How To Buy A Well Maintained Used Honda City At A Good Price?

First launched about 20 years ago, the Honda City has been one of the favourite sedans of the Indian auto buyers. Honda must never have thought that the sedan would be so warmly welcomed in India with its sales in the country alone make up for more than 25% of the global sales. Not only new Honda City but also secondhand models have been sold in great numbers, thanks to the reliable motor which has been a well-known quality of the Japanese automaker. If you are considering buying a used Honda City with good quality produced between 2008 and 2013, below is a comprehensive guide on what to take into consideration before buying a used Honda City.

Good Qualities Of The Honda City

Reliable engine and transmission

The Honda City has long been well-known for its drive comfort and pleasure as well as a reliable motor. Unless a hydrostatic mood is selected, Honda’s 1.5L iVTEC motor is almost without issues.

Additionally, the vehicle is also famous for good mileage, riding and handling quality. A well-maintained Honda City in this generation is priced in the range from INR 4.5 lakh to INR 6 lakh. Moreover, the third-gen Honda City was the first car in the segment to come with a 5-speed AT gearbox with a Paddle Shift at launch, well catering for the increasing demands for automatic vehicles in India.

Honda City has long been well-known for its reliable motor

Attractive appearance

The vehicle is designed in the Arrow Shot Form, which has been maintained for many years as one of the identifying features of the sedan. This contributes to its attraction with many Indian sedan enthusiasts.

Things To Watch Out For

Disturbing noise from the engine

As mentioned above, the engine produced by Honda can be easily maintained for a long period. However, as time passes by, even the most reliable engine like that on the Honda City shows sign of ageing with some disturbing or whining sounds from the motor compartment.

So always ask the seller for a test drive to check for this issue, which may require the timing belt to be replaced or indicate that the crankshaft bearing is suffering some problems. Also, inspect whether there is any tapping noise coming from the tappet, which requires prompt maintenance. In this case, you should make use of high-quality oil types such as synthetic oil rather than regular oil.

Faulty airbags

Despite being well-known for the reliable engine, the Honda City has been blamed for faulty airbags more than once with two recalls. The first one was in September 2015 with 140,508 units produced from 2007 to 2012 being recalled. In the second one, 32,456 units of the 2012 models were recalled. Both of these recalls were implemented to replace the faulty airbags, free of charge. So if you are buying a Honda City whose production time fall into the above period, inspect the service history of the vehicle to see if these recalls have been conducted or not.

Thousands of units of Honda City manufactured between 2007 to 2012 have been recalled due to faulty airbags

Hard gear shifting and pedal clutch.

The Honda City is on sale with both an MT an AT gearbox. The manual variant is famous for a light clutch and smooth gearshift. However, for used cars, you need to check for the difficult gear shifting and pedal clutch. For cars which are driven for 40,000 kilometres or more, you need to inspect the suspension system which might be suffering from some issues, especially if driven over bad roads.

Faulty braking

Two of the most important thing to watch out for before purchasing a Honda City are tyres and braking. The Honda City rides on 175 Section tyres and comes with sharp braking. This set of thin tyres are vulnerable to tear and wear, which needs to be checked carefully ahead of purchasing.

Except for the above factors, you should also care for some other factors such as meter reading, insurance and used car documents. Always choose the car with low meter reading as no matter how high quality a car might be, it cannot win the destruction of time. Sufficient insurance and car documents are always necessary when buying not just a used Honda City, but other used cars as well.

Best deals

Even a secondhand model of the Honda City is still a favourite vehicle of the Indian auto buyers. A good used City has a price ranging from INR 4.5 lakh to INR 6 lakh, depending on numerous factors such as which variant you want to purchase, its condition and age, etc.

You can find a good deal for a used City at around Rs 4.5 lakh to Rs 6 lakh

You can also find a good deal at INR 4.8 lakh for a Honda City V MT. Considering the terrible traffic in India, the City V AT will be an ideal option for those who prefer a more effortless drive and are willing to pay more. In the secondhand market, you can also find this vehicle at INR 5.50 lakh.

The service cost which might vary depending on the service type you choose can range from INR 6000 to INR 10000. Thorough insurance plan which cost about INR 8000 to INR 9000 is available; sometimes you can also get a zero depreciation car insurance cover.

Above is a detailed guide on how to buy a used Honda City. Hope that with this guide, you can find the best Honda City for yourself. 

Read more tips and guides from IndianAuto

Also read 

Used Mercedes-Benz A-Class: Essential Tips For Buyers

Buying Used Mahindra TUV300 – What To Look Out For?