Bought a 5th gen Honda City 1.0 turbo petrol VTEC in Thailand

This segment of cars are called Eco cars in Thailand, and are mandated to have engine capacity less than 1200cc.

BHPian Sinner666 recently shared this with other enthusiasts.

I live in Thailand, and given the absence of quality automotive forums (in English) here, Team BHP as always, came to my rescue while deciding to buy the fifth gen Honda City.

This is the pre-facelift version as dealers do not have any clue as to when the facelift will be launched here (rumors being second half of the year!).

Some differences from the Indian version of the fifth gen Honda City:

• There is only 1 engine + gearbox option available: 1.0L Turbo Vtec + CVT This is a fun to drive engine, with loads of torque at lower RPMs. Reminds me of the old Swift VDI back in India.
• This segment of cars are called Eco cars in Thailand, and are mandated to have engine capacity less than 1200cc.
• Honda City is more of an entry level sedan. So, misses many features compared to the Indian variant - Sunroofs, Left side park assist etc.

Other cars that were considered included : New Yaris Ativ, New Nissan Almera (Sunny), Mazda 2. Given the Eco car classification in Thailand, all the above came with ~1.2L NA engines, except the Nissan Almera (which also comes with a 1.0L Turbo engine).

Selected the most fun to drive car out of the lot. The suspension also seems to be tuned differently here as it mostly rides flat on highways and feels a bit stiff in the city. Not European flat, but does not seem to be as floating around like I read in Indian reviews (have not driven the Indian version yet). My variant (SV) is one below the top variant (RS), and comes with 185/60 R15 tires as standard. I asked around a lot of tire dealerships to upgrade as soon as driving out, but nobody was willing to give me any cashback for current tires, and were willing to only give me price for discarded tires. Seems like this practice doesn't exist here, and I will have to wait to run these out before upgrading.

Some more interesting facts about the car purchase process here:

• Most dealers advertise On-road price in sales brochures. There is some margin for discounts/negotiations
• Instead of discounts, they offer accessories, and lots of it. I got Honda certified front dashcams, emergency kit, floor mats, car cover, underbody rust coating, fuel card for THB 5000, 3M Ceramic sun film all around.
• Towards the end of the negotiations, the salesman just asked me what other accessories I needed - I literally did not remember what else I could ask for and closed the deal. Regretted later not asking for the RS kit
• Most dealers get commissions from banks, and would throw more offers at you, if you go the finance route. Deals are much less if you buy on cash
• Interest rates on finance are extremely low. My interest rate is 0.99% p.a. for a 4yr tenure. This combined with more freebies on finance swung my decision from an all cash purchase to finance

Attaching some pictures (Switched to the RS front kit at THB 6500 a week after delivery):

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