| Got our new car - 3rd-Gen Honda City
Hello All,
We just got the delivery of our ANHC white on 07/01/2010.
I had to book another car and quickly because our earlier one had got stolen. Other cars considered were as under. Since were were not in a fixed budget we considered cars ranging 5- 10 Lacs
Running is 1000 Kms or less so diesel was not required.
Requirements were basic - Should be able to seat 5 wellfed adults properly. Back seat comfort was important. More important was trouble free ownership experience. Having an engine immobiliser was a must.
I normally do not sell my cars quickly . I feel ideal time to consider selling a vehicle is after 6-7 years of good use .
The considered Vehicles
Dzire : Father did not like the seating position . We didnt even take a test drive of this one.
Indigo Manza : Did not want to touch tata after Indica experience.
Hyundai Verna : Back seat just a bit better than accent but not worth close to 8 lacs .
Fiat Linea : Service is again by Tata , and long term reliability ( in terms of parts failing through working life ) is not as good as Honda / Toyota .
I am not talking about build solidity . So fiat lovers dont bash me please. Once bitten by tata i would rather play safe.
Toyota : Would have loved to consider toyota cars but budget did not permit this.
Skoda : all cars OVer 10 lacs only and even it there would be one under , we would not have considered it seeing experiences of Harish and other fellow bhpians who have suffered with skoda ownership
GM Optra : Have had this in family before . Quite a trouble free car but didnt want to purchase something thats nearly End of Life. Optra back seats are better then ANHC though . By a good margin. Cruze does not have petrol and would again be out of budget.
Ford Fiesta : Nice car to drive . But back seat comfort better in ANHC .
SX4 : Good car . Enough room . However back seats are bumpy and sways on long drives. I have driven my inlaws sx4 from Mumbai 2 Goa and all back benchers puked on the way . :( . Some people like the tall seating but personally i Prefer the seating as low as possible . Even on the city i have kep the seat as low as it can go. sx4 would have been the 2nd choice if i had not bought city.
We also considered buying a pre owned corolla / HC automatic , but i have no experience buying 2nd hand cars. Saw a couple of cars too but didnt like them . I felt that many if not most people do not maintain cars as well as I like to.
That left us with new ANHC
Made the purchase from Solitaire Honda ( Mumbai )
Now had to choose between S MT ( Without alloys / fog lamps ) and VMT ( with the alloys / fog lamps )
At price difference of 50K i though i might as well as get an SMT . In this amount i can get an alloys as well as good leather seats like stanley or something for the car.
Did the booking on 25th Dec . Opted to not take a loan . I dont like EMI s too much . i decided to use an overdraft to pay off for purchase and have the same cleared within few months to 1 year . This reduces the interest outflow . As it is the interest rates these days are not as attractive as before ( 2004 times ) . Home mortgage is a different thing as it has its tax benefits.
I was promised delivery on 6th of Jan . Car was ready on same date but i choose to pick it up on 7th as advised by family.
PDI at dealer was smooth. Overall nice , but i did find that the car was a but more dirty then what i would have liked. Dont get me wrong on this . i do like stuff really clean . Made the person over there do the cleaning before logging out of the dealer showroom.
The Deal i got was Free Insurance + mats + teflon coat . Got Lumar sunfilm done at dealers end for 2.5k .
The car was about 110 Kms on ODO . I give the dealer benefit of doubt here since their Stockyard in Vasai itself is about 50 KMS from showroom and cars are driven from there .
Car Manufacture months is Nov 2009 . Verified it from the VIN thread . So its not very old stock being passed on.
Ironically i was getting more or less same deal at all Mumbai dealers Arya , LInkway . They are openly saying that there is a honda cartel now and noone is allowed to give more than others.
I verified this in Pune ( have address there as well ) , All pune dealers gave same deal . But purchased it in Mumbai since Free insurance was not in offer in Pune and this made it cheaper locally.
Now coming to the car itself.
Pros
1) Superb Engine
2) Sporty Gearbox ( THough our old accent had an equally good if not better gearbox )
3) Stock Music system very nice . ( dont miss cd player. USB is much more convenient way to handle music )
4) Seats 5 people very comfortably.
5) Engine immobiliser
6) Abs + Airbags is always good though i pray that that the 2nd feature is never used .
7) Good boot space for occasional outstation trips.
Cons / Wishlist
1) Ac seems weaker than my old car. Not that its bad. But Accent was chilling faster than this . I find this on all cars strangely. I feel even the civic / Optra take more time than accent to chill the cabin . But within few mins its comfortable.
2) Rear wheel disc brake . Most cars close to 10 lacs are All wheel disc brake . Though the rear drum brake does the job efficiently .
3) I wish it was LESS BEIGE . I dont know whats the craze with beige but in my opinion classic black looks better and is again cleaner to look at . Please have a look at the Malaysian honda city with black interiors . Wish that was available here.
4) Automatic Climate control would have been nice . But i can live without It.
5) Central Locking Feature - Lock the car when the engine is started and vice versa . Wish this was there in the city but i can live without this too.
6) Dashboard console light blue instead of Red . ( More civic like ) . Red colour does not look bad but i would prefer if it were blue as that would be more pleasing to the eye.
I found the interior quality ( now that its improved ) acceptible , though have to agree that Gen 2 ,City ZX feels just a bit better .But the interors seem that they will last alright ( as in not detiorate with time )
Addons
Honda guys are not encouraging tyre upgrade to an upgraded size as it may void the suspentions warranty . So i am not going to touch that ( for now atleast )
I would however put some alloys once i get the time ( and spare cash )
Parking sensor . I wonder how good are the ones that honda sells. Their quoted price is 7.5K and i am not sure what brand they are offering .
Good Stitched seat covers in pure black . Also black leather on door sides . The surface which has the cloth upholsery ( next to power window switch ). I feel this would be a must else that part will become dirty as time goes, because its fabric , beige and comes in contact with skin .
I am posting 2 pics here taken from my cell phone . Will be adding more pics shortly. | 
9th January 2010, 22:08
If you like it that way, then totally go for it.
