[tejas08]

When I started writing this Ownership Report, the first thought that cropped up in my mind was ‘There are so many 4th Gen Honda City Ownership Reports. Is another one really required?’ Having said that one realizes that everybody’s ownership experience is unique in some means.



For those who want a quick glimpse on the Ownership Details, proceed to the ‘Choosing the Variant’ Section of the Ownership Report.

Decision Making

The first year of ownership of the 4th Gen Honda City has just been one of the parts of a Journey which began somewhere in February 2013. We in our immediate family only had one car till then which was an Indica Vista (owned by my Uncle). My uncle had decided to sell of the Indica and had booked Honda Amaze which was just launched and deliveries had not yet started I guess.

This was the time when my heart started wondering should I buy a car too, now that I am married already and have bought a new house. Considering that the home loan taken at maximum capacity was just a year and half old, it was going to be a bold decision to buy a car. Even before February 2013, my heart was set to take a plunge into a Second-Hand Car to get some driving practice. A couple of months went by deciding between new or used car and what possible budget could I be able to spare. Meanwhile at an office picnic, another colleague of mine had bought a new Swift. I asked him whether I could try a drive telling him that its been over 15 months since I have driven a car and the last I had driven was at the Driving school. He allowed me without any hesitation but with just one question “You think you can drive then go ahead” All my life I have never had any lack of confidence towards a lot of things. I drove with another office colleague sitting in the co-passenger seat. I did not go beyond the 3rd gear as it was a bad village road somewhere in Neral nor did I have the courage to go beyond the third gear. The response of my colleague sitting beside me ‘You are joking that you have not driven any car after leaning to drive in a driving school’. The sign that I needed to decide between a Used Car or a New Car. Towards the end of April-2013 I finally arrived at a decision of buying a new car and booking at the Wagon-R. The usage was going to be weekends and occasional office drive. So Petrol was the only option that I was looking at with a possibility of CNG for even better economy.

This was the usual mentality of an Indian buyer who looks at Maruti as the cheapest option available in all aspects. I had convinced my wife and my mother about this. My mother gave a go ahead to book the WagonR. Meanwhile at the same time I was discussing with an office colleague of mine about all this stuff and told him the desire of booking a WagonR in a week or so. The instant reaction of my colleague (Who actually happens to have become a good friend of mine over the years)

“Abbe Pagal ho gaya hai kya. Tu WagonR se uterega kaise lagega soch, Tere personality ko bilkul suit nahi hoga”
Translation: Are you crazy? Just imagine how it would look like getting off from a WagonR. It won’t suit your personality.

Most of the people on the forums do not know me. I am 6’3”. About a 100 Kgs. Well built. I never stop being stylish. A brand person from head to toe. My friend got me thinking over there. Well he did give me the next option too. The option was to at least look at the Swift rather than the WagonR. Swift has a much better stance than the WagonR and a much better appeal as a car. (No offence to any WagonR owners. These were just our personal views)

So the next option, Maruti Suzuki Swift. With this option comes more problems. How do I change the budget I had decided? I had decided the budget to suit WagonR. Swift would be around 1 Lac more than the WagonR. The working out of the budget starts and I start looking at the Car Loan options and how much loan would I get. Meanwhile a Mid-Year Increment (end-June 2013) helps my cause. Suddenly it strikes my mind if I am anyhow going for a Car loan, I can easily fit in the Swift or possibly even the DZire.

June-2013, my uncle takes the delivery of his Honda Amaze. The relationships between my Uncle and me have always been of Ups and Downs. There has been always this silent battle of buying luxury items. Never from my side, but could always sense it from his side (specially the things bought for my cousin). I would stop about my personal life to just about this as people knowing this is important to understand what happens next. 17-June-2013 was the date of delivery of Honda Amaze. I did not come to know till another 8 days when I asked my cousin over a casual chat about when he is getting the car. I was really not in my senses that day. The moment I calmed down, the next thing I said was ’17-June-2014 – A bigger and a better car will be parked in my parking lot’.

So out goes Dzire from the list of probable cars. Move over C1 segment, time to look at the C2 segment. The options (during August-September 2013):

1. Toyota Etios
2. 3rd Gen Honda City
3. Skoda Rapid
4. VW Vento
5. Hyundai Verna
6. Ford Ecosport (Right from its launch I was in love with this car)

Before going down to the decision making between these cars, it was time to look at the budget again. A bigger and better car meant a budget requirement somewhere in the range of 10L. I had a lot of arguments and fights at home with my wife and mother over whenever they questioned me whether we should really be taking such a big step. I didn’t have any experience of driving apart from the driving school trainings which is like 20 Mins per day for 21 days. The questions started coming in. How will we manage the maintenance part and stuff.

Time for some test-drives. In order of Test-Drives Taken:

Skoda Rapid

Test Drive taken sometime in October 2013. Even as a person who does not have much driving experience, this car felt amazing to drive. Possible reason could be that this was the first time I was driving a big car. But the quality and finish of the Rapid really left me speechless. Year-End coming close and Skoda had already started offering discounts on Rapid with Free Insurance and Extended Warranty and stuff. Skoda was a brand that I always loved to see. Somehow even with the simplest of designs the cars looked lovely.
One of my Wife’s friends owned it. I talked to him and he did not really give a good review with regards to the ASS, then going through the Team-BHP found some of those horrible stories regarding the Skoda ASS that’s been talked about so much. Second Thoughts!

Toyota Etios

Next up, gave the Toyota Etios a try based on one of my friend’s recommendation. I was never keen on it as it has built up a Taxi image. The plane-jane looks kill it even more. I know it’s a C1 segment car. I realized it after taking a test drive and looking at the car and browsing through the internet about it. But I found the back-seat very comfortable. But I ain’t planning on sitting on the back-seat.

3rd Gen Honda City

A good amount of discounts (Free insurance + Cash Discounts) were going on on the 3rd Gen Honda City during September & October 2013. At that point I was not having any idea of the launch of 4th Gen Honda City. Only when I started browsing the Internet on Honda City did I come to know of the 4th Gen Honda City launch nearing! So the idea for 3rd Gen Honda City was dropped and plus I wasn’t really sure on my budget. No Test-Drive taken.

Volkswagen Vento

Rapid’s Twin. I would pick up the Rapid any day if I have to choose between the too. Personally, the Vento looks good but does not appeal me much. Meanwhile all the research about German Cars made me a bit apprehensive. Bye Bye Vento.

Hyundai Verna / Ford Ecosport

Meanwhile, the option of Hyundai Verna was not explored since I had my sights on Honda City. Ford Ecosport was outrightly rejected for horrendous waiting periods (over 6 Months then).

All this while, the calculations for the budget continued at the back-end. I know a lot of you would be thinking, this guy does not have an idea about his budget and he is looking for cars. Yeah!

Come 25-Nov-2014, the unveiling of the 4th Honda City. Drooling all over the car, I even downloaded a high resolution image of the Car and put it up as Wallpaper on my Desktop. In fact, when I posted an ad on OLX and other sites for selling the Desktop during December 2013, that same wallpaper was set. I wish I could have posted that pic.

[tejas08]

Now the wait begins for the pricing of the 4th Gen Honda City. Meanwhile an early Christmas Present from GTO. The Honda City Official Review Thread comes up on Team-BHP. Going through the review, the decision was made. 07-Jan-2014, the official launch of Honda City with the pricing. Now that I have decided to move on from the WagonR to the Honda City meant that the Mid-Year increment (End-June 2013) would not suffice. Need more. The yearly increment letters are due in January-2014. Always been a good performer wherever I joined, the scenario was not going to be any different. My office did not disappoint me in anyway.

Test Drive vehicles had started coming in to the dealership. An additional decision to be made was Manual Vs Automatic Transmission. The decision was probably the simplest of all. Manual Transmission it is. Already been through the Team-BHP review at least twice in detail there wasn’t anything more to see than to just drive the car first hand.

On 23-Feb-2014, I and my wife went to Arya Honda Bhandup. Took a Test Drive and was convinced on buying the car. The driving comfort, seating position, Steering wheel height were all upto my expectations. Paid a booking amount of Rs. 51,000 and booked the Carnelian Red Clour. The Delivery time quoted to me was 6-8 weeks. The SA advised to keep colour options open to get early delivery.

The second colour option provided was Tafetta White. (Colour of Peace - Quite Literally). I am happy that I got this colour. Else my life wouldn't have been all that happy with my mother taunting on the colour choice of my wife. My Wife and my mother never agreed on one colour. People who are married know how difficult a situation like this is.

Choosing the Variant

I choose the V variant for the following main reasons:

• Airbags / ABS (Mandatory)
• Reverse Parking Camera
• Alloy Wheels
• 5” screen versus a 3.5” (Although the 5” screen isn’t any better but makes the console look much better)

The VX variant for me was a bit to over-priced for the very little additional things that were offered. I am not that over-fond of a Sun-roof.

Dealership Experience between Booking & Delivery

The dealership guys
SA – Manoj Kori
TL – Dhananjay (Manoj’s immediate Boss)
Regional Sales Manage (Don’t remember his name)

The SA (Manoj Kori) was a very polite guy. As such all the people I spoke with in Arya Honda Bhandup were polite and did not have any arrogance shown to me at any point of the whole Sales experience.
The only experience which left a bad taste was the asking of payment even before the car is allotted to me (Thanks to Team-BHP). Being March (End of Financial year), the Dealership wanted as much cash-flow as possible. On the pretext of giving early delivery, they asked me to ready the finances and make the full-payment. The reason indicated was if someone else is not able to make the payment in time, they can allocate that car to me. I was fine till then. Then they gave me an undertaking form which said something completely different. The meaning of the Undertaking Form in short was “I am making the full payment on my own free will. The waiting period of the Car is ___ and will not hold Arya Honda responsible for any delays over and above the waiting period.” They pissed off the wrong guy. Since I had received the Undertaking Letter via email, I forwarded that same email to Honda Customer Care and told them that the dealership is asking for the payment even before the car is dispatched from the factory. Got a call from Arya Honda Customer Relationship and was informed that I do not need to make any payment before the confirmation of dispatch of vehicle.

March-2014 went by. Towards end of March-2014 and early April-2014, I increased the frequency of follow up looking at some of the posts from members who had booked the same car. Finally on 08-Apr, I got a call from SA to that the car has been dispatched from the factory and I am required to make the full payment. At first I insisted that I will make the payment only after doing a PDI myself. The dealership did not agree. The response was till the time full payment is not made, they cannot allocate a VIN number to me. Since, Honda City was selling like Hot Cakes, I obliged. Based on some people’s review, Arya Honda has a Good reputation. A couple of my office colleagues have purchased Brio and Amaze from the same dealership and had given a green signal on their way of working.
Made the balance payment on 9-Apr and got the VIN number on 10-Apr. Verified it and found that this was a March-2014 manufactured car. I was a little skeptical about it but did not discuss much about it with the SA. My doubt was cleared after I took the delivery of the car and found a print-out of Assembly details during the Seat Cover Installation. The Assembling date of the car was mentioned as 27-Mar-14 with the production sequence number etc. Looks like Honda guys forgot to get rid of that paper. So ideally, a car assembled on 27-Mar-14 would take about 8-10 days to reach Mumbai from Greater Noida from the date of dispatch. The dispatch too won’t be immediate on 28-Mar-14. So I guess that’s fair enough. I was looking at delivery on 16th (Akshaya Tritiya). But this seemed to be too tight. There were a lot of holidays during the period due to election trainings & all. Also, reading the Thread on Buying a car, it mentioned avoiding taking the delivery of the car of highly auspicious days as there will be a huge number of deliveries and due importance may not be given to you. So next date finalized was 21-Apr-2014. Got a message from RTO regarding the registration of the car on 15-Apr-14. The worst wait is this; from 15-Apr to 21-Apr.

Finally the day arrived. 21-Apr-14

The car was being prepped up at the showroom when I arrived at 03:30 PM.



My wife was supposed to come from office directly to the showroom by around 04:30 PM. I decided to go in early to inspect the car thoroughly before taking the delivery. Arya Honda made all the necessary arrangements to perform a small pooja before taking the delivery.

My Father-in-Law performing the Pooja



The SA handing over the BIG key to us. . From Left to Right, My Father-In-Law, my Wife, My Mother, SA Manoj, Me & my wife's cousin who drove the car for me that day back to my home.

[tejas08]

Ownership Experience

With just a small amount of Fuel in the Fuel Tank, the first stop had to be the Petrol Pump. The Dealership was generous in giving me a 5 Ltrs. Petrol Free Coupon of the Petrol Pump near the Dealership.

We headed straight to a Ganesh Temple in Mulund (West). We got the panditji of the temple to do a pooja of the vehicle by his hands. After this, we took the vehicle straight to TyreX, Mulund (West) for the Tyre Upgrade. Put on the new shoes on the Ride. Michelin 195/60/R15 looked much better on the Princess than the 175/65/R15 (I was lucky to get Michelin XM1 as stock).

Except for bringing the car out from the Garage upto the Petrol Pump and stalling the engine twice at the petrol pump slope, all the rest of the drive was done by my Wife’s cousin. The reason – my previous driving experience & driving in slight peak office traffic (between 05:30 PM to 06:00 PM) on LBS Road.

My Previous Driving experience includes

• Driving School Training (21 Days, 20 mins. each) & Exam Test at RTO office about 2 years before the car delviery
• A couple of 10 minutes practice runs with my friend’s vehicle about 6 months before delivery
• Three 10 minute Test Drives (Etios, Rapid & 4th Gen Honda City)

Never ever went beyond 3rd Gear in any case except once while on training school. You can imagine how nervous I would have been to even touch the steering wheel of my brand new car. First job at hand was to get accustomed to driving such a huge machine. Daily practice sessions with the car after 11:00 PM for half an hour in my surrounding area to get accustomed to driving, specially STOP / GO practice and going beyond the 3rd Gear. This helped getting accustomed with the car handling as well as munched in the miles before the 1st free service (1000 Kms). Inside a Week’s time I was already off on the Eastern Express highway at night and within 15 days was driving in peak Bumper-to-bumper traffic. Although the Peak traffic was only for practice and did not subject the car to very heavy traffic loads initially. Finally towards the end of the first month of ownership, I was starting to understand the driving dynamics & stuff.

Getting down to the Ownership experience of the car:

What I Like (In no specific order)

• Superb Exterior Design & Styling
• Interior Space (Back-Seat is the place to be) & 510 ltrs. of Boot Space
• Effortless City Driveability
• Excellent Fuel Economy
• Good Audio System by OEM Standards
• Wide Range of Features & Equipment Levels (Rear AC vents, Touch-Screen Auto-Climate Control, Multiple Power Sockets, Cruise Control, Hands-free Bluetooth Telephony, Rear Parking Camera etc.)
• Light Steering is a boon in City Driving
• Engine Guard – Good for Indian Rood Conditions
• A Rev-Happy Engine (I just love the sweet sound of the Engine at 5K+ RPM)

What I don’t like

• High Dashboard Design (Even after being 6’3” I find it high, shorter drivers will find it very hard)
• Beige Carpet Interiors are going to be difficult to maintain
• Light Steering at high speeds on Highway can be bothering
• Bottom Boot Lip a Tad too high
• Stiffer Suspension setup leads to potholes being filtered into the cabin
• Reach Adjustability missing (Why is it so hard for Honda to provide that)
• Thin Panels are dent prone. Try pressing the Roof of the car with two fingers and the roof goes in a little
• Pathetic High Beam Reflectors

Engine & Transmission

The i-VTEC has been behaving the way it has been all these years with the previous Generation City. It’s a extremely Rev-happy Engine. I am completely addicted to the Sweet note of the Engine at 5K-6K RPM. Believe me, I know how much I control myself not to overdo it and rev her up to 6K RPM only once a week.
The Gear shifting is slick and precise. You won’t go much wrong with the gear shifting of not slotting it in the right gear. I have ended up sometimes making a mistake that’s purely my mistake of being over-anxious or over-cautious. (Trying to downshift too early during sudden deceleration)

Fuel Economy

This car apart from being a great car to drive is also the ‘Kitna Deti Hai’ Junta car. I have clocked 12,563 Kms as I put up this Ownership report. Trip B has never been reset. The FE seen is 12.7kmpl on the MID. Manual calculations (Tank-full to Tank-Full) method puts it at 12.4. Less than 3% variation between Manual & MID which is good.
I did a 9-day Trip to Gujrat with 4 people on board and full-boot of luggage for 9 Day Trip. In fact, I was carrying the luggage of another person traveling in a second car (That’s how humungous the boot is). 3200 Kms in 9 days at an FE of 15.4 kmpl. A Mumbai-Ahmedabad Trip (520 Kms) was done on a single tank of fuel with still about 6 litres of fuel balance in it. I left from Mumbai with a full tank and refueled only after reaching Ahmedabad City (17.5 Kmpl). This was in the same 9-Day road trip with 4 people and Full-boot of luggage.




Total Amount spent on Fuel – Rs. 75,117 for 1024.5 Ltrs of Petrol

Driveability & Handling

Driveability is effortless within City. The 3rd Gear tells you “I am your Automatic for City Driving”. If you are in moving traffic, you can actually maneuver easily on 3rd gear and not require frequent gear changes. I have gone over well designed speed breakers in the 3rd gear at 20kmph speed without any shuddering of the car. The only downside to this is the RPM falls too low for the speed to climb up fast again. I have accidentally ended up starting the car in 3rd gear without stalling the engine. Of course, it needed a fair amount of clutch control and shuddering which really wouldn’t have been good for the car.

The light Steering helps a lot in the City. On highways, the Cruise Control is a boon, but sometimes of no use due to our ‘HORN OK PLEASE’ friends. The light steering however can give you un-nerving moments on the highways, when a slight jerky input can shake the car a little.

There is a noticeable body roll when doing corners at speeds above 40 kmph. I am not sure if this happens with other cars too as I have not tried the same in any other car.

I cannot comment on the difference of grip levels between the 175/65s & 195/60 as I upgraded the tyres on Day 1. Had seen the comment on City being under-tyred on way too many websites to ignore it.

Exteriors

From the current lot of C2 Segment sedans, Honda City stands out with respect to the exterior designing. This probably has been one of the selling points of Honda City alongwith the fact that this generation Honda City now comes with a Diesel Mill. The front Chrome Grill can sometimes feel like a big Maharaja style moustache on a skinny, 5-footer man. Honda went a little overboard on it. But then again, the rest of the exterior design more than makes up for it. The wrap-around tail-lamps, the crease-lines on the side profile all give a sporty-look to the car. While looking at the back of the car, one can say that the back of the car (rear bumper) looks a little bulky as compared to the likes of Vento, Rapid, Verna etc.

The Dual-Barrel headlamps blend well with the whole design but the Reflectors in both High Beam and Low Beam aren’t anything special. The high-beams are next to negligible. Just last I realized that the high beam throw is aimed so upward that none of the high beam light actually falls beyond the low beam throw.

The segment-first Shark-Fin antenna gives a premium feel (read BMW-esque).



Interiors & Comfort

The dual-tone interiors give a premium feeling although some of the material used may not really do so. The black plain plastic material used on the dashboard does not feel premium by any means. At the same time, the touchscreen Auto-Climate Control AC looks uber-cool. The Blue neon-like dials on the MID & Odometers look classy.

The front seats have a bucket like feeling to it. Good all-round support. With front-seats back all the way, the Arm-rest serves its purpose well. Under-thigh support for taller people can be felt lacking. But overall, the comfort offered is amazing. We did 3-4 stints of continuous 4 hours drives during the Gujrat Trip. No one complained of any discomfort with regards to seating. The driver seat gets height adjustment and has a healthy range. This is a must for me as the fixed heights of seats are generally too high for me and I need this badly.

The rear-seat is the place to be in. It’s almost like sitting in a sofa at home watching television. If you had an AVN Unit in the middle of the car, I bet the Idiot-Box addicts would not get out of the car on long drives. I found the rear arm-rest a little too limp meaning it goes beyond 0 degree line. It should have been a little firm at 0 degree angle.

Here's a photo of the Rear-seat Arm-rest indicating the decline angle of the Rear Arm-Rest that I am talking about. It's actually a turn-off to me.



The glove-box is fairly big enough. Small cubby holes here and there help the cause.

The blue neon-style rings on the MID look super-cool specially at night.

To counter the stiffer suspension, I have been trying out some different combinations of Tyre Pressures. My trials included (Front / Rear) 30/30, 32/30, 32/31 & 32/32 psi. I found the 32/30 psi as the best option as majorly I drive solo or have a maximum of 3 people on board.

One thing to note that the stiffer suspension is quite evident while driving solo. You can notice a majority of the bumps or rough patches of road while going solo. The same decreases even with 3 people on board.

Ground Clearance

Even after the much talked about stiffer suspension, I have managed to hit around 3-4 speed-breakers till date. All thanks to the non-scientific speed-breakers at some places. Else I don’t think one should worry about Ground Clearance of the 4th Gen City.

[tejas08]

Moving to the Finances of the car:

Capital Cost

• Ex-Showroom Price – 934,980
• Registration – 89,648
• Depot Charges – 4,500
• Honda Assure Insurance with Zero Dep. – 33,977
• Extended Warranty (Two Years) – Rs. 7,975
• Road Side Assistance (4 Years) – Rs. 4,600

Total On-Road Price – Rs. 1,075,680

Ownership Cost & Service Records

This section includes all the money spent on my princess from the day I drove the car out of the Showroom.

Accessories

• Art-Leather Seat Covers (Auto-Form) - Rs. 7,000
• Car Charger - Rs. 300
• Car Perfume - Rs. 1500 Approx. (3 different types tried, haven't found a good one yet)

Here's a look at the Art-Leather Seat-Covers installed. The wrinkled look is on purpose and I somehow like the Wrinkled look more than the plain ones. I opted for beige colour as I did not want to change the internal colour scheme of the car.





The only problem with the Auto-Form Seat Covers are the Front Seat Head-Rests. The fitting is good but the locking mechanism of the Head-Rest Covers are pathetic. This has started to look horrible not. Thinking about the options available. Suggestions Welcome. You can see the locking mechanism of the Covers does not stay on. This happened inside 8 months of installation of the Seat Covers.



Fuel (Petrol)

Total - Rs. 75,117 for 1024.5 Ltrs. of Petrol

Tyre Upgrade – 21-Apr-2014

Michelin Energy XM2 195/60/R15 – Rs. 1575 per tyre (In Exchange of Stock Michelin Energy XM1 175/65/R15)
Total – Rs. 7,875 (including spare tyre)

3M Car Care - 10-May-2014

• Paint Sealant Essential – Rs. 4034
• Under-body Anti-Corrosion (5 Year Warranty) – Rs. 3809
• 3M Nomad Mats – Rs. 5782

Total – Rs. 12,413 (Inclusive of 10% discount for opting 3 out of 5 services)

1st Free Service – 23-May-14

Odo Reading – 850 Kms.
Total – Rs. 0

2nd Free Service – 25-Jul-14

Odo Reading – 2,215 Kms.
Total – Rs. 0

Free Service – 18-Oct-14

Odo Reading – 4,613 Kms.

• Engine Oil change
• Oil Filter change

Total – Rs. 1448

3M Car Care - 08-Nov-2014

• Underbody Coating Inspection & Touch-up - Free
• Exterior Detailing Powershine – Rs. 3740 + Taxes (Service Tax)
• CR70 Film (Front Windshield only) – Rs. 7090 + Taxes (VAT)

Total – Rs. 12,178

Wheel Alignment – 25-Dec-2014

Odo Reading – 9,405 Kms.
Total – Rs. 350

Insurance Claim

A Taxi-driver tried to squeeze his taxi in a tight 3-Lane Road. To avoid an oncoming BEST bus from taking my ORVM alongwith it, I slowly started moving to the left, realising that this Taxi Driver had not left any space for me. The Taxi's Bumper Guard scratched on the left side of the car, leaving a scratch on the front left door & dent in the rear left door.

This was rectified through insurance.

Total Damage - Rs. 1,325 (Apart from the loss of no-claim bonus )

Insurance Renewal

My original insurance was Iffco-Tokio GI through Honda Assure. Decided to renew the same. Got a Quote of rs. 28,404 and Rs. 1500 Cash-back.

Effective Premium - Rs. 26,904 which includes

• Zero-Depreciation
• Engine & Gear-Box Protection Cover

1st Paid Service – 12,360 Kms

• 20K Kms Paid Service - Rs. 2112
• Honda Diagnostic Scanning for Troubleshooting - Rs. 348
• Battery Testing, Washer Plug Drain & Windscreen Fluid - Rs. 99
• Oil Filter Cartridge - Rs. 150
• Engine Oil SL10W30 - Rs. 1278
• Consumables - Rs. 358

Total – Rs. 4,344

[tejas08]

Issues with the Car

There have been a lot of discussions on the official Honda City Thread by GTO & the Honda City Niggles Thread by Crazy Driver. I am one of the people who has been a part of a fair amount of those discussions. Some trying to defend Honda, some for the issues I have faced in my car.

Alternator Belt / Drive belt Grinding Noise

I think one of the most reported problems amongst the Manual Petrol owners. I have been a victim of the same. The first I faced this problem was around End-August 2014. I decided to push it till the next service (3rd Free Service) looking at the advice on the forums. This wasn’t much of a major issue. On 18-Oct-14, I had scheduled the 3rd Free Service. I reported the problem to the Service Advisor. When the car was delivered to me, they had washed the engine bay and due to this, the Alternator belt was moist and did not have that noise. I knew there was no point in arguing with these guys that the problem is not solved. The only option was to bring back the vehicle again after couple of days.

On 20-Oct-14, I went back to the ASC with the same complaint. I explained them that the problem can be solved after replacement of the Drive belt only. Bragged about being a member of a big online automobile community, I know this problem has been reported in a lot of Citys. They checked and replaced the Drive Belt.

Post this replacement I drove the car for over 7500 Kms without the problem cropping up again until 11-Apr-15 (Next day after the 1st Paid Service). Took the vehicle back to ASC on 13-Apr-15, explained the problem to the Service advisor and left the vehicle with them to rectify the problem. Three hours later got a call from SA indicating the problem is solved by cleaning the Drive Belt. I had to once again start the whole discussion all over again, that cleaning is not the solution. The SA advised to keep the car with them overnight and they will check up for the noise in the morning. The next day the SA was on leave. I had to talk to his senior. Explain him the whole scenario once again. He too did the same thing except that he told me they had lubricated the pulley alongwith cleaning of the drive belt. And assured me (In their usual language) that the problem will not crop up again. My way of keeping my head calm is not arguing with these guys and getting the vehicle back and showing them that the problem is not solved. I just did that. Got a call for feedback of the service from their PR, whom I blasted for the sort of service. Haven’t yet taken the car back to them. Planning to do it on this weekend.

Headlight Casing Misting

This was a one-off issue. I noticed only once a little bit of misting inside the Headlight casing. Reported the same in the 3rd Free Service. The SA said that this is sort of problem which cannot be checked now. Only thing can be done was check for any leakage or stuff. But no one can be sure before the next monsoon whether the problem is solved or not. I tend to agree with it as the 3rd Free Service was in October. Will be keeping an eye on this problem in this monsoon.

Rear Left-Door Beading coming off

I had this problem once and reported to the SA during the Second free Service. Haven’t had that problem since then.

Issues with ASC (Arya Honda, Bhandup)

Tyre Pressures Post Servicing – Just yesterday I decided to go check the tyre-pressure from the regular tyre-Shop where I fill / top-up Nitrogen. I was horrified to see the tyre pressures as 28/27 psi. I had a doubt about the tyre pressure, since the car wasn’t feeling the way it always does. I thought the ASC must have over-inflated the tyres making it uncomfortable but I was in for a surpise.

Body Shop Painting Experience – During the insurance claim for the left doors, the car was painted. The spray painting resulted in some minuscule droplets on all glasses of the car and also on the outside black door panels. Also, post this body shop work, the interior cleaning was also done shoddily. I reported this during the feedback call. Courtesy of this got a free waxing of the car during the 1st Paid Service.

Other issues with ASC have been the regular stuff that the Service Advisors try to push you into. AC disinfectant, Decarbonisation, Wheel Alignmen / Balancing etc. which I think is there job to try and get the ASC as much money as possible.

[GTO]

Thread moved from the Assembly Line to the Initial Ownership Section. Thanks for sharing!

[MetalBuff]

Belated congratulations, Tejas!

A very well written review straight from the heart. What should I say, a jump from the Wagon R to the City, brilliant! One should do what the heart says, every once in a while, right?

Wishing you a million happy miles with the white beauty.

Request - More exteriors shots, please. Nothing can satiate the thirst for more pictures for us, Team-bhpians .

Cheerio,
-Shivang Gandotra

[Turbo_asd]

Congratulations on completing a lovely year with your steed. It seems you are having quite a time with the car. Honda petrol + manual transmission = 'pukka' enthusiast's car.
An enthusiast's desire completely surpasses all reasonably logic while shopping for a car. The way your decision swayed from the WagonR to the City is a testament you being one amongst us wonderfully eccentric petrolheads. Keep it up

The seat cover fit seems to be good, ofcourse save for the front headrests. You could probably get only the headrests re-upholstered from a different upholsterer who can make it OEM fit.

Please do post more exterior and interior shots. They'll make for some good eye candy.
Wishing you many more pleasurable miles on your angel!

[tejas08]

Originally Posted by MetalBuff

Belated congratulations, Tejas!

A very well written review straight from the heart. What should I say, a jump from the Wagon R to the City, brilliant! One should do what the heart says, every once in a while, right?

Wishing you a million happy miles with the white beauty.

Request - More exteriors shots, please. Nothing can satiate the thirst for more pictures for us, Team-bhpians .

Cheerio,
-Shivang Gandotra

Originally Posted by Turbo_asd

Congratulations on completing a lovely year with your steed. It seems you are having quite a time with the car. Honda petrol + manual transmission = 'pukka' enthusiast's car.
An enthusiast's desire completely surpasses all reasonably logic while shopping for a car. The way your decision swayed from the WagonR to the City is a testament you being one amongst us wonderfully eccentric petrolheads. Keep it up

The seat cover fit seems to be good, ofcourse save for the front headrests. You could probably get only the headrests re-upholstered from a different upholsterer who can make it OEM fit.

Please do post more exterior and interior shots. They'll make for some good eye candy.
Wishing you many more pleasurable miles on your angel!

Thanks Shivang & Turbo for the Wishes.

Interiors & Exteriors are completely stock as the Honda City comes. Hence, did not focus much on the Photographs of them. In fact, the photos present in Official Review of Honda City are much better and in detail IMO. But still I will try to get some photographs soon. Will have to plan a photo-shoot for the car soon.

Thanks for the advice on the Seat Covers Turbo. Will go and check that option this weekend.

[IPathan]

Congratulations Tejas on crossing 12k mark, wish you many miles of trouble free ownership - A very well written review straight from the heart

Originally Posted by tejas08

I am happy that I got this colour. Else my life wouldn't have been all that happy with my mother taunting on the colour choice of my wife. My Wife and my mother never agreed on one colour. People who are married know how difficult a situation like this is.

I was in the same situation last year, Wife (Red) - Mom (Blue) - Booked (silver) saying "waiting period longer for the color". Wife had "astrological reason" and Mom had "unique color reason" but I had "personal reason" (80% of the time neither would be even sitting in the car)

[nug1]

Congratulations Tejas and thanks for a well written review.

I own a previous gen iVtec (just love the way the engine revs) and have maintained stock exteriors as you have. you may want to add T-BHP stickers though

[Ruchitya]

Originally Posted by nug1

Congratulations Tejas and thanks for a well written review.

I own a previous gen iVtec (just love the way the engine revs) and have maintained stock exteriors as you have. you may want to add T-BHP stickers though

(Unpopular opinion) I have kept my car stock too. No teambhp sticker either. Need a logo or something minimalist to convince me to stick something on.

[miharbe]

Congratulations Tejas! Nice review!

You sure have a nice log of the amount spent on everything that went into over and under the car!

Well having met you in person I cannot imagine how you would have fit into a WagonR!

The picture of the car on Marine Drive looks awesome! You've got to give us more pictures of the outside and the boot space.

I am considering getting an automatic one to replace my Vento so I'll keep an eye out for issues faced by you. Hoping they are resolved soon.

[tejas08]

Originally Posted by nug1

you may want to add T-BHP stickers though

Originally Posted by Ruchitya

Need a logo or something minimalist to convince me to stick something on.

I do not showcase that I am a Team-BHP member by putting on a sticker.. This helps in judging the services being given to a common person. A lot of the big Service centers / Car Care centers are aware of Team-BHP. So they tend to keep special attention looking at the sticker. Its not that I don't want or I don't love special attention to my care, but at least you come to know the kind of service offered by a particular shop.

Having said that I never said I don't have a Team-BHP sticker on or in my car. It's just that I like to keep the car interiors stock & exteriors white colour clear. I just used Technology to showcase my Team-BHP sticker.

Here it is.

[Ruchitya]

Originally Posted by tejas08

I do not showcase that I am a Team-BHP member by putting on a sticker.. This helps in judging the services being given to a common person. A lot of the big Service centers / Car Care centers are aware of Team-BHP. So they tend to keep special attention looking at the sticker. Its not that I don't want or I don't love special attention to my care, but at least you come to know the kind of service offered by a particular shop.

Having said that I never said I don't have a Team-BHP sticker on or in my car. It's just that I like to keep the car interiors stock & exteriors white colour clear. I just used Technology to showcase my Team-BHP sticker.

Here it is.

Attachment 1362025

That's awesome! Point taken Sir. I think we were speaking about slightly different things then. I was speaking more about showing my love for teambhp with a sticker et alia. I'd love it if a succinct logo or something of the sort for the forum comes along in time.