kennyames

First, thanks for any that choose to reply to this.

Im away from home and have very limited time or I would search the forums and form my own opinion.

Last week I wrecked my 2002 Civic LX w/ 170k miles. Was babied by me for the last 6 yrs.

Need to replace this coming week. Have some leads on two Im looking at:

2001 Civic EX, 64K, 1-owner, Carfax clean for around $6500

or

2003 Civic Hybrid, 84K, 1-owner, Carfax clean for around $7500

Have never owned a Hybrid but loved my 2002 and want another Civic.

What would you do??

THANKS again in advance.

Every blessing,

Kenny Ames

kennyames

Any thoughts??

Thx,

K

tipnitty

EX in a heartbeat.

sl33pyriceboi

iTrader: (3)

take the EX...... id take it over the hybrid in a heartbeat as well.

kennyames

Thanks, tipnitty and sl33pyriceboi!!!

Anyone else have an opinion??

Thanks SO much!!

-Kenny

tipnitty

What do you plan on doing with the car?

kennyames

Just around town (Nashville, Tn.) w/ an occasional jaunt to Virginia to visit my mother. About 625 miles each way. But mostly city/highway life stuff.

Thx,

K

gearbox

iTrader: (95)

if mostly town, why not get a hybrid with a ton better mileage?

kennyames

thx gearbox, Hybrid sounds great...just have familiarity w/ my 02 Civic LX.

If it's just basically the same car w/ better gas mileage and the battery to deal w/ every 150K or so.....that sounds good to me. Just 0 experience w/ hybrids.

gearbox

iTrader: (95)

they are actually very similar cars, except with a different engine and powertrain with battery. the batteries are cheap to rebuild, usually around $1k if it goes bad. if i could do it over i would get the hybrid. it looks the same but is better in almost every way. only issue with hybrids is not many engine mods available. and the 03 is prolly the best year for hybrids.

tipnitty

I know nothing of the hybrid so my opinion is biased.

rjones7755

If the EX has an automatic i would go for the hybrid, because when your transmission blows out at 100-110k you're not going to be pleased. My 2001 civic's tranny gave out at 105k, my 2004's just went out at 85k and is still in the shop.

sl33pyriceboi

iTrader: (3)

you will average fine with an regular EX. you'll easily get 30+ if you drive nicely.

with the hybrid, there is just so much more to worry about like all the electrical stuff.

simpler = better.


as for highway miles... learn how to drive your car efficiently and you'll get great gas miles...

here's proof of my morning commute when i want to drive efficiently

sl33pyriceboi

iTrader: (3)

thats a very bold claim with no hard stats to back it up.

by your measurements, my sister has 130k and my best friend has 160k. both 03 and one LX and the other EX. no trans problem whatsoever.

just saying.

rjones7755

http://www.carcomplaints.com/Honda/Civic/2001/ -there's your hard stats lol

It really is luck of the draw though, some people have 200k on the original tranny and then there's people like me that couldn't squeeze 90k out of it

I'm not a gambling man so if i buy another 7th gen civic it'll definitely be a manual

Derky89

Ex no doubt

kennyames

Thanks for the input. It's appreciated.

The EX was sold by the time I was able to get there.

Looking at an 2002 LX w/ 119K for about $5500 or the 2003 Hybrid w/ 80K for $7000. Sorta leaning towards the Hybrid. Is a replacement battery really around the 1K mark?? Seems like Im finding more in the 2-3K pricepoint.

Thanks again,

-K

gearbox

iTrader: (95)

only oem battery will be that expensive. most aftermarket places that rebuild the same or better than oem will be around $1.2k average. thats assuming the original goes out enough to affect mpg. ive seen plenty of 03 hybrids still with the original pack. and then consider the new pack will last close to 10 yrs again, so its very cheap little over $100 a year.

kennyames

Right on! The Hybrid owner said the battery was replaced about 1 yr ago. If that's accurate/truthful ...that works for me.

Thanks again.

gearbox

iTrader: (95)

haha you are actually very lucky then! you are good to go for many years, and that is usually the only thing that breaks on those cars. you can quickly tell if the battery is old or new by driving around. watch the hybrid parts of the gauge like battery charge and regen to see the status bars. low or bad battery will always have them with only 1 or 2 bars, and the engine light can also come on.

kennyames

Once again, THANKS for your input everyone and gearbox!


It's totally appreciated.

sl33pyriceboi

iTrader: (3)

700 transmission complaints out of MILLIONS of 7th gens built/sold...

my stats teacher would have a boner with those numbers

gearbox

iTrader: (95)

gotta remember those are only the ones who had the time or know-how to post online about it. and im sure there are literally thousands of other problems people have on a daily basis that are never posted online. most people take it to a shop, get it fixed, and move on. owning a car is expensive...

rjones7755

Exactly what i was gonna say

sl33pyriceboi

iTrader: (3)

yes, while those numbers are deceiving from the actual count (which is most likely significantly higher), if there WERE an actual transmission defect, honda would have made a big recall on them... just like how they did with the 6th gen v6 accords... it was like 1/5 v6 accords has transmission failures and honda finally recognized it.

the transmission with civics are no where near that number thats why honda doesnt give a **** (dispatch a recall)

gearbox

iTrader: (95)

if i remember, honda had massive recalls for a good handful of their cars a while back. accord, odyssey, acura, all with multiple models, etc. civic for some reason never made it but there were still plenty of issues. its no secret honda auto trans are junk for the most part. the old ones pre 2001 were usually okay. its when they switched to cheap parts and cut corners that the problems began. look at all the rust buckets from 20-30 yrs ago with perfectly functioning autos over 200k miles.

sl33pyriceboi

iTrader: (3)

Manual ftw

tipnitty

Damnit, was just going to put that. lol