Buying a Civic SI this week: it's crunch time

[DanS]

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hold on--i have a question. when you say that your "Camry finally [censored] out...." what is the censored word? i cant think of anything that makes sense.

thanks.

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crapped

[DanS]

So if anyone's curious, I used consumerreports.org to get a summary of different prices/costs, and here they are:

MSRP for Civic SI with nav and summer tires (including $595 destination charge): $23,835
Dealer invoice: $21,855
"Bottom line" price (Invoice-incentives-dealer "holdback: $21,158

Haakee says to shoot for around $22,000. Given that I was offered an "internet price" of $22.4k initially I think I can do better. Thoughts?

[cpitt398]

I just bought one this morning, minus the navigation.

It was 20,500 before taxes and ended up being $22000 out the door (or close to it)


I disagree with a lot of the posters when it comes to buying new. It really depends on what you are buying. If you want a Honda I think buying new is the way to go. The resale value is insane and buying a used one doesnt save you that much.

For instance I bought a new 2002 Civic EX with $2500 down and a 60 month loan. It got stolen 3 years later and I got an insurance check for $6100 (after the balance was paid off). Plus I wrecked it a year earlier causing $4500 in damage (which was repaired by my insurance company). This doesnt hold true to all cars though. I bought a Dodge Ram in 2005 which I put $5K down and a 36 month loan and a year and a half later (today) trade in value was only like 3K over what I owed. So I really think it depends on what you are getting.

With that said I did look into other (nicer) used cars and I initially thought that would be the route I would go. I looked at a 2002 Audi TT Quattro with 47K miles on it with an interior that looked new. I mean it is nicer than a Civic but from the research I did online Audi's seem to have mechanical issues that I dont want to deal with. I know a Honda wont have problems so I went with my gut over having a luxury sports car.

First impression: First 37 miles went well. I obv haven't ran it hard but you can tell it will go. Its peppy with another 4000 rpms to go on the tach. It looks nice and it is a better car than the Accord EX which is about the same price.


As far as the dealers just tell them straight up that you dont want anything but the car. No warranties no Vin etching, nothing that has an additional pricetag. And the good thing about the SI is that it is already loaded so you wont have to think about what options you want.

[cpitt398]

and bring a calculator with you. Ask what the exact interest rate of the loan they are offering you and do the math to figure out the exact payment before they put anything on the contract. They will try to get you by a few bucks a month so just make sure that doesn't happen.

[wonderwes]

Have you debated a used one on ebay?

If you find a used 2004 2 door Accord (my car) you may be swayed from the civic.