Civic Si vs Cadillac CTS VSport

[charleswrivers]

Well... that’s a pass on that specific V Sport and most likely on them in general. Lots of nitpicky things that would need to be fixed that I’m not sure why they’d call the car a CPO (it should have never passed a CPO inspection)... a few things I don’t think that’ll ever be right... recaros I can’t get comfortable in... a red flag of an engine bay that reeks of DexCool... and a 8 speed transmission shared across the whole Cadillac line that differs in programming depending on what car/trim it’s on... but consistently does now know what the hell its doing. At least not across the 3 Caddy’s I tried today.

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[gtman]

Charles, here's a 2019 Stinger GTS RWD with only 344 miles on the clock! Might be worth a test drive for shits and giggles.

https://www.cars.com/vehicledetail/detail/819788281/overview/

 

[charleswrivers]

Charles, here's a 2019 Stinger GTS RWD with only 344 miles on the clock! Might be worth a test drive for shits and giggles.

https://www.cars.com/vehicledetail/detail/819788281/overview/

I may. That’s the same car I mentioned down in Gainesville that’s a bit of a hike... but given a trip further south... I may detour over to it. I do like the color..

I really enjoyed being able to crawl all over the Caddy’s and poke around and check out the LF3 engine and drive the thing. Without abusing the thing... I gave it the beans quite a bit on some solo test drives. It just isn’t a good fit. It’s too Camaro and not enough Cadillac... the touring is too firm and not differentiated enough compared to sport/touring. Recaros uncomfortable. Interior a piano black cathedral. A pile of little things wrong with that car with an engine bay that smelled like someone did this with a jug of DexCool all over it.

The worst was the transmissions though. Maybe I picked a bunch of bad used examples but they ranged from meh to there’s-something-wrong-with-this-damn-thing.

I’m actually going to go off the deep end and try and see about checking out a Tesla 3 in Jax on Tuesday when the old lady and I have time to get away while the kids are in school. I doubt I’ll get offer $20.4k for the Civic as I think they farm out trades via Carvana or something like that... but the 3s look to be holding their value *stupid* well... artificially in a way since Tesla keeps dropping their prices on them. I’d not consider one that isn’t a dual motor since that’s part of the allure of an electric car... though I don’t think I can stomach springing for a performance. I’ve got plenty of means to burn on a car... but I’d be stretching my comfort to touch one. If nothing else... I’ll get to drive one and pass again.

Oh well. I guess that kills the Si v VSport thread. I went in thinking I’d love the car and I was pretty disappointed in what it was in the end. On paper and based on reviews... I thought it would swing for the fences so far as my car-love went.

 

[Mcclaughry95]

The cars you mentioned are good cars, but they’re the same FWD 4-cylinder turbo I’d like to get away from for a bit and aren’t appealing enough to me to trade out of my Si for. The Si has been a good car and it’s not worth getting rid of for something so similar.

I already have the same power to weight ratio of an Accord 2.0t and have an LSD in a lighter, sportier package with a better manual, which isn’t being offered anymore either now or shortly. It’s just a little bit bigger Civic that’s a touch more upscale. I checked one out when I got the ‘18 Si. I looked at them again on paper as a cross shop but there just no appeal to me in one. I’ve looked at a 6 in the past and, while they were ok... I’ve read about the current one with the 2.5t. It may have a torquey engine but it’s still just another 4 cylinder turbo FWD and reviewed performance-wise south of an Accord. The only thing I’ve got from the reviews was I’d be spending $25-35k depending on year with the 2.5t to get a quieter, smoother car than the Si... no quicker than my reflash and substantially worse handling than I have now with a more upscale interior. Aesthetically I don’t care for them one way or another. I had directly crossed-shopped 1 of those in the past already.

The Caddy is a CPO still has a warranty for about 3 years... which is as long as I’d likely keep it. I don’t think the Magride will be covered but I already priced out new shocks/struts all around for $1200 off of rock auto, plus a little more for the mounts. I’ve changed struts/shocks many times and is well in my capability as a DITY. Really about the same price as my Sis low tech adjustables. It’s also a negotiating point to knock some $$$ off and I expect I may have to replace them in the 3 years or so I’d have the car as 6+ years and 80k miles is asking a lot for any damper. Maybe they’ll be fine.

I do expect to eat big $$$ in 3 years on depreciation though. Big for me anyways as I’m generally a cheap bastard. I kind of figure I’m doing well getting $20.4 for a car I spent ~24k (I’d have to look) on 3 years ago. I couldn’t have leased a Si for less than twice as much.

3 years from now when gen 11 is solidly here and the ‘18 is 6 years old, I’d guess it’d be worth $12-14k... so I’ll lose upwards of another $8k in depreciation. I expect the Caddy will be worth $20k. Maybe a little more but not by much. That’d be $15k in further depreciation... so I know it’s going to cost me a easily $10k more on the Caddy in the extra depreciation, a set of magrides and higher operating costs (little more fuel and insurance I’ve priced out) than keeping the Si, driving 8-10k miles a year. I don’t dismiss this is real money and I’m tossing it down the drain by dumping the Si.

I’ve done back-to-back Civics trying to recreate an experience/feeling I had in the RSX they never quite replicated, 3 years each and they were stupid cheap cars to own and good to boot. I won’t have spent $150/month on them so far as depreciation goes when I traded out of them. I think it’s just time to do something substantially different car-wise... which is why I’m looking used-lux on a powerful RWD platform. I like cars... and like trying something different every few years. I’m kind of a car-whore in that way... I don’t get “married” to any particular thing for long. I could keep the ‘18 for years longer... It just feels like the right time.

All I'm getting is that you'd like to throw some money in the trash for an unreliable vehicle. So I'm just a little lost on the reason. But my personal second choice if I have money to throw away is audi then bmw. Go get a nice m5 or something not some GM trash or Korean.

 

[charleswrivers]

All I'm getting is that you'd like to throw some money in the trash for an unreliable vehicle. So I'm just a little lost on the reason. But my personal second choice if I have money to throw away is audi then bmw. Go get a nice m5 or something not some GM trash or Korean.

? Thanks for your insight.

 

[forum_user]

You should take a gander at a gs 350

 

[charleswrivers]

You should take a gander at a gs 350

It’s a good option. I would have liked to have been able to look at a GS F as it is more of a direct competitor with that Caddy I looked at but there’s hardly any around and the ones that are cost 1/2 as much as my home still.

 

[forum_user]

Yeah, GSFs are holding their value like crazy. You can find deals on GS 350s though. I picked up a nearly fully loaded ‘13 GS 350 Lux (has the adaptive suspension from the F-sport) with 35k miles for 24k. They can be had for less.

 

[charleswrivers]

Yeah, GSFs are holding their value like crazy. You can find deals on GS 350s though. I picked up a nearly fully loaded ‘13 GS 350 Lux (has the adaptive suspension from the F-sport) with 35k miles for 24k. They can be had for less.

I’ll keep an eye out. I think the plan is to go by the Tesla store and dream a little bit and do a test drive (they’d have to offer a great trade I won’t hold my breath on to even consider one) and the Lexus would be an interesting look. There was only one GS F within 200 miles... and it was 80 grand. That’s over 1/2 what my mortgage balance is.

I’m on a staycation for a bit and the weather has been mild here from the rain. I may see if I can get the Si to Honda for its last couple months of B2B warranty to see if they can sort some clunks/rattles/random falling apart noises and go wild with some more felt adhesive. I’ve got to make a 1000+ mile road trip in October and if I don’t swap out cars... I’ll burn $80 on a Phearable tune since I’ve had TSP Stage 1 for over 2 years now and see if it changes my feelings on letting the car go... or if I’ll keep looking when I’ve got more time again around the end of the year. It was pretty painful driving the car on the stock tune the last couple of days. I have a flex fuel kit I won I’ve got to get shipped here... but I’ll likely not install it since I’m leaning to trading.

It’s just my ~3 year thing to swap cars.

 

[Zeffy94]

Have you looked at the Acura TLX with the V6? I test drove one yesterday and I loved it. I know it gets poo-poo'd for being an Accord with a suit, but the TLX is 2x as quiet as the Accord, and the ride is great - soft, compliant, and it still has some moves in the twisties. The interior is a bit outdated but that Honda V6 makes a mighty noise. The transmission in the later years isn't as bad as the 2015. I got some jerkiness but nothing that would make me think the transmission was completely broken.

 

[charleswrivers]

Have you looked at the Acura TLX with the V6? I test drove one yesterday and I loved it. I know it gets poo-poo'd for being an Accord with a suit, but the TLX is 2x as quiet as the Accord, and the ride is great - soft, compliant, and it still has some moves in the twisties. The interior is a bit outdated but that Honda V6 makes a mighty noise. The transmission in the later years isn't as bad as the 2015. I got some jerkiness but nothing that would make me think the transmission was completely broken.

I haven’t... I’ve been in a TL... a regular one, not the Type-S or later SH-AWD. The latter one of those was actually I was interested in checking out in a manual back when I bought my ‘15 but I could never find one w/in a days drive ‘round trip. I’ll look at them... though I was kind of interested in something that wasn’t a FWD. I thought the TLXs shared the same platform as the Accord. Might be wrong... as I haven’t followed them that close.

 

[Zeffy94]

I haven’t... I’ve been in a TL... a regular one, not the Type-S or later SH-AWD. The latter one of those was actually I was interested in checking out in a manual back when I bought my ‘15 but I could never find one w/in a days drive ‘round trip. I’ll look at them... though I was kind of interested in something that wasn’t a FWD. I thought the TLXs shared the same platform as the Accord. Might be wrong... as I haven’t followed them that close.

Yeah they are FWD, but you can get them with AWD. The J35 paired with AWD is hilarious off the line. Just hooks and goes. They do share platforms (at least until the 2nd gen TLX comes out)

 

[charleswrivers]

Yeah they are FWD, but you can get them with AWD. The J35 paired with AWD is hilarious off the line. Just hooks and goes. They do share platforms (at least until the 2nd gen TLX comes out)

I’m watching a little about it. It’s definitely a safe bet since I already am familiar with the J-series and my existing Ktuner should be able to be used for an etune... though I bet the headroom is terribly low on the big NA J. I’m seeing them in the $25k-30k range for A-Specs and less for FWDs. It’s a good suggestion and I’ll have to take a look at a ‘18 or newer. I know J pipes and a few other bits have been available from RV6 for a long time. It’s very close to the existing Accord... which is close to the Civic... and the K20C4 has more headroom than the old J... and is a bit of a slug compared to its competition and peers... but as a total package car at its used prices point, it’ll get a look. Most of the ones I’m seeing have low enough miles I might be able to get in and out before a timing belt change rears it’s ugly head. Thanks for the suggestion. ?

 

[Zeffy94]

I’m watching a little about it. It’s definitely a safe bet since I already am familiar with the J-series and my existing Ktuner should be able to be used for an etune... though I bet the headroom is terribly low on the big NA J. I’m seeing them in the $25k-30k range for A-Specs and less for FWDs. It’s a good suggestion and I’ll have to take a look at a ‘18 or newer. I know J pipes and a few other bits have been available from RV6 for a long time. It’s very close to the existing Accord... which is close to the Civic... and the K20C4 has more headroom than the old J... and is a bit of a slug compared to its competition and peers... but as a total package car at its used prices point, it’ll get a look. Most of the ones I’m seeing have low enough miles I might be able to get in and out before a timing belt change rears it’s ugly head. Thanks for the suggestion. ?

Yeah, as a total package it's a very good value used. I was looking at a 2017 V6 with the Advanced package and AWD. It had pretty much everything I was looking for. Price was a bit higher than I'd like... trying to see if there's any negotiation room for it.

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