Jul 15, 2012 10:42 PM
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Why I bought it:
My wife had been after me to buy a bike for nearly 2 years now. But, I always managed to avoid the purchase citing increased cost of living, petrol costs and whatnot. But now that the petrol cost has really gone up, I got interested in having a low cost mode of local transportation. Also the Vihaan Honda guys brought their bikes to my doorstep and demoed their bikes. Looking at choices available, I thought the Dio would be a good choice for my wife because it is light, and it has a combi-brake i.e. both left and right brakes engage even if you press the left brake. So, I went ahead and booked it.
The sales experience:
I got delivery in only one and a half months. A couple of weeks late. Not bad.
When the bike came, it did not start. They immediately told us that the battery needs to be changed. Took it somewhere and then it did start. I did not think much of it at the time. But there was a problem with the bike
The good stuff:
The bike is very beautiful to look at. Its red in colour and stands out in a crowd. The ride is pleasing, it is easy to handle and seemed to be decent in mileage. My wife is the main user. I drive it on weekends.
The bad part
But then the trouble started. After a few days I found that the automatic ignition did not work. After hunting around a bit, I figured out where the kick start pedal is and got it started. We dismissed it as an aberration. After a couple of days, same problem and then again every second day. Now the bike does not start without kick start at any time of the day. The service guys are not at all helpful
The after sales experience
Around that time, it was time for the first service. The service center told us that this can happen in mornings and the second start will work automatically. We have made several visits to the service center. Each time they give us several new explanations. But the fact of the matter is that there is an identical bike in my building purchased at the same time. Which does not have any such problem. Similarly, none of the other Activas and Dios in the building have a starter problem.
Conclusion :
Based on my experience with the battery, I would not recommend that anyone buy the Dio. The Honda brand does not necessarily guarantee reliability and good aftersale service.
