Why I bought a Honda City over the Seltos & Creta

Hyundai offered to give me the Alcazar and Verna in 2 weeks, which I politely declined.

BHPian sam264_2000 recently shared this with other enthusiasts.

After selling my Zest on 15th Feb, I had to pause the process for about 6 months since the 2nd Covid wave hit us badly – almost everyone in my family was infected except me and we lost a few near and dear ones within our extended family and friend circle.

I managed to get TD of Seltos (all engine-auto gearbox combinations) in July ONLY after I registered my interest on the Kia website. Earlier in Jan, I had followed up with the 2 Kia dealerships in Pune for TD on phone and was outright rejected. Except for space and the bumpy ride, everything seemed good. The SA was super eager to sell the car and promised to deliver GTX+ Diesel AT in 3 to 4 months.

Then we test drove the Creta SX (O) Diesel AT again in July end and found it a bit better in space compared to Seltos. We were neutral on the looks and ready to compromise on our boot space requirement so booked a Silver one on 1-Aug-2021 with delivery in 4 to 5 months. The dealer agreed on an insurance price of 51K (quotation was 84k) but no Wonder Warranty in that case. I was okay since I was anyways going for an extended warranty. However, I didn’t receive any booking confirmation from Hyundai or the dealer for 2 months. Hyundai then increased the prices sometime in August and within a few weeks of booking, the dealer informed that the waiting period will increase to 7 to 8 months. I had already stretched my budget by 4.5L and the new ETA of March 2022 meant that I will have to face another price hike in Jan 2022. Checked with a few other dealers and no one was ready to entertain booking if I purchase my own insurance. The long waiting periods meant we will be without a car for more than the expected timeframe.

Revisited Honda City ZX CVT. The dealer agreed to deliver within 3 weeks. He didn't have a ZX CVT in stock but was confident that if we book immediately he can get one in 3 weeks if we were not fussy about the colour. Discussed within the family and we all agreed to book Honda City ZX CVT. Silver was our 1st choice followed by Golden Brown. Got a sweet deal from the dealer and booked one on 19th Sept and got it delivered on 10th Oct (VIN confirmed that it was a Sept 2021 manufactured car). I finally received the Hyundai booking confirmation after I booked the Honda City! Cancelled the Creta after multiple follow-ups with the dealer. I was immediately offered Alcazar (Petrol & Diesel AT in stock) and Verna to be delivered in 2 weeks (chip shortage notwithstanding!). Politely declined the offer and the dealer handed me a cheque of 18k after deducting 3k.

I have driven about 850 km since I got the car and I am loving the upgraded experience.

Here are my observations:

1. Since I am coming from 1.2 Zest petrol, I find the 1.5 NA iVTEC powerful, obviously.
2. Smooth CVT is like nirvana during my daily 45km trip to the office.
3. High quality and comfortable leather seats.
4. Adequate ground clearance – have taken the car on uneven roads/speed breakers (city + highway) with 4 adults, a kid and full boot – the car did not bottom out once. Honda has worked on the suspension and it shows. A Mahabaleshwar trip is planned end of November, so I would know more.
5. Minor road noise creeps in due to lack of cladding – doesn’t bother me much.
6. Digital rev-counter looks great.
7. Love the LED headlamp set up, keyless entry/exit and remote start via key.
8. Powerful air conditioner. The rotary buttons are helpful.
9. Steering leather is high quality and is chunky with perfect thickness.
10. All 4 windows get auto-up & down and can be controlled through the fob key as well. Also, all buttons are backlit too.
11. Rear camera resolution is pathetic in dark and okay-ish in daylight. The lane watch camera angle is wide.
12. ICE – sound quality is good but could be better with a bit more bass. The touchscreen is responsive though. Experience is much better with Android Auto or Apple CarPlay.
13. FE – 17.8kmpl on highway and 14.5kmpl in city.

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