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If you want to be extra safe, then do the "severe conditions" schedule of 5,000 miles.
Honda spent lots of time and money designing the new engines in the 2001 Civics to require less maintenance, but the dealer stills wants to get the money of 3,000 mile services that cars needed in the 80's and earlier.
Some cars need a first oil change at 500-1000 to get rid of "metal shavings," but most do not and the owners manual will say if it does or not. Many years ago all cars needed that, but now sometimes the engines are partially broken in before they are installed into the car at the assembly plant.
Actually, my primary question was aimed more at the cap cost being at dealer invoice and Edmunds TMV at about the same level. I think Honda dealers have a 2% holdback, but I have also seen ads for many Civics at well-under invoice. What gives? :-)) I'm curious, plus I want to know that my daughter is getting a good deal, even if she didn't take all of Dad's advice! ;-))
Welcome to the club.
If you can write off the lease as a business expense, then that is another situation that can make leasing cheaper than buying.
For most people who cannot do that, as far as saving capital: You can finance a car for 5 years and not even put up the minimum charges required for a lease (first payment, plus misc fees and deposits).
My credit union offers 72 month loans with 100% financing including tax and license.
I could probably 100% finance a 2001 Civic at invoice plus tax and license for 5 years, and sell/trade it at 36 months for similar payments to leasing for 36 months.
Financed at 6 years, the payments would be even lower even with zero down and, if originally purchased at little above invoice, should still have some equity by the 36th payment even with that long of a loan.
Do not fall for $0 down deals no matter what the APR - that only increases your risk.
If I purchased a new Hyundai or a Ford Taurus, I probably could not have done that.
It is important that your purchase price is as low as possible so that the difference between the original purchase price and the value when you sell is a small as possible.
jjpcat- I find it interesting that you should say that the Civic's ride is harsh. I find it too soft, more specifically uncontrolled, especially on rebound. The old Civics rode much farmer, which lent a better sense of control. I disagree, however, that it's the worst in class. I, for one, found the Neon's ride choppy and the Cavaliers just flat out bad (uncontrolled, but surprisingly hard, just bad). The Sentry is better, though.
I wouldn't expect to get a whole lot of acceleration in 5th gear at 43 mph. In fact, you're probably wasting gas accelerating in 5th at that speed.
>I shift between 2000-2500rpm and the my car picks up speed swiftly.
That seems like a really low shiftpoint to me, and in my totally uninformed opinion, I'd say you're actually hurting your fuel economy by shifting that early. Even if I'm driving "easy" on the car, I'll shift at about 3000rpm in my '01 EX. In normal driving, I shift at about 4000rpm.
>With VTEC, I'd have to shift between 3000-4000rpm while putting up with the engine revving at 4000rpm while going 75mph. Just for a test, at 90mph, my non-VTEC 1.6 spins at just over 3500rpm.
What car are you referring to here? In my '01 EX, I'm at about 3700 rpm @ 75mph, and right about 4000 rpm @ 80mph.
I find it really hard to believe a 1.6L four cylinder engine can get your car up to 90mph @ 3500 rpm, unless they've drastically changed the gear ratios between years, or something.
200 over invoice, $100 for Keyless, 48 Docs, 150 New plates.
http://www.highwaysafety.org/vehicle_ratings/ce/html/summary_small.htm
another kudos for Honda.
CX
on autotrader.com no photo.
fowler3
Accessing autotrader through Edmunds would be the polite thing to do for the site that gives you all this wonderful information and these great message boards for free. ;-)
Pat
Host
Sedans and Women's Auto Center Message Boards
At 140km/h (~90mph), my engine revs at just over 3500, maybe 3600.
I'll take this non-discernable difference for the added rear-seat passenger space and much improved frontal crash results !!
NewCiv
I really don't think that many people have actually driven the new Civics, yet they are commenting on how bad the new suspension is....makes no sense to me. To me, it is completely obvious. There is a big difference - but it is not negative one.
I like the new quicker steering. Handles very well overall.
Acura 1.7 EL (Canadian EX sedan)
But, the car does seem to take curves confidently and quickly.
If you wanted a softer ride, what could you do? Change tires (mine are Firestones), struts...? Add soundproofing? Or just accept the Civic as a sub-Accord and revel in its positive points?
Beginning about 3 years ago it started to fade. It is now significantly gone. The hood and the roof are the most effected, however there is the start of a new patch fading on the bottom of one of the doors.
Yes, I live in Arizona and do not always have my car in covered parking, but this is beyond sun damage.
I called someone at Honda Corporate who said others have called with the same complaint but he was not aware of a recall.
Does anyone have any advice?
Thanks,
scully7475
So if you're thinking doing Dynamat here and there, forget it since you'll have to do the entire car (unless you can rationalize the cost). Pumping up the volume is more "cost effective".
Regardless, ACCEPTING where the Civic market segmentation is - it's a great car.
Good luck.
they would pay me the difference between what insurance pays and how much a new car costs.
Out the door price was $17,700 with everything.
Filled the tank 3 times. Here are my mileage numbers:
33.7
34.2
37.3
I can't believe I got 37.3 MPG on 60% highway driving. I am stunned and amazed.
I would check for coupons from the dealer and also shop around at other Honda dealers.
I had oil changes at my Honda dealer for $19.95 and most other services for prices in the range of mom and pop mechanics especially when the dealer had coupons.
Has anyone purchased a new vehicle using carsdirect.com or any of the other online services? My wife and I are going to purchase a Honda Civic Ex soon and we didn't talk money yet, but the salesman wanted to inform us that he didn't have a lot of room to move.
I have a price in mind by looking at edmunds and carsdirects websites and will use this info when dealing, but want to know if people are satisfied with carsdirect if the honda dealers in my area won't negotiate.
Based on the prices some of you have paid, I'm not paying MSRP either and want to use carsdirect as a bargaining chip, but I may have to actually use it.
Any info would be of great help.
Thanks,
dilynnm
That is a good price according to Edmunds, and I haven't seen any flat out offers from dealers below that price. It could be used as a bargaining chip, but I decided against buying from carsdirect.com because it seemed there was no dealership associated with it, nobody to "bring the car back to" if there were problems... I thought it would lack the personal component. Of course you can bring it to any dealership, but the anonymity seemed too scary for such a big cash transaction.
I used 2 bargaining chips:
1) I shopped around at 4 Honda dealerships and got print-outs of offers, which I showed to the other dealers. Most dealers were willing to offer me Edmunds TMV price. When I showed the other dealer, they agreed to throw in floor mats for the same price.
2) FIND PROBLEMS with the car you will buy. I noticed the trunk fabric was not perfectly tucked in on one corner of the trunk, and that there was some dirt in the back-seat floor, probably from people who tracked dirt in the car... and I said, well, I want my new car to be PERFECT. The manager agreed to knock a couple hundred dollars off. I was able to tuck in the trunk fabric just fine, and they vacuumed the back floor and covered it with brand new floormats!
But now, I am not totally sure I really DID get a good deal... because all I see are the internet prices... I don't actually know any human who BOUGHT the same car, so I can't really be SURE I got a good deal!
But Civic's suspension (especially the rear one) leaves too much to be desired. I think this is my only major complain against this Civic. There are 5 annoying speed bumps from my home to the entrance of the community. I used to run over them at 15-20mph with the Lexus without making my wife mutter. With the Accord, I would run over at 5-10mph. But this Civic forces me to come to complete stop at each bump and even that still makes my wife complain about headache when the rear end runs over the bumps at sub-walking speed. On the streets, it reminds me of every hole/dip larger than a few inches. As I said in one of my previous message, I didn't experience this problem with Corolla/Sentra/Cavalier/Neon or even Accent. So I don't know what's wrong with Civic.
Other than that, I like this Civic. Its auto transmission is as smooth as that of the Lexus. And, for all the things I hate my 96 Accord: horrible brake, jerky transmission, bad handling, weak AC, noisy interior, sub-par assembly quality, and factory floor mats that didn't fit the floor, Civic is doing a (much) better job.
So, any 2001 Civic owners, please give me your input. I wanted something larger than my Civic, but the new one is only 1.7 inches smaller in rear leg room than the Accord. Also my '93 is a manual transmission, but it doesn't have much pep to it (maybe its the 143,000 miles?). Any suggestions? I would rather spend the extra money if necessary to get a smoother/quieter ride.
By-the-way, the UK gets a Civic coupe with climate control, break-away side mirrors, alloys and I think rear discs. It is made in Ohio just like the US market Civics. Why not put those useful features on US Civics?
Funny...I haven't heard any, except here.
for 13912. Other than having to travel 30 miles to pick it up it went flawless. Also, if you register with gomez.com before you buy your auto they rebate you 100.00. Takes about 6 was to receive your check. I would not hesitate to use them again in the future. I've purchased 4 new cars and by far this was the most economical with the least amount of BS. One other piece of advice get your financing in order before you buy. I used the internet and went with peoplefirst.com. Again I register with gomez and I received 50.00 for taking this loan out. The salesman that I got the car from told me that he sells about 25 cars a month by way of the internet
When I make a sharp turn(like parking into a spot), there's a loud clunk sound from near the front-right wheel. It sounds like two metal parts are bumping into each other.
I brought my car to a Honda dealer and show them the problem. The service people told me that it's a rare problem and they didn't know what caused the problem. Three technicians checked my car for about an hour and then told me I need to rent a car to get back home. They need some time to figure out what's wrong with the car.
It really hurts to watch them repeatedly turn the wheel on my brand new car just to locate where the sound comes from. They repeat turning the wheel for about 10 minutes without even raising the car.
Anybody has any similar problem? Thanks for any response.
Sad-Civic-Owner.
(Did I put too much trust on the quality of a Honda?)