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I clocked 63000 km on my Honda City automatic with a CNG kit in 4 years

25th July 2024, 11:41 by Utkarsh Chaudhary

The cost of replacing her right now with a similarly priced VW Vento or Skoda Rapid will be 2x or an upgrade like the Maruti S-Cross is easily going 4x the cost of the repairs needed.

BHPian ManasN95 recently shared this with other enthusiasts.

Hello all,

Time to post an update

Overview

The City is doing along fine, has almost touched 80,000 KMs on the odometer, so almost 63,000 KMs under my ownership since I bought it back in June 2020.

So almost 15,500 KMs per year of running, and looking back it was a good decision to convert to CNG, as the running costs have been extremely economical against fully on Petrol.

Currently, she gives around 13-14 km/kg in city conditions, around 17-18 km/kg on highways (going uphill from Thane to Pune), 19-20 km/kg (coming downhill from Pune to Thane) and on really good roads (ex. Pune - Satara highway) the mileage goes beyond 22-23 km/kg, which is above average from what I have heard, and this being a Torque Converter automatic, these figures are good from what I know.

The longest trip I have been with the car is from Pune to Puttur (~900 KMs) and back from Puttur to Dombivli (~1000+ KMs) and the overall mileage of the trip was an astounding 30+ km/kg, Karnataka roads are heavenly, and plus rainy season so A.C was on only 50% of the time.

So all in all, the CNG decision has made sense, and I have installed the Lovato Sequential Kit, the topmost of their portfolio which had cost some 50,000 bucks back in 2020 - the CNG rates too were around Rs. 47, which now have settled to Rs. 73.50 per kg after almost touching Rs. 90 in the place where I live.

It made sense back in 2020, I don't think I would have installed CNG now if I had a choice.

One major downside to this installation is that the already poor ground clearance on the Honda City has taken a further hit and now it scrapes left right and center with even 2-3 people on board, as the tank itself is 80 kg dry, with another 10 kg of gas, means I always carry a hefty person in the boot.

To tackle this somewhat, I had installed Autorunners buffers, which mitigated to an extent for 2-3 years, but now have installed the height pads from the suggestion of one fellow CNG City owner, and for now, I am happy, though I realise that this unnatural modification messes up the suspension faster than it should.

Moving on, recently I am in two minds - whether to keep the City or sell her for my want of a German diesel as a stop-gap for 2-3 years until I can land on a decent long-term hybrid or an electric car.

Spoke with a lot of people, tried staying off OLX as much as I can, but the Germans are too irresistible not to be bothered about. I scoured for everything from a used Polo, Vento, Rapid, Superb and even a Jetta, to coming to my senses and thinking about S-Cross or a Creta.

But with better sense, I laid down the following points - I am a big fan of looks, and while the Germans have me weak in the knees, the 3rd Generation of "Arrow Head" City looks handsome as well. It's the best-looking City for me, personally.

Has she ever stranded me? Never. Thrown up any surprise expenses? None. Have any of the maintenance / repairs been much more expensive than expected? Nada.

All the above points - there will be a high chance all answers would be yes in the case of a pre-owned German, especially automatic.

When it's a question of keeping the car for 2 or 3 more years at the max, keeping her makes a huge financial sense, no matter how I try to spin it.

So that has been decided, I am keeping the Honda City till it touches the 14-15 year mark - she's a keeper* (*Unless I hit a jackpot and can splurge on a German, haha, never say never!!)

Current status

So, with the roads not being so good, and constant weight on all the suspension components, I am foreseeing a good amount of repairs to keep her in top mechanical condition.

The engine mount, one of them has developed a play, and I have been suggested to change all three of them as they should ideally be replaced in a set - same like tyres. (~15,000)
The rear tyres are close to the end of their life, almost bald, although the front ones are almost with 80% thread left. I want to shift to 185/65 R15, so I would need to change on all 4. I will put one of the front tyres on the spare, and upsize the other 4. (~30,000)
Other repairs like AC gas leakage, front shockers are making leaking again (even though had them replaced just 6000 KMs ago), some rattles here and there, some bushes acting up etc. I am sure this list will increase once a thorough full-body check-up is done. (~15,000)
General service would be due soon, brake pads lasted only 20,000 KMs, so I would need to mend my driving style a little bit, and remind myself that this is a beater car and not a German to be floored. According to a friend (Team-Bhpian) the Automatic Transmission fluid also needs to be changed, which, alas, was also supposedly changed at the 60,000 KM service. Anyway, will check the condition, and what's needed to be done, will be done (~10,000)

The above expenses are all to bring her to a good enough mechanical condition for the next two years, apart from regular maintenance.

As for the cosmetic / functional upgrades - I want to install a good dash cam for a very long, and I know it's my absolute laziness to do so, as it has become one of the must-haves with regard to safety - as important as brakes, tyres. (~14,000)
Other small bits like fog lamp upgrade, damping sheets not for the sound system, but to lessen the excessive scraping noise, thuds and whatnot so that the heart aches a little lesser, upholstery refurbishment etc are on my mind with a good detailing session after the rains to make her beautiful from the inside as well. (~25,000).

So this is what I am foreseeing, approx. Rs. 1.10L, of course not in one go, but in bits and parts, with the mechanical issues to be sorted first.

So all in all, this is what I am at, with the Honda City. Does it make sense to spend 1L on a car which is the maximum going to give me 2/2.5L two years down the line? Maybe not so much.

But the cost of replacing her right now i.e. with a similar priced Vento or Rapid will be 2x (who is betting on the amount I would need to spend on the surprises that the Germans throw up) or an upgrade like S-Cross is easily going 4x the cost of the repairs mentioned above - and mind you - these expenses on a car which will only be a stop-gap - for less than 5 years. When I think of it from this angle, it all makes sense to keep the Honda - after all, she's never let me down, has she!?

More regular updates with regard to the above expenses to follow!