[derthom]

Its been 14 years since my fairlady rolled out of the production floor and onto the challenging roads of Bengaluru. My uncle took possession of this beautiful NA sedan sometime in the middle of March 2011, this was the time when sedans ruled the roost and were the hot pick item for anyone who wanted to make a statement that they’ve arrived.


My uncle chose the bold beige colour, picked the top-end manual and on delivery almost immediately went down to Koramangala and did an audio system upgrade and consequently voiding his warranty (I doubt he knew), this is frowned upon nowadays but back then, I assume it wasn’t a big deal.
Cut short to 2017 and 55,000 km later, the Honda had definitely seen better days and the car no longer was the apple of my uncle’s eye. That’s where I come in, cue in recently employed dorky kid who spent a lot of time working and understanding his Icy Blue Maruti 800 AC (yes they had the AC moniker there because that was a feature worth mentioning i guess).


To be fair I really didn’t know much about the Honda City, I always thought it to be out of my league for obvious reasons, but this golden (or must I say beige) chance at grasping something that is beyond me was thrilling. Now in hindsight I realize how much of a big deal it really was.


Going from 37 to 118 BHP is maddening, and i felt that 1.5 purr the first time I started her up, that smooth acceleration always available on tap, the refinement of the gear ratios and that sweet sweet vtec powerband just sitting there waiting to rumble.


A beautiful top class car for a city with deteriorating road manners made ownership an interesting experience. Almost 90% of all my dents and scratches came exclusively from autos and cabs. Thrice my right side mirror was shattered by speeding overtakers and one time a friend and myself got stuck in a muddy rural road.

I have done a suspension overhaul at the 60KM mark and the problem of the scrapping of the underbody showed itself out. From there on, the newly repossessed City now aptly named ‘Eileen’ carried on daily duties like a champ, ferrying my family, carrying us on trips, just being the non-problematic sweetheart car that every honda owner gets.
Rat bites?No problem, replace the wires in a jiffy,good as new. Key FOB broke? Get a better after-market one, sound system acting up?switch it up and get a weird Andriod/Auto carplay system- and it works like a charm. Tires are old? Upsize and enjoy the smoothness of Continental UC6s



But, there were few things that were left untouched, the body,bumpers,paint were never touched up or repainted or undented. Everything stayed as a battle scar, and those scars kept getting bigger and more noticeable, much to my dismay.

I recently discovered a psychological trait somewhere in 2023, I just stopped caring about new scratches or dents, i stopped inspecting the car and just drove it like i would if it was a rental. In Bangalore’s bumper to bumper traffic i acquired the mentality of the cabbies that rule the road, i gave no chance for space to be created that i couldn’t fill, i started honking regularly, would park too close to sidepaths and have touched the bumper on many a wall.

At about the same time I chanced upon an old blogpost article I had written - titled “Broken Windows” it encapsulated this idea that everything falls apart - its the entropy of the universe, but if you leave something unrepaired, you are more inclined to allow more or cause more damage to it. It gives the example of vandalized homes in some of the suburbs in America, a home that is vandalized and left unattended gets vandalized with more damage or graffiti when compared to houses that were promptly fixed.

In lesser words, man sees scratches and dents on his car, man doesn’t bother anymore to prevent new scratches and dents because what’s the point anyway? But if man sees a spotless car, man is inclined to keep it that way for the longest possible time.

Until now, i reached the golden 1,00,000KM in this journey from 55k to 1 Lakh KM, a lot of times i have been impressed, surprised, uncaring, disappointed and finally bored with the City. And that is when this final part of this story comes in- i was bitten by the new car bug, and had decided the honda has spent enough time with me, i thought to start a new journey with a new car and a new EMI.

I’m a simple man with a proclivity for variety, considering I’ve always driven only hatches and sedans , a well endowed mid-SUV caught my fancy- but which one will it be? Creta? Or its sophisticated twin the Seltos? Or maybe the hyryder or its more popular twin Grand Vitara? Or i go back to honda and ask them for an ‘Elevate”d car?

Did the analysis, did the drives, found them over priced but enjoyed the better suspension. I finally settled for a Grand Vitara Zeta AT(my fiancee had taken a strong liking to the car as well), it was 18.8L on road in bangalore and with exchange(3.8L for the honda) and free insurance, I effectively only had to pay 15L, i chose the Artic Pearl White much to my mothers liking and we were all set, doing 3rd party PDI is encouraged these day so i went with Zekardo.

Now the twist starts, i was informed the car is allotted and i can come see the car before they send it for registration. I show up at 3pm on a Tuesday as instructed by my sales advisor in Kalyani-Nexa. My uncle and PDI guy arrive shortly after, i inform the advisor that i have a PDI guy, the dealership staff lose it! They panic, they make us wait 1 hour more, then bring the car covered in dust/dirt. They kept telling me that the PDI guy was not to use any equipment whatsoever, he can only touch and visually inspect. The sales manager was constantly hovering over us.


They gave some lame excuse of the the OBD scanner messing up NEXA connect, and the ODO already had 60km on it, which is normal, but when i asked the sales guy, he was fumbling, the overall experience left a bad taste and i called the whole thing off.

They even made me write a letter,


Finally, i decided to restored the car and keep her running as long as possible, so i finally took some time to find the right mechanic to repaint, found a reasonable mechanic close to home.

1. Dent removal, rust repair,repaint the whole car(except roof) , alloys, and i asked to make the grill piano black. (35k)




2.New windshield from Asahi- Temperlite, the old one was scratched and had swirl marks. (10k)


3. New headlights and taillights, those were also oxidised and yellow/cracked. (19k)

4. Iridium Spark Plugs, honda manual says to replace at 1,00,000 so i got them installed as well (5k)

Thank you for taking the time to read about my car - Eileen.

[rejaneeshsr]

That’s an impressive restoration. Congratulations!

Let me tell you, it’s truly difficult to replace a third-generation Honda City. It’s incredibly reliable, has a design that still holds up, is fuel-efficient, refined, offers ample power, and provides great comfort.

I own a 2011 Honda City automatic, and it runs like a dream. I haven’t encountered any issues, and I thoroughly enjoy every moment behind the wheel.

[saikishor]

I related very well to that line: when man sees existing scratches, he does not bother but when man sees a spotless car, he will try his best to keep it as is.

This was very nice to read. the 3rd gen City is indeed s timeless car. Somehow, only these Hondas feel special among all other commuter cars.

[UD17]

Happy for you, that you went ahead with restoration of a great car.

I own 2013 Honda city, i also did a complete overhaul of the car including the complete suspension change at 125K Kms. My cars currently at 128K and my wife uses it daily for 4 Kms run to her office. The MID shows mileage of 8.8KMPL right now, the small distance covered by my wife is most in cold start condition. I occasionally try my hands in this old workhorse and it keep sending the smile back to the face.

I am looking to install a good screen with rear camera display capability. My wife had some difficulties in her office parking which is quite cramped to reverse safely.

Please let me what screen you installed, brand name, cost and other details. Did you also invest in rear camera?

[G13BB]

A pure heart-over-head decision indeed! Trust me, you will not regret this decision in the long run. This was one of the best generations of the City which still looks so good as the design is timeless!

However, as far as I know, this generation of Hondas had issues with the steering column, how is yours holding up?

[Happy Go Lucky]

Nice, that you went back and restored your 3rd Gen Honda City. I too have the same car which has renewd registration for another five years and has clocked 170000. Recently I had to change the clutch system, suspension, wheel bearings, AC compressor and now I feel it's better than before. Many times I had been bitten by a new car bug but my City doesn't like to leave me.

[sheelRP]

As a fellow honda city 2011 VMT owner, I have done 1.16 lacs kms on stock suspension and just changed OEM Nissin brake pads at 1 lacs kms . Apart from routine service and change of spark plugs, no other expenses it has required and my car makes me smile as I drive . A gem of a car which even today brings smile and grabs attention for its design, reliability and fuel efficiency with 118 Hp NA gem IVTEC under its hood. Only issue I found with this car , apart from low GC was the ride quality and otherwise a great car. Happy motoring.

[Utopian]

For a moment, I though that this would be veering towards a Vitara review. BTW, were there any other reasons which made the decision clear in taking back the City.
Also this colour looks stunning on the city. This generation of the City is the cleanest and still holds it ground even after 15 years of launch. Wish you many more happy miles.

[derthom]

Originally Posted by rejaneeshsr

That’s an impressive restoration. Congratulations!

Let me tell you, it’s truly difficult to replace a third-generation Honda City. It’s incredibly reliable, has a design that still holds up, is fuel-efficient, refined, offers ample power, and provides great comfort.

I own a 2011 Honda City automatic, and it runs like a dream. I haven’t encountered any issues, and I thoroughly enjoy every moment behind the wheel.

Thank you Rejaneesh, I am happy with the outcome as well, I truly wish I had an automatic, as that would make the perfect "city" City and more members of my family would like to drive it!

Originally Posted by saikishor

I related very well to that line: when man sees existing scratches, he does not bother but when man sees a spotless car, he will try his best to keep it as is.

This was very nice to read. the 3rd gen City is indeed s timeless car. Somehow, only these Hondas feel special among all other commuter cars.

Indeed, the hustle and bustle of Bangalore has reduced my patience, now I am more relaxed and take it as it comes (else I risk a scratch or a dent)

[derthom]

Originally Posted by UD17

Happy for you, that you went ahead with restoration of a great car.

I own 2013 Honda city, i also did a complete overhaul of the car including the complete suspension change at 125K Kms. My cars currently at 128K and my wife uses it daily for 4 Kms run to her office. The MID shows mileage of 8.8KMPL right now, the small distance covered by my wife is most in cold start condition. I occasionally try my hands in this old workhorse and it keep sending the smile back to the face.

I am looking to install a good screen with rear camera display capability. My wife had some difficulties in her office parking which is quite cramped to reverse safely.

Please let me what screen you installed, brand name, cost and other details. Did you also invest in rear camera?

Thank you for the kind words! you are 28K ahead of me, did you also replace the spark plugs at 1,00,000 ? i recommend it, car is ever so lightly peppy.


For the infotainment screen, i just went with a generic brand named "autobots" that had a 4gb RAM option, it is a little quirky and works 8/10 times, sometimes it just freezes, but it was 14K with installation and rear camera was bundled in too.

For a cheap brand, the display is quite crisp and you will also need an aftermarket frame that will house the unit, that's about 1.5K, make sure to keep the old audio system and the frame.

[derthom]

Originally Posted by Utopian

For a moment, I though that this would be veering towards a Vitara review. BTW, were there any other reasons which made the decision clear in taking back the City.
Also this colour looks stunning on the city. This generation of the City is the cleanest and still holds it ground even after 15 years of launch. Wish you many more happy miles.

Thank you! The more I talk about it, the more i hear from folks like yourself that is the people's favourite among the citys of yore and the present! Makes me glad that I held on to it.

Originally Posted by sheelRP

As a fellow honda city 2011 VMT owner, I have done 1.16 lacs kms on stock suspension and just changed OEM Nissin brake pads at 1 lacs kms . Apart from routine service and change of spark plugs, no other expenses it has required and my car makes me smile as I drive . A gem of a car which even today brings smile and grabs attention for its design, reliability and fuel efficiency with 118 Hp NA gem IVTEC under its hood. Only issue I found with this car , apart from low GC was the ride quality and otherwise a great car. Happy motoring.

Lovely! now i feel the urge to replace my brake pads as well. Thank you for the kind words, we have the same model, happy and safe driving to you as well.

Originally Posted by Happy Go Lucky

Nice, that you went back and restored your 3rd Gen Honda City. I too have the same car which has renewd registration for another five years and has clocked 170000. Recently I had to change the clutch system, suspension, wheel bearings, AC compressor and now I feel it's better than before. Many times I had been bitten by a new car bug but my City doesn't like to leave me.

Oh yes, I forgot to mention, i replaced my AC Compressor as well! Your car must feel brand new at this point, tell me this, does a clutch overhaul make the clutch easy to use and light?

Originally Posted by G13BB

A pure heart-over-head decision indeed! Trust me, you will not regret this decision in the long run. This was one of the best generations of the City which still looks so good as the design is timeless!

However, as far as I know, this generation of Hondas had issues with the steering column, how is yours holding up?

I am slowly realising this fact, maybe holding on to it was the better thing to do. Thank you for the appreciation. Steering column has the usual rattle and on bumpy roads it really feels like the damn thing is disconnected! After my suspension overhaul it got worse but you get used to it and now I know how to play it in a tricky situation.