[ajmat]

Honda City - painless to own but frantic at high speeds and not as well planted

skoda laura - ok since you know the history, a very comfortable, safe car. I note you are in Mumbai so please ensure your car only goes to JMD for service. Parts when they go are expensive. If you are able to, find a good source at opera house to prouce the parts and replace them at a good independent. Electronic stuff best left to the dealer

[RishiSuri]

Since its more of City driving as you going to be in Mumbai... go for ANHC.
Agree with others suggestions "A NEW CAR IS NEW CAR" and the pleasure of driving a brand new car is far far far amazing than a used car.

[Scarface]

Thanks to all of you for such well thought suggestions! Will check the Ford Fiesta 1.6S, The ANHS of course & try stretching a bit to accomodate the new Civic if possible! But I guess the SKODA goes right out of the window considering
a) expensive maintainance
b) second ownership
c) reports of unscrupulous servicing
d) coz most of you say so!!!!

[raul]

Hi, Ordinarily the Laura would be a good buy especially since its from a known person however because of the rather alarming service reports of late does give one reason for pause. But since you are considering a second hand car why not look at a used Civic. That would be the ideal compromise.

[GTO]

Peace of the mind = new Honda. Some amongst us own 6 - 10 year old OHC's and still smile everytime we take her out for a spin. I don't have the time nor the inclination to put up with problematic cars in shoddy service stations. The Laura's long term reliability record is not encouraging either.

Originally Posted by ajmat

Honda City - painless to own but frantic at high speeds and not as well planted

The ANHC is a giant leap ahead of how the OHC feels over 120. Sure, not in the Euro league, but definitely better planted than what we have come to associate with the City nameplate.

[narayan]

ANHC for sure - but do try the CIVIC

alternately, you can save up that money to upgrade the footwear of the ANHC and I am sure that would dramatically improve the highspeed planted feel also

[redeff]

The amount he is going to shell out for ICE , Alloys or better rubber adds up. I say close your eyes and tear a cheque for the civic instead. It's miles ahead.

[Scarface]

Originally Posted by redeff

The amount he is going to shell out for ICE , Alloys or better rubber adds up. I say close your eyes and tear a cheque for the civic instead. It's miles ahead.

If I opt for the Civic! Manual Transmission or Auto??

[androdev]

it all boils down to one simple question: do you lose sleep in case that 50K-a-piece xenon headlamp goes kaput, or do you just write a cheque and move on? (initial cost is no indication of maintenance costs)

i have been a happy owner of laura for the past two years and if some family friend offers me a good upgrade i would prefer that to buying a new car - provided i am prepared to write those cheques ;-)

[YC.BALENO.CHD]

Originally Posted by Scarface

If I opt for the Civic! Manual Transmission or Auto??

Manual seems to be the obvious choice, unless your daily commute includes hours of slow paced movement and traffic jams, also auto tranny for you If you have a fetish for those supposedly F-1 style paddle shifts. Otherwise, manual is the one to have.


Regards.

[ImmortalZ]

If you can suffer the lack of low end torque in city crawls, go for the manual. The auto is no slouch though - you just need to adapt to it's manners and you can get lots of enjoyment out of it.

[Guna]

Originally Posted by YC.BALENO.CHD

also auto tranny for you If you have a fetish for those supposedly F-1 style paddle shifts. Otherwise, manual is the one to have.

What I gather is, you cant operate paddle shifts while you are in regular 'D' mode in Civic. Driving is 'S' mode using paddle shift (which makes it fully manual) is not very practical as changing gears while taking a sharp turn is almost impossible. So, it may not be a good option to go for Civic AT if one intends to use paddleshifts all the time during city drives.

However, you can drive ANHC in D and still operate the paddleshifts, which is so convenient.

Please note that I have only experienced driving ANHC AT and Civic AT users may be in a better position to validate this.

[ImmortalZ]

You are right Guna.

What I do is take the compromise - drive in S mode, without using the paddles. It revvs to 4K before a change at the minimum (till redline if you floor it), holds gear when you take your foot off the pedal instead of upshifting (power available, always) and generally makes you grin like silly and lose lots of FE.

[absynthguzzler]

I'd say opt for Cedia if your looking for a brand new car(instead of CIVIC).

If your looking in the second hand market below 10lacs, there are plenty of Corollas available and this will be a better choice when compared to a SKODA.

[Guna]

Originally Posted by ImmortalZ

You are right Guna.

What I do is take the compromise - drive in S mode, without using the paddles. It revvs to 4K before a change at the minimum (till redline if you floor it), holds gear when you take your foot off the pedal instead of upshifting (power available, always) and generally makes you grin like silly and lose lots of FE.

In ANHC, if you drive in S mode without using paddleshifts, it uses only first 4 gears, which is not good for the FE. How does it work on Civic?

PS:Sorry for going OT