I have been using a Santro Xing eRLX since December 2005. Santro proved to be an excellent first car. However, from mid-2010 onwards, I started feeling that I should consider upgrading to a bigger car as kids have grown up and needed more space. Also, we travel a good deal on highways(70%-75% of my total running is on highways) and I felt that safety features like Airbags & ABS are necessary.
I did a quick analysis of Petrol vs. Diesel and concluded that since my annual running is only 7500 km to 8000 km, it was not worth going for a diesel car.
Started with a budget of Rs. 7 lakhs. I was open to the idea of a bigger hatch like i20. Wife wanted a sedan with good boot space. Kids too wanted a sedan. Their argument was "Why buy a new hatch? What is wrong with our existing Santro?". Took test drive of i20 but was not happy with the low stance and seating position. Also the 1.2 litre petrol engine felt under powered and boot space was inadequate.
Made up my mind to go for a sedan. Did not like the looks of Maruti D’zire so it was out of contention. Short listed Maruti SX4, Ford Fiesta, Chevrolet Aveo, Hyundai Verna, Tata Manza and Fiat Linea. Budget had to be increased to Rs. 7.5 lakhs in order to buy a petrol sedan with safety features like Airbags/ABS(only base or middle variant without Airbags/ABS was available in Rs. 7 lakhs budget). I and my wife took test drives of all these cars. Somehow, we were not getting convinced to go for any of these cars. I had read reviews about Honda City on the net and was aware that it is a very good car but it was way beyond my budget so did not consider it as an option in 2010. Also did not take test drive of Honda City.
I was in no hurry to buy a new car as my Santro was giving me good service. Matter kept on dragging. In June 2011, Honda City price was slashed by Rs. 44000 to Rs. 66000. This was good news but I still felt the price was too high. I was expecting substantial discounts/freebies from dealer even after official price cut was announced by Honda. So I got in touch with Honda dealer in June 2011 end. Their initial offer was cash discount of Rs. 15000 which they increased to Rs. 30000 in July 2011 and subsequently to Rs. 40000. Later, I read on the net about offers on Honda City going upto Rs. 60000 to Rs. 65000 during festival season(October 2011). Then, in December 2011, I got a very good offer on Honda City S MT. Apparently, a refreshed model of Honda City was scheduled to be announced/launched on 14th December 2011 and dealer wanted to clear existing stock(2011 manufactured) before the announcement/launch. Colour choice was limited and only white colour was available which in any case was my preferred colour. As the refreshed 2012 model was rumoured to have only few cosmetic changes, I thought I was getting a good deal. Although I needed to stretch my original budget of Rs. 7 lakhs by a lakh, I went ahead and booked Honda City S MT without even taking a test drive.
It has been more than a month since I took delivery of the car and the experience so far has been wonderful. Engine is very smooth and responsive. Went on a long drive(800 km to & fro distance) recently and got a fantastic mileage of 18.5 kmpl on highway with intermittent AC. Within city, the fuel efficiency is 14 kmpl. This is as good as my Santro’s mileage. The stock music system in Honda City is very good and much better than those in the cars which I had test driven. I also like the steering mounted audio controls.
After sales service experience was good with first free service which was done recently. I also opted for Hondacare extended warranty for 2 years by paying Rs. 6200 when I visited the dealership for first free service.
Low ground clearance is a matter of concern. Although I slow down(almost come to a stop) before crossing speed breakers, my car’s bottom has scraped two speed breakers.
The recommended service interval of 5000 km / 3 months(after the third free service) for Honda City is not to my liking. Many new cars like Volkswagen Vento and Fiat Linea have service interval of 15000 km / 12 months. Even for my Santro, it is 10000 km / 6 months.
One more negative point about Honda City is that the headlights are not powerful enough to inspire confidence for night driving on highways.
However, overall, I am happy and satisfied with my new Honda City.