We bought Honda Activa a month back with a waiting of around 45 days! There is an ultra-high demand for this home-run from Honda. Everybody & their mother is buying one & it is soon going to be become the ultimate vehicle for Women certified by the supreme court of India! :)
Honestly we didn’t do much of a cross-shopping, only vehicle we looked at was Scooty Pep but Honda won out due to : it was a Honda! The Honda name overall execution of the product won us over. It is more powerful & has a high speed stability much better than pep. The other vehicle we looked at was the mech twin of Activa i.e. the Dio. It was a bit too flashy & my wife preferred more sober & easier lines of Activa. Also the seats we found a bit more comfortable on Activa. There is lower waiting on the Dio though.
We were disappointed at the costs of the accessories though. After spending 38xxx, I was not that happy to pay for the side stand, front number plate & so on! It is almost unfair to pay for such small things after paying a hefty price. We also were told un-officially that we could get the bike earlier if we gave 2000rs more..!!! It sucks..! We refused & chose to wait for ours to come.
Why the attitude & experience at all the Honda dealers is so bad that is a separate topic. The overall buying experience is not at all satisfactory. Nobody told us that there was waiting of 45 days for Active until we made the payment & asked when they can deliver! Understaffed & undereducated staff.
Styling: Activa is as simple a design as it can be. A straightforward/no-nonsense fully functional design to cater everyday needs of the target buyer. The overall execution is too simplistic & you need to get a livelier color to lighten up the mood a little bit! But we chose the black one as my wife preferred it as the other colors didn’t appeal us. The silver is good one but too common. Overall a conservative but classic design that would age well & stand the test of time, something can’t be said with confidence of the Dio’s styling.
Performance: A very satisfactory performance by this all rounder. It drives much the same way as CD100SS albeit marred by smaller wheels that are characteristics of all the scooters. Activa always feels as if it has enough power left at the speeds on 50-55kmph. The road grip is average but who needs high road grip on a scooter. Dio has more aggressive tires though that enhance dry condition road-holding but a little lower grip on wet surfaces. The high speed stability is also just fine for a scooter.
Fuel Economy: We are getting 37-40kmpl currently in city driving which is not that great compared to competition. I hope it improves after first servicing. I would still not call this as satisfactory but the amount of driving we do is not that great so this number is acceptable to us. Someone who drives it for say 20kms per day should check with a few more buyers & on this board for what other members are getting.
Dealership Experience: As I mentioned above it sucks!! They need a vast improvement on this. Also the cash counter as the Pune dealer is upstairs so you have to go up & pay for servicing etc & then go down & take the delivery of the scooter. But nobody tells you that you need to go to the cash counter first!!! They ask you to go to service center. Overall a very low awareness about the processes at the dealership! Responsibilities not properly identified & no follow-up etc. Asking more money for early delivery is one more thing.
Reliability The bike has been very reliable until now, but it is a bit early to judge on this one. We need to wait for more time to pass any judgment.
Pricing’’ As I mentioned accessories are too expensive & some accessories should be standard on a 40, 000Rs vehicle, like 100Rs side stand. Have you seen ladies trying to put the Activas on the main stand? They always use the side stand then why not make it standard?? BUT in my opinion, Eterno is a MUCH better value if someone can drive a little bigger/heavier & geared scooter. It gives average of 65kmpl & more stability due to weight. As ladies need Button-Start & Auto, Honda gets away charging so much for the Activa. The price should be closer to 35 than 38.5
Overall a very good product specially designed for ladies but at the same time more than sufficient for their husband/brothers too. Well done Honda. But this vehicle is meant for Point A to point B transporattion without much fuss or interest so....here’s a message for you Honda Bring the CBR600 FAST....!
~Milind