Saturday, March 28, 2009

vios vs city

Despite convincing myself that this is no good time to buy a car, I still indulge in reading countless reviews of two potential buys anyone might want to take a good look at later should the business climate weather the current financial storm and that buying a luxury item will have become justifiable by then.

Toyota Vios and the Honda City are one and two on the subcompact category here in Pinas(the Philippines). Vios, of course, lays claim to the number spot for its low price plus the quality tag that the name Toyota carries with it. Honda is number two not so much because it is lower in quality(it definitely is not) but more for the heavy price tag.

Consider this, an entry level Type J Vios costs 585k PhP. Its entry level Honda equivalent, the City Type A, costs 676k PhP. That's easily a 13 percent price swing which would be a Honda dealbreaker to some. The Honda fanboys would however argue that this is an unfair comparison because the City's entry level has far better accessories than the scrimped type J Vios that the former should draw comparison to Vios' improved entry level, the Type E(649k PhP).

This is where the the great debate comes in. You can never compare each manufacturer's entry level apple to apple. The type A city is about a quarter-way more similar to the Vios' next version, the Type E. One might say that the City would then offer more bang for the buck because its entry level smokes its Toyota Vios type J counterpart until one realizes that its price is still around four percent more than the Vios E.

The City type A offers power windows, steering, locks, and airbags but has basic steel rims for wheels. Now note that the Vios E(the improved Vios entry level J) offers all aforementioned power functions but has the better alloy rims and not those ugly poor excuse for a rim, steel. The previous comparison will just send back the capricious buyer once more in a quandary.

There is also the issue about which engine is more powerful and fuel efficient. Looking at the specs, Honda City A offers a tad better Horsepower for 6000rpm. The Vios(both 1.3L types J and E), however, makes up for it by offering, again, just a tad, better torque than the 1.3L City. Honda City's engine is SOHC while the Vios is DOHC but despite having the simpler camshaft, City approximates Vios' DOHC in terms of power and torque.

Fuel efficiency is a mixed bag. Each owner has his fuel efficiency story but overall it looks pretty much the same with Vios having the slight edge in testimonies coming from Car forums which you can probably account to Vios having a larger market share: more owners, more forum entries.

For now I am leaning towards the Vios. Sure the City's resale value is much higher owing to the exclusivity tag Honda has maintained for itself by disallowing its vehicles to be used as Taxis. The higher price for its parts and maintenance services also add to the air of mystery that is Honda but with a tight budget, the 4 percent margin is already a considerable amount. Toyota further widens the price gap to its favor by offering huge discounts up to as much as 30k Php for its Vios.

Things that tip the scales in Vios' favor

1. DOHC. I'm no engine geek but DOHC is always better on paper than SOHC. The specs each manufacturer proudly puts in print are always subject to suspicion as it might have been gathered on some ideal conditions not stated in fine print. So taking their engine and their numbers propaganda with a grain of salt, a DOHC is still a DOHC and an SOHC is just a precedence.

2. Testimonies from taxi drivers. I always ride the taxi twice a day. I make it a point to ride the 1.3L type J Vios so I can interview the driver on what they think about the car. Sure most of them probably haven't ridden a Honda City but any testimony coming from a first hand user is a good testimony than no testimony at all. This is why I am biased towards the Vios. I don't know any who owns a City because the few people I know who have a Honda, have the Civic. They figured that if they're gonna splurge on a car, they wouldn't go intermediate by taking the City. It's either a Civic(lavish buy) or a Vios(spendthrift buy). Choosing a City just doesn't make sense moneywise.

In addition I've also got some of their comments which echoes the things you'll hear in reviews/forums like: Surplus of Toyota Parts(meaning an option to buy less expensive replacements), wider cabin space, sturdy body, good exterior looks but the one that stands out the most is how they marvel on the engine performance.

Some drivers say that despite being 1.3L, " HATAK(TORQUE) " is far better than even the Toyota 1.6 Liters of old(of course that is a given with the new engine technology and all). Of course, I took these statements with a grain of salt until one driver happily demo'ed engine performance by routinely overtaking some vehicles. We went to about 110km/h on Edsa and the car wasn't wobbly at all. You might think " Could you really go 110km/h on Edsa? " Yes we did because it was night time and Edsa's lanes were at its widest allowing the driver to proudly show his Vios' capability.

3. The looks. Initially I was favoring the City's front grills but overtime I have developed a liking for the Vios' " BATMAN " look as it is fondly called by the taxi drivers (I'm beginning to sound like a taxi driver here). The Vios is a subcompact whose family includes the Picanto, Getz, QQ, Alto, Yaris, i10 all small cars with the exception of the Vios and the City looking like it ingested some crazy growth pill they look more like a compact sedan in the line of Altis and Civic.

4. The price. I am on a tight budget thus I am entertaining only subcompacts. You can go as low as 350k on the Suzuki Alto and Chery QQ and as high as 676k on the basic City. The Picantos and the Getz border around 550k to 630k and they are really small cars by dimension. The Vios is 585k basic and 649k for added power functions, alloy rims, and ABS, and an alarm system. I would have gone buying a Getz but it almost costs the same as the Vios and the Vios looks way bigger. I am one huge guy and I would look silly trying to squeeze my way inside a euro-chic Getz. Sure the Getz looks good but its resale value doesn't bid well. For just some 30 to 60k more, you be paying for a better, wider car with a trusted name in quality, and you won't be giving up too much money should you decide to sell it in the future.

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

very good info. i drive a shark galant but i wanna have a brand new fuel efficient car.

Treb said...

So far this is the most well written review (both grammar and for the simplicity of content) I've read for Vios vs City in the past 3 days. While I think I am agreeing with you, I'm already getting the City as I have a very low EQ - my preferred color favors the stocks arriving this weekend. (sigh)

Nice blog. :)