Why I sold my 2 year old Honda Jazz CVT & bought a 5th gen City CVT

Absolutely love the way it handles – a big big plus from Jazz. The steering wheel is good to hold, has the right weight at high speeds.

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Dear BHPians,

This is a story of how random car buying decisions can be and how illogical we motor heads can get when it comes to the excitement of owning a pair of new wheels. I completed the first 5000kms with my City V CVT (based model) and it's a good time to share the buying decision and initial experience.

We bought our first car, a Honda Jazz VX CVT (top model) in 2021 for ~11 lakhs OTR in Bangalore. Life with the Jazz had been breezy, as expected with a Honda petrol automatic. The car went above and beyond our expectations in terms of interior feel, space management, smoothness of gear box & engine, and the build quality. We were so pleased with the car that we never liked the interior look and feel of cars even from a segment or two above.

However, within an year of ownership, I was bit by the new car syndrome - out of nowhere . My company revamped its car leasing policy last year and the leasing benefits are now best in the industry - no kidding. This isn't a typical car lease policy where you just save the interest on EMI / Driver Salaries - I am easily getting the car for 25% less than it's market value.

There was no need for a new car and Jazz ticked almost every box for us. All, but one. The roads in Bangalore keep getting worse, thanks to the digging mafia (read nexus between politicians, bureaucrats, and builders) and the ground clearance was the only issue I faced with Jazz – or so I thought.

Hence, I started convincing wifey that we need a car with better ground clearance. She was taken aback that I already got our much beloved car evaluated by the likes of Spinny and Olx. I worked on the math and was very clear in my head that I ll not spend anything from my pocket and will look for a worthy upgrade. It's during this time that I shared a thread on teambhp about the C-SUV options in 11 - 13L budget that could replace our Jazz.

As suggested unanimously by most bhpians (and somewhere I knew it), there isn't an automatic CSUV that is really an upgrade to the Jazz CVT. Sharing how I concluded on the options:

• Nexon / XUV 300 - AMTs, never considered after the CVT delight.
• Sonet / Venue - Was strictly looking at safety ratings of 4+
• Brezza - new Brezza had just launched and it looked like a good option, but seemed overpriced. Also, the interior experience coming from a Jazz top end was a big step down in Brezza.
• Kiger / Magnite - was the only option left, carefully considered and ditched because of low reliability and interior quality.

I dropped the plan of changing the car for a few months. But it was there on the back of my mind that I can sell the Jazz for 9ish and if I get a car for 12-13 lakhs, it will be almost a flat cost upgrade. I have never been interested in sedans. Theoretically, it never made sense to me to own longer cars with lower ground clearances. As a newbie in the world of cars, I always felt that GC is directly proportional to the intensity of jerks you feel. Hence, whenever the ride in Jazz felt jerky in the numerous breakers and pot holes - I could only think about the lower GC and not the suspension. Also, most mid-size sedans other than Ciaz were higher priced.

In December 2022, a friend suggested me to test drive a City once. I always felt that City is nothing but a jazz with bigger boot and engine. I still went for the drive. To my absolute surprise, I could not feel any trouble on most of the breakers that I typically hated. I immediately realized that it's the softer suspension that I have been missing. Additionally, after a long enough drive, I could clearly appreciate the exceptional benefits of ride, handling and drivability that sedans offer.

The bug bite became sore again. I called a City for test drive, just for my wife to experience the same commute roads in the City where we used to take our Jazz. She felt I had lost my mind but reluctantly asked me to work the math.

The base V CVT is such a VFM proposition in the City range. We were getting a 80K discount on ex-showroom because it was end of the year stock. I negotiated with a few other dealers and we agreed with one of them who had a single unit left of the colour and variant I was looking for. I ended up paying 12L ex-showroom for the V CVT (95 K discount), and additional discounts on a few accessories. With the Jazz getting discontinued, I was convinced that even though I am stretching my budget from 13 OTR to 15 OTR, City will certainly fetch us a lot higher resale value than the discontinued Jazz.

With some armtwisting between Spinny, Olx and Car Dekho, we got a price of 9.15 for my jazz after 2 years and 15K kms of ownership.

And just like that, we sold our Jazz and got the City.

Model – 2022 V CVT.

Accessories installed – footmats, door garnish, body side moulding, bumper protectors and rain wisor. Dash Cam ordered.

I have always been a sedate driver and love driving peacefully but I am being told that I drive the City differently than the Jazz. I love pushing the throttle whenever I get a chance on this one. I will skip a detailed review and will only talk about the pros and cons about the car in my view.

What I love about the car:

• Absolutely love the way it handles – a big big plus from Jazz. The steering wheel is good to hold, has the right weight at high speeds and incredibly easy to maneuver at lower city speeds.
• Space – Enough and more
• Power – more than what I need
• Gear box and engine combo – low how smooth the CVT operates with 1.5 NA engine
• Seat comfort – widely known
• The City brand – It might be just me, but I feel that many of us grew up during the type when Honda City used to be the most aspirational one. Owning the City, despite knowing that it’s not aspirational anymore, gives a sense of achievement and pride.

What should have certainly been better at the price point:

• Bigger wheels with better profile – V variant has 185 R15 tyres, an upgrade is going to be expensive. This is a let down, the Balenos and Altrozs of the world have 16inch tyres now.
• Diamond cut alloys – missed this in the VX Jazz (though lower priced amaze has it) and in the 5th gen City V CVT (though lower priced 4th Gen V has it)
• Infotainment system and audio quality – Clearly compromised.
• Premium soft touch materials – Jazz had more soft touch usage compared to my city base. Though the top end ZX has some additional leather touch.
• Build quality – Here I see a significant drop compared to my Jazz. The doors seemed heavier and the sheets stronger in the hatch. The build for City 5th gen looks compromised – better than MS and Hyundai but not at par with Tata and Mahindra.
• Instrument Cluster - It's better in the VX and ZX trims.

Other than these, I am immensely satisfied with the car. The ride is bouncy at high speeds as many have pointed out, but unless you are an enthusiast of a higher degree, the car is pretty stable. I am loving the car and plan to keep it for a long time.

Who will I recommend this to? If you are in the market for an automatic with a budget of 12-13 lakhs, I will suggest you stretch and go for the City. I will highly recommend the lower variants (V and SV after the facelift). If you are looking at upper variants and have no budget constraints, I think Skoda / VG offerings seem to have an edge.

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