Honda City [2011-2014] User Reviews

Exterior Brilliant. The Carnellian Red colour and finish is exceptional.

Interior (Features, Space & Comfort) - Beige interiors give a stately feel to the car. Space is decent, and the car is comfortable from the inside. However, the audio panel needs serious imrpovement. It feels outdated and early 2000s in appearance. There seems to have been no work on that front.

Engine Performance, Fuel Economy and Gearbox - iVtec engine is a gem to say the least. Smooth as butter. It's got great pickup as well. For the power, the mileage is also pretty decent. Gear shift, especially between the 1st and 2nd is a problem and isn't as smooth. Once the engine revs up and reaches a certain RPM, the gear transmission is smooth.

Ride Quality & Handling Simply superb. Having driven a Corolla AT earlier, I feel Honda would beat it any day!

Final Words Overall it is an exceptional car and a smart choice. However, the sales and after sales experience left a bad taste in our mouth.

Areas of improvement Sales Experience and Customer Service. Honda needs to get its act together on this front quickly if it wants to remain the market leader.

The sales and after sales experience has been horrible to say the least. Ring Road Honda - Sugoi Motors dealership in Moti Nagar, Delhi is entirely responsible for that. Right from giving incomplete information and hiding information on offers by the company till the time of actual sales, they have been really pathetic. To sum it up:

1. Arrogant staff Who care a hoot about customer service experience and concentrate only on selling. They would not look  even once towards the customer, leave aside actually addressing their concerns/queries, once you put your money into their accounts (read:downpayment)

2. Wrong information They told us initially that the entire insurance amount is being waived off by the company as an offer on the 2013 model. Later, just before the signing off the deal and after having already paid the downpayment, they informed us that only "normal" registration was free and that we would have to bear the additional Rs. 5800 to get a "zero debt" insurance. Even this amount was quoted as Rs 4800 over phone!!!

3. Delivery We had to wait for 5 hours to get our car after having reached the showroom even when all our papers were ready. The GM - Raman (or whatever his name is) did not even have the courtesy to come up to us and address our concerns. It was only on our repeated requests that he turned up and boy! was he arrogant!!

4. No photograph with the car at the time of delivery. Neither was the car decorated in any form. None of the customary rituals were followed. It seemed as if they were doing a favour on us by giving us our car.

5. We had to personally ask repeatedly for the smallest of things like audio remote, extra set of keys, keyrings etc, which Sugoi Motors had conveniently forgotten to provide!!

6. Till date (16 days since purchase) there is no news on our refund and an accessory that we had asked for.

Despite buying a beauty of a car, the sales experience has left a bad taste in our mouths. Ring Road Honda be damned for that!!

Engine, ExteriorsService - pathetic to say the least, audio panel

Exterior The Ivtec 2011 City's exterior is more ageless than the new 2014 car. 2011 had the HONDA look, while the new 2014 seem to get lost with the new designs of Verna, Fiesta etc. 2011 exterior will live on through the ages and will command the HONDA brand.

Interior (Features, Space & Comfort) Good, but should use seat material which are easily washable. Front seats can be redesigned with cushioned bucket/race seats to offer more space and comfort at the back. Console/Dash can be better and easily organized to maintain a luxury look. Dash can be kept simple, but use long lasting and

Engine Performance, Fuel Economy and Gearbox Amazing pick up,power to weight ratio is th ebest in its class. Under long continuous drive the fuel economy reaches 17 to 18 k/l. Does not need frequent maintenance/service. Value for money performance.

Ride Quality & Handling Stable even under high speed turns, driver's car, however given the illogical designs of road bumps one hit to the under carriage can damage the alignement of your back and front quarter pannels. YOu can see clear gap.

Final Words If Honda takes care of the few small adjustments, no car can come close to it in this segment.

Areas of improvement Ground clearance. Service timeline & cost. Should be logical in ensuring that the service schedule should be based on mileage to set them apart from outher manufacturers. Customers are looking for rational and differentiators.

Everything but the consService cost & time lines, low ground clearance

Exterior This is proven fact that this is the best looking car in this segment.

Interior (Features, Space & Comfort) Lack of few features which its competition has like, vanity mirror does not have illuminated light. Visibility for rear objects from mirror is poor. But once you get used to, you can judge it. Tires offered is XM1 (Michelin) this series is outdated for a more than a year now.

Engine Performance, Fuel Economy and Gearbox This is phenomenal. Performance of the Engine is immaculate. This car forces you to go for Long Drives. You don’t feel tired neither does Car. Car has feature to calculate average as you drive. This makes things easy for Indian driver like me. I constantly keep fiddling with this speedometer to know how I am driving. This not only fetch you good mileage but also pressurizes you be polite with throttle. 

Within city it gives me close to 10kmpl (Mumbai traffic condition) But when on highway you can extract as much as 20kmpl if driven in ideal conditions. Otherwise also it is not given lesser than 18-19kmpl.

Ride Quality & Handling Superb!!! I am not talking about Skoda Superb. But the experience you get is marvelous. This car gives you better feeling while driving than its competitions Vento, Rapid or even Linea. I have driven this car for around 6000kms in 4 months just to take her to places and have pleasure of driving. People talk about its low ground clearance. I have never experienced it. In fact I was waiting for this to happen for last 6 months and was prepared to face it. I have also checked with dealer about the probable damage if it hits bump. Phewwwww But still waiting that to happen. Power of 118 BHP is amazing. This is the best in this segment with Rapid with 105 BHP and Linea 90 BHP.

Final Words This is perfect car if love car driving and want your family to enjoy with you. They say it is not value for money but I refuse to believe. You pay little premium to get good service/food even at hotels. It’s worth spending on this car. I have also driven Cruz, Corolla and Civic. But City will give as nice feeling as these cars.

Areas of improvement Well I don’t know how you improve the Perfection. Still I will say if I can see better rear vision from mirror while parking. May be few features can be added like rear AC vents, Climate control etc.

Good Ride on Highways, Great mileage, Solid PowerNo illuminated Vanity Mirror, Small glove box, Head Rest needs more bending.

Exterior The looks are quite dazzling. My urban titanium looks Strong, masculine and, stands out. With  its aerodynamic smooth finish it is a very very seductive sedan.

Interior (Features, Space & Comfort) Nothing inferior among its class. The serene interior is very deeply appealing. Besides adequate leg space, the 3 seater back seat is convertible as two giving cool, lavish and majestic boost to the two in the back. The bucket seating is quite a comfort in the front seats.  Mechanised/powered windows, mirror adjust are convenient. The central locking/unlocking sensor could have had a better sounding music than the sluppp sound.

Engine Performance, Fuel Economy and Gearbox Noiseless and smooth and revvs up in no time. Great braking system. Cant boast great on the economy. I expected it to be over 16 Km in the small city like Panjim. I wend up getting about 13-14kmpl. The gear box..waw.. smooth slides. Overall 8 on 10.

Ride Quality & Handling I love the stability of my SMT when at or over 100kmph. Great breaks almost no jerks. Really happy on this.

Final Words I think I must Thank Mr Arun Kinlekar at Coastal Honda in Panjim for his excellent description of the plusses and otherwise of SMT. His customer care and frank detailing is very appealing. His showcasing of the both sides of SMT made me decide on the car that I have begun to fall in love with. Thank you Arun.

Areas of improvement Improvise on fuel economy. Could also provide lil more space like a food chest and some hideout for a chess board and pawns.

This is a great model. Styling, interiors and aerodynamic designing are great. color urban titaniumI wish it had some more fuel economy; particularly in the urban settings it is not economical

Exterior

The styling is sleek, the overall stance of the car is very macho. Looks better than any other sedan of its class. Honda (showroom) offers upgrades for the front grille (modified grille for about 11k) and headlamps (HID projectors, for about 28k), both of which make the car look even more awesome. If you are on a budget and want an awesome car then get a lower end variant (which still has all the basic features like ABS/EBD, airbags, G-CON, etc) and spend the money saved on these upgrades - you will not be disappointed!

Interior (Features, Space & Comfort)

There must be a reason why Honda is offering even the lowest end variant with all the essential features like ABD/EBD, airbags, G-CON (vehicle stability control), ECO indicator which shows when you are getting the best mileage, plus a real-time mileage indicator and so on (I guess its the diesel version planned for 2014...). In all very value for money stuff. The S variant has everything one would want - music system (sans CD, of course!), all 4 speakers, electrically adjustable ORVMs, adjustable steering, height adjustable driver seat, arm-rest, cup holders and so on and so forth. Full marks to Honda on that.

Engine Performance, Fuel Economy and Gearbox

Engine is powerful, overtaking is a breeze. Mated with the 5-speed gear box that is precise and slick makes it very easy to drive. Vehicle has in-built stability control - though I haven't had a chance to see it in action yet as I mostly drive below 70 kmph. Fuel economy is one area which I found scary and one literally has to drive it very carefully to get any mileage from it. It really is better for sports where mileage and or money are no object. Still I managed to squeeze out 12-12.5 kmpl within city with 90% AC usage. In CNG mode too the sense of power loss is minimal, and till date I have managed to get about 20-24 km/kg of mileage out of it by careful driving. In all mileage is not bad if you are a sedate driver. Any aggression and its bye-bye to mileage.

Ride Quality & Handling

Again, nothing bad in particular, though the CNG version does have some problems with the suspension bottoming out. This is most evident prior to CNG fitment due to the raised suspension and the rear wheels make a HUGE thud whenever going over potholes even at crawling speeds. One has to be very careful about this till the kit is fitted. After the fitting things are almost back to normal, but I guess there is still some care to be taken in terms of speed while going over potholes.

Final Words

A very value for money car - at least as far as being feature-rich goes. Yes, with the petrol cost of today, the City might seem expensive to own, but the CNG version will start saving money after about 2-2.5 years of ownership. The City CNG is the best option for those who have more than 800 kms monthly driving which is mostly within city limits. I am already feeling happy these days while driving out of the pump!

Areas of improvement  

Well, not much here. Mileage was 10-12 kmpl when new. Now it has improved to between 15-19 kmpl within city, but that is mostly because I drive in off-peak hours.

 

Good style, excellent driving experience, plus Honda brand namePetrol engine, though refined and powerful, also has good mileage if driven properly

Exterior Well best looker of all its competitor. It looks proportionate or shall I say look complete and balanced from all sides. Good body quality, heavy doors and those chrome at fron looks awesome.

Interior (Features, Space & Comfort) Spacious interior, good supportive seats, meaty steering, decent audio system,  effective & powerful AC though would have preferred one with ACC, very good plastice quality. Overall a place where one would like to visit again and again and will not be bored.

Engine Performance, Fuel Economy and Gearbox Engine performace is the main reason why went for this car. It is refine and quiet. It is a car for people who love driving, love speed and acceleration it will never dissapoint. at 4th n 5th gear keep pressing the accelerator and it will keep surging and that sporty snarls on revving... I love it.Since it is a high revving engine, it returns good economy if one is able to drive at about 2000 rpm in city. Best millege I have got with full tank is 12.8 KMPL and worst is 11.9 KMPL. Both this with 60% use of AC. Trust the eco lamp, if you're able to keep up then you can get a millege of 12.5-13.5 KMPL, same as what my i10 used to give. Gear box takes time to warm up, especially 2nd to 3rd and vice versa, not butter smooth as in i10 but smooth and crisp ... I like the sound it makes while changing gear.

Ride Quality & Handling Well tyre noise insulation is not great, and at low speed tyre noise filters in also at low speed it is a bit bumpy but once you're 60+ everything is very very quiet and ride is flat. Handling is very good for day to day city use occasional highway escapade. But yes not very great at cornering at high speed. At high speed the steering does feel lifeless at times and the grip of tyre is not confidence arousing but it does not fail you.

Final Words A true driver's car with a powerful, refined, frugal engine. Well put together car with very good exterior and interior build quality and good seats. 2 Air bags, ABS, EBD, BA, GCON well safety is fully loaded. Not to forget the Honda brand reliability, re-sale value and pricey (less than Huyndai though) but decent ASC. Considering all these I feel it is true VFM car for those who prefer petrol.

Areas of improvement Definetely ACC should be there, reduce road noise from tyre and may be introduce a 6th gear by adjusting the tall 4th & 5th gear, then it will be even more fun to drive.

great styling; safety features;smooth responsive & powerful engine; decent fuel economyNo ACC, road noise, bit more feedback from steering and it would have been more fun to drive.