Let's talk about Civics...

[InvalidUserID]

Hello guys. With gasoline prices hovering around $2.60 in my area and being a commuting college student, driving my Camaro isn't as practicle as it used to be as I drive roughly 60 miles round trip per day. I've been looking at Hondas ever since my dad picked up a nice '05 V6 Accord. I know Hondas are generally well built and reliable, but can anyone give me some general info on the current Civics? I'm looking at the EX or SE versions since they have ABS and "better" engine. I'm not looking for performance, just reliability and fuel economy. Thanks guys!

 

[cousincletus]

Have heard about issues with automatic transmissions. With the five speed I haven't heard any major complaints.

 

[Colt]

Civics are great cars. Couldn't decide which one to buy. A '05 Civic or '05 Corolla. I chose the Corolla LE with ABS and side airbags over a Civic because of the easy access of the oil filter.

 

[ruking77]

I'd say get a Honda Civic VP with a manual. (if you like them or have concerns about the automatic, long term) With 9500 miles so far it has been wonderful and the auto gets between 35-37 in a 50 mile R/T commute. The oil change is due at 10,000 miles. The filter is recommended to change at 20,000 miles. For the price, you are going to have to really scratch your head to get a lower cost per mile than the Honda Civic VP. Mine sold for far less than the like model year Toyota Corolla. This was a bit of a bummer for me, because I already have a long established relationship with an EXCELLENT Toyota maintenance place. [ April 28, 2005, 07:07 PM: Message edited by: ruking77 ]

 

[Bill in Utah]

Hi, After the problems with my Dads 2001 Civic LX coupe (they had to replace the long block plus lots of other stuff) the memories of the placement of the filter and the fact that the Corolla was cheaper to buy, had a better warrenty (5y/60k vs 3y/36k powertrain), I felt the build was better and I could fit in it, we bought a 2005 Corolla CE. My Dad loves his new Honda powered Saturn Vue, So he still bought part of a honda! Insurance was quite a bit cheaper for the Corrola over the Civic in my area. Last tank was 42.1 mpg! In 16k, my overall MPG is above 40mpg. I know of folks who love their Civic and if you are going to get one, wait. The 2006 is a completly new outfit and i'm sure you'll be able to deal on a 2005. The resale of the current model will drop with the new model coming out. The same will happen in 2007-8 with the new corolla... Take care, Bill PS: I'm sure my Dads Civic was built on Friday.. Maybe Monday? But he did exercise the warrenty quite a bit. My 1998 Accord which I owned for 17k miles / 1 yr had no problems except weak Paint (if you looked at it the paint fell off ). After the Warrenty paint job, I traded it off since it looked like @#$%... PPS:

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The oil change is due at 10,000 miles.

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PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE make sure you do a UOA on this oil change. [ April 28, 2005, 07:10 PM: Message edited by: Bill in Utah ]

 

[Colt]

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Originally posted by ruking77: The filter is recommended to change at 20,000 miles. .

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Just curious,Ruking77. Would you actually leave an oil filter in for 20K miles?

 

[ruking77]

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Originally posted by Colt:

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Originally posted by ruking77: The filter is recommended to change at 20,000 miles. .

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Just curious,Ruking77. Would you actually leave an oil filter in for 20K miles?

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I was brought up old school where 1500 mile OCI's were normal and 3,000 mile OCI's was pushing it. So 10,000, 15,000,20,000 even 25,000 miles WAS a RADICAL departure for me. The truth is oils and engine engineering have come a VERY LONG way since then. If it were not for the fact that I have app 694,000 miles under foot with Mobil One oil and 15,000 mile OCI's, I'd probably not do it. I currently run a TDI with 15,000, 20,000 and working on 25,000 mile OCI's. So yes, for the Honda, I am ok with 20,000 miles. The amazing thing is this Honda recommendation is with CONVENTIONAL OIL !!!

 

[rjundi]

Civic's yield excellent gas mileage but pull out a calculator and truly figure out what you'll save. Also factor in selling your Camaro which if recent probably gets adequate fuel mileage. I cannot imagine the swing being better than 10mpg from car to car. Used Honda's cost a premium. I am a former owner of a Civic and was disatisfied with the car as a whole. Yes good mileage and reliability but otherwise mediocre at best. I sufferered 9 years and 222,000 miles with it. I did not like it after three weeks of ownership.

 

[InvalidUserID]

I'm not looking to buy within the next couple months so I'll probably wait until the 2006 models come out and the dealers start to have some promos/deals. I can't find any info on the 2006 Civics so I guess I'll just wait. Wait...where IS the oil filter on the Civic? Can't be as bad as the oil filter location on a '94 Saturn SL2.

 

[Bill in Utah]

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I can't find any info on the 2006 Civics so I guess I'll just wait

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Google 2006 civic and you'll find photos and such... Or click on this! Take care, Bill

 

[ruking77]

You bring up good points both on the car itself and the numbers. Since invaliduserID can address his situation,let me do an easy exampple. It would make no sense, if you owned the Camaro and had to pay 300-400 in payments for the Honda Civic. If you are anything like average even a 60 mile daily commute only yields 15,840 miles per year. So at 18 mpg at 2.60 gas would consume 880gals of gas= 2288 year/12mo =191 per mo vs 35 mpg at 260=453 gal=1177 year/12mo= 98dollars per mo. PLUS 300/400 payments would be 191 vs 398/498 for the Honda Civic.

 

[The Critic]

Hey, I was just got a little bit of "spam" from El Cerrito Honda recently and they were selling the 2005 Civic EX for $15,700+Tax until the end of this month as part of some special promotion. Just wanted to pass that along. If you want the full details, PM me. Michael

 

[Cutehumor]

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Originally posted by rjundi: I am a former owner of a Civic and was disatisfied with the car as a whole. Yes good mileage and reliability but otherwise mediocre at best. I sufferered 9 years and 222,000 miles with it. I did not like it after three weeks of ownership.

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222k in 9 yrs. you must have liked the car if you kept it for nine years! dissatisfied how? wasn't sporty enough?

 

[ruking77]

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Originally posted by Cutehumor:

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Originally posted by rjundi: I am a former owner of a Civic and was disatisfied with the car as a whole. Yes good mileage and reliability but otherwise mediocre at best. I sufferered 9 years and 222,000 miles with it. I did not like it after three weeks of ownership.

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222k in 9 yrs. you must have liked the car if you kept it for nine years! dissatisfied how? wasn't sporty enough?

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I'd say you did pretty good! My own mileage and time horizons are a min of 250,000 miles and with a current consumption of app 20,000 per year 12/13 years. If I am lucky I will use 13/14 oil filters and 14/15 oil changes.

 

[asiancivicmaniac]

InvaliduserID, I have a 2004 Civic VP coupe. It's been a pretty good car, of course I only have close to 7k right now. Before you buy the EX you might want to consider one of the lesser models (unless you want the moon roof of course). Without ABS my car can pull to a stop pretty fast. When you say "better engine" I'm sure you mean the Vtec. If you think it will give you more power then you might want to rethink that. It won't make that big of a power difference. My car is an auto and it isn't too bad. Sometimes it shfts a bit rough but I guess thats just Honda auto trannys. The engine is pretty quiet but there is some wind and road noise. The oil filter isn't that hard to get to, you just have to reach a bit. I could have gotten a Corolla but the Civic coupe looks a lot better. Also Civics have a high resale value and will last a long time if taken care of properly. The best part is that I get 30-34 mpg city consistently. I know that probably a few other cars can give me that mileage but they don't look good (eg. Echo, Corolla,Neon) or won't last (Neon,Aveo,) as long. You will be losing horsepower by trading in your Camaro but if mileage, reliability, and high resale value is more important then the Civic is a pretty good choice. And llike others have said you might want to wait for the '06 Civic, it looks pretty good. Good luck. edit: forgot to add that if sportiness is something you are looking for then the Civic isn't the right car for you. Also if you want more opinions then try epinions.com, edmunds.com, and consumerguide.com. They're pretty informative.

 

[InvalidUserID]

Thanks for all the help guys. I appreciate the input and opinions. Like I said, I didn't plan on getting a new car any time soon (6+ months) and just wanted to get some info and fresh opinions after reading a ton of websites. I'll definitely weigh my options, continue to read up and see how the '06s turn out. And I won't be selling/trading in the Camaro. I have to still have a fun car for the weekends! Thanks a bunch, gents!

 

[rpn453]

For 60 miles a day, you'd save about $1000 a year in fuel. Would having 2 cars really offer any payback? Here's a good site to play around with fuel costs: http://www.fueleconomy.gov/feg/sbs.htm

 

[Cyprs]

I prefer Nissan but I owned two Hondas, they served me good. My parents bought a new 1985 civic that year. It still runs great, it was then hondamatic (semi auto tranny). It has 300+ kms. My father will start this thing up, run it for 30 seconds and drop that sucker into reverse or drive with out using break pedal, clunk! he rarely comes to full stop in reverse prior to engaging into drive. My mother run chokes and clunks it in at fast idle same way. The tranny never touched, my father runs his auto Sentra same way with no problem, it now has 160K kms. This 1985 Honda drivetrain is proven, I get the shakes feeling the abuse these cars take when I am in them, I give up trying to tell them to be more patient and gentle, how can I argue with them on their civic/sentra longevity to date? Many human defy nature to in abusing themselves and ticking for ever, GOD? luck? fate? Cosmos? who knows. I wont do this to my auto in my X-Trail, see how long it goes, maybe they know something I dont? Anyway, I know the newer Hondas have few auto tranny problems, I like Nissan because of 320K time chain, the Honda belts on timing needed changing like socks. I like Honda or Nissan, either would do the job, on Honda I would go Standard tranny. My 5 speed standard in 86 Accord was nicely meshed in sycronization and went 280K before needing a clutch. Good luck, Cyprs

 

[ediamiam]

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Originally posted by rpn453: For 60 miles a day, you'd save about $1000 a year in fuel. Would having 2 cars really offer any payback?

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I have to side with rpn453 on this. You would save on fuel overall, but that $1000 would then go towards your new insurance bill, figure on usage of 'long commute',still paying insurance on your old car, and you're still stuck with monthly car payments. I would stick with the old beater, eating the higher fuel costs, until your car is no longer reliable for the distance commuting. On the other hand, if you are just itching for a new car, then we are talking about another kind of problem.

 

[97tbird]

I can recommend a Hyundai Elantra. doesn't have the Honda/Corolla name, but proving to be a great car thses days...has more standard things than Civic/Corolla, and is pretty peppy, too. Soemhow I think the elantra has more personality..perhaps because you still don't see 5000 of them every day.