Honda Civic

[Xath]

My boyfriend is looking at getting a new car by Thursday, and I think he's decided on the Honda Civic. My experiences with the Civic have been great; my dad's has gotten into at least 8 accidents, but noone has ever been hurt and the car has been relatively inexpensive to fix.

What are your experiences with Civics? If you had a choice, for the same price would you go for a 2005 Value Deal (as far as accessories) or a 2003 luxury with 11000 miles?

 

[Queen_Dopplepopolis]

My post doesn't matter because I can't read. Sad story, huh?

 

[WayneLigon]

I've had Civic's for the last two cars, and they're OK. The AC is usually pretty bad, though, and I hate that they got rid of the auto-body-belt thing they had on my first Civic.

What I'd do is go buy the latest Consumer Reports car guide and look at their ratings.

Toyota also makes some very nice cars; I'm probably going to get one for my next car (a hybrid, if I can afford it). I have a friend with a Toyota Prius and he loves his car.

 

[Desdichado]

If you're looking at a used car, definately get the Blue Book pricing from kbb.com or edmunds.com. Heck, you should do the same for a new car.

Don't accept the initial asking price. Almost everyone will sell a car for less than they initially ask. After arming yourself with the Blue Book pricing, set on your own counter offer, and then mentally set yourself a number that you won't go above, somewhere between your asking price and theirs. Stick to your guns, find out as much as you can from poking around either of the two blue book sites, and you should save a fair amount of money.

But that goes for any car purchase, not just Honda Civics...

 

[nakia]

My boyfriend is looking at getting a new car by Thursday, and I think he's decided on the Honda Civic. My experiences with the Civic have been great; my dad's has gotten into at least 8 accidents, but noone has ever been hurt and the car has been relatively inexpensive to fix.

What are your experiences with Civics? If you had a choice, for the same price would you go for a 2005 Value Deal (as far as accessories) or a 2003 luxury with 11000 miles?

My wife has driven a Civic for six years. She bought it used in 1999 with about 60K miles on it. We have driven the crap out of that car since. It now has almost 150K and still runs fine, other than the AC which no longer works. We love the Civic!

I'd go for the 2003 for the following reasons:
1. The new car will drop 20% in value as soon as you leave the lot. If something wacky happens and you need to sell the car next month, the used one will still be about the same value. New cars are rarely worth it, IMHO.
2. Since it is a Civic, those 11K miles don't mean very much, since the car is so reliable.
3. All that luxury stuff (sunroof, electric windows, etc) is pretty cool to have. My wife loves her sunroof (well, I like it a lot, too).

Good luck!

 

[Thornir Alekeg]

A lot of it is personal preference. I have not liked Civics when I tried them in the past. I hated the way they handled. My sister-in-law loves hers.

See if you can get a carfax report on the car as well to see if it has had any major accidents reported on it.

 

[Hijinks]

I have a 2003 Honda Civic LX. I love my car. I've had it for 2 years (leased it new) and it only has 12,500 miles on it. I haven't been in any accidents (knock on wood), so I can't comment on how well it withstands damage, but I love the safety features and side airbags.

For me, it was a choice between the Honda Civic and the Toyota Corolla, which performed similarly in crash tests according to Consumer Reports (I always go by that mag when choosing a car). It was the salesman that sold me the Civic, rather than any advantages the Civic had over the Corolla; the Honda salesman didn't talk down to me, offer to show the car to my boyfriend, or treat me like a moron. He wanted me to make an informed decision, and his treating me like a human being made me a Honda customer for life.

If it's the same price, I'd go for the Luxury one with 11k miles. I bought a 1995 car with 17k miles on it once and it's still running fine with 80k+ now. So mileage in the teens is negligible, in my humble opinion. The luxury model has nice features and more airbags (if I remember correctly)

 

[der_kluge]

I think there's a reason it's one of the most popular cars on the road. It's a solid vehicle. For the record, I do not own one.

Also, you can get a hybrid civic. They look exactly like a civic, but are environmentally friendly! I want one.

You could also consider checking out Kia. They are made in Korea, and as a new company trying to eek out a place in a tough market, they are priced way below what you'd expect for what you get. My Kia Optima is nothing special, but it has a sunroof, power seats, power everything, CD player, cruise, and was just as cheap as anything with power-*nothing* in its category. It's a good car. It's a 4 cylinder, so forget about hot-rodding through town.

 

[freebfrost]

I've had two Honda Civics - one from 1992-1999, and another in 1999 that I still use a my "beater" car today. I had a grand total of one problem with them - a bad oxygen sensor on the '91 that cost around $30 to fix.

Totally reliable, great gas mileage - they get my highest praise.

I got the EX trim on the '99, and am very happy with it. If the prices are the same, the 11K miles is nothing - I would go for the luxury trim.

 

[Xath]

I've been doing some research on the Hybrids today. It might be worth it to spend the extra money on the Hybrid, because you get over 200 more miles out of it per fill up. Plus, I believe there's a government rebate for purchasing a hybrid (?).

I hear the civic hybrid isn't as good as the Prius, but there's not a 7 month waiting list for the Civic either. Anyone heard anything?