Thread Starter
#1
Today is a great day as I am writing an ownership review which is going to be useful (I hope) to fellow auto enthusiastic and it’s great to share our experience helping others. Please forgive any of my mistakes as I am not a professional writer.
I own a 2000 model M800 which was pre-owned and was bought in 2002, riding her for long drives is a real pain in comfort so the new car hunt has been in the last two years and postponed because of parking constrains. I follow TAI very closely whenever a new car is launched and read the review completely. Courtesy to TAI.
MY CAR HUNT:-
My requirement was a sedan with ABS and Airbag, I don’t like tail cut cars like Honda amaze and dZire, etios is not of Toyota standard in design and quality, and sometime I wonder why Toyota not launched a proper C2 sedan then comes the next segment cars. I have made a very high upgrade from a 800(A1) to C2 segment, so I can’t comment on comfort and drivability initially but update is on the cards. Please check the thread regularly for any updates.
I started to like Honda city from the day I started to passionate about cars, the only exemption is second generation Dolphin shaped Honda city. The third generation and its front grill is what I like the most. The upgrade is on the cards and decided surely it’s a C2 sedan. My like was Skoda RAPID but put off due to its bad A.S.S, I like ECOSPORT but my mom and dad didn’t. The below are list of cars which I considered with its good and bad.
Hyundai Verna:
• Futuristic design
• Powerful Engine
• Next segment futures
• Wide service network
• Costly maintenance
• Some reported engine overhaul in even 1lakh km’s on old Verna and Accent
Though I like the design, any day I won’t trust Hyundai in long run, Hyundai is also known for high cost spares and service.
Volkswagen Vento (My brother owns):
• Solid build Quality
• Good handling and dynamics
• Below par A.S.S experience
• A board for my brothers Vento took three months to arrive at dealership
Vento is also in the list of possible contender it has almost 1 lakh off, the ageing design and any time update put me off.
Ford all new Fiesta:
• Good interior
• Voice commanding
• Very bad pricing
• I don’t like the rear look
Refreshed fiesta has been announced 7 days before I made the payment in excellent pricing. But I already made my mind towards CITY. If launched earlier it would be a very strong contender.
Skoda Rapid:
• Very good looking for my eyes (personal choice)
• Projector headlamps
• Solid build
• Brand reputation (luxury brand)
• Worst A.S.S (reported by many)
Once when I went to enquire for price and offers, they said I can buy only from the dealer who near to my district and not based on my convenience.
Honda city is always in my list but no diesel and low ground clearance is a concern, then there is a news flow of no new booking for the current 3rd generation Honda CITY. This confirms the launch of next generation city and the car was unveiled one month before the launch with the specs. Some of the initial disappointments with the launch are:
• Ugly front grill
• Not much difference with previous generation (still 3rd generation looks new in design comparing with peers)
• Same diesel engine as on amaze
• Everything loaded V variant crosses 10L mark in Chennai (15% road tax above 10L)
Despite of the other entire disappointments Honda badge, new launch (no design change till 5 years), trouble free ownership (said by fellow owners) made me to get Honda city SV MT white i-dtec. I keep the vehicle for at least 5+ years, so A.S.S is very important to me.
DEALERSHIP EXPERIENCE:-
3rd Feb 2014 is the day I made my booking with Capital Honda, Trichy initially VX MT with the person named VIVEK as my SC(Sales Consultant). I will rate the dealership experience as Average (During booking) to Worst (during follow up for delivery) to Bad (during payment and delivery) in three stages. In no time it was good.
During my booking he assured me delivery before April 1 in VX MT and changed my booking to SV MT on Feb 20. So I have not asked any question till march 10 then I started calling and getting the reply still no update on allocation until April 1. Then there was a marginal price hike of Rs.4900 from April 2 days gone, around May first week I got a call stating you will get the car in last week of May or first week of June then again there was all kinds of drama and not got the vehicle with two assured time got lapsed then came June, as I already know Honda will update with months allocation on 2nd of every month, on 5th of June I was informed shipment was started will reach in 7 days with maximum of 10 days. So I called on 12th, 13th with every call postponed to next day finally on 14th SC said the vehicle was invoiced and shipment started, to peak my irritation (worst people to my knowledge to deal with) then every time I call will get the reply stating vehicle has crossed here, there and some time no update on the system finally calling on 21/07/2014 saying I am coming to make the payment on Monday (23/07/2014) SC said vehicle will reach on morning or at least in evening, but nothing happened as promised I was at the showroom on Monday at 9.30AM to see the vehicle then the usual lie started again saying truck is in Trichy region but truck axle may be cut and usual blah! blah! so then called on Tuesday getting the same reply of truck not reached so Tuesday has passed, then when I called on Wednesday my call has gone unattended (what will be in your mind when you are dreaming about getting a car for you) so then after trying 3 or more times I called the showroom number directly to enquire then I got the reply from another person saying vehicle was in Bangalore(my SC may be the most lying person in the world according to me) today so it will reach on tomorrow evening or the next day morning (Friday), so disconnected the call with deep disappointment![[shock]](https://www.theautomotiveindia.com/forums/images/smilies/Shock.gif "Shock [shock]")
. The day has finally arrived and I got the call from my SC saying vehicle has reached the stockyard, so said I will be there tomorrow to make the payment. After seeing the vehicle I made my payment.
Some of my worst experiences are:
• If my SC is on leave, he don’t even attend the call to answer I am unable for the day.![[angry]](https://www.theautomotiveindia.com/forums/images/smilies/Rage.gif "Rage [angry]")
• At once when I need a quotation I need to follow them for 5 days.
• If I ask any information and getting informed will update in afternoon or evening then no calls will be attended for the remaining part of day.
• Insisting for payment while the vehicle in transit.
Some of my observations are:
• They continuously insist for payment saying vehicle may be allocated to someone but don’t pay until you see the vehicle, because you will have a tough time chasing them after payment.
• SA’s are born to speak lie don’t trust their words; better get the contact number of sales manager during booking.
• SA’s always try to make you feel happy by wrong commitments on delivery dates better not to dream anything of their commitments.
• Get an alternate number to contact in case your SA not available.
• Nothing works on phone do visit often and speak to the sales manager directly.
The only good thing in the whole process is 50%ncb added to my insurance (thanks to venkatesan in insurance arm of dealer)
My loan was with Axis Bank with 10.5 % (fixed 4 years) interest rate. The cost details are below
Ex-showroom: 966900/-
Insurance: 14800/-(50%NCB)
Temp. Registration: 7500/-(actual charge is only 2300/- only in India we are paying bribe to do the regular duty)
Extended warranty: 11800/-
Road tax: 1, 00,000/-
So total 1101000/- without scuff plates, parking sensors, body cover for Rs. 7770/-. Got some discount on accessories thanks to sales manager.
The hassle is not ended upon sale; the delivery process is not satisfactory not even at par. My SA committed on Monday (7/7/2014) and gone to Chennai for Mobilio training and asked me to contact Mr. Christy Raj (but not provided any contact number of him even after reminding 3 to 4 times). As I am going to the showroom from Chidambaram (approx. 200km) I asked him to make everything ready, but nothing done after reaching Trichy railway station I called the dealers reception, to my utter shock the person whom I was directed to contact said he was not aware of anything of delivery. After speaking to the Sales Manager, I have got formal delivery on 7/7/2014 and final on 8/7/2014. Another SC Kirubakaran made some efforts to complete RTO process on 7/7/2014 but unsuccessful (thanks to him). I have spent two full days in showroom to get the car.
I hope at least the service experience will not bother me and looking forward to erase the worries created by the sales team from the happiness given by my beauty white cheetah.
THE INITIAL IMPRESSION:-
Under the hood:-
• The 1.5 litre i-dtec is definitely not up to the competition (vento is torque king and verna is power king), but this machine is definitely made for mileage.
• In C2 segment CITY definitely deserves 1.6 i-dtec doing duty in Europe. At 100km/h in 6th gear rpm however, around 2000. You can hear engine noise with rising rpm.
• There is little feel of turbo lag, which is nice for a diesel engine (may be less turbo lag because of low power).
• You can drive the vehicle without using clutch in 2nd gear even at 10km/h (engine knocking is very low) car automatically pulls madly even without touching accelerator (I have experienced this in 2nd and 3rd gear not tried in higher one).
• I usually change gears whenever rpm reaches 1500rpm.
Comfort and Convenience:-
• Seats are superbly comfortable and it is benchmark for other cars in the segment my dad loves the back seat more.
• The Electronic power steering is very light to use and weighs up as the speed picks up.
• Automatic climate control is easier to use with touch controls (but you should take off your eyes from road).
• Display shows outside temperature, varying mileage respect to driving, contains two trip meters and km range depending on your previous mileage.
• Cruise control is breeze to use in highways and surely relieves some pain on your right leg, higher mileage benefit on using cruise control on highways with flat road.
• There is no major complaint on the audio, but surely misses the tweeter (missing chill sound), I always prefer light music than heavy.
• AC is quite effective, but needs more time when parked under direct sun.
Some major and minor niggles:-
• The headlights have very short throw and need an upgrade, but don’t want 100W.
• Steering has only tilt adjustment and no telescopic adjustment.
• No Variable Geometric Turbo.
• No flip key till V variant with no opening of boot from remote control (even fiesta classic has boot opening button).
• Mic is placed on HU creates a minor problem in transmitting voice (you would get a complaint of not hearing properly) I think there is air flow from front blower deviates sound.
• No cooled glow box and sun glass holder.
• No map lights![[confused]](https://www.theautomotiveindia.com/forums/images/smilies/Confused.gif "Confused [confused]")
up to SV variant (don’t know how much it is going to cost Honda) even my M800 has this.
• No 60:40 split seats or folding of Back seats.
• Hard suspension makes us feel even small potholes and inflations (may be tuned for better Highway manners).
• No alert for locking and unlocking, we also need some alarm when someone tries to sneak into our beauty.
• Sometime only one horn works (already reported to dealership) will insist on replacement, some of the fellow owners already got it replaced under warranty on continuous occurrence.
• No leather on steering and gear lever apart from VX variant.
• Build and paint quality surely not VW, Honda reduced weight to score on fuel efficiency.
• No fog lamps on SV variant (dZire has fog in all variants except base).
• No mute or pause button for stereo.
• Shockingly door pad moves whenever you ups or down the window.
• Shockingly car changes its direction a bit by blowing winds, you should alter the direction by steering adjustment.
• Honda sales team is completely pathetic they show take or leave attitude.
• The Last you can’t expect the same quality you enjoyed from previous generation city.
If at any time I have made you boring please forgive me and any suggestions on accessories or anything are welcome. I may have missed some information, but available to answer any of your queries with my limited knowledge.
I own a 2000 model M800 which was pre-owned and was bought in 2002, riding her for long drives is a real pain in comfort so the new car hunt has been in the last two years and postponed because of parking constrains. I follow TAI very closely whenever a new car is launched and read the review completely. Courtesy to TAI.
MY CAR HUNT:-
My requirement was a sedan with ABS and Airbag, I don’t like tail cut cars like Honda amaze and dZire, etios is not of Toyota standard in design and quality, and sometime I wonder why Toyota not launched a proper C2 sedan then comes the next segment cars. I have made a very high upgrade from a 800(A1) to C2 segment, so I can’t comment on comfort and drivability initially but update is on the cards. Please check the thread regularly for any updates.
I started to like Honda city from the day I started to passionate about cars, the only exemption is second generation Dolphin shaped Honda city. The third generation and its front grill is what I like the most. The upgrade is on the cards and decided surely it’s a C2 sedan. My like was Skoda RAPID but put off due to its bad A.S.S, I like ECOSPORT but my mom and dad didn’t. The below are list of cars which I considered with its good and bad.
Hyundai Verna:
• Futuristic design
• Powerful Engine
• Next segment futures
• Wide service network
• Costly maintenance
• Some reported engine overhaul in even 1lakh km’s on old Verna and Accent
Though I like the design, any day I won’t trust Hyundai in long run, Hyundai is also known for high cost spares and service.
Volkswagen Vento (My brother owns):
• Solid build Quality
• Good handling and dynamics
• Below par A.S.S experience
• A board for my brothers Vento took three months to arrive at dealership
Vento is also in the list of possible contender it has almost 1 lakh off, the ageing design and any time update put me off.
Ford all new Fiesta:
• Good interior
• Voice commanding
• Very bad pricing
• I don’t like the rear look
Refreshed fiesta has been announced 7 days before I made the payment in excellent pricing. But I already made my mind towards CITY. If launched earlier it would be a very strong contender.
Skoda Rapid:
• Very good looking for my eyes (personal choice)
• Projector headlamps
• Solid build
• Brand reputation (luxury brand)
• Worst A.S.S (reported by many)
Once when I went to enquire for price and offers, they said I can buy only from the dealer who near to my district and not based on my convenience.
Honda city is always in my list but no diesel and low ground clearance is a concern, then there is a news flow of no new booking for the current 3rd generation Honda CITY. This confirms the launch of next generation city and the car was unveiled one month before the launch with the specs. Some of the initial disappointments with the launch are:
• Ugly front grill
• Not much difference with previous generation (still 3rd generation looks new in design comparing with peers)
• Same diesel engine as on amaze
• Everything loaded V variant crosses 10L mark in Chennai (15% road tax above 10L)
Despite of the other entire disappointments Honda badge, new launch (no design change till 5 years), trouble free ownership (said by fellow owners) made me to get Honda city SV MT white i-dtec. I keep the vehicle for at least 5+ years, so A.S.S is very important to me.
DEALERSHIP EXPERIENCE:-
3rd Feb 2014 is the day I made my booking with Capital Honda, Trichy initially VX MT with the person named VIVEK as my SC(Sales Consultant). I will rate the dealership experience as Average (During booking) to Worst (during follow up for delivery) to Bad (during payment and delivery) in three stages. In no time it was good.
During my booking he assured me delivery before April 1 in VX MT and changed my booking to SV MT on Feb 20. So I have not asked any question till march 10 then I started calling and getting the reply still no update on allocation until April 1. Then there was a marginal price hike of Rs.4900 from April 2 days gone, around May first week I got a call stating you will get the car in last week of May or first week of June then again there was all kinds of drama and not got the vehicle with two assured time got lapsed then came June, as I already know Honda will update with months allocation on 2nd of every month, on 5th of June I was informed shipment was started will reach in 7 days with maximum of 10 days. So I called on 12th, 13th with every call postponed to next day finally on 14th SC said the vehicle was invoiced and shipment started, to peak my irritation (worst people to my knowledge to deal with) then every time I call will get the reply stating vehicle has crossed here, there and some time no update on the system finally calling on 21/07/2014 saying I am coming to make the payment on Monday (23/07/2014) SC said vehicle will reach on morning or at least in evening, but nothing happened as promised I was at the showroom on Monday at 9.30AM to see the vehicle then the usual lie started again saying truck is in Trichy region but truck axle may be cut and usual blah! blah! so then called on Tuesday getting the same reply of truck not reached so Tuesday has passed, then when I called on Wednesday my call has gone unattended (what will be in your mind when you are dreaming about getting a car for you) so then after trying 3 or more times I called the showroom number directly to enquire then I got the reply from another person saying vehicle was in Bangalore(my SC may be the most lying person in the world according to me) today so it will reach on tomorrow evening or the next day morning (Friday), so disconnected the call with deep disappointment
. The day has finally arrived and I got the call from my SC saying vehicle has reached the stockyard, so said I will be there tomorrow to make the payment. After seeing the vehicle I made my payment.Some of my worst experiences are:
• If my SC is on leave, he don’t even attend the call to answer I am unable for the day.
• At once when I need a quotation I need to follow them for 5 days.
• If I ask any information and getting informed will update in afternoon or evening then no calls will be attended for the remaining part of day.
• Insisting for payment while the vehicle in transit.
Some of my observations are:
• They continuously insist for payment saying vehicle may be allocated to someone but don’t pay until you see the vehicle, because you will have a tough time chasing them after payment.
• SA’s are born to speak lie don’t trust their words; better get the contact number of sales manager during booking.
• SA’s always try to make you feel happy by wrong commitments on delivery dates better not to dream anything of their commitments.
• Get an alternate number to contact in case your SA not available.
• Nothing works on phone do visit often and speak to the sales manager directly.
The only good thing in the whole process is 50%ncb added to my insurance (thanks to venkatesan in insurance arm of dealer)
My loan was with Axis Bank with 10.5 % (fixed 4 years) interest rate. The cost details are below
Ex-showroom: 966900/-
Insurance: 14800/-(50%NCB)
Temp. Registration: 7500/-(actual charge is only 2300/- only in India we are paying bribe to do the regular duty)
Extended warranty: 11800/-
Road tax: 1, 00,000/-
So total 1101000/- without scuff plates, parking sensors, body cover for Rs. 7770/-. Got some discount on accessories thanks to sales manager.
The hassle is not ended upon sale; the delivery process is not satisfactory not even at par. My SA committed on Monday (7/7/2014) and gone to Chennai for Mobilio training and asked me to contact Mr. Christy Raj (but not provided any contact number of him even after reminding 3 to 4 times). As I am going to the showroom from Chidambaram (approx. 200km) I asked him to make everything ready, but nothing done after reaching Trichy railway station I called the dealers reception, to my utter shock the person whom I was directed to contact said he was not aware of anything of delivery. After speaking to the Sales Manager, I have got formal delivery on 7/7/2014 and final on 8/7/2014. Another SC Kirubakaran made some efforts to complete RTO process on 7/7/2014 but unsuccessful (thanks to him). I have spent two full days in showroom to get the car.
I hope at least the service experience will not bother me and looking forward to erase the worries created by the sales team from the happiness given by my beauty white cheetah.
THE INITIAL IMPRESSION:-
Under the hood:-
• The 1.5 litre i-dtec is definitely not up to the competition (vento is torque king and verna is power king), but this machine is definitely made for mileage.
• In C2 segment CITY definitely deserves 1.6 i-dtec doing duty in Europe. At 100km/h in 6th gear rpm however, around 2000. You can hear engine noise with rising rpm.
• There is little feel of turbo lag, which is nice for a diesel engine (may be less turbo lag because of low power).
• You can drive the vehicle without using clutch in 2nd gear even at 10km/h (engine knocking is very low) car automatically pulls madly even without touching accelerator (I have experienced this in 2nd and 3rd gear not tried in higher one).
• I usually change gears whenever rpm reaches 1500rpm.
Comfort and Convenience:-
• Seats are superbly comfortable and it is benchmark for other cars in the segment my dad loves the back seat more.
• The Electronic power steering is very light to use and weighs up as the speed picks up.
• Automatic climate control is easier to use with touch controls (but you should take off your eyes from road).
• Display shows outside temperature, varying mileage respect to driving, contains two trip meters and km range depending on your previous mileage.
• Cruise control is breeze to use in highways and surely relieves some pain on your right leg, higher mileage benefit on using cruise control on highways with flat road.
• There is no major complaint on the audio, but surely misses the tweeter (missing chill sound), I always prefer light music than heavy.
• AC is quite effective, but needs more time when parked under direct sun.
Some major and minor niggles:-
• The headlights have very short throw and need an upgrade, but don’t want 100W.
• Steering has only tilt adjustment and no telescopic adjustment.
• No Variable Geometric Turbo.
• No flip key till V variant with no opening of boot from remote control (even fiesta classic has boot opening button).
• Mic is placed on HU creates a minor problem in transmitting voice (you would get a complaint of not hearing properly) I think there is air flow from front blower deviates sound.
• No cooled glow box and sun glass holder.
• No map lights
up to SV variant (don’t know how much it is going to cost Honda) even my M800 has this.• No 60:40 split seats or folding of Back seats.
• Hard suspension makes us feel even small potholes and inflations (may be tuned for better Highway manners).
• No alert for locking and unlocking, we also need some alarm when someone tries to sneak into our beauty.
• Sometime only one horn works (already reported to dealership) will insist on replacement, some of the fellow owners already got it replaced under warranty on continuous occurrence.
• No leather on steering and gear lever apart from VX variant.
• Build and paint quality surely not VW, Honda reduced weight to score on fuel efficiency.
• No fog lamps on SV variant (dZire has fog in all variants except base).
• No mute or pause button for stereo.
• Shockingly door pad moves whenever you ups or down the window.
• Shockingly car changes its direction a bit by blowing winds, you should alter the direction by steering adjustment.
• Honda sales team is completely pathetic they show take or leave attitude.
• The Last you can’t expect the same quality you enjoyed from previous generation city.
If at any time I have made you boring please forgive me and any suggestions on accessories or anything are welcome. I may have missed some information, but available to answer any of your queries with my limited knowledge.
Last edited:
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