Urban Titanium Honda City i-VTEC 2011

[Akash1886]

Hmmm..So whole day spent with my I-Vtec City today. Being a sunny yet chilled winter morning, I am at my best of being a Laziest Bum! The last thing I want in winters is to get out of my home. But, the car's interiors were not looking as clean as I like so gathered courage to remove the blanket, take bath (the worst thing in winters but the necessary one!) and then went to get them cleaned. While having breakfast, told Dad that he'll receive a transaction message of 1645 on his phone and immediately at the breakfast table he made such a sulking face as if I have told him that I have got married secretly! Only thing he said was "Log shaadi mein cash gift dete hain, flowers dete hain aur gift dete hain, lekin teri shaadi mein car ki LED, Bumper ka spoiler, Roof Wrap, Tuning Box aur Alloys ainge kya??" (In a Marriage people gift in cash, flowers and the kind but in your marriage, gift will be like Car LED, Bumper Spoiler, Tuning Box, Roof Wraps and Alloys?). Tu barbaad ho gya ladke kaun shaadi karega tujse? (You are a gone case, who'll marry you?) I told him; "Hum ek baar pyar karte hain aur shaadi bhi ek he baar hoti hai"( We love and Marry Once) to which he said "Nikal ja bahar yaha se"! (Get Out!) but as mom entered (my dad never speaks in front of her loudly), he was as polite and sweet as a vanilla (10Rs wala cup). Anyways, all this often happens with me as I am still a bachelor!

So, visited my friend's 3M outlet in Noida. They offered me 3 packages i.e Classic, Germ Clean and Germ Clean Plus. I opted for Classic that included full upholstery cleaning along with door pads and dashboard cleaning. Total Cost 1645/- all inclusive. No External treatment done because none of them last for long and waise bhi, its year end so I did not want to spend as much! Here are some pics of the W-I-P at 3M Noida.

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All this cleaning and stuff was happening inside the 3M outlet but the best part was happening outside it i.e a 1-on-1 WWE match between 2 Powerful Pups! (The Black one gave the White on a Choke Slam) I enjoyed seeing them more than anything else. In our fast paced lives, seldom we all get a chance to witness such priceless and playful moments. Isn't it?

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Regards

Akash

 

[allhyundaicars]

It feels good to have a clean car but 1600 seems a little on the higher side.
You should check with local dry cleaners.
I pay 600rs for full interior dry clean and polish plus exterior wash and wax to bosch mechanics ( i get the car cleaned at home when it's their weekly off) bosch charges 750rs just for dry cleaning a hatchback. Maybe a 1000rs for a sedan.
They use the same wurth chemical to clean so the work is really good. Got the work done some weeks back.
But the exterior Polish and wax is an entirely different thing. I will happily pay 3m 7000rs for exterior Polish becauze not every local guy can do the proper work.

 

[Akash1886]

Buddies,

My car met with an accident on way to Meerut yesterday afternoon. It happened because there were 4 other cars which rear ended each other including the main culprit, Bolero Pickup. We all were moving slow due to traffic and at a point my driver stopped the car maintaining proper distance from the bus ahead us. The Swift behind us also stopped at adequate distance and so did the other two. With 10 seconds of our stopping, the swift crashed in my car and that thrust was quite significant. Upon getting out I saw, 3 more cars behind me crashed and the culprit was Bolero Pickup in the end whose driver couldn't control it. The loud bang had me and my dad nervous fearing that a lot might have been damaged. But when I saw, was relieved that nothing major had happened. Still, to my shock, the Swift had more frontal damage. The rear bumper of my car got scratched and dislocated from both corners. The boot got a dent and its slightly misaligned. However, the operation of the boot is still not much affected. The in-cabin boot lever is making it work as usual and its closing too but with slight effort. Planning to get it repaired in a week or so from FNG and won't claim insurance for the bumper. For the boot I plan to either leave it like that or go for dry denting at ASC itself.

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Regards

Akash

 

[CRACING]

Oh, that is hurting but thank god, the accident wasn't major.

My car also has same damage, happened when it was under first owner. Same chipping and lines to the bumper and it is slightly misaligned too. To repair, the whole boot needed repainting so I just left it as is. Instead applied TAI sticker on the dent.

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Now I know which car caused the damaged but still haven't understood which front part of the Swift made the dent.

 

[harishankar]

Great review and sorry about your recent accident. Glad it wasn't anything major.

Regarding the damages done by the service people during the time car is in their custody - did you know that most official service centers have a liability insurance to cover such eventualities? Insist on their paying for the full damages, and ask them to claim from their own liability insurance. Why should you make a claim and lose your NCB and/or pay the policy excess in addition?

 

[Akash1886]

Oh, that is hurting but thank god, the accident wasn't major.
Now I know which car caused the damaged but still haven't understood which front part of the Swift made the dent.

Ya indeed. The radiator grill and the lower part of hood (under radiator grill) caused the damage. Since it was another city and was accompanying dad and mom so did not even bother to involve myself in the conversation with the other drivers.

Regards

Akash

 

[Akash1886]

Friends,

Got my car's rear bumper re-aligned today. The work was done at Sector 16, Noida. Total amount paid Rs. 250.





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Regards

Akash

 

[allhyundaicars]

Why do I have the feeling that it wasn't worth 250rs :p

Once I went to a local guy to get my santro's bonnet aligned. He looked at the car and said he will do this , he will do that and total amount 150rs. I agreed. Went to buy a snack and while I was coming back he opened the bonnet , hit the bonnet from the inside two times with his hammer and asked me for money I was like no way I am going to pay 150rs for this.
Then came the smart*** owner who said would you have been happy if I took 30 minutes to complete your car work which I did in a minute. Couldn't do anything but to pay. And obviously didn't go there and those morons are happy to dupe customers like this and earn in short period rather than thinking long term.

 

[Akash1886]

Why do I have the feeling that it wasn't worth 250rs :p

I agree. But considering the charges for this small job at ASC of Honda, I found this one to be better.

Once I went to a local guy to get my santro's bonnet aligned. He looked at the car and said he will do this , he will do that and total amount 150rs. I agreed. Went to buy a snack and while I was coming back he opened the bonnet , hit the bonnet from the inside two times with his hammer and asked me for money I was like no way I am going to pay 150rs for this.
Then came the smart*** owner who said would you have been happy if I took 30 minutes to complete your car work which I did in a minute. Couldn't do anything but to pay. And obviously didn't go there and those morons are happy to dupe customers like this and earn in short period rather than thinking long term.

Actually in all these markets one should be capable enough to negotiate before hand and should know what work is actually being done. The moment you leave your car on mechanics mercy be ready to be overcharged. 95% of such mechanics trick customers.

Regards

Akash

 

[Akash1886]

Buddies,

Today went to Honda ASC Crown Honda in Sector 63, Noida. The jobs done were as follows:​

1) Front Brake Pads replaced.

2) Front Brake Discs refurbished.

3) All Spark Plugs changed.

ODO at the time of service today: ~64K Kms.

I was informed few weeks back that the brake pads need to be replaced or else the discs would be damaged that would increase the expense. As I was busy with personal work so finally got the job done today. sometimes the car did not start in one go and used to take about 2-3 attempts to crank up so I knew spark plugs too need change. The actual mileage to change spark plugs is 40K Kms but I did the change on 64K Kms. All genuine spares used to complete the above jobs. Upon reaching to the ASC, as I went to get the job card opened, A F***** peeled off the TAI sticker from my car's rear windscreen and placed a damn dealership sticker without my permission or any information. I got bloody annoyed on how the hell someone did so! Immediately called the service manager and told him to get the same removed. Now I have to fend for another TAI sticker.

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Moving on to the work in the car. After reaching the ASC around 12:30pm today till 2pm there was no job done on my car as some other cars were being repaired and then lunch time. So, from 12:30 to 2 PM, my car stood simply on the work floor without any attendant. I have the habit of supervising the job on my car so much to the dismay of the SA, I kept on standing there and got all the jobs done in front of me. No matter what, you can't trust these mechanics etc even in ASC. The mechanic assigned to my car left in between to attend to some other car which further made me feel frustrated as if I have not come to a company's workshop, rather I am at some roadside workshop. Called the Service Manager and he then co-supervised and got the job done. The car was scheduled to be delivered by 3:30pm so thankfully by supervising, I got the car by 3:15pm. Let me tell you, no one should simply handover the car to the adviser and trust them. Always be on your toes to keep a check on every activity being done with your car. Afterall you are paying for it and you have the right to see whats being done to your car.

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[Akash1886]

Original Spares and the Work in Progress Pics​

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Coming to the billing part: The guy who prepared the job card of my car gave me an estimate of Spark plug cost to be 4000 + Labor. Upon my insistence he checked with the spare part guy and corrected the figure to Rs. 758 per piece which comes to Rs. 3032 for set of 4 plugs + Labor. Next fault in billing I noticed at time of payment was the labor charge of fitting the front brake pads. As per Honda's rate list clicked by driver, the labor cost was Rs. 450/- for replacing front brake pads in CITY but the SA wrote it as Rs. 650/- and I was even billed as per Rs. 650 but before paying I always check the particulars so in that I found this fault and got the invoice re-made with correct charges. Total expense of today was Rs. 10,097/- In Approx 6 Years of Ownership, first time I got the spark plugs changed, first time brake pads were changed and this is the 1st time I paid such a big amount for this car.

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Regards

Akash

 

[Akash1886]

Buddies,

As my car had met with a minor hit from a motorbike yesterday evening, it was an eyesore to see the scratch that was created by it. Immediately got the same repaired today by getting the denting work done from an FNG in Indrapuram (Gaziabad). To match the paint, ultimately have to get the entire right side properly painted including clear coats. As my car had some minor dents on right side, even those were taken care of in the process. It all has costed me 8K all inclusive. I was shocked to see how has one hit caused me so much of monetary expense for repairs but then it was terrible seeing my car in bad shape and in Noida these days, it is really difficult to find a good mechanic / workshop. As an add-on in the inclusive cost, I also got the rear bumper's upper half repaired and it shall also get properly painted as it too had some scratches. As I am traveling to Mumbai in coming week and tomorrow being holiday, so I will get the car painted on Friday and then the rubbing will be done after 5-7 days of painting. Sharing some WIP pics from today's work done.

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Of repairing all the damages, I was most concerned for the wheel arc's minor dent caused 4 years ago. Finally it was properly repaired to my satisfaction. I am really feeling bad due to my sudden ill health as well as this uncalled stupid expense due to some moron's idiotic riding skills.

Regards

Akash

 

[Akash1886]

Friends,

Update

Yesterday's W.I.P Pics. The best part I liked was a enclosed painting area and workmanship and most important, the painter patiently listens and rectifies any imperfection one may see after applying initial paint coats. The paint quality and matching is good too. The masking took slightly long and on the other half of the car they placed a body cover to avoid paint spray getting spread. My car now needs rubbing which I will be getting done next week. With regards to painting stuff, I am satisfied with the job done.

After single coat of paint applied

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Regards

Akash

 

[dr.Munendra]

Hi. Can you please share the name and address of the FNG. How many days he kept your car in his workshop? I need to similar work in my Honda city. Any other suggestion in Noida?

 

[Akash1886]

Hi. Can you please share the name and address of the FNG. How many days he kept your car in his workshop? I need to similar work in my Honda city. Any other suggestion in Noida?

Please check the link. I did not leave my car there instead got the work done in 2 days in front of me. Once you reach there, ask for Mr. Ramit. As of now in Noida there are no good paint shops.

Regards

Akash