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Old 04-22-2011, 09:30 PM   #1 (permalink)
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Civic vs. Jetta or others?

I am in the market for a nice 4 door late model used small sedan. I have a 96 Civic that has served well but is falling apart at a pace faster than can be repaired sensibly. (radiator, axles, clutch, tires, brakes) I get about 42mpg driving lightly and keeping her around 65. It seems that late model imports depreciate only a few percent per year. I'm looking to spend 12-13 grand or so. I'm considering a Civic, however the mileage isn't as good as I would have thought it would get...36 hwy. I like the looks, comfort, and long term reliability is a huge strength. As for the Jetta, I like the precious body style (less rounded) more, but am not sure if the mileage is as good without being a TDI. I'm also concerned with the upkeep of a TDI, I've heard that there is more maintnance involved, but higher mpg is rewarded. I see most of them in my price range have tons of miles already, not sure how long they run without typical problems. Any help/advice is greatly appreciated.

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Old 04-22-2011, 09:59 PM   #2 (permalink)
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I'm a big fan of the Civic's, my room mate has a 2000 Jetta as does the guy next door, the guy next door also has two new beetles that he says have the same engines as the Jetta and he is working on one of his 3 VW's every weekend, my room mate is also always having issues with his, all 4 cars have had spark plug coil packs go out repeatedly, the starters have a dumb design to them that can cause it to need to be rebuilt more often then you'd think and there were other problems that causes the car to be taken to the dealership to fix because no one else wanted to touch them, but with that all said they still love the cars and would buy another, if they could afford to keep them on the road.
I on the other hand have had great luck with every civic I have owned and have never had an expensive repair, even replacing the CV joints on the civic is easy compared to the VW, with VW having their own 10 point star shaped torx wrench that no one else makes and Honda holds their CV joint in with a snap wring... 3-4 hours to change the axle on a VW and 30-45 minutes on a Honda.
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Old 04-23-2011, 01:25 AM   #3 (permalink)
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If I had a 12-13k budget and i was not the type to work on and repair my own vehicles, I'd set $4k aside for repairs and maintenance and get a late model $8k Ford Focus or Chevy Cobalt.

Jettas have superb driving dynamics but their quality is suspect.

Civics are excellent cars, but they are overpriced for what you get, since the resale value is inflated due to their lofty reputation.

The Focus and Cobalt are of better quality than the Jetta, and not that far off in terms of reliability to the Civic, but usually carry a 30-50 percent price incentive when comparing them to a similarly aged and equipped Civic or Corolla.

In addition, when repair and maintenance time does arrive, the Focus and Cobalt will cost a fraction of the Civic and Jetta.
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Old 04-23-2011, 09:42 AM   #4 (permalink)
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...gonna chime in to suggest/defend the VW...I'm currently driving my 2nd Jetta, this time an '03 wagon, 2.0L. The first was a '87 4dr. I love the car for its handling and cargo capacity when necessary...but you're right about quality being suspect. My wife actually has the same year, same body style, same color car...except hers is a 1.8L turbo...spends more time in the shop with quirky VW-specific problems than on the road...also gets less mileage than mine. Me-34, her-27..on average, but she...let's say...doesn't belong on the website. My car has been totally reliable...no issues at all.

However, if I were able to, I would have found one of the last generation Tercels...there's NO beating Toyota reliability and the two friends I have that have Tercels get 40 mpg with no effort, certainly they don't bother with any sort of mods or hypermiling techniques...just sensible driving and proper maintenance. The dang things just don't pop up for sale around here. If you live in a city and have to parallel park, their short, stubby trunks are awesome.

My 2 cents, if its worth that.
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Old 04-23-2011, 04:31 PM   #5 (permalink)
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Quote:
Originally Posted by 03NHVW View Post
...gonna chime in to suggest/defend the VW...I'm currently driving my 2nd Jetta, this time an '03 wagon, 2.0L. The first was a '87 4dr. I love the car for its handling and cargo capacity when necessary...but you're right about quality being suspect. My wife actually has the same year, same body style, same color car...except hers is a 1.8L turbo...spends more time in the shop with quirky VW-specific problems than on the road...also gets less mileage than mine. Me-34, her-27..on average, but she...let's say...doesn't belong on the website. My car has been totally reliable...no issues at all.

However, if I were able to, I would have found one of the last generation Tercels...there's NO beating Toyota reliability and the two friends I have that have Tercels get 40 mpg with no effort, certainly they don't bother with any sort of mods or hypermiling techniques...just sensible driving and proper maintenance. The dang things just don't pop up for sale around here. If you live in a city and have to parallel park, their short, stubby trunks are awesome.

My 2 cents, if its worth that.
Probably my most favorite econoboxes I've ever owned was a '87 Mazda 323 1.6 hatch. In the time I had it I could not kill that car, and then I sold it to to my sister, who drove it for another 5 years, and parked it.

I revived the car (repaired burnt valve at 170k miles) and made it my delivery vehicle for my business, until I gave it to one of my employees, and as far as I know, he might be still driving it now. That car sold me on the quality and reliability of Mazdas (and their Ford based bretheren like 91-94 Capri (aussie built mazda 323), 91-03 US Escort and ZX2 (2nd gen mazda 323), 88-96 Ford Probe (626), Ford Fusion (Mazda 6), Escape (tribute), Festiva and Aspire (mazda designed and kia built based on Mazda 121).
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Old 04-23-2011, 08:02 PM   #6 (permalink)
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Not going to get into which I think is better (I am Honda biased), but keep in mind the fact that 1. wholesale prices on late model used cars are up in the US, so what you could buy with that budget 6 months ago is not what you could buy today, and 2. due to the events in Japan, you will see a lack of supply of new Japanese imports, raising the price on used ones yet again. I guess I am trying to say that either buy something real quick or fix the most pressing issues on yours and drive it until the used market calms down. Just my 2 cents.
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Old 04-25-2011, 11:32 AM   #7 (permalink)
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Quote:
Originally Posted by War_Wagon View Post
Not going to get into which I think is better (I am Honda biased), but keep in mind the fact that 1. wholesale prices on late model used cars are up in the US, so what you could buy with that budget 6 months ago is not what you could buy today, and 2. due to the events in Japan, you will see a lack of supply of new Japanese imports, raising the price on used ones yet again. I guess I am trying to say that either buy something real quick or fix the most pressing issues on yours and drive it until the used market calms down. Just my 2 cents.
I've seen evidence of this as well.

If I was already thinking of dropping 12-13k given the current situation I might start thinking about buying new. The new elantra for example, would look awfully tempting to me in your situation. Korean cars (Hyundai, Kia) have been going up like crazy in terms of reliability over the past 10 years, but don't yet carry the price premium of a Honda or Toyota. The new elantra gets good reviews, 40mpg hwy, and starts at 15k.
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Old 04-25-2011, 12:34 PM   #8 (permalink)
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For that price, I'd find a nice used Prius. It'll beat everything else out there easily.
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Old 04-25-2011, 08:10 PM   #9 (permalink)
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Elantra...

I know...that Elantra looks pretty tempting also. We had some overnight service on our Quest, and the dealer gave us a new Sonata, and it was real nice. I'm saving money for now until the Civic kicks the bucket. It's just sad that we're supposed to be impressed by Focus, Civic, and such cars getting 35 mpg, when you can buy a larger sedan that gets 30-33 mpg. Heck...my neighbor's 400hp G8 gets 28-30. My 4300 lb quest gets 24. I guess I just expect better nowadays.
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Old 04-25-2011, 09:14 PM   #10 (permalink)
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I'd go with a TDI Jetta with a bypass filter and a custom tune so I can get the big mpg all the time. And a custom economy/torque cam. Cold air kit. Free flow exhaust. Lowering kit. MMmmmmm.......Homemade stop/start system.....................Computerized pulse and glide.........

Wait...what was the question?

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