Why I Am Buying the Honda City 2026 — My Personal Story
I have test driven the Volkswagen Virtus GT. I have sat in the Hyundai Verna. I have compared spec sheets, calculated EMIs, and read every review written about every sedan available in India under ₹20 lakh in 2026. I have done everything a rational, informed car buyer is supposed to do before making a decision this significant.
And at the end of all of it — the spreadsheets, the comparisons, the deliberations — I arrived at the same answer I probably knew from the very beginning.
Honda City. 2026. ZX CVT.
This is not a review. This is not a comparison. This is a personal story about why one specific car means more to me than any other vehicle on the road — and why buying it with money I earned myself will be one of the most meaningful moments of my life.
It Started in 2009 — A Honda Accord and a Child Who Noticed Everything
My family brought home a Honda Accord in 2009. I was a child. But I noticed everything about that car — the way it looked, the way it felt, the way it commanded the road with a quiet confidence that no other car in our neighbourhood had.
We drove that Accord for approximately 5 lakh kilometres. Five lakh. That is not a typo and it is not an exaggeration. That car went through everything our family went through — the celebrations and the hospital visits, the road trips and the ordinary commutes, the seasons and the years. It never meaningfully let us down.
That Honda Accord taught me something at an age when I was just beginning to understand the world — a truly great car is not just reliable engineering. It is a companion. It becomes part of the fabric of your life in a way that is impossible to explain to someone who has never experienced it.
When the Accord finally retired — it left behind a standard that I have been measuring every car against ever since.
Then the City Arrived — And Everything Changed Again
In 2018 our family got a Honda City. And this car has been more present in my life over the last four years than almost anything else I can name.
I have been driving the Honda City 2018 for approximately four years. It currently has 2,30,000 kilometres on the odometer. Two lakh thirty thousand kilometres on a car that still starts instantly every morning, still cools the cabin effectively in Kota’s 45-degree summer heat, and still drives with a smoothness and refinement that genuinely surprises people who experience it for the first time.
I have driven this car in every condition Rajasthan can produce. Scorching summer afternoons where the road surface shimmers with heat. Winter mornings where the temperature drops sharply before dawn. Monsoon roads where visibility disappears and the surface becomes unpredictable. Highway stretches between Kota and Jaipur where you settle into a rhythm and the kilometres disappear effortlessly.
Through all of it — the City has never once made me feel like I made a wrong choice. Not once in 2,30,000 kilometres.
What This Car Has Actually Taught Me About Driving
I learned things driving this City that no driving school could have taught me.
I learned that a great car makes you a better driver — not by doing everything for you but by communicating honestly with you. The City’s steering tells you exactly what the road surface is doing. The engine responds to your inputs with a directness that builds confidence gradually and naturally. The brakes are progressive and predictable in a way that makes you trust them completely.
I also taught someone I care about deeply to drive in this car. Watching someone go from nervous first gear starts in an empty parking lot to confidently navigating Kota’s traffic in this City — that experience changed how I think about what a car can mean to people beyond the driver.
A car is not just transportation. At its best it is the place where people become more capable, more confident, and more themselves.
The Honda City 2018 has been that place for me and for people I love.
Why I Almost Chose the Volkswagen Virtus GT
I want to be honest about this because I think it is important.
When I started seriously thinking about buying my first car — my first car bought entirely with money I earned myself — the Volkswagen Virtus GT was my front runner. And it deserved to be.
The 1.5-litre TSI engine producing 150 bhp with the 7-speed DSG is genuinely one of the best driver’s powertrains available under ₹20 lakh in India. The German engineering quality, the solid build, the precise steering, the composed ride — the Virtus GT is an exceptional car. I have written about it extensively on Motor Mogul and every positive word I wrote about it is true.
The on-road price in Kota for the Virtus GT was approximately ₹17.50 lakh. Sensible. Attainable. Rational.
But then Honda launched the 6th generation City facelift in 2026. And everything changed.
The Moment I Knew
I remember the exact moment I decided.
I was looking at the Honda City 2026 ZX CVT — the top variant with the CVT automatic, ADAS safety suite, and Honda’s latest features. On-road price in Kota — approximately ₹18.90 lakh. About ₹1.40 lakh more than the Virtus GT I had been planning for.
I sat with that number for a few days. Ran the calculations. Compared the specifications. Read every review. Watched every video.
And then I asked myself one honest question — not which car is better on paper, but which car will mean something to me ten years from now when I look back at the decision I made at 23?
The answer was immediate.
I have grown up with Honda. I have driven a Honda for four years and 2,30,000 kilometres. I know what Honda ownership feels like at 50,000 km and at 2,00,000 km. I know how a Honda ages, how it feels on a long drive, how it starts on a cold morning, how it performs when you need it most.
I do not need to imagine what owning a Honda City 2026 will feel like. I already know. And I know it will be everything I want my first personal car to be.
There is a phrase I use that I genuinely believe.
Only a City can replace a City.
The Plan — Booking in August, Delivery When the Time is Right
I am planning to book the Honda City 2026 ZX CVT in August 2026 with a booking amount of ₹25,000. The delivery is planned for a date that carries personal significance — either November 23 or around Dhanteras in early November 2026.
Dhanteras — the auspicious day before Diwali that Indians have traditionally chosen for purchasing gold, vehicles, and other significant assets — feels right for a purchase this meaningful. There is something appropriate about bringing home your first personally owned car on a day that the entire country associates with prosperity and new beginnings.
The ZX CVT is the variant I have chosen. Top of the range. CVT automatic for effortless daily driving. ADAS safety suite. Honda’s full connected car technology. Everything.
This will be the first car I have ever bought entirely with money I earned myself. Through Motor Mogul. Through writing about cars — the thing I love most — every single day.
That fact alone makes it the most significant purchase of my life so far.
What Buying This Car Actually Means
I started Motor Mogul in April 2026. When I started it my goal was straightforward — build a website, earn AdSense income, create something that generates passive revenue.
That goal remains. But somewhere along the way it became about something more.
The Honda City 2026 is not just a car to me. It is proof. Proof that passion combined with consistency and hard work builds something real. Proof that a 23-year-old from Kota, Rajasthan can build something meaningful from nothing but a laptop and a genuine love for automobiles.
Every article I write on Motor Mogul brings that City one step closer. Every reader who finds value in something I wrote, every person who makes a better car buying decision because of Motor Mogul — that is what the Honda City represents to me.
It is not a reward. It is a milestone. The first of many.
To Anyone Buying Their First Car
If you are reading this and you are thinking about buying your first car — I want to tell you something from genuine experience rather than automotive journalism.
Buy the car that means something to you. Not just the car that wins on a comparison spreadsheet. Not just the car with the best resale value or the lowest EMI or the most features per rupee.
Buy the car that you will be genuinely happy to see every morning when you walk out of your house. Buy the car that you will still feel proud of three years from now. Buy the car that fits not just your budget and your practical requirements but your identity — who you are and who you are becoming.
For me that car has always been — and will always be — the Honda City.
Booking: August 2026. Delivery: November 2026. Motor Mogul is paying for it.
— Pulkit Trigunayat Founder, Motor Mogul Kota, Rajasthan
