I bought my VTEC in March 2001, after being floored by the smoothness of the ride and the acceleration - dont think there is anything that compares in the 1600 cc class. The honeymoon with the car lasted hardly 2 months - I made a trip to Chennai from Bangalore cutting off huge time from my previous drives in a Fiat Uno and Maruti 800. On the way back, I picked up my sister-in-law & family. There were 4 adults, a 5 year old a 2 year old and a 10 year old in all, and some luggage in the car. Just out of Chennai, near the ST Gobain glass factory we had a spectacular accident - we swerved left to right a couple of times, did a 180 degree spin on the road and stopped. Luckily there was no traffic close enough, and we got out unhurt. We found the left rear shock absorber had broken, and the wheel had bent inwards so much that it was facing the ground. This in a car not yet two months old.
Sundaram Honda sent a repair team, and got me back into Chennai. I assumed that it would be obvious that it was something to be handled under guarantee, as it had no business to happen in a 1.x month old car, but to my surprise, Sundaram Honda took a real Ostrich attitude and insisted I had hit something!!! They could not explain how I managed to miss the rest of the car and get the rear wheel hit hard enough to break a shocker, but they insisted I did it. I guess Honda in India IS cheap enough to try and weasel out of paying even such a small amount.
Anyway - when I ultimately got back to Bangalore, I insisted I see the maximum safe load certification - any of you who have seen the manual might notice the ’’Ask the dealer’’ that it says. The dealer didnt have the information, but got it from me and guess what? The maximum load this car is certified for is 400 kg. Thats 5 guys like me (without luggage)!
So if you are going to drive inside the city, and never ferry a fully loaded Indian family around, by all means this car is one of the best there is, but dont ever try to use it like HM Ambassador - it wont take the load. Independent suspension is not India friendly!
Until now I didnt know what to do to spread this info, but thanks to this site, I can now do so. I have photographs of the way the tire broke - sometimes I look at them and thank my stars that all of us in the car escaped. I plan to enjoy the speed and acceleration for another couple of years, but when my company policy permits me to change my car, for sure I wont go for Honda again.