Honda Civic 2005 and earlier

protegextwo

10,000 posts about Mazda Protege's Sedans....

Can we post 200 messages today at the Mazda Protege Sedan Board and break the 10,000 mark? Folks, I know we can! Every regular needs to post today! Come on Honda Civic Sedans help us out. We need to stay kinda on topic, however. Please come over and help us break 10,000 posts on Friday 3/22/01!!!!

A sincere thank you in advance.

-Larry

jrl03182002

I'm considering to buy 2002 Honda Civic LX. How much is a fair price do I need to pay for this?

cwliang

jrl... You can use Edmund's to check out the prices (dealer vs. invoice) of an LX sedan equipped as you like. The TMV is a decent marker to track by but people have been getting Civics at around the dealer invoice price, so you probably should shoot for that.

bigkahunafl

I have a 2001 EX sedan with auto. Had the same problem with the driver side suspension. Honda shop replaced spring was on service bulletin. Hope this helps.

jrl03182002

tnx cwliang. at least i now have an idea. do u think i made a good choice on this car?

cwliang

A good choice? Well, what are you looking for in a car? There are a lot of reasonable choices in your price range, including the Hyundai Elantra, Mazda Protege, Toyota Corolla, Nissan Sentra, etc. in addition to the Civic. And there are good points and bad points to each car. So whether you are making a good choice really depends on what you are looking for in your car.

bsme1991

Then you should check out Suzuki Aerio SX wagon.
2.0 liter DOHC 141hp inline 4
PS, PB, A/C, AM/FM CD 6-speakers, Tilt wheel, CC, 15" alum wheels, keyless remote entry, rear spoiler with integ brake lights...
TMV under $15,000
0% 12-36 months factory financing until 30 April 2002.
http://www.suzukiauto.com/sr02/aeriosx/index.html
Why is Honda forcing me to look elsewhere for a four door HB????

cwliang

When was the last time Honda sold a 4-door hatch in the U.S.? All I remember are the 2-door hatches in recent years...

backy

I don't ever remember a 4-door Civic hatch in the States. The only thing close to it was the 4-door wagon that was killed after the '91 model year. Now that was a neat little wagon--available with AWD too. It had "tall" styling that is very much in vogue right now. Maybe it's the right time for a comeback...

carguy62

The 4WD tall Civic wagon did make a comeback almost six years ago. It's called the CR-V.

They will have a Civic 5 door hatchback next year. But it is funky looking, like the Si. They need to do one using the sedan body style.

backy

I don't consider the CR-V to be anything like the Civic wagon of '80-'91, even though the CR-V happens to share the base platform with the Civic. That would be like Hyundai calling the Santa Fe a "Sonata station wagon" or Toyota calling the Highlander a "Camry station wagon". When Honda counts Civic sales, they don't lump the Civic and CR-V together. The Civic wagon was styled like a compact station wagon, with an appearance similar to the sedan (with the '84-'91 models having a higher roofline than the sedans) and with normal ground clearance. The CR-V is a direct competitor for the RAV-4, Forester, and Escape, not small wagons like the Focus and Pro5.

cwliang

Hmm. Well, if the Civic hatch looks like the Japan's Civic, I think it looks pretty decent. Almost like a Matrix...

http://www.honda.co.jp/CIVIC/top/index_c.html

bsme1991

Multi Reflector Halogen Headlamps, 195/55-15" tires, rear window wiper, fog lamps, height adjustable driving seat, Power Windows, Power Door Locks, Power Mirrors, self adjusting timing chains (no BELT), Direct ignition (no distributor), cool storage areas under rear floor.

All standard equipment MSRP under $15,000 and heavily discounted right now... example Carr Suzuki in West Portland, Oregon is selling them $3,500 under MSRP. Heck of a better deal than base Vibe/Matrix.

Now why should I wait for Honda to import the 4 door Civic HB? I was crushed when new Civic Si MSRP was announced at $19K, yes the civic 4dr HB uses the same 160 hp 2 liter engine.

carguy62

You take your Hondas pretty seriously. You are 100% correct that they don't count the CR-V in Civic sales. You are correct that the Civic wagon didn't have the ground clearance the CR-V does. But I'm not sure if we are talking about the same wagon. I wouldn't describe the Civic AWD wagon as a typical compact station wagon. It looked somewhat like a CR-V. That's the only Civic AWD wagon I knew of.

They build the CR-V off the Civic platform and it has AWD but you don't see any similarity to the Civic AWD wagon of yore? None? nada?

I think we are talking semantics. IMO, If it walks like a duck and talks like a duck, it's a duck. I don't go around saying I drive a Civic wagon with AWD, but it might as well be.

scname

CRV may be Civic based in the past. How much of it is still Civic based in 02 is questionable. Engine, transmission, chasis, interior has little semblence to Civic , weight 1000 pounds more.

In fact it is more like the 03 Accord with the 2.4 Liter engine drive train.

carguy62

Valid point. I'm really not up on the old Civic AWD so I don't know if it had the same engine, etc. as a Civic sedan/coupe of that time.

But the current CR-V uses the Civic's suspension and a lot of other shared components. And it is built off of the "small" car platform (or whatever they are calling it) vs. the mid-size platform which the '03 Accord will spring from. Based on specifications and components the Pilot and the MDX are closer to the Accord than the CR-V. So IMO the CR-V is still more closely associated with the Civic. But hey I like the idea of telling people it's similar to an Accord, maybe it will get the vehicle a little more respect....nah that never will happen. It's everyone's favorite punching bag.

lngtonge18

As a former owner of an 85 Civic Wagon, I can tell you they were exactly the same as the rest of the Civic lineup. It had the same 76 horse 1.5 liter 12 valve engine, a similar interior design, and similar suspension components. The front end was exactly the same. The only way in which it strayed was the height and rear end styling. It was a wonderfully designed car (very roomy considering its puny size), though far from durable and reliable. That stupid engine overheated daily, blew its head gasket, blew out its water pump, burned a quart of oil a week (about every 300 miles), melted its catalytic converter thereby reducing its top speed to 45, and its radiator fan had to be hard wired to the battery to work. All this occured between the 129k and 136k mark. I guess Hondas weren't built to last quite as long back then as overheating and oil burning problems were common on older ones. Anyway, the CRV does look similar to the Civic Wagon as far as rear end styling goes, but otherwise, these cars are nothing alike.

carguy62

LOL. I know plenty of people who would kill for that kind of reliability today and you are talking about a car from 17 years ago. For reference I had an '85 Cavalier (young and stupid) and it was nothing but trouble. I sold it at about 45K miles, I doubt it saw 100K.

I still stand by my statement that the CR-V resembles the Civic AWD wagon, and in terms of functionality (AWD specifically) it mimics the wagon as well.

cwliang

I haven't seen all that much about the Suzuki, but I must say that I'm not a big fan of the digital speedometer, even if it's a sporty move to mimic the S2000 and friends.

Civic wagons... are those the ones that look like the Dodge Colt wagons? Or am I totally off?

carguy62

Now that you gave me that image, I guess I wasn't exactly right on with my comparison. Still, the concept is there.

backy

a concept car?

carguy62

IMO it makes it ahead of it's time. Approximately 10 years too soon.

lngtonge18

Yea, it was an old car although I owned it 4 years ago. But when compared to my equally old 84 VW GTI with 200k and 84 Mazda RX7, both of which had none of those problems, that Civic Wagon stood out as having poor durability. You must admit all those problems in such a short time frame is ridiculous for a Japanese car. It did always start though (therefore high reliability in that sense, but it also left me numerous times waiting for the damn thing to cool down) and its AC was ice cold (but you couldn't use it or the car would immediately overheat). I loved that car's design (it had the cutest pop up center vents that had a wonderful damped action to it or you could have air coming out across the entire dashboard when the vent was down; a very unique and useful design) and am so glad that style is finally becoming popular again. It was truly ahead of its time.

lchristensen

I am looking to buy a civic this weekend. Am having a hard time deciding between a 2001 (28000 miles) for $12500 or a new 2002 for about $16000 walk out price. Any ideas? pls email direct asap. laurachr@bellsouth.net

dermen

Does anybody know what comes standard on one of these? I cant seem to find anything about them. I have only heard of dx,lx,ex,si, and vp. Any help would be great.

privatejc1

I am considering buying a 2002 Civic but noticed that it only has a driver's armrest but no passenger armrest or console/armrest ,even as option. Since this is something I would really like to have, I was wondering if anyone knows if it is possible to buy a console/armrest somewhere?
Thanks

cwliang

Haven't heard of a special edition Civic, either, just the value package that was around a couple of years back.

As for the console, I don't know if there is an aftermarket console available but I'm pretty sure there's no OEM Honda part. Guess they figured the space between the passengers was kinda tight... RSXs don't even have any armrest for anyone!

dermen

I found an SE for sale on the net and it had the stearing wheel on the right side. And I found a review for an SE in the UK. So I am guessing it is from Europe. But why would somebody in Alaska have a civic from Europe? Thats just weird.

thompsam

Has anyone ever installed a USA SPEC brand single CD player? They claim they are fully compatible with the factory Honda AM/FM Cassette deck and can easily be installed in the open space underneath the current radio in the dash of the Honda Civic.

Crutchfields and a couple other internet dealers seem to sell them. I'd be interested in knowing if anyone has got one of these and if they are happy with how it installed and with the quality of the audio. I'm nervous about it because they are a brand I've never heard of, they seem to have very limited distribution channels, and it seems odd that they are the only company that makes a CD player that is compatible with the Honda original equipment radio.

joncab

I ordered a Civic Hybrid 7-months ago...not knowing what Honda or the dealers price would be. The car with manual transmission MSRP was $19,900.00 plus a dealer $3,000 mark-up. Needless to say, I said "NO THANKS".

I would have to buy alot of gas to make up the difference between a non-Hybrid at a discount -vs- the Hybrid at a extra ..EXTRA expense.

thanks....

dermen

handa-accessories.com sells factory cd players that fit under your current sterio. They also sell a 6 cd changer version.

jim_loves_cars

jeff-

I've read that the price difference between the Civic hybrid and the Civic HX will take almost a decade to recoup at the gas pump. Adding $3k to that adds YEARS to the time it takes to be saving money!

I think you have to relish the idea of being "green" to get much value out of the cost of the hybrid.

-jim

sshin

Does anyone have any information on changes/upgrades for the 2003 Civic Sedan? I'm in the market for a Civic EX 5-speed sedan, and was wondering if there is anything that would keep me from buying a 2002 this May (specifically, any increase in engine power for the 127VTEC). Thanks in advance for any info...

mdriver

Any increase in engine power for 2003? Are you kidding? Honda won't change anything (except minor cosmetics) until the next generation, probably about 2006. Want to know how much the EX engine has increased in HP since 92? Two.

texbean

I'm looking at a Civic EX sedan (automatic) and was wondering if there were any Texas Civic owners out there who could tell me how the A/C works in the Texas summer. I'm going to buy this week, and there's no way to tell how the A/C will do in 100 degree heat. It's an important point to me because I have a 45 minute commute.

Any feedback would be appreciated.

Tex

dsgecho

Find the car at MSRP to avaoid the cutthroat dealer sharks out there. Bet you could find it at MSRP in adjoining states or certainly 6 months after the launch of the new model. May not be a bad thing to wait till the last part of the model year anyway for some of the inevitable vugs to be worked out. Good luck.
Don Gillespie
Prius owner

gasguzz

I was in Houston last Oct. My neice has a 2k1 (I have a 2k). While it is comfortable the Civ's AC in particular is no meatlocker variety.
Off topic, SUVs/minivan's with dual ACs is the ticket in the Texas summers.

rfruth

I have lived in Houston for a number of years, have a 00 Civic HB & the A/C does fine.

spidermonkey

A dealer adding $3K on top of the hybrid's MSRP is crazy. I've been looking into the hybrid myself, and one thing that surprises me is that it didn't earn SULEV status. So it's not as "green" as the Prius. I bet that markup will disappear quickly.

jim_loves_cars -- Yes it will take an extra long time to make up the difference in up front cost, but 47 mpg is a nice hedge against futre gas price increases. I wouldn't be surprised if gas prices increase 20-50% over the next 5 years. The yield on your investment in a hybrid would actually increase over time. That would make the economic sting a little less painful

gasguzz

is a good direction for the environment. At current prices, if you plan to keep a hybird for 4-5 years - there is no economic advantage over a standard ULEV car (the math proves it).

texbean

Thanks for your feedback. I think the Dallas (where I am) and Houston summers are comparable, so rfruth, it sounds like I'll be OK.

Tex

backy

If Honda stays true to form, they will likely make some changes to the Civic for 2004, although these are typically minor, like tweaks to front and/or rear styling, maybe interior dashboard tweaks. They could drop in a more powerful engine, although that is doubtful because they seem to emphasize fuel economy over power with the Civic sedans. Changes to the '03 Civic would be really unusual because they just made some changes for 2002 to address complaints to the rear suspension and impart a more upscale feel to the interior. And for '03 all the attention will be on the launch of the new Accord.

civicw

There is a very good possibility that Honda will make the 2003 Civic look like the Hybrid Civic, particularly the front end. Honda knows they have to do something, because Civic sales are likely to take a hit from the new Corolla. It it weren't for the Corolla, the Civic would be due for a freshening in Fall 2003.

joncab

I read on the Honda website that the HYBRID CIVIC will carry that designation but not until Jan 2003, after testing of some improvements.

I am still bummed they want $3,000 over MSRP.

Was really hoping to be driving it this month.

jrct9454

Jeff: where are you located, and which dealer quoted this absurd pricing to you?

fifislx

To you southern cal. soon to buy folks, be sure to get an internet quote from Chris Latta at Colonial Honda in Glendale. Helped some friends get a civic last week and his price was the best and it was all done on the phone except for signing the papers, writing the check, and driving off. Also no tricks attempted. Email Chris @ chrislatta@colonialhonda.dealerspace.com or 818-402-7031. Great car by the way!

joncab

Okay, I thought $3,000 over MSRP.

I got another internet quote from Anderson Honda, Los Gatos, CA....and their quote was MSRP plus $5,000.

I think my feet are really getting cold on the Hybrid for now.

Good luck everyone...JEFF

carguy62

Honda will determine the future of US hybrids based on the Civic sales. If dealers are marking them up to the point that poeple won't buy them that doesn't do anyone any good.

Also, I did some math and while I may be wrong, I figured over 300 fill ups until I would break even with the hybrid Civic. For me that's a lot longer than 4 or 5 years, more like 11.

bsme1991

Figure in the higher value of Civic Hybrid compared to standard Civic when you want to sell?

h1vc

Can anyone tell me how to change the dash light bulb in a 83 civic? Thanks.