How we ended up booking Jazz CVT as our ageing Santro Xing replacement

We went to the dealership to compare the VX and ZX variants of the car & came back booking the VX CVT trim.

BHPian jaysheth recently shared this with other enthusiasts.

Yesterday, my wife and I went to the Honda showroom where, upon our request, the SA was kind to arrange for 2 Honda Jazz cars - VX and ZX - taken to their basement parking and lined up side-by-side. What's more, they even got the basement lights turned off to make it like a proper night (otherwise this aspect is very difficult to compare in daylight). We then spent enough time turning each car's lights on and off turn by turn, and noting down the impressions until we could reach a conclusion. Salute to the patience of the Honda team!

And to my total surprise, we finally found VX CVT yellow halogen lights much better than ZX CVT white LED lights. ZX CVT additionally has white fog lamps, but they didn't add much value (in our opinion) either! Even my Hyundai Santro retrofitted yellow halogen fog lamps seemed to be better (though not used much). I am sure yellow fog lamps would have been much better but they have given white headlamps + white fog lamps in ZX! ZX variant does not even have a "projector headlamps" setup. Had it had an "LED Projector" setup, I believe the experience would have been different. The SA also narrated some harrowing experiences they recently had with Honda City white LED lights where they were blinded during heavy rains + fog while driving, again where yellow lights are supposed to have far better penetration and much less haze/glare.

Just one more observation to further help fellow members decide/compare: The LED sockets in the VX model are actually housing the DRLs. I found them of hardly any use, but they are good while removing the car from and parking it back in our slightly tricky (though acceptable) parking slot. Again, thanks to Honda SA for bringing the car home, just so that we could satisfy ourselves on this front as well!

I also asked if we can get those DRLs removed from VX fog lamp slots and replaced by actual fog lamps (of course by paying extra), to which the Honda dealer refused saying they are not advised to make such electrical modifications and that might void the warranty (having read reviews on Team-BHP, I was sort of expecting this kind of reply from Honda, so wasn't surprised! Basically, Honda is not too accommodating when it comes to requests like this, and even things like adjustable rear headrests). Anyways, noting that ZX LED fog lamps were not of much use either, we were ok to live without them!

The verdict, therefore, was clear -  We would choose VX over ZX for "better" (though more traditional and halogen) lights! Now that would mean no sunroof option and my wife was somehow actually happy about it. Retrospectively I too thought it would be "safer" to have a car without a sunroof, and especially when Honda Jazz has such a fantastic view and large glasses + quarter glasses all around, there will be no dearth of sunlight/view especially pan India.

So finally we requested for one more test drive (the first TD was taken in June 2022). They only had the ZX CVT for TD, but that was okay with us as all features except lighting and sunroof are the exact same. My wife drove for 5-7 minutes (her first Jazz TD) and I drove for 10-12 minutes (my second Jazz TD). She whispered in my ears that she loved to drive (and I had loved it already) so that sealed it for us! Ah and on that note, driver-side seat height adjustment is very useful!

The prices increased again in August 2022 (June 2022 price list quoted 11.54L on road for ZX CVT Pearl White whereas August 2022 price list quoted 11.67L, so there was a further increase of INR 13K in just 2 months). Both these are for the "pearl white" colour (which is INR 4K more ex-showroom compared to all other colours). This, I believe has been the 5th price increase in 2022, and prices are expected to only go north from here!

Next, to our surprise, the dealer said there is a Pearl White VX CVT in transit, so if we could book right away, we could get it as early as next week! I was really surprised.

And that led to the final negotiation round with the SA, his manager and our 13-year Hyundai Santro Xing for exchange. That was a few more minutes until we shook hands!

We had gone to compare VX versus ZX and returned having booked the grand "Honda Jazz VX CVT Pearl White". We have paid the booking amount of INR 11K so far.

The car is expected to reach the dealer stockyard by end of tomorrow, and their stockyard is quite near their showroom (making lives easy for us), post which we will do the PDI. If all goes well (fingers crossed!), we will purchase the car as early as tomorrow and get the delivery latest by the coming weekend.

At this stage, fellow BHPians, please do advise if you have any further suggestions! In the interim, I have just finished reading the great PDI thread.

I must mention the dealership experience has exceeded my expectations so far. When requested, the dealer promptly shared the chassis number (and it is going to be September 2022 car, yes, this very month!). They even created a WhatsApp group with their team and me and have been addressing my follow-up queries promptly and professionally!

If PDI goes fine, we will have lots of peace of mind for many, many years, which is rare to find in today's world.

Most notably, it gives me a great sense of satisfaction thinking of the factors, that we would finally have the following:

• A hatchback (we didn't want an SUV, having loved hatchbacks so far - owning Hyundai Santro Xing 2009). I know the world is moving to CSUVs and SUVs, and good hatchbacks are hard to find.
• A "petrol" car (our running is not much, not justifying diesel, love the smoothness of a petrol car with low NVH and a peppy drive. EV is a strict NO for us at least at this stage for various reasons. Flex fuel engines are yet to be introduced, and thereafter to be tried-and-tested). Also, the car manufacturers have been swamped with too many directives too often (first BS4, then BS6, then EV, and now flex-fuel!) Really wonder how they are able to manage their business with continuously changing norms, directives, and now the terrible global economic situation (I can write an article on this!)
• A "Naturally Aspirated" (NA) petrol car. Being someone who wants to keep this car forever(!), decided this over Turbo.
• A 4-cylinder NA petrol - extremely refined and reliable engine (just having some fun adding dimensions... but researching options and mapping to our requirements again makes me very very clear on wanting this over a 3-cylinder turbo).
• A proper automatic (CVT!). In fact, the biggest reason to let go of our fantastic Santro Xing is that it is a manual car and it has started to become tiring with ever-increasing traffic, especially during our Mumbai trips and visits to some places in Pune too. Wise folks have shared here that CVT or Torque Converter is the way to go for "reliability" as against (jerky) AMT and (risky) DCT etc. Especially considering Honda engine refinement and reliability, the car will not leave us stranded during the journey! Further, having cruise control + paddle shifters is an absolute bliss + pleasure respectively.
• 4-star GNCAP rating
• Proven and time-tested "Honda City" global platform (the SA tried convincing us for Amaze a couple of times, saying it is cheaper and more feature-rich) but we were crystal clear.
• Honda is the only brand that offers up to a 10-year warranty. The dealership however said that I can't purchase a 10-year warranty right away, I can purchase a max 5-year warranty and before that expires, I can extend. Hence have opted for a 5-year warranty.

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