[00nuts001]

Hi,
Congratulations, though a bit delayed again.
I have noticed a peculiar happening: whenever you turn the ignition off, the steering gets hard. Understandable, due Power Steering. This does not lighten up till you start the engine again. But, if the vehicle stalls due sudden cluctch depress, the steering remains light, even when the engine is not on.
How is that?

[B103]

Small update from my side: did the 20K service today. Called service advisor Manjunath KV and fixed up an appointment one day back. He is the only reason why I take my car only to this shop

Changed air filter, AC filter, an indicator bulb and wiper blades apart from customary oil change. The bill came to Rs 6,777, the highest since I bought this car.

Car is used only for weekend trips and occasional long drives only. I am going to office in BMTC Volvo buses these days. It is indeed a blissful experience

[B103]

Went for a couple of long drives in between -- Kottayam, Coorg, Guruvayoor, Coimbatore etc.

In highways, I drive mostly in the 'S' mode these days. It provides for exhilarating pleasure. Third gear is where the maximum punch is available. It is a pleasure to take the engine to 5K RPM, listen to the ivTec howl and subsequently shift to the next gear.

Back seat seems to the forte of the Honda City. Citing the excellent back seat ergonomics, my parents and parent-in-laws are very reluctant to come out of the car at the end of any trip. AC is chilling too, even with 5 people plus luggage on board.

In gear acceleration in 5th gear with full load is pretty average. Once speed is reduced on highways, you have to downshift, accelerate and then continue the cruise.

[swiftnfurious]

Question to all ANHC owners with Sunroof!! Is the height lesser in the interiors for models with Sunroof, compared to other models? My friend went to book the car today & said the height seemed lesser for the sunroof model. Could anyone confirm?

[B103]

I did the 25K service yesterday. Total cost was 9,800 out of which 4,500 was for the external body polishing. Another 1,500 was spent for seat shampooing too. I did wheel alignment and balancing too.

SA insisted on changing engine oil at every 5K. Is this the norm?

Vehicle continues to be a matter of joy. In fact, it is getting better as it is getting older

[arup.misra]

B103, if you actually discount external body polishing and seat shampoo, servicing cost are 3,800 for 25k km.

Truly VFM by Honda, kudos.

Just a thought, could you not have done the body polishing & seat shampoo treatment done at 3M.

[joecherian]

Originally Posted by B103

I did the 25K service yesterday. Total cost was 9,800 out of which 4,500 was for the external body polishing. Another 1,500 was spent for seat shampooing too. I did wheel alignment and balancing too.

SA insisted on changing engine oil at every 5K. Is this the norm?

Vehicle continues to be a matter of joy. In fact, it is getting better as it is getting older

I did my 40k service yesterday and costs came to 5400. (This included 750 for the A/c cleaning which I had requested).

[sa_kiran]

Originally Posted by B103

SA insisted on changing engine oil at every 5K. Is this the norm?

It depends on the type of oil that is used. It is better to use the oil (mineral) that needs replacement every 5K km, than synthetic ones (replacement at every 10K km). There are threads debating which one is better. I go for mineral since the car goes for servicing every 5K km and engine oil is changed along with filter. Actually, Honda recommends servicing every 10K km.

I got tyres changed recently. The dealer told me about wheel alignment/balancing drama at service stations. They just don't have the capacity to do it for all the cars that they service. They fool (or cheat, if you call it) car owners. I got servicing done towards the end of November 2012 (charged about 1,100/-). Balancing was done again on 14th Jan (at the time of tyre change) with quite few weights added (about 1.5 months and 2K km later). So, better to get wheel balancing/alignment done at specialized centers than service stations.

[B103]

My car had a break down on 12/Feb, Tuesday. It was the first time that I got stuck on the road. Thankfully, the issue had a minor cause.

Started to work in the morning as usual. Approximately after 8 kms, switched off the engine in a red traffic signal. On green, I tried to crank but the engine but it simply refused to start. I started sweating as the car was blocking the traffic on a busy service lane.

Finally, two people pushed the car into a less crowded by-lane. Mine is an automatic car. The mode selector has to be moved to 'N' to push and move the car. In the mean time, I noticed that the car brake don't work when engine is not running. Only decelerator is the hand brake of the car. Steering rotates albeit heavily.

I stopped the car using the hand brake, switched on the emergency flashers, then called Honda road side assistance and waited for their arrival. Their SLA is to reach within 1 hour in city limits. Luckily they made it in the chaotic, peak morning Bangalore traffic. If you have subscribed to road side assistance support then it is better to call them first in circumstances like this. Their service including towing is free. If you directly call a Honda dealer then they would charge around 800 Rupees for towing the vehicle.

Meantime, mode selector was moved to 'P'. I started noticing that the mode selector cannot be moved any further and the brakes are locked too. I did the last car service approximately 2 weeks back (25/Jan) and so started wondering why there is a break down too soon.

Finally, road side assistance arrived -- a towing truck and a technician in another bike. He suspected battery issue and attempted a jump start of the engine which worked. The technician was keen to connect to me his friend who sells new batteries. He was rather persuasive but I thanked and declined his marketing overtures.

Finally, drove back to Whitefield Honda where the car was subjected to a complete check of electrical system to avoid further break downs. In the end, I was advised to change the battery. It is 3 years now since the Amron battery came along with the new Honda City. Personally, I am not sure about how much can we expect a car battery to last.

It was bad month of expenses related to the car. I shelled out 10K for the car service, another 10K for motor insurance and another 4K for the battery. For motor insurance, since the outset of this year, looks like the insurance charges are way higher (for a lower IDV). Though the outlay was high in this particular month it was in line with the schedule


Summary of learnings (for the unsuspecting):
1) Be careful when you move or push a car downhill without the engine running. Car brakes won't work without the engine running.You have to rely on hand brake completely
2) As expected, no assistance from electronic steering without a running engine
3) Automatic car cannot be pushed and started like the manual ones. May be, better to store a jumper cable in the car all the time
4) In an automatic Honda car, if the mode selector is locked and engine cannot be cranked up then don't panic. First remove the small switch on the left side of gear box and then insert the car key into that groove. This will allow the movement of mode selector again.
5) For the AT, put the mode selector to 'N' before towing the car away (if rowing is required)
6) OEM Amaron battery that comes with Honda City has a limited one year warranty only. You will get a 4 year warranty from Amaron for subsequent purchases
7) Prefer Honda road side assistance over the regular dealer. It will work out cheaper

[Red Liner]

Originally Posted by B103

Small update from my side: did the 20K service today. Called service advisor Manjunath KV and fixed up an appointment one day back. He is the only reason why I take my car only to this shop

Can you tell me a little more about this guy? Brio service in the anvil, and I am keen to build up good relationships with good service advisors! Do PM me his number too?

I live closer to Whitefield Honda, and they are my first preference. But, I would like a good guy there first.

[kalyan_hyd]

Originally Posted by B103

My car had a break down on 12/Feb, Tuesday. It was the first time that I got stuck on the road. Thankfully, the issue had a minor cause.

I did the last car service approximately 2 weeks back (25/Jan) and so started wondering why there is a break down too soon.

Nice write-up, Biju, esp about the precautions one needs to take when the battery is down.

One concern I have is that while your last scheduled service, how did they overlook the condition of the battery. Ideally, a weak battery should have been caught at that time and you should have been suggested replacement of the same.

--Kalyan

[B103]

Did the half yearly service today. Car had clocked close to 27k kilometers now. I had to change the disk brake pads which costed around 4K. Another 2K for general service and checkups made a bill of 6K.

[B103]

Finished the last service before the expiry of 2+2 year warranty. Odo shows 32,232 km now.

A small bush in the fuel tank lid had to be changed which costed Rs 500/-. Total service cost was Rs 4670/ including wheel alignment and balancing.

After the expiry of extended warranty, I am contemplating about servicing the car once in every year or 10,000 km whichever is the earliest.

Mods -> please move this thread to long term ownership section.

[B103]

Serviced the vehicle at 34,580 kms last week. Decided to include rat protection.

Nothing can be done to prevent rodents entering into the engine bay. Whatever they have done will protect the car by stopping rats entering into the dash area.

It costed me Rs 4000 for the rat protection and another 1000 for general checkup.

[B103]

5 years gone so quickly. I have done a little over 39,000 kms on this gem of a machine. It is a major service at 40,000 km which was done last week and costed around 8,500 Rupees.

Earlier, I used to get the car back after service from Whitefield Honda on the same day. For the last one year, I am getting the vehicle back only on the next day. Seems, Honda is really selling well these days :-). i can feel the difference when standing in the service reception.

Any way, 2+2 year warranty period is over and so I am servicing the car now only at the end of every 5,000 km. Since the vehicle is primarily used for office commute, it takes quite some time to run it for 5000 km.