[normally_crazy]

Continuing from the old thread I had begun and then let meander for close to a year, I hope to keep this thread active.

This is when I had got the Civic home -

The Double Whammy

I have not written a lot about the search for car. I was looking at a lot of used cars at that time till I chanced upon this ad in the Times Drive about a 26000 kms done Honda Civic AT. Immediately called up the number and spoke about the car, came to know that a deal is in progress and if it goes through the car is gone. Not a great start. I forgot all about it. This happened on Friday.

On Sunday on a gut feeling I called the number again and asked whether the deal had been completed and was told NO. The deal fell through and I was free to go and check the car out. Yaaayy.

Called up RJK and informed him that he was coming with me on Monday to check the car out at Dadar. He asked me where and I told him - we had to meet Mr Sunil Shanbhag at perfect Auto garage. Turned out that he is well known on the forum and RJK had his Honda City services done from him and vouched for his work and for the man himself as did a lot of other members here. I slept well that night.

Next morning we reached the place, met Mr Shanbhag and checked the car out. All seemed good and we were told that the car belonged to Mr Shanbhag's brother who has downsized due to parking issues. Wifey also liked the car as did I and RJK though the color was a little....off for me. Decided to go ahead and negotiate. Spoke to him for a while in his office and finalised on a price and I paid the token. A few minor issues like the boot lid gap etc were spotted and Mr Shanbhag said he will have the car sorted and ready by next Monday. I was to complete the payment in a couple of days. The car was to come home.


Interesting Anecdote

Just one thing bothered me ----- when I took a TD I saw that the fuel tank was full and there was a bill lying in the car that indicated that fuel was topped up on Saturday night. I mean who would top up the tank when the car isn't sold ? So we asked Mr Shanbhag the question and he said that the deal with the person was 99% through and he had taken the car, topped up fuel and parked it at his house ! But due tocertain reasons the deal fell through on Sunday and the car came back with the tank full ! I asked him " Who would that be ?" And Mr Shanbhag told me who that person was.

He was a Team- BHPian too.

[normally_crazy]

Soon I arranged for the payment for the car. The smaller things that were to be corrected were done and the car was home the next Monday. Since Mr Shanbhag told me he had serviced the car before selling, I decided not to get it serviced.







On delivery day, I drove from Dadar to Lokhandwala to Powai, picking up the i10 AT (another thread coming up) for wifey. That drive gave me a lot of time to get used to the car and it's driving dynamics. Since it was an AT - driving was no problem in traffic

After that I did a couple of drives to Lonavala and a really long drive to Goa and back with wifey.

A few observations on the car -

1) It's a low car with a long wheel base, having great potential to scrape it's bottom on these Mumbai roads. You need to use the length of the car judiciously to avoid the bottoming out. So far it has bottomed out on one really big crater, other than that it's fine.

2) The dash board is really high set and if you sit low down - you are in for visibility problems in the front. As it is you cannot see the bonnet ends, add to it this issue and you have to be real careful

3) The car does not shrink around you (the vRS felt smaller than I was when driving it) and you are constantly aware of the width and the length of the car.

4) The extra width and the length releases a HUGE amount of space on the inside. Even with the driver's seat pushed back there is comfortable space for the person sitting behind.

5) The ac is very good and chills the cabin pretty quickly.

6) The HU has Aux-In for the i-Pod but I would have preferred a proper I-Pod connectivity option that charged the ipod while playing !

7) No steering mounted audio controls - Bad !

8) No Cruise Control - Bad !

9) Headlights are pretty weak - the high beams are fine though.

10) Leather seats are nice and the leather feels durable. Not my favorite color though !

11) Ride quality is a little harder than other Honda cars.

12) Build Quality is good - not like the Germans but much better than the City's !

13) Lots of storage space for various things.

14) The engine is smooth and silent. When the AC switches on there is a ggrrrr kind of jerk from the engine. (A thing that stopped later when I serviced the car.)

The car has been driven on the JVLR between Powai and WEH during peak times both ways and it has given me a FE of 8 KMPL. On the Goa trip it gave me an FE of 14.5 KMPL - I was cruising between 100-120 kmph on empty stretches.

ps - BTW after taking delivery of the car, a few of us met up at Gogi's place for dinner and I showed Gogi the car and thanked him for the full tank of fuel he left in the car.

[normally_crazy]

There was nothing much to write about as the car and I went about our daily life routinely.

Then the monsoons set foot in Mumbai and I could not see the world very clearly from the windscreen. The wipers were gone and I had to replace them. Searched around for Bosch wipers, called up all the dealers listed on the Bosch India website and only 2 of them answered the phones. One told me they were out of staoc and he wasn't sure if Civic wipers were available. The other needed a couple of days to arrange for the wipers, which was fine. But I wanted instant change of wipers.

That is how I was introduced to the Solitaire Honda service workshop in Borivali. Called up the lady to ask if wipers were available and she confirmed in the affirmative, also quoted me about 500 rs per wiper. It was at the back of my mind that GTO had paid lesser than what I was quoted - I went to the workshop.

One guy kept checking with the lady at the reception what the problem was with my car and why it was not solved. This happened 3-4 times, I was impressed. Then Dippy called me and asked me to speak to Mr Anwar. When I asked the receptionist for Mr Anwar, I got to meet the same guy who was checking whether the work on my car was done or not repeatedly. It was then I was came to know - the extra attention was due to the TEAM-BHP sticker on the boot.

Things sped up from there and the wipers were quickly changed and I was on my way.

Total Damages - Rs 940. Attached is the Invoice copy - don't be shocked by the mileage mentioned, it was human error.

[normally_crazy]

With the rains and the pot-holes making their appearance in Mumbai, the ride quality was beginning to jar - an issue which I felt was aided by the 3 year old tyres as well. Also the right side mud flap used to scrape the road surface even on small pot-holes while the left one would go through with flying colors.

So I decided to change the tyres. Before the tyre change, I also decided to get the car serviced as well. It had been about 9000 kms since I had taken delivery.

To go the official or unofficial way for service was the question and after a lot of deliberations I decided to give Solitaire Honda a chance to service the car. My experience with Solitaire Honda is here

The boot + Fuel lid cable had to be changed and the S.A. Bhavin also called and informed me that the Hydraulic Engine Mount was cracked and the rear right side shock absorber was leaking oil. The mount would cost me 7000 Rs and the Shock Absorber will be about 3000 Rs. I asked him to hold on - I confirmed the shock absorber prices with Shetty Motors and got a quote of 8000 Rs for 2 and they wouldn't sell a single piece only a pair - then I asked Bhavin to go ahead with the Mount replacement and the Shock absorber as well. The shock absorber was not in stock and has been ordered.

I reached the workshop at around 1730 and was promptly taken to the bay where work on the car was on. The mount had been replaced and the cable was being replaced. After that the car went on trial and then vaccuming and washing, which took a hell lot of time. Finally paid up and got the car at 1930.

The Brake discs and pads were well within the specifications and I was advised not to change them. (There is a substantial difference in price at Solitaire and the free market though).

Driving back home, I could hear a tak-tak noise from the rear left side. I adjusted the seat belt thinking it would be not aligned and probably making noise. On pot-holes the noise was more and on smooth stretches (if I found any) the noise completely vanished ! That got me worried.

Next morning I got into the rear seat and what do I see ? A nut was left in the ash tray (?) in the door which was rattling away to glory. Also I found a screw-driver left behind in the storage box below the ac controls.

Other than that all well.

Total Bill - Rs 13124



Check the pictures of the cracked Hydraulic Engine Mount below.

[normally_crazy]

On 8th August, after a lot of research and advice and telephone calls to various tyre shops across Mumbai - I finally left to get the tyres changed.

Reached Saifee tyres and decided on getting Yokohama C Drives 205/65 R15. Left the car at Saifee with Alfred and finished off some bargain shopping. Went back to collect the car in the evening. paid up Rs 21000 for 4 tyres and left.

First impressions - the wheel well was looking better filled out than it was with OE size. The tyres are silent and the ride has improved a lot. Its much better now. I am taking it slow and letting the tyres settle in. A long drive of 500 kms is coming up in a few days, will update after that.

Thats the story of my Civic. Hope to keep it going for a long time.....

I have no new pictures to share yet, but I promise will put up some really good pictures in a few days.

[Stratos]

Thread moved from Assembly Line. Thanks for sharing.

[noopster]

Nice thread NC. Need more pics, boss! Is this the silvery blue- same shade that dot has? Or is it just silver? I'm thinking the former given your statement that the colour was slightly...off: it has that effect on some people (though I like it!)

[normally_crazy]

Originally Posted by noopster

Nice thread NC. Need more pics, boss! Is this the silvery blue- same shade that dot has? Or is it just silver? I'm thinking the former given your statement that the colour was slightly...off: it has that effect on some people (though I like it!)

It's that Bluish Silver color, I ain't a fan of this color.

Next step - Need to get that HK Drive +Play working with the OE audio. Any ideas fellas ?

[Vid6639]

Need some pics with the C-drives. I want to see how the 205/65-15 looks. Civics seem to eat engine mounts. 35K and engine mount is not good.

[normally_crazy]

Originally Posted by vid6639

Need some pics with the C-drives. I want to see how the 205/65-15 looks. Civics seem to eat engine mounts. 35K and engine mount is not good.

Here you go Viddy

[jatinpatel]

Yours Honda A word also missing ?
we both sharing the same symtoms then my cars too V and i-vtecs C and hondas A missing.

Its bit surprising that rear shocks gave way at such low mileage.

Do you have picture of the rear leaking shocks?

Also can you feel any difference in griping of tires due to additional width?

[normally_crazy]

Originally Posted by jatinpatel

Yours Honda A word also missing ?
we both sharing the same symtoms then my cars too V and i-vtecs C and hondas A missing.

Its bit surprising that rear shocks gave way at such low mileage.

Do you have picture of the rear leaking shocks?

Also can you feel any difference in griping of tires due to additional width?

Yup - lost the A and the V !

More than the shocks - the mount giving way worries me !

The shocks haven't been changed - when it is done I will get the pictures.

[sumeethaldankar]

Does saifee have a proper wheel balancing and wheel alignment equipment?

[normally_crazy]

Originally Posted by sumeethaldankar

Does saifee have a proper wheel balancing and wheel alignment equipment?

Balancing - yes. alignment is the old fashioned way, but I have never had problems after alignment.

[jatinpatel]

Mounts giving away depends on the driving style also.
One of the forum member his mounts lasted for 60k kms. While my civic mounts were changed at 32k kms that is before i bought the car, know it since i saw the vehicle history.

Civic is a Mount eater so no point worrying about it.But First the hydraulic mount will go bust then the rest if the hydraulic mount is not replaced on time.