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

I was planning on driving my 2012 Volvo S60 to over 100,000 miles before getting a new car. I really enjoyed driving that car, even after almost 8 years of owning it. I discovered that it was burning about a quart of oil a month and I wasn't ready to invest in $2k to fix it.

I don't like the design of the new Volvos and the dealership is too far from me (20 miles). Prices are out of control also. Mini Coopers looked really cool, but they weren't too cheap and not too practical. They also used run flat tires on the model I was looking at. After a bad experience this past summer without a spare, I much prefer having a spare tire!

I was really in a quandary as to what I would get.

On the list of consideration was:
- Subaru Crostrek
- Subaru Outback
- Honda CR-V
- VW Golf
- VW Jetta
- VW Tiguan
- Audi A3
- Acura ILX
- Acrua TSX

The Outback and CR-V were too big. We already have a Toyota Highlander so we don't need another big SUV. I did want cargo space though. With the Subaru Crostrek, I liked the look of it but reviews I read weren't all good on the car. Some said it felt cheap. Sitting in it I was like "meh". The VW choices were a little higher in price than I would have liked. Same with Audi and Acura.

My wife commented to me one night that she saw a Honda Civic in a parking lot and it looked really nice. Honda Civics had gotten boring looking in my opinion and I stopped noticing them. When I did some research online, I liked what I saw. The big thing was that they had a hatchback model again. That would be perfect...not too big like an SUV but still more cargo area than a sedan.

So we went to the dealer right around the corner on a Sunday and sat in a few (I swear they leave cars unlocked on the lot on purpose LOL). I liked what I saw. I decided on the EX Hatchback model in Polished Metal Metallic with a Black/Ivory interior.

Not long after, I took one for a test drive and was really impressed with the handling. It was even tighter and more grippy on the curves than my S60. I felt a little let down in the acceleration department, but it seemed unfair to compare a 5 cylinder turbo to a 4 cylinder turbo. The CVT was weird to me also.

All in all, those were minor considerations and I figured you can't compare a luxury sedan directly to a compact hatchback.

So I bought the car. I found that the acceleration really kicks in when you really lean on the gas...moreso than on my S60. This may seem obvious, but it's just that I find I have to drive this car a bit differently. Now I can accelerate onto a highway with the same confidence I had before. It's pretty amazing.

The more I drive this car, the more it impresses me. This is a very pleasant surprise because I was really afraid of feeling like I took a big step down coming from an S60.

My kids really approve of the Civic also. They think it's a super fun car. I have to agree.

I'm a musician and when I gig I have a fair amount of stuff I have to load up...amp, 2 guitars, pedalboard, and misc other stuff. It was a breeze loading the stuff in and out. With the 4 doors, it was easy to put stuff toward the front of the car with the back seats down. I have the versatility of an SUV in a compact car.

Very very happy with my decision!!

ablueSI said:

I cross-shopped a 2018 Golf and 2018 Elantra Sport before getting my Si. I was pretty sure I wanted it from the get-go -- I knew about the adaptive suspension, had read the positive reviews, then saw one in the same blue I have now on the freeway, and remember saying to my friend "I want one of those."

Golf - Nice interior, very quiet on the highway, but I could immediately feel that it wasn't what I was looking for in terms of handling. Suspension and steering were too soft. Engine wasn't bad, but not exciting either. None of this was really a surprise but I was glad I gave it a drive.

Elantra Sport - Not bad! Love how the steering wheel feels and it had decent pull with the DCT. But the ride felt cheap compared to the Si, and so did the rest of the car. The real dealbreaker was the steering - it felt artificial and in its heaviest mode was a good amount lighter than the Si's. I'm not opposed to light steering - in this case, it just wasn't very engaging.

I was also quoted around $130/month over the Si (lease), so there was zero incentive for me to go with the Hyundai.

Click to expand...

were you looking at a GTI or just the regular Golf?

fzmxa said:

were you looking at a GTI or just the regular Golf?

Click to expand...

Regular Golf. The base GTI was going to cost more to lease than the Si and didn't have enough features for me, so unfortunately, that was out of the running.

While I used to envy GTI SE and Autobahn, I love sports sedans and see far fewer Si's than GTI's, so I'm really happy with my choice.

ablueSI said:

Regular Golf. The base GTI was going to cost more to lease than the Si and didn't have enough features for me, so unfortunately, that was out of the running.

While I used to envy GTI SE and Autobahn, I love sports sedans and see far fewer Si's than GTI's, so I'm really happy with my choice.

Click to expand...

It's because GTI's are available in DSG's and current gen has been out since 2010. SI's are 6MT only, automatically making it a rarer car haha

‘18 Mustang GT. Chose the CTR because it’s a lot more fun to drive. The Mustang is a pig on curvy roads. OnLy fun in a straight line and is waaaaay loud.

mechanical42 said:

It's because GTI's are available in DSG's and current gen has been out since 2010. SI's are 6MT only, automatically making it a rarer car haha

Click to expand...

Good point!

The Civic has a lot of aftermarket support. Which is nice not just for mods but if a part is damaged, there's always replacement options.

I cross-shopped the Si against the GTI. I got burned by VAG about 15 years ago with a GLI though. After that I owned two Hondas that had both been 100% reliable. Even though I far prefer the styling and hatchback practicality of the GTI to the Si, there's no way on earth I was going to reward VAG with more business even if they made the exact vehicle I wanted. This was especially true after how well Hondas had treated me. So, I found myself in yet another Honda.


I also test drove the new Insight and Clarity. Really enjoyed both...though the Clarity's styling not so much. More often than not I'm in bumper to bumper traffic so a hybrid makes sense. Somewhat ironically (for a car enthusiast) I do care about emissions and pay for renewables for my house...so an all electric, renewable commute with the Clarity was tempting.

Ultimately though, I realized that I enjoy driving too much and would have probably bought yet another Miata project car if I had to drive a CVT hybrid of plug-in hybrid every day. I also wasn't ready to say goodbye to manual transmissions.

I crossed shopped a used Maserati Ghibli, Alpha Gulia, used M3, and a JL Wrangler Rubicon. I know i was all over the place looking for a family friendly fun car. The Ghibili was a good luxury car and had a awesome exhaust note but the reliability and expense repairs turned me off. I then looked at a Gulia and was pleasantly surprised on how well that car felt and handled but the interior was very cramped. The F80 M3 was always a car I wanted and was considering but the price was a bit high for a used example with warranty running out. The Jeep I actually like and still like but the way I wanted mine speced it would have been close to $50k so I passed. Then one day I saw a type r at a used car lot and it was love at first sight. I never knew the car was very spacious inside and combined with the fact I can get one new for around $35k was a win win in my book. After watching every YouTube video review and reading about it in this forum a week later I found my car at Msrp and picked it up without even driving it. Still love it to this day. I even had a chance a few weeks back to trade her in on a charger hellcat and I still couldn’t.

I was looking at a 19' Corolla Hatch. But I just preferred the turbo and the styling of the civic more. Plus the aftermarket support is fantastic.

Almost went Soanta with the incentive of 0% finance... but didn't love it. Liked the Civic LX when I drove it but saw a Sport peeking at me in the rearview and it stole my heart! SOLD!!

Was driving CTSv, looking for 997s with poor luck. The only decent one I found in six months was sold from underneath me.
Decided to look for something that might be more economical in general, test drive the SI, was impressed with its handling and knew I could do this as a daily driver.
That extra 400 or so a month saved is going to go towards another fun project.