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-   -   Me and My City (https://www.team-bhp.com/forum/test-drives-initial-ownership-reports/69404-me-my-city.html)

Let me have my first thread at Team-BHP to share the experience of the purchase of my new Honda City.



Decision Making

Prior to the City, I have a Santro LP bought in November 2002. I bought it with the plan to upgrade after 5 years. I did start looking out for the upgrade after 5 years, but couldnt really decide on which car to go for. And also, I never felt the need since the Santro was doing quite well for my needs and subsequently dropped the plan.

The thought process re-started about 6 months back when on a periodic service of the Santro, I was presented with a bill for about Rs. 10000. Yes, it included a clutch overhaul, but I thought it was too much and decided to upgrade.

And thereby started the toughest part of the whole process in deciding which one to go for. First, I needed to make up my mind whether to go for a sedan or a premium hatch. Considering my stay at Bangalore, hatch would have been a better choice, but again it doesnt really give me a feel of an upgrade. Boot space was also an important factor since on my occassional trips to Kerala as well the airports, I felt constrainted. So, I came to a conclusion that it has to be a sedan.

Then, I decided on the budget and fixed the maximum limit to 10 lakhs. Among the sedans that I shortlisted in this range were the Fiesta, SX4, Linea, Verna & City. Ford and Fiat were out of my consideration as feedbacks from my friends were not really positive. SX4 was feature rich, but somehow I wasnt impressed in the way it looked and coupled with the feedback on low FE, I dropped it as well.

Finally, I was left with two options - the top end MT Verna Diesel and Honda City S MT. I didnt consider Verna Petrol as I rarely see it on road. I test drove both and was quite happy with both even though the City gave a better feel and experience. The offer from Hyundai was quite enticing with free insurance, loyalty bonus and other freebies making it about 75000 cheaper than the City. And top of that, it had alloys and climate control as well though air bag was missing

I spend over a week or two pondering over which to buy. It was a tough decision since Verna would have given the best ROI. But considering my usage of around 800-900 kms per month, it doesnt warrant a diesel car. Finally, the clinching factor was the Honda badge. Yes, they charge quite a premium for it, but you dont buy cars that too often(at least I wont ). Also considering the fact that I experienced Hyundai for the past 7 years and decided to try something new. And since the top-end V MT was was above my budget, I decided on S MT.

The choice of colour was left to my wife and she selected Polished Metal Metallic. Though I assisted her with hints on which colour I dont prefer :)

Dealer Experience

I dealt with Dakshin Honda only as that was the dealer closest to my place. The experience was good even though the friendliness was missing till the time they felt that I am quite serious about purchasing a new car. Overall the sales experience was quite good and sincerely hope that service experience matches that.

I booked the car of 16-Oct and since the colour was not readily available, I was told that I have to wait for 3-4 weeks. And out went my plans to align the car delivery to our wedding anniversary. Finally, I got the car delivered on 5-Nov which incidently is my first car delivery date. Not bad really.

Accessories

• Sun film ( didnt opt for the windshield)
• Rear parking sensor
• And I paid extra to keep the same number as my Santro

Some small freebies where thrown in by the dealer like a Ganesha idol and freshner plus some chocolates

Experience so far

The toughest drive was on Day 1 when I took the car to a temple at Koramangala for the pooja. It was bumper to bumper traffic on Hosur Road and I literally struggled to stay calm and drive as well. A light drizzle added to the misery. Somehow, I managed that drive across Bangalore and felt quite triumphant when I took the car back home incident free.

I dont drive that much as my workplace is quite near home. So, only significant part of my drive is on weekends. So far, it has been quite a nice feel driving a bigger car with more power and smoother drive. I am taking some time to adjust to the bigger size of the car, but I should be fine in another week or two.

Positives

Drive : It is silky smooth and near to silent. The Santro was quite silent to my standards, but this is way beyond my imagination.

Music system : Initially I was apprehensive about not having a CD player, but in reality it doesnt matter at all. As long as I can play the songs I want, I am happy.

Smooth Gear Shifts : The shifts are quite smooth and sweet, even though I find it a bit hard sometime when downing to 2nd. May be I have adjust a bit from the way I shift gears in Santro.

Not so positives

Tyres : When I was reading the comments in the forums about the tyres, I was wondering whether it really matters. And with the car in my hands, I completely agree .The tyres doesnt really suit a car of this size. Unfortunately, I exhausted my budget and hence I have to live with the current one. I prayed for a Michelin, but got only MRF

A/c : It doesnt seem to cool enough in the minimum mode. Even though, it improves with the drive. I still feel it could have been better. I had better A/c experience in even smaller cars

Headlight : It was another factor I heard across the ANHC forums and my limited experience also gives the same feedback. I am not sure what can be done. I will definitely check during first service

Ground Clearance : I did encounter a few cases of scratching, but I think with slight adjustment in my driving style, I can manage this. But I am yet to drive it fully loaded and am pretty scared to do that.

Negatives

The upcoming EMIs :)

I am yet to evaluate the FE. The display shows 12.9 but I dont trust that. I will do my calculations after some fillings

I will get some snaps and upload it soon

Thanks for your time and patience

Congratulations for your new purchase!

Please take care while driving, as you have switched from Santro to AHNC. I am sure within weeks, you will get adjusted to the size and side distance calculations.

Good to have a New AHNC MT owership report after a quite some time. I was quite getting used to new owenership reports of Fiesta's/i20's/Linea's/Punto's.

And lastly Please post pics of your new machine.

Congrats gans! :thumbs up
You can upgrade to a 100/90 setup. Some of the newer kits do not require any slicing of wires as well, i believe!

Check this thread-
http://www.team-bhp.com/forum/modifi...ting-here.html

Congrats on your new buy, Enjoy your drive and Drive safe. Where are the pics?

CONGRATULATIONS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
I love the ANHC but its too over priced for me, if i had 10L to spend i would gather more and get a cedia or a Fiesta S and then load it up, but the reason for this will be i wont use the car for more than 2-3 years.
If i had to use the car for say 5-7 years, it would be a Honda or a Toyota.

Congratulations! Wish you many Happy Motoring Miles :)

congrats on the purchase Gans! And welcome to the overgrowing ANHC Club. Bangalore seems to have a quite a lot of them now, don't you think?

you should get used to it after a few drives.


yep, i don't find the 1-2 gears that smooth. Not a major problem though.

Its not as bad its made out to be. I am yet to find it as a major irritant even with 5 people. You need to adjust your driving style and take the speed breakers at an angle.

expect a difference of 1-1.5 kmpl from display. You should be getting around 11.6 kmpl.

@ moonraker,abhayshanu,akki_5,skywalker,crazydriver, ram_np

Thanks for the wishes


Thanks and Yes. I see a lot of ANHC's around these days in Bangalore. In fact, on a weekend trip to Total mall, I was quite surprised to see my car flanked by two Polished Metal ANHCs itself :)

Regarding pics, I took some. I am learning how to post those to the forum. I will do in another post

Here come some pictures of my new acquisition in front of my home





The two Hs - City with its elder brother Santro


On a rainy day,

I had my first sore ownership experience with my ANHC. No, it isnt related to drive or performance, but sadly it is about the plastics. I heard a lot about the below par fit and finish in ANHC and refused to accept it , but now I have to accept as I got a first hand experience as well.

Yesterday, the plastic handle on the roof at the right rear passenger side just came off when one of my friends was holding it . I was literally shocked to see it. I tried putting it back into position, but somehow it was not fitting properly.

Since I couldnt live with such a poor and ugly sight, I immediately took it to the service center. I was offered an excuse that it came off since it was pulled a bit hard. I couldnt stomach that argument, but I was in no mood for a fight and didnt respond. I just wanted to get it fixed as I couldnt bear this on my new car . They somehow fixed it and I had to pay Rs. 200 plus taxes for some missing clip in my 11 day old car. :Shockked:

On top of that, I was offered an advice not to pull it hard. A better advice would have been not to use it at all.

Afterthoughts :
It is quite shocking to see such issues in a so called premium car. May be I was plain unlucky and it could be one-off, but still I cant get over it and am still frustrated . I have a 7 year old Santro which was never taken to the service center other than for the periodic service and not a single issue on the plastics so far. Here with a new car, I am in the service center on the 11th day.:Frustrati

I am enjoying the new car fully while driving it and have absolutely no complaints of any kind on the drive. But this experience has dented my ownership pride a bit and am bit concerned on how it will turn out in the coming months and years.

Congrats on the new ANHC.You will love the car.My ANHC has clocked 10,000km today.Please install a good quality sunfilm in the Windshield and sides.

The glass area is large,after sunfilm installation the AC performance of my car is very good.

Hi Gans,

Congratulations on your new ANHC

my ANHC is just about to complete 6 months and i have driven till now 92xx KMs, no issues at all except a rear ending by a biker.

sorry to note the issue with plastic handle, hope you will not have any other issues

Drive Safe, Have Fun.

Congrats on your New City . Welcome to the club.Yes the shifting to 2nd feels a lil rough compared to other gears.

This car begs for higher profile tyres, as it surely affects the handling.

Acc. to Honda if you cant change the bulbs for a year as it would void warranty.

Quite shocking to hear this. Yes the plastic quality was poor, but i didnt read too many niggles on ANHC till date.

Which service center is it? I think the handle should be able to withstand even if a heavy person is putting his entire weight on it. Can they give that advice(that it should not be pulled hard) in writing? It clearly looks like a defect to me. I will also test the handle on my ANHC :)

Overall it is a well engineered car but the quality check seem to have taken a dip. I also had faced one such issue, where one of the circular AC vent popped out off it's place.

@ Mevtec,StarVegabond,karanraheja
Thanks for the greetings

It was bit of a shock and still there , but soon will get over it.

I got 3M sunfilm on the sides, but didnt opt for the windshield as I not sure whether it affects visibility especially during night


I had been following your thread and am upto date with you car status:)

Many thanks to you as well other ANHC owners like SkyWalker, karanraheja,Guna etc. Your ownership experiences really helped me lock in on ANHC when I was a bit confused between City and Verna. Unfortunately, I couldnt post those days since I couldnt get a registered id