Honda Civic?

Cianos

Hi folks,
I'm looking to buy my first car. Im 23 and have no previous driving experience, dont even have my provisional yet :eek:

Been doing a bit of browsing and I like the look of the Civic. Anyone know much about this car?

While I'm at it, what insurance company would be best for me to go to?

Thanks:)

richardson2525

My first car when I was 21 was a 1995 Honda Civic Saloon and I was insured with Quinn-Direct on a provisional licence with no NCB.
Post your Licencce details, and budget and could advise you a bit more about car and insurance.
From my experrience the Honda Civic is a great car. Honda are extremely reliable and they make a good car. The civic engines can be very nippy specially in vtec form. Watch out though as there will be plenty of bad civics out there driven previously by boy racers. Make sure you thoroughly check any car you buy. If you are going for the new one I think it is a very good looking car and the stats seem quite impressive

Cianos

Thanks for your reply. My total budget would be around the 7k mark, to include car and insurance.

richardson2525

i think you should be able to definitely get yourself a nice Civic and insurance for that money, its a good solid car. If you want a sporty one the 1.6 vti is a very quick car, or a standard car would do just fine. Easy to service, plenty of spares and after market parts too. I like to read customer reviews of cars before I buy them (not motoring journalists reviews). www.carsurvey.org is a good place to get a feel for general customer satisfaction with used cars. Good luck

LundiMardi

err, he's a first time driver, no licence, no NCB! Insurance companies don't like letters after car engine sizes!!

OP - expect to pay 3-4k on insurance alone. Don't even consider a 1.6...

richardson2525

LundiMardi wrote:

err, he's a first time driver, no licence, no NCB! Insurance companies don't like letters after car engine sizes!!

OP - expect to pay 3-4k on insurance alone. Don't even consider a 1.6...

I agree that insurance companies dont like letters after models like gti or vtec, but disagree about engine sizes.

My second car after the 1.5 Civic was a 2.0 Fuel Injected Mercedes Benz! Just look around, you mightn't get a quote on a sporty hatch but a Toyota Carian 2.0i has 135bhp and is easy and cheap to insure and can cost under a grand! (same goes for a Mercedes actually if it's something like a Benz 190E)

LundiMardi

sorry man, no chance in hell he has to get a quote on a 2.0 Carian anywhere near a grand...

richardson2525

LundiMardi wrote:

sorry man, no chance in hell he has to get a quote on a 2.0 Carian anywhere near a grand...

I mean the car will cost a grand. I know cause I was insured on one for a while and Quinn Direct were insuring me for around the 2k mark on a provisional with 1 year NCB. Check it yourself on their website! put in 1991 Toyota Carrina II 2.0 Gli with the relevant age and licence details.
Big cars are not always expensive to insure, maybe a 100 or 200 quid more expensive over a year but i'd happily pay that then drive a 1 litre car!
other similar cars: 2.0 Honda Accord, Mazda 626.. etc..

Stephen

They won't insure a provisional driver on his own policy on anything over a 1.6, if even that much. I've a full licence and they still won't quote me on anything over 1.6, regardless of letters after it.

LundiMardi

richardson2525 wrote:

I mean the car will cost a grand. I know cause I was insured on one for a while and Quinn Direct were insuring me for around the 2k mark on a provisional with 1 year NCB. Check it yourself on their website! put in 1991 Toyota Carrina II 2.0 Gli with the relevant age and licence details.
Big cars are not always expensive to insure, maybe a 100 or 200 quid more expensive over a year but i'd happily pay that then drive a 1 litre car!
other similar cars: 2.0 Honda Accord, Mazda 626.. etc..

I just used the basic details the OP has provided, the quote was almost 3000 euro, and that was for a 1.6! NOT a 2.0

omb0wyn5ehpij9

I'm 22, provisional licence, zero no claims bonus, living in dublin.......quinn direct quoted me €2500 TPF&T on a civic worth 6grand, hibernian wanted €2950

Spitfire666

get to know a driving instructer and ask him if he will give you a letter to say that you have done 25 driving lessons and quinn give an automatic 1 year NCB. I'm insured at 1800 on a 1.4 pugeot 206 and at 19 with a provisional i'm happy with that.

Failing that,do the ignition coarse with hibernian. Piece of piss and you get a discount off your insurance.

BrianD3

Forget about Civics and the like, when starting off swallow your pride and get a car with a 1.0 or less engine eg Fiat Cinqucento/Seicento, Micra, Starlet etc. There are others too.

Spitfire666

I thought about that then relise there was no point coz i was getting the same Quotes for 1L cars as 1.2,1.3,1.4s and even a 1.6 focus was only costing me 100 extra.

Our man in Havana

Buying a Honda civic is a mistake for the first time driver. You will get hassled no end by the cops (civics are associated with boy racers) and you will find it hard to get covered.

Spitfire666

thats not always true. micras and golfs are the new civic of old so its not that big a deal once your not doing anything wrong

5500

Bond-007 wrote:

Buying a Honda civic is a mistake for the first time driver. You will get hassled no end by the cops (civics are associated with boy racers) and you will find it hard to get covered.

Thats aload of crap to be honest,i drive a civic and alot of my friends do and never get any hassle from the gaurds,seems to be some old wifes tale along with them being associated with drug dealers :rolleyes:

@ the Op - on your budget you could be looking at a pre 96 civic inclusive of your insurance,They can be picked up fairly cheap but didnt come with alarms or immobilisors as standard and are easily stolen.

If you can get a good quote or stretch to a post 96 or late 95(when the newer EK shape was manufactured) then look for the 1.4i.There's a 1.3 jap import available but it seems to have an extra loading and doesnt have factory alarm and immobilisor like the euro model.

Noone ive known has ever complained or had problems with theres,there cheap to maintain/run/service,hold there value well and imo are a nice looking car with an endless amount of aftermarket parts available should you fancy it.

Spitfire666

they are a great car and even if you did get the older shape, its not that much hassle to get an alarm put in and you could afford it if you bought an older one as it wouldnt cost as much to buy.

They used to be drug dealer cars and thats were the assosiation comes from today, its the same as the old ford XR2I and then it changed to civic and now its golf moving on to audi a3/a4.

smarty

BrianD3 wrote:

Forget about Civics and the like, when starting off swallow your pride and get a car with a 1.0 or less engine eg Fiat Cinqucento/Seicento, Micra, Starlet etc. There are others too.

Please don't get a cinqucento or seicento. They are like a crisp packet. I would hate to see one of them in an accident.

I agree with the point about a 1 litre car though starting out. What about a seat ibiza?

Spitfire666

I wouldnt go less then 1.2 as you will hate it very soon and the insurence saving isnt going to be much if anything.
i would be in a 1.6 only the car i was after was sold before i got to look at it and i had no chance of getting another for the same sort of money.

smarty

My car is 698cc and I am very happy with it!

Spitfire666

Okay so he will not DEFFINATLY hate it but he might. I know I would.

Brend

i got my first car last year i the very same suitation, i got a 00 honda civic 1.4 it cost me €7500 and insurance was €1600, i was 26 though which made a nice difference. I reckon you could pick a 98/99 civic1.4 for between 4500 and 5500 dont even bother lookin for a bigger engine cos you'll get a*s raped on insurance. Then on insurance i over 2 grand id say. Can someone correct me if im wrong here but dont hibernian have an ignition test for drivers on provisionals that can nearly half your premium, i know a girl at work done it and her quote went from €1500 to €800, not sure if thats for girls only though....well worth looking into though

Good luck with it anyway mate
and keep it between the ditches.

Spitfire666

I mentioned it already,
there IS an ignition coarse for provisionals and then anpother one for full licence drivers. you wont get a reduction as good as your friends but you will get some reduction.

Dagon

A mindless plug, but why not buy my car?

http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=2054860004&highlight=honda+civic

By the way, since that thread was posted I've had some bodywork done and now there are no dents + the car is super clean and like new. I'm still too lazy to advertise it, but seeing as I've bought a Celica I'll have to get down to that pretty soon - so AutoTrader in a couple of weeks!

New price: €7400

I can say with complete confidence - best 98 EK Civic you will find in the country, guaranteed
If you find a better deal on a car with 25,000 let me know!

P.S. The car is back to standard spec, so no alloys. But I did get the bumpers colour coded and it looks really cool.

LundiMardi

Dagon wrote:

A mindless plug, but why not buy my car?

http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=2054860004&highlight=honda+civic

By the way, since that thread was posted I've had some bodywork done and now there are no dents + the car is super clean and like new. I'm still too lazy to advertise it, but seeing as I've bought a Celica I'll have to get down to that pretty soon - so AutoTrader in a couple of weeks!

New price: €7400

I can say with complete confidence - best 98 EK Civic you will find in the country, guaranteed
If you find a better deal on a car with 25,000 let me know!

P.S. The car is back to standard spec, so no alloys. But I did get the bumpers colour coded and it looks really cool.

maybe you could have bother your arse to read the man's post... he has 7k for car AND insurance..

oh, and a 98 Civic with 25k on the clock? Yes, i'm sure.

Our man in Havana

eireal wrote:

Thats aload of crap to be honest,i drive a civic and alot of my friends do and never get any hassle from the gaurds,seems to be some old wifes tale along with them being associated with drug dealers :rolleyes:

Don't ever dare drive a civic down in south Laois. The local constabulary has a thing about them and they regularly stop them for all sorts of reasons, mostly bull**** resons tbh. Things are so bad that most have sold them to avoid such hassle.

Spitfire666

Bond-007 wrote:

Don't ever dare drive a civic down in south Laois. The local constabulary has a thing about them and they regularly stop them for all sorts of reasons, mostly bull**** resons tbh. Things are so bad that most have sold them to avoid such hassle.

Not total bull actualy. theres a few big drug dealers around laois and they all seem to have civics and that could be a reason why they target civics to see whos driving em, especialy if the windows are tinted.

Cianos

Bond-007 wrote:

Don't ever dare drive a civic down in south Laois. The local constabulary has a thing about them and they regularly stop them for all sorts of reasons, mostly bull**** resons tbh. Things are so bad that most have sold them to avoid such hassle.

This wouldnt be a reason to not buy one to be honest. A little chat would break up the journey, and I aint got nothin to hide

Cianos

What dyou think of this one?

Cheers;)

Spitfire666

spotted that one (or at least an identicle one) when I was looking for my first car last month, very nearly bought it but i kudnt spend 4k+ on a '94 when I got a '01 for 6.

And to Lundi, I know of a 93 car with only 40k 100% genuine miles and its nothing special to merrit limitted miles.