Re: Honda Jazz : Official Review Hi folks,
After having briefed about myself in the “Introduce yourself” section, here I am to introduce you all to my love – Alabaster Silver third generation Honda Jazz V MT, christened “Jazzy”.
Honestly, for almost 3 months that I was eagerly waiting for its re-launch on July 8th 2015 at 1:00 pm and it was almost certain that I would be going in for it. So, me along with my mom and dad were at the dealership. Fortunately, my dad had the honour to unveil the beauty by pulling off the red cover. Soon, I was offered to test drive the red license-plate vehicle which had just arrived from the RTO. And as was expected, hardly 2 hours of the launch and I booked my beauty by making a cheque payment of INR 21,000 with delivery scheduled during auspicious festive season of “Navratras”, a couple of months ahead.
During the unveiling, I was a bit disappointed at first for none of the variants did come equipped with beige Magic seats, push button start, daytime running lights(DRLs), driver armrest console, shark fin antenna and UV cut and/or heat absorbing windshield and glasses. Moreover, the three in the showroom and the two test drive vehicles I noticed were wearing MRFs, Good Years and Bridgestones, while none was over the Michelins. Already owning a Honda City ZX with black and grey interiors, beige interiors was a deal breaker for me and so, I decided to compromise on Magic seats and tailgate spoiler to zero in on the V variant. After booking, with brochure and other relevant documents in hand came back home in the evening, and “Honda Jazz: Official Review” was already available now on Team-BHP to let me go further into the nitty-gritties.
At the time of final payment, I requested my sales executive if he could oblige by allocating me a vehicle with Bridgestones, and he did. My vehicle was picked from a secondary stock yard of the same dealer which was about 40km away. Hence, at the time of delivery, the odometer read 46km. This mileage was indeed the cost I paid for 4 x Bridgestone B250 plus an MRF sitting beneath the boot. Nevertheless, I was holding in my hand the printout of Team-BHP pre delivery checklist which came ready and ensured that nothing was missed in a rush, excitement or negligence. The sales executive was wondering as to how organized I was, little was he knowing it was Team-BHP behind the scene.
I myself rolled out my Jazz from the showroom’s delivery area and after filling, visited the place of worship thanking the Almighty. This was followed by taking it to Honda service station for fitment of below genuine accessories:
1. Black fabric floor mats. Cost: 1475/-
2. Gear lock (pin type) and added fitment: 2190/-
3. Seat cover PVC: Horizontal Stitch with Stripes and added fitment. Cost: 7633/-
4. Mud guard and added fitment. Cost: 1812/-
5. Order placed for tailgate spoiler.
Back home late evening, I installed(DIY) the beige armrest console which was ordered online from Hong Kong a month back. Thanks to T-BHPian vprabu for having given a very viable solution to this bare essential. It costed me USD 63 (INR 4410/-). The same evening, I made the car key wear some clothes – a high quality snug fit silicon key fob cover was ordered from ebay at a cost of 299/-. Honestly, a must have for everyone to protect the remote key fob during those slip of hands. Later after a week, went to 3M Car Care for Scotchguard Paint Protection Film on ORVMs, door trims, door handle cups and under the fuel lid area (for those careless attendants at the filling stations who often let the fuel cap hang loose to touch the body paint, instead of clamping it to the inside of lid). Total cost: 3185/-. Placed an order for an ultra-lightweight, soft compound yet durable beige 3D boot mat for USD 33 (INR 2,039). Tailored for Honda Fit, it was delivered in less than three weeks and fitted in very well.
A few days after the 1000km service, the Honda accessories executive rang me up to inform that the tailgate spoiler was now available. Cost of unpainted spoiler: 7370/-, add painting: 1,081/-, add fitment: 350/- and taxes, it costed me INR 10,064/- in total. The colour, fit and finish was all topnotch. Now, my Jazz looked rather smart, but still far from complete. Ordered online some other bare essentials such as:
1. Beige 3D washable floor mats.
2. 3M microfiber cloth.
3. Jopasu car duster.
4. Formula 1 carnauba wax
5. I-POP blind spot mirrors. I have stuck them strategically to ensure they do not interfere with the primary mirror, yet do their job as desired when needed.
6. Tyre pressure monitor valve caps which change colours (between green, yellow and red) to indicate the tyre pressure range.
7. 2 pairs of beige seat back hooks which have really been useful during the long road trips.
8. 16GB micro pen drive (for music and wallpapers) which barely sticks out of the USB port down the upholstery, thus allowing the lid flap to close and conceal it leaving a neat look.
However, last year I managed to do a small DIY replacing the OEM whip type FM antenna with a shark fin without any compromise on the received signal strength. The shark fin antenna houses a copper core circuitry inside which, in functionality is analogous to a whip type antenna. It was procured online from Hong Kong barely for INR 485/-. Post installation, I have no single reason to complain till date. Even the silver colour matches almost 95% to Honda’s Alabaster Silver.
Lastly, the dummy daytime running light slots provided by Honda have always been an eye sour. Last month rather rendered those dummy slots redundant when I managed to install International OEM replacement daytime running lights. For several months, searched on the Internet for markets in Hong Kong, Malaysia, Singapore and Thailand along with local market visits in Delhi and Gurgaon for reliable products and satisfactory workmanship. Finally, zeroed in on a supplier in Karol Bagh, New Delhi who took about two months but managed to source me the right product with 1 year warranty. These are 6500K colour temperature daytime running lights. Each cluster comprises of 4 x 1watt LEDs which collectively make it a nominal 8 watt affair on the go. With a rated lifespan of 50,000 hours, when a turn signal is triggered, the that side DRL blinks amber in sync with the turn indicator, while the other side DRL maintains its continuous uninterrupted 6500K colour. The lights directly mount on the car chassis (thanks to Honda for having provisioned the required cuts and screw holes, no modification was needed), but require removing the front bumper to run along the supplied wiring. The connection is fairly simple, wherein a spade connector is made to connect directly to ignition. Besides, there is another connection made to the indicator lamp on either sides using a wire-tap. There is a vibration sensitive relay switch which automatically turns these lights on after a delay of about 1 second upon cranking the engine. Similarly, when the engine stops, these automatically go off after a lag of 2 seconds. Whenever the car is locked or unlocked using the remote, these daytime running lights blink amber along and then turn solid on at 6500K for 3 seconds before going off. These lights have made my Jazz look bold besides adding to style, safety and further making the vehicle contemporary.
Upon making it to Team-BHP, I have set Team-BHP official wallpaper on the 5 inch head unit of the audio system. Thanks to moderator GTO for having shared it way back in Jan 2006, which I could use as a base to craft an 854x480 resolution picture to make it compatible. It looks uber cool. What next? Just today evening, received my Team-BHP car stickers, assorted key chain set and red coffee mug. That has already set my day and mood for tomorrow! Thanks. |