Honda Elevate pleasantly surprises a Jetta owner during showroom visit

The Honda SUV is more appealing to me than the Kushaq or Taigun, but the Seltos is still the looker for me.

BHPian Redline6800 recently shared this with other enthusiasts.

The Whitefield Honda folks were kind enough to let me know that the Elevate would be on display. So, decided to take a look even though there was no intention to buy; as I am well served by my 2000 Honda City 1.5 EXi and 2013 VW Jetta 2.0 TDi.

The showroom folks said they already had around 500 bookings and there was quite a crowd, mostly families. There is still quite a lot of power in the Brand Honda!

The ZX manual was on display in Blue. No pics and videos were allowed, which was really lame, considering all the reviews on the car are already out!

I found the Elevate, more appealing in terms of looks as compared to Kushaq/Taigun as well as the over-styled Creta. The Seltos is still the looker for me.

Fit/finish is as good as anything in the class and coming from the Jetta, which is built like a tank and has quality plastics and rubber beadings, there was nothing to complain about the Elevate. The solid thunk from the boot lid and doors of the Elevate was a pleasant surprise!

It certainly appears very well built and a 5-star safety rating once tested, will be a big plus.

Rear seat comfort was excellent for my height of 6.1 and 88 kg weight, though leg room was not as lavish as the City.

I really like the seat fabric used – which I assume is a type of leatherette. The boot space was really good and again was surprised by how robust the boot lid felt.

Typical of a Honda, the driving position was great, everything fell to hand easily and quality levels were more than acceptable to me. The AC vents felt solid too. Once I lowered the front seat, I found a comfortable seating position.

The sunroof did seem a tad small, but some folks I spoke to said, a panoramic sunroof ends up heating up the cabin quite a bit.

Overall this is a solid, sensible, comfortable vehicle that will appeal to families looking for reliable transportation with low running costs. But really it is a 4 seater with 2 seated comfortably in the rear.

If the driving experience is as a Honda should be – feel some steering, light clutch and gearbox, sweet engine and reasonably sorted suspension, this will be a good buy. Of course, a powerful AC will be a given as well.

Frankly, as a Jetta owner, I expected to be let down by the Elevate, but it surprised me and should meet the needs of most customers, who are not feature hunters.

What is evident though, is Honda’s slow decline into mediocrity. There is just no design magic in their cars any longer, as they used to be, about a decade and a half ago.

Change the badge and this could be another appliance made by Maruyota.

To my mind, customer perception will place the Hyundai Creta/Kia Seltos as No.1, the VW Taigun/Skoda Kushaq as No.2 and Honda will tie for 3rd place with the Maruti-Toyota twins.

It is evident that Honda has learnt from its pricing missteps in the past. With the Elevate V manual expected to be around 15.5 L OTR Blr and the top end Elevate ZX CVT at around 19-19.5L, this will be very good value.

The base SV manual version could be the surprise with a bargain basement price.

Compare this with the last of the Jazz ZX CVTs which cost around 12L OTR Blr!

Check out BHPian comments for more insights and information.

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