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Old 16th March 2011, 15:56   #1
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Re-united with my Silver Civica Chicca

Before we begin, I hope i don't end up boring you with this long post. If anyone needs to use the bathroom before you begin, please do so, once you start reading, HOLD it IN! till you finish.

Many of you might know and many might not. We were out of Pune for a long 5 1/2 months. Stuck in Kolkata on work. My hands were just itching to get behind the wheel of just about anything. Unfortunately or maybe more fortunately never got behind the wheel of anything in Kolkata, have you seen the way they drive?

Re-united with my Silver Civica Chicca-kol-cab.jpg

So those long and painful 5 1/2 months all I was reduced to was entering various car showrooms. Touching various cars, opening their doors, sitting at the back, in the front, griping the steering wheel, while posing as a serious buyer. All this just to be close to a car, any car, it didn't matter which.

While in Kolkata a huge saving grace for me was Team-BHP. Would log in everyday and browse for hours. In fact one very good thing came out of bein in Kolkata for so long and that was I started posting on Team-BHP a lot more, and now I guess there is no question of stopping. I'm Hooked. Would like to take a minute here and thank everyone for making Team-BHP what it is today.

Finally it was time, back in Pune and glad to take off the cover, there she was spic and span. First things first, connect both the battery cables which were disconnected all these months. And start her up, aah the huge grin plastered on my face upon hearing the sweet i-vtec rev to life was priceless, you know such moments just can't be photographed.

While in Kolkata we had promised ourselves that our first trip out of Pune would be to Meherabad, and as Meher Baba willed it, we were off to Meherabad on our first weekend outing. It was a lovely drive on the new four lane highway to Ahmednagar, and the time to reach was cut down from 3 hrs to 2hrs thanks to the fantastically smooth 4 lane highway. It felt good to be back at our second home after 15 months.

Returning to Pune on Saturday evening, all excited for my first Pune Bhpian meet( Lavasa Drive) but things just weren't working out. Generous offer from @dot who was car training upto the chandni chowk meet point with @jealousdiamond offered to even pick me up near home and escort me to chandni chowk. But guess it was just not meant to be, and at a late 10 pm just had to opt out and all dreams of meeting fellow bhpians and enjoying a lovely drive came to an end.

Sunday morning the day of the Lavasa Drive, miracles were meant to be, our Kiddo getting up early and eager to go out for a drive. We were quick to get ready and off we went. It was still a bit late to catch up with the bhpians but we decided to drive towards lavasa anyway, even though we were suppose to be headed towards Mahabaleshwar. Would like to thank my wife and the teambhp and our wives thread for making this happen.

Around half way to Lavasa my wife spotted a carriage of cars parked on the side, even before I did. And she asked "is this your Team-BHP gang?" A lovely yellow sticker with the words "Live to Drive" confirmed the same. Obviously a bit nervous to meet the gang for the first time, I stepped out my car, to be greeted by @sudarshan who warmly said "Team-BHP?" As I nodded in the affirmative, he ticked my name on the list. Boy did that feel good. Walking up to the rest, to be greeted so warmly, by people whom you have never ever met in your life truly is a special feeling. And one that I had only experienced at Meherabad before. Felt that I was being greeted by some long lost buddies, no wait more like family. That's what we are aren't we the Team-BHP family. It was especially nice to meet up with online friends such as @noopster and @dot. Well stuck around for a couple of minutes and then it was time to take the U-turn and head to Mahabaleshwar. Well I didn't think it would be that long a detour, but man it was tiring. But well and absolutely worth it, and am glad that I got the opportunity to do so.

Weekend over we returned from Mahabaleshwar on monday afternoon, feeling on a high. And took the day off to just relax.

Tuesday evening we decided to go out for some Kulfi on MG rd. And parked the car and ate our Kulfis inside the car itself. I had the parking lights on as well as both front map lights even though I was parked in a proper parking slot. 15 minutes and cooler stomachs later it was time to head home. Turn the key to crank the engine, and there were lights blinking away, buzzing sounds but no sweet rev of the I-Vtec. Waited a few minutes to try again but to no avail. Only saving grace was that we weren't at a deserted location being parked on MG Rd with a lot of people around. The time was 9:30 pm. Called up Honda road side assistance. Spoke to Mr. Usman who was helpful, patient and was quick to understand what went wrong. Obviously it was the battery. He promised that help would arrive at the scene is approximately 1 hour. Meantime around 10ish the crowd at MG Rd started to change and was getting a little rowdy. I had my wife and kiddo in the car, and insisted I drop them home in an auto and return to check on the car. My wife bluntly refused, and so I called up a friend to hang around with us till things were solved. 10 minutes later my friend showed up and we were instantly more comfortable. My wife was telling me that because we went to Meherabad first Baba charged up the batteries so we weren't stranded at lavasa or mahabaleshwar for that matter. I shudder just thinking what it would be like stranded at night in not so crowded mahabaleshwar. And thank our stars for the same. True to Mr. Usman's words exactly 55 minutes(10:25 pm) later a white wagon r with mondial assistance stickers pulls up behind us. Phew was I relieved to see them. Parking the car on MG Rd was just not an option especially with emblem robberies on the rise in Pune. A jump start was all that was required to get chicca back up and running with her I-Vtec roaring to life. The thing with automatics is that you can't push start them. So if definitely is a good idea to have a pair of jump cables with you. Shall be on the lookout for a pair myself pretty soon.

I am not a part of the Honda road side assistance program. So when I asked how much I would have to pay for the Mondial Angels, I was shockingly - pleasantly surprised when the technician said Nada-Nothing-Not a Dime. I then tried to offer him something for his trouble but he politely refused, my jaw dropped. Here it was almost 11 pm and they came all the way to help us out and didn't charge us a single cent. Kudos to Honda's service in Pune. Although some may have had bad service experiences with Honda. I am proud to say that I have always had a pleasant service experience with them. And yesterdays gesture just moved that relationship with Honda Pune one step further up.

Re-united with my Silver Civica Chicca-img00297201103152231.jpg
Getting Jumped!

Re-united with my Silver Civica Chicca-img00299201103152240.jpg
The Mondial Angels

Mods hope i have posted correctly, please move if needed.
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Old 17th March 2011, 13:45   #2
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Re: Re-united with my Silver Civica Chicca

Mdsaab,
Firstly, I am glad you could get the issue resolved. Then it was really lucky that the battery conked off after the long drive not during the drive. Finally Honda Assistance came to use with needed with an angelic twist.

Must be feeling great to drive Chicca after a long interval, isnt it?
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Old 18th March 2011, 14:12   #3
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Re: Re-united with my Silver Civica Chicca

@dot
finally a reply. Looks like i bored everyone with my rambling.
You bet it felt so good to get behind the wheel of chicca, and glad that we managed to squeeze in a few long distances.

Update ~
Unfortunately chicca's battery was too weak and the very next day she refused to start again. So we ended up installing a new battery.

Tip ~
If going out of town for long dont make the mistake of removing both cables. Just remove the negative cable. (as told to me by the battery shop mechanic)
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Old 18th March 2011, 16:37   #4
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Re: Re-united with my Silver Civica Chicca

Just a few snaps of Chicca from the limited space of our garage.
Re-united with my Silver Civica Chicca-chicca_front.jpg
Chicca From the Front.

Re-united with my Silver Civica Chicca-chicca_tacho.jpg
Just love that dial!

Re-united with my Silver Civica Chicca-chicca_child_safety.jpg
Child Safety, Hugely important!

Car seat was removed as Chicca was due for some much needed TLC at Honda Service.

Re-united with my Silver Civica Chicca-chicca_deckedup.jpg
Highly Decked UP!

Last edited by mdsaab : 18th March 2011 at 16:52.
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Old 18th March 2011, 17:02   #5
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Re: Re-united with my Silver Civica Chicca

mdsaab, Chicca looks great.

Why dont you write a full review in the ownership forum, we will be interested to know your views, stories and experiences.
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Old 20th March 2011, 13:12   #6
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Re: Re-united with my Silver Civica Chicca

MODS i think this thread has served its purpose and can now be closed.

as @dot has mentioned, will try and write a full review in the ownership forum, with views, stories and experiences.

Thanks!
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