[patron]

Civic is real VFM, especially the pre-worshipped ones. This particular thread inspired quite a few in going for a pre-owned Civic (me including). These numbers should only boost that count.

[gaurav_chopra04]

I was thinking that this thread is due for 1 yr service update.
Civic certainly ensures hassle free ownership. 10k kms of FUN.

Please find my replies in bold.

Originally Posted by GTO

Mechanical Problems : Zilch. Not bad for a 4 year old car, eh? In the one year that I've had my pre-owned Civic, not even a bulb or fuse has failed.

A line from Back to the Future 3 "ALL THE BEST STUFF IS MADE IN JAPAN".

NO engine oil change, as I'd done it myself at the 15,000 km mark (Mobil 1).

Thats 0W 40 right? Also, isnt 7-8k kms a bit too less for synthetic. Even with hard driving, one can use it for 10k kms/1 year.

Clean / adjust throttle body.

Got that opened and cleaned at 40k service for the civic at home. Costed about INR600. It made a dramatic difference.

All doors lubricated. Driver door used to make a mild creaking sound at times. Some "door checker" replaced.

At 40k, Honda recommends lubrication of all doors and window channels (open door inserts and lubricate). Again got these done and costed INR2500 (if I remember right).

Windshield washer tank pipe chewed by rat. Changed.

Hearing about rats make me shiver, havent experienced their threat first hand, Thank god, but the stories are enough to frighten any one.

Replaced wiper blades with new. Actually, the blade is the same; only the rubber part replaced (Honda sells them individually).

Glad to hear that. Mind sharing the cost.

Total cost of annual service : Rs. 6,366 (includes some Rs. 1,720 charge for "20,000 kms paid service"). Or 500 rupees per month on a 4 year old C+ segment sedan for an annual 10,000 kms running.

calls for an .


OEM Battery replaced with an Amaron unit

As read above, "Battery serviced", you have got yourself a maintenence battery. I too got the Excide maintenence battery on my cedia (OEM, been over 3.5 yrs) and am very satisfied by the way it is lasting. Whenever I get it changed, is it better to go for maintenence one only??

Performance suspension

I have said that earlier, but will say it again; looking forward to a detailed report please.

[dot]

Originally Posted by gaurav_chopra04

Got that opened and cleaned at 40k service for the civic at home. Costed about INR600. It made a dramatic difference.

Can you elaborate how you cleaned the throttle body. Was it a DIY? Maybe if you have some pictures you can post them on the Civic long term maintenance thread. Would be very useful for many of us.

[Ace F355]

Originally Posted by GTO

1 year update

Thanks for the update, GTO. Ready for another 10K of hassle-free ownership, eh!

Originally Posted by gaurav_chopra04

Got that opened and cleaned at 40k service for the civic at home. Costed about INR600. It made a dramatic difference.

Originally Posted by dot

Can you elaborate how you cleaned the throttle body. Was it a DIY? Maybe if you have some pictures you can post them on the Civic long term maintenance thread. Would be very useful for many of us.

@ dot, Gaurav must have done this work at Honda A.S.S. itself. He was talking about the Civic he owns at 'his home'! My car was undergone throttle body cleaning at 40K service as well.

[gaurav_chopra04]

Originally Posted by Ace F355

@ dot, Gaurav must have done this work at Honda A.S.S. itself. He was talking about the Civic he owns at 'his home'! My car was undergone throttle body cleaning at 40K service as well.

@Dot, as Ace rightly pointed, I got it done from Honda A.S.S. Was talking about the my cousin's civic at home. We are a joint family . Sorry, the way I wrote it meant similar to a DIY.

Ask the service center to clean it. Its an assembly just after the air filter. The air passes through air filter and then passes through throttle body into the intake manifold. Throttle body is connected to the accelerator pedal through a wire, the more you press the accelerator, the more air throttle body sucks. The butterfly valve in throttle body controls the air intake.

The throttle body needs cleaning from time to time, as per need. Most appropriate to get it cleaned atleast every 40 k kms. Add K&N Filter and you need cleaning more frequently.

[GTO]

Originally Posted by patron

This particular thread inspired quite a few in going for a pre-owned Civic (me including).

Thanks! I'm glad my thread helped you.

Originally Posted by gaurav_chopra04

I was thinking that this thread is due for 1 yr service update.

Request : Please stick to the standard quote + reply format (instead of typing in bold). For one, it's easier for me to quote you again. Second, best to follow standard practice on the forum. Thanks

Also, isnt 7-8k kms a bit too less for synthetic. Even with hard driving, one can use it for 10k kms/1 year.

I prefer to change at 7,500 kms.

At 40k, Honda recommends lubrication of all doors and window channels (open door inserts and lubricate).

True. Though my car has only 18K kms on the odo, it's still 4 years old (thanks to negligible running by the previous owner). Thus, door greasing was recommended.

Hearing about rats make me shiver, havent experienced their threat first hand, Thank god, but the stories are enough to frighten any one.

The last time rats attacked my garage, they chewed off the Benz turbo pipe!

Glad to hear that. Mind sharing the cost.

440 for the large driver side wiper, and 320 for the smaller passenger side unit.

As read above, "Battery serviced", you have got yourself a maintenence battery

My bad, I guess the one in my car is maintenance free too. I should have specified servicing meant "cleaning of the battery, especially the voltage points"

[gaurav_chopra04]

Originally Posted by GTO

Request : Please stick to the standard quote + reply format (instead of typing in bold). For one, it's easier for me to quote you again. Second, best to follow standard practice on the forum. Thanks

Sure, will take care of that in future.

Originally Posted by GTO

440 for the large driver side wiper, and 320 for the smaller passenger side unit.

Thats a very nominal price considering the wipers in todays Hondas are far better than on any of the competition. Polo and Vento though have good ones, but still no where near the Hondas. They surely ensure super clean windscreen.

[dot]

Somehow I had missed this post completely, until now.

Well, your experience has been a pathfinder for many folks here.

Originally Posted by GTO

• Mechanical Problems : Zilch. Not bad for a 4 year old car, eh? In the one year that I've had my pre-owned Civic, not even a bulb or fuse has failed.

We have recently made a list of things that needs to be replaced till 80K Kms for a Civic. It is in the long term ownership and maintenance thread. It is a surprisingly small list.

Originally Posted by GTO

• Hondata....potentially

Now that is something to look forward to.

Originally Posted by gaurav_chopra04

@Dot, as Ace rightly pointed, I got it done from Honda A.S.S. Was talking about the my cousin's civic at home. We are a joint family . Sorry, the way I wrote it meant similar to a DIY.

No issues! Thanks for the information. I found some DIY on the net about this cleaning.

@AceF355, you got it right! Thanks.

[SmartCat]

Originally Posted by GTO

1 year update

As many of you know, I get my cars completely serviced only once a year. Since the average running is about 10,000 kms per annum, this schedule not only keeps the car in good health, but also makes for hassle-free ownership.

Complete service performed at 18,000 kms @ Solitaire Honda:

When you give your car for servicing, do you have to tell the service advisor about the mods you have done on your car? And specifically ask him "not to touch or change anything" (eg: replacing the air filter). Aren't you worried that a "new trainee" Honda technician might mess up the setup when he is servicing the car?

Second question - Do the performance mods need any maintenance/ replacement after XXXXX kms? Or do they belong to the "Buy It, Fix It, Forget It" category?

I'm interested in getting my Civic a performance exhaust like you have - to improve the low end grunt. When I sell my car "X" years from now, I have to mention this in my ad. Could it hurt the resale value or scare away a few prospective buyers?

[GTO]

Originally Posted by smartcat

When you give your car for servicing, do you have to tell the service advisor about the mods you have done on your car?

I have to, because I tell them to stay away from the add-ons. The pre-service conversation went:

Don't change the engine oil. I use only Mobil 1
Ok Sir

Don't touch the air filter either. It's a K&N Typhoon
Ok Sir

Don't touch the battery either. I just got a new one
Ok Sire

Do you have any problems with the car sir?
No, I don't

Then why exactly are you sending the car for a service to me?

Seriously though, the Hondas & Toyotas require little maintenance, save for scheduled stuff. I just email them a to-do list Compiled from this thread) and we're all set. I follow my own maintenance schedules as the cars only visit the garage once a year (every 10,000 kms).

Aren't you worried that a "new trainee" Honda technician might mess up the setup when he is servicing the car?

Not really. These cars require a lower skill level (as they don't suffer too many problems) compared to a Tata Indigo (in which there is a niggle a month!). Ask any mechanic; he'll tell you Hondas are a lot more friendly to work on than a Tata or Mahindra.

Do the performance mods need any maintenance/ replacement after XXXXX kms? Or do they belong to the "Buy It, Fix It, Forget It" category?

From the ones that I've gotten:

- K&N : Cleaning every 7,500 kms. It's a pain cleaning the K&N as few people know how to, and you need to source the oil yourself. The open filter also gets dirty very easily.

- Rear coil spring adjuster : Replace every 50,000 kms

Besides that, nothing really. I have a very tight schedule and don't like high-maintenance items (the C220 be damned!).

to improve the low end grunt. When I sell my car "X" years from now, I have to mention this in my ad. Could it hurt the resale value or scare away a few prospective buyers?

If you get a loud exhaust, yes. Regular joe buyers will run away and it will hurt your resale. However, it's a misconception that a free flow exhaust needs to be loud. You can get an equally, high performing performance exhaust that makes absolutely NO sound at all.

[sgiitk]

My view is that either leave the car near stock, or go the whole hog like GTO. The choice is yours.

After moving to the B+ segment (Esteem onwards) I now try and keep my cars as near standard as possible. Added only Stereos, and lighter to my past few cars. Better go up the model range than fiddle.

[sumeethaldankar]

Originally Posted by GTO

If you get a loud exhaust, yes. Regular joe buyers will run away and it will hurt your resale. However, it's a misconception that a free flow exhaust needs to be loud. You can get an equally, high performing performance exhaust that makes absolutely NO sound at all.

Yup,
very much true the average joe will think the exhaust's broken if it's loud.I recently changed the muffler on my Automech to a slient one and car performs as well as it did before with louder sound.

Best practice would be to retain the stock muffler while changing to a FF and get it plonked back if you decide to sell the car.

[hiren.mistry]

There is no problem if the mods done on the car are genuine and not hack jobs as most of the are.
Most people run away from modded cars is because they think that the cars will be abused by boy racer types. When I was hunting for my car, I was clear that I would not touch a modded Civic at all.

[dot]

Originally Posted by hiren.mistry

There is no problem if the mods done on the car are genuine and not hack jobs as most of the are.
Most people run away from modded cars is because they think that the cars will be abused by boy racer types. When I was hunting for my car, I was clear that I would not touch a modded Civic at all.

Well said.

I was also of the same category; would not touch a unknown modded Civic or for that matter any unknown modded car. Unless we know who modded it and how it was driven, chances are that the car has suffered un-measurable damage.

OT:
Even in US when I was fishing around to buy a car, I had decided not to touch a manual. Since there, manuals are usually abused; and who will go for a service in US?

[gaurav_chopra04]

K&N is a popular choice for air filters among enthusiasts in India for years now. So, a car with K&N and FFE is no more new to the ASC. If its about trainee mechanic, they are not supposed to work on any vehicle without supervision of a trained staff. I have personally seen many Hondas and Mitsuis at ASC with K&N and most mechanics are well versed with the same.

If one wants to play safe, ask them not to touch it, thats it.

For the resale, if engine of a car is not modded, I wont be afraid to buy a car with mods such as K&N and FFE, if they are done through reputed dealers. Of course, I will bargain on such stuff.