I traded in my 5 year old Accord for a new Civic 1.8ES. Do I miss it ? Well, in some respects, yes, I do. It is just the sheer solid feel of the Accord and its unrelenting comfort on a long journey. Although bigger and heavier it drives itself in many ways and was no problem to drive from Manchester to Paris on one tank of fuel (petrol).
The Civic is a different car. It asks to be driven, asks to be pushed. It sticks on the road round bends where the Accord was harder to keep on an accurate line. The Accord is a big comfortable car that will just 'glide' along quietly.
It got to the stage where the Mrs started complaining that it 'stuck out' every time I parked it and that it was an 'old man's car' ( I told her there was a very good reason for that
) She clearly wanted a change. 5 Years, 50,000 miles, well, probably right. I am coming up to retirement in the next few years, the Civic is smaller car with the same toys and more, cruise, climate plus the auto wipers and lights plus the panoramic roof that makes it feel so airy and roomy inside. The room at the front is not quite so generous as the Accord but it is not far away for a much smaller exterior.
The Civic will be cheaper to run, fun to drive, beautiful to look at and despite the fact that I suspect long runs will not be quite so sumptuous as the Accord (but I am open to finding out differently when it happens) my head realises that most of my driving is local or short distance and the Civic is a clear winner on that score alone.
Different cars for different drivers. I loved the five Accords I had over the last 20 years or so but I am thrilled with the Civic so far and hope I will come to develop the same feelings that I had for the Accords, for the moment, I still have the odd pang of regret in letting the last one go
Time will heal.