[Mitzoomer]

Originally Posted by aniketi

Just a different thought in my mind:

With Attractive price tag, good diesel engine, better boot & highest mileage claimed by Honda for Amaze, will it not attract many taxi people to use it for their business like they are using Verito, Etios? If it used by lots of cab people then i think lots of personal buyers will think twice before buying it. Same problem Tata faced for Indica & Indigo range. Many people don'y buy just because they think its a typical cab. It creates negative mind set for people. Few of my friends didn't even think of Etios when they bought there cars due to its cab image. Honda city, Verna & Dzire never have such problem.

Lets see how it goes.

I agree with you but just read somewhere in the past that Honda taxis are not allowed in some countries due to some reasons except Honda Odyssey in certain countries. Not sure how true that would be for Honda India and Amaze in specificity.

Finally i had my turn of having my hands on the Amaze at Linkway honda in Chandivali. Had been trying for the TD since its launch date but was not getting lucky due to the rush that the showroom was facing. I drove the diesel version and must say the initial feeling of getting in the car was really roomy. The interior spacing is quite extensive for such a sub 4 meter sedan. On the drivability, i particularly enjoyed driving it compared to a friends' VDI that i drive quite frequently. Amaze feels quite light and smooth as per my experience went while having a TD. Though i could not drive it past 60 KMPH due to the traffic so could not test it on higher speeds. All in all, i really liked the feel of the car, exteriors according to me are quite trendy and gives a distinguished look to the car.

Note from the Team-BHP Support Team: Please use the EDIT or MULTI-QUOTE buttons instead of typing one post after another
on the same thread.

[coolmel]

Originally Posted by aniketi

Just a different thought in my mind:

With Attractive price tag, good diesel engine, better boot & highest mileage claimed by Honda for Amaze, will it not attract many taxi people to use it for their business like they are using Verito, Etios? If it used by lots of cab people then i think lots of personal buyers will think twice before buying it. Same problem Tata faced for Indica & Indigo range. Many people don'y buy just because they think its a typical cab. It creates negative mind set for people. Few of my friends didn't even think of Etios when they bought there cars due to its cab image. Honda city, Verna & Dzire never have such problem.

Lets see how it goes.

I respectfully disagree. The fleet owners will no doubt be attracted but they will surely relegate the Amaze as their premium car and be used only with certain drivers and for VIP passengers. The problem they have is the classic problem of choice, multiple brands to choose from. Besides Honda service network is not that great compared to the others, that is a key factor for the fleet people. And even if they do go wholesale shopping, it augments well for us discerning customers. What better than a Honda to come pick you up?!

But really, the Amaze is a great, quality buy and total VFM. Just hope Honda copes up with the service.

[kartikeya.bisen]

When I test drove the Amaze it didn’t really work for me as I am tall and I felt there is absolutely no leg space. I finally purchased a Maruti Dzire which had a better leg space and a noiseless engine

[msmatic]

Originally Posted by ambadan

Is this car equipped with paddle shift? or it is just an AT without any manual override?

Its the same box as the Brio, 5 speed with D3,2,1 manual overrides. No paddle shifts.

Originally Posted by aniketi

With Attractive price tag, good diesel engine, better boot & highest mileage claimed by Honda for Amaze, will it not attract many taxi people to use it for their business like they are using Verito, Etios? If it used by lots of cab people then i think lots of personal buyers will think twice before buying it.

When I asked the SA about taxi segment picking up the Amaze, he said Honda is not allowing them to do so, else the bookings would have been 10 times more.

[aniketi]

Originally Posted by msmatic

When I asked the SA about taxi segment picking up the Amaze, he said Honda is not allowing them to do so, else the bookings would have been 10 times more.

Do you mean that they are not selling the car to cab people? They don't wanna sale it as a tourist permit car? Can they do it that way?? I am not sure about that. If some one wanna buy a car and then register it as a tourist vehicle, can manufacturer stop them? Can some body confirm this as i don't have any idea on this.

[ashtorque]

I did 2 TDs of Amaze-D. The likes and dislikes are not much different than what most of you have listed. However, I am thinking whether is it advisable to buy this car (Diesel) right away or wait for reports? We all have seen launches of Duster, XUV, etc. recording huge number of bookings at launch. However, problems were reported in few months’ time. According to my information, and I stand corrected, Mahindra corrected few problems while Duster chose not to. Now obviously Honda has done lot of innovations to come up this highly efficient best-in-class diesel engine. Does Honda being a new entrant in this segment (diesel engine, cost and size wise) elevate the risk? And how long should you ideally wait?

[ambadan]

Originally Posted by aniketi

Do you mean that they are not selling the car to cab people? They don't wanna sale it as a tourist permit car? Can they do it that way?? I am not sure about that. If some one wanna buy a car and then register it as a tourist vehicle, can manufacturer stop them? Can some body confirm this as i don't have any idea on this.

May be they will not allow bulk booking by fleet operators like meru, easycab etc. However, they can not stop a person taking a car and register it as a tourist vehicle. Even we can see BMW, merc, audi as tourist vehicles.

[rajshenoy]

Originally Posted by ashtorque

I did 2 TDs of Amaze-D. The likes and dislikes are not much different than what most of you have listed. However, I am thinking whether is it advisable to buy this car (Diesel) right away or wait for reports? We all have seen launches of Duster, XUV, etc. recording huge number of bookings at launch. However, problems were reported in few months’ time. According to my information, and I stand corrected, Mahindra corrected few problems while Duster chose not to. Now obviously Honda has done lot of innovations to come up this highly efficient best-in-class diesel engine. Does Honda being a new entrant in this segment (diesel engine, cost and size wise) elevate the risk? And how long should you ideally wait?

You can always wait for your own peace of mind. But it might come with its own consequences.

Two scenarios

1. Amaze becomes runaway success, 10K potential buyers of Dzire and another 5-6K from other cars, swing towards Amaze - Result 6 months waiting period and more confident Honda hiking price by another 20-30K (See duster,XUV etc.)

2. Issues and niggles reported - Nothing is going to slow down the sales of Amaze, unless the real world FE is around 15-16kmpl(and not 20-22kmpl that we are dreaming about !!). Then the initial hype gets fizzled pretty soon. Even Dzire has niggles so both are pretty even when it comes to this.

[Aragorn]

Originally Posted by ambadan

May be they will not allow bulk booking by fleet operators like meru, easycab etc. However, they can not stop a person taking a car and register it as a tourist vehicle. Even we can see BMW, merc, audi as tourist vehicles.

IMHO, this is perfectly possible. The marketing / sales team takes a call on whether or not the registration can be done in yellow board. Being actively associated with an OEM, I can definitely vouch for this.

Typically, the brand team takes a call that for a certain months after launch, they will not allow yellow board registrations. Post this, once the brand identity is cemented, yellow board registration is opened up.

[vkochar]

I went out to check the Honda Amaze on Friday. My friend brought a new Elantra and I was taking a TD and took it out for a spin and headed out on NH2. We crossed the Honda showroom and thought to stop on the way back as it was on the other side of the highway.

This is at 11 AM in the morning and not a single customer inside. The Amaze was launched on 11th and I went there on the 12th Friday.

We approached the gate of the showroom and saw 2-3 Amazes inside and a lot of balloons etc glitterati. Its an important launch and I can understand there decking up the showroom. I thought this would be a good time ( 11AM and no one inside ) to quickly inspect the car and who knows maybe even book one - I am waiting to buy an entry level luxury sedan - Elantra / Octavia / Laura etc. At the same time I am also looking for a replacement for my daily run ( which is a diesel Verna ). I am getting 3.5 - 4 lacs for my 5 year old Verna and I thought if I plonk another 3 lacs I could replace the old verna with a new mid variant Amaze. My garage will be all set. We just brought an i20 for the ladies of the house.

As soon as I thought of all this - the guard walks up to me and with a frown on his face says I cannot park inside because of management instructions. Note - the entire visitor parking area was empty. We had a new 15 lac car with us ( no number yet and only a small temp sticker ). The showroom is on the main highway in Agra on NH2 and there is no place outside. Just heavy fast traffic. He did not budge and I asked him politely to ask the guys in the showroom that we are here to see the new car and will be gone in a few minutes. He still did not budge. I was getting angry and out comes a brio from their service center which is in the basement up the ramp and honks at the gate and I thought the 2 salesmen would probably let us in. they rolled their windows and told us there was no point in us arguing and we would have to park our car outside if we wanted to see the amaze. They wanted the visitor parking exclusively for Honda Cars !! I thought they were Insane at this statement.

The reason for my long post is the Honda Arrogance has started and dealers think they are God at the moment.

I could not be bothered and just drove off from their shaking my head at the total amazement of their attitude.

I don't know if I will own a Honda soon as they make good cars and I am keen on buying one. But I can sense they are going to get carried away at the moment.

Its not a professional thing to do. This behavior is unacceptable and I was briefly disappointed with this episode. And so was my friend who coincidentally owns 3 hondas already. He is the quite type who did not say anything.

Just thought I'd put my experience here. Maybe its the wrong section BUT still its related to the Honda Amaze.

I did fill up a form on the Honda website for a Test Drive and that was 3 days back. Not heard anything from so far. I am sure they have booked tens of thousand already so why bother. Well Honda wait for a few months when all the craze settles down. I would like to see what your attitude is then.

At the moment I have lost all interest in this fantastic looking car.

[engrohit]

Originally Posted by Aragorn

Typically, the brand team takes a call that for a certain months after launch, they will not allow yellow board registrations. Post this, once the brand identity is cemented, yellow board registration is opened up.

I agree to this fully. Even I was told by Renault dealer that company has strictly advised them against any Commercial registration of Duster as Renault had seen the brand equity of Logan take a beating with Meru and likes booking hundreds of cars.

[coolmel]

vkochar: Honda arrogance is very famous. They shouldn't take it for granted on whatever goodies the new dtec will provide, and so on. Really shameful to hear that matey. Why dont you let it out on Twitter and their Facebook page?

With specific regard to the claimed mileage by Honda, the real world figures will be anywhere around the 15-20 mark. Getting 26 will be a magic figure.

[tjacob]

I finally saw the much awaited Amaze in the metal at the Banjara Hills showroom in Hyderabad which is after skipping a near by showroom and both the places were bustling with people. The SEs were all obviously busy but one of them took the time and promised us a test drive in half hour if we were willing to wait but we couldn't. The TD line was getting longer by the min. I never expected this kind of response.

The car is no head turner but not ugly at the same time. Its very spacious considering my friends and I are 6ft tall and none of us are skinny. The rear of the Amaze could accommodate us all very well. The trunk is spacious, the seats felt comfortable and the Urban Titanium Amaze looks cool imo.

The pricing is what takes the cake and knowing the Indian car buyer, most will come to terms with the looks and other factors of the car if its priced reasonably and offers good FE and I think Honda has hit it out of the stadium with the Amaze. Only time will tell.

[RavenAvi]

Originally Posted by vkochar

the guard walks up to me and with a frown on his face says I cannot park inside because of management instructions. Note - the entire visitor parking area was empty.

OFF-TOPIC:

It's the same at my local Honda dealership as well. Only Honda cars are allowed inside the dealership premises. I think it has more to do with safety than anything else.

The parking space is restricted to old customers who have come to get their Hondas serviced. All other people (staff, prospective customers, customers looking for TDs) are required to park their cars outside the premises. Luckily, there is plenty of space outside the dealership for car parking.

Even the ASM of my Honda dealership, who owns a Santro, has to park his car outside the dealership all day (unless he is out on a call). I have seen the owner of the dealership honoring this strict rule as well - his BMW X3 stands outside in the glaring sun all day!

I think it's a rule for everyone. I haven't seen this change, even when the sales were at an all-time low. It's certainly not restricted to Amaze prospects alone.

[Sutripta]

Originally Posted by Enigmatic

Is there a need to check this out ? Does it vary with the car?
Or do you ask because of the special heat reduction windshield ??

Normally means a metal coating on the glass. Which very effectively also blocks out cell phone etc. signals.

Regards
Sutripta