My requirements
When I was looking forward to upgrade my car (earlier used Hyundai Santro for 3 years and then Ford Ikon for my requirements were something like these:
My driving is limited to about 700 km per month (all within city limits) and occasional long drives once in couple of months. So diesel car was out of question. Although spacious interiors is a priority, because of traffic situation and parking restrictions, don’t want a car bigger than a premium hatchback or mid-size sedan. (It is going to be self-driven)
Bit of history and ‘why ANHC’
The all new Honda City caught my attention when it was launched in Sep 2008, as it had a very striking design. But after going through the details, I realized that some key features for this segment, such as alloy wheels, are missing. I decided to wait. In Sep 2009, the ANHC was spiced up and the V MT version started to look more and more like what I had desired. After specifications and features study, going through MouthShut, Team-BHP and CarWale reviews and couple of test drives later, I had the following opinion about the car:
Looks: State of the art looks, exterior was perfected (alloys, fog lamps, touch of chrome) and interiors were made slightly better in Sep 2009 version
Comfort: Pleasure to drive, great interior space, ride comfort, silent engine + well insulated cabin, storage (miscellaneous compartments and boot capacity), great iPod driven music system, getting in and out is relatively comfortable considering the low seating, doors open 90 degrees, suspension smoothens out small irregularities on road, steering audio controls
Performance: Engine power, relative fuel economy, smooth acceleration
Safety: Full array of active and passive safety features including Air Bags, EBD, ABS, GCON etc.
Other: Honda brand (reliability, long life, resale value and perceived ‘class’), sales and service experience, 4 year warrantee + road assistance, awards and acclaims
Competition
Conventionally I guess Honda City would compete against Maruti SX4, Hyundai Verna, Ford Fiesta, Mitsubishi Cedia, Tata Manza and Fiat Linea. Each of these cars has its own set of pros and cons, and I really like some of these, but none really appealed to me as my next upgrade. For various personal opinions (no offence)… SX4 - bulky size/lower on petrol efficiency, Verna/Cedia - look outdated, Fiesta - felt hardly any different from my existing Ikon, Manza/Linea - don’t want to try my luck with their service/low resale value. I also considered the top variant of Hyundai i20 and the base version of Toyota Corolla Altis. But the former fell short in comfort and later needed to stretch my budget. I also had a detailed look at Toyota Etios hatchback and sedan concepts in person at their exhibition at Pune. After all was said and done - to my mind, heart and family - ANHC made most sense.
Cons (Is Honda listening?)
I had 2 cribs about the car though:
Bang for buck: I would expect some, if not all, of the following features in the top end version for the price (10 lakh on road for Pune) it comes for: climate control, Bluetooth connectivity for cell phone, sun roof, rear disc brakes, jazzier console (e.g. even the lower segment i20 has got better digital display), rear parking sensors, illuminated keyhole/gearknob, ORVM indicators, internally extractable ORVMs, spare wheel also an alloy, dual glove box etc…
Not rough and tough:
Honda City has lesser ground clearance. To put it in perspective, here is indicative ground clearance data: City 160 mm, Linea/Santro/i10/WagonR: 165 mm, Fiesta/Ikon/Verna: 170 mm and SX4/Fusion: 190mm. Now 10mm = 1 cm difference shouldn’t really matter, but softer suspension and longer wheelbase in City reportedly makes it bit worse. Some people have complained speed breakers hitting the underbody when car is fully loaded (5 people). Personally, I have not faced any issues so far on Pune roads, but again I seldom drive with 5 people on board.
The body metal sheet is thinner in comparison to SX4/Fiesta, will easily dent I think.
Buying experience (Pune)
Pre-sale: Fortunately now we have 2 Honda dealers in Pune, so customer has some choice. We did visit both the showrooms and test drove their cars, couple of times each. I liked the attitude of Crystal sales person Anand to resolve things quickly. Secondly their showroom, workshop and warehouse being at one place (and near to my office too) was an advantage. There is no feedback on Crystal on the Internet as they are pretty new, but there is plenty of negative feedback about Deccan. I decided to go ahead with Crystal.
Sale: Advance, full payment, PRI (pre-registration inspection), PDI (pre-delivery inspection) and actual delivery was all driven through a single person, which made it very comfortable. Preferences and requests were attended to. The delivery process was impressively streamlined.
Delivery: Car was meticulously cleaned and was kept ready the earlier evening. The process of inspection, document handover, demo and pooja etc was well organized. It took only about 30 minutes, but still it was very hard for us to restrain ourselves from driving the car home. Once I was driving - I realized that my own brand new City has surpassed the expectations that I had built while driving the demo cars.
Accessories
Since I opted for the V MT version which comes fully loaded, I only had to invest in a good quality sun-film, bumper protectors and rear parking sensor. Scouted 3/4 well known shops such as Bafna, Bhandari and Carax in Pune. Went ahead with Bafna for their practical advice and expertise.
Top end Garware films called ‘Ice Cool Grand/Elite’ and ‘Llumar Air/Steel’ is what I considered after some study. (nothing against 3M or VCool, I just found Garware/Llummar easier to research). It is recommended to go for high end for the front windshield and mid-range for the rest of the glass area. VLT (Visible Light Transmitted) and HR (Heat Rejection) are the specs to watch for. However don’t just go for the highest HR number available, you might end up with a very dark film which can hamper your all around visibility in low light conditions. I could not get clarity on the mobile/GPS signal interruption Garware films create, whereas for Llumar the specs were available. Price being the same (about 12K including front windshield), I went ahead with Llumar Air 80 for front and Steel 35 for the rest. The Alabaster Silver car looks/ & feels cooler with sunfilms.
For rear parking sensor – ‘audio only’, ‘audio + distance display’ and ‘camera based’ are the 3 types available. Cost ranges from 2K to 6K. I chose one with a fancy LED display in the middle range (around 3K)
Weird bumper protectors can spoil looks of the car. To play safe, I went for the transparent ones. (0.6K)
[More tips in comments section]