Civic or Corolla?

Lex Luthor

Wife will be looking for a replacement car shortly and has narrowed it down to either a Corolla or a Civic, mainly for their reliabilty.

Engine will be a 1.4 & it will be a 5dr hatchback.

With a budget up to €12k, she might be lucky to find a '03 Civic, but '03 Corollas are hard to find for that money for that year.

So which of the 2 would be a better car? It'll typically be used for school runs and general driving about the family at weekends.

I've read a lot of reviews about both cars and hard to find many faults with either, except the Civic had a few complaints about the comfort in the seats in a long journey.

colm_mcm

they're both going to be good choices, and there is no clear winner on reliability. here are the pros and cons as I see them

Honda Civic,
Pros: sporty image, usually high equipment levels on hatchbacks, high roofline, easy resale

Cons: A little noisy, 1.4 a little underpowered, plastics a bit too shiny,

Toyota Corolla
Pros: still in production, quality image, nice VVT-i engine, cheap servicing, easy resale

Cons: quite expensive. low equipment levels on Terra model,

You won't lose whichever you choose, but the deciding factor may be that most late Civic 5 doors had Aircon alloys and side skirts.

Lex Luthor

One thing I did read on www.honestjohn.co.uk about the Corolla is that VVT-i engines can start to use up to a litre of oil every 600 miles after 40,000 miles.
Wonder how often this has happened?

MontgomeryClift

Drive a 02 VVT-i Corrolla. Engine rattle, increased fuel consumption and loss of power are its most outstanding features.

colm_mcm

Oil consumption in modern engines is nothing new. VW's new FSI engines drink the stuff from new.

Any report that says "Up to" a litre of oil in 600 miles obviously doesn't have any hard facts to back it up.

bazz26

Lex Luthor wrote:

Wife will be looking for a replacement car shortly and has narrowed it down to either a Corolla or a Civic, mainly for their reliabilty.

Engine will be a 1.4 & it will be a 5dr hatchback.

With a budget up to €12k, she might be lucky to find a '03 Civic, but '03 Corollas are hard to find for that money for that year.

So which of the 2 would be a better car? It'll typically be used for school runs and general driving about the family at weekends.

I've read a lot of reviews about both cars and hard to find many faults with either, except the Civic had a few complaints about the comfort in the seats in a long journey.

My father has a 03 Civic 1.4 for over a year now but it is the 3 door hatch. He finds it to be a great car. It has things such as air con, side air bags, remote central locking and electric windows/heated mirrors. I drove it a couple of times and found it a bit underpowered but then again it is a 1.4. Unfortunately the 1.4 unit is non vtec but it is still perfect for everyday driving. The gearbox is very smooth and the gear lever is nicely positioned high up just below the stereo. The 5 door Civic is huge on the inside as it is very MPVish in design. All 5 door Civics had side air bags and air conditioning since 2001. Reliability and resale value of the Civic are it's main selling points. Another advantage about the 5 door Civic is that the max power crew don't bother with them like the 3 or 4 door versions as they are not their cup of tea.

Regarding the Corolla, as Colm said the VVTi engine feels more nippy, than the Civic but unless you find a Luna model the Corolla will have less toys as standard. Also the Corolla didn't get things like side airbags or remote central locking until around 2004 I think. Air Conditioning again was only available on the Luna model. The 5 door also feels and looks very compact especially next to the 5 door Civic. Again the Corolla gearbox is very smooth and slick and works well with the VVTi engine.

It is very hard to pick one over the other. It probably will come down to your wife's personal preference really. Either car will not let you down.