Team-BHP - Does anyone buy a Honda City anymore?! Oops! I did-and fell in love with it!!

Quote:

Originally Posted by charthom (Post 2415530)

Hey Poitive, welcome to my thread,mate!!Thank you very much.Glad that you liked my write up. You were among the people who responded to my now deleted thread about help on a new car,thank you ! As you correctly said,I want that "I am very much here, but I don't need to announce it(or rather I am not particularly keen on announcing it)" look and feel.Kind of understated,refined and elegant(am I going gaga!) yet down to earth look.I decided against the Exclusive badge and chromes for the same reason.My philosophy is "if I am not comfortable,I will not be able to make you comfortable in my presence".Hope you agree.

While I too enjoy Gizmos-I found the Verna dash rather cluttered.City,though devoid of much frills-is more cosy.

Please check out my snaps of the Caska HU too- unfortunately they are posted after a few pages.Hope you will take the trouble and evaluate them too.

Poitive, me too have liked your writing style very much.Your posts are very enjoyable.Please keep coming back with your insights.

Thanks for the warm welcome, Carthom. You really are very polite. I had noticed the intriguing title, but never really got down to reading it before. Am glad that I finally did.

There are people in the extended family who have owned Honda Citys and swear by it, even though they don't drive hard or anything. They are in love with it. It is interesting to note that you were willing to spend for an Altis or even a Yeti, but went in for the City. It really is an easy to drive car.

It is good to see your passion and happiness with your purchase, Carthom. You seem to come straight from the heart - rather from the heart of your family too :) So very nice.

I finally managed to hunt down your post with the Caska unit on page 8 [link here for others who may hunt it - ] I am not much of a gizmos man and manage to satisfy that need from my phone and comp. Usually like to divert those funds to something else. ICE decisions are largely based on Sound Quality (just spent under 8k on ICE in an Accent and my eyes light up at the sound quality at this price). The Caska seems impressive on it's features and it's OE integration. Somehow, I prefer a clutter free steering and like take my hand onto the control on the dash - only expect the HU to be ergonomically designed. Like the big dial with grip assistance in the Caska - do you usually go for that dial or prefer using the steering control?

Given that a lot of the interface is touch-screen, how comfortable are you using the unit while driving? (with buttons a lot can be done without taking one's eyes to the HU)

What is very impressive about Caksa, which I got introduced to quite recently, is the versatility of these units - what one can add to it (reverse cameras etc and impressively tyre pressure gauges, which are a bit too expensive at 12k IMO).

Wishing you and your family good health and a great ride on this car, given the back issues.

Edit: PS: Thanks for your appreciation and am glad that you have enjoyed my posts. It brings a smile :)

Quote:

Originally Posted by Poitive (Post 2415653)

Given that a lot of the interface is touch-screen, how comfortable are you using the unit while driving? (with buttons a lot can be done without taking one's eyes to the HU)

What is very impressive about Caksa, which I got introduced to quite recently, is the versatility of these units - what one can add to it (reverse cameras etc and impressively tyre pressure gauges, which are a bit too expensive at 12k IMO).

Wishing you and your family good health and a great ride on this car, given the back issues.

Edit: PS: Thanks for your appreciation and am glad that you have enjoyed my posts. It brings a smile :)

Nice and generous of you of you to shower such nice words on me.Also to assist me with the link on Caska.I bought Caska HU chiefly for the feel good factor.It is very expensive though.

I never operate the unit while driving.If I have to operate it,I strictly stop the car and do it.Absolutely no distraction.Steering controls are convenient, so I use them.

Thanks for your good wishes for my family.My wife has recovered remarkably. After 1.5 years, she has begun driving now and is absolutely in love with the auto 'box and plush interiors of the City. Frankly-somehow we are not missing the gizmos which are absent-even ACC!!

Please keep posting more Poitive-you may even free lance as an Auto journalist:)

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Originally Posted by charthom (Post 2415530)

So far not much problems-but I did not venture out much in the rain

Good to know that. Cochin is indeed the place to check for the car's behaviour in heavy rains :)

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Originally Posted by charthom (Post 2415530)

I suggest you call up both Peninsular and Cosmic Hondas.BTW,I am going to Peninsular tomorrow for for first free service.Should I be of any service?

That’s so nice of you Charthom. Thanks for the offer. If it’s convenient maybe just help check if there is any dealer offers running on the top variant of Jazz. I am not in a hurry, as my visit is still a couple of months away.

Quote:

Originally Posted by charthom (Post 2415530)

While I too enjoy Gizmos-I found the Verna dash rather cluttered.City,though devoid of much frills-is more cosy.

So far not much problems-but I did not venture out much in the rain:)

Exactly. A lot of people said many good things about the verna's dash. Personally, I too found it very cluttered... too many buttons to work with! I like simple stuff like the iPOD type controls where you place you hand on one unit and it becomes a universal type control on what you do with it. Simply love it. Also, the lighting at nights is just awesome on the honda city in my opinion. It does not distract you much and yet is functional if you need to look at it. That's exactly how I prefer it. Some say "blue ligthting is cool". Apart from the white, I only like the pale orange color of the city and the dials are just fantastic in my eyes.

Some one also commented that honda got into cost cutting by having led indicators only on the auto power window switch. The way I see it is - intuitive, if you can spot the auto power button, the rest can be easily reached out once you are familiar with the car. Your brain can tell you where the other controls are, just like the button number 5 on a cell phone that has a little bump to tell you that its button 5, the rest are all north south east or west of it. Simplicity works well in my opinion.

@charthom

I too am trying not to venture out much into the rain. I avoid it as much as possible. :) I also do not wash my car as soon as it gets dirty a bit. The trick that has worked well for me and my day in the past 15 years is... If you drive in rain and slush, wash it down before the dirt dries up and then blow air to dispose of the water. Then, when time permits do a thorough cleaning, usually every weekend. We always use a good layer of wax and sealant. With that, the water droplets always form a bubble and slide off as you drive away. Easy to clean and maintain and the body never gets rough. In summer, just wipe it with a micro fibre cloth after each run.

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Originally Posted by kirantp (Post 2415632)

@Sudeepg: I purchased my ANHC from Whitefield Honda dealer and so far I have not faced any hassles from them. I found them fantastic right thru pre-sales, sales and A.S.S. More than that, coupls of S.As and the Sr Sales exec have become good friends of mine and they attend to every detail whenever I have one.
I enquired with Magnum Honda during my hunt for ANHC and I did not get good response on the deal and also on the accessories front so had to drop them.

That is good to hear. If you could check with them if its alright to pass on their contact information to me, it will help me with my car service too. Many thanks!

@Firebug

My cousin sister has this colour but its not so well maintained. Your car looks awesome and glowing including the front grills and the windshield. Phew! I never realized this paint could be so well maintained. The alloys are fantastic. I really like the spider leg types and I had similar ones on my old santro. The tint is just perfect! What size tyres are those? I do not recollect if you mentioned it in some other post. BTW, I think yellow brake calipers will look stunning on your car. I saw a porsche with this color and yellow calipers! I am now definitely planning to upgrade the tyres. Thank you for the pictures

Quote:

Originally Posted by sudeepg (Post 2415947)

@Firebug

My cousin sister has this colour but its not so well maintained. Your car looks awesome and glowing including the front grills and the windshield. Phew! I never realized this paint could be so well maintained. The alloys are fantastic. I really like the spider leg types and I had similar ones on my old santro. The tint is just perfect! What size tyres are those? I do not recollect if you mentioned it in some other post. BTW, I think yellow brake calipers will look stunning on your car. I saw a porsche with this color and yellow calipers! I am now definitely planning to upgrade the tyres. Thank you for the pictures

Hey Sudeep, thanks for the complements ! Well, the car looks glowing and well maintained only because these pics were taken a few minutes after it came out of a Magic Car Wash facility !! :) I had upgraded the tyres to Michelin Primacy LC 195/60 R15 after doing extensive research in this forum on the make and type to go for. Thanks for your suggestion on the yellow calipers, like that idea - let me see how it would look and work out ! My only concern is I don't fancy inviting attention to the car and would love to be one among the lot. I fear a Yellow caliper would literally put a spoke in the wheel of this plan :)

Quote:

Originally Posted by vb-san (Post 2415690)

If it’s convenient maybe just help check if there is any dealer offers running on the top variant of Jazz. I am not in a hurry, as my visit is still a couple of months away.

@vb-san,I just checked with both Peninsular and Cosmic Hondas on Jazz prices.
Both have advised to go for 'Select' edition not 'Std' or 'X' version.On road prices quoted for Select are 743908/-(Peninsular) and 745000/-(Cosmic).Cosmic said they will consider some freebies-no such commitments from Peninsular. Hope this helps-any more assistance?

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Originally Posted by FireBug (Post 2415705)

Hey, more pictures of my car as promised !! Apologies for the telephone post in the middle of most of my photographs, shows my photography skill level :)

Nice photos FireBug.Your nice car makes even the telephone post look as glamourous as an iphone:D Nicely maintained, supremely stylish car, with nice tyre upgrade.Thanks for sharing the snaps.

Quote:

Originally Posted by sudeepg (Post 2415826)

Exactly. Also, the lighting at nights is just awesome on the honda city in my opinion. It does not distract you much and yet is functional if you need to look at it. That's exactly how I prefer it. Some say "blue ligthting is cool". Apart from the white, I only like the pale orange color of the city and the dials are just fantastic in my eyes.

Some one also commented that honda got into cost cutting by having led indicators only on the auto power window switch. The way I see it is - intuitive, if you can spot the auto power button, the rest can be easily reached out once you are familiar with the car. Your brain can tell you where the other controls are, just like the button number 5 on a cell phone that has a little bump to tell you that its button 5, the rest are all north south east or west of it. Simplicity works well in my opinion.

@charthom

I too am trying not to venture out much into the rain. I avoid it as much as possible. :) I also do not wash my car as soon as it gets dirty a bit. The trick that has worked well for me and my day in the past 15 years is... If you drive in rain and slush, wash it down before the dirt dries up and then blow air to dispose of the water. Then, when time permits do a thorough cleaning, usually every weekend. We always use a good layer of wax and sealant. With that, the water droplets always form a bubble and slide off as you drive away. Easy to clean and maintain and the body never gets rough. In summer, just wipe it with a micro fibre cloth after each run.

City illumination is supremely comfortable- but I personally find the blue illumination soothing to the eyes,too.

Rgarding the power window switches-me too, frankly feel that the illumination of all switches helps-even though we can instinctively reach them.Sorry for differing with you.

Nice tips on washing.Really helpful.One doubt,just wiping in summer will cause microscopic scartches.Splashing water and then wiping will be better,no?

Hey Charthom. Congrats on your new proud possession!

I'd been seeing the existence of this thread for a few days now. However, today only I noticed the name of the author, and it rung a bell. I remember you as an active participant on the forum and a prospective Etios buyer. (I own an Etios by now)

Honda City, in my view, remains one of the most sensible buys in the Indian market. Sure, it appears overpriced for its features. But its road presence, despite its arrogant (I didn't say it!!) front, is terrific even today. It actually looks pricier, going by its side profile. Add to it, the peace of mind it offers (priceless!), superb driveability and aestheically furnished interiors, I would say the pricing is par for course. Of course, not everyone can discern it, but then, quite a few do.

Congrats again and wish you miles after miles of happy and safe driving with the fabulous car.

Quote:

Originally Posted by RadiantKarma (Post 2416257)

Thanks RadiantKarma and welcome to my thread. As you correctly mentioned, Honda City is excellent by all standards -we are thoroughly enjoying the ownership experience.

Congrats for the Etios-you must be really enjoying the ownership experience.I wish you too miles of hassle free sporty driving experience.

I always have a tinge of pain in my heart of hearts for the Etios which I did not buy.I still relish the test drive that I did-the acceleration,the planted feeling.Mine was supposed to be black and fully loaded with even Caska music system.I would have loved to own it.

A little more upmarket interiors and less waiting period,I would have bought it.
You know what,on the day I paid in full and sent my City for registration,I got a call from The Toyota-the Etios is ready!! I had to reject it,with a lot of heart-break.

@kirantp,hey mate!! Are you still around! The week end is over.How about your 3D Kagu mats?I am anxiously waiting for the update.

Quote:

Originally Posted by FireBug (Post 2414139)

Talking about tyre size, here is a picture of my car with the upgraded Michelin Primacy LC 195/60 R15 Tyres. The alloys are Lenso.

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Originally Posted by FireBug (Post 2415008)

I always assess the mileage manually. I top it up to full and once the fuel indicator dips to the last quarter I top it up again. 11.6 is an average of the numerous toppings I did.
With regard to ride quality, I didnt drive the car enough on the stock tyres to assess it in detail but the immediate feeling after I changed the tyres was that it felt a lot more planted to the ground and the absence of Tyre noise !!

Quote:

Originally Posted by FireBug (Post 2415705)

Hey, more pictures of my car as promised !! Apologies for the telephone post in the middle of most of my photographs, shows my photography skill level

@FireBug: Congrats Dude, the alloys look GREAT, they really add a different character to ANHC. :thumbs up

195/60 R15 Tyres is the most appropriate/ideal upsize of ANHC, I am sure the now car handling must be at its best. I read somewhere that actually Honda opted for 175/65 R15 only for the improved mileage figures.
However I am curious to know the improvement Michelin Primacy LC over Michelin XM1.

Assuming you are assessing mileage BUT Dude at 11.6 kmpl you have already lost a lot of ground on milesge if you consider average ANHC mileage of 15 kmpl plus you have already void suspension warranty. Anyway its a personal preference, I would have loved to upsize but not at the cost of mileage when I have a daily average run of 70KM. :Frustrati

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Originally Posted by RemingtonSteele (Post 2417185)

Hi, the mileage of 11.6 kmpl is only for city drives. The highway mileage is above 15 as I previously mentioned. I am not as worried about suspension warranty as I was 6 months back when I changed the tyres. The suspension still works perfectly fine and the car handles much much better and that's been my primary objective.

Quote:

Originally Posted by charthom (Post 2416201)

Nice tips on washing.Really helpful.One doubt,just wiping in summer will cause microscopic scartches.Splashing water and then wiping will be better,no?

Too much water can also cause problems in the long run since water seeps through the window channels and the dampness allows bacteria to grow. So either you need to leave the car in the sun to dry out or reduce the number of washes. I figured it out when, my uncle who never washes his car once washed it at a service station. I found that the car's paint was in very good shape and he had lesser problems with windows and moving parts. While this is from my experience and observations, I could be wrong. But I believe dampness and too much washing are definitely not good for the car. Not sure how many noticed, on some cars, if you wash the car or drive around in rain and leave the parking brakes on, it may get jammed. This happened with my dad's alto and my santro and the SA mentioned that its due to the water lining between the brake pad and drum. So he asked to not use the parking brakes after washing or driving in the rain unless the car has run for a bit. In my Santro's case it was so severe that I tried to move the car with the jammed brakes and the liner came off! :Frustrati

What I do while wiping is use a damp cloth with a liquid such as colin and then wipe only in one direction straight, not the circular action. This helped prevent swirls on my santro a lot. It had much less swirls compared to other cars and it was wasy to wax, polish and maintain the body of the car to a shine. I hope this method works well for you too.