EX-T plus aftermarket upgrades vs Touring - cheaper price?

Brianp

Member
Joined
Oct 11, 2016
Threads
2
Messages
9
Reaction score
1
Location
Louisville Kentucky
Vehicle(s)
Honda Civic Sedan EX-L 2018
Country flag
Hey, I'm going to purchase a civic soon. I'm not currently knowledgeable on prices with different aftermarket parts. Wondering if buying an EX-T and upgrading to leather seats with drive side power adjustment(including lumbar if aftermarket seats have that), different rims, chrome accents here and there, and a comparable or better sound system than the Touring - - would all be cheaper than getting the Touring?

I do not care for Honda Sensing, the leather wrapped steering wheel, and the auto dimming rear mirror.

Not really interested in the EX-L. Leather seats in EX-L and Touring are comfortable but not impressive. Would probably keep them anyway if getting the Touring - same with keeping the Touring rims since they are at least a little more attractive than the EX-T rims

Thank you
Sponsored

 

Newflyer3

Banned
Banned
Joined
Oct 7, 2015
Threads
4
Messages
1,738
Reaction score
1,043
Location
Calgary, AB
Vehicle(s)
2016 Civic Touring
Well, getting leather alone is probably a $1,500 job. Don't know much about the other pricing but you have to consider these things. When comparing which one is a better deal, Touring or EX-T modded up, it's not a matter of whether you find value or not in an auto dim mirror, leather wheel and Honda Sensing. The equipment is there and is objectively worth x amount. There's bunch of people asking similar questions and they say that many of the Touring features aren't of value to them, but like one particular option, then end up discounting the rest as monetarily 'worthless' and claiming that the premium sound system or LED headlights is a $3000 upgrade compared to the EX-T. No, that's not how it works lol

If you do the modifications, are you factoring labor and risk as well? Not only do you have to figure out how much the parts are but where the install is too. Are you going to risk something bad happening if you choose to DIYourself, is your time worth it? Or are you gonna bring it to a professional for $100/hour? Also, should you start hacking up the electricals for the power seat and there's a warranty claim that you need to submit, that dealer is going to play hardball blaming something on your modifications should your claim be electrical in nature.

On the resale front, should you resell your car ever, a Touring model loaded from the factory will sell for higher compared to the EX-T to begin with and you won't have as much difficulty finding a buyer compared to a modded EX-T where extensive modifications would turn off buyers and quite frankly won't add any more value to the car.
 

josby

Senior Member
Joined
Dec 11, 2015
Threads
24
Messages
866
Reaction score
567
Location
Central VA
Vehicle(s)
2016 Civic Touring sedan
Country flag
I agree with Newflyer3 - probably about $1000 to $1500 to have the seats redone in leather.

I'm not sure if aftermarket power seats are even something available to buy. If you went with the factory power seat, the seat frame is about $640 MSRP plus some other misc parts like the controller switch and power wire. Plus labor. Plus an EX might not even have a plug under the floor to plug into. You'd think Honda would have the same wiring in all trims to keep costs down by reducing complexity, but I know that's not the case for some things (e.g. models without door tweeters don't have the wiring inside the door for a tweeter)

Assuming you're paying someone else for labor, I'd budget about $1000 for upgrading the EX-T's speakers and adding an amp and sub. The result should sound better than a Touring.

I had some similar ideas (mentioned here) but just went with the Touring.

I'd strongly recommend you get a concrete price quote from a local shop for the seat changes you'd want before you decide. That will be the biggest expense.
 

HondaPro

Senior Member
Joined
Oct 22, 2015
Threads
51
Messages
1,521
Reaction score
982
Location
Indiana
Vehicle(s)
2016 EXT Civic & 2017 Civic ExT
Vehicle Showcase
1
Country flag
On the new 10th gen Civics the only real leather is at your back and butt.. the rest is pleather plastic leathers synthetic. It's not worth the extra. I think the EXT is the best value. I really really like the EXT interior.
 

davidgostbo

Senior Member
Joined
Feb 4, 2016
Threads
12
Messages
523
Reaction score
221
Location
Texas
Vehicle(s)
Honda Civic Ex-t 2016
Country flag
If i coukd go back in time i would get the touring instead of the ext. Ext cloth seats get dirty waaay to easily and hard to clean, pretty much only reason lol.
 


HondaPro

Senior Member
Joined
Oct 22, 2015
Threads
51
Messages
1,521
Reaction score
982
Location
Indiana
Vehicle(s)
2016 EXT Civic & 2017 Civic ExT
Vehicle Showcase
1
Country flag
Wow really? My EXT still looks like new but I have the black interior. Maybe before the 2016 civic book values hit you should trade or sell yours and but what you really want.

If i coukd go back in time i would get the touring instead of the ext. Ext cloth seats get dirty waaay to easily and hard to clean, pretty much only reason lol.
 

davidgostbo

Senior Member
Joined
Feb 4, 2016
Threads
12
Messages
523
Reaction score
221
Location
Texas
Vehicle(s)
Honda Civic Ex-t 2016
Country flag
Wow really? My EXT still looks like new but I have the black interior. Maybe before the 2016 civic book values hit you should trade or sell yours and but what you really want.
Yeah I have the grey interior(only color comes with cosmic blue) stains so easily :(
 

HondaPro

Senior Member
Joined
Oct 22, 2015
Threads
51
Messages
1,521
Reaction score
982
Location
Indiana
Vehicle(s)
2016 EXT Civic & 2017 Civic ExT
Vehicle Showcase
1
Country flag
I never would buy a car unless it has black interior..
 

CEXT

Senior Member
Joined
Sep 23, 2016
Threads
5
Messages
262
Reaction score
93
Location
Vancouver
Vehicle(s)
2016 EX Turbo
Country flag
Does anyone like the look of the ext projector lights over the led touring lights? I plan to get led bulbs for mine.
Also I prefer body colored handles over chrome.
 


BobM_Jr

Senior Member
First Name
Bob
Joined
Feb 15, 2016
Threads
4
Messages
109
Reaction score
74
Location
Raleigh, NC
Vehicle(s)
2016 Civic EX-T
Country flag
Does anyone like the look of the ext projector lights over the led touring lights? I plan to get led bulbs for mine.
Also I prefer body colored handles over chrome.
I like the look of the projector lights better too, the LED Touring lights look weird. I put HID lamps in my EX-T and I love them. I agree with the door handle color too.
 


 


Top