2005 Honda Civic
I’m sure everyone who’s ever looked for a used car has had the words Honda and Civic come out of their mouth. I can easily see why getting a used Civic is tempting too; Hondas by reputation last well over two hundred thousand miles, and if you decide to sell it before the car coughs up it’s last bit of life, you’ll probably get most of your money back. This all sounds great but, there are some things that bother me about getting a used Civic though; first of which is that somewhat ridiculous value retention. If you look at a used Civic that’s only a couple years old, prices haven’t really fallen at all and if you tried hard enough, you could get a new one for marginally more. However, there is the option of getting something even older and thus cheaper. Since Civics are so reliable, and because most people see 150,000 miles on the clock and think “It’ll go another 100,000” buying a slightly older one still seems worth it.
Now, the other thing that bothers me about a used Civic is the fact that the new one that came out in 2006 represents an enormous change from the previous generation. Lots of things were improved upon, and like I said you can sometimes get a new Civic for marginally more than what you would pay for a used one. This does make getting an old Civic a bit not worth it; so, the question I’m trying to answer today is, is it even worth it to get a used previous generation Civic?
LX Sedan:
Well originally I thought that the sedan and coupe models were more or less the same cars with just the obvious cosmetic differences, but they aren’t. Because of this I will write about them separately, and to kick things off I will start with the Civic LX sedan.
Positives: If you’re the type of person who wants a Civic sedan, most likely you’ve got a family, or you’ve got a pension, or you genuinely hold comfort and practicality in high regard; and Honda has pretty much tailored the sedan to meet your needs. The Civic sedan easily seats four comfortably, or five uncomfortably, and has a trunk large enough to carry Costco sized loads of grocery. Also, the suspension is soft so if you have osteoporosis you don’t really need to worry about the random pothole in the road.
Once you climb inside, you’re greeted with the standard Honda quality dashboard we all know and possibly love. The plastics on the dash don’t feel all that luxurious, but you can tell they’re of a high grade, and in older Civics you can see that they do pass the test of time. The layout of all the controls is fairly easy to figure out, the gauges are clear and easy to read, and overall the car is very easy to live with.
What makes the Civic even easier to live with is the fact that they’re solid reliable cars. Other than the 100,000 mile tune up, the car only requires oil changes and if you do that you can more or less rest assured that the car will always start up and take you where you need to go. What’s more, once you hit the road you will find that the Civic is… well it’s not that great actually.
Negatives: The driving experience in a Civic sedan isn’t bad per say, but it just really pales in comparison to the Ford Focus and the Mazda 3. The trouble is that Honda really went out of their way to make the Civic sedan appeal to old people, so a lot of the sporty edge Hondas are known for is gone.
The main culprit for ruining the fun is the ridiculously soft suspension. Sure you go over road imperfections without having things fly up, but it’s actually too soft for its own good. I found myself going down Seattle’s beat up highways nodding my head up and down, and I jokingly said to my passengers, “I like this song, but I’m not rocking out.” Going over any type of road imperfection in the Civic just results in a bobbing car and it does get quite annoying. I’m sure if you suffer from car sickness on occasion, owning a Civic will change that occasional sickness to a daily occurrence.
Of course with such a soft setup the Civic does roll in the corners and it doesn’t give you a solid planted feel. Overall, the Civic sedan isn’t a bad handling car, but it certainly doesn’t instill the same sort of confidence (or astonishment) in the twists that the Mazda and the Ford give.
Admittedly I have heard mixed reports on the Civic sedan’s suspension setup. I’ve read in places that people actually found it to be too stiff rather than vomit inducingly soft, so there is a fair chance that the Civic LX I drove, which naturally was used, had suspension components that got worn down. On the other hand I cannot believe that even with hard abuse, a solid car like a Civic would have its suspension go after just a few years… but hey people still win the lottery despite the odds.
Now normally I’m careful about saying a car is slow since the Shuh Huqua review is mostly about “normal cars;” but, I have to say, another thing that’s killing the fun in the Civic LX is the unusually weak engine. Sure it’s smooth, it’s a Honda after all, but the acceleration with an automatic is hilariously slow. If you have a few friends with you, things get worse and you’ll really struggle to get up to speed due to the extra weight. I had passengers off to the side saying “woah, slow down there” because they were hearing the engine rev hard, but in reality I hadn’t even reached 35 mph yet! The engine may be very reliable but it’s way too underpowered.
Another thing that’s not so great about the Civic, doesn’t matter which trim level or if it’s a coupe or sedan, is the noise level. Once you get up to highway speeds, the Civic gets properly loud. You can still talk to the person next to you on reasonably well paved roads, but since most of Washington’s highways are not reasonably well paved, having conversations with the person next to you is a challenge. If you enjoy classical music, you might as well forget it when you get onto the highway.
EX Coupe:
Positives: I got into the Civic coupe expecting it to be the exact same car as the sedan, except of course for the fact that there were two doors instead of four. Boy was I in for a surprise. The first thing I noticed was how nicely the driver’s seat hugs your body. It had to be one of the most comfortable seats I’ve ever sat in; but, when I started up the car and drove off, the real surprise came. The coupe is much firmer, much more solid, and just so much better than the sedan.
The steering of the Civic coupe was much quicker and sharper than the sedan, and the steering wheel provided fairly good feedback as well! The massively improved steering feel was just the start too. This Civic coupe actually cornered properly and it did it while giving that planted, confidence inspiring feel that was simply missing in the sedan. Also, the brake and throttle response felt sharper too, so you can easily tell Honda was trying to cater the Coupe to a different audience. All this driving goodness combined with that super comfortable seat made me feel like I was driving something special and I genuinely liked it.
Things kept getting better too, because this was the EX model which means VTEC and twelve extra horsepower. The LX models feel plain slow, but the EX with the added VTEC system and the extra horsepower felt much quicker (auto and manual). The engine pulls strong all the way up to the 6500 rpm redline and it will put a smile on your face, despite getting quite loud past 4000 revs.
The best thing by far though, was the manual gearbox. The clutch was very agreeable allowing for incredibly smooth non car juddering shifts without the “getting used to period” and that was a genuine surprise. The gearbox shifts with rifle accuracy and rowing through the gears gives your arm a pleasurable sensation. What makes it all even better is the arm rest behind the shifter. At first I felt that it was in the way and kind of annoying, but I eventually found out that you can easily rest your arm on it and have completely unobstructed access to the shifter. I absolutely loved the manual transmission on the Civic Coupe and would buy the car just because of it!
I eventually settled into the car’s comfortable body hugging seat with my arm rested on the central arm rest and felt completely at home. I was so comfortable that I didn’t want to stop driving. I admit that this will sound really ridiculous to those who know of more proper examples, but I felt that the Civic Coupe made an excellent Grand Tourer. I mean, the car handles properly when the going gets twisty, it’s a sporty looking coupe, the engine revs smoothly, there are back seats as well as a proper trunk, and the car is very comfortable on long distance trips. That’s all the things a GT car is supposed to do. The only thing the Civic coupe doesn’t do that actual proper GT cars do is bend the laws of physics when you floor the accelerator, but you can forgive the Civic for that because it will easily get twice the MPG most GT cars get.
Negatives: The negatives for the coupe are few, but they do exist. First off, this car is still quite loud at highway speeds and easily louder than everything else in its class. Then there’s the fact that though this car may feel smooth and quick, it still isn’t that fast. There are loads of aftermarket items to fix that problem but they won’t remove this car’s biggest problem. The biggest problem about the Honda Civic Coupe is the Mazda 3. I may have fallen in love with the Civic Coupe, but I still can’t justify buying one over a used Mazda 3.
Conclusion: If I had to choose between the sedan and the coupe, I would screw the practicality of having four doors and get the coupe. The coupe more or less offers the same space in the cabin and in the trunk as the sedan, and it’s just so much nicer to drive. Also, get the manual transmission even if you don’t know how to drive stick yet. The manual transmission in the Civic is easily the best in the class and it’s so nice to use, that getting the automatic feels like a huge waste.
If I were on my way to get a manual Civic coupe though, I’d still veer off and get a Mazda 3. I simply cannot justify getting a Civic over a 3 simply because of the price. You can easily find “equally used” Mazda 3’s for the same money as a Civic, if not less, and they’ll be better equipped too. The 3’s will have alloy wheels, four wheel disk brakes, a quieter ride, a higher quality interior, and a more powerful engine. Also, no matter how much I did like the Civic coupe, I still feel that the 3 drives better and is more fun.
With that said, and to answer the question asked at the beginning of this review, “it is worth buying a used previous generation Civic?” I have to say, that if you can find a good deal on one go for it (please get the coupe though). In fact, if I found a good deal on a manual Civic coupe, I wouldn’t feel an ounce of regret for buying it over the 3… especially after I settled into that comfortable drivers seat and found a nice long stretch of clear road to drive down.
Summary:
The Good: The coupe gives that GT car feel to people who can’t afford a proper one
The Bad: Really loud, quite expensive, and the LX sedan kind of sucks
Verdict: Get the EX coupe in manual it’ll make you happy!
Random Stats:
Engine: 1.7 liter I4; 115 hp, 110 lb-ft torque (LX); 127 hp, 114 lb-ft Torque (EX)
EPA fuel estimates: 29/38 (LX), 32/37 (EX)
