Questions Considering getting a civic, advice?

[tomsel]

Hey there

I'm getting a new car in a few months time, and have spent the past month or so constantly searching autotrader for a car that really stands out. I'm looking for a car that'll cost me about £180 a month, that's not too harsh on insurance, and ideally new, or if I have to buy used, then 2007.

This originally got me looking at a C2 VTS, a lot nicer than my current car (a '02 1.2 Corsa) and considering it's insurance group, a lot faster than my Corsa. Also looked at the new model Corsa, where I'd be trading the extra speed of the C2 for a much nicer looking car inside and out, and I got pretty settled on wanting the new Corsa...

But then, I came across PCP finance, which obviously since I'm posting here, has got me interested in a Civic

I'm 18, and by the time I get the Civic, I'll be 19 with 1 years NCB, so insurance is a big issue and so I originally looked at getting the 1.4, which I'm a bit gutted is a lot slower than my Corsa, but then, I really don't think I'd care because at the end of the day, I'd be driving a civic

But I've run some insurance quotes for a 1.8 or even 2.2 and, obviously they're more expensive, but they were a lot more affordable than I expected. This is where my problem comes in, I can't afford to get a new 1.8 or 2.2, it's just out of my league atm, but a year old one, then the prices are looking lower than a new 1.4, all great. ...But although the price of a, say, '07 1.8 Sport is about two grand less than a new 1.4 SE, I can't get the same rate as a I would with a new car...so repayments, although the car is £2k less is about £70 more a month.

Basically, just looking for some advice on what I can do. It'd be a shame to get a 1.4 when a better model is cheaper :S

Is there any way I could get a used Civic, value say £11,995 - £12,995 on PCP within my budget? Talking to various dealers it just doesn't seem likely I can do it

...I probably could have summed this up a lot quicker, but I've already written it now, so... *shrugs*

Would appreciate some advice anyway,

Thanks

- Tom

[Coldwarkid]

Save up.

[illegalhunter]

Welcome to the site , another corsa convert

[HappyMan]

Hi and welcome!

I guess you have two choices buy a new 1.4 and add some extras to it like the exhaust trims and I am not sure what else or buy a used 1.8 sport and pay the extra £70.

Personally I would suggest you pay the extra and get the 1.8 as I think you would like it more. Having said that you rightly say that even if you bought the 1.4 you would be driving a civic.

If you can comfortably afford the extra £70 buy the 1.8, if not get the 1.4 and you can always trade-up when you have more money.

[jayt43]

Nothing wrong with the 1.4. Silky smooth engine and it'll be cheaper to insure and tax too. As for the finance arrangements, perhaps one of our nice resident dealers can help you out?

[tomsel]

Hey, thanks for the replies Yeah I have no issues against getting the 1.4, I'll test drive before I make any commitment anyway and unless I think it's horrible, which is unlikely, then all good. :P And the insurance is only a group higher than my Corsa, and with my NCB come renewal time means it's going to be great

If I start adding options, like the exhaust trims (not a civic without them), metallic paint (black's the obvious choice...but after looking through the gallery on here noticed Tangerine Orange, never seen that in real life before and it's kinda cool...), and alloys, price is looking closer to a new 1.8? Could skimp on the alloys and buy larger aftermarket ones for cheaper...

I've got a lot of time to consider this anyway, and yeah worst case, I can always get the 1.4 and trade up later.

1.4 is definatly looking the better choice right now, and even considering it's the bottom trim level it's really well equipt. Think my concern with the 1.4 would be is how much it would come to with all those options included^, and whether or not it'll push the repayments up too much.

[Iluvtobrevved]

hi im 17 and got 1.8 civic and insured fine on it, i got my for 12995 its an 07 reg and it had 10000 miles on it, got it fom a car supermarket like arnold clark, that is my best advice as they try to sell loads of cars and the prices are always low, just search arnold clark, used car honda civic in your area and you will find a great deal.

[HappyMan]

what about this :SE+ Limited Edition

[Iluvtobrevved]

yep shes very nice

[tomsel]

Shall search for arnold clark now, thanks And yeah the SE+ looks good, very tempted, but haven't really seen any for sale? I thought they were a limited edition and were pretty much all sold, so my best bet would be used...and seeing as these were only sold a few months ago (not sure?) I'm not sure there'd be that many about.

[HappyMan]

Originally Posted by tomsel

Shall search for arnold clark now, thanks And yeah the SE+ looks good, very tempted, but haven't really seen any for sale? I thought they were a limited edition and were pretty much all sold, so my best bet would be used...and seeing as these were only sold a few months ago (not sure?) I'm not sure there'd be that many about.

just a thought but the Arnold Clark idea seems a good one, doesn't it? Good luck whilst looking!

[tomsel]

Wow just looked at the Arnold Clark site and, so much choice, lol, shame there's no branches near me :P But some of the ones on there were about 1.5k cheaper than I thought I could get, so definatly possible Going to keep searching lol

Oh and Iluvtobrevved, just wondering, do you pay for your Civic using HP or PCP? How much do they monthly repayments come to if you don't mind me asking

Thanks again, been a great help

edit:
Couple minutes of looking, and have found loads of deals with...I think it was Car Craft for 1.8s at around £170 a month Meaning I am very happy, lol.

[minisweeper]

If it helps you at all, i'm 20 (was 19 when I bought) and driving a 2.2 EX with plenty of toys on. I picked it up a year old for 14.1k down from 21k new (EX+18" wheels+leather+sunroof+reversing cam+mats). Fortunately as I'd been saving a while anyway I could put 5k down and then I borrowed the other 9 over 2 years @ £400/month. Insurance is currently £100/month. Obviously this stretches your budget quite a bit further than you'd like (it's currently absorbing half my income but I'd somehow talked myself into that before I bought it, not sure how) but it may give you a few ideas. I must say though I do absolutely love the car to bits and it's an absolute dream to drive. I dont chuck it into corners quite as quick as I used to throw my clio about but that's probably more to do with my level of respect (and sensibility!) for this car not because it wouldn't cope with them. I did once find myself having to drive to cardiff and back in a day (nice 500 mile 10 hour round trip) and I can't complain at all.
I guess it depends where you are in life and where you're going but being a car fanatic and a civic lover I would most definitely recommend you get one!! It took me about 3 months of casual looking to find mine, I missed a couple on the way but I'm so glad I did

[Iluvtobrevved]

Originally Posted by tomsel

Wow just looked at the Arnold Clark site and, so much choice, lol, shame there's no branches near me :P But some of the ones on there were about 1.5k cheaper than I thought I could get, so definatly possible Going to keep searching lol

Oh and Iluvtobrevved, just wondering, do you pay for your Civic using HP or PCP? How much do they monthly repayments come to if you don't mind me asking

Thanks again, been a great help

edit:
Couple minutes of looking, and have found loads of deals with...I think it was Car Craft for 1.8s at around £170 a month Meaning I am very happy, lol.

Its 280 a month on hp. So its alright as my parents pay for insurance.

[Wheelchair]

I tried to order tangerine orange for my 1.4 se i-shift, and was told it was a five month wait. Have ordered galaxy grey instead.

I had a 1.4 manual for a day last year and its fine, my current Civic is a 1.4 in the previous shape and I would say it goes more like a 1.6. I am used to driving much larger engined cars in the past but am still happy with the 1.4, at least the fuel costs are way lower.

[SMRocket]

Hello,

I own a 5D CIVIC 1.4. I'm really enjoying driving this car. The gas consumption is getting lower. I had the chance of buying a used CIVIC 1.8 but the insurance, taxes over the final price and per year taxes made me choose a new 1.4. The car is 6 months old and i don't regret my decision.
After all a new car is a new car.

Good choice.

[tomsel]

Hey again

Been looking at various insurance quotes, and am well and truly gutted lol :P I got tempted into getting insurance with Tesco for my current car, because they advertise that named drivers earn their own NCB, so I thought, ah great, years time, I can change my car, go on my own policy and have a years no claims to start with.

What a mistake lol, I really should have read into it more because I wasn't aware that NCB I get whilst I'm a named driver, isn't transferable to other insurers. A gimmick, basically.

So I'm now in the situation where I thought I could get insured by Norwich Union Simple cover for aprox. £1.3k on a 2.2 Sport, but because my NCB is only valid with Tesco, the cheapest quote moneysupermarket or confused shows now rockets up to a lovely 3k

If I try with Tesco, then for a 2.2 Sport, with my 1 years NCB being taken into account, they want the best part of two grand. And that's only if I pay a lump sum, if I pay monthly, which I'm going to, then it's more around the £2.2k mark.

So, I'm basically tied down to Tesco at the moment unless I want this past year to be wasted. The only option this leaves me is getting the 1.4, (looked at the 1.8, and it was marginally cheaper than the 2.2, but Tesco still wanted an extortionate amount of money), this is fine I suppose, but kind of gutted as was kinda set on the diesel... It's also more than annoying, that whilst insurance on the 1.4 isn't much more than what I'm paying now, so affordable, it's several hundred pounds more than Norwich Union Simple cover quoted me for the 2.2 with 1 years NCB

Anyways, what this boils down to, is if I opt for a 3 year PCP deal on a 1.4, am I tied down to keeping the car for that 3 year term? Obviously, since I don't legally own the car I can't sell it, but after having the car a year would I not be able to trade it for a 2.2? I'd then be 20 (...scary thought) with 2 years NCB (...or one, depending on whether I stay with tesco...) and insurance would be a lot more managable.

Thanks for your help again,

- Tom

[Chris_J]

Don't kid yourself that the insurance quote on a 2.2 will be just fine and dandy by the time you're 20. Quotes have gone up a hell of a lot since I was 20, for instance when I was 21 I insured a 106gti for £600. You try that for a 21 year old now.

£1,500 is a stupid price to pay for insurance if you ask me, but maybe get your parents as named drivers on the policy, you may find this brings the price down a bit. It certainly did for me when I was 17/18.

[tomsel]

Lol, if I take my parents off the policy, then God knows how much those prices will go up. Those prices ^ include both my parents as named drivers. The 1.4 with both my parents as named drivers and me having 1 years NCB is around 1.4-1.5k...The 2.2 with the 1 years NCB I 'thought' I had, but can in fact only use with Tesco, was 1.3k with Norwich Union Simple Cover and over 2k with Tesco.

Doesn't really add up, how assuming I have 1 years NCB, one insurer will quote me £1.3k for a group 9 or 10 car and then another company, Tesco, who I'm effectively stuck with, want £1.4-£1.5k for a group 4 car....am I frustrated? Yeah, lol.

[minisweeper]

£1000 for a 10 month policy for me with Admiral aged 20 with 1 years NCB. With pleasure always comes pain