any advices on this?