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Girlfriend wants a Civic

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Atty said:
Any idea what the dealer mark up is on a new one vs what I would be paying for a used? I'm seeing fully loaded certified used ones for 18,500 - 20,000. EX-L Trim level ,fully loaded, etc.

If we can do a new one then that would be better, because that is what she wants. If we can do a fully loaded EX-L off the lot for a few grand more than used one then sure, its a deal. I'll have to look into it.
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Does she really want the leather? That's the only thing the EX-L adds to it. The last time I checked, certified 2008-9 EX were around $17k, but that's in my area. The leather was bumping it up around grand.
 
The manual tranny on the 2008 Civic we have is really annoying. It's impossible to shift smoothly and always lurches into second gear. I think it has to do with the electronic throttle.
 
Civics are awesome.

I don't get what you all have against manual drive (automatic is rare in europe) as if you can't grasp the concept of shifting gears, you probably shouldn't drive at all.
 
Used normally is a better deal and may be marginally with a civic but it is a rare exception. The resale is so high that if I were to buy one I'd probably buy new also.
 
I sat in a '09 EX coupe the other day and was really pissed to find out that they still haven't fixed the interior rattles. I liked my 06 LX a lot, but I couldn't take the amount of rattles I heard every time I drove it.

Seriously, when you go out for a test drive, just tap the roof and listen. In one more month, the entire car will sound like that.

Also, the automatic transmission gets confused between 6-7 MPH, and WILL damage itself (mines did) if you are stuck in traffic. I was stuck for 2 hours on the NJ turnpike, and the transmission started to fail. See this thread. I posted a fix to that problem in the last post.

Also, my seat fell apart after they tried to fix an airbag light.

Also, my motor mounts failed.

Also, there were fitment issues with my rear tail lights + bumper (was shown to be normal on another car at the dealership, but there were others that were "proper.")

I still liked the car though, and I'd buy an Si in a heartbeat, but only to beat the crap out of it.
 
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amdhunter said:
I sat in a '09 EX coupe the other day and was really pissed to find out that they still haven't fixed the interior rattles. I liked my 06 LX a lot, but I couldn't take the amount of rattles I heard every time I drove it.

Seriously, when you go out for a test drive, just tap the roof and listen. In one more month, the entire car will sound like that.

Also, the automatic transmission gets confused between 6-7 MPH, and WILL damage itself (mines did) if you are stuck in traffic. I was stuck for 2 hours on the NJ turnpike, and the transmission started to fail.

Also, my seat fell apart after they tried to fix an airbag light.

Also, my motor mounts failed.

Also, there were fitment issues with my rear tail lights + bumper (was shown to be normal on another car at the dealership, but there were others that were "proper.")

I still liked the car though, and I'd buy an Si in a heartbeat, but only to beat the crap out of it.
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How many miles were on the car? It's odd because my 07 has no rattles at 50 000 miles. I haven't heard of anyone having all those problems :\

I cant comment on the auto transmission being picky. That's why I went with a MT.
 
alfa147x said:
How many miles were on the car? It's odd because my 07 has no rattles at 50 000 miles. I haven't heard of anyone having all those problems :\

I cant comment on the auto transmission being picky. That's why I went with a MT.
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Got rid of it at 14000 miles. I had SRS Airbag/transmission issues from day one. The rattles started a few days later. Mounts broke soon after.

I had thought it was just a "first year of model" problem. But the 09 I sat in had all the same problems. 🙁
 
we had our '08 ex mt for exactly 3 yrs this month
no problems at all
no rattles either
old lady loves it so much well prolly keep it another 3
 
amdhunter said:
Got rid of it at 14000 miles. I had SRS Airbag/transmission issues from day one. The rattles started a few days later. Mounts broke soon after.

I had thought it was just a "first year of model" problem. But the 09 I sat in had all the same problems. 🙁
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I would have called Honda corporate that sounds like a lemon.
I hate rattles. I f*cking tore apart my 94 Altima about 5 years ago trying fix every single little rattle. The one squeak I get for my Civic is when i turn the steering wheel to lock. Near the end of the rotation is a light plastic on plastic squeak
 
I bought the wife a new 2007 and she's got about 25K miles on it right now. She loves it. The only problem when buying one is finding the color/transmission combo that you can live with. My wife wanted a MT and had to settle for a silver one ... which she actually came to love. Go figure ...


If you live in an area with a number of dealers buying a civic is easy and relatively cheap (I only paid $15.5 +tax/tag):

1) Go to the Honda corp website and look for all dealers within 50-100 miles of your location.
2) Request a quote from each. It helps to mention that you will be buying in the next week. Don't forget to ask what colors they have with your choice of transmission.
3) You will get a mjority of quotes within 1-3 days. Choose the one you like. If the lowest bid is 100 miles away email/call a closer dealer seeing if they will match that price.
4) Go buy car.

In my case it took 3 days, a computer, a glass of wine and relaxing to buy her car. She was shocked when I told her that her car was ready to pick up and what price we got it for.

Good luck ...
 
Dirigible said:
Girlfriends and wives: Let them get what they want or any little annoyance with the vehicle is your fault.
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doesn't matter. Even if she buys the car of her choice, it is still your fault when something is wrong with it. Just roll with the punches 😎
 
alfa147x said:
ah sounds kinda like my gf... She wants a ford fiesta
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Girls with cheap taste are the best. It's the ones who make $15/h as a hair stylist but insist on driving a BMW 5 series that you need to worry about.


I bought the wife a new 2007 and she's got about 25K miles on it right now. She loves it. The only problem when buying one is finding the color/transmission combo that you can live with. My wife wanted a MT and had to settle for a silver one ... which she actually came to love. Go figure ...
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I got fucked like that too. The civic actually had a waiting list when I bought mine.
"do you have any red?"
"no"
"do you have blue?"
"we have one blue EX model in Calgary, but no LX"

I ended up getting silver. It was either silver or a brown color I didn't really like.
 
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alfa147x said:
A Honda Fit would fit her better. 😉
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Fit is a bit larger inside but the Fiesta handles like a gokart compared to the fit. I extensively cross shopped the two a couple months ago for my uncle before we decided on the fiesta. Fiesta has nicer plastics, better seats, better sound isolation, a little more oomph, better mpg, better stereo and some other things. It is a bit more expensive though, but you get what you pay for.
 
PhoKingGuy said:
Fit is a bit larger inside but the Fiesta handles like a gokart compared to the fit. I extensively cross shopped the two a couple months ago for my uncle before we decided on the fiesta. Fiesta has nicer plastics, better seats, better sound isolation, a little more oomph, better mpg, better stereo and some other things. It is a bit more expensive though, but you get what you pay for.
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She's lugging around anthropology stuff. She needs the room 😉
 
ShawnD1 said:
Girls with cheap taste are the best. It's the ones who make $15/h as a hair stylist but insist on driving a BMW 5 series that you need to worry about.



I got fucked like that too. The civic actually had a waiting list when I bought mine.
"do you have any red?"
"no"
"do you have blue?"
"we have one blue EX model in Calgary, but no LX"

I ended up getting silver. It was either silver or a brown color I didn't really like.
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I thought you drive a Corolla?
 
As a kid we had a few Hondas in the family. 91 Si hatch (that was lots of fun), a 2000 SE sedan and a 1995 DX coupe. The 91 only had oil changes, and I think wheel bearings -- over the course of over 300,000km. It was pushed quite a lot too... awesome little car.

What I heard from the parents during that time was the more recent it was, the cheaper quality seemed to be. The 95 was pretty good though if you ask me, ride quality was amazing for something so small and low to the ground and the gas mileage was incredible. The 2000 was a very generic and "blah" car. Nothing inherently wrong with it.

Haven't spent much time in more recent models, but I did ride in some ~2004-2006 models and checked out a few when I was car shopping. Was not impressed with the feel of the clutch/shifter and interior overall. However, pretty much anyone I've spoken to that has owned any recent one has been extremely pleased with them.

I wouldn't be too concerned if my GF wanted to get a Civic, but she ended up with a new Mazda3 hatch (very nice!). On the other hand, I've seen so many rust out way too young...
 
zCypher said:
As a kid we had a few Hondas in the family. 91 Si hatch (that was lots of fun), a 2000 SE sedan and a 1995 DX coupe. The 91 only had oil changes, and I think wheel bearings -- over the course of over 300,000km. It was pushed quite a lot too... awesome little car.

What I heard from the parents during that time was the more recent it was, the cheaper quality seemed to be. The 95 was pretty good though if you ask me, ride quality was amazing for something so small and low to the ground and the gas mileage was incredible. The 2000 was a very generic and "blah" car. Nothing inherently wrong with it.

Haven't spent much time in more recent models, but I did ride in some ~2004-2006 models and checked out a few when I was car shopping. Was not impressed with the feel of the clutch/shifter and interior overall. However, pretty much anyone I've spoken to that has owned any recent one has been extremely pleased with them.

I wouldn't be too concerned if my GF wanted to get a Civic, but she ended up with a new Mazda3 hatch (very nice!). On the other hand, I've seen so many rust out way too young...
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So underneath it all she likes to drive :biggrin:
 
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