Stay away from Mobilio - Not worth the money and a potential security risk!

I have been a loyal Honda customer for last about 20 years! I purchased Honda Mobilio within the very first month of its launch, mainly because I liked the Exterior shape of this car from trusted Honda family. Also honestly for a 6/7 seater vehicle. on road price of under 9 lakhs seemed like a good value for money! However, I have been extremely disappointed over the last eight months of my use of this car and would like everyone to read this review before making their purchase:

Engine Performance, Fuel Economy and Gearbox It seems like in order to improve the supposed Fuel Economy of the car and make the price of the car affordable, what the Indian designers of Honda have done is SIMPLY REMOVE parts from the original car and/or replace the car parts with lighter or cheaper materials. As a result the car is extremely light and handles accordingly. However, the biggest downside of this car is that the car is so light that if you are driving on highway and even an ALTO doing 60/70 kmph passes you, the entire car starts shaking! It definitely doesn't give you a feeling that you are driving a safe car! So if you want to use this as a second car at home for taking around your kids, and safety is rightfully your concern, you should think before buying the car! The mileage that we have been getting on this Petrol vehicle in City driving is 11-12-13 kmpl and 13-14 kmpl in Highway driving even after 8 months/14000 kms of driving! So the mileage promised is a sham!

Quality of Workmanship of Electronics There is a serious malfunction in the electronics of Mobilio and after frequent visits to the dealership; I have discovered that I am not the only one suffering from this issue! There are a lot of customers suffering from this problem: the central locking, music system and lights of the car blow up every couple of weeks! Luckily for me, only the non-essential electronics keep blowing up but I am worried what if there is a serious electronic fault one day and all the doors, windows etc. lock up and the car goes up in flames in Delhi’s summer heat? The Honda dealership I purchased this vehicle from claims it is the wiring of the audio system upgraded and  installed by them! The key point to be noted is that the system is a HONDA certified Rs. 30,000/- upgraded accessory, purchased on HONDA invoice, installed by HONDA dealership themselves and not a third party installation! In my case the audio system and the wiring has already been replaced 4 times and now electronics has once again blown up! I sincerely doubt that audio system’s wiring is a problem and the dealership is simply helping Honda in mis-directing the blame on a audio system and deflecting attention from the bigger issues with electronics/safety risks from that car! Since if it were the system, why wouldn’t replacing the system 4 times fix the problem? Or after these many complains, they would have simply refunded my money and downgraded the system! The Honda dealership and/or the Honda company is least bothered about a permanent resolution to the problem as it doesn't really impact their bottom-line and the issue is definitely not a risk to their lives due to India’s non-existent car safety/consumer protection laws! Honda company seems to be too busy opening new manufacturing plants completely oblivious to the ground realities with their latest product launch in India!

Exterior Shape is appealing but the sheet material used for this car is extremely thin/light keeping in mind the all important aspect of making the vehicle lighter for mileage and overall price affordable! So if there is an accident, God can only help the occupants of this car! As it is in India, there are no regulations and accident tracking on CRASH TESTING and now established auto players like Honda are taking advantage of it and showing utter disregard for Indian lives for sake of their profiteering! I am sure this car would never clear USA or European or even Japanese safety standards!

Interior (Features, Space & Comfort) Driver Seats are comfortable but the middle and back seats for a long drive become extremely uncomfortable! Once again to reduce the price of this car, they have used cheap materials. Seat Handles in my vehicle are already broken after just 8 months of use!

Ride Quality & Handling The only other positive of this car in addition to external styling is that Drive is smooth. It feels like one is driving a car and not a large 7 seater vehicle!

Final Words Please stay away from this car if you are an end user and concerned about your safety! The apathy shown by the company in addressing and fixing the issues clearly shows that Honda unlike other Japanese companies and the Honda dealership is not concerned about Indian lives!

Price what I thought initially was extremely reasonable is actually a true reflection of poor workmanship and quality of materials used in this car! This Cheap car is just cheap and not a true value for money!

If you are taxi owner and you are buying the diesel version of this car with supposed 25 kmpl promised mileage in Diesel and obviously, driver/passenger security isn't your concern. This should definitely be your Number 1 choice! I have seen a lot of Mobilio taxis. I am sure the day is not far when Mobilio would beat the Tata Indica to be India’s highest selling taxi! In both the cars, Price was affordable and passenger safety is an issue!

ExteriorSafety of this car is a serious concern..electronics and central locking keeps blowing up!