Honda Civic Sedan 2006

blane

mrunknown,

It's a great deal.... for the dealership. Save your money, unless you regularly park in dangerous neighborhoods. I guess that I would have to question why they would sell such a system to you, including labor, for less than their ACTUAL cost. Is it out of the goodness of their heart?

mrunknown

They tried to sell it to me for $600 something first. I refused, then at very the end they came back and told me that they had already installed it since they do this as a common practice on all their cars because of thefts at the dealership. They didn't want to bear the cost of removing the alarm so they were letting it go for $350.

Since it was already on the car and I didn't want them to mess around with the car any further I agreed.

Then they realised that the car had just come in yesterday (I knew that, finance guy didn't) and they hadn't actually had time to install the security system on the car yet. They offered to come to my home to install it. Price had already set at $350 at this point, but since they essentially broke the contract (told me it was already installed), I told the salesman I might still want to back out of the deal.

Got conned eh? I can still back out.

Btw, got a silver LX sedan 5-speed.

kknowles

3rd tank: 36.75 mpg. Driving was much less conservative than last tank (38 mpg), with higher-rev shifts and faster highway speeds. Of 419 miles, at least one fourth were city driving, and highway miles were about 74 mph with peaks of 80.

Regarding manual trans highway rpm and noise: today, even at speeds of 75-80, I asked my son to rank the sources of noise he could hear. Most: tires. Second: wind. Third: engine, just barely.

If you prefer a manual, at least test one before concluding highway noise is an issue. It is not.

Having said that, there is more wear on an engine driven at higher rpm, but I doubt that will be reflected in first- or second-owner maintenance or resale value. You're going to take a slight hit on resale due to MT, but not as much as the up-front sticker savings, I'm guessing.

307web

Manual is hard to resell. Much more than just a slight hit on resale. Many people regret getting a manual when they try to resell. You will likely be forced to trade it in at a big loss versus an automatic that you could sell to a private party with just a cheap newspaper ad.

bamacar

I think it depends on the make and model. I sold a 2003 Honda Accord manual in about 36 hours after I advertised it. I had about 4 more people still calling to see if I had sold it yet within the next 3 days after the 1st caller bought it. I would think a Civic manual would be even easier to sell. A Toyota Camry manual or an unpopular model car would probably be a different story. I do agree a trade in will take a bigger hit as the dealers only want quick selling vehicles.

mldj98

Can someone shed some light on what "XM Ready" means?
Do they have to install something else at the dealership in order for it to work?
Or do you just have to call XM Radio and start your subscription?
Thanks

blane

mrunknown,

This "already installed it since they do this as a common practice on all their cars" is a practice with a small number of dealers when they have a product in demand. It's called a "pack". Loading up a vehicle with unnecessary, unwanted, high priced "options" as soon as the cars roll off the truck and before placing the cars on the lot. That way you have little chance to say no.

If they wanted to prevent "thefts at the dealership", they could build a better security system or fencing at the dealership, and not presume that where you live and drive, there is also a theft problem. It's a scam.

davidg3

My thought was the same, except to use the lease. Cover the depreciation, assume that I need to pay some 'interest' on the loan and end up just where you are. Using your numbers, 22,000 less 12,000 would be 10,000 divided by 36 months is 277. Add back a reasonable interest to the company (7% on 20,000 is 117), and we are near 390 a month. I understand that Honda adds 10 cents a mile to a lease over 12,000 miles a year. An SI at 36,000 would be 15,500. Depreciation is about 5000. With interest say 255 per month. Add 119 per month for the 10 cents per mile, and we are at 375. No matter how I cut it, a lease at around 380 per month seems very reasonable and no more than the 435 you would be paying as a loan. Of course, in the former the car is yours, in the lease, it is theirs. None the less, 450 per month lease is out of line.

davidg3

I had a coupe EX manual out for about 30 minutes, local roads, country roads, highway. I was impressed by the fit and finish, quiet, superb sound, very comfortable seats. But, I couldn't say that it had much 'zip', though it did handle very well. Despite the 140 HP, even at 5000 RPM it just couldn't seem to get out of its own way. At least this is compared to a MINI S and I intend to compare it to a RSX, Mazda 3 and Subaru Impreza.

threeflys

XM Ready means that you have to put an XM receiver behind the dash and then you can control it from the radio. OR you can buy the XM Roady2 for $49.99 and plug it into the AUX jack next to the ashtray (This works for iPODs also), this is what I did. Doing this would allow you to use it in a different car or in your house if you have the home kit. If you're interested in XM, try this site: xmfan.com
Chris

wco81

2006 Honda Accord EX 4 Door Automatic Transmissions
MSRP: $23,950.00
Your Internet Price: $22,413.00

2006 Honda Accord LX 4 Door Automatic Transmissions
MSRP: $21,525.00
Your Internet Price: $20,234.00

2006 Honda CRV EX 4WD Automatic Transmissions
MSRP: $24,300.00
Your Internet Price: $23,792.00

2006 Honda CRV LX 2WD Automatic Transmissions
MSRP: $20,945.00
Your Internet Price: $20,397.00

All 2006 Honda Ridgeline's at $1,000.00 below Dealer Invoice Cost.

2006 Honda Civic LX 4 Door Automatic Transmissions
MSRP: $17,860.00
Your Internet Price: $17,175.00

2006 Honda Civic EX 4 Door Automatic Transmissions
MSRP: $19,610.00
Your Internet Price: $18,772.00

Looks like the new Civics are being discounted almost as much as the Accords. Of course, you'd expect Accords to have more margin to discount.

blane

Don't forget the XM SkyFi2 receiver. It's more capable, and has more features than the XM Roady2.

http://shop.xmradio.com/product_category.aspx?cat=8

ryan12

What are everyone's thoughts on the Galaxy Gray colored Civic? I am going to buy a Civic EX MT Coupe next week and am boucing back between the black and the galaxy gray. However, I don't like the ivory interior in the black car!!! It should be black on gray or black on black in my opinion.

evped

I agree, the ivory interior is a disaster. The galaxy gray looks like taupe to me. It's all personal preference.

backy

Agreed, it's all personal preference. I happen to like tan/ivory interiors. To me, an all-black interior is a disaster--too tomb-like. The ivory interior lightens things up and doesn't show fuzz as bad as black. On the downside, ivory will show stains more easily.

ctalk

I liked the Accord's black interior because I thought it was 'sporty'. Although one downfall I found to having a black interior is I can see dust more easily.

mrunknown

The black/ivory colour scheme reminds me of Knight Rider for some reason.

allfiredup

My personal experience with all my Hondas (eight of them, all manual) has NOT been that the manual transmission has significantly lower resale value.

I priced an '04 Civic LX just now on Edmunds and the difference on trade-in was $472 less for the manual than automatic.

Obviously the customer base for a manual transmission is smaller and dealers might try to rip off someone trading one in, but I don't trade in my cars. I sell them myself and have no problem finding customers within a week or so.

I don't think resale value should concern someone wanting a manual. There are other considerations, though. Clutch replacement cost is significant and, in the case of the '06 Civic, the manual actually gets slightly lower fuel economy.

I still prefer a manual, though. Much more fun to drive.

stickguy

when I priced an '06 CIvic, and got a trade in value on my Scion tC (5 speed), when they gave me the figure, the sales dude said it would have been $800 higher if it was an automatic, which IIRC was about the difference in MSRP!

andysandiego

I appreciate seeing someone else interested in an MT coupe as a sporty driver's car. Am just wondering if in your test drive trying for performance whether you kept the revs way up, like 5k-plus? Also, I'm convinced, based on my '04 AT EX Civic, that power as well as mpg increase when you get the miles up over 8k or so.

Incidentally, more specifically about inexpensive performance tires for the '06 Civic with stock wheels, I recommend the Falken Azenis Sport 205/55-16 for $85 including shipping from Discount Tire Direct www.tire.com. Another good tire, which I have on my '99 Z28 in the 275/40-17 size, is the Kumho ECSTA Supra 712, @ $74 from Tirerack in the 205/55-16 size, or $68 plus shipping from www.tire.com. The Kumho 712 wouldn't be as good for autocross or ultimate stickiness as the Falken Azenis Sport. Both these tires wear quite well, but wouldn't be good in snow. The Azenis Sport looks the best, with big tread blocks. Tires make such a big difference!
:P

natenj1971

I live in NNJ and until yesterday had only seen one black lx 2006 civic sedan on the road.
That changed yesterday.
Yesterday I saw seven 2006 civics. Four atomic blue EX sedans (on rt 80, Rt 46, East Hanover). One galaxy gray EX Coupe MT (which looks really beige in the sun light). Two atomic blue EX coupes.
That's a lot of blue.

micweb

It's not uncommon to lose smoothness and/or to pick up vibrations when changing from the stock tires to aftermarket. Contrary to popular opinion, this isn't due to stiffer sidewalls, it is usually do to mis-orienting the tires on the rim. Factory wheel/tire combos are "matched" high spot to low spot then balanced; the "roundness" match makes the ride much smoother.

There is a solution for aftermarket tires, and that is to pay $10 extra per wheel for "Road Force" mounting using a Hunter 9700 machine. Discount Tires/America's Tire Store offers this balancing usually for $10 extra per wheel. I also just recently discovered that if you order on the internet or 800 number, you can have the tires shipped to one of their retail stores, which saves you money over the retail price, but you get the benefit of a single vendor plus free installation. This is what I plan to do for my next set of tires; although I have long been a tirerack.com customer, none of their approved installers in my area have the Hunter 9700 machine (when you buy complete wheel/tire packages from tirerack, they DO use a Hunter 9700 machine to balance!).

My Honda dealer has the Road Force balancer, but sadly did not use it to correct a steering wheel shake when I took our CR-V in. I told them it felt like a balance problem and asked if they had the 9700 (they do) but they only rebalanced the tires, and didn't rematch them to the wheel (re-orient them on the rim). In fact, now there is more shake! I suspect they were worried Honda wouldn't reimburse the extra expense of the Road Force balancing. (So now I get to take my car back a second time for a full day. Sigh.)

fordfocus

thanks for the info micweb, so far, I haven't had any balancing issues not able to be cured by regular machines, but it'll come in handy.

re: MTX vs ATX costs, what about the periodical ATX fluid changes? I think MTX fluid lasts way longer than ATX fluid so this might offset the high clutch change cost at around 80k mi?

One thing holding me against ATX is that all ATX I have driven fail to hold on to a lower gear when exiting a corner after hard braking. Being in too high a gear really upsets exit. I read the Infiniti M45 has a very intelligent ATX that can hold on to a lower gear, but I wonder if the Civic ATX can do this?

Re: unstable cornering over uneven pavement by inkyofok, which car can you compare the 06 civic to? Have you ever driven a Focus before? IMHO, this is the car to beat when cornering over uneven pavement, but what do you think? thanks...

midnightcowboy

Or you could put your foot on the brake. And then when you are ready to go let out the clutch. That is how almost everyone that drives a clutch correcltly does it. The only time you ever need to use the handbrake it on steep inclines where you can't afford to roll back, whic should be very, very rare unless you live in San Francisco.

Manual shifting for many, many years.

MidCow

Those that can will
Those that will know
Those that know drive manuals,
For all others there are slush-boxes

midnightcowboy

Isn't is a bummer when you price a car at too low of $$

only1harry

What "high clutch cost around 80k mi."? Who says you 'll need a new clutch at 80k mi.? Have you owned a manual Civic before? I sold my '97 Civic with 141k mi. on the orginal clutch and its current owner has 195k mi. still on the original clutch. He also auto-x races that car a few times a year.

I now own an '01 EX coupe 5sp. with 160k mi. still on the 1st clutch! I 'm the first owner. For people that abuse their cars or don't know how to drive a manual properly, I can see needing a clutch sooner. For the average driver (I tend to have a heavy foot and shift very fast at times) there 's no reason not to reach ~200k mi. on the same clutch. I intent on buying an '06 coupe but will keep my '01 to offset the miles from my long commute. I will let you know when my '01 needs a new clutch in a couple of years, but PLEASE so many people here think and have written that they 'll need a clutch at 80k. Where do you get this information? It is not accurate.

In any case, am I correct in saying that the black Civics only come with a tan (ivory) interior? If that's the case I may rethink buying a Civic. My blue '01 Civic EX Coupe has the ivory interior and it gets dirty very fast. It's actually grey/black now and looks very bad. Ivory is one of the worst interior colors they can offer.

My black '97 Civic had a nice dark grey interior. Why can't they offer anything other than the ivory? I just don't understand Honda. I want a charcoal grey interior like they used to offer. Why mess with a good thing Honda?

stickguy

Well, unless you are racing it, or just don't know how to drive a manual, you should get way more than 80K out of a clutch. On a Honda, I would bet that the clutch would outlast an auto tranny!

dudleyr

Ditto - 196,000 miles on an Integra with the original clutch. Still going strong.

only1harry

I was looking in lower NY (Westchester), not far from you in North Jersey, and most of the dealers have black Coupes, not blue. Unless all the blue ones were sold as fast as they came in? Possible.. Fine by me though, more black coupes in the lot means more negotiating power for me

BTW, my brother said that some people in another Honda forum wrote that the EX coupe has a different suspension than LX/DX Coupes. This may be unfounded or just a rumor. I 'll do some more research because I hope that's not the case.

only1harry

Oh yeah, thanks for reminding me dudleyr, fellow Integra owner:
I instructed a guy a few weeks ago (racing) with a '95 Integra GSR. He had 155k mi. on his with the original clutch. I raced his GSR and there was nothing wrong with his clutch.
I should have left my GSR clutch alone. Instead I went to an aftermarket (ACT) clutch at 32k mi. My mechanic said the 32k mi. (heavily raced) clutch disk, pressure plate and flywheel were like NEW. Now only after 18k mi. the aftermarket clutch is beginning to fail. Should have stayed with OEM parts (like Type-R clutch). At least I got to install a much lighter flywheel (8.9lbs also from ACT) which made the car more fun to drive.

fordfocus

Sorry for the brouhaha, but the 80k clutch change figure referred to my own vehicle. I assumed that other clutches would last tens of percentage points longer, and so threw that in. Others with earlier Focus' (well, on the forums) have had clutch replacements around 80k mi. For myself, my clutch at 86k km = 54k mi, already shudders off the line.

I consider myself to be a careful shifter, and although I double de-clutch my h&t downshifts, I don't really think the layshaft gear load could accelerate clutch wear that quickly compared to non double-clutching. I also auto-x, but nothing there to indicate abuse on the transmission? In short, this might be a common clutch life to earlier Focus', but anyone here to agree/disagree?

If all Honda clutches can last upwards of 100k mi, then that would be a very welcome change from my situation, and further enticement to get manual over automatic.

dwatwd

1998 Civic CX hatchback.
225,000 miles.
1 Clutch.
Priceless.

fordfocus

nice

pat

I have one request to separate this discussion between the Civic sedan and the Si coupe.

How do the rest of you feel about that?

stickguy

yes, 2 discussions. There is a coupe board after all, and other cars are seperated this way.

It makes sense since it is no longer a futures thread.

Some (many?) of us are only interested in one configuration, and if you care about both, easy enough to subscribe to 2 threads.

blane

pat,

How about:

Civic Sedan and Coupe 2006 (non-Si)

Civic Si Coupe 2006

allfiredup

I second that! One for DX, LX and EX Sedan and Coupe and a second for Si Coupe.

midnightcowboy

I agree with Blane (1) 2006 Si coupe (2) all other 2006 Civics

dewey

Those that can will
Those that will know
Those that know drive manuals,
For all others there are slush-boxes

MidCow,

nice tune have you had it copywritten?

Suggested name for the tune: The Anthem of the Endangered Species

dudleyr

Yes keep the Si seperate. It is a different animal. All the 1.8l Civics are similar enough to be together.

andysandiego

Thanks for posting my suggestion, Pat. I agree the present 2006 Civic forum is very popular and active, but there isn't any Si or coupe dialog to speak of. The Si and the coupe have a different, sportier appeal compared to the sedan. As the Si comes closer to the market place I thought there'd be more focus on the separate interests if there were two forums. The present one is mostly about getting the best deal on a new sedan, and there isn't much input from sport driving enthusiasts. (Make no mistake, I love the Civic sedan, and have an '04 AT EX silver sedan I can't afford to trade.)

I believe the consensus so far agrees with the suggestion to have a second forum for the Si. I wish driving enthusidasts would consider getting on board to include the coupe in with the Si because of the reasons in the rest of this email.

My original email was:
This is really a message for the moderator:
Would you please start a separate forum for the 2006 Civic Si, and include the coupe?
There is so much interest in the new Civic sedan that no one wants to talk about the fabulous new Si ~~~ Also I believe a poor man's sporty car can be made with the new coupe.

For years I drove an old (1967) Porsche 912, putting down about 85 horsepower at the rear wheels, and kept up quite well with much newer more powerful Porsches on twisting mountain roads. It weighed under 2,000 pounds and had upgraded suspension and tires, but my point is that power isn't everything beyond straight line performance, and I think it would be fun to put some Falken Azenis Sport 205/55-16 tires ($85 incl shipping) on a new 5-speed LX Civic coupe, and GO. The new coupe is 3 inches lower than the sedan so it should look sportier. (In fact it doesn't seem to look much different than the Si !!!)


:P

claudius753

I'm all for separate discussions with one for the new Si and one for all other new Civics (DX, LX, EX, Sedans and Coupes)

nortonss

The coupe&sedan should be separate

pat

Let's go talk about the Si and the Coupe at this link: Honda Civic Coupe / Civic Si 2006+.

I've unlinked this discussion from the Coupes board and renamed it to just focus on Sedans.

Thanks for your input and have fun!

user1235

this so called popular forum has very little useful content except endless drivel about gas mileage

pat

Feel free to contribute something enlightening, then. :shades:

backy

Automakers will to have to slash the cost of developing gas-electric hybrid vehicles compared with conventional models before they truly catch on with the public, Honda Motor CEO Takeo Fukui said Tuesday, one day before Honda's new Civic hybrid goes on sale in the USA.

http://www.usatoday.com/money/autos/2005-10-18-honda-ceo-usat_x.htm

andysandiego

this so called popular forum has very little useful
content except endless drivel about gas mileage

Feel free to contribute something enlightening, then.

I love it.

:P

wrjoyce

Anyone have any suggestions on discussion on comparison between 06 civic and the tsx. Comparing value with performance. I like both cars, it seems that the civic has really upgraded alot of features to make a comparison not off the wall.

chidoro

as opposed to the endless drivel about inefficient 2.4 liter engines and 17" wheels?