[hiren.mistry]

Originally Posted by The Saint

I have just ordered koni's FSD, just waiting eagerly for the delivery, they are one of the best in the business and sorts all the issues that the civic, will report improvements post installation.

Cheers

Congrats! Have heard good things about FSD's. Can you share the details about the vendor and the price? I'm ok if you PM me with the info.

Regards

[rr_zen]

Originally Posted by The Saint

I have just ordered koni's FSD, just waiting eagerly for the delivery, they are one of the best in the business and sorts all the issues that the civic, will report improvements post installation.

Cheers

Great. Looking forward to your feedback. How much did you cough up for this?

[sgiitk]

Originally Posted by shuvc

Wifey travelled 30 kms in the rear seat today - over somewhat rough and sometimes undulating city roads. And she hated it ! She says, it may be spacious, but it bounces too much and is not very comfortable.......
I guess I now have a case for a stiffer suspension ! Maybe a couple of years later

The suspension is quite stiff. Bounces can be both wallowing, and feeding back all the bumps. I think it is the latter. Unfortunately, you cannot have excellent steering and handling without a stiff suspension (of course the old Citroen GS may have been an exception).

[The Saint]

Its been 3 weeks since I ordered, there is only one distributor in India, earlier FSD was out of stock and then some other issues in dispatching, I have to drive to delhi and have been postponing it because I want to enjoy the FSD, have heard good things about it.

I dont know the price yet but it is around 45-48k. I will definitely provide you all the details once I have it in hand.

Cheers

[dot]

Originally Posted by sgiitk

Unfortunately, you cannot have excellent steering and handling without a stiff suspension.

This is the worry I have if one has to play around with the suspension without controls of all the parameters.

Originally Posted by The Saint

I will definitely provide you all the details once I have it in hand.

Even after saying the above, I am still very keen to know the outcome. Do post pictures of the installation if possible. Thanks!

[shuvc]

It's time to renew my insurance. In a few weeks from now.

I had taken Honda Assure when I bought the car in May 2010. The dealership is quoting:

Rs. 24713 for Honda Assure
Rs. 22653 for non-Honda Assure

Does this sound ok?

[alto99]

Originally Posted by shuvc

It's time to renew my insurance. In a few weeks from now.

I had taken Honda Assure when I bought the car in May 2010. The dealership is quoting:

Rs. 24713 for Honda Assure
Rs. 22653 for non-Honda Assure

Does this sound ok?

Here are the quotes I got (to be renewed in April). IDV is taken as 80% of invoice value which I have asked to increase to 85%.
These are invalid for me as I have 50% NCB. Last year with 50% NCB I paid net ~ 13K for Honda Assure. Now I have got quotes > 15K even with 50% bonus. Not sure what I am going to do.

Honda Assure – ( Insurance companies under Honda assure -ROYAL SUNDARAM, BAJAJ ALLIANZ, IFFCO TOKIO, UNIVERSAL SUMPOO,NATIONAL INSURANCE )

IDV : 1079426/-
NCB : 20%
Premium : 25296/-
O’ (ZERO )DEPRECIATION WITH HONDA ASSURE : (BAJAJ ALLIANZ , ROYAL SUNDARAM ,IFCO TOKIYA )
IDV : 1079426/-
NCB : 20%
Premium : 34225/-

NORMAL QUOT : ( BAJAJ ALLIANZ AND TATA AIG):
IDV : 1079426/-
NCB : 20%
Premium : 26107/-

[vasoo]

Hey I got it renewed for Rs 17,980 from TATA AIG. I think the above figures are too high. Did you claim insurance in the last year? I did not opt for Honda Assure in my first year and then it was about 25k. And please, do not go to dealership for renewal. Do it yourself with the insurance company. Just call them up and ask for a quote. Dealers always add their commission.

[gaurav_chopra04]

I too would recommend Tata AIG, they have got different covers and if you have NCB (25% or more), the policy also protect that if you take any claim, the NCB will not be lost. I am considering this for my Polo. The civic and swift at home too are covered by Tata. Didnt have any issues while taking claim on civic 2 months back. I am attaching a Tata AIG document which specifies different auto services and policies provided by the company.

Page 7 and further specifies different packages. I have personally liked their Pearl with NCB (should cost about 4k extra for civic on normal premium). So, you get 0% depreciation on parts during claim and also save your NCB; along with other stuff.

TATA AIG ADD ON BENEFITS[1].pdf

[mobike008]

I too agree that never take insurance renewal from the dealership as their quotes would be exorbitant.

It's always best to call 3-4 top insurers and take their quote and pit them against each other. I normally take a quote from one and call the other and tell them I got a (quote-10%-15%) from what the actual quote was given to ensure they give a better rate.

Example :-

Quote from Company 1 : Rs.100

I mention to Company 2 that I got a quote from Company 1 : Rs.85

So and so forth...

Similarly with another 2-3 insurers till i am sure that its been squeezed till the last drop.

P.S: IDV value remaining same for all quotes.

I have had good experience with Tata AIG and Bajaj Alliance.

[sgiitk]

The premium for the Act part have gone up. I would suggest the following approach:

Take an exclusion of the first Rs.5000 (knocks 1500 from the Premium). With a 1500 reduction you are not likely to ask for minor damage in any case.

Do not go for zero depreciation plan - just increases the loading. There is no free lunch.

I also hear that New India are offering cashless with Honda dealerships.

[shuvc]

I got some of the figures clarified. This is how it stands now:

NCB 20% for all.

Honda Assure
For IDV 10,52,800, premium is Rs. 24,713.
For IDV 9,55,800, premium is Rs. 22,653.

The first IDV is normal 1yr depreciation. The 2nd IDV is the max flexibility they have.

Non-Honda Assure - Bajaj
For IDV 10,52,800, premium is Rs. 22,070.


Zero Depreciation

Honda Assure
For IDV 10,52,800, premium is Rs. 33,423. (add-on 8710 incl tax)

Non-Honda Assure
For IDV 10,52,800, premium is Rs. 27,822. (add-on 5745 incl tax)


Benefits of Honda Assure:

1. Instant Policy issuance from Dealership
2. Dealership takes care of all Policy Issuance, NCB transfer, Endorsement, Cancellation & Refund
3. Claims will be settled in all Honda dealership in PAN India with Cashless facility
4. Maximum TAT for survey is 4 Hrs.
5. Self survey by Dealership in case of Windshield / ORVM damage up to Rs. 20000/-
6. Consumables (Engine, Brake, Gear oils & Coolants) and all Fasteners (Metal & Plastic Nuts, Bolts, Screws, Rivets, Clamps etc.) are covered with 50% Depn.
7. Parts like Headlight assembly, ECM, various sensors, Motors, Actuators, Radiator assembly, Wiring Harness are categorised as other parts where the depreciation as per the age of vehicle :

   • 0-6 Months Nil
   • 6Months - 1 Year 5%
   • 1 Year - 2 Years 10%
   • 2 Years - 3 Years 15%
   • 3 Years - 4 Years 25%
   • 4 Years - 5 Years 35%
   • 5 Years - 10 Years 40%
   • 10 Years & Above 50%

8. Bumpers (Rear & Front) are Catagorised as Fiber and charged 30% Depreciation.
9. Add on Cover (Nil Depreciation) is available till 5th Year

With Honda Assure in year 1-2, depreciation of some parts is 10%. Don't see the point of 0 depreciation cover this year. Although 0 depreciation probably covers more parts.

[shuvc]

Rattles

Originally Posted by shuvc

No issues as such. Except the dashboard rattles. Once again there were rattles from the LHS and from the dash area behind the steering wheel. They rectify it and it comes back in a week or so.

So I'd been living with those rattles since the last service in December. And had decided to get them checked out again in May. Didn't want to keep visiting the workshop since I believe they did not have much clue. Eventually it seems it's ok that they were unable to solve it !!

I had 2 specific 'slight-rattle' zones. Somewhere on the LHS (seemed the dash) and somewhere inside the steering boss.

Last month, my right door speaker went silent. Switched the amp connections in the boot and zeroed in on a possible loose speaker wire inside the door. Went to the accessory shop. Hunch was correct. Speaker was reconnected.
While at the shop, I decided to follow up on another hunch. Asked them to open up the LHS passenger door and check the damping. Hunch correct again ! Some of it had come loose ! This was fixed too.

And now that seems to have fixed the LHS rattle to a large extent !!! Apologies due to Honda for maligning the build quality earlier

The steering boss seems to have taken a cue and become relatively silent too. Don't know whats up inside it, but I will get it checked in May (4th/15K service). The horn does not beep at times when the edge of the boss is pressed.

Paint
I bought a can of Tafeta White from Com-paint. The colour matches. I tried it on some of the scratches on the bumpers. Very amateurish effort. Is quite visible from close up, but at least the black spots/scratches do not show up that much against the white colour, from a distance.


Insurance
I got a quote of 18K from Tata-AIG from a rep who had called from the Tata-AIG offices in Mumbai. I told him Pinnacle Honda has refused to provide cashless facility if insurance is not taken through them. He was adamant, saying they have a tie-up etc. And proceeded to conference-in the insurance contact at Pinnacle immediately.

And lo ! The showroom guys confirmed to Tata-AIG too over the phone, that they will not provide cashless if customer takes insurance directly from the insurance company ! The rep thanked me. He said that this was not correct and that he had recorded the conversation and will take it up within his organisation. He was supposed to revert to me, but all is quiet for over a week. So I'm guessing they are unable to do anything about it.

[alto99]

Here is an update on insurance I bought. Thanks to gaurav_chopra04 for providing details on TataAIG addon coverages. Might be helpful to you in case you decide on Tata AIG:
I tried quoting on the website and generated a quote. Unfortunately the website allows only plain vanilla policy or with Gold addon coverage so I was about to go back to Bajaj Allianz.

After a while I got a call from TataAIG executive and after many discussions I got the following quote:
IDV : 85% :11.5L
Voluntary deductible : 0
Compulsoary deductible : 1000
NCB : 50%
Addons:
1. NCB Protection
2. No depreciation
Total premium including taxes 20.5K
Note that the above addons are not packaged into Gold/Pearl etc. I did not want the Daily allowance, and many such addons and hence requested them for what I wanted and they provided without any hesitation.

The Honda guys also provided a similar quote with some freebies (600 worth of service coupons or some polishing) but were too late as I had already committed to TataAIG. When I mentioned it to TataAIG executive he mentioned that Honda dealer won't be able to provide such low quote/ selective coverages(they can provide only gold/pearl etc) and that the quote might be for standard Gold package. I did not get a breakup from Honda dealer and as I had already committed to TataAIG executive did not bother to request it either.
Also note that NCB protection is applicable only if one renews with TataAIG next year.

[shuvc]

Originally Posted by alto99

After a while I got a call from TataAIG executive and after many discussions I got the following quote:
IDV : 85% :11.5L
Voluntary deductible : 0
Compulsoary deductible : 1000
NCB : 50%
Addons:
1. NCB Protection
2. No depreciation
Total premium including taxes 20.5K

Sounds ok. TataAIG gave me a quote of around 22K for similar benefits. With 10.5L IDV but 20% NCB.
Honda Assure along with zero depreciation is pretty high at around 33K.

However the gap between normal insurance from TataAIG (18K) and Honda Assure (24K) is lesser than the zero dep quotes.

Problem is I may have to go the Honda Assure way, if the workshop is so adamant about cashless.