Honda Civic 1.4 SE - what do you think

elmoie

Hey all,

Just passed my test couple of months ago and decided it’s time to upgrade from my first car at last !

After reading through the forum i was looking for a hatchback, 'cool' looking (inside and out), 1.4ish due to tax and decent resale value is a nice to have

Budget is around €13,000..

After looking at the Honda civic, mini cooper, swift, Ibiza, focus, A3 and fiesta decided the Civic fits the best (plus love the inside)

Was just checking what everyone thinks of the Civic (know Honda have good reputation on reliability) but after looking at whatcar.com it made me a little nervous with all the things that have been reported that can go wrong with them..

djimi

The Civic is a cracking car, but I wouldnt go spending €13k on a second hand one. My father recently traded in his 05 saloon Civic and I think he got maybe €7k for it. Lovely car to drive as well, very comfortable and enough nip to be quick without being overly so and didnt cost the earth to run. You can afford to look down the years a bit with Honda and still get as good as car for less money then you would pay for a newer model of a different car.

dr.fuzzenstein

Focus, A3, Golf and anything that size is too heavy for a 1.4L engine and will be very dull to drive.
Better off going down a size in car and stay with the 1.4 or get something Golf sized but with a 1.6.

elmoie

dr.fuzzenstein wrote: »

Focus, A3, Golf and anything that size is too heavy for a 1.4L engine and will be very dull to drive.
Better off going down a size in car and stay with the 1.4 or get something Golf sized but with a 1.6.

Thanks for the info - so are you saying the civic is also too heavy for 1.4 and would really need it in a 1.6 ?

Tea 1000

elmoie wrote: »

Thanks for the info - so are you saying the civic is also too heavy for 1.4 and would really need it in a 1.6 ?

The Civic has a better engine than the Golf, so it's actually not that bad, but for around 14k you might find a 2008 1.8 Civic (no 1.6) which is €302 tax per year and 140bhp, and it's more economical than many 1.6's out there. Really is an excellent engine.

BrianD3

Even though Hondas have a good reputation for reliability this seems unjustified in the case of the current model Civic Hatch. You mention that there is a list of problems on whatcar.com, problems have also been flagged by Which? magazine and by the ADAC (German equivalent of the AA) Check out this recent report below from them. Lower numbers are better. Post 2005 Civic one of the worst cars in its class.
http://www1.adac.de/images/25797_tcm8-250130.pdf

A worrying pattern can be seen with the Jazz as well - the newer the Jazz, the less reliable it is relative to its class rivals.

Having said that these Hondas are still "reliable" cars, all modern cars are - but the Hondas are relatively bad compared to others.

elmoie

Tea 1000 wrote: »

The Civic has a better engine than the Golf, so it's actually not that bad, but for around 14k you might find a 2008 1.8 Civic (no 1.6) which is €302 tax per year and 140bhp, and it's more economical than many 1.6's out there. Really is an excellent engine.

i see what you mean 1.4 0-60 is about 13 sec while 1.8 does it in 8.9 sec will have a check for 2008 and see if i can move the budget up a bit ..

elmoie

BrianD3 wrote: »

Even though Hondas have a good reputation for reliability this seems unjustified in the case of the current model Civic Hatch. You mention that there is a list of problems on whatcar.com, problems have also been flagged by Which? magazine and by the ADAC (German equivalent of the AA) Check out this recent report below from them. Lower numbers are better. Post 2005 Civic one of the worst cars in its class.
http://www1.adac.de/images/25797_tcm8-250130.pdf

A worrying pattern can be seen with the Jazz as well - the newer the Jazz, the less reliable it is relative to its class rivals.

Having said that these Hondas are still "reliable" cars, all modern cars are - but the Hondas are relatively bad compared to others.

thanks for the info - why is it the car i like the best scores the worst and the rest are about 8-10 points less

Tea 1000

elmoie wrote: »

thanks for the info - why is it the car i like the best scores the worst and the rest are about 8-10 points less

If you read enough you'll find bad stuff with all cars. I know of 4 people with those Civics and zero problems. Go for it. They're a good car.

Leprechaun77

My wife has the 1.8l Type S Civic and I must say it is a great car to drive. I've had numerous cars in my time and they are a bit boring in comparison to this. I would definitely go for the 1.8l engine if I were you....

Stephen

I have a 1.8 one at home too, but finding it hard to sell due to the higher tax on it as it is a 2007 model. Other than that though, great car. Never a single problem with it and it was great fun to drive.

elmoie

cool have to say it is true as tea says if you look hard enough you will find a problem with every car think ill look out for 2008 1.8 then from the sounds of things ... any idea if there is any speculation if they are going to change the tax on car in the budget ? and Honda's do hold their value ok right ?

Victor_M

13K is a fair chunk to spend on a first car, If you look at my sig you may see a car that fits the bill perfectly:D Insurance is going to be high on anything above a 1.4-1.6, plus you will have higher running costs with the larger engine (Tax, petrol) have you shopped around for a few hypothetical insurance quotes yet with the various engine sizes?

elmoie

actually second car (was near sure i would write off my first car so spent a lot less on it) and have to say car in sig is cool just find golfs a little boring sorry to say and good point never checked the increase in insurance ...

dub7_2010

I have a 2003 1.6 civic.
Has never given a problem ....not even a light bulb blown yet.
Plenty of power in the 1.6 , good acceleration and fuel consumption.
On paper, performance spec's seem to be much lower than in reality.

Green Hornet

My wife has a 2008 1.4 and its a lovely car to drive and a really nice handling car. Lovely inside too. I find it nicer handling than my diesel Accord actually but not as comfortable on a long journey. It's dead as hell but frugal. I used to have the 1.8 ivtec and that was a great car and gave 40 mpg! No mechanical issues and a bit different than the usual over rated Golfs etc.