Honda Civic for new car?

[Baltothewolf]

Originally Posted by darcane

For reliable transportation, I'd have a hard time recommending anything with an early CVT.

A 1-owner, low mileage, 6th gen Civic with well-documented maintenance history sounds like a great choice. Maybe not as good of mileage as the G1 CVT Insight, but I bet it causes less grief and has lower maintenance costs long-term.

But will the extra MPG I get from the Insight offset the repair costs? Because I'm not one for speeding, when I'm in a major rush I still will not go over 70mph, otherwise I drive 55-65mph. With the Civic, I will spend about $9 a day in gas if I get 40mpg, but will spend about $6 a day with the G1 which is about 600$ a year saved in gas, plus more because on my weekends I do a ton of city driving which is where the G1 shines.

I only have 5 days to make a decision, I think I'll be extremely happy with either car I get, I just need to figure out which one to get. Both sides have valid arguments, and both sides have good pro's and con's... Uhg decisions decisions decisions...

[UltArc]

I would suggest a search on CVT issues with the G1 Insight- I don't know of any, but I don't know much about it. And the Insight doesn't have much in the way of flaws. Second gear down shift can grind with a standard (never experienced), and one engine mount is common for wear. I was driving one with that issue for a month, it's about $75 for the part, and east to repair if you have a jack.

The extra you save will depend on the problem, really. But for general build quality, the Insight is great- extremely over built. I thought my first one had an issue as it made a clattering noise when I made left turns. They suggested it was the rear wheel skirt (missing a tab), and went underneath. No corrosion, nothing loose, nothing worn. They shook the big metal pieces connecting to the tires, everything was solid after 160+k, and 14 years on the road. They were correct, and it was fixed with silver duck tape.

[Baltothewolf]

So after some research I stumbled upon the major problem with the CVT's. I have a feeling this is why the owner of the one I want to buy replaced his at only 90,000 miles... Posted by Moldad over on insightcentral.net.

Honda doesn't sell parts for the Gen 1 CVT, so the dealer fix is a new (factory rebuilt in Japan) unit at around $4000 installed. Honda actually required the wrong trans fluid for the Gen 1 for years before discovering their error and changing the fluid specs. Honda replaced the CVT on warrantee up to 100,000 miles if a burnishing of the belt didn't solve the problems. If your CVT had problems at, say, 120,000 miles you were in for an expensive fix.

[UltArc]

How common is it? Open heart surgery is pretty costly too, but if I do my research right I should be able to steer clear for a while lol.

If it was done at 90k, I imagine it is good to go, then.

[Baltothewolf]

Originally Posted by UltArc

How common is it? Open heart surgery is pretty costly too, but if I do my research right I should be able to steer clear for a while lol.

If it was done at 90k, I imagine it is good to go, then.

All G1's were doomed because of this, at least from the research I did after I found that initial info (at least until they fixed the error), he said it runs great and the only reason he is selling it is because he is moving to the UK for 2 years and doesn't want to spend the money either importing it or storing it here in the states.

[UltArc]

Do you have any more than that? That is pretty broad of a statement: All G1's were doomed because of this.

http://ecomodder.com/forum/showthrea...-vx-28839.html

But again, most focus is on the standard rather than CVT.

[Baltothewolf]

Originally Posted by UltArc

Do you have any more than that? That is pretty broad of a statement: All G1's were doomed because of this.

http://ecomodder.com/forum/showthrea...-vx-28839.html

But again, most focus is on the standard rather than CVT.

From what I read, all G1's that got a tranny fluid change before they fixed the error suffered damage to the CVT tranny which is why they upped the warranty to 100k/7 year warranty. This guy replaced the tranny after that error was fixed.

[Baltothewolf]

So I definitely have gotten the money, it's on it's way to me right now. So after about 4-6 hours of research and a lot of time thinking, I have decided to go with the Honda Insight. I just think at this point in my life, it's what I need. This decision was not made lightly, as I said I thought about it for some good time. We will see how it goes and I'll keep you guys updated. I really appreciate all your guys help, and I took all sides into account when making this decision.

[darcane]

While it isn't what I'd recommend, it's still a good choice and wouldn't mind one for myself (5-spd though). And ultimately, it's your choice to pick a car that suits you best.

I hope you have many, trouble free miles with it!

[Baltothewolf]

Originally Posted by darcane

While it isn't what I'd recommend, it's still a good choice and wouldn't mind one for myself (5-spd though). And ultimately, it's your choice to pick a car that suits you best.

I hope you have many, trouble free miles with it!

Thanks I hope so too. The battery is new and so is the tranny, if it was the original battery/tranny had 130k miles on it, I wouldn't have even thought about it, but this car basically has 40,000 miles on it and I can't pass that up.