Buying advice.. 2009 Civic DX-G

I have a 2006 Civic Si, just under 50,000 Miles. No work other than standard scheduled maintenance.

Good luck with that... ;-)

Right. Consumables are not covered under warranty.

Sure they are. If the stereo stops working within your warranty, it will be fixed.

I've never had a reason to be at the service counter, let alone be disappointed there. I think this will depend mostly on your dealer, though.

Didn't take long at all. After a short time, you just know where it is. Though I don't think I'd call the front all that long.

I have no experience with the Mazda...

You don't mention what part of the country you live in, but here in the Northeast I see many Mazda cars that are rust buckets after a very few years. I always thought Dodge/Chrysler products had a lock on "Best in Class Rust Bucket" but the Mazdas aren't far behind.

If you live in California this might not be an issue.

YMMV

Honda brakes are more prone to corrosion damage than say Toyota brakes but brake wear is generally not covered by any new car warranty (BMW excepted)

not true

personnally, I'm not a fan of either the 2-tier dash or the view forward from the driver's seat. The dash is a poor attempt at placing the speedo more in the driver's line of sight while looking down the road. The new hood design (and high firewall) is due to the switch to a strut suspension. So you no longer see the road immediately in front of the car.

The Mazda 3 is sportier than the Civic. The boring Corolla is more reliable. The Hyundai Elantra has been stealing sales from all other cars in this market segment. If you live where it snows and mpg isn't a big issue consider Subaru.

Frankly, I'd buy a used Accord rather than either the Civic or base Mazda 3. Gotta make an exception for the Mazdaspeed.

Happy shopping

I recently rented an '09 Civic while my '04 Civic was being serviced. I actually didn't mind the 2-tier cluster, but I was not impressed by the multitude of buttons all over the place for audio and climate control.

Mazda3 is also a bit less reliable than the Civic and has considerably higher maintenance costs, largely because the parts cost a lot more.

Sorry, but winter tires make a bigger difference in snow than AWD/4WD with non-winter's. You wouldn't believe how many Subaru's and other AWD/4WD vehicles I have seen sliding and running off the road in snow, and I bet none of them had winter tires. My Civic with winter tires has been a champ in the snow.

Thanks for the responses!

To answer one posters question, I am in Newfoundland, Canada. We get pretty messy winters and lots of snow. I am in a coastal area where fog and precip are also somewhat salty. In the province where I live it's common practice to use salt to de-ice winter streets and highways. Salt as you know is a great corrosive to autobodies.

Lloyd>> - Radio/equipment... also not covered.

ACAR>>not true UR correct, I missed that point. Radio is only not covered in an extended warrantee if so chosen, so three years max.

I've just lost my 2003 Mazda Protegé to a vehicle accident and it barely had a paint blister as a sign of initial surface rusting. As far as warrantees go, Mazda does cover everything, and I mean everything (pads/shoes, rotors/drums etc.) bumper to bumper for 3 years, five years if you purchase the extended warrantee which also adds all maintenance expenses (oil, filters, plugs, etc. - anything that the scheduled maintenance documents) for the full 5 years! (Extented warrantee + maintenance = $2000CAN up front, of course)

Oh, and I always use winter tires - my wife insists on studded as well, though I drove cars for years in all kinds of weather on only all-season tires. I guess you learn to know how snow behaves and your limits while on it. Ice is a different matter and is too unpredictable esp. when the temps drop below around -25C (~ -12 F). :-)

I'm still leaning towards the 2009 Mazda3, but looking for a compelling reason to switch to Honda, besides a certain coolness factor that comes with that new Civic two tier dash.

Tx, Lloyd

On 5/14/2009 9:57 PM Lloyd spake these words of knowledge:

Lloyd, the primary advantage of Honda over Mazda is reliability, and that can be somewhat mitigated by excellent maintenance on your part. Mazda apparently has a deal going on wherein they pay for normal scheduled maintenance items (brake pads are in this category; they're designed to wear out and be replaced), so I would give that cost mitigation serious consideration.

To me, Honda means peace of mind, but that may be more personal than practical.

RFT!!! Dave Kelsen