Honda City Diesel Review - Vasantha Ashtra – Golden Brown

[gandhi]

Re: Vasantha Ashtra – Honda City i-Dtec 2014 – Golden Brown

Its good to see your car back in shape Gandhiji. Now a couple of questions again:

1) How is the finishing? Is it again looking the way it was or slight panel gaps are left?
2) Why is the front bumper replaced?
3) Any more squeaks or rattles?

BTW I'd advice you to take an empty road and drive with your window open and try out some sudden acceleration, braking, hard steering inputs etc at the speeds of 30-40 kph and maybe you will find some more issues.

I think the finishing is good. It is looking the same way. I don't see major panel gaps. I changed the front bumpers because of scratch and damaged for length of 1inch on left side. So I made up the story to insurance for replacement.

I had to take test as you said.

Glad to see your beloved is back all healthy.
Aren't those painting charges a little on the higher side?

Yeah, I too felt the painting charges were on higher side. I'm not having other experience to comment on how much should be for the painting.

 

[AshBabu]

Re: Vasantha Ashtra – Honda City i-Dtec 2014 – Golden Brown

Good to see Ashtra spic and fine again Gandhi.

On picture it seems fine like original. Though we spend more money with dealers to do repair, but ultimate satisfaction is to get back the same look and feel.

Of course here the insurance took care of major part of payment, which is the best thing with B2B insurances

 

[Aniruthan]

Re: Vasantha Ashtra – Honda City i-Dtec 2014 – Golden Brown

Hey man, Guess I'm joining the party very late. But as you say "It is always better to be Mr.Late than Late Mr.". Anyways that's a very nice and crisp review by you. A big congratulations for your car. By the way how do you find the diesel's pulling in the highway? And how much range does your car give with the small 40L tank (I personally feel that's a minus point, Honda providing a small fuel tank). I have driven a City I-Dtec before on two lane roads. The roads were empty so I touched a speed of 110. Was impressed though what I personally feel is the car could have a bit more top end grunt. Engine revs only till 4250 rpm where as a Vento spins hard till 5500 rpm. Anyways waiting for more of your experiences and pictures and once again Congrats for your new buy.

 

[gandhi]

Re: Vasantha Ashtra – Honda City i-Dtec 2014 – Golden Brown

Hey man, Guess I'm joining the party very late. But as you say "It is always better to be Mr.Late than Late Mr.". Anyways that's a very nice and crisp review by you. A big congratulations for your car. By the way how do you find the diesel's pulling in the highway? And how much range does your car give with the small 40L tank (I personally feel that's a minus point, Honda providing a small fuel tank). I have driven a City I-Dtec before on two lane roads. The roads were empty so I touched a speed of 110. Was impressed though what I personally feel is the car could have a bit more top end grunt. Engine revs only till 4250 rpm where as a Vento spins hard till 5500 rpm. Anyways waiting for more of your experiences and pictures and once again Congrats for your new buy.

Thanks Anirudh.

I did couple of Highway drives with free roads and fast moving traffic ( Chengalpet to Tambaram). Nowhere I felt, it lacks the power for 1.5Ltr engine. The response was linear, slight turbo lag till 1500 rpm but not much evident. I did till 120 KMPH, No issues.

Ani, It is a Honda i-dtec which claims the 26KMPL for 1.5 Ltr engine as of now no engine gives this mileage. IMO, 40 Ltr is sufficient. I drive Hyderabad to Pondicherry with tank full. I will re-fuel my tank when I reach Chennai. It covers almost 600KMs without a stop for fuel. May be an issue incase of Petrol.

I drive sedately. I'm happy with current RPM it revs the Honda i-dtecs gives.

 

[Aniruthan]

Re: Vasantha Ashtra – Honda City i-Dtec 2014 – Golden Brown

Thanks Anirudh.

I did couple of Highway drives with free roads and fast moving traffic ( Chengalpet to Tambaram). Nowhere I felt, it lacks the power for 1.5Ltr engine. The response was linear, slight turbo lag till 1500 rpm but not much evident. I did till 120 KMPH, No issues.

Ani, It is a Honda i-dtec which claims the 26KMPL for 1.5 Ltr engine as of now no engine gives this mileage. IMO, 40 Ltr is sufficient. I drive Hyderabad to Pondicherry with tank full. I will re-fuel my tank when I reach Chennai. It covers almost 600KMs without a stop for fuel. May be an issue incase of Petrol.

I drive sedately. I'm happy with current RPM it revs the Honda i-dtecs gives.

Well its great to hear from you buddy. Honda I-Dtec has a good low end and mid range. So in town you can easily pull away in 2nd most of the time without keeping in first. Checked this when going for the TD 2 months back because Honda dealer located in the city in Madurai. So I guess most of the time you'll be utilising the car's low end and mid range and most of the diesel owners do that. Though have you had any issues with ground clearance? My brother has a 3rd gen City i-Vtec. The last facelifted model in third gen. So when he has to park his car in the garage it gets a big thud if we are not a careful as it is a ramp and the ramp first starts gently and then steep. So slowly his Engine guard became loose and gave up (Engine guard is rubber so it tore itself). Are you having any issues up here?

 

[gandhi]

Re: Vasantha Ashtra – Honda City i-Dtec 2014 – Golden Brown

Well its great to hear from you buddy. Honda I-Dtec has a good low end and mid range. So in town you can easily pull away in 2nd most of the time without keeping in first. Checked this when going for the TD 2 months back because Honda dealer located in the city in Madurai. So I guess most of the time you'll be utilising the car's low end and mid range and most of the diesel owners do that. Though have you had any issues with ground clearance? My brother has a 3rd gen City i-Vtec. The last facelifted model in third gen. So when he has to park his car in the garage it gets a big thud if we are not a careful as it is a ramp and the ramp first starts gently and then steep. So slowly his Engine guard became loose and gave up (Engine guard is rubber so it tore itself). Are you having any issues up here?

Yep. As you said most of the time I use Low & mid range torque of i-Dtec Earth dreams. No ground clearance issues at all. But Honda compromised on suspension to avoid GC issue. I hope [thinking] most of the engine guard is thick plastic.

 

[Aniruthan]

Re: Vasantha Ashtra – Honda City i-Dtec 2014 – Golden Brown

Yep. As you said most of the time I use Low & mid range torque of i-Dtec Earth dreams. No ground clearance issues at all. But Honda compromised on suspension to avoid GC issue. I hope [thinking] most of the engine guard is thick plastic.

I am not sure about the fourth generation City's engine guard. If you send your car for a service and have some time to spare, please get your city ramped up and please do keep give us information on whether the engine guard is plastic or rubber as the third generation City had a quiet thick rubber guard. Well coming to one of the major minus point of the City that is the tyres. Do you feel the skinny size is adequate or any plans of upgrading them to a bigger size. Most of the City owners change their tyres immediately after buying the car. What's your view on this?

 

[gandhi]

Re: Vasantha Ashtra – Honda City i-Dtec 2014 – Golden Brown

I am not sure about the fourth generation City's engine guard. If you send your car for a service and have some time to spare, please get your city ramped up and please do keep give us information on whether the engine guard is plastic or rubber as the third generation City had a quiet thick rubber guard. Well coming to one of the major minus point of the City that is the tyres. Do you feel the skinny size is adequate or any plans of upgrading them to a bigger size. Most of the City owners change their tyres immediately after buying the car. What's your view on this?

During the service I will take pic and update you.

I also don't like the skinny tyres. I got Bridgestone as Stock tyre. So I'm not interested to upgrade now which I explained earlier in my ownership review. Quoteing from the review.

I received the Bridgestone tyres as stock tyres. I was too much worried to get MRF & Goodyear about the noise and rolling resistance. I approached Michelin in Pondicherry to replace the tyres on buy back basis. But Michelin dealer don’t take it on buy back basis. I have not got enough time to do check in Pondicherry.
Dealers were not support for tyre upgrades both in Pondicherry & Hyderabad. I may have warranty issues in future if I replace the tyres. As a beginner I don’t want to take risk now. So I decided to continue with Bridgestone tyres. Bridgestone is rated 2nd best tyre to use as per the below thread. Car Tyre Brands and Reviews.

 

[TSIVipul]

Re: Vasantha Ashtra – Honda City i-Dtec 2014 – Golden Brown

I think the finishing is good. It is looking the same way. I don't see major panel gaps. I changed the front bumpers because of scratch and damaged for length of 1inch on left side. So I made up the story to insurance for replacement.

Haha, that's what we call a paisa wasool usage of insurance.
BTW, basically a zero dep insurance is more useful for dealerships as they present highly inflated bills to the insurance company and earn a couple of thousands on the repairs. That's the basic reason behind the 'high-on-paper' repair costs of your car.

I had to take test as you said.

Do check and please for once or twice check for any kind of water seepage into the boot. Adding to this, do check for the points where denting is done if any space for water seepage is left. This can cause issue in rainy season and may easily end up causing rusting in the dented area - very common and vulnerable points for rusting are the areas which have undergone denting work.

Yeah, I too felt the painting charges were on higher side. I'm not having other experience to comment on how much should be for the painting.

If I go by the words of Toyota guys, then the paint on my car is way expensive than the one on yours(The hell, these Toyota guys have over-priced everything), but if I get it done at my own expenses then the painting costs are lower. This is how zero dep insurance works.
After my first 'big' accident, the actual repair costs including the spares replacement was around 1.05 lac while the bill made which was paid via the insuranc was way higher.

I am not sure about the fourth generation City's engine guard. If you send your car for a service and have some time to spare, please get your city ramped up and please do keep give us information on whether the engine guard is plastic or rubber as the third generation City had a quiet thick rubber guard. Well coming to one of the major minus point of the City that is the tyres. Do you feel the skinny size is adequate or any plans of upgrading them to a bigger size. Most of the City owners change their tyres immediately after buying the car. What's your view on this?

Most of the City owners never do that. Observe any City running on the road and you will easily spot them running on skinny tyres.

Rest you can go through the following thread on tyre upsizing for Honda City:
http://www.theautomotiveindia.com/f...s/14219-my-new-honda-city-white-albus-53.html

We had an in-depth discussion on tyre upsizing for Honda City on the same thread with the owners themselves.

I also don't like the skinny tyres. I got Bridgestone as Stock tyre. So I'm not interested to upgrade now which I explained earlier in my ownership review. Quoteing from the review.

Acceleres are still better!!
But going by your driving style, I am doubtful if you need to upgrade the shoes anytime soon.

 

[gandhi]

Re: Vasantha Ashtra – Honda City i-Dtec 2014 – Golden Brown

Issues observed during Test Run:
1. Dash board rattling in Driver side near A pillar - On rough road with speed of 30KMPH.
2. Right rear door rattling (where the work executed)
3. Rear right side brake holds intermittently for some seconds ( releases after applying the brake for 2 to 3 times)
So decided to take delivery of car, and run it for few days and observe for any other issues. Then hand over it for these issues correction and 3rd Service. All the above problems will be solved with free of cost. Total time required is 3 days to diagnose and correct the issues.

Taken Ashtra to Service center to correct all the below issues. All the problems were diagnosed and corrected.

1. Dash Board rattling behind ICE (really irritating) and A pillar,
2. Right rear door rattling
3. Rear right side brake holds intermittently for some seconds ( releases after applying the brake for 2 to 3 times).

I could not to test drive because of unavailability of testing driver or manger. So I took the vehicle came to home, tested by myself. All the problems were corrected with free of cost.

 

[Aniruthan]

Re: Vasantha Ashtra – Honda City i-Dtec 2014 – Golden Brown

Taken Ashtra to Service center to correct all the below issues. All the problems were diagnosed and corrected.

1. Dash Board rattling behind ICE (really irritating) and A pillar,
2. Right rear door rattling
3. Rear right side brake holds intermittently for some seconds ( releases after applying the brake for 2 to 3 times).

I could not to test drive because of unavailability of testing driver or manger. So I took the vehicle came to home, tested by myself. All the problems were corrected with free of cost.

Rattling could have come up due to rough use I guess. Is your car regularly driven on rough roads? What was the exact problem with the brakes. This will lead to uneven tyre wear in the rear wheels. Is it due to the cable being bit rough? And did you get the engine guard checked?

 

[gandhi]

Re: Vasantha Ashtra – Honda City i-Dtec 2014 – Golden Brown

Rattling could have come up due to rough use I guess.

Yep. Rattling has come due to slight rough use at some of the ghat road trips.

Is your car regularly driven on rough roads?

Intentionally I don't drive on rough roads, but during my long journey (NH & SH) I end up with sudden potholes, uninformed speed breakers, non-scientific speed breakers. One of the main reason is running on skinny tyres which is not providing good grip while braking on the above conditions.

The road to my house has lot of pot holes which I manage, and my weekly trip to a temple which is totally no tarmark where I drive slow.

What was the exact problem with the brakes. This will lead to uneven tyre wear in the rear wheels. Is it due to the cable being bit rough? And did you get the engine guard checked?

Some sand particles were observed inside drum, which was cleaned latter in ASS. As I went very late could not get a pic of engine guard. I will get the engine guard pic during my 3rd service.

 

[VISHNUCARCRAZY]

Re: Vasantha Ashtra – Honda City i-Dtec 2014 – Golden Brown

At ASS paint cost will be higher as they do computerised painting(even though costly , vehicle will be good as new)

 

[gandhi]

Re: Vasantha Ashtra – Honda City i-Dtec 2014 – Golden Brown

From a recent trip.

 

[gandhi]

Re: Vasantha Ashtra – Honda City i-Dtec 2014 – Golden Brown

Almost it's going to be a 5 months old car and crossed the mark.



Now I have to take her to the ASS for completing the final free service.