Well it was 1yr worth of reviews and planning which brought fruits is what I could say, honda city was recommended by everyone everywhere, but still coffee table discussions for abt a year made me sure that this was the only choice in this segment - ie sedan- the other competitors were maruthi sx4, ford fiesta, hyundai accent or verna with my budget of 9lakhs.
All the reviews most from MS and others from auto mobile sites meant that - ford had wear and tear issues along with appaling service centers in chennai or mumbai or elsewhere in da world, hyundai was good in all respects except that nobody wanted to vouch for the car after 5 yrs, maruthi gave me a very bad feeling when in a tv show review(in fact first review) the cabin lite had a short circuit problem( typically maruthi issue - chaltha hai attitude).
The cons I found with city were before buying were - power(77bhp on the idsi engine), no extra safety features(abs, airbags).
One horrible problem with looks is the backside ( pardon the expression
;-) ) the boot is not designed in a contemporaneity manner but gives a
feeling of seventies- om shanti om type stuff. even though I knew this
i didnt have much of an option my budget does not cover a civic.
I waited around till they announced abs and airbags(wanted to c if they introduce it on gxi ) when they said it was not even available in vtec and I had to go for vtec +, I had to decide on gxi(for beige interiors).
Half the points were taken in delivery itself (very satisfying) , then the drive was just too good , very smooth power steering - great for U turns on busy roads, most other similar segment cars have to back up a bit or cut wider. Very good suspension in pot holed roads. great cabin noise isolation u could hardly hear outside noise(proved by my jus born nephew who loves to sleep in da car through busy city traffic) and great ride quality.
I am disappointed with the AC though , very lite, this is December and madras(chennai) is supposed to get really hot in the summer I dont know what im going to do then. Also I dont have sun control so may be an issue there.
Another point of problem was no aux jack on the alpine stereo that comes along with car. But the sound quality is excellent.
I have been unable to really push the car and feel the lack of power in city conditions. But most of the ppl who drove it- my frnds and bro in law say its just a dream to drive a honda and I can feel the power of dreams as well ;-)