"Honda City" S-MT - First Sedan in Family


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OK, Let us start with this. I am not expert in explaining things literally. So I will point out things that I observed/ felt.

Our first car came to family in the year 2000 and it was M 800 DX, 5 speed. It was really a nice car. I had a personal attachment to it because I started to learn driving in that and spent a long time with it before it was sold.
It was a quick decision to change the car. One day my Father called me and told me, “we have sold our M 800, which car do you prefer to buy next? Is Maruti Swift ok?”

I was shocked to hear that he had already sold M 800 without discussing with me. Then I said ok, this time lets go for a sedan (My father was not really very happy with that. He is too lazy to drive Lengthy cars and he was worried about parking spaces). Finally he agreed to go for sedan.

Since we do have a little usage of car, we decided to stick to a Petrol car.
Two cars came into my mind because I used to make a comparative study of the other cars coming from the same class.

They were “Hyundai Verna Fluidic 1.6” and “Honda City i-vtech S-MT”

1. Hyundai Verna (Likes)
1. The new attractive design
2. Nicely designed Fog lamps
3. Good looking interiors
4. ORVM with LED
5. Automatic Climate Control (ACC)
6. Bluetooth Connectivity
7. 1.6 L Engine with128 PS power
2. Hyundai Verna (Dislikes)
1. Poor visibility of Rear view mirror
2. Poor rear seat under thigh support
3. Quality of switches inside are not good (My friend’s suggestion)
4. Fuel efficiency ( I cannot trust the FE that the company is offering since it is a new breed and it’s a petrol sedan)

3. Honda City i-vtech S-MT(Likes)
1. Stylish Design
2. Stylish Interiors (I liked Verna’s interior more) but now I am a big fan of city’s dual tone interior.
3. Big Leg room
4. Better Under thigh support for rear seats.
5. Good safety features
6. Better handling
7. Audio system Simply Rocks (The best OEM audio system I have ever seen)
8. Steering mounted Controls
9. Excellent engine performance 1.5 L i-vtech engine with 118 PS power
10. Compromising Fuel Efficiency ( I believe it is the most economical sedan in its class)
4. Honda City i-vtech S-MT(Dislikes)
1. Lack of ACC (But I think it’s not a necessity. Only dash board gives an old look feeling with controlling knobs)
2. Lack of Bluetooth with steering mounted control
3. Low Ground Clearance and soft suspension ( I have to be more careful while taking big bumps and dips)

Reasons why I decided City in the end?
1. When I asked some of my ‘automobile freak’ friends, they told me “Go for city whatever it might take. Nothing in its class can beat it in style, performance, FE etc.”
2. When I Booked for a test drive, the very next day morning the car was there in front of my house for the test drive. It was my first sedan test drive (Me and my father was very much impressed in the performance and the presentation given by the sales executive added the taste).
I got very bad impression from Hyundai team so I even did not test drove it
I tried 3 times for a test drive (1 time in Chennai and 2 times in Kerala but I did not get a chance)
(I felt like they even don’t want us to take Verna fluidic. They wanted us to take new i10)
3. Got Rs. 50,000/- discount ( I did not know at that time that the new design will be launched on Jan 2012)
4. Got our City delivered within 3 days from the date of booking.

Add-ons till now

1. Rear view Cam with 4 body colored sensors Rs. 11,000/-
It has MMC, USB, and Bluetooth facility
2. Roots wind tone horn (Skoda Type) Rs. 1,200/-
3. Additional Floor Mats (2+2+1) Rs. 700/-
4. IND Number plate with hologram Rs.1,100/-
5. Day Running LED DRL (5 LED, 2 Nos each) Rs. 3,000/- (Including fitting charge)
6. Changed front Park light to LED (2 Nos) Rs. 200/-
7. Custom Exhaust Tail Tip Rs. 500/-
8. Tints for side and back windshields(Rear:70% visibility; Side: 50: Visibility; 70% Heat rejection Rs: 6,000/-
Items in Queue
1. Fog lamps
2. Alloy wheels
 
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Re: "Honda City" S-MT, First sedan to family

You bought from Peninsular Honda ? Can you please tell me the total onroad cost of the car, after the offers. Eagerly waiting for the snaps [:)]
 
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Congratulations buddy but where are the pictures , please upload them soon.


If Petrol going in for City makes more sense than Verna. Looks like success has got to the heads of Hyundai dealerships , the sooner they change the better!
 
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Congrats for your purchase of the new city gdave,that was a good review, So please add initial ownership experience and some pictures to finish it colorfully.
 
Thread Starter #7
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Re: "Honda City" S-MT, First sedan to family

You bought from Peninsular Honda ? Can you please tell me the total onroad cost of the car, after the offers. Eagerly waiting for the snaps [:)]
Hei Akhil thanks for the reply.

I got my City delivered from Vision Honda Thrissur.
Total On road price is 8,54000 (Without extra fittings)
They have offered coolong film, Under body coat, Tefflon, Parking sensors etc. ( But my father did not accept any of these offers, I dont know why)

At the same time we got offer from "Cosmic Honda" with 8,50000 on road with same offers. But decided to stick with "Vision Honda" since there was a person I knew, who was the Sales Executive.
 
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Nice pictures buddy , City looks good in white! Looks like you have forgot to blank out the number in few pics , request the mods to do the same.


How much has the car clocked till now and how is the driving experience so far? Any issues with the low GC?
 
Thread Starter #13
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Nice pictures buddy , City looks good in white! Looks like you have forgot to blank out the number in few pics , request the mods to do the same.


How much has the car clocked till now and how is the driving experience so far? Any issues with the low GC?
Thanks mate.

The car has finished 3200 Km during these 4 months of time. I have to say, I am really in love with this car. Since I worked in chennai till the last few weeks, I didn't get chance to spent more time with it.

Yeah low GC is a big issue. Some times I have to scrap on big bumps.(Under of body)

During taking car from shop front parking, when it reaches the road there might be small dips. It will scrap bottom of front bumber.[frustration]

I used to try my maximum to avoid scraping. 45 degree approach is bit effective on bumps, even I did not get enough space for that.
 
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Excellent pics buddy. City is one of my favorite sedan especially after the recent price cut, and in white, your ride is looking damn hot.
 

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