Ask the Car People.SM


Honda Civic 2005 and earlier

4041 messages,  Last post on May 07, 2013 at 9:07 AM

You are in the Honda Civic Forum.

What is this discussion about? Honda Civic, Sedan

Join other Civic enthusiasts in Edmunds.com Honda Civic Owners Club!

Messages Page 229 of 405

#2273 of 4041 Re: Chicago Youth by dave210

Oct 05, 2002 (5:57 pm)

Well, it's pretty much popular with the parents of the kids that drive them I'd assume. I got the Civic for my son because:
 
A. It's a Honda
 
B. Proven reliability (engine works, transmission works, rattles and such not included)
 
C. This is a car he'll have through college and into his first job. I knew that if I cheapened out with say a 1991 Honda or made himself buy his own car (which he could have), it would never have gotten him the reliability and safety he has with his Civic. Plus, my son should be saving his money for the future and not on a depreciating investment.
 
BTW, we all have different views so please don't tell me a 17 year-old doesn't deserve a car like this, etc. This was my choice, end of story. Sorry, but I know how topics such as this can get.
 
Anyway, answering the question about whether or not parents all buy their kids $17,000 cars, the answer is probably yes. In my community, my son has said a couple kids drive old Taurus's, a couple drive old Buick's, etc., but an insane amount drive 1996+ Jeep Grand Cherokee's/1997 Jeep Wranglers, at least four 2002+ Jeep Liberty's, many 2001+ Honda Civic's, a bundle of 1998+ Nissan Pathfinders, two 2002 Infiniti QX4's, couple Acura RSX's, many 1997+ Ford Explorers, couple 2001+ Accord EX V6 coupes, one BMW X5, two BMW 330ixi's and so on.
 
Oh and to answer how many kids are in his school, I'd say around 2,000....1,000 of which are eligible to drive (Juniors and Seniors).
 
Is it right for kids to have $40,000 SUV's and cars? I'd say not, but I'm sure there are many who'd say they don't deserve $17,000 cars either, so who am I really to judge. Living on the north shore of Chicago definitely does give you a skewed perception of how the majority of the US lives. Oh well...
 
And once again, I still feel the Civic is the best small car for around $17,000. I imagine most parents bought it because it has phenomenal crash test scores, and proven reliability.
 
I'm not going to go out and buy a Hyundai just because the door gaps are smaller, or that the 4 banger is quieter during acceleration. That was never the reason why we bought the Honda.
 
The other closest competitor at the time we got the Civic was the Corolla in my opinion, and at the time, it was ripe for a redesign. But the new Corolla is nice, too.
 
All I'm saying is the Civic must be popular for a reason, along with the Odyssey, and if you noticed, it isn't 0% financing or $3,000 rebates pushing the Odyssey's and Civic's off the lots (i.e. Ford Explorer's, DC minivans)

#2274 of 4041 dave210 by backy

Oct 05, 2002 (8:05 pm)

I think the Civic is a great car for a high-school student too, for all the reasons you mentioned plus a couple of others: 1) it's not an overpowed hot-rod, 2) great fuel economy for high-school-student budgets. I think that's great if parents can afford to buy their kids a nice car like a Civic. Keep in mind paying $17,000 for a Civic today is analogous to paying $3000 for a Pinto, or Vega, or whatever parents bought their kids 30 years ago. On buying kids $40,000 vehicles, I'm with you on that but I'm not one to tell other people what to do with their money.

#2275 of 4041 Yeah, well, 30 years ago... by jrct9454

Oct 06, 2002 (6:40 am)

...it wasn't common for parents to buy their high school age children cars at all. You walked, biked, or bused to school for the most part. Maybe you inherited a family junker, or maybe you went to work part-time to buy something yourself [the way it worked for me 40 years ago], but it wasn't "expected" that Mom and Dad would pop for the price of a new car of any stripe, much less what you see in suburban high school parking lots these days.
 
In fact, my school's parking lot was 90% faculty and 10% students, rather than the other way around.
 
It's a good thing that the disposable income is out there for people to do whatever they want - whether the signal that sends to young people about their place in the economic world is a good one is another question...

#2276 of 4041 The Civic is a great car for everyone (m) by alyssazmom

Oct 06, 2002 (9:17 am)

Not just high schoolers! I'm a 25 year old mother and I adore my 2002 Honda Civic EX Sedan. I live in Northern Va. where Honda Civics (also Accords and Odys) and VW Jetta's are common. For years I saw only younger drivers in Civics and some were modified (I personally hate the way modified cars look.) however with this newest generation I see all ages driving the new Civic body style.
 
In January 2002 my choice was between a VW Jetta, Toyota Corolla (not the 2003), and a Honda Civic. My younger brother suggested the Mazda Protege but I never really looked into it. I wish I had now just for comparison sake.
 
I ultimately chose the 2002 Honda Civic because for $16,000 I could get a loaded EX Sedan with 5 star front and side impact crash test ratings, reliability, resale value, plus all the goodies that I wanted like a moonroof, CD player, automatic and then safety essentials such as front and side airbags, ABS, 3 point seat belts for all occupants, LATCH and tether anchors.
 
Styling is a personal choice and while others slam the new Civic style, I personally love it. I feel I made a wise choice for my budget and safety standards. In the end I am the only driver of this car and the one making the payments, I wanted a car that *I* would love driving for many years to come.
 
Carrie ~2002 Honda Civic EX sedan in Eternal Blue Pearl.

#2277 of 4041 crash ratings by lngtonge18

Oct 06, 2002 (2:22 pm)

I know this is a moot distinction, but I keep seeing posts touting the Civic's 5 star all around protection. Yes, the Civic earned 5 stars in the frontal impact, but the side got 4 stars for the sedan with or without side airbags. So, unless you own a 2 door Civic with side airbags, you do not have full 5 star protection. Just a minor correction.

#2278 of 4041 by diploid

Oct 06, 2002 (6:56 pm)

Neither does any other small car out there. The 4-door Civic and VW Jetta, so far, are ranked the highest in the small car category.

#2279 of 4041 Re highest rated by backy

Oct 06, 2002 (8:04 pm)

The Civic 4-door and Jetta are highly rated, but not exactly "the highest". The Elantra matches the Civic and Jetta in NHTSA tests. The Impreza is tops in the IIHS tests, followed by Civic. The Lancer, New Beetle, Volvo S40, and Focus are also rated ahead of the Jetta/Golf. Even if the Civic 4-door's NHTSA scores are not all 5-stars, it's still a great score for a small, light car.

#2280 of 4041 re:dave210 & Carrie by bjk2001

Oct 06, 2002 (10:15 pm)

Dave:
 
I am very impressed you did a excellent survey of high school cars. Job well done. Civic is very very popular in So Calif. I know my daughter's high school has about 3000 or so kids, from 9-12th grade. Lots of Civic (most popular ones), Jetta, Corolla, Accord, BMW 3 series, IS300 are also popular. Least popular ones are KIA and Hyndai. I don't remembe even seeing one. I went to two carwash event never washed any KIA or Hyundai. I guess middle income American drive Japanese or German cars only eh?
I believed you made a very wise decision. Look at the maintenance cost you will save and resale value of the Civic.
 
Carrie you are just 25? Darn, so sorry I thought you are a little older. My mistake. LOL.
 
Who paid $17,000 for Honda Civic? No one paid sticker price. We paid less than $15k for our 02 EX. LOL.
 
Well guess you people don't live in the area I live. High school kids drives $30K-$40K brand spanking new BMW, MB, Lexus, is normal here in our area. I am one of the cheap parents who bought $15k car.
 
bjk
 

#2281 of 4041 re: re highest rated by diploid

Oct 07, 2002 (4:40 am)

I was citing NHTSA tests, hence the use of the word "highest." IIHS only measures frontal impact, along with costs to repair.
 
The Elantra does not match the Civic and Jetta in NHTSA tests with regards to frontal impact. Civic (with and without side airbags) and Jetta (with side airbags) receive 5-stars for both front passengers. Elantra (with side airbags) receives 5-stars for frontal impact on driver side, but only 4-stars for passenger side. It does, however, get 5-stars for driver side impact, but 4-stars for passenger side impact.
 
IIHS results for the Elantra is not consistent with NHTSA results. Overall, it was rated Poor (lowest score), with Good ratings in Structure/safety Cage and chest injury, and Poor ratings in head injury and restraints/dummy kinetics, and only Marginal right/left foot/leg evaluation.
 
2002 Subaru Impreza has not been tested by the NHTSA yet. Also, it is not tops in the IIHS test. Both the Civic and Impreza are rated best picks, receiving Good (highest score) in all frontal crash test evaluations.
 
Jetta received an Overall rating of Good. While not at the top of the class in this test, its rating is not as inconsistent with NHTSA as to receive a Poor rating.

#2282 of 4041 Re: highest rated II by bjk2001

Oct 07, 2002 (7:50 am)

diploid:
 
Good research and thanks for clarification.
 
Since I don't own an Elantra and never will (had very bad experience with Korea made TV. cell phone and electronics), I don't really care what kind of rating an Elentra gets. Guess people always wants to compare with Civic since its bench mark of the small cars in US.
IMHO, if I purchased some other car I will have to justify my decision to convince myself that I made a good decision. Since I bought a Civic, no question asked.
 
bjk

Messages Page 229 of 405

To POST a message, please Sign In.

Advertisement

Browse by Category

Browse by Vehicle
   View All Vehicles

Browse by Board
Browse by Topic
View All Topics

Edmunds Community

Advertisement