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YACT: 04 Civic Ex or 04 Corolla S (Your Input please)

H

HiTek21

Diamond Member
I'm planning on buying a new car, not right away but sometime within the next 6 months. I'm not into racing or anything so I don't really care about high performance cars, just some basic transportation, I prefer not to have the stripped down models so i'm looking at the Civic Ex Coupe or Corolla S. I'm planning on getting a 5 speed not auto.Which of the two cars would you prefer or if theres something within these line of cars would you reccomend?

I'm gonna put a $7,500 down payment and hopefully get the monthly payments to around 200 or less a month for 4 - 5 years.
 
I would go with the Honda, in Edmund's recent comparison test the Civic beats the crap out of the Corolla.

I am not sure the S model handling, but with the LE i testdrove it did feel a bit bulky and worrying during quick manuver. Exterior looks fanatastic and luxurious (relatively), but the interior was dissappointing, particularly the childish Gauge/Dashboard design and fake-cheap center control panel. (but style and looks are subjective right? so I will leave that up to you.)
 
Corolla does look cool compared to older Corollas.... but if you are seriously debating this... you need beat in the head.

CIVIC EX!
 
I have owned previous models of both and they were both wonderful cars.

But I liked the honda more for 2 reasons, the brakes were far superior in longevity and the parts were much cheaper.
 
From what I hear, If your concern is how the car handles, then you want a Civic. If you care more about reliability then supposedly you want a Corolla.
 
Well after seeing those pictures of the new end of the Civic Coupes I'm leaning towards the Civic but I still really think the Corolla S is nice. I love Toyota's reliablitiy, I had an 87 Toyota Pickup and it was rock solid till the day I sold it. I currently have a 91 Prelude Si and its a good car and all but it's seen better days. Needs some major engine work and I don't really have the time to work on it. I doubt the dealership would give me 500 bucks for a trade in on it because its in such bad condition. I might try out my friends Corolla S to see how it drives and test drive a civic at the dealership to see how that drives.
 
Go test drive both and see which one you like... A lot of people don't like the seating position of the corolla, thinking it's too tall... So the only way to tell if you will like/hate it is to go test-drive it...
 
I wouldn't buy a civic EX because it's too expensive, it approaches the price of an accord LX, which is a much, much better car.

OTOH, I wouldn't buy a civic DX/LX because the base engine has no balls.

The corolla comes with a decent base engine and CD player+A/C is standard on all models.


 
honda

as reliable IF NOT MORE RELIABLE than toyota, insane resale value (good in case car gets stolen or totalled), good lucks, HUGE aftermarket fanbase, etc etc.

Just make sure you DON'T buy the fugly sedan...i drive an '03 now, and its just an embarrasing piece of crap (in terms of looks).
 
Originally posted by: Pliablemoose
They are more similar than they are different, flip a coin...
Click to expand...
True. that said I'd pick the corolla because I hate how the civic looks. I think toyota may in fact have higher reliability, though you're splitting hairs either way. My guess is the corolla is faster as well (0-60 in 8.2 for the 5 speed).

 
I'd say go for a Nissan Sentra SE-R (got A/C, Power Windows and stuff, decent stereo sys), or a Nissan Sentra 2.5LE <-- the engine has quite a bit more power and torque than those two.. At least you won't have any problems speeding up to merge into the freeway, or when you need some zip from time to time 🙂 and it looks better than those two.

If you are looking for a used one, I got an '03 SE-R SPECV for sale here.. I ordered up an SRT-4 because I want stock turbo.
 
Originally posted by: funks
I'd say go for a Nissan Sentra SE-R, or a Nissan Sentra 2.5LE <-- the engine has quite a bit more power and torque than those two..
Click to expand...

Yet, it get';s much less MPG, isn't as reliable, worse interior, and is MUCH uglier. He said he was looking for a commuter car, so the SE-Rs low MPG puts it out of the running.
 
Originally posted by: rbloedow
Originally posted by: funks
I'd say go for a Nissan Sentra SE-R, or a Nissan Sentra 2.5LE <-- the engine has quite a bit more power and torque than those two..
Click to expand...

Yet, it get';s much less MPG, isn't as reliable, worse interior, and is MUCH uglier. He said he was looking for a commuter car, so the SE-Rs low MPG puts it out of the running.
Click to expand...

As for bad interiors, honda wins that hands down I think.. talk about the plastic feel. And if you are talking about UGLY, the COROLLA is one FUGLY car, don't know what's up with Toyota's designs lately, have you seen the ES300? jeesuz..

Why are you saying it's not reliable? Alot of Nissan cars are still around (good drivetrains). Granted the QR25 is a new engine, most of the problems with it and the tranny have been hammered in the '03 models.. Moreover, parts wise, it'll be cheaper in the long run as there's a *WHOLE* bunch of QR25's running around (eq. 02->current 4 cyl altimas and SE-R's). The MFG 5 year power train warranty also helps.
 
Originally posted by: funks
Originally posted by: rbloedow
Originally posted by: funks I'd say go for a Nissan Sentra SE-R, or a Nissan Sentra 2.5LE <-- the engine has quite a bit more power and torque than those two..
Click to expand...
Yet, it get';s much less MPG, isn't as reliable, worse interior, and is MUCH uglier. He said he was looking for a commuter car, so the SE-Rs low MPG puts it out of the running.
Click to expand...
Why are you saying it's not reliable? Alot of Nissan cars are still around.. Granted the QR25 is a new engine, most of the problems with it and the tranny have been hammered in the '03 models.. Moreover, parts wise, it'll be cheaper in the long run as there's a *WHOLE* bunch of QR25's running around (eq. 02->current 4 cyl altimas and SE-R's).
Click to expand...

I didn't say that it WASN"T RELIABLE, but it's definitly not as reliable as a Honda or Toyota. I drive a Nissan Sentra, I know. As far as there being a "whole bunch of qr25" running around, the same could be said for the Civic (since it sells even more than the Altima and the Sentra with the QR25s combined). Also, I know that parts are NOT cheap.

You can try and rationalize it any way you want, but when it comes down to it, the Civic is better in every way (except in raw power).
 
Originally posted by: rbloedow
I didn't say that it WASN"T RELIABLE, but it's definitly not as reliable as a Honda or Toyota. I drive a Nissan Sentra, I know. As far as there being a "whole bunch of qr25" running around, the same could be said for the Civic (since it sells even more than the Altima and the Sentra with the QR25s combined). Also, I know that parts are NOT cheap.
Click to expand...

Hmmmm, I think you need to revisit your fact about the new Civics selling more than the 4-door Altima + Sentra (SE-R) in recent years. Maybe for the older models - yeah.

I give Toyota thumbs up though <-- my 6th Gen Celica one reliable car (only problem that I had with is was the starter).. I also had an old Nissan Sentra that never died either 🙂
 
Originally posted by: funks
Originally posted by: rbloedow I didn't say that it WASN"T RELIABLE, but it's definitly not as reliable as a Honda or Toyota. I drive a Nissan Sentra, I know. As far as there being a "whole bunch of qr25" running around, the same could be said for the Civic (since it sells even more than the Altima and the Sentra with the QR25s combined). Also, I know that parts are NOT cheap.
Click to expand...
Hmmmm, I think you need to revisit your fact about the civic selling more than the 4-door Altima in recent years. I give Toyota thumbs up though <-- my 6th Gen Celica was one workhorse that never quit.. I also had an old Nissan Sentra that never died either 🙂
Click to expand...

http://www.theautochannel.com/F/news/2003/09/03/167970.html

http://money.cnn.com/pf/features/lists/top_cars/

I think you need to reevaluate your fanboi fanaticism.



 
Originally posted by: funks

As for bad interiors, honda wins that hands down I think.. talk about the plastic feel. And if you are talking about UGLY, the COROLLA is one FUGLY car, don't know what's up with Toyota's designs lately, have you seen the ES300? jeesuz..

Why are you saying it's not reliable? Alot of Nissan cars are still around (good drivetrains). Granted the QR25 is a new engine, most of the problems with it and the tranny have been hammered in the '03 models.. Moreover, parts wise, it'll be cheaper in the long run as there's a *WHOLE* bunch of QR25's running around (eq. 02->current 4 cyl altimas and SE-R's). The MFG 5 year power train warranty also helps.
Click to expand...

uhhh, have you even sat in 2001+ civic? The interior quality matches the altima if not exceeds. The new accords match entry level german cars for interior quality.

Toyotas ugly? So what does that make nissan with their new bucktooth grills?

Toyotas also have a 5 yr powertrain warranty, nissan is hardly special there.

A whole bunch of 2.5s floating around huh? The corolla 1zz motor has been in use since 1998 and is in the matrix/vibe, corolla/prizm, celica and spyder. The corolla is now the most produced car on the face of the planet. Parts availability is not a problem.

It'd be nice if people knew what the hell they were talking about sometimes.

 
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