[sparkplug]

A silent participant on TEAM BHP, make it point to read most of the threads everyday. Last Sunday, on occasion of Dasera I purchased a new car - All New Honda City (V) - Bold Beige. The car has been around for about 2 years now; post launch it was raining ANHC's on Team BHP with many reviews posted. So thought to make my contribution with my first review.

Having two small cars - Chevy Spark and Wagon R, we always cramped on space for that extra luggage when we took either of the cars out for a long vacation. Finally after a 3 year period and 51000+ Kms on board - we decided to say goodbye to Spark. It had been the most reliable car I owned, based on my personal experience I think it was much better than the Santro & Zen I had owned earlier.

Had tested many cars in past to years - i20, Figo, Altis, Fiesta, City, Linea, Polo, Vento, SX4 - I guess all of them. Had almost zeroed to buy a Figo - which was a very practical car, top variant at 5.5 Lakh. Last minute bouncer came from family - said need a Sedan now!

The choice was left to Linea, City, Verna, Vento & Fiesta.
- Linea was ruled out, I love the car - but it is underpowered; and even with TJet, did not want to take a chance with Tata service capabilities. Resale value was another issue.

- Honda City - I had tested City more than twice, family loved it - however I thought Honda was too expensive to maintain when it came to service and cost of spares. I had snubbed Honda earlier on Team BHP for offering must-have features at high prices as add-ons (I still stand by that)

- Fiesta & Verna: Both are ageing models and a new variant is expected next year. We needed a car in 10 days, and I was not too keen on a model that will be lapsed in few months

- Vento: Honestly I thought I was paying for the VW logo. The car looks a plain to me, a thought of VW being a Skoda's cousin and its reputation in After-Sales-Service scared me. Plus, Vento had 4-5 month waiting period! Vento also looks like an upgrade to Ford Escort (don't know why!)


The decision was made - family loved the Honda City since the 2006 version, so Honda City it was.

Walked into Hallmark Honda showroom in Thane on Friday evening, and asked for a test drive. The car was sent next day morning, I had mentioned I wanted to buy and delivery in next 10 days. Hallmark Honda were thoughtful to send all - their representative, finance advisor and an valuator for old car. Had a pre-approved loan, the process was hassle-free; the car was alloted in 3 days and brought to showroom for fitting accessories.

Accessories:
- Front Grill replacement (replaced the front grill to give the car a more sporty look, the grill looks great on bold beige color than on any other). Honda City in India has always picked up features from Thailand, and city now is offered with changed grill.
- Reverse sensors
- Cushions
- Sun Film (Had ordered a little dark shade, but showroom representative called to inform it was not approved by RTO so it asked to put the darkest of approved. However now I am not so happy with it, I think they put the lightest one)


Pre-Delivery Inspection:
- Was informed that the car was ready for me to inspect. I visit the showroom a day before delivery and checked it out. It looked stunning!


Delivery of Car:
About 20 odd cars were ready for delivery on Dasera. Hallmark Honda pre-informed about the process and that it would take about 2 hours. We were well-greeted by our sales representative with snacks & refreshments. The advisor explained every detail of invoice and spent good 30-40 minutes explaining each and every feature of the car. Pooja was performed while we took delivery of car and Hallmark Honda took snaps and mailed them the very next day.


Initial Impression (3 days ownership and 150 KMS):

Looks:
The car is stunner with amazing road presence and looks, it was been said many times here. The front grill change on bold beige color makes it look like accord (someone even asked my brother about it). While we took delivery, few others who also took delivery of their city enquired about same.

Space:
City is much comfortable than any other car in this segment. Linea & Fiesta are cramped at rear.

Ride Quality:
This matters me to the most. I prefered driving Spark over WagonR for its superb ride quality and handling. City is so much better than other cars - better than Civic too in my opinion. While taking a test drive, twice the car touched the speed-breakers; fortunately that has not happened to my car till now. The car is amazingly very smooth - made me wonder if Honda has worked on its suspensions, I was not so happy during my earlier test drive when it was launched.

Comfort:
Air Conditioner is chilling, the car cools within a minute or two. Real test may be during peak summers, as of now I had taken the car out only in evening. Music system is very good (best in its class), did not feel the pinch of missing CD player at all.

Fuel Effiency:
At time of delivery it had 45 KMS on board with 6.3 Kmpl. I was dissapointed on seeing that, and thought I would have to wait for 1st servicing to see a descent 10 Kmpl. The car surprised me - I drove about 150 KMS in last 3 days with 12.9 Kmpl in City and 15.2 Kmpl on Highway (AC on 70% of time). Have not crossed 2000 RPM yet.

Some Cons:
- Accessories too expensive (Door & Bumper protectors for 25K). Would have expect it to be present by default in the top variant.
- Roof Lighting at center is adequate, but would have expected it to split for front & rear
- Only one key is electronic; Only passenger side door cannot be opened with key
- Retracting mirrors was expected on a 10L+ car
- The doors do not autolock when car is in motion
- Automatic Climate Control is a big miss!
- 5th wheel does not come with alloy

[Anand123]

Congrats on the new City. What all accessories did you buy and how much did they cost you. Please give some pics as soon as possible, I'm waiting to see the grill.

[TheStig]

Welcome to the ANHC club sparkplug!!

Your car is MT or AT?

Yes Honda is notorious for absurdly expensive accessories! But you should not be complaining since I see you have treated yourself to a RS. 40,000 grille replacement! Just kidding mate!

And yes Honda has been a bit stingy on a few essential equipment in this price range, but I feel its all compensated when you look at that gem of an engine or when you think of the years of hassle free motoring this car will give!

And we need pictures of the new arrival! Get to it!

[tsk13]

Congrats SparkPlug. Looking forward to the pics, especially of the Modulo Grille. My uncle got the same in stock black shade (glossy) on his Bold Beige ANHC, I want to see a Bold Beige Modulo Grille.

[TheARUN]

Excellent review, and congratulations on the new CITY - the arrowshot one

Thanks for your inputs on the SPARK, FIGO and the CIVIC, they reinforced what I already had in my mind

One question: Would the grill attachment interfere with the cooling. Most of the cars nowadays breath through their chins instead of nose, but still, I've always thought that the vents in the grill are there for a reason, and not to be hidden by bull-bars and Hellas

Please post some pictures please

Wish you many happy miles, and the mileage you are getting is tremendous.

[sparkplug]

Originally Posted by Anand123

Congrats on the new City. What all accessories did you buy and how much did they cost you. Please give some pics as soon as possible, I'm waiting to see the grill.

Thanks Anand. Accessories as following:
Front Grille Replacement: 15000 INR
Reverse Sensors: 6500 INR
Cushions: 750 INR for two
Sun Film: 3000 INR

Originally Posted by TheStig

Welcome to the ANHC club sparkplug!!

Your car is MT or AT?

Yes Honda is notorious for absurdly expensive accessories! But you should not be complaining since I see you have treated yourself to a RS. 40,000 grille replacement! Just kidding mate!

And yes Honda has been a bit stingy on a few essential equipment in this price range, but I feel its all compensated when you look at that gem of an engine or when you think of the years of hassle free motoring this car will give!

And we need pictures of the new arrival! Get to it!

It is MT. Front Grille costs 15000 INR, they have also given back the original grille. Wonder what do I do with it.. probably sell it off and get some more accessories Pics coming soon.

Originally Posted by tsk13

Congrats SparkPlug. Looking forward to the pics, especially of the Modulo Grille. My uncle got the same in stock black shade (glossy) on his Bold Beige ANHC, I want to see a Bold Beige Modulo Grille.

I was against grill replacement - it looked differently on White, Silver & Black ANHCs I had seen before. Just after 2 days of booking I spotted a Bold Beige City with Modulo Grille, car looked class apart - called up Hallmark Honda and said I want one! Pics coming soon.

Originally Posted by TheARUN

Excellent review, and congratulations on the new CITY - the arrowshot one

Thanks for your inputs on the SPARK, FIGO and the CIVIC, they reinforced what I already had in my mind

One question: Would the grill attachment interfere with the cooling. Most of the cars nowadays breath through their chins instead of nose, but still, I've always thought that the vents in the grill are there for a reason, and not to be hidden by bull-bars and Hellas

Please post some pictures please

Wish you many happy miles, and the mileage you are getting is tremendous.

Thanks Arun. Spark is definitely the best in its segment according to me. The car was firm on roads even at 140 Km/hr with 4 people on-board. Santro, WagonR at 120 Km/hr - the shaky feeling lowers your confidence to push for more. With Spark had touched 154 Km/hr once.

I'm not to much into technicalities, but I think the cooling could be better with new grille or same - it has honeycomb mesh all over. The engine cabinet is also too spacious - cooling may not be great issue.

[raghu230506]

Congratulations Sparkplug,

Welcome to ANHC club,

Drive safe and have fun.

Pics please.

AC as per me is not an absolute chiller (summer).

Cheers
Raghu

[sachinj12]

Congrats on the car

Drive safe. And oh yes, pics awaited!

[nkrishnap]

Congrats on the Honda City. The bold beige is a very understated color on the City.

Enjoy many more happy miles with the City.

[srinivas.rao]

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[KA18]

@SPARKPLUG,

Congratulations on your Purchase.

Your initial impressions make good reading, but let's have some pictures to match it.

[Ram_NP]

Congratulations on your Purchase.

Further, it's good to know that your family influenced the decision to go for ANHC. Same was in my case also. Once they checked ANHC, all otheres were Strict NO-NO for them.

I am sure you will ove the smoothness of ANHC engine. Waiting for Pics of grill modifications.

[TheStig]

Originally Posted by sparkplug

Front Grille Replacement: 15000 INR
Reverse Sensors: 6500 INR

It is MT. Front Grille costs 15000 INR, they have also given back the original grille. Wonder what do I do with it.. probably sell it off and get some more accessories Pics coming soon.

Wow only 15000?!? the dealer in Trivandrum (Peninsular Honda) told me it costs 40k! Anyway its a really good buy for 15k.

But the Reverse sensors seem a bit overpriced, I got mine from the dealer for 3800 INR.

So how is the experience with the car so far?

P.S: Does your grille look like the one below?

[sparkplug]

Originally Posted by TheStig

Wow only 15000?!? the dealer in Trivandrum (Peninsular Honda) told me it costs 40k! Anyway its a really good buy for 15k.

But the Reverse sensors seem a bit overpriced, I got mine from the dealer for 3800 INR.

So how is the experience with the car so far?

P.S: Does your grille look like the one below?

40K is cost of one of the kits - Inspire or Elegance. It includes reverse sensors, bumper and door protectors and front/rear skirting (i guess). I think the kit does not include the front grille.

Experience is great

[sparkplug]

Here are some pics... two of them clicked while taking delivery of car. Others just clicked today evening.

The car was taken for a rewash and polishing today. It drizzled in Thane the night before delivery and the car had some stains left due to water. Hallmark Honda was kind enough to mention the same and also asked to get back the vehicle after 2-3 days for a free wash and polishing. Had time today - got it done.

The car looks much better in real... wish I had good photographic skills to capture its beauty