New Honda Brio SMT - Ownership Review

[sudeep.roy]

I am in love with the golf-shaped gear knob and wudn't wanna get it changed.

The pedal set and the gear knob looks cool on the website but I guess there's a fine line between cool quotient and tackiness which you'd understand only when you see the elements personally.

How much would all that cost you?? & is the blue band (or the blue areas) on the elements illuminated??

Boy, you sure are quick when it comes to revamping the car. By the time I get there, you'd have renamed the Brio Kidding, bro.

Yeah, I am going there to check them physically today. The Blue bands are just rubber and ain't illuminated.

SPARCO - SPC accessories cost a bomb. I think I am looking at 5K here easily. Having said that its a very reliable brand, F1 uses Sparco stuff too !!

 

[santoclauz]

Good Work Santosh, Your car has got Teeth Now!!

Investing in Security is always wise. Gear lock is a very big deterrent for the thieves and I feel is a must for any vehicle.

Does your Piranha roll up the windows automatically if we forget?? That's a feature I would like to have.

The foot mats are looking really neat. Totally worth it.
Are these the 3D mats that are in fashion now a days? And whats that thing above the mat, below the pedals in the last pic??

The automatic window roll-up feature is an add-on to the Piranha series. The same costs 1.6k extra. I didnt get it installed right away, might do so later. Just wanted to test the basic auto-cop features for a while.

The mats aint 3D. The part below the pedals has been provided for grip. Something fancy to justify the cost, eh

 

[sudeep.roy]

I also wanted to discuss the insurance and extended warranty deals with the both of you (and anyone else who'd wish to shed light). This in terms of what does the insurance actually cover (or not cover) and what is the extended warranty for? The dealer might or might not divulge all the details hence it's better to be street smart.
Also is it better to go for a zero-depreciation insurance? (which I recently got to know abt).

Zero Dep Indurance:
I can totally vouch for this. I have a friend who picked up a Brio SMT UT after a month I did. He had already booked an i10 and I successfully manipulated him to Brio. Actually he is very happy with it now.

Ok, back to the topic, this friend of mine was still learning when he got the car and I ensured that he takes a Zero DEP insurance, which even I have.
Within a week he had is left tail lamp busted along with a deep gash on the rear bumper. We asked him not to worry and just continue.. and he did.
2 weeks later, he had a deep gash on his front left fender & some marks on the Bonnet.

2 days back he got his car fixed & serviced for the first time. I was with him during the insurance claim. I even used my license to claim coz my friend still has an LL. He had to pay 1k for the insurance claim. This is the fixed default processing amount you have to pay, no matter how big or small the claim is.
Everything was replaced including the fender, lights bonnet etc with new parts for free. He got the car back in two days with a total bill of 1k for service and repairs, nothing extra. While completing the paper work for insurance claim, the service engineer confirmed that with zero dep insurance, every thing is covered, including glass, fiber, metal etc, any number of times you claim it, as long as the insurance is valid. You will pay 1k every time.
My friend was delighted, and we were pulling his leg saying " He will put the insurance company to loss"

Extended Warranty:
When people ask me this, I just exclaim, why not!!
I mean c'mon, you pay 5-6 lacs for the car and you think twice to get the warranty extended for a couple of thousand bucks??

Extended warranty as the name suggests extends your original warranty with the exact same terms and conditions for 2 additional years (No of years may vary in other brands). So in brief, the original warranty on our Brio is 2 years or 40K kms, now with extended warranty, it becomes 4 years or 80K kms which ever is early.
I hope that it never comes to use, but if anything major happens to the car engine or something say 3 years from now, I will be in peace of mind that I still have the warranty.

Honda charged me 4k, if I remember correctly for the extended warranty for 2 years, which IMHO, is totally worth it.

Also, I was reading somewhere, the extended warranty gets costlier as the car gets older, so if its 4k at the time or purchase, it might cost you more if you wanna get it few months after the purchase. Just double check on this.

I hope I was able to shed some light.

 

[itsmejohnhcl]

HI Sudeep,

How much extra does the zero-dep insurance cost you ?
Can i take it now as a ADD-ON to my existing insurance ?
Also after any minor brushes, is a police FIR required for claiming insurance ?
By God's grace nothing should happen, but good to know things.

Also extended warranty have one more benefit which you missed, any breakdown, the towing service is free and you are provided with a taxi/car to go home.

 

[sudeep.roy]

HI Sudeep,

How much extra does the zero-dep insuralnce cost you ?
Can i take it now as a ADD-ON to my existing insurance ?
Also after any minor brushes, is a police FIR required for claiming insurance ?
By God's grace nothing should happen, but good to know things.

Also extended warranty have one more benefit which you missed, any breakdown, the towing service is free and you are provided with a taxi/car to go home.

Hi John,
As far as I can remember, there was a difference of close to 3k between the two.
You will have to check with the dealership to see if you can add on. If the policy permits then shouldnot be an issue.

You Dont need an FIR to claim minor stuff. Its required only if you wanna have legal proceedings done regarding the accident case.
The feature you are talking about the breakdown assistance, is RSA. Warranty does not provide you towing or cab facility. RSA stands for, Road Side Assistance.
So not just for breakdowns, you can call for assistance even for puncture. They will come and fix it for you. If not fixable on the spot, they will tow the vehicle to the nearest service station and arrange for your drop.
I paid 4.9k for my Honda RSA.

 

[itsmejohnhcl]

Yep Sudeep,
The RSA comes as a part of extended warranty I guess, if i remember correctly what they said during delivery. May be you can take RSA separately without extended warranty

 

[sudeep.roy]

Yep Sudeep,
The RSA comes as a part of extended warranty I guess, if i remember correctly what they said during delivery. May be you can take RSA separately without extended warranty

No John, I beg to differ.
RSA Iis not a part of extended warranty. Like i said in my previous post Extended warranty is just an extension of your original warranty.
You can take RSA and/or Ex. Warranty as per your wish.
I know coz I have both and paid for both.
They cost me 8.9k (4k +4.9k) in total.

 

[itsmejohnhcl]

oh ok agreed, so may be they quoted me 8k or something for both together. Didnot knew I can purchase RSA separately. Now I know. I will get RSA, its really worth it

 

[ajithbhr]

hi guys I am new to TAI
Booked HONDA BRIO SMT and expecting the delivery on august

 

[sudeep.roy]

Congrats Ajith & welcome to TAI.

We have loads of Brio owners on board, so feel free to share thoughts / queries.
Do update us with your buying experience.Wishing you a happy stay in TAI.

 

[RR45]

HI Sudeep,

extended warranty have one more benefit which you missed, any breakdown, the towing service is free and you are provided with a taxi/car to go home.

RSA provides free towing service etc. In addition, some insurance companies (ex. ICICI Lom) also provide free towing (with an upper limit). Not sure if this comes only with zero dep though.

@sudeep.roy
How's your Brio doing mate? I see you've got yourself some upgrades (from stock) already. How about tire upgrades? Did you get MRF or Goodyear as stock?

 

[sudeep.roy]

@sudeep.roy
How's your Brio doing mate? I see you've got yourself some upgrades (from stock) already. How about tire upgrades? Did you get MRF or Goodyear as stock?

Its been a very smooth ride till now mate. No Niggles at all.
Stock tyres are Goodyear. Upgrades are on cards, but planning to do it along with some nice alloys, not immediate though, as I really haven't felt the need. The car handles really well with the 175.
Today I changed my stock gear knob & pedals to Sparco.
Pics coming soon. Cheers.

 

[nitin_k]

your thread has been quite an inspiration for me to go for the brio. Also Honda guys are marketing brio quite aggressively and the offers by them made my purchase more pleasurable.

i booked SMT rally red on 27th and would get delivery on 31st. Also the pics you posted for the accessories are quite helpful.

I would love if you could message me the shop where u got the hand rest since its high on my priority list after seeing your picture.

Ur thots on the factory fitted headlights!!!! I am thinking of getting fog lights installed from the dealer itself since driving in dark/winters always has been painful for me and less said about delhi roads the better.

I need to visit the dealer today and finalize on the accessories so ur speedy reply will be helpful. Anything else you can suggest before i take delivery on Tuesday.

ty

 

[sudeep.roy]

your thread has been quite an inspiration for me to go for the brio. Also Honda guys are marketing brio quite aggressively and the offers by them made my purchase more pleasurable.

i booked SMT rally red on 27th and would get delivery on 31st. Also the pics you posted for the accessories are quite helpful.

I would love if you could message me the shop where u got the hand rest since its high on my priority list after seeing your picture.

Ur thots on the factory fitted headlights!!!! I am thinking of getting fog lights installed from the dealer itself since driving in dark/winters always has been painful for me and less said about delhi roads the better.

I need to visit the dealer today and finalize on the accessories so ur speedy reply will be helpful. Anything else you can suggest before i take delivery on Tuesday.

ty

Hi Nitin,

The pleasure is mine and am glad that my thread has assisted you in your decision making.

Welcome to TAI. I am sure you will have a great time here. Congrats on the booking of your new machine. Brio looks stunning in red, so good choice of colour.

You can get Handrest at any local accessory shop. Since I stay in Gurgaon, I got it done form Sector 14 market, its a shop called 'Sixth Sense".

Factory fitted headlights are pretty good. I haven't felt the need to upgrade yet, and Gurgaon roads are worse.
Fog lights are good to have, but the dealership quoted 11 k as far as I can remember for the same, so I had decided to postpone it and wait till winter. But now I don't think I will require it.

I suggest get things like corner protectors , side guards etc from dealer. Other stuff like mudflaps, rubber mats etc can be brought from out side, it will be cheaper.

One last thing, do make sure you do a thorough PDI of the vehicle. Take a printout of the PDI checklist from TAI and do a total checkup before you send the car for registration.

Lastly, please feel free to put in any queries/suggestions on the forum. We have a lot of BRIO owners on TAI who can help.

 

[sudeep.roy]

Some More upgrades.

Finally got my shift knob & gas pedals upgraded to Sparco. Also Added a Sparco Shoulder Pad. I wanted the Sparco hand brake knob too, but it would not fit.

Prices (MRP) :
Gear Knob : 1550.00
Pedals : 1750.00
Shoulder Pad : 950.00

I managed to squeeze out 10% discount on the above MRPs, inclusive of installation.
Finally, the Pics.
I am sorry, yhe pedals & mats are a bit dirty, coz its been a rainy day since yesterday.