I have city 2005 Vario. A lot of people say bad things about this model, but IMO it is one of the best value for money car. Life's a lot easier and better when you drive this car. It's the cheapest Automatic transmission choice locally in sedan category, has great mileage on petrol, breaking is really really good despite having no ABS. After driving this car for years, I'm still very happy with the purchase.
It is the best car to have especially to drive daily in a city like Karachi (lots of traffic jams) where a manual car will just ache your legs so much so that you get tired after coming back home you get so tired you won't have much energy left to go anywhere else. Plus its look is also understimated. The car is attractive particularly when you view it from the front. Many people have ruined their Varios after installation of CNG but it's a petrol car. As long as you run it on petrol, it runs hassle free for years.
I really believe that the price of Honda City Vario/automatic transmission (2004-08) in today's market is a lot less when you compare this to the cars like new Cultus, swift, used XLIs and GLIs, Lianas and even the manual version of City 2004-08. City's automatic versions had always been priced at least Rs. 70k higher than the manual version, but in used category, manual is being sold at higher prices. The price of Vario was higher for a reason, and in case you are concerned on the performance of the car, then City Vario is going for a bargain. Unless of course you are concerned only about running a car on CNG.