I recently became the proud owner of ANHC 2012 V AT(Alabaster Silver). This is a small effort that I am making for the first time just to tell the C+ Sedan aspirants on how I arrived at my car brand and also my experience. I wanted a C+ Segment Sedan. I returned from US after working there for little over 8 yrs. There in US, I had Honda CRV and Honda Accord LX. Some how I always wanted to own a Toyota and ended up purchasing Honda. May be I am a Honda fan I guess.
But before deciding on my new car, I test drove some of other brands too. I test drove Fiat Linea, Hyundai Fludic Verna CRDi(SX), Ford Fiesta, Toyota Etios. I wanted to test drive VW Vento, but could not do so as there are no dealers in Mysore yet.
Fiat Linea: Build quality is good but the styling are of old school boys. Driving Dynamics are good, Interiors are decent. Service Network is Good and affordable maintenance is a plus point of this car. I did not like it only because of the old style design.
Ford Fiesta: Out of all the cars that I test drove, this is the best car in terms of driving dynamics. One can enjoy driving fiesta. What put me off was its cheap plastics, not so luxurious interiors. Style is okay but not great atleast I am concerned. Since it is an american car, one can always rely on build quality and safty. Highe end model has all safty futures. But Ford’s reliability is always a question in US and I am sure it will be even same here in india.( I know this from my US experiences)
Toyota Etios: Does not even come closer to any of the cars mentioned above. This is probably a segment below than the mentioned cars that I test drove. May be one should try Toyota Corolla as it comes both in petrol and diesel option. I did not wanted Diesel as my usage is less than 750 kms per month. Calculation says if one drives more than 1500 km per month, then only diesel makes sense.
Hyundai Verna fludic CRDi(SX): I loved the fluidic exterior design and interiors are pretty decent. Fludic design is very good and definitely a head turner. Diesel Engine(Test drive is only in diesel version) is refined and okay with the power. However, driving dynamics is not so great and I was very dissapointed. I test drove at 120 kmph and found some kind of nervous signals travelling through my hands to brain. This is probably could have generated due to ultra light steering and soft suspension. However, its city drive was memorable and one of the best. I think 6 speed manual is useless as u rarely get a chance to hit even 5th gear in city tarffic. Electronic gadgets at this price is the best in the segment and beats all other models including Honda. If I am allowed to say, I can say this magnet attract girls. My wife asked me to buy this car. Result: I forgot high speed issues and booked Hyundai Fluidic Verna CRDi(SX) and paid 25K advance. Now the experience with the dealer starts.The Advaith Hyundai Mysore sales rep got my order by falsly assuring that he will delive the car within 2 months of booking. But from the manger, I came to know that I was actually given false assurance by his sales rep. In fact the waiting time was more than 5 months. I was very angry(Also the fear of high speed instability kicked in my mind again) and cancelled the order. However, I got complete refund. Thanks to that Nice Manager Shankar.
I went to Inspire Honda Mysore. Sales guys were well informed and were nice. I test drove both automatic and manual Honda City. My main concern when I took test drive was Ground Clearance as this issue is discussed extensively everywhere.
Test drive car(Manual): I drove this car(may be 2011 model) and found very smooth gear shifting(like tender butter), comfortable seating and good driving dynamics. Leg room is good(I am 5.11). Steering feel was good even at high speed. I reached 105 kmph as traffic did not allow me to go further. Interior is plush for the price, audio system is good but not great. Manual AC is powerful but only good in the front area and back seaters slighly suffer(Automatic climate control and back seat vent would have made wonders). Mirror position is good and also sturdy(Automatic folding of mirror should have been there). Exterior is good and also a head turner like Hyundai Fluidic. Now the crucial GC I was interested to know.with 3 people in that car, it hit 2 road humps that were of mid size and 1 that was big. The Honda guy told me it is a old model and the new model has 5mm extra GC and also suggested me reach zero kmph before the road hump. Anyways, I moved on to next model 2012 ANHC VAT for test drive
Test drive car(Automatic): Everything said above is same in AT except tranny. P.R.N.D.S format is good. 5 speed automatic is good(Hyundai Automatic has only 4 speed which is not so great). What is more handy in ANHC is Paddle shift that are usually found in race cars and high end cars. In S mode, paddle shift turns this car in to a manual. Again my main Concern(GC)= With same 3 people on the same road. Guesssssss. No problem at all on those road humps that I tested earlier using one year old Model. I wonder, how just 5 mm can make such a big difference? Honda geniuses must have done some thing else that they are not telling(change in Mud flaps? etc.). With my earlier but still fresh Honda experiance, I purchased ANHC V AT Silver color.
Now my ANHC 2012 VAT: I have been driving this car since one month(not quite long I know): I started liking it. I am getting 12 kmpl in city(with AC on intermittently) and 15 kmpl on highways(with AC on all the time). First free service is over. May be when the odometer hits 2000 - 3000 kms, I may get 1 or 2 kms more per litre. For Indian traffic and road condition, 12 to 13 from an automatic mid size, decently luxurious sedan that too in our citie’s conditions is superb and 15 - 16 on highways is pretty decent for an 1.5 litre petrol engine. The engine refinement is simply superb. I think no one can make petrol engine like Japanese in general and Honda in particular.
Since I had Honda CRV and Accord in US. I also considered them, but did not take test drive as I know about them well) .I got really scared by looking at their prices in India. It is double the price compared to US, which is not worth at all. I did not wanted to pay my hard earned money just to pay 110% import duty to Government.
The other cars I missed taking test drive includes Chevy Optra/Cruze, Toyota Corolla, Maruthi Suzuki SX4.
But I really missed VW Vento. I have heard a lot about its safty and build quality.(Actually one of my collegue’s entire family survived in an high speed accident in this car). I have also heard of VW’s horrible customer service and limited service network. Anyways, I love my ANHC 2012 automatic. I suggest if any one is looking for a mid size sedan they should think of Honda City. If they drive mostly in City, Automatic is best though very slighly uneconomical compared to manual.
Future plans on this car: I planned to put some anti rust, pest, rat coating to chassis, engine and wiring. It will be useful I feel.