Honda Civic 2005 and earlier

c1rybick

I have a 1995 Camry that's gray and has very different colored bumpers (on the tops of both bumpers). It's pretty noticeable, but I'm the third owner of the car, so it doesn't matter much to me. My sister's 97 Civic is silver but doesn't have the problem.

backy

Any chance the paint mismatch is just fading (car is nine years old), or maybe the bumpers were repainted?

jopopsy

I've read through most of this particular board over the past few days. I figured I would post my impressions / experience with my new 04.

Price: Went to Carsdirect.com, spec'd it out, called my local dealer, got the car for the exact same price (16,600). I've seen people brag about 15's and low 16's. I'm not so sure about that, but I can tell you for a fact that they matched CarsDirect. I'm not a greedy man, I thought the price was more then fair.

Dealership: Monmouth Honda in Bricktown NJ. GREAT dealership; no pressure about the above referenced price, fair trade in, and the F&I guy did not ask me to buy a single thing. Plus I got a couple of free oil changes and a coupon book for discounted service at the dealership.

Car: Okay, I read people think these things (stock) are greased lightening. Its not. I also read people think they are painfully slow. Its not. It IS an average performing vehicle as it relates to acceleration. For 0-60 driving, back country roads, around town driving, etc. its perfectly fine. It has a bit of spunk if you need to get going, but that's it. I find the acceleration perfectly acceptable for what it is; an economical reliable small car. I will say that I feel it handles very well. I used to drive a 2000 Camry; big differance here. It reminds me slighly of my 00 Integra; really grips the road and handles wonderfully. The craftsmanship is very good as well. Tightly built, and noticeably (though not monumentally) quieter then the 03 version.

That's about it folks. A well rounded, slighly spunky, good handling reliable little car. It is what it is.

jopopsy

I've read through most of this particular board over the past few days. I figured I would post my impressions / experience with my new 04.

Price: Went to Carsdirect.com, spec'd it out, called my local dealer, got the car for the exact same price (16,600). I've seen people brag about 15's and low 16's. I'm not so sure about that, but I can tell you for a fact that they matched CarsDirect. I'm not a greedy man, I thought the price was more then fair.

Dealership: Monmouth Honda in Bricktown NJ. GREAT dealership; no pressure about the above referenced price, fair trade in, and the F&I guy did not ask me to buy a single thing. Plus I got a couple of free oil changes and a coupon book for discounted service at the dealership.

Car: Okay, I read people think these things (stock) are greased lightening. Its not. I also read people think they are painfully slow. Its not. It IS an average performing vehicle as it relates to acceleration. For 0-60 driving, back country roads, around town driving, etc. its perfectly fine. It has a bit of spunk if you need to get going, but that's it. I find the acceleration perfectly acceptable for what it is; an economical reliable small car. I will say that I feel it handles very well. I used to drive a 2000 Camry; big differance here. It reminds me slighly of my 00 Integra; really grips the road and handles wonderfully. The craftsmanship is very good as well. Tightly built, and noticeably (though not monumentally) quieter then the 03 version.

That's about it folks. A well rounded, slighly spunky, good handling reliable little car. It is what it is.

ponyrider2

I am considering buying a Civic but I just heard that in 2006 there will be a redesign of the Civic as it is now.
I'm wondering if it's worth waiting for the 05's to arrive since usually before a redesign they come up with a SE model that is loaded up for less money.
Has anyone heard anything about the next model year about mpg's or color choices or anything?
 I just bought a 02 Accord Ex V6, which I love the car but not happy with mpg's so that's why I'm looking to trade to Civic
Thanks, Ponyrider2

snarks

You'll probably lose money in the process of trading or selling your 02 Accord unless you got an excellent deal from a private seller. The amount of money you lose is probably more than you'll save in mpg. Look at this way:

say 25 mpg in Accord 15,000 miles/25 = 600 gallons fuel
say 35 mpg in Civic 15,000 miles/35 = 428

the delta is $300/year if fuel is $1.70/gallon, use regular fuel only in your Accord too. See how these numbers work out in your overall picture. good luck

blueiedgod

I agree with SNARKS that you stand to lose more on the trade in than you would save in gas. As far as I know, there have NEVER been a Civic SE. Honda does, indeed, throw out an SE in a last model year, but has only done so with Accords and CR-V's. The last generation Accord SE was a decontended Accord EX. While CR-V SE was a truly Special Edition.

stevengordon

I think the only way to justify it economically is to privately sell the Accord and purchase a privately sold used Civic (or a rental sale). You'd break even after a few years (four or five?).

dingow

I recently purchased a 2004 CIVIC LX and I'm really happy with my buy. The CIVIC looks cool and drives great.

I've a question regarding the molding insulating the contents of the engine compartment from the front wheels. When I open the hood of my car, I can see parts of the front tires. Also I can see the contents of the engine compartment through a gap in the wheel well. It's as if Honda forgot to install part of the molding in the front wheel well. Is this somethin' that is standard on all Honda Civics or is only unique to my car. I'm not sure how a gap in the wheel well molding can protect the engine compartment from dirt and splash.

Any info on this will allay my fears.

Thanks

crazygrrrl

My 2003 Civic LX sedan also has that big window in the wheel well. I think it's just part of the design with front wheel drive cars.

I noticed my brother's old Camry also has the gap, but it's not as big as the Civic's. Then again, the Civic can make sharper turns than the Camry so maybe the larger window is needed for the steering components to do its job???

The only harm that the window poses is a dustier engine bay. Other than that, I've had no problems.

dingow

You are right, the window in the wheel well is present on all Honda Civics post year 2000. I guess the last major design change in the model happenned in the year 2001 and the window must be a design improvement. My old Toyota Celica doesn't have the window and so doesn't my friend's 1999 Honda Civic. The Honda Accords don't have the window either. Will have to keep an eye on the engine bay from getting too dusty.

Thank you for your response.

kaushikg

Hi,

I have a 2002 Honda Civic LX. Since I purchased it I have got the scheduled 10k, 20k and 30k mile servicing done at Honda Dealership. Recently my car has touched the 40k mile mark and the engine maintenance light has started blinking. Now I am due for an oil change but I am not sure whether I need to get the usual 40k mile maintenance done at the dealership as mentioned in the Honda maintenance book. How much does it cost and is it necessary? I though that after the 30k mile servicing the next big one was due at 60k miles. Any suggestion will be appreciated.

Thanks.

autonuts

maybe you owners of civics could answer. Is there any kind of a tow rating for the civic, like 1,000lbs. or so? I'm just curious since the Toyota Corolla has a 1,500lb. rating. Thanks.

crazygrrrl

My 2003 Civic owner's manual states that towing a trailer is not recommended and could void your warranty.

The maximum load limit for the sedan is 850 lbs, including passengers, luggage, and anything else in the car.

autonuts

Thanks for your reply. It will help me out!

blueiedgod

I am not sure if you are aware that the back of your manual has all the neccesarry mainetenance items lited by mileage and time. Most of the time, the dealerships sell you a package, which is usually more than what you need. You always had a choice to maintain your car at the dealer, your self, or a private garage. Most people choose to maintain their cars at the dealer out of fear that warranty would be voided, which is not true. Now that you are out of warranty, you don't really need to go to Honda dealer. If you have a private shop specializing in Honda's go there. Sometimes, private shops are more expencive than Honda dealer. So, shop around. The best maintenance and repairs are done by your self. No mechanic will tell you that they broke something while they were fixing one thing. They will wait for you to find out on your own that they broke something, and then will make you pay to fix that. You can get a Helms manual, same as dealers use at www.helmsinc.com Maintaining a Honda is not too difficult, average DIYer can do it.

I would assume that 40K maintenance involves oil and filter change and maybe tire rotation.

dunworth

On a recent trip from Toronto to Detroit and back , I averaged 55 mph (imperial gallon) or 46 mpg (US gallon)on my 2003 Civic sedan with the 115 hp engine and 5 speed tranny. In metric that is 5.1 litres per 100 km.

Gas was C$ 90 cents per litre this weekend (about US$ 2.55 per US gallon)so the savings was important.

I used to get this kind of fuel economy on my two Saturn SLs (1992 and 2001) but this is the first time on my Civic, which is larger, more powerful and nicer all around.

Add to that, the Civic is a ULEV in terms of emissions, making it one of the most cost effective (and fun to drive) environmentally responsible transportation choices out there.

dudleyr

How fast were you going?

backy

What is your lifetime fuel economy average on the Civic? Current hybrids can easily get 46 mpg all day, every day, city driving or highway driving. I don't think conventional Civics with the 115 hp gas engine can do that.

blueiedgod

Civic HX can get that if driven "grandma style" HX has a very lean burning VTEC engine and is rated at close to 45 mpg.

warner

Well, I've just spent the last few weeks trying to figure out what to do about my aging Hyundai Elantra Wagon. With some help from my wife (and mother-in-law....what a surprise that she had an opinion!), I finally decided to buy a new car instead of having the unknown repair bills on the aging Hyundai (which has been a very good car by the way, but the resale value is a joke!). I have driven and considered the 3 cars in the title of this posting as well as the Honda Element. Let me start by saying that I really WANTED to like and buy the Element, which I test drove just after test driving the Scion Xb. I thought for certain that the Element would have TONS more power and feel much faster than the Scion, but it did not! I was disappointed to say the least. So between those two, unless you are REALLY going to be going off road or have poor snow removal on the roads where you live (in the Chicago area, we're pretty good with snow removal - I've NEVER owned a 4-wheel drive vehicle and can't remember ever being stuck, either)the Scion is a no-brainer. Couple that with the extra 5 grand that the 4wd Element costs over the Scion and it's an easy choice (not to mention 5 seats in the Scion vs 4 in the Element). On to the Civic and the Corolla:

I have ordered (and the dealer is doing his best to get the vehicle from another dealer who has the exact car that I want...we'll see if they can play nice with each other) a 2004 Honda Civix LX SSRS 5-speed(side air bag option). I used www.carsdirect.com to negotiate the purchase price on the Honda (this was VERY helpful and easy!). I ended up with the car that I want for $250 under invoice, and will get 2.9% financing for 60 months, so I think I did well. MSRP on the car that I ordered is $16,100 - Invoice is $14,759 - my price is $14,509 which I think is great. Maybe some have done better than this, but I bet it wasn't by much. Here's what I didn't like about the other cars that I considered, and what I did like about the Civic:

Toyota Corolla - Seating ergonomics were terrible. I'm a normal sized guy - 5'10" tall and 180lb. I felt as if I had to reach for the steering wheel, pulling my back off the back of the seat, while at the same time my legs felt cramped. Adjusting the seat forward or backward would make one condition better and the other worse. Seat comfort (without holding the wheel) was very good, and I like the look of the interior as much as the Civic's. The seating position blew it for me. (not to mention the attitude difference between the Honda dealership and the Toyota dealership...they are basically across the street from each other, but what a difference in attitude!) The Toyota feels like a bigger heavier car, when it is in fact roughly the same size as the Civic. For me the Civic's ergonomics were perfect! (and again, I'm average sized....I don't have stubby little arms and long legs, so it's not ME, it's the Toyota that's laid out strangely) Because Toyota is cheaper with the same options and is also offering 0% financing on their 2004 models, I wanted to like this better than the Civic, but I had to be honest with myself; the civic was clearly better. In terms of resale value, neither the Toyota nor the Civic is a slouch by any means, but I do believe the Civic holds it's value a bit better than the Toyota.

Scion Xb - What an interesting vehicle! My wife who's 30 (8 years younger than me) and a pretty happening European chick thought the Scion was really cool looking. It makes a lot of sense, too....with great gas mileage, TONS of room inside, and lots of standard features for a great price. Here's what I didn't like about it:

NO CENTER ARM REST! (that was enough to kill the idea for me....maybe it sounds trivial, but it's a big deal to me)

Availability - If I had ordered one yesterday, I MIGHT have it in 7 or 8 weeks. That's 2 months, folks. I really don't feel like waiting for a car, but that's just me....maybe it's not an issue for others, but it is worth mentioning. You can't just go in and buy one; you have to order one.

Appearance - While I love the funky square look of the vehicle today (in an English Bulldog sort of way), I wonder how I'd feel about it 4 years from now? Maybe I'd love it even more...who knows? It's a consideration, though.

Power - Okay, let's be real....NONE of the vehicles that I'm interested in buying this time are going to set any acceleration records (I used to drag race motorcycles, so it's difficult to impress me anyway), but this thing was dog slow. It may perform a little better with the 5 speed (which is the way that I would order one if I were to buy one), but it's only got 105 HP. I did not take it onto the highway during my test drive, but I would imagine that would have been very telling. Although the Civic only has 10 more horsepower than this vehicle, it's definitely got more pop.

Resale value - Yeah, it's made by Toyota so it SHOULD be good, but in 4 years this boxy look may be WAY out of vogue making the vehicle difficult to sell...who can say?

Civic - The seating ergonomics are near perfect for me, right down to where my left foot rests while driving. Acceleration was more than acceptable, tbe blue color is beautiful, and the dealer that I worked with didn't waste much time with me. He didn't argue on the price of the car (I had the carsdirect.com quote and I told him up front that I didn't care if I bought the car from him or from them, so he knew that he had to match the price if he wanted to sell me the car). The ONLY thing that we discussed at all was the trade in value of my Hyundai, which was dismal at best. We did reach an agreement on that, but I'm still going to take the car to Carmax and see what they offer me for it. It's got $2,000 worth of hail damage on it, a crack in the windshield, and damage to the rear bumper cover and I STILL got $2,000 for it so to me it's the same as getting almost $5k for it if those things were all fixed. Other good stuff about the Civic that everyone knows about are the great gas mileage and resale value. Honestly, I'd consider another Hyundai because mine has been a very reliable, good, relatively powerful car for me, but even if I could get one for a thousand less than the Civic, it would lose more than the difference in resale value so it's simply NOT a good investment (unless you buy cars and drive the wheels off of them, which is what I had planned to do with the Hyundai when I bought it, but with a family to think about I can't afford to have a car breaking down on me somewhere so the "driving it into the ground" theory simply isn't feasible to me).

In summary (I'm about to shut up now), anyone looking for a car in this category should consider both the Civic and the Scion (resale on the Scion is still a big unknown) and if you have short legs and long arms the Corolla may be a perfect fit for you!

backy

That was a good post--triply good!

FWIW, an Elantra GLS 5-speed should run you about $11k or less. Would that be enough difference to make up for the faster depreciation?

dunworth

I was travelling, as one reader put it, grandma speed, between 63 and 70 mph or around 100 to 110 kmph. I generally go much faster but the Civic has always been excellent in the city and highway, even when it is cold.

Actually hybrids are not as good at highway speeds as in the city. There is also the durability issue since the first ones are just now only 7 years old and long term maintenance costs, especially in climates such as our, are not well understood.

My point is that I know a hybrid will give slightly better fuel economy but at a significant up front cost premium and as yet undetermined long term costs.

I have no doubt my Civic will give me decent service for 15 years assuming I look after it. My Saturns were excellent as well and giving excellent mileage into the 200,000 km/120,000 miles range.

Warner's had in interesting post, twice , about the Hyundai Elantra. I owned a 1998 sedan it was an excellent reliable car with decent quality (not quite up to Civic/Corolla, but better than Big 3). But we did not buy another due to resale. Yes they are slightly cheaper out the door and if payments are important then its a good way to go. However, the Civic is more fuel efficient and has way better resale which make its a better deal overall. My experience is that maintenance on the two cars was comparable in costs although if I was a betting man I would put my money on the Civic lasting longer, but Hyundai is improving quickly so who knows.

pat

Welcome, and thanks for your well thought out post!

Just a tip - one of the software oddities here is that if you hit refresh after posting, your message will repost. The best way to redisplay the page after posting is to use the "Recent Msgs" link on the page bar.

Have fun!

warner

I think I could even get one for closer to 10K, similarly equipped to the Civic (check carsdirect.com), but I'm REALLY sold on the Civic...it's the car that I want. An update on the Hyundai....I went to Carmax at lunch and got an offer from them on it...guess what? They offered me $2,800 for the car, so in reality that's $660 more than the Honda dealer offered (their $2,000 offer would also cut $140 off the 7% tax if used as a trade-in; otherwise the difference would be $800). Now I'm just waiting for the stupid title to arrive....I just paid off the Hyundai (with the insurance check that I got for the hail damage...neat trick, huh?) So the way I'm looking at it is that I got over $5,500 for the car, damage considered. I can live with that. While at Carmax, I also searched on their computer (while the guy left me alone in his cubicle) their used Honda civics......and you could buy a NEW Hyundai for less than what they wanted for the USED Civics....again reinforcing my feelings about the Civic holding value well.

warner

I wondered what the deal was....I'm an IT guy so I found it interesting that it did that. Thanks for the complement and for the info....glad you enjoyed the post.

           Warner

crv16

My last 5 tanks:

40.7 mpg
38.0 mpg
41.7 mpg
41.1 mpg
39.1 mpg

2003 Civic EX sedan, 5 speed manual transmission. 32 psi in the tires. 50/50 mix of highway (75 mph) and back roads (35-50 mph).

backy

If the Civic is what you really want, that is what counts. It's a great car, but I was looking at the EX back in October '00 and I just couldn't justify the extra money vs. the Elantra. Plus the '01 Civics had a few issues, which from reading these boards and driving more recent Civics I see have been addressed. Then more recently I wanted a four-door hatchback, which unfortunately Honda doesn't offer unless you go the SUV route.

warner

My elantra has been a pretty good car, overall. The only non-maintenance repairs that I've had to do to it were a some type of fuel pressure regulator and more recently a crankshaft position sensor and a sensor in the transmission. All together, these parts and the labor to replace them was only about $600, so that's not too terrible. The timing belt was done at 70,000 miles (10,000 past the recommended mileage, but oh well!) and THAT was pricey, but is actually part of the scheduled maintenance. Other than that I did the trans flushes (absolutely mandatory on the automatic trans Hyundai, by the way....every 20k), a battery, and a tune up. So no real complaints about the reliability of the car. No real complaints about ANYTHING on the car other than the auto trans, which I absolutely hated - starting in 2nd gear, taking forever to shift and/or downshift, etc. This is what prompted me to want another 5 speed, so I can decide which gear is best.....I'm not convinced that a computer can yet determine that better than me, as the computer doesn't know what I'm going to do next like I do. The main reason for me not wanting another Hyundai is simply the resale value. While at Carmax today (who offered me $800 more than the dealer for my Elantra, by the way!), I checked on their computer to see the Civics that they had for sale and was amazed at the high asking prices on them! It was encouraging, but made me wonder why anyone would buy one used! Oh, the mileage on my Elantra wagon was nowhere near what the Civic is rated for......I get a combined average of about 24 miles per gallon with the Elantra. Under perfect conditions on the highway, I have cracked 30, but I have a feeling that the Honda under those same conditions would have been over 40. We'll see.

dunworth

crv16 I see you routinely get excellent gas mileage from your Civic, which is a nicer one than mine. Thanks for sharing your numbers

warner Mileage really depends on driving style, speed, climate etc. The best I was able to do on my 1998 Elantra was 48 mpg (imperial gallon) or 40 (US) but again that is at 63-70 mpg and decent overall driving conditions. The Civic is noticeably better overall and especially in the city.

Our Elantra had the older version of the auto tranny and definitely not as smooth as the GM auto trannies I grew up with. Hyundai had a lot of trouble with this series of tranny which is why the frequent tranny fluid changes no doubt. Ours was fine though.

warner

You are correct! I live and do most of my commuting in the Chicago suburbs. I have yet to travel anywhere in this country that has worse traffic (and I spent a couple of months commuting in and around LA - It's no worse than here....and I noticed how much slower people drive there than here - I guess we're just pushy people here in the Chicago area). And yeah, I definitely have a lead foot, but at the same time I'm easy on the car too, which is how I explain getting almost 83,000 miles on the car and it's still got all the original brakes. During one of the service appointments that I had, I began BS'ing with a couple of the service techs at the Hyundai dealership and mentioned to them how I really liked the car with the exception of the auto trans; they both knew exactly what I was talking about and told me that it's not just the Elantra, but ALL of the Hyundai's had the same issues. It got to the point at times where I'd manually shift it down into 1st gear when rolling up to a stop sign so I wouldn't have to bog from 2nd gear or floor it to make it drop down into 1st gear, as this was often preceeded by what equates to a 1 or 2 second pause followed by what was basically a neutral drop into gear. It's just way too violent a downshift to me; the car should just start in the lowest gear....otherwise why even have it? Overall, it has been a very good, reliable car.

warner

I'm looking for some suggestions from others on this. As you may have read in my previous posts, I have been searching for a 2004 Civic LX with a 5 speed and side airbags in blue. Well, as it turns out, there were only a couple such cars withing a 5 state search area near me. The dealer near my house (McGrath Honda in Elgin, IL) had been trying to get one of the 2 cars that are out there in trade for one of their other cars. They had one of them in Madision Wisconsin that my sales rep was going to pick up, but when he called the other dealership on the phone, they let him know that one of their new sales reps had sold it the day before. Okay...understandable mistake I suppose. No harm done. The other dealer that had the exact car that I wanted was Honda of Lisle, Illinois. My local dealership tried to get them to trade something for the car, but they came back with trade options which they knew could not possibly be met (they were asking for cars that weren't available!). So after going back and forth with them, my sales person finally told me, "Warner, if you have to have the side airbags, you're going to have to buy the car from them, because they won't trade us anything that we can get for it." So relectantly (I wanted the McGrath Honda sales rep to get something for his troubles - he worked with me extensively and went on several test rides with me in different vehicles) I called Honda of Lisle. First I spoke with a normal sales rep, and told him what my offer from both McGrath Honda in Elgin and carsdirect.com was on the car that they had. He told me he'd check on it and call me back momentarily. Sure enough, another sales person (Mark, who apparently is the manager over at Honda of Lisle) gets on the phone with me and offers me the car for over $700 MORE than the quote that I got from McGrath Honda in Elgin! He went on to tell me that it was a very "rare" car and that it was the only one like it in a 5 state area, which was basically true. I explained to him that the reason the car was so "rare" was because not many people want the manual transmission. After a very heated conversation with him, letting him know that he had insulted my intelligence with his crazy offer, I told him to keep his "rare" car and that I would buy the car without the side air bags from the dealer that treated me right. Of course, less than an hour later the original rep from Honda of Lisle called me back asking me how things had gone (claiming that he hadn't spoken with Mark yet to find out from him how it had gone). I told him that they had gone terrible, that I was offended by their offer, and had purchased another car from someone else already (which was partially true). Then he had the gall to propose that I meet them "half way" on the price. I laughed at him and told him that he must not be listening to me - he kept saying "I understand where you're coming from" to which I kept responding "Obviously, you don't, or you'd know that I was not interested in anything other than the offer than I had originally from 2 other sources, but now that I knew how they conducted business I wouldn't buy the car from them if they offered it to me for $1,000 LESS than the other dealer. I also told him that I planned on writing to the Regional manager of Honda explaining what had happened. Now, I KNOW that it's the dealers option of how much they want to take for a particular car, but that was like highway robbery! I told both of the less than scrupulous sales reps at Honda of Lisle that they could have sold the car that night to me....I was fully prepared to come there an pick it up from them, if only they had been fair with me. Honda of Lisle has a decent website that shows their inventory....I'm going to keep track of this blue lx 5-speed with side airbags and see how long they sit on it. If it sits for a month, I'm going to send them an e-mail, reminding them that they could have sold it to me a month ago. As far as what I will end up with, the GOOD dealer (McGrath Honda in Elgin, IL) is getting me a blue 5-speed LX without the side airbags. On top of that, they had someone recently buy an EX who didn't like the alloy wheels and opted to replace them with something else (which to me was a bad choice, but it's his car), so they had these brand new EX wheels looking for a home. I believe they are almost $900 if you get them as an option on the LX, but they are letting me have them for $419. My total on the blue LX 5-speed with the EX rims on it is going to be $14,700 (including destination charges). I like the wheels a LOT better than the stock LX covers, so I think it all worked out well. My personal experience with Honda of Lisle should be taken into consideration by anyone thinking of buying from them....after all, they are supposed to be NICE when they are trying to get you to comitt....Lord knows how they treat people after they've taken the plunge already!

dunworth

Dealership experience is always a crap shoot regardless of brand. I live in a small but affluent suburb of Toronto where most of the dealers are very good but do not give the best deals. People in this town want service and are willing to pay for it. I always buy my cars locally and service at the dealers. To date, I have received good prices on my new vehicles but I am sure a tougher negotiator could probably get a couple hundred dollars extra off the car from another, usually larger dealer(we only have one for each brand here except Big 3).

Until recently, Honda did not offer any deals. The Civic has been Canada's top selling car for 6 years without major incentives or cheap financing. Only now are there some inducements which still cannot come close to what is on offer from the Big 3 or some of the less popular Asian brands.

warner

I don't know if it's a national offer or not (or international for that matter), but at least here in the Chicago area Honda is offering 2.9% financing for up to 60 months, so I'll take advantage of that, too.

                 Warner

warner

To clarify, that 2.9% for 60 months is on the Civic.

          Warner

20racerfan

I own a '01 civic EX 4door. I have installed a new system with a good amount power. So I installed a NEW battery and 150amp Altenator because of the increase of amps I ran a larger cable directly to the Battery and Also connected the original cables. My car is running fine but I can not get the Battery light to go out. Does anyone have an Idea? I have tried resetting everything in the fuse box, ran the car at idiol for 10 minutes, reset with the odometer button. HELP I HATE IDIOT LIGHTS!!!!!

blueiedgod

I ran a larger cable directly to the Battery and Also connected the original cables.

Does the original cable run to the battery directly or somewhere else? If not, then you may have created a circuit that was not there before. Also, there is a possibility that the new alternator is dead.

By the way, the so called hyper ground, super ground or whatever cables are not going to give you more HP, torque or anything else. They are pure marketing hype.

For a really good sound system, you may want to install a second battery just for the sound system, and install an RV battery splitter, that would allow your second battery get charged from the alternator when needed. Having a bigger battery and alternator is nice, but if you were after sound quality, secondary battery will isolate the engine/alternator noise better.

ponyrider2

Hi -
Does anyone know what the Colors will be for the 2005 Civic Sedan EX's? I probably am going to buy buy I personally think the colors are bland for the EX. The Eternal blue to me is about the best but I wish it where brighter like the Figi Blue
Trying to figure out if I should wait to buy a 05 or go for it now.
By the way I am trading in a 02 EX V6 Accord with all the goodies (love the car but need more than 26 mpg) the best deal so far is $15922. but they haven't seen my car for trade value and they are located 2.5 hours from me.
To a dealer than has looked at my car, the price difference is $179.00 to buy the Civic.
Should I go for this or go on to the next guy to look at my car. which of course means more miles on my car. I only have 16400 miles on it.
Would like to hear opinions of others.
Thanks much,,,, Susie

snarks

Hang onto your car you are probably losing a lot of money in that trade. If you travel a lot of miles say 25,000 per year. The difference in fuel would be about $450/year or $40/month. Basically it sounds like you are getting around $16,700 for your current car. How much did you pay for the Honda Accord intially?

ncampbell2002

I don't know about the battery light still being on. Ususally that means a problem with charging so it could be a bad alt. like the previous poster said. If you are really worried about having a big enough battery I would go with a yellowtop. With those, you can pretty much leave your headlights on overnight and the car will still start in the morning. I don't know how big your system is, mine is 1000 watts and still have the stock batt. and alt. and it starts just fine everytime.

ponyrider2

I just bought the car 6 weeks ago, traded in my Subaru Outback on it. Asking price of the Accord was 18999. and I gave them my car and
$12000.
My original intent in trading my Sube was to get better mpg's. I was getting 22-24. Started out looking at a Jetta Diesel but didn't like how many people said to stay away from them.
So I'm thinking I could save $50-$60 a month on gas for the Civic
I'm filling the Accord twice a week at 28-29 each fillup. With price of gas going up pretty soon gas will be more than my payment!
So anyway this is my reason for this...I would end up keeping the Civic 8-10 years...
Thanks, Susie

blueiedgod

Susie, you need to sit down with a piece of paper and see how much would you really save.
If you are paying $30/fill up X 2 that is $60/week = $3120/year. If you are planning on saving $60/month, it will bring you down to $2340/year for gas. A savings of $780/year, or $7800/10 years, that is if you stick with the plan to keep the car for 10 years. How much are you standing to lose on trade-in?

warner

Okay...it's a done deal now. I picked up the car and signed all the paperwork last night. I got a 2004 Honda Civic LX 5-speed for $14,700 including destination fee and a few options.

The cost breaks down like this:

Base Civic LX 5-speed $14,281 (incl dest.)

Alloy (EX model) wheels $419

Splash Guards $0

Wheel Locks $0

(The options RETAIL for a total of $833, so I paid about half price for them)

Invoice on this car with destination fee but not including the options is $14,531 so I think I did well.

Other things that I opted for:

After I thought about it, I did opt to pay for the 5 year/100,000 mile Hondacare warranty. The dealer was asking around $1,200 for this but I negotiated it down to $870 for the zero deductible plan. Maybe this was a waste, but I consider it a bit of additional insurance past the 3 year/36,000 mile warranty period. I hope that I don't have to use it, frankly - it won't hurt my feelings if nothing breaks. And since I only put $500 down on the car, I also opted for the gap insurance which I negotiated down to $400; spread over 5 years of payments at 2.9% finanace rate, it works out to about $7 a month. God forbid something should happen (the car gets totalled or stolen) in the first couple of years of ownership, I'd hate to be out a car and STILL have to pay the difference between what I owe and what the insurance company gave me for it. They wanted a lot more for this, but I was very reluctant to purchase this, but after he dropped down to $400 for this, I figured that for SURE if I didn't get it at that price, something WOULD happen. Maybe I'm a nervous freak, but at $7 a month I didn't think I'd kick myself for getting it, and it may even lower my insurance rate on the car (have to check with my insurance company on that). So, that's my story. I did get the 2.9% financing for 60 months so even with all that additional junk that I opted for and only $500 down on the car, my payment is right at $300 a month.

              Warner

rutger3

What kind of mileage are owners getting on their civics;is it close to 31/38?

bd21

My LX with an automatic has just under 3,900 miles on it and I have not gotten less than 29.5 MPG in the city with a heavy foot. When I take it easy, I get 31 MPG in the city. I haven't had a good highway trip yet, but I suspect I will get around the 38 MPG they advertise.

ncampbell2002

I get about 34 driving a mix of hwy and city shifting around 3,800 rpm for my normal acceleration, using 87 octane fuel and no additives. I cruise around 80 mph on the highway and most of my city is between 35-50. I have an 03 Civic ex 5spd with 20,700 miles. I'm pretty happy with the mileage, but I still can't believe it cost me $24.50 to fill up the other day for about 350 miles of driving.

crazygrrrl

I have a 2003 Civic LX sedan (automatic tranny) that has consistently given me 34-37 mpg, depending on my driving style. If I drive like a granny, I get 37 mpg. If I drive over 70 mph and do lots of jack-rabbit starts, I get 34 mpg.

I drive 75 % freeway and 25% city streets with lots of stop and go traffic. The roads that I drive have a 20% grade uphills and downhills.

When I take a long distance trip through the Sacramento flatlands, I get about 41 mpg. With fuel mileage this good, who needs a Hybrid?!

Oh yeah, last thing. Remember to inflate your tires to the correct recommended pressure. You can save lots of gas this way.

dunworth

On a recent trip from Toronto to Detroit and back , I averaged 55 mph (imperial gallon) or 46 mpg (US gallon)on my 2003 Civic sedan with the 115 hp engine and 5 speed tranny. In metric that is 5.1 litres per 100 km.

I was travelling between 63 and 70 mph or around 100 to 110 kmph. I generally go much faster but the Civic has always been excellent in the city and highway, even when it is cold.

In the city I normally get about 37 mpg (imperial)/31 (US) and on the highway I get around 46 (imperial)/38 (US). My city driving is lots of very short trips while my highway speed is usually 130 km/h (81 mph) or faster.

Keep in mind my averages are lower because it gets really cold here.

rutger3

the reason i am asking is currently have a 99 camry with 153k, i get 29/30 mpg on 75% highway which i think is decent. I am considering a civic or accord and wanted to compare the mileage. I drive 30,000 miles/year so mpg matters to me quite a bit. OTOH, spending that much time in the car (3+ hrs/day)maybe the extra room of the accord would be worth it. decisions decisions?

dunworth

The Civic is surprisingly roomy for its size but not quite a Camry for comfort. The Corolla is smaller but more comfy as Toyotas tend to be. Both are excellent cars.

Fuel econ between the two is nearly identical (I have an '03 Civic and an 02 Corolla). While our American friends are worried about $2/gallon gas please feel for your Northern neighbours in Canada who are paying about US$ 2.60 per US gallon or more