Honda Civic Hatchback models? (and general hatchback advice)

In My Humble Opinion
1

The GC and I are looking to get a used car, and we definitely want a hatchback. We’ve narrowed it down to the Hyundai Accent, VW Golf, Honda Civic, and Suzuki Swift. I would really like to get a Honda Civic, because I hear they have the best reliability records; hwoever, I’m having a bitch of time deciphering the Civic listings in the classified ads. DX? HX? SI? Help! Which models are hatchbacks? Does it even correspond? Am I going to just call up everyone who listed a Honda Civic and ask them whether it’s a hatchback or not?

Also, does anyone have any opinions of the various pros and cons of the models we’re considering? Our criteria are, in order of importance, reliability, fuel efficiency, cargo storage area, and price. We’d also slightly prefer a four-door model and a manual transmission, but those are definitely negotiable (especially the four-door thing; we have an 85 Tercel hatchback right now that has four doors and apparently it’s one of the only hatchback models out there that has four doors).

2

This is purely anecdotal evidence, so take it as such. I loved my Honda Civic hatchbacks. I’ve had two. I couldn’t tell you the models, though. They are EXTREMELY reliable (in my experience) and fuel-efficient, with plenty of space. They’re great for hauling groceries, or my daughter’s double bass viol. I had one for over 10 years, and it was running fine, until someone rear-ended it while I was stopped at a red light. If you can find one at a price that you can live with, go for it. After checking out its history, and such. Just remember, EVERY make of car has a few lemons, but I think that Hondas have a pretty low sour quotient.

3

My 1988 Honda Civic hatchback died last summer after racking up 309,000 miles on the original motor and transmission. And the motor has just a-humming’ until the day it decided it was going to retire. Great car.

4

You can’t determine whether it’s a hatchback by the model designation. The models come and go, but this is the basic breakdown:

DX = Low end on the luxury scale
LX = Middle
EX = The high end

Special models:
HX = Low power, but very high mpg
Si = The sporty model. A bit more pep and in some cases better handling.

They change their lineup every few years. This year for instance, there is no hatchback nor an Si, but the above list should help you a bit.

5

This is all from memory, so I may be wrong about the trim levels. Everything else, though, is standard.

Trim level designations are commonly DX, EX, Si, LX, and HX. The DX, IIRC, is a mid-trim level and the HX is the cheapy model. The EX is usually the nicest, with LX usually being the best equipped. The Si is the ‘sporty’ model with a more powerful engine (:rolleyes: it’s still a Honda) and probably a five speed.

2dr means coupe, 3dr means hatch, 4dr means sedan, and 5dr means four-door hatch (not very common).

Forget the Swift aka Geo Metro, they are made of compressed rust and tin foil. I’d fear for your life in one of them. Dad owned a Metro for about seven years (from brand-new) and it fell apart. Imagine that, a car that costs about $6000 new, but only lasts seven years. Most cars last about twenty to thirty if they’re not abused.

Hyundai had early quality problems which have been pretty much eliminated, from what I hear. Avoid older (early 90s late 80s) models, stick to post 95 or so. The VW Golf, as with all VWs, is the German equivalent of a Honda; that is, they last forever. Keep the decision between the Civics and the Golfs. Ignore the Si models, you’ll pay more for performance (:rolleyes: ) that you don’t need.

Most Civics being sold will probably say if it’s a hatch in code. Just see how many doors it lists.

If you live near a big city, go to it’s webpage and look at the used car ads online. Usually they will have more detailed descriptions and possibly pictures. If it’s a city paper that keeps the used car ads online, they’ll probably mimic the previous Sunday’s ads.

Good luck!

–Tim

6

I have a '92 Honda Civic DX hatchback with 190,000 miles on it. Only work I’ve had done is regular maintenance and fixing problems that were my fault, not the car’s. I love it, most reliable vehicle I have ever had. When we bought a new car for my wife, I got a 2001 Honda Civic EX coupe.

Here’s how the categories go -

CX - most basic model. No AC, no power anything.

DX - like the CX but comes with tape deck and air conditioning.

LX - Like the CX but has power windows, I believe you can get a moonroof too.

EX - Like the LX but with a more powerful engine, 127 HP VTEC on the 2001 models.

HX - Like the EX but with some kind of special automatic transmission feature that gets more acceleration by releasing the clutch slowly in some circumstances.

Si - Riceboy model.

7

The Little Woman took my '96 Honda Civic DX hatch as her “working car”. Couldn’t get both boys in and out of their carseats easily with only 2 doors. We had to replace her '86 Civic with a 2000 4-door (also DX). So, you can see we are Honda fans. 7 out of 10 of the cars my whole family currently drives are Hondas. Plus Dad’s bike, that makes 8 Hondas. (Most of us are on our second set of Hondas)

So guess what? I’m gonna say “go with the Honda”. The VW would be a good choice, too.

And a tiny quibble with Batz: In the last run of Honda hatches, the CX was the base. If you upped to DX (we did) you got a rear window wiper (handy to have) and matching trim on the bumpers, rear view mirrors, and the spoiler-thingy above the rear window. The AC was an option, but like all Hondas (now), the AC was all ready to go, they just had to drop the unit (condenser?) under the hood. The tape deck was also an option. So going from CX to DX we got the rear wiper. (I’m not going into the tedious story of how we got a “deal” that made it cheaper to get the DX over the CX.)

The last run of Honda hatches (1995-1999) only came in 3 door. No 5 door models. And only the two versions, CX and DX.

8

Oh, wait… Badtz Maru (not “Batz” at all) has a '92 Civic.

His rundown of the option plan is what they used then. The tape deck and AC didn’t come on the DX Civic in '96 or 2000, but that was after Honda revamped their model packages. So I don’t even have a tiny quibble with Badtz after all.

9

[gushing]
I love my Subaru Impreza Outback Sport.
[/gushing]

FWIW, it’s a four-door and a hatchback with all-wheel drive. Which, depending on where you live, can be a nice feature.

10

I learned driving with a manual transmission on a '79 5-door VW Rabbit diesel, at the time the US version of the Golf. Great car, in terms of reliability. Dad bought it new and owned it for nearly a decade. He ended up selling it because of a minor electrical problem that he caused while trying to fix another minor electrical problem. At the time of sale, that VW had over 750,000 miles on it. The little car never had any serious mechanical problems; the minor ones were mainly after being damaged by a tour bus.

11

If you care, I believe all Civic hatchbacks were only available in lower-end models - that is, CX, DX, HX & Si (someone else already explained the models; I won’t repeat them), the thinking being that people who were willing to spend more money generally weren’t looking for a hatch. If you don’t mind having manual windows & locks, lower-power engine, and generic upholstery, it shouldn’t be that big a deal.

I think the VW Golf is also a good choice, although maybe not as reliable as the Civic. I wouldn’t even bother looking at the other two. You may also want to consider the Mazda 323.

12

Wow, thanks for the info, everyone. We’re almost certainly settled on the Civic, although if a sweet deal on a VW Golf comes along, we’ll snap it up.

13

Have you checked out consumerreports.org and edmunds.com? Those might have some helpful information for you -especially regarding reliability and safety.

Couple tips I’ve learned the hard way:

  • if you live in a state that salts roads, lookout, Hondas like to rust.

  • don’t ever buy a new one… you’ll save a ton of money…even if you only look at 3 year old cars.

  • You might consider looking into a second hand Integra hatchback… the integra has as high a reliabilty rating as the civic, it gets great mpg and has a peppier engine… I went looking for a civic EX & ended up buying a '92 (or '93, not sure) Integra RS (low end, but much peppier engine than the civic) for 10k this winter… and it was well, well loved. Didn’t realize 'till I bought it there are already three on our block (I see them everywhere now, wierd) and the owners are all fanatical about them.

  • both VW’s and Honda’s inspire a wierd fanatical loyalty in their owners… beware, whichever type you choose you’ll be driving for ever. No other car will ever feel “right” again. :wink: VW’s, however, do have issues with electrical…and just like Honda’s, the new ones are too little for too much. For 6k more, you can get a BMW 325.

  • both Hondas and Acuras (I can speak for my integra at least -integra, btw, is just a souped up modern version of the accord hatchback) have an obscene amount of glass and also, visibility. When I bought my acura after selling my Grand-Damnit! it took a few days to get used to it again. “ooooo, so much winn-dowww…” :wink:
    Here are some links:
    http://www.hondabeat.com/honda/civic.cfm

http://www.carlink.com

http://www.oregonisonline.com/users/stewart/cars.htm

http://www.carclicks.com/

:slight_smile:
happy hunting

Meg

14

sorry… carlink.com won’t work because it doesn’t exist! I guess I had a brainfart trying to remember carclicks… d’oh!

Meg

15

I’ve had 2 Suzuki Swifts, the GT model and the regular one, and I can’t say enough good things about them.

I bought my first one in the fall of 1997. It was a '95, black GT model. I put 35,000 miles on it in a year, and it ran like a champ. My older brother has it now, though I’m going to get it back soon. :slight_smile: He’s buying a new car, so I get my baby back. I used to leave Nashville with a full tank of gas and hit Poplar Bluff, MO(I forget how many miles, but I left by 4AM and got there around 9:30AM) without having to fill up.

The second one was located for me by my father when I got laid off my job and had to give the company car back. It’s a '93, red, was wrecked once, so we replaced the driver side door-it does have a couple of issues from the wreck, but nothing major. I am able to dart in and out of traffic around town, I fill it up every other week or so for about $10.

The red one has air conditioning, the black one didn’t(it’s also known as the EZ-Bake oven). Really, there is more room in them than you think there is. Both of mine were 5 speeds, and I have had more fun driving them around.

Like any car, you have to take care of them, or they’ll break down, but overall they run well and are cheap to fix and fill up with gas.