My New Honda City in White - The Albus

[vtecfan]

Thank you Dr and Cracing for your detailed replies. I"ll get some of the recommended products for maintaining the car. I checked with few detailers in Chennai (Carspark in OMR to be the prominent one) to restore the headlights. Night drive is very difficult. Upgrading the lights to Philips XV+ is an option, but the outside kit itself isn't good.

The detailers to whom I showed, had said its not possible to restore from outside as the fogginess formed is in inside. I may have to fully replace the kit. Now my question is,

1. Do you recommend taking that kit and cleaning it inside? I heard doing this can let the rain water and dust in, causing issues.
2. Or replace the kit?

In case of replacement, do you recommend any products online or any stores where i can buy and let them replace it, in Chennai? In both the cases, i"ll be upgrading to Philips XV+ to ensure better lighting.

 

[CRACING]

Hello @vtecfan,

Can you share some pictures of the headlights. Do you really think fogginess is the actual cause for low light? I'm asking this because headlights in Honda City isn't good for night driving. Let alone 55w bulbs, most of owners have even tried 90/100w but still wasn't enough or headlight degraded. May be it has to do with the headlight and its reflector design. So I think Philips XV+ won't make much difference.

Unlike taillight, headlight glass can be removed and resealed by heating. You can get this done in car shops who does projector installations. White colgate paste works wonders in cleaning inside and outside glass. Once the headlight is crystal clean, use the same stock bulb and see if you are ok with night driving. Otherwise switching to projectors is the best option.

Thanks...
Best Regards

 

[kuwaronline]

Another thing is about Tire, which is a Sad story in the start of New year..
While roaming around in the Mumbai on last late evening of 2016 car hit on pothole which is almost invisible..
The impact is moderate.. Neither huge nor small.. I have continue to drive as no abnormal thing noticed in drive-ability after impact..

Next day in day light I have seen...

View attachment 218021 ​

New years gift with huge bulge on tire which got hit... When i saw the size of bulge I feel like how tire got survived from the impact??​

When I was coming from Delhi to Mumbai via NH3, I hit pothole around speed of 100kmph with car loaded to max limit(5 people plus full load of luggage). I thought I broke alloy wheel, that kind of noise I heard, when I pulled over to check I saw small(smaller than yours) side bulge on my front left tyre, drove slowly till Mumbai (around 250km) and changed it. Getting bulge at that high speed with load was normal but getting this much(as shown in pic) at lower speed/load is it really expected?

I have MRF tyres, they are noisy but good enough. I will change them after another 10k km or so and was thinking about Michelin. Let me know if I m making good decision :)

 

[vtecfan]

Hello @vtecfan,

Can you share some pictures of the headlights. Do you really think fogginess is the actual cause for low light? I'm asking this because headlights in Honda City isn't good for night driving. Let alone 55w bulbs, most of owners have even tried 90/100w but still wasn't enough or headlight degraded. May be it has to do with the headlight and its reflector design. So I think Philips XV+ won't make much difference.

Unlike taillight, headlight glass can be removed and resealed by heating. You can get this done in car shops who does projector installations. White colgate paste works wonders in cleaning inside and outside glass. Once the headlight is crystal clean, use the same stock bulb and see if you are ok with night driving. Otherwise switching to projectors is the best option.

Thanks...
Best Regards

Thank you Cracing for the answer. I"ll take a closer pic and post. Or look if i've any pic that shows it well and i'll add it.

Btw, what do you think about this set for parking lights and dashboard light?

 

[Dr MUDHAN]

Dear Senthil Ramesh (@vtecfan)

1. Please try as CRACING suggested, If still irreversible

2. Go for head light assembly replacement. Buy from reputed shops like Mahavir Auto Distributors, Chennai as it will work out cheaper than @ Dealer

3. If you don’t mind, have a check at PUDUPET , you may get second hand good condition head light assembly ( from whom replaced with complete projector set)

All the best.
Regards
Dr MUDHAN

 

[vaibhavdb]

Hi Nitesh,

Definitely you can go ahead with he car.Mileage is also very low. But visit Honda service centre and get the car checked from them and also verify detailed service history.

I Think 3.6 lakhs is very good deal.
Consider the other expenses like flushing all fluids, tyre and battery change, if they are not changed recently.

 

[nitesh171085]

Thanks a ton Vaibhav. Just bought the car yesterday. Deal was as follows

2009 Honda City SAT
37000Kms run
3.75Lacs including transfers
Last serviced at 35K Kms and looks pristine.

Exchanged my 2011 Vento Trendline 76K Kms run and got 2.75L. So net paid 1L.

Drove 50Kms and I'm very happy with what I have got.

Mileage on MID with light traffic shown 11KMPL let me know if this is perfect.

Overall happy my aging old horse got replaced and got a pristine 40K Kms less run city :) . Now only seat covers need a change. Thanks for your guidance. Pics below.

Hi Nitesh,

Definitely you can go ahead with he car.Mileage is also very low. But visit Honda service centre and get the car checked from them and also verify detailed service history.

I Think 3.6 lakhs is very good deal.
Consider the other expenses like flushing all fluids, tyre and battery change, if they are not changed recently.

 

[vtecfan]

Dear Cracing and Mudhan sir,
Please find some pics.

 

[HaruH]

Dear Cracing and Mudhan sir,
Please find some pics.

Hi.. Condition seems fine, I don't think you need to replace the headlamps. Just try with some good detailing shop or some YouTube tricks..
Also Philips XV+ can improve lights marginal, don't expect any magic from them. If you travel excessively in night then I would suggest to go with good Projector setup.. You can go ahead with company like xenonplanet. Set up will cost you approx 25k. You can check there sites for results.


@nitesh171085, Cars looks good.. Congratulations on your purchase.


@kuwaronline, As Michelin are soft compound tires so it's possible this size of bulge..
For tire choice if you want silent & comfortable drive then go for Michelin else other brands are ok..

 

[vtecfan]

Thank you HaruH. For now. I'm going to upgrade to xv+ lights and do some detailing. Any thoughts on this lights bro for interior and parking lights?

Interior

Same for boot as well?

Parking

 

[CRACING]

@vtecfan

Headlight front element doesn't look so bad to me. My car taillight had similar fogginess inside and since the front element is none-removable, what I did was: Removed the assembly from the car and filled the taillight with shampoo solution through the bulb holes and rinsed the assembly (by shaking it several times). Rinsed again with clean water and then removed all the water and let it dry for 2 days. This way I could clean the front element perfectly, even got rid of fungus buildup. If you are familiar with DIY then you may try this but removing headlight is little difficult because the bumper has to be removed first.

As of LED bulbs, I suggest you to look for 5050, 5630 or 5730 SMD bulbs (It is the size of each SMD). Be it any type of holder or connector. I have bought several led bulbs and these don't give up yet (T10 9x5050 and Festoon 6x5050 bought in Sept 2013 are still working!). 2825 and 3528 SMDs didn't last long and they are tiny SMDs so I wouldn't recommend them but still if you want one, get more quantities. Also don't go for canbus leds because they get too hot and burn quickly. For boot light and interior light, use panel SMD instead of Festoon to get plenty of light. Check the inside size of the holder and buy a panel that can fit.

Same goes for all other light assemblies, check the inside size and make sure the one you buy fits. This post may help you and also look into my posts in this thread to find more info about different LED bulbs.

 

[vtecfan]

Thank you Cracing. I dont see myself doing bumper removal and headlight cleaning guy. So, if I find someone who can do it, will let them do. With regards to LEDs, I"ll move slowly on this, as I dont find them much of an need but rather want. So will keep looking for things and settle on one.

For now, this is what I am going to do to prepare for the highway trip I am taking during Pongal/Republic day holidays.

1. Upgrade lights to XV+
2. Wash headlamp kit (if possible)
3. Upgrade tyres to 195/60 (tyre store doesn't recommend 195/65R15). He also prefers me to take Continental MC5 over 3ST. Any thoughts?
4. Filled AC and Changed filter already
5. Add the suspension spacers to increase GC a bit more. Actually the tyre guy said , add spacers plus 195/60R15 rather than going for 195/65. I am still thinking about it.
6. Will do an all round inspection and change anything needed in a neighbourship garage.

This is going to by my first ever highway trip in my first vehicle. So planning things as much as possible.

 

[CRACING]

3. Upgrade tyres to 195/60 (tyre store doesn't recommend 195/65R15). He also prefers me to take Continental MC5 over 3ST. Any thoughts?

Selecting tyres is not a easy task and lot of research needs to be done before buying. Some of our follow members have taken months to decide. So I suggest you to read this thread and also ask your query there. Tornado has good knowledge about tyres and he will definitely help you.

5. Add the suspension spacers to increase GC a bit more. Actually the tyre guy said , add spacers plus 195/60R15 rather than going for 195/65. I am still thinking about it.

I'm not sure but have read that spacers are fine if driving around city but not recommended for highway trips and high speed driving. May be there is a risk. So research about it in different forums.

 

[vtecfan]

Hello @Cracing,
I've asked my question in the thread you referred . Expecting Tornado's response. But meanwhile, I read your conversations with TSIVpul and Mudhan sir regarding tyre upsizing but even after couple of pages I was not able to find what you and Dr settled on. Did you upgrade to 195/65 3ST or ER300 with 5.5j rims? Or did you go with other options?

Can you tell me your feedback on your chosen tyres? Thanks in advance.

If you go for CREE LED, this one is inexpensive and must be brighter.
Still better choice:
https://www.aliexpress.com/item/Car...id=41ff67fc-fe42-4928-9fca-7cfeefc3b04c&tpp=1

Mudhan sir, just to confirm, this fits ANHC 2009 model?I am planning to get this one.

 

[Dr MUDHAN]

Mudhan sir, just to confirm, this fits ANHC 2009 model?I am planning to get this one.

Please read pages 99/100 here to know the details about the tyres which CRACING fitted in his car. I am still having the OE GOODYEAR ones.

Yes, the fog bulb H11 suits ANHC 2009 model. Please read pages 37/39/51.