2012 Civic - Hands On Reviews are strong

I just saw the recent consumer reports article and it conflicts with everything else I've read everywhere about this car.

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Reply to
Karl
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Well, truth-in-lending we own a 2010 Honda Pilot Touring, and my son owned = a 2009 Civic STI? - something like that. He let me take it to the dealer f= or the oil change. Wonderful car.

So why am I posting? In 1964 (okay I am old) I was looking for a new car, = just being promoted to captain in the great United States of America Army a= nd commanding a unit at Fort Benning, Georgia (the home of the Infantry - I= am supposed to say that.)

Anyway I went to the post library and looked up the Consumer Reports whatev= er, whatever. I had to go through a lot of them before I found out what th= ey recommended. Wait for it....

It was a Nash Rambler.

I asked and I asked. And I found out that Consumer Reports only likes smal= l cars, with small engines, with gas mileage, and they do not care if you s= uffer. You should suffer! They are in New York and they do not think that= anyone should be driving a car. You are supposed to be taking the Long Is= land Railroad!

Anyway, I found an ad in the Atlanta newspaper about this dentist who had t= o sell his car, because his wife could not drive it.

And that is how I bought a 1962 E-Type Jaguar for $1800.00.

That car is worth $60-100K today and a Nash Rambler is worth shit.

So much for Consumer Reports.

Reply to
billzz

everything else I've read everywhere about this car.

but does that report conflict with the, um, "sponsorship" or "contributions" or "advertising" from american honda to that august publication? i think not.

Reply to
jim beam

I'm still waiting for your invoice.

BWAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Reply to
Elmo P. Shagnasty

LOL! I don't know this Karl douche from Adam, and I dropped your invoice off at the homeless shelter where you live, and they said you're still in jail for molesting that 85 year old man and stealing his shopping cart, so you haven't been by to pick it up yet. I'm not holding my breath on being able to collect, after all invoicing someone who has nothing I want doesn't seem like something I want to spend that much time on.

Reply to
Harvey

else I've read everywhere about this car.

There was a time when Consumer Reports was useful. They had a staff of testers that did their best to evaluate whatever product samples they had to work with. This is often challenging with relatively expensive samples like autos, because the quantity of product samples is often "one".

If you could plot the diminishing value of Consumer Reports on a timeline graph next to a timeline showing the popularization of the Web, you would see a direct correlation. This is because the power of the consumer to directly rate products (cars or anything else for that matter) typically adds a lot more value to product evaluation than anything a single magazine article could put forth.

I have not driven these cars yet but plan to evaluate soon for my nephew, so I have no personal opinion to put forth yet about the car itself. I will say that just as you said, I see the Consumer Reports review sitting alone, outside of the general consensus.

Reply to
Masterfaulzen

Almost all of the Edmunds reviews were from people that just bought the Civic. And most were previous Honda owners. Do you really think they are objective? When was the last time you bought a new car and immeadiately trashed it in an online review or even when talking to friends? As pointed out previously, even the supposedly positive Car and Driver review was more akin to damning the new Civic with faint praise than an enthusiast buy recommendation.

Ed

Reply to
C. E. White

Are they objective? Yes. The reviewers often point out things they don't like about the car as well as what they do like. I have also seen plenty of reviews that were posted after a couple of years of ownership on Edmunds.

Do they accurately reflect the opinions of folks who tried the car model in question and opted instead for a different car? Of course not, but you can solve this problem by reading and contrasting reviews across multiple makes.

It's not going to happen to most people, if they didn't like it in the test drive they would not have bought it to begin with.

I've written countless reviews on Edmunds and other sites of new cars that I have driven, either in a test drive or as a loaner, citing things I liked or did not about it. Not everyone does that of course.

I still find collective feedback from actual owners of any given car far more valuable than a consumer reports review of a single car.

Reply to
Masterfaulzen

Well I recently bought the LX sedan, so I'm not an objective evaluator. Moreover, my previous car was a 94 Accord, so I haven't exactly kept up with automotive advances year by year.

But I would just say that I'm very happy with the Civic. It's actually about the same size as the old Accord, and is just right for zipping around town. The most impressive feature - this summer, in Oklahoma (107 today) - is the A/C, which really puts out without being noisy. The old Accord was nothing like this.

Mileage on the highway, with ECON on, is around 40 mpg, and the car handles just the way I like - very sure-footed, but not too harsh. I get no sense at all that it's soft or mushy like Toyotas can be. It actually does pretty well on the highway, but you can still tell it's a small car when things get bumpy. I've done four trips between Dallas and Tulsa in the last month - about 4.5 hours each way - and have not found them to be tiring.

The only thing I've noticed is that the shift points for the automatic can be a bit goofy unless you give it a fair amount of gas. If you're driving very gingerly, it seems to have trouble deciding when to shift, and sometimes does so too early, which leads to loss of acceleration. This is most pronounced on ECON. Actually, I'm not really sure what ECON is supposed to be doing. The manual isn't clear on that.

Ok, I lied. One more thing. The headrests are too far forward relative to the seat back. But that seems to be the case with other cars I've driven. May look for a fix for that.

Reply to
Peabody

And people who JUST got married are very happy with their spouses.

You just spent $20K+. You wouldn't express dissatisfaction with that purchase if a gun were held to your head. Such regret and dissatisfaction would show you to be an utter fool, and nobody is about to admit anything like that.

Reply to
Elmo P. Shagnasty

An LX can still go for less than $20k out the door even at MSRP.

And by your own logic, nobody would spend that kind of money on a car unless they had reviewed other options and found it to be the best car for them, thus there is less likelihood for regret.

You ignored the fact that he mentioned some areas for improvement, and it seems to bother you intensely that the Civic is a nice car. Do you work for Consumer Reports? Hey, wait I knew I recognized you from somewhere, you're this guy :

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Reply to
Masterfaulzen

indeed.

the acid test is the number of original owners you see after a couple of years. where i live, the freaky deaky bay area, there are all kinds of fruits still driving their >20 year old hondas. you don't see many still driving their

Reply to
jim beam

Honda intentionally moved to less sporty styling because of the image it was getting as a tuner / ricer / ghetto / gangsta car. Even if they didn't care if this image was limited to the Civic model, it stood to damage the Honda brand and new sales to the market it was designed for (and the market that spends more money on original equipment Honda products than aftermarket). They still offer the Si model to address sportiness at some level, but moving the Civic away from a "fast and furious" car was an intentional, strategic move for them.

Toyota did the same but in a different way with the Scion brand,and I suspect they are capturing marketshare that Honda is missing out on in that particular segment, the problem is most people over the age of 30 would be unlikely to buy a Scion so its a limited segment.

Reply to
Masterfaulzen

a) how would they KNOW--without having extensive driving time on the wide variety of cars out there

b) any new car is perfectly fine. Tell us 3-5 years from now how that $20K purchase went, compared to the alternatives.

Reply to
Elmo P. Shagnasty

How did you get THAT out of what I wrote?

You're now making things up out of thin air.

Reply to
Elmo P. Shagnasty

you could at least do some research BEFORE you troll yourself in newsgroups like this.

Do I work for CR? Why would you think that?

Ah--you've never been to this or other Honda newsgroups, yet you come in here and act like you know all the players and all the facts.

Talk about a troll...that's you.

Reply to
Elmo P. Shagnasty

ya think??? odd how the sport/enthusiast market appeal works for subaru, porsche, vw, bmw, audi and all those other useless brands that nobody's ever heard about and which don't sell.

except that the people that buy scions grow up. and then they do, they buy toyotas. ever looked at toyota brand loyalty figures?

honda have been utterly retarded dropping the entusiast crowd. turning their civics into behemoth straight line freeway cruisers is to totally lose the plot on what the accord market is there for, what the toyota market is there for, and to ensure a whole generation of what used to be honda customers that grew up and bought bigger more expensive hondas when the time came, now desert the brand.

Reply to
jim beam

Ya think? Like, as in deserting it at such a rate that they consistently have three entries in the top 10 best selling cars?

When exactly can we expect this "desertion" to actually take effect such that it affects sales numbers, since apparently only you have the ability to see into the future. I think you inhaled too many fumes while tuning crappy cars.

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Reply to
Masterfaulzen

there are only two reasons hondas still sell:

  1. they /used/ to make good cars, and they're still able to rest on the laurels of what used to be a great reputation.
  2. most of the other stuff out there is no better!

re #1, modern honda owners are either people that have deserted domestic carp, or people that buy a new car every 3 years and haven't been plagued with unreliability. anyone that has been hosed for a new transmission, or has been disappointed in the handling degrade of the civic, just buys a toyota. or a nissan. or a subaru. or a bmw. or an OLD honda, and puts the time and money into keeping it on the road.

re #2, well, that's related to 1.

and chill on the attitude kiddo - when you're old enough to buy and drive cars of your own, i'm sure you'll feel more confident having an opinion without having to disparage the experience of others.

Reply to
jim beam

Shows how much you know.

Honda intentionally moved to a car that the tuners/ricers were not interested in simply because that kind of car was more profitable for them.

The ricers didn't even count in their decision.

Reply to
Elmo P. Shagnasty

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