Balzdpr

I have had the unique privledge of owning a 7th gen I love this car there are many things I would decide to change if the genie in my pocket would allow me to. But as of now I can not. The frame is sturdy and the overall agressive appearance is simply shocking because it wasnt designed to be as such. I have staired at this car countless times thinking and and planning what to do next. Truth is, we are all car designers by heart who use the civic as a base to work off of. The civic of our choice is one that represent the canvas, where it goes from there is a direct representation of our individuality. Personaly I have alot of old school extras on my civic in respects to style and looks but incorporate the newer performance upgrades.
I to have seen the newer models, I to have seen those expensive rides with there "I just spent $70,000 dollars on this car owners". But the most important thing is loyalty to a brand it is what keeps the brand running. Our interest and desires are felt and observed by Honda and Honda responds to them. The newer looks and designs are proof that Honda is attempting to give us all what they preceive we want. Just remember it a car, a slowly rotting, chemical and money consuming stiff framed device to get you from one place to another rather you can afford to or choose to get there in style or a more aggressive fun filled manor is all up to you. With your means get there in the best manor you can.

Civicnoobie

Gang, ive considered parting some stuff off the car and reselling. I did sell my stock rims so selling my ones now isnt possible. I did get s good deal on them so thats good.

The $6000 i spend on mods, that actually i included reg maintenance parts too so it might only be around half of that on mods. Like brake pads, struts, rotors, new rear camber arm, drums, oil filters, air filters, cabin filters, etc. The sound system was the most expensive of them all, followed by two new set of tires and rims.

Ive been thinking about selling my sub and amp in my car and keep the deck and speakers, but worried about the crappy return. Car audio here seems very hard to sell, my old sub it took me months to sell.

Random, i pay 300 for rent every month and no debt aside from just my cards that im paying off. I really regret getting all these mods and wish i could go back time. Just thinking about how much Ive soent really angers me. And on stupid useless stuff too like sound deadening the trunk! Or how about my high output alternatar! Heck im probably one of the few on here with a car alarm and remote starter....was it even worth it! Remote start yes cause of the brutal winters i get but not sure if an alarm is all needed on our cars. Theyre probably not very sought after by thieves.

Civicnoobie

Well i just got fired so...

Shift-E

Very sought after... Mine was broken into last week and I wish I had an alarm. Going to get one soon.

gearbox

iTrader: (95)

the 7thgens? nah not the car itself. practically worthless in parts value. now if you have neat stuff inside then yeah thieves will break into any car and steal it. it should be like a brand new car when someone looks in, not even a penny on the seat.

Civicnoobie

When i bought my car, an alarm was the immediate first thing i wanted to put on. When my sister found out, she said it would be a complete waste...."no ones going to steal a $5000" car. I paid $250 installed for the alarm and it came with remote start as well. Not a bad deal IMO, I got it privately done as stores wanted $350-400.


Ya they just want whats sitting inside, and thats a big reason i dont keep anything in sight inside my car, even my loose change isnt seen. My GPS is on the side door pocket. Only thing you can see is my deck, and i didnt get a double din because of theft reasons. PLus i got my windows tinted too for this.

I heard 7th gens are extremely easy to break into so thats why i got an alarm.

gearbox

iTrader: (95)

alarms are the biggest waste of money there is. every thief with half a brain can disable the siren in 10 secs and the whole alarm (starter kill) in under a minute. its just an annoyance to them but if they see a car they really like, they will spend the extra minute and steal it.

Shift-E

But if it was like a situation like mine. Parked in an above ground parking garage in the middle of the day right in the heart of downtown, he would have ran as soon as the alarm went.

You can't say their a waste of money if they get someone to run off.

gearbox

iTrader: (95)

or you run towards the car and the thief pulls out a gun and shoots you

RamAirDave

Only reason I am putting an alarm on mine is because I want keyless entry lol. I have the alarm already so just install cost of $80.

random

I didn't follow... how is owning a 7th gen a unique privilege? I'm sure it is unique (or close to unique) when compared to a 3rd world country. But on this particular forum, it's probably not so unique.

This statement is either wrong or incomplete. I don't believe most consumers blindly follow a brand. What's important is the perceived value the brand provides the consumer if the consumer purchases something from that brand.

MindBomber

Shift-E and I live in Canada, not much worry about getting shot here unless you sell drugs. Even if you sell drugs, usually they'll come by and give you a warning before shooting you, that's how accurate the polite stereotype is.

Civicnoobie

Actually when i bought my car it didnt come with keyless entry pad cause the owner had lost it i guess. Dealer wanted something outrageous like $150 fir the fob, so i said screw it , might as well get an alarm and remote start for an extra $100. If my car came with keyless fob i wouldnt have bothered with an alarm.

My guess the reason why not many people have alarms right now is because all the newer cars have keyless entry with some kind of alarm that goes off (usually the horn). But technically this isnt nearly as good as a real alarm. Im just going by what i hear everywhere, i rarely hear the beep beep, chirp that alarms give but lots of the honks. Only thing i wish is that there was a way to turn down the volume on the chirp chirp when locking and unlocking, its so loud and obvious to others especially at nights. Cause a lot of people probably look and laugh as to why i have an alarm on a civic.

raigen18

usually most aftermarket alarms have a silent arm/disarm feature. The parking lights flash normally, just no horn noises.

Alarms aren't completely useless as most thieves will likely move on to another car if they see an led blinking. I got mine mainly because it came with the remote starter and provides a bit more security for my audio system which is almost half the value of the car itself lol I don't think anyone installs an alarm in a civic to prevent thieves from stealing the car but to protect whatever investment they have in the car.

Shift-E

This.

random

I agree. In fact, instead of disabling the alarm, it would take a thief less than a minute to steal what is in the car itself or inside the trunk. e.g., leave a laptop out in plain sight? Smash the window, grab the laptop. Even aftermarket stereos can be pried out from the dashboard in under a minute.

Alarms are merely deterrents. Any thief that is motivated enough will always find ways around an alarm.

The other thing that's totally useless is those "clubs" that people lock on the steering wheel: http://store.winner-intl.com/the-original-club-p2.aspx
These might be good to use as a weapon, but as for preventing car theft because it locks the steering wheel, that's a false sense of security. It is trivial to bypass the club: take a good hacksaw and saw through the steering wheel.

Anyways, I'm digressing from the original topic...

Jas88

I get the same feeling when i step into a Honda dealership, Looking at the 8th gen civic I feel like crap, the 9th gen civic I feel sorry for whoever owns it. and i don't care what people think, I care that I got Honda's mistake civic and then they come out with the 8th gen civic which we should have had in 2001. Yup it sucks we didn't get disc brakes, ABS only on EX and SI, 127 horse crap engine, handling like a cavalier, strut defect and the worst transmission ever in a civic.

if you want a better civic get the 8th gen, or a different car altogether, Its a better investment to sell your car and get a much better car.

random

How is this a better investment? Unless your car mechanically unsound and causing you too many repairs, a new car is rarely a good investment unless you plan on keeping it for many, many years.

MindBomber

Our Civics actually handle pretty well, even bone stock.
The strut mounts were only an issue in 01s, and cost $50 to fix.
127hp and 44mpg on the highway, the cars designed for fuel economy.
Disc brakes and drum brakes do the exact same job equally effectively, who cares?
The manual trans is just fine, and the automatic isn't that bad if you maintain it.

I feel sorry for you, being so cynical.
Selling the car and buying an 8th gen would be a terrible idea, and a terrible financial decision.

sdaidoji

iTrader: (1)

disc? for what?
Am still in me stock discs and rear shoes are stock too... almost brand new... and round trip to canada carrying a lot of stuff inside the car and still stopped fine.
no need to brake in most corners anyway - vics can handle them...

Shift-E

people see the words "brake drums" and freak out as if we're using technology from the middle ages... The fact of the matter is, these people don't know what they're talking about when it comes to cars.

Balzdpr

Shift-E, You mean the middle 1950's But they still rock as the technology is pretty sound, yet out dated, every research article I have seen thus far shows greater reliability and performance with disk as well as ease of removal for replacement.

random

This is useful to know:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Drum_brake#Advantages

Especially this part (taken a bit of out context, but shouldn't distort the meaning much):
Also, according to http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Drum_brake#Disadvantages, with regards to removal for replacement, that may not be entirely true:
Anyway, the point being that for cars like the Civic, having rear drum brakes is not that big of a deal. I suspect: 1) having front ones probably don't matter either as far as performance goes, and 2) there might be manufacturing costs which make it beneficial to install front disc brakes.

gearbox

iTrader: (95)

i love having rear drums. they've only needed to be serviced once (new shoes and resurface the drums) in 100k miles. fronts do most of the work anyway. most average drivers would think changing the oil is "relatively complex" too.

gearbox

iTrader: (95)

i personally would never buy used again after seeing how badly people treat their cars. and there is always a reason why theyre selling. buy new and keep it at least 20 yrs, more if it lasts without giving you problems.

Jas88

So your saying than that it would be a better idea to pour more money in to this inferior car when i could instead save that money and buy the 8th gen civic which fixes all the problems this car has. If you want to spend all your money on this crap car that's your business, and don't forget to keep 2000 dollars on hand every 20,000 miles for the transmission. And I don't know where you get that 44 miles per gallon figure because this cars doesn't get anywhere close to that mileage for the amount of horsepower it has.

So I'm just saying that if he's admiring these new civics he should think long and hard about putting money into his civic a failed design, and put that money into a car that he will get more enjoyment and owner satisfaction from without the mechanical headaches the 7th gen civic has.

MindBomber

My transmissions just fine at 168k kms, and it doesn't show any sign of failing soon. I manage 44mpg on the highway, so that's where I get the figure from.

The minor problems the 7th gen has are minimal, 8th gens aren't completely free of flaws either. You can be as negative as you like, but it doesn't make what your saying true.

Leliel

While this is likely sadly true, I have to go with random here. Drum brakes are a PITA, way moreso than disc. I'd be perfectly happy never having to deal with them again.


As for me, I look at all the shiny new versions of my car, and then I remember they don't put stickshifts in HCHs anymore and I change my mind.

gearbox

iTrader: (95)

ha yeah dont complain. you have a hybrid from the old days when they actually got good mpg. the hybrids today barely get the same as a normal car.

random

What you're saying makes sense only if the car is (for whatever reason) terribly unreliable. But that's not what's described in the OP. What was described was basically new car envy.

You're also over generalizing that all 7th gen civics are unreliable, which is blatantly over exaggerated and untrue. AFAICT, your only point is that if you own an unreliable vehicle, then it may make sense to buy a new one if the cost of repairing the maintaining the old vehicle exceeds the value of the old car. This is one of those "duh" facts.