Hello Fellow BHPians,
Last month, I bought an ANHC and would like to share my initial use experience.
I have hardly used 150 KMs in the last 2 weeks and yet to use the car at nights and take it to highway and so I will add more about these experiences in the coming days as well.
ANHC was chosen as it was a proven and reliable car though at a premium for the brand Honda.
Surely I was not disappointed with the choice.
I have prepared a separate buying experience report as well, but understood that this thread is only for test drive and initial use experience.
Could someone guide me where I can post the buying experience.
Team BHP has been very useful to me during the entire process of purchasing this car especially the PRI and PDI checklists.
I could follow them except for a few like test drive the car.
Also several fellow BHPians experiences such as raghu230506, jayanth_yk, rr_zen, kalyan_hyd, mkh and several others were very helpful.
Sorry guys I could not consult you as I became a member just a week ago and I bought the car last month.
The details of the Lady in Red is as follows:
ANHC Model: S-MT
Color: Habanero Red Pearl
Delivery Date: 22-September-2010
Dealer: Olympia Honda, Chennai
Accessories Installed:
3M RE-35 for the 4 windows and rear windshield
Original Honda 5 spoke Alloys, set of 5
What I Liked:
- Gem of an engine, super smooth and silent, in fact so silent that except for the a/c compressor and or cooling fan noise and of course the tachometer, one cannot tell whether the engine is running or not. Hats off to Honda
- Silent cabin
- Powerful a/c that cools the cabin quickly
- Good rear seat comfort, most important in my case as the occupants (my 2 daughters) are budding auto enthusiasts and will not be pleased with any discomfort.
- No compromise on safefy features (ABS, EBD, SRS airbag, day and night mirror etc.,) or comfort, again the premium paid for Honda standard, Even the lowest model EMT has all the safety features except for stereo, remote lock, alloys and other cosmetics.
- Good stock music system, although CD player is missing, have to live with it and change to MP3 format
- Could get Michelin XM1+ as stock tyres, though they are skinny
- Steering with audio controls, surprisingly even Civic does not have this feature
- Impressive fuel efficiency for such a powerful car
- No additional costs for "basic accessories" such as mudflaps, foot mats and number plate
- No additional costs 2 year Extended warranty
What I Did not Like:
- The central locking does not have an alarm and no protection for intrusion
- The doors do not lock/unlock when the vechicle is started/stopped, quite a nuisance to remember to lock and unlock everytime
- Central locking does not have any mechanism to relase the boot lock and has to be manually opened with the key, but strangely it releases the fuel tank door. How I wish it was made in the opposite way like my good old 8 year old WagonR.
- No climate control
- No disc brake for the rear wheels
- No key hole illumination
- No illumination for power window switches except for driver door 1 switch
- Small rear view mirror that hardly covers the full width of rear windshield
- Skinny tyres for such a powerful car, in fact the most powerful in its class and Honda's threat of voiding the warranty for any upgrade at our cost
- Muted sound of the horn, even the NHC sounded better
- Duplicate key without remote lock
- Protruding antenna, could have been a sleek glass type antenna like SX4 or a retractable motorized one
- No sidestep protection (usually a plastic strip) for any of the doors, even cheaper Maruti cars have this to protect from scratches during getting in or out of the car
- No 12V power out let at the rear seats
- No a/c vents exclusive for the rear seats
Some of the above are real ripoffs and show the stinginess of Honda. Come on Honda, give the Indian Customers their due and value for the money.
What I Do not Know:
- Very large engine compartment for a compact engine, what is Honda up to
- Real time fuel efficiency meter in a very prominent display. When there is information of average FE and we know what to expect while buying a Honda which has demonstrated FE, what is the need for this. In fact it is a major distraction and people may try to adjust their driving to "achieve" higher theoretical FE which is meaningless
- Each of the ABC (accelerator, brake, clutch) pedals are located at different level. I don't know much about other cars, at least in WagonR it is not this conspicuous
Uploading some pictures to make the report complete:
Photo:1 Love at first sight, lady in red spotted for the first time
Photo: 2 Waiting at the RTO for registration
Photo: 3 Odometer reading after the registration
Photo: 4 After changing to Alloys
Photo: 5 On the ramp for overall inspection
Photo: 6 Ready to go home with us
Hope this information would be useful to fellow BHPians and wait to answer your questions.