Now that I’ve had this car for over 16 months and 23K km, I have some expectations to set for prospective buyers.
Why buy?
This was a brand new company car.
My criteria for selection was the best automatic under Rs. 10 L.
Right off the bat I was extremely irritated that I could not get it in my color (Silver).
The marketing people who decide the body colors for the City should be fired for sleeping on the job!
Silver has been the most popular car color for the last 5 years globally.
The City 1.3 and the Accord have it as an option but not us 1.5 owners!
The reason given was to keep it ’special’ (they must mean it like the special olympics because I saw no upside to it).
As you can see I still can’t get over their stupidity!
The waiting period was 2-3 weeks for delivery - hopefully they have managed to bring it down to a week. If not, then the logistics/distribution people should also get fired!
I should be a cost cutting consultant for them - I could really reduce Honda’s headcount and get rid of all the deadweight... ;-)
My Preferences
Now as a returning NRI, my car preferences in order of priority are:
Value, Safety, Comfort, Performance, Image/Looks
Note that the all important fuel efficiency is not critical to me.
For a car buyer spending close to a million rupees on an automatic, its also very unlikely to be at the top of their list.
Options (or lack thereof)
I was shocked that even at this high price ABS was not even an option - I would have gladly paid more for dual airbags and ventilated disc brakes. Shows that Honda Siel does not seem to care about their upper C segment customer safety!
If a Hyundai Accent (and recently even the Santro) can have ABS as options at a price point of below Rs. 7 Lakh, Honda has no excuse at all.
Indian driving conditions need the following:
High ground clearance (20 cm should be the min)
Reinforced bumpers
Thick tyres for the monsoons
Skid plates at the front and back to prevent damage to the undercarriage during the inevitable bottoming out over speed breakers
All wheel ventilated disc brakes and a roof mounted LED center brake light (roof mounted for better truck/bus driver visibility and LED since they switch on faster and brighter and normal lights)
All wheel drive (or 4-wheel drive as a 2nd choice to get unstuck from the mud/ditches/potholes)
Asymmetric side mirrors (the left side should be taller and narrower so it keeps the same visible surface area yet sticks out less as a target for the bus drivers to smash in)
It sounds like we are talking about SUVs but they are either too expensive or too ugly here so these options in wagons/estates would be much better.
Audi and Subaru have had a long history of building nice looking cars with AWD.
Warranty? You don’t need no stinkin’ Warranty!
The the real salt on the wounds was the absurdly short 1 year warranty. Shows that the company revered in the rest of the world for its reliability does not have much faith in the quality of its Indian cars. Again I would have willingly paid extra for a nation wide extended warranty like Maruti offers. Honda are you listening?
I can understand having 1 year warranties on cars below Rs. 5 Lakh ex-Mumbai but for the 5-10 L range, 2 years should be standard with an optional 1-2 years extra available (and these should be with unlimited mileage).
And I have not even left the showroom yet ;-) but that’s the beauty of the Indian car market - very limited selection for automatics so you just have to take it.
My only other choice at the time was the Opel Astra but since I had never owned a Honda before, I thought I would like to experience the joy of ownership (ha!).
Pros
Before you start thinking this is purely negative, the exterior looks, engine performance, and front seat comfort are quite good for indian cars. There is a positive status/image also associated with the cars but my point is that at this price range one expects all these and more.
It has the same power to weight ratio as the Esteem (99bhp/ton) so the 0-100 km/h should be in the 12-13 sec range for the manual version. I have yet to come across the official times for the AT model.
Cons (!)
The rear seat comfort is quite poor (I have a driver 6 days/week) and is quite noticable after the first hour in Mumbai traffic. The rear suspension and ground clearance is totally unsuited for Mumbai’s potholed roads specially during the monsoons (so much for localisation).
The side mirrors and bumpers get dented/scratched easily. They should be reinforced with thick transparent scratch resistant coatings (I already had teflon coating put on the car). The Corolla’s power folding side mirrors is a smart step in the right direction so they can be saved when buses/trucks go scraping by with the press of a button.
The fuel efficiency went from 6-7 km/L in the first few months to 8-9 km/L by the end of the first year. This is with the AC on 90-95% of the time in hardcore Mumbai stop and go traffic. Currently I’m getting about 9-10 km/L since I have to go to Vashi or Thane every week so we get some highway driving also.
There is only one accurate way to measure your car’s mileage if its not equipped with a trip computer to track it on the fly (real time display). Fill the tank (at the same pump) and reset the trip odometer (to zero of course) and divide the km by the amount of fuel you fill up after about a week of normal driving.
There must be some mistake/typo in the official description above since the city and highway fuel is listed as the same at 11 km/L.
I have read some of the other reviews and anyone driving this car over 150 km/h is totally insane. I don’t feel the kind of calm reassurance I used to feel in my earlier car (3.0L v6 RWD 200 bhp sedan but thats an opinion for another post) in GA, USA.
I feel very uncomfortable pushing my City over 100 km/h on Mumbai, Vashi, Thane highways.
Maybe on better surfaces like the Pune expressway you could go to 125 km/h on a sustained AND safe basis.
But raw straight line speed is useless (and deadly) without control.
I’ve cruised at over 150 km/h on US highways and not felt half as uncomfortable as I do @ 100 km here.
I would not go over 90 km to Thane/Vashi on empty roads and 80 km with traffic (or at night).
The speed limit (what’s that?!) is officially 60 km on these roads.
As any good driver will tell you: you need to expect the unexpected and be prepared for emergency avoidance manuvers and sudden stops on Indian highways especially.
Happy ending?
A few months after the warranty expired my right rear power window stopped working completely (its also the least used window since I sit in the left rear seat).
It’ll cost Rs. 1, 500 + taxes to repair.
Thank you Honda!
Summary
If I were asked to improve this car (what a dream!) here is what I would suggest:
SILVER must be an available color for the 1.5!
ABS & dual airbags should become options so those who value their lives can at least pay a little extra
Nation wide extended warranties are a must
Higher ground clearance (have you seen the axle breakers here?) 175 mm does not cut it locally, it may be fine for some highways but that’s not the vast majority of driving surfaces
Fatter tyres for better handling/grip (again as an option upgrade)
Vastly improved back seat comfort and suspension for indian roads
Economy and Sport modes for the automatic (the shift RPM is simply moved higher in the latter case)
Audible warning system if ignition is switched off with the lights on
Need I go on?
Welcome to the 21st century customer Honda!