Well, was going to post some pictures of my car but it seems there have been loads of Royal Navy Blue Pearl so far.

Wish I'd had my digital camera with me when I collected the vehicle. The dealer that offered me the best part ex on my MY2002 Berlina Black/Black was Holdcroft Honda in Stoke-on-Trent.

When I placed the order I stressed to the sales guy that I did not want the car washed or valeted at all as I wanted to be the first person to do it and would rather apply a nice coat of ZFX followed by some Z-2 and Z5. (The Zaino fans on this forum will understand.)

Even though I requested this, I was kind of expecting to turn up and see the car freshly washed as we all know how most Honda dealers can be.

But, surprisingly the dealer was good.

The car was sitting in the yard all wrapped up in white protective packaging. It was clear that apart from PDI the vehicle had not been touched so it felt very pristine and an A1 condition.

The white tape and sticker panels protecting the bodywork, panels and lights reminded me of those pictures you see in Auto Express of future new models shot 'on test' somewhere in Europe, or quite often at Millbrook.

I drove the car to a friends house keeping the stickers on. I got quite a few looks on the A34 as I am sure I few other drivers must have thought the vehicle was in stealth mode.

After a decent cuppa, off came the protective packaging revealing the true excellent colour of the car. As mentioned above I went with Berlina Black last time but only because RNBP was a JDM only colour at the time. As soon as the 2004 was confirmed I placed the order.

I've been 'running in' for most of the week and I thought I would have got the 650 or so miles under the belt by now but I'm still far from it.

Thoughts -

- I love the interior a lot more than I thought I was going to.
- The wheels are fantastic and I feel they suit the car a lot more.
- Ride is much improved - I drive on some pretty bad roads to get to work and the car no longer skits about heavily on some of the worse patches
- Stereo is better, improved side speakers - probably won't shell out on ICE now.
- Love the restyled front, very subtle changes, softer almost.
- Gearbox - is it me or are the shifts shorter ? Compact and tight.
- Dash - a good evolution of the original.
- Headlamps - again I think they are much brighter.

Overall, very impressed with the MY04. Probably even more so than the MY02.

But most of that comes from a fresh new colour. Berlina Black was fun and when Zaino'd was marvellous, but it was filthy as hell all the time and wasn't for me. Hope it went to a good home.

 

Glad you think it was worth the wait, Alex - I love the colour too I just hope that not TOO many people buy it.........

My overall impression with 800 miles on the clock is very much the same as yours. The only thing I positively dislike is the fact that the HID washers fire every time I spray the windscreen. That is REALLY going to irritate me when the car is freshly-cleaned

 

Good post Boze.

Dare I ask, what the PX for the old S was.

If you don`t want to be public and don`t mind mentioning, PM me. Reason I ask, Holdcroft are just around the corner from me and a potential for any car purchase in the future.


I have dealt with them before.

 

Picked my RNBP up today and now have 25 miles on the clock! What bloody awful weather but no leaks (or being in Wales - leeks!) Pics soon!

 

Lets have a look at the fastest colour, after the application of that cheap AutoGlym stuff:

 

Thats the shiniest red I have ever seen

 

Maybe that Autoglym isn't so bad after all*

*or perhaps it's that the cars only done 600 miles

 

Rich where's the pics of the Black S ?

You just posted that silly red colour

 

Sorry gys my eyes were transfixed on the Talbot Avenger. Was I supposed to be seeing a quick colour on here or something?

 

Luuuurrrrvvvvlllyyy Richie!!

Stop tormenting me though!

BTW, I see colour coded headlight washer jets there, is that standard or did you get it done?

- Adam (very, very jealous!)