I am not sure how many of you have faced this but one of the most common problem in Honda City is with its Air Conditioning system. I own Honda City 1.3Exi for past 7+ years and because I live in B'lore I typically use A/C only 3-4 months in a year only. What I have found is that its A/C system typically starts giving problem after 40K miles (makes noise). When you show it to dealer at the time of service they will typically play it down saying it is just a bearing noise and you need to replace the entire compressor which will cost you typically Rs. 40K so you will typically choose no to do anything and go on. Most of the MNC cars in India uses SANDEN A/C system http://www.sanden.com/ and the one used in Honda City typically requires following maintenance
- Belt Tension check
- Oil balance check for AC compressor
- Compressor Clutch and clutch bearing check
- Refrigent pressure check
Typically the Service dealer will never do this even when you give your car for service but this is what is recommanded by AC Manufacturer. Also after 40K KMs the AC compressor bearings needs replacement which typically cost very little Rs300-600 + labour - but this is also never done by service dealer because it is more lucarative for them to replace the entire compressor. As a result your AC compressor will get completely breakdown because the bearing problems will lead to other serious damage in the AC compressor and finally it will get completly jammed and replacement is the only option.
I have also found that Honda service dealer will charge you Rs 40K for the compressor which is typically available in market at Rs. 13K. I know a shop in Bangalore where you can get this done at max Rs 15K inclusive of everything. To me this is cheating the customer who really trust Honda and its quality.
I have no other complain about the car. Honda is really a great car but its service cost is really high and its service dealers are really really bad - I have always done service at one autorised service dealer only but I have always found that if you are not careful enough they will always try to over charge you on many things that are really not needed. One big issue I find with Honda is its service dealer network - even though Honda cars are selling very well they have very few service dealers in city and so it gives opprtunity to existing service dealer to charge and treat their customers which every way they want.
With this experince I am thinking twice whether I should buy my next car as Honda or should I look for some other cars. I have heard that other MNC car companies are really improving on their service network and so I am thinking of looking at other options where cost of ownership (maintenace, spares etc..) is much lower.
I have already complained about this in writing as well as over phone to Honda dealership as well as Honda- SEIL-India but have heard back only from delaer saying it is not our problem and there is NO RESPONSE on this from Honda SEIL-India.
if you want more information about this please feel free to contact me at my e-mail iD.
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