What did you almost buy? And why you chose the Civic

[CanadiaegeanBlue]

Elantra Sport was supposed to be the car I was going to sign on last week, but out of nowhere and with no prior interest in the Civic Si I decided to go Civic instead. The ES is a heck of a car, especially for folks I know in the US that are able to negotiate deals on them down to $18-$19k. It's an awesome first attempt by Hyundai, and I suspect Si and Turbo owners will be challenged quite a bit by Elantra Sport's on the road. Like the Si, the ES is putting down great power to the wheels and is starting to get some aftermarket parts for it. I suggest everyone who is stretching their wallet with the Si to give the Elantra Sport a try, and I would definitely take an ES over a regular Turbo civic.

I prefer the ES design over the Si, but the Honda has that added precision that made me say yes to it. I also feel I'd need to do little to this car to enjoy it on spirited drives, HPDE's, AutoX, and open track days.

Sponsored

 

[sonicBOOMgray]

Elantra Sport was supposed to be the car I was going to sign on last week, but out of nowhere and with no prior interest in the Civic Si I decided to go Civic instead. The ES is a heck of a car, especially for folks I know in the US that are able to negotiate deals on them down to $18-$19k. It's an awesome first attempt by Hyundai, and I suspect Si and Turbo owners will be challenged quite a bit by Elantra Sport's on the road. Like the Si, the ES is putting down great power to the wheels and is starting to get some aftermarket parts for it. I suggest everyone who is stretching their wallet with the Si to give the Elantra Sport a try, and I would definitely take an ES over a regular Turbo civic.

I prefer the ES design over the Si, but the Honda has that added precision that made me say yes to it. I also feel I'd need to do little to this car to enjoy it on spirited drives, HPDE's, AutoX, and open track days.

Good first attempt but waiting for Hyundai's Performance line to drop. (remove the delays in their DCT) The Honda is more youthful and is newer than the Hyundai's. The Honda drives *and* rides like a baby BMW or baby Mercedes which is what you mean by added precision?

 

[Rikdrt1]

Exactly. If you're feeling tired of the WRX (you didn't say, just that you thought you should go for something new) you can hang with an Si (or focus, or golf) until the WRX gets a new gen rather than just a refresh.

You read my mind exactly......if I was comparing with the all new Subie I may not be looking at the Si so hard. Lol

 

[Beenawhile]

I was in the process of buying a used (25k miles) 2014 BMW 335i with Msport and Luxury packages for $29k (helluva deal). This thing was sick. Drove and looked insanely good. I decided to visit my local BMW dealership beforehand to see what their new 328's felt like. Did I really need all that power? On the way I stopped by Carmax to get a quote on my Accord trade-in. I drove over to Honda - which was across the street from BMW - to get another trade-in offer. Their offer, coupled with the price and interior of the new Civic hatchback, sold me. I walked out of there with a new Sport Touring for about $26k if you include their trade-in price. Practically non-existent .9% interest rate, too.

Do I regret it? Sort of. Honda is a great car but that BMW was on another level. I'm looking at the CTR now.

 

[sonicBOOMgray]

Do I regret it? Sort of. Honda is a great car but that BMW was on another level. I'm looking at the CTR now.

Would you have been less remorseful if you had bought a less expensive trim like a LX rather than the Sport and up? Based on your answer, I can ascertain whether your grouse is with the drivetrain or the whole package (inc styling, FE etc)

 

[Beenawhile]

Would you have been less remorseful if you had bought a less expensive trim like a LX rather than the Sport and up? Based on your answer, I can ascertain whether your grouse is with the drivetrain or the whole package (inc styling, FE etc)

I wouldn't have purchased a Civic unless it was loaded. The car's interior is actually pretty nice and it does drive quick and smooth. It's fun. But what it comes down to is that I was never going to be happy with less than 300hp.

I tried to convince myself I would be, but I just can't deny it any longer.

 

[y0gur7]

15 & 16 Charger R/T
17 & 18 WRX Premium
17 Focus ST
17 Fusion Sport
13 G37
11 M37

The Charger's seat hurts my back. I tried different years and different seats and couldn't find one that was comfortable.

The WRX felt the fastest and was the funnest to drive. The road noise and stuff ride was too much for me. When I take a road trip I don't want to have to yell at the passengers and I don't want to get beat up by the ride.

The only FoST I could find was the base model. The dash was terrible, and it was a bland experience for me. I suspect the 100+ temp day and maybe 87 octane gas contributed to the lack of excitement.

The Fusion Sport was a blast to drive. 380 ft/lbs of torque and a silky smooth ride. If the only one in 300+ miles of me wasn't loaded up with options I didn't want I would've gotten this car. In the end it wasn't worth paying 10k more for a car thats not suitable for a track day.

The G37 rocked as far as driving. Great sounding engine and really fun to drive. Probably the best bang for buck of the cars I drove. I hated the phone infotainment integration, but I would've looked past that if I could have found one with a manual transmission.

The M37 was a great cruiser. The little details and super comfortable seats made for a great car. If I traveled long distances more, I would've bought one.

In the end I bought a Si sedan. It didn't check all the boxes I wanted, but it was the best all round car for my purposes. It'll do a track day, pick up groceries and be a decent road trip car with plenty of room. Probably the slowest car in a straight line I drove, but one of the funnest to take around a corner. I really like accelerating out of a corner in this car.

 

[cestjoel]

I was shopping for a 2017 Volkswagen Golf Wolfsburg Edition. I opted for the Civic, because future repair cost on a VW are horrendous. I used to own a GTI MKIV and will always have a soft spot for VWs. But, Civics/Hondas are just more reliable cars. And the Sports hatch looks cooler

 

[SumDuud]

I was looking at Prius, Prius C, Scion iM, Corolla, Hyundai Elantra all 2016. I have a hefty commute (~100 miles each way mostly all highway) and wanted to get to a more economical vehicle than the 2007 Camry V6 I was driving that only got about 26 mpg and had 275k miles on it. I test drove all and then on a whim decided to visit the Honda dealership. They tried to put me into a 2015 Civic and then I saw the 2016 Civic and pretty much knew on the spot what I was going to get. My mom had a older Civic that she put 300k on and that's right up my alley.

On test drives the Hyundai was out and I didn't care for the regular Prius. I liked the pep of some of the smaller cars and I've always been a sedan guy. The Corolla was nice, but just didn't grab me. I test drove a bunch of cars and had a friend at a Toyota dealership that was going to get me into a Toyota for a great price. I was also researching heavily and reviewing Consumer Reports for information. Pretty much all of them scored well. To amuse my wife's family I looked through a ford dealership with the potential of her Grandfather's Z plan; nothing I liked.

After test driving the Civic I was impressed with the look, feel and design of it all; even with the salesman blundering his demonstration of Apple CarPlay (forgot his cord when he went to get the keys, then couldn't get it hooked up, then had issues getting it all to a demo type state lol). I started looking online through SAMS club car buying program and other various online sites that will do "locked-in lowest online price" and contacting many dealerships online teams. After going back to look at color in person and talking with the dealer, he said they would match any price I got online or he'd be happy to let me go elsewhere. They honored that and I picked up the 2016 EX Sensing and I love it. The one thing that I liked about the Corolla that the Civic doesn't have is the blind spot monitoring for driver side where there is a little light on the mirror when someone is sitting in the blind spot. But I can live with that.

I've had my Civic a year (as of 1 June 2017) and I put 42k on it so far. lol Only 4 oil changes as well. Dealer service techs told me to follow the Honda computer and change it when it says, so I do.

 

[dusty kemp]

Just finished a 5 year stint with a Sonata. Great car and as a 49 year old with 2 kids it was just what I needed. When it came time to replace it I narrowed it down to a new model year Sonata 2.0 Turbo and a Malibu 2.0 Turbo as I thought I needed the room.....then I happened by the Honda lot and saw a red hatch Sport for the first time and it was over! Kind of. I've had 4 Hondas in the past and was missing them. However, my wife said the sport was ugly and "looked just like the Accord hatch/crossover mess". So, I ended up with the new Sonata Turbo on a smoking deal. It was everything they say it is. Big, comfortable, practical, pretty quick, nice sat radio.....and I was bored after 30 days. I've NEVER felt buyer's remorse like that in my life. Problem was, the new Sonata(even though my trade and the 6500 Hyundai markdowns got me the car cheap) was a financial tank. No Honda dealer would touch it because Hyundai kept blowing out Sonatas to clear out for new model year stuff. So to shorten this story, my wife took the Sonata, I traded her 2015 Civic Ex and drove home a new Hatch Sport in CBP! I still love to look at this car! I do suffer from CTR envy, but as a daily driver and 2 kids, I think the R isn't quite the right car for my situation. I'll slowly make some changes to the Sport to make it unique and can say that I'm so glad I changed my mind!

 

[sonicBOOMgray]

The Hatch is the game changer, pure and simple.

 

[IndyMark007]

I was looking for something with a lot better gas mileage than my Toyota Highlander (21 mpg), due to a 50 mile round trip commute to work 4 days a week. I originally was planning to look at the Prius and the Hyundai Ioniq. While doing my research, I saw that Honda Civics can get around 40 mpg on the highway, which is basically my entire commute. I test drove a Civic Hatchback EX and loved it, especially the styling. I test drove the Ioniq too and liked it, but the price was was about $4,000 more for the trim level I wanted, and it would take me too long to make that up in gas savings. I ended up not even test driving a Prius due to the cost and how butt ugly they are. So I am now a brand new Civic Hatchback EX owner, and anxious to see what kind of mpg I can achieve over the coming months.

 

[sonicBOOMgray]

From Australia! I owned a 1999 e46 BMW 323i (which was a great car) and was looking to buy something within the $30KAUD price point. I was looking for something that was comfortable on the inside to take my managers and clients around in but also have a good platform to tastefully mod and perform when I wanted it to. Also, I wanted something that was at least made in 2013 onward because reasons.

I first looked at a 2013 Volkswagen Scirocco R with 33,000kms for $32,000 AUD at a dealership. Took a mechanic with me to inspect the car. Drove and pulled really well and was okay in terms of condition albeit interior was wearing out and there was a few scratches on the outside. Although my worries were correct when mechanic checked out the usual VW problems like the DSG transmission though to fix wasn't too bad.

I looked at a 2016 Volkswagen TSI Highline with all the trimmings with 3450kms for $32,950 AUD at a dealership. It was in near perfect condition inside and out and it drive well but it just didn't capture me as I thought it would. It handles well and drives fine but it didn't pull like my old 323i and I couldn't really see myself modding it in anyway.

I proceeded to look at Mazda 3's, Hyundai i30s and Corollas which where nice but just didn't hit the spot as something was always missing like a nice interior etc. I avoided BMW, Audi and Mercedes because of price range and the ones I could get where usually at 80,000kms.

I found my Civic at a Volkswagen Dealership in my old hood and I immediately loved the design. I didn't actually think to get a Civic in the first place because the top of the range model (LX in Australia or Touring in the US) was priced at around $38K brand new or around $35K for a few thousand kms. I found my one at 3,120kms listed at $33,950 on the lot. I took it for a test drive and the sales rep made the mistake of not joining me and letting myself and mechanic mate go out alone. We took it up an industrial area where its all uphill with heaps of twisty roads and it pulled great. It matched my old BMW with having the pull of the turbo though without it, it wouldn't compare. We inspected the car and found issues here and there just from a lack of care from the dealership i.e, scratches, panels not on properly, roof trim not on properly and small dings on the roof which I could fix easily.

We agreed on $28K given that I did the registration transfer myself which was around $450. I've had the car for 4 months now and although it could be a tad faster and the exhaust note could sound better, that could be changed with mods. My colleagues and clients enjoy the ride comfort, I enjoy thrashing it around town and each time I park it, I look back and admire my decision. Also I fill up every 2 and a half weeks instead of every 6 days like my old BMW!

I plan to keep this car for as long as I can! Australia doesn't have any manual Civics nor are we getting the Si, and the Type R which is out in September for us starts at $51KAUD excluding on road costs. Though for the price I paid, the CVT is A-OK!

I was referred to the civic (not hatch) by family. I had to go in just to pick color of hatch only.

 

[sonicBOOMgray]

Is anyone still trying to get used to the drivetrain of the 1.5T, the lack of an exhaust and wimpy sounding 1.5 liter has me miffed? I love the torque but it isn't linear as much as it is wild but smooth. And it sounds kinda wimpy but appreciate no exhaust drone/noise. About all I can say is it stands out on FE and sporty and what average bear doesn't want or namely, need that.

 

[213NSX]

Every single day I "almost" buy something. At this point in my life I have a few hours every single day of downtime, and I always use it to search for the best and fastest Honda's out there.

Almost got this the other day but thankfully got outbid!