BHPian CentreOfGravity recently shared this with other enthusiasts:Service Update: 3 years, 19000 km up!Our Honda City turned three years old on 23rd July, 2025! Time flies. I’d have loved to cut a cake to commemorate the occasion, but I decided against it lest my family thinks I’ve lost my sanity. Cake cutting for a car, duh. Now even if I were to cut a cake and share it with the City, I’m not convinced that forcefully shoving cake down its fuel tank wouldn’t do it any harm (although you never know, at the end of the day it’s a Honda). You see, the car’s diet doesn’t mention sugar anywhere (unless you consider “sugarcane juice” to be a form of sugar, ahem ahem). Jokes apart, while on the topic, I can’t begin to tell you how relieved I was when I learnt that our car is compatible with fermented sugarcane juice, especially in light of the confusion and uproar online regarding ethanol blended fuel. Here’s a (late) birthday picture, clicked a month after her “birthday”: 18000 km Service Update:The 5th service was due soon and as the due date approached, I thought the car felt unrefined and rough to drive. Psychology playing its tricks? Owing to our rather unsatisfactory experience with the Arya Honda ASC at Dockyard, Reay Road with the accident repairs last time, we decided to try out Arya Honda, Sewri. For a change, I booked the service slot from the Honda Connect App instead of dialling up the service centre. Boy, I must say, as boring and clunky as the app interface looks, it is quite functional and useful. You can choose an ASC, schedule the date and time, mention any extra work that you want to get done, and also select from a list of services under Other Services. Booking the service was a breeze: Other Services. We opted for motor care service only: I expected a confirmation call of sorts from the ASC after booking, but my dad ended up calling them since they didn’t get back within 24+ hours. No big deal. Apart from regular service, there were some things to be taken care which I mentioned in the Requested Repairs section:Windshield washer nozzle: The left hole of the left nozzle was acting up like a moody teenager. It wouldn’t spray water for the past three months, and its three siblings were left all on their own to do the job.Windshield leakage: Under the Ownership Experience section in my review, I had mentioned the windshield replacement that was done in Trivandrum. Unfortunately, within just 1.5 years, water has started dripping into the cabin from the roof during heavy rains (1 drop/min when it’s pouring hard).Misaligned fog lights: Honestly, we never bothered to fix this as the throw of the lights is terrible anyway, but since it won’t command an extra cost, why not get it done? Reference picture of the misalignment Opted for pick up and drop service. The car went on 25th August and returned the next day. As it turns out, my feeling about the unrefinement was right; upon startup, the difference was immediately perceivable. It was so good to hear the beautifully silent purr of the engine again! The steering wheel was smoother too, and in general, the car felt fresh and much better to drive. And as for the moody teenager, it went back to being a jolly teenager – the washer spray is working fine now! To inspect the leakage in the windshield, we were told that the glass would have to be removed, and the sealant probably re-applied. Total estimated cost for inspection only = 8000 rupees, which felt unreasonable considering this was no fault of ours. Didn’t get this done as we had planned a trip to Ratnagiri soon and weren’t comfortable with the idea of removing the windshield just days before a trip. Do note that the leakage is very minimal, happens only on the driver’s side and is noticeable only during heavy rains. I’m considering writing an email to Honda to see if anything can be done about it. The other option is to get it done from an FNG (suggestions for reputed FNGs in Mumbai, preferably around Dadar, are most welcome!). Either way, I’ll update the thread once we fix the leakage. Regarding the misaligned fog lights: Interestingly, it was left untouched as I had mentioned this in the app and not on the call. No crisis, will look into it next time. The service bill came up to Rs. 11,494. Breakdown: Sunroof cleaning was done on the SA’s advice due to the monsoon. The bill amount could have been brought down to 8.2k rupees had we denied wheel alignment and balancing, throttle body cleaning and engine cleaner; something to keep in mind next time. We got a 10% discount and the pickup and drop charges were waived off too. Overall, I’m satisfied with this ASC and I would 100% recommend it over the one at Reay Road.Trip to Ratnagiri:Route taken: Link It had been over a year since we went on a road trip, so what better opportunity than the Ganpati holidays to plan an escape from the same old everyday grind! It helped that the car’s annual service was carried out just before the trip, because I could experience the City in its best shape. This trip also marked my second long drive (as a driver) in my second year of driving! We left for Ratnagiri the same weekend at 4:45 am. The Atal Setu trans harbour link was beautiful as usual, more so during early hours. The smooth and near empty roads were a good start to the journey. However, that joy was short lived; after the sea link exit, we used the JNPT road which turned out to be a grave mistake. There are absolutely no street lights, and the roads are the definition of TERRIBLE because they are inundated with potholes, unmarked speed breakers and everything in between. To add salt to the injury, the headlights simply wouldn’t illuminate the road even in high beam. This led to me scraping the underbelly multiple times despite maintaining a very low average speed. After that stretch, the roads got better but they were still underwhelming. Multiple unexpected speedbreakers (on what is supposed to be a national highway!) and potholes broke our momentum periodically. There were a handful of diversions too. The second half of the journey was considerably better. Road quality improved and so did the scenery. Overall, the road situation was okay at best. Note: The route that I have linked above is what we used on the return journey to Mumbai. This is better than the one described above. Somewhere en route to Ratnagiri for a brekkie break: Trip stats after reaching Ratnagiri: Ratnagiri is beautiful and exactly as I had imagined. Serene, quiet, peaceful, and with lush greenery all around, this was the perfect escape from the chaos and fast-paced life of Mumbai. The cherry on the cake was the beautiful weather! Surprisingly, the roads in the village we went to are pretty damn good, save for a couple of occasional potholes and the narrow roads. Sparse traffic, soothing weather, good roads and an enjoyable car; what more does an enthusiast need! Here are some pictures taken over the course of our two-day stay there: At the Ganpatipule Temple: Karhateshwar Temple at Kunbiwadi: That’s me trying to capture the beautiful structures: At Westbay Resort for lunch. Food was okay: Photogenic, ain’t she? Awesome scenery: Nothing like a fresh, hearty, homely seafood meal: Stats from the return trip: The low FE can be attributed to my enthusiastic driving in Ratnagiri :DHonda City: More Observations And Updates I had a fantastic time at Ratnagiri and made full use of the near-empty and twisty roads there to explore the limits of the car (of course, while being within my limits ). I couldn’t let this opportunity slide, as Mumbai roads won’t let me understand the City’s nuances well. Safe to say that I had a blast, and I now understand ride, handling and balance a lot better.The handling of the City is so satisfying. It flows into a corner beautifully and it holds its line pretty well. Feedback is positively abundant and there is a grace with which the City goes into a corner. Nothing explosive or ultra reactive, and it won’t simply dart into a corner like its German contemporaries apparently do, but it is still genuinely enjoyable and will bring a smile to your face – I, for one, was grinning all along. However, as you increase the pace to ~70 km/h on a reasonably tight curve and continue pushing the car, the skinny tyres do make their reluctance felt and at that point, the front end feels like it may start to wash out.I have come to realise that soft suspension setups are not necessarily the best for passenger comfort. Soft setups work best at low speeds, and therefore you would have to slow down an awful lot over broken roads to ensure comfort. Increase the pace even by a bit over bad roads and see everyone getting tossed around (and also a few slurs getting tossed at you XD). The low GC of the City doesn’t help. I overtook many “SUVs” on the way, but every time I slowed down for potholes and crawled over them, those SUVs would catch up, storm through that road confidently and overtake us like no one’s business. In the meantime, the City would still be negotiating the road, crawling at 7 km/h. How I wish it had a mature suspension…The engine is as sweet, rev-happy and spankable as ever. “Your wish is my command” it exclaims, the moment you dab at the accelerator. Absolutely no perceivable lag between you pressing the A-pedal and the engine reacting to it. Just input, processing and output. To read about the engine and other driving aspects in more detail, click here.Quote from BHPian CentreOfGravity:Another issue is the jerky fuel cut-off at the redline. At 7200 rpm, the car suddenly loses power, only for it to return a second or so later. Sure, redlining a car isn’t something you do every day, but it does disappoint during those rare moments of spirited driving. Guess what? This issue has magically disappeared! No jerks at the redline anymore. This is a remote assumption, but I think it must have been resolved through the diagnostic troubleshooting OBD scan during one of the annual services.While writing my review, I couldn’t find the kerb weight of the City’s ZX MT variant specifically despite scouring through the internet. I finally found it yesterday, and in the most absurd place possible – our car’s RC book . The Honda City i-VTEC ZX MT weighs 1127 kg.This is a small point, but I love that the letters of the “CITY” badge are individually pasted. Honda didn’t try to save costs by making it a single-piece badge.The ORVMs do not auto-fold when you lock the car with the physical key.Both rear doors have the child lock button, and not just the right door as I assumed. This assumption came from the fact that our i20 had it only on the right door.Quote from BHPian saket77:Regarding the auto headlamps that you want to turn off- as a workaround, just shift the rotary lamp switch to parking lights. The headlamps will turn off and only the DRL and tail lamps would be on. I use this at times as the auto headlamps turn on a little too soon at dusk.Turns out, the headlights can indeed be turned off when it’s dark without having to engage the handbrake! As mentioned above, the stalk must be at the “parking lights” position. Many thanks to BHPian saket77 for asking me to recheck this. I’m surprised I didn’t notice this despite playing with the rotary stalk multiple times in different conditions. Clearly a glaring oversight on my part, and I offer my apologies for the misinformation in the review.Every time the fog lights are turned on, a “click” sound can be heard from somewhere ahead of the passenger footwell area. It feels cheap but also feels weirdly satisfying and hilarious.I missed mentioning the scratches on the instrument cluster panel in my review! U-g-l-y. The scratches started appearing on the panel in week #1 of ownership, despite us not touching it at all. They can be seen in this picture I attached above. Fellow owners, if you have found a way to reverse this, kindly share here.Quick review of some accessories that came with the car:The cushions get the highest level of praise! Unbelievably soft, extremely comfortable and excellent quality. My family cannot do without them on long journeys.The hammer cum seatbelt cutter is… well, functional. Looks poorly built with a plastic body that looks industrial grade, but hey, such things needn’t be judged for beauty and feel, should they!Vinyl floor mats are absolutely fantastic. They look tough, rugged and are very easy to clean.The Honda branded keychain is okay. The logo within the frame is suspended and can freely rotate along the axis, and that’s cool to fiddle around with. However, it isn’t finished well and the paint is chipping away with time, which makes it feel cheap.That would be it for this update! At the time of writing, the odometer stands at 19600 km. Parting shot: Until next time, CentreOfGravityCheck out BHPian comments for more insights and information.
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My Honda City: 3rd service / 19,000 km update and more observations
