Honda Civic 2009: 'Pure exhilaration' further improved

mkc15 · 10th October 2009, 08:45

Chronology

4th July 2006 is when Civic came to India
9th Sept 2009 is when the face-lift came to Bangalore
9th Oct 2009 is when it came to me

^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^

Requirement

Needed a 2nd car with
> Automatic with manual-shift-control or Manual, for ease and fun
> Bigger cabin with wider rear seat for my family
> Leather seats for easy maintenance
> A driver's delight
> Lot of features (not fully met, but its OK!)

Options

> Altis GL (Manual)
> Altis VL (Auto)
> Civic V-MT
> Civic V-AT

Research

Extensively TDed all the cars and this is what I said to myself.
> Altis is simply the most practical car; 7/10 exterior, 6/10 interior, 6/10 fun
> Civic is simply 'pure exhilaration'; 8/10 exterior, 9/10 interior, 9/10 fun (My Ikon, as I see it in its segment: 7/10 exterior, 6/10 interior, 8/10 fun!)

Decision

Both are excellent Jap cars in their own ways completely orthogonal IMO. In my case, its a Civic V-AT; it just stroke the right chord for me.

Making the deal

So it was time to look-out for deals. Just before the launch of the face-lift, 30-40K cash discount did attract me and thats when I got a little serious about buying one. I went to the nearest dealer to see both old and face-lifted civic. Though I liked the new front more than the old, the feature-list and pricing kept me away from it. But I was reluctant to buy the old model considering the soft suspension and also sid's feature-list of the facelift. However I started negotiating for an old civic (just 1 Silver was left), but it got sold the next day :-( Then I decided, I'll either buy a used old civic or buy a new face-lift. I did see a used V-AT and called the seller too only to hear him say "its gone already" :-( Now no more options (good for me!), so either buy now or later. Then asked the dealer if he can give the same 30K discount on the face-lift. He said, "wwwhat"; then I said, "Civic is overpriced, people are going for Altis, you can see the sales figures etc..." (thanx to TBHP for all the info). Surprisingly, he didn't say 'not a single rupee less Sir, its Honda!'.

Now comes the best part. The salesman was a very nice guy and became quite friendly (as he was leaving that dealer pretty soon). After a couple of days, he called me and said the dealer gave a discount of 15K to someone for a face-lift S-MT. Thats when I thought its time (with ofcourse some hopes of winning a car free with honda-fest as well!) I started negotiating for this discount and some freebies. I had already got an insurance quote of 24K!. On 26th Sept, I went to the dealer to finalize the deal after some haggling, but he didnt budge. So I went to another dealer and he said "OK fine" finally. While he is on the way to collect the cheque from me, he called and said he does not have stock and no more stock coming till Nov and the offer he had just made stands cancelled for Nov. I replied with the usual 2-word thingy. A bit upset though, thought of trying the 3rd dealer (Whitefield Honda) and it did work. The person I spoke to, was the showroom manager herself and the response was simply great. Spoke to her at ~6pm and the deal was done(booked) by ~1pm the next day. She initially said she will need 20 days to get the car. A couple of hours later, she calls me and says she can allot another car which is in transit and delivery within a week! So booked on 2nd Oct and got it on 9th Oct.

The CAR

Now comes the car! In simple words, its 'pure exhilaration'. PERIOD. My heart said 'thanx a ton' to my head. Here are the additions/improments,

I liked
> front looks even better

> LED effect of new tail-lights is simply awesome

> fuel-consumption indicator comes in handy (though not a full-fledged computer)

> autolocking (locks after 15kmph; locks/unlocks with shifting of gear from/to P; programmable)

> paddles work in D as well (like in City); I guess it comes with a later version of software. I'm not sure if there is any ECU remap/tuning done.

> USB with iPod connectivity. My first gen Nano with latest firmware works fine. (but I saw 'unsupported version' for the same iPod once; some firmware issue with the HU)

> I did drive with 5 over a few bangalore-styled humps and no scraping (well I cant say its completely resolved, need some time; but its surely stiffer compared to the old TD car I drove)

> Though a little too early to talk about FE now, it was great to see 10.6kmpl for city driving with trip-A showing 38kms. (I'm not sure if there is any tuning done in the face-lift for shift-points/grade-logic)

> The groove for the screw in the key (with remote) is in the key-stem itself rather than in plastic around it (minor one though)

> Organ-type accelerator pedal is very comfortable (old civic had it too)

I didn't like
> steering mounted controls missing (yuck! what a cheap trick to cut cost)

> fenders have a play of about 0.5cm near the mudflaps (noticeable in accord too)

> bonnet weighs less than my Ikon's, thinner sheets used ?

> MICHELIN not standard on all Civics. Mine has NCT5s.

> dashborad panels (small ones) near the quarter glass, feel a bit cheap/flaky compared to other plastics around.

> steerng feedback could have been slightly improved for low-speeds. (my Ikon fairs better here)

> steering grip could have been slightly thicker (like my Ikon's); I think City and Jazz have thicker ones

> choice of colors (Carbon-bronze/Misty-violet missing for me)

Add-ons planned

> TBHP stickers
> Sunfilms

Here are some initial pics. Part-2 coming after the weekend drive and with more pics. Thanx again for all your inputs (via threads/PMs).

Run-in period is very frustrating!

stable rock · 10th October 2009, 09:09

Congrats....Nice color....enjoy your ride

Vid6639 · 10th October 2009, 09:38

Congrats.

Interior pics please especially the fuel economy meter. Thanks.

Cheers.

Ricky_63 · 10th October 2009, 09:47

Realistically how much better is the ride ?? Does it have driver seat height adjustment ?

Congrats on your car, nice choice of colour.

Cheers

srishiva · 10th October 2009, 10:22

Enjoy the car. Nice colour. Please put interior pictures.

vishalrao · 10th October 2009, 10:25

Congrats! Waiting for my silver SMT too, should be driving it before the end of this month

Devil on Wheels · 10th October 2009, 10:27

Looks great.

Congrats.

please post some pics of the interriors too.

bharti22shresth · 10th October 2009, 10:33

IMO, that's the color that suits the civic, the best. Good choice.

.
What tires has she come shod with? Any mods planned? (Remaps anyone

)

GTX007 · 10th October 2009, 10:36

Congrats on your buy, Civic is surely the sportiest car in the segment, nice choice of colour too. The octagonal tail lamps look gorgeous. Interior pictures are eagerly awaited.

maglev · 10th October 2009, 12:35

Congratulation's on the New Car, HAPPY DRIVING. BTW what was the final on-road price??

m-hawk · 10th October 2009, 13:00

congratulations on the lovely buy !! Only one thing you say that the car did'nt scrape at at breakers and other places you expect it to!! does it mean that honda has tuned the sunpension to indian condition s because the sunpension is the only thing where the civic is a pain to drive !!
enjoy the paddle shifting
Regards
Saajan

iTNerd · 10th October 2009, 13:13

WOW.. congratulation on your new car! I can relate to your research and choice and for the looked out of a used Civic! I have also booked a white Civic and hope to get it by the end of this month!

Quote:

> steering grip could have been slightly thicker (like my Ikon's); I think City and Jazz have thicker ones

I felt that too! it appears to be much thinner than that in City and JAzz.. felt like I was holding a game console..:(

Just some queries:
1) Can you confirm the paddle shifts work in D mode too (just like in the new City AT)? In the old Civic, it was not the case?

2) Any idea on the make of the leather, compared to Stanley? How is the quality?

3) How much discount did you eventually managed to get? OTR price?

Enjoy your beauty!

kumar7 · 10th October 2009, 14:41

Nice color and great looks!
Congratulations, post more pics,

akhilesh51 · 10th October 2009, 14:50

Congratulations on your new ride! it is certainly a serious contender when it comes to fun quotient.

Enjoy!!!

Abbas · 10th October 2009, 14:53

The car looks great, so any mods planned ? Put up some interior pics too.

10th October 2009, 08:45	#1
mkc15 BHPian Join Date: Jul 2009 Location: Bangalore Posts: 315 Thanked: 89 Times	Honda Civic 2009: 'Pure exhilaration' further improved Chronology 4th July 2006 is when Civic came to India 9th Sept 2009 is when the face-lift came to Bangalore 9th Oct 2009 is when it came to me ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ Requirement Needed a 2nd car with > Automatic with manual-shift-control or Manual, for ease and fun > Bigger cabin with wider rear seat for my family > Leather seats for easy maintenance > A driver's delight > Lot of features (not fully met, but its OK!) Options > Altis GL (Manual) > Altis VL (Auto) > Civic V-MT > Civic V-AT Research Extensively TDed all the cars and this is what I said to myself. > Altis is simply the most practical car; 7/10 exterior, 6/10 interior, 6/10 fun > Civic is simply 'pure exhilaration'; 8/10 exterior, 9/10 interior, 9/10 fun (My Ikon, as I see it in its segment: 7/10 exterior, 6/10 interior, 8/10 fun!) Decision Both are excellent Jap cars in their own ways completely orthogonal IMO. In my case, its a Civic V-AT; it just stroke the right chord for me. Making the deal So it was time to look-out for deals. Just before the launch of the face-lift, 30-40K cash discount did attract me and thats when I got a little serious about buying one. I went to the nearest dealer to see both old and face-lifted civic. Though I liked the new front more than the old, the feature-list and pricing kept me away from it. But I was reluctant to buy the old model considering the soft suspension and also sid's feature-list of the facelift. However I started negotiating for an old civic (just 1 Silver was left), but it got sold the next day :-( Then I decided, I'll either buy a used old civic or buy a new face-lift. I did see a used V-AT and called the seller too only to hear him say "its gone already" :-( Now no more options (good for me!), so either buy now or later. Then asked the dealer if he can give the same 30K discount on the face-lift. He said, "wwwhat"; then I said, "Civic is overpriced, people are going for Altis, you can see the sales figures etc..." (thanx to TBHP for all the info). Surprisingly, he didn't say 'not a single rupee less Sir, its Honda!'. Now comes the best part. The salesman was a very nice guy and became quite friendly (as he was leaving that dealer pretty soon). After a couple of days, he called me and said the dealer gave a discount of 15K to someone for a face-lift S-MT. Thats when I thought its time (with ofcourse some hopes of winning a car free with honda-fest as well!) I started negotiating for this discount and some freebies. I had already got an insurance quote of 24K!. On 26th Sept, I went to the dealer to finalize the deal after some haggling, but he didnt budge. So I went to another dealer and he said "OK fine" finally. While he is on the way to collect the cheque from me, he called and said he does not have stock and no more stock coming till Nov and the offer he had just made stands cancelled for Nov. I replied with the usual 2-word thingy. A bit upset though, thought of trying the 3rd dealer (Whitefield Honda) and it did work. The person I spoke to, was the showroom manager herself and the response was simply great. Spoke to her at ~6pm and the deal was done(booked) by ~1pm the next day. She initially said she will need 20 days to get the car. A couple of hours later, she calls me and says she can allot another car which is in transit and delivery within a week! So booked on 2nd Oct and got it on 9th Oct. The CAR Now comes the car! In simple words, its 'pure exhilaration'. PERIOD. My heart said 'thanx a ton' to my head. Here are the additions/improments, I liked > front looks even better > LED effect of new tail-lights is simply awesome > fuel-consumption indicator comes in handy (though not a full-fledged computer) > autolocking (locks after 15kmph; locks/unlocks with shifting of gear from/to P; programmable) > paddles work in D as well (like in City); I guess it comes with a later version of software. I'm not sure if there is any ECU remap/tuning done. > USB with iPod connectivity. My first gen Nano with latest firmware works fine. (but I saw 'unsupported version' for the same iPod once; some firmware issue with the HU) > I did drive with 5 over a few bangalore-styled humps and no scraping (well I cant say its completely resolved, need some time; but its surely stiffer compared to the old TD car I drove) > Though a little too early to talk about FE now, it was great to see 10.6kmpl for city driving with trip-A showing 38kms. (I'm not sure if there is any tuning done in the face-lift for shift-points/grade-logic) > The groove for the screw in the key (with remote) is in the key-stem itself rather than in plastic around it (minor one though) > Organ-type accelerator pedal is very comfortable (old civic had it too) I didn't like > steering mounted controls missing (yuck! what a cheap trick to cut cost) > fenders have a play of about 0.5cm near the mudflaps (noticeable in accord too) > bonnet weighs less than my Ikon's, thinner sheets used ? > MICHELIN not standard on all Civics. Mine has NCT5s. > dashborad panels (small ones) near the quarter glass, feel a bit cheap/flaky compared to other plastics around. > steerng feedback could have been slightly improved for low-speeds. (my Ikon fairs better here) > steering grip could have been slightly thicker (like my Ikon's); I think City and Jazz have thicker ones > choice of colors (Carbon-bronze/Misty-violet missing for me) Add-ons planned > TBHP stickers > Sunfilms Here are some initial pics. Part-2 coming after the weekend drive and with more pics. Thanx again for all your inputs (via threads/PMs). Run-in period is very frustrating! Attached Thumbnails
	() Thanks

10th October 2009, 09:09	#2
stable rock BHPian Join Date: Mar 2008 Location: Bangalore Posts: 181 Thanked: 50 Times	Congrats....Nice color....enjoy your ride
	() Thanks

10th October 2009, 09:38	#3
Vid6639 Team-BHP Support Join Date: Jul 2006 Location: Bangalore Posts: 17,730 Thanked: 43,471 Times View My Garage	Congrats. Interior pics please especially the fuel economy meter. Thanks. Cheers.
	() Thanks

10th October 2009, 09:47	#4
Ricky_63 Senior - BHPian Join Date: Dec 2006 Location: Gurgaon Posts: 3,885 Thanked: 518 Times View My Garage	Realistically how much better is the ride ?? Does it have driver seat height adjustment ? Congrats on your car, nice choice of colour. Cheers
	() Thanks

10th October 2009, 10:22	#5
srishiva Senior - BHPian Join Date: Nov 2006 Location: Bengaluru Posts: 4,375 Thanked: 2,256 Times	Enjoy the car. Nice colour. Please put interior pictures.
	() Thanks

10th October 2009, 10:25	#6
vishalrao BHPian Join Date: Aug 2009 Location: Pune Posts: 68 Thanked: 20 Times	Congrats! Waiting for my silver SMT too, should be driving it before the end of this month
	() Thanks

10th October 2009, 10:27	#7
Devil on Wheels BHPian Join Date: Jul 2008 Location: Delhi Posts: 146 Thanked: 3 Times	Looks great. Congrats. please post some pics of the interriors too.
	() Thanks

10th October 2009, 10:33	#8
bharti22shresth BANNED Join Date: Nov 2008 Location: panchkula Posts: 362 Thanked: Once Infractions: 0/1 (10)	IMO, that's the color that suits the civic, the best. Good choice. . What tires has she come shod with? Any mods planned? (Remaps anyone )
	() Thanks

10th October 2009, 10:36	#9
GTX007 BHPian Join Date: Sep 2009 Location: Cochin, God's Own Country Posts: 121 Thanked: 3 Times	Congrats on your buy, Civic is surely the sportiest car in the segment, nice choice of colour too. The octagonal tail lamps look gorgeous. Interior pictures are eagerly awaited.
	() Thanks

10th October 2009, 12:35	#10
maglev BHPian Join Date: Nov 2008 Location: New Delhi Posts: 840 Thanked: 153 Times View My Garage	Congratulation's on the New Car, HAPPY DRIVING. BTW what was the final on-road price??
	() Thanks

10th October 2009, 13:00	#11
m-hawk BHPian Join Date: Feb 2008 Location: mumbai Posts: 218 Thanked: 9 Times	congratulations on the lovely buy !! Only one thing you say that the car did'nt scrape at at breakers and other places you expect it to!! does it mean that honda has tuned the sunpension to indian condition s because the sunpension is the only thing where the civic is a pain to drive !! enjoy the paddle shifting Regards Saajan
	() Thanks

10th October 2009, 14:41	#13
kumar7 BHPian Join Date: Aug 2009 Location: Pune Posts: 320 Thanked: 28 Times View My Garage	Nice color and great looks! Congratulations, post more pics,
	() Thanks

10th October 2009, 14:50	#14
akhilesh51 BHPian Join Date: Jan 2009 Location: Jaipur, RAJ Posts: 631 Thanked: 339 Times	Congratulations on your new ride! it is certainly a serious contender when it comes to fun quotient. Enjoy!!!
	() Thanks

10th October 2009, 14:53	#15
Abbas BHPian Join Date: Jan 2009 Location: Visakhapatnam Posts: 465 Thanked: 544 Times View My Garage	The car looks great, so any mods planned ? Put up some interior pics too.
	() Thanks