Our Honda Elevate 1.5L ZX MT's Review: 28,000 km up in just 8 months

Now Elevate has taken over responsibility from both Altis and Ecosport. Based on the experience we had with it in the past few months I can certainly say that it has mixed qualities of both

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Hello fellow Bhpians,

It feels like only a few days have passed since we got our new Elevate but time flies fast and it's already about 8 months.

During this time it has crossed the 28k mark and here's my detailed experience about the positives and negatives of this car.

Background-

We had a 2009 Altis Petrol & 2015 Ecosport Titanium TDCI. As I am posting this review, our Altis has already completed its 15 years and is not valid to be driven on public roads. We parted ways with our Ecosport in April this year (It had done almost 260k and we had a very memorable time with it).

Due to the Car age restriction in NCR, both our cars had a limited time, because of which we started searching for a new car in June last year

Our requirements were simple-

• Spacious Car with big Boot
• Safe and reliable
• Good efficiency
• Fun to drive 

Why Elevate ?

 At that time we started our search, we had never thought that we would buy a Honda.

Originally we had considered Kia Carens, Seltos, Hyundai Alcazar, Innova Hycross & XUV 700. Our final shortlist was between XUV 700 & Hycross. After a lot of thought and discussion we booked the Hycross (vx(o) 8 seater sparkling black) in the 1st week of August last year.

 Reasons for selecting the Hycross were that it was reliable, dependable and practical plus, the sales advisor at Galaxy Toyota Moti Nagar had suggested to us that this particular variant had a low waiting period and we can get it in 4-5 months.

But by December we realized that getting the Hycross is not that easy and straightforward, in 4 months the waiting list had hardly changed. On the other hand I knew people who got their cars in much less time but that was through other arrangements. As an existing Toyota customer we felt very bad and decided to put the plan on hold.

As we had limited time, I started searching for other alternatives.

• XUV 700 AX7 D - Out of all the cars that we had considered, this certainly was the best option overall. But sadly at that time it still had a big waiting period. Booking it in December would have meant waiting another 4-5 months. Maybe we can consider it as our second car.
• Toyota Hyryder- I like the Hyryder in terms of its looks and hybrid powertrain. But at the time it had a long waiting period and based on the Hycross experience I was sure that we would not get the car in the stipulated time. So we opted not to consider it.
• Grand Vitara- Unlike the Hyryder, it was readily available in both the Hybrid and non hybrid versions. I was seriously considering it. Plus, few Nexa dealers were also offering some discounts. But, my dad has been very sceptical about the safety of Maruti’s Cars and whatever logic I gave, that it's identical to the Hyryder and is based on the Brezza platform, so should get at least 4 stars, he would not approve it.
• Kia Carens/Seltos- Both cars offered a very good package, I personally preferred the Seltos while my dad liked the Carens more. In any case we would have taken the diesel versions, but at the time diesel was only available in IMT gearbox and we were not so sure about its long term reliability.
• Honda Elevate- During the same time my friend was also looking to buy a new car and he was asking for suggestions on the Elevate. So I visited a Honda showroom. The 1st impressions were really good. Exterior and Interior designs were good, sitting position was incredible, had loads of leg room, boot was also big and had got decent features. Pricing was also very attractive, ZX(mt)- 17L OTR & VX(mt) 16L OTR. I personally liked the VX variant a lot, but at that time 6 airbags were not available in it. Next day I showed it to my dad and he instantly approved it.

Buying Experience-

• We booked the Car on 10th Dec,23 with Ace Honda-Noida.
• We preferred the ZX(MT) variant in Metallic Grey
• Luckily they had 1 car in this particular variant and color available in stock, but it had a 50k accessory pack on it. Without giving much thought we accepted it.
• We also opted for Extended Warranty and Honda RSA.
• Buying experience was very average, like most dealerships, they too forced us to take Insurance and loan from them.
• We got the delivery on 21st December, 23

Ownership Experience-

In the past 8 months we have driven it on good roads, bad roads, no roads, highways, steep inclines and declines so there is much to share.

Driving Dynamics-

Pros-

• Easy to drive- It's very easy to drive, even for someone who is driving it for the first time can easily become accustomed to its dimensions.
• Good Handling- It's very comparable to the Ecosport. At city speeds the steering is very light, but on highways it gains the right amount of heft. Pushing it on slaloms, twisted roads and hills is an absolute joy.
• Unlike Ecosport the A pillar does not create a big blind spot and the side view mirrors are also very usable.
• At high speeds also it feels very stable and has minimum body roll.
• Good Fuel Efficiency- With mixed City and Highway driving, I am easily averaging around 15-17 km/l
• I think Honda has slightly changed the gear ratios on this when compared to the City. It feels to have a better bottom end when navigating through steep roads.

Cons-

• At slow speeds suspensions absorb bumps very well, but on highway speeds it becomes a bit bouncy, particularly for the rear passengers. If you add more weight in the boot, passengers in the rear can totally experience a roller coaster ride. On expressways like Eastern & Western Peripheral it's better to stay within 90 km/h. Now this is similar to Ecosport and most other cars in this segment but we were spoiled by the comfort of Altis and getting used to this is taking time.
• Small fuel Tank- Total capacity of the fuel tank is just 40 ltrs, out of which it keeps 4-5 liters in reserve. So the total range is just 450-500 kms. By comparison even Ecosport has a 50 ltrs fuel tank.
• Honda could have added more sound damping to reduce external & engine noise inside the cabin.
• Updated gear ratios do mean that it hits 100 at 2700 rpm in 6th gear.

Interiors-

Pros-

• The seats are very comfortable. I have easily driven 12 hours straight without needing a break. I also really like the headrest design
• Interior layout is simple and easy to use. Even my not so techy parents found it simple and straightforward.
• Spacious Interior- Interior is very spacious. Surprisingly it has more rear legroom than my Altis.

Cons-

• Limited storage spaces- I had a habit of keeping some cash in the sunglass holder and fuel receipts in driver side storage but this has neither(I have seen both of these in Honda City). Storage inside the Centre Armrest is also small and nothing can be stored beneath the seats.
• Basic Infotainment system- Unlike other cars in this segment this touch screen system is very basic.
• Shoulder room for 3 adults is tight.

Headlights-

Pros-

• Headlights have got a very powerful throw, For in City use the low beams are more than sufficient. High Beams provide very good visibility on the highways.
• On our Ecosport we had to attach a big led light bar on the front as headlight visibility was very poor, but in this I don’t feel the requirement of additional auxiliary lights.
• Automatic high beam feature is not very useful but it certainly helps in impressing other occupants.

Cons-

• Automatic Headlights- Auto Headlight sensor is very sensitive, it turns on headlights even when it is not required and there is no way to totally shut off the headlights.
• All white lights are not useful when driving in dense fog.
• Honda Elevate 1.5L ZX MT Ownership Review | 28000 km in 8 months-auto-headlight.jpg
• (Auto Headlights turned on even when there is sufficient day light)

Touch screen infotainment System & Instrument cluster

Pros-

• Simple and easy to use interface, but it's also very basic.
• Resolutions are better in this than most other competitors
• During night drives it does not create any glare and brightness can be easily controlled through a button
• The left lane watch camera is very useful, they should have installed it on the right side as well.
• Rear camera also shows a very wide view, so reversing out of parking spots is easy.
• Wireless Android auto and apple carplay are very useful.
  
  (Left lane camera covers all the blind spots on the road)

Cons-

• There is no direct connection between the touchscreen and the driver's instrument cluster.
• Unlike most other cars in this segment, this touch screen system only controls the stereo, it does not show any telematics, most car settings can be accessed through the instrument cluster. Voice commands only work with android auto or apple carplay.
• Honda should also add navigation and gear shift indicators to the speedometer.
• When reversing the car, rear sensors should be shown with the rear camera on touchscreen. Currently it is shown separately on the speedometer.
  

Issues faced with the touchscreen system.

• The first issue I faced was that the android auto kept on crashing when the phone was connected wired or wireless. It would not reconnect unless I restarted the car. In the last service I got the system updated post that this issue occurs less often and reconnection is easier.
• During peak summers I have received a few warnings on screen that showed there was a malfunction due to overheating. After that it would restart on its own and then work normally. I have not seen this issue after the software update.
  

 Few issues still persist like-

• When phone receives a call while connected with Bluetooth, sometimes upon answering the call you can still hear the ringtone in the background
• When connected with the android auto sometimes the screen gets completely blank.

Experience with ADAS-

With regular Highways running, I have tried all the features that come under ADAS

Adaptive Cruise Control & Lane Keep Assist-

• Its a good feature to have, I use it a lot when driving on Highways/Expressways. On long drives it provides some rest as it can brake, accelerate and follow the lane itself. Can’t take my hand away from steering for long as it starts to beep after every 15-20 secs. These features can be turned on or off with buttons on the steering wheel which is very convenient.
• Limitation with these features- LKA automatically disengages without any proper alert as speed goes below 60. System mostly follows white lines on roads and does not anticipate sharp turns. Plus in India most slow vehicles tend to drive in the center or right lane which leads to unnecessary braking.
  
• Road Departure Mitigation System- It gives alerts and tries to intervene when changing lanes without indicators. I have turned off this feature, as sometimes it becomes very intrusive.
• Collision Mitigation Braking System (CMBS)-Elevate has a Camera based system, still it alerts and applies brakes accurately in most conditions but our Indian conditions are very unpredictable, anything can happen here. So I don’t like to trust it completely. One big problem with this system is that if you turn it off, it automatically turns on every time you restart the Car. It is also very sensitive to people and 2 wheelers, I have to drive very cautiously on crowded and congested roads as multiple times it has applied sudden brakes.
  
  
  
  

Other small niggles-

Front window vibration-

When the front window is slightly opened, it vibrates as the car goes through bad roads. I first reported this issue for the front right window, then the Honda service guys applied their ingenuity and after that the front left window also started vibrating. SA told me that this is a common problem in all Honda cars. I have never noticed this issue in my Altis or Ecosport even though both have crossed 2.00,000 kms.

(Wiper quality is very bad, in the first few thousand kilometers it started to leave scratches on the front windshield)

Service Experience-

• Currently I am getting it serviced from Ace Honda-Noida.
• I feel the cost of service is high, our diesel Ecosport used to get serviced from ASC for around 4-5k. Even Toyota service does not cost this much.
• Cost of 3rd service at 10,000kms was INR 6154(Labor charges free)
• Cost of 4th service at 20,000kms was INR 10391, this includes Labor cost, General maintenance, Engine oil, oil filter, wheel alignment and balancing(AC filter was not in stock)
• Service staff is very professional and organized but overall service experience is not as good as Toyota.

To Sum it Up-

• Now Elevate has taken over responsibility from both Altis and Ecosport. Based on the experience we had with it in the past few months I can certainly say that it has mixed qualities of both- Like Ecosports it drives very well, the handling is great and driving it on twisted roads is an absolute joy. Fuel efficiency is also decent. External build may not be as tough but I am sure that it will get a good rating in Bharat NCAP. Like Altis- Its dependable and reliable, cabin is also very spacious and boot is also of decent size. Apart from the niggles in the touch screen system, it has been a completely fuss free ownership experience, that I think is its biggest plus point.
• Travelling with our Altis, the only negative bit it had was low ground clearance. Ask any sedan owner how much it hurts when you take all the precautions and still your car bottoms out. Elevate is essentially a Honda City with high ground clearance, yes in driving dynamics it may not completely match the City but that 220 mm ground clearance really shines when you have to navigate through bad roads.
• 5th Service is also coming up and I will keep you all posted about how it went.
• Honda should bring the 1.5 turbo engine to India and also add more features. I am sure Elevate can do much better.

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