99 - 2001 Honda City Still A Good Purchase?

**r1chm0nd** · February 7th, 2011 08:19 PM

Good Evening Sirs!

I'm planning to buy a second hand car and I'm considering getting a 99 - 2001 Honda City. Budget is around 150 - 200k. Can you give me the pros and cons of this car? Passenger load will usually be 2 people. I would like to get a fuel efficient car. Hope to hear from you guys soon. TIA!!

**GTi** · February 7th, 2011 10:10 PM

Yes! The Honda City Type-Z is a very dependable car. Although the interior may be quite bland. The engines are good, all boast of high output figures, have good fuel economy and its got a very good power to weight ratio. If you're gonna buy, I suggest you go for the top end 115hp VTi variant for maximum enjoyment.

I've ridden in a '97 EXi before. I find it quite comfortable, especially in front where the legroom is unexpectedly huge.

**r1chm0nd** · February 8th, 2011 03:33 PM

Thanks GTi!

I'm not quite familiar with the variants of Honda City, can you enumerate them for me? I'm avoiding the carb type engine because of the e10 issue so I wanna know if there are Honda City units that have carb engine installed in them. TIA!

**GTi** · February 8th, 2011 05:56 PM

There's the 1.3L LXi, 1.5L EXi and 1.5L VTi. It has EFI engines across the line and the VTi variant, naturally, has VTEC. I don't know how much power the EXi makes but the LXi makes 95hp and the VTi makes 115hp. There has never been a carbureted City sold here.

**onewaytrip** · February 8th, 2011 07:50 PM

sir, mayroon pong carbureted version at saka efi version 'ung 1.3 dati.

**GTi** · February 9th, 2011 01:23 AM

Originally Posted by onewaytrip

sir, mayroon pong carbureted version at saka efi version 'ung 1.3 dati.

Talaga? Officially since its introduction here in 1997? Sa alam ko lahat EFI eh, they have the "Hyper 16" and "PGM-FI" stickers even on the base LXi's.

**onewaytrip** · February 9th, 2011 10:13 AM

yes, sir, with steel rims at black bumpers.

mitsu used to have a newspaper ad comparing the lancer ex (rebadged el) to the carb city. it said, "don't shortchange yourself with a car built for the city." they had similar hp figures (~82-85). they didn't compare it to the 1.3 pgm-fi city which had 95 ps.

as far as i remember, the 1.5 non-vtec had 100 ps while the 1.5 vtec had 110.

sorry, couldn't find a better example:
http://www.sulit.com.ph/index.php/vi...nda+dash+price

i've driven only the type z 1.5 VTi, which was available in manual only at that time. the 1.3 had an automatic version, but the VTi had a rear stabilizer (and a cd player) which the 1.3 did not have.

150k-200k would be a fair price range.

**GTi** · February 9th, 2011 09:58 PM

Ganon pala yun! I've never seen a carbureted City before. Pero yung PGM-FI na 1.3 City is really quite good... 95ps is a respectable figure already for a 1.3L engine especially considering that the succeeding 1.3iDSI City made less power. I wouldn't be getting the EXi if it has only +-100hp. That would mean minimal performance gains as compared to the LXi and sizeable loss in fuel economy. Diretso na sa 1.5VTi!

**r1chm0nd** · February 10th, 2011 12:13 AM

Thanks for the tip sirs! So I should avoid the LX variants since it's the only carb type City am I right? What variants should I look for if I want the EFI type variant?

**GTi** · February 10th, 2011 07:46 PM

Originally Posted by r1chm0nd

Thanks for the tip sirs! So I should avoid the LX variants since it's the only carb type City am I right? What variants should I look for if I want the EFI type variant?

Actually, there are LXi variants that have EFi engines. In fact motioncars.com reviewed one: http://www.motioncars.com/article.php?id=291 But then, carbureted City's are all pre-facelift and since you're getting the facelifted Type-Z, all engines are EFi. And I'm going to reiterate myself: VTi!