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-   -   The journey to my new ANHC: And the CSD buying guide (https://www.team-bhp.com/forum/test-drives-initial-ownership-reports/87122-journey-my-new-anhc-csd-buying-guide-4.html)

Many congrats and what an amazing color. I wish in future i will have a black beauty.

Following are the upgrades which I feel are must.

1. Immediate Tyre upgrade to 195/60 R15, Primacy LC or ER 60 both are good, I went with Primacy LC.

2. Sun films, I have gone with 3M CR 70 (front) + CR50 (rest) combo, one of the best. icecool is also a nice option.

3. Headlight upgrade, I upgraded to Philips rally 90/100 with relay. Its a recommended one.

Yes, as this is from the CSD the car is in my dad's name. My dad was quite amenable to this plan, and since I was paying for everything and he has no plans of buying a new car in the next 2 years (min. canteen waiting period inbetween purchases). Sir, if I had so much money lying around I would be a different man altogether! Took a loan for almost 60% of the value of the car. The way it works is that I am the co-applicant to the loan (which is in my dad's name.) So technically I pay all the money, and everyone is happy. Let me know if you need more details about this process.

Boss, when it comes to the car -- never listen to the ladies!! The tales of a man and his machine are legendary. Before my marriage, I used to say that girlfriends come and go, but a car always stays by your side! (Of course, I can't say it now, else my wife will throw me out and I'll have to live in the car heh heh!)


Oh yes, agreed. #1: Well, I specifically took the VMT for the alloys. Any specific reason you think the stock tyres are unsatisfactory? I got the Michelins and not the Goodyear.
#2: For sure! As soon as i can save up some more money! :)
#3: Yes, this was something I was trying to figure out. During my research phase, I saw a lot of members who have done this. Honestly, the stock headlights aren't bad...but they aren't good either (my Santro headlights were better!). Will get this done over the weekend. Will follow your advice.


Will post buying experience and pics shortly!

The owners with stocks (even Michelins) complaining instability at higher speeds, i have noticed increased comfort level in city driving conditions as well.

So finally -- the end of one journey and the start to another! The car is finally here, so now i can post some of my experiences and hope that this will benefit others -- in the same way all the reading I did before buying the car helped me.

Overall CSD Process:
I'm very happy with the way this worked. True, I did have to wait an extra 2-3 days (which nearly drove me up the wall in frustration)...but at the end of the day I think the savings really made the difference. Here's the final cost:

Honda VMT Ex-CSD: 8.30 lacs
Add:
DD Charges: Rs 2,075
Insurance: Rs 21,029
Registration @ Gurgaon: Rs 16,802
Dealer logistic charges: Rs 3,500
Temp Registration: Rs 1,000
Documentation charges: Rs 2250 (charged by agent)
--------------------------------
Total: 8.76 lac
--------------------------------

Of course, the gurgaon registration also contributed to a huge Rs 50k saving...because Delhi registration is insanely expensive. I got some minor freebies from the dealer, see below.

Agent Experience:
So, I used these guys called NOIDA AUTO who managed the entire CSD process. I didn't physically have to do any of the running around. They didn't charge anything except for the documentation charges of Rs 2250. I suppose they make their money off the loan, registration, insurance etc. The entire process was quite smooth (DSA was called Faisal)... all I had to do was go and pick up the car, the rest everything was done by the DSA who came home for signatures, payments etc. Overall I'm quite happy with them. Only negatives were that the owner (Major Tandon) tended to be rather condescending on the telephone when I rang up very agitated when the CSD process was taking time.

Dealer Experience:
The dealer experience was all right...but not out and out positive.
1) Car was to be delivered via Ring Road Honda, Gurgaon (as part of the deal). I didn't have to go to Hissar.
2) I'm sure that the car was only procured from the lot the day of the delivery...which means I was not given an opportunity to see the car a day or so prior to delivery.
3) When I tured up there, they were still in the process of cleaning the vehicle... and the sales guy was in a major hurry for me to sign everything first. Of course, I insisted on CHECKING and INSPECTING before I signed everything (had the PDI list in mind). So i went over everything with a fine toocomb...but be refused to show the form 20 which lists out the manufacturing date etc. Also was hesitant to confirm that engine / chassis number tallied with the invoice (which it did, anyway).
4) Major concern! I'm crazy about scratches and swirls. During the inspection, the car was in a really dark indoor area (they said no space for outdoor inspection). So anyway, when I took the car away finally i noted that there were a lot of swirls and there were noticeable scratches on the bonnet. When i voiced my displeasure, he tried to soothe me by saying that it can't be helped in black, and he had asked me to buy silver in the first place!

Anyway, by this time I was hot and bothered in the heat anyway...so I decided to let it all go and push off anyway. Lastly, the interiors were a little dusty (by my standards) and had clear dust sedimentation on the dashboard and the HUD.

Conclusion: It's not major... so overall no great problems or anything. However, I would have expected better.


Day 2: On the recommendation of t-bhp members, I visited Divine Carz Spa in Gurgaon. Over there, the owner Amit was very knowledgeble about all this, and I opted for the swirl removal + glaze + sealant + wax package for Rs 3,200. The entire process took almost 4 hours, but they did a VERY GOOD job. Special kudos to the main chap over there (didn't catch his name) who DOES the work per se. He was more finicky about detail than even I was, which surprised me! LOL! Now the challenge is to keep it the way it should be. Couldn't see how good the final finish was yesterday (as it was dark) but saw it this morning in the sunlight, and they've done a pretty good job.

Here are some pics I just took. Excuse the slight distortion caused by my wide angle!

Update:

Honda called me up to ask if I was satisfied with the dealership experience, for which I said I wasn't. Following which the sales person from Ring Road Honda (RAj Kamal) called me quite frantically asking me why I wasn't satisfied. Since nothing he could actually do would make any difference (swirls already existed, which I have now removed) I said he didn't have to worry.

:)

And I forgot to mention...freebies/extras given by the dealership:
- Gearlock (Autocop) - Rs 2500 or so
- Extended warranty + roadside assistance for 4 years - Rs 8,500 or so
- Free 2 GB USB stick - Rs 400-500
- Cake - no idea how much this costs

Hey congratulations. Take all the tip from mkh to keep this color in pristine.

This feature is available to all Honda car buyers and is an offer from the company itself, the dealer as such has no role in this.

HAHA is that so? The dealer made this big song and dance about how he was giving this to me complimentary. Stupid dealers. Think they're so smart. Humph!

Extended warranty + 4 year roadside assistance for INR 8,500/-. Thats the first i am hearing.

I bought my car in Feb'10 and when i asked for extended warranty my dealer said its inclusive with car price i.e. extended warranty and 4 year roadside assistance is always there with all Honda cars.

I had received a SMS from honda 2 weeks ago with toll free number of roadside assistance.

That is correct. It is included in the price. This was same when I bought it in Dec 2009

Another reason why you shouldn't use Ring Road Honda in NCR then! He made it sound that he had aggressively pitched internally, and got me the 'corporate' package which is an extended warranty+roadside assistance 'free'.

Failed to mention that it was being doled out by Honda anyway. Bah! No way I'm going back there again! Anyway I'm not complaining...I overall got a good deal, so I'm happy. :)

Finally touched 140 kmph yesterday on the Gurgaon expressway (at 2 a.m.) without hitting any high revs... Yeah baby!

Guys

This may be a silly question...but does your ANHC doors autolock once you start driving? I start the car, but the doors remain unlocked unless I manually lock them. Also when I switch off, they remain locked unless I manually unlock them.

If this is how it is, rather strange for such a high-end car. Or is there something wrong?

Yes, that is how all our ANHCs behave. No such inteligence. However you can notice that you will not be able to lock even if one of the doors are not closed properly. My santro used to lock and shout after a while

Thanks Jayanth... i thought there was something wrong with my ANHC! Yeah, it's really silly..now that I think about it. Even my Santro used to autolock, and then complain if one of the doors wasn't shut. Damn, another thing for me to feel bad about!

One good thing i find about not having auto-lock is that car wont get locked with keys inside the car. It happened few times with my Old Zen with autocops, then i had to remove the door rubber and open door forcefully with a scale.