Decision between '08 Accord & Civic coupe

[Funyuns101]

Originally posted by: necine
Get a loaded civic... use the internet quote. I have one great car. Although if I could do it again, I think I'd get the sedan.

I have an 08 civic coupe

Why do you say that? Just curious as I'm in the market for a similar car and there aren't many differences between the two.

 

[senseamp]

Most of my friends who bought these FWD coupes wish they bought the sedan version.
Why? Because you give up 2 rear doors and headroom but don't really gain anything in terms of either sportiness of image. You are still driving an Accord/Civic, noone will confuse it for a sports car.
With these kind of cars, its all about practicality.

 

[raildogg]

I am also cross-shopping the Civic, Accord, the upcomingFit and Mazda 3 right now.

I have driven the Civic and Mazda 3 and feel that the Civic is more fun to drive than the Mazda 3 for some reason. I am waiting for the new Fit to come out. My main priorities are fuel economy, comfort and good handling. The Mazda 3 lacks in fuel economy but the Civic is balanced - it delivers on all three.

The Accord is more luxurious, powerful and roomier than all these cars but also more expensive, so that is one reason it is not the top contender at the moment.

The new Fit supposedly has great handling and fuel economy so lets see about that.

 

[raildogg]

Originally posted by: senseamp
Most of my friends who bought these FWD coupes wish they bought the sedan version.
Why? Because you give up 2 rear doors and headroom but don't really gain anything in terms of either sportiness of image. You are still driving an Accord/Civic, noone will confuse it for a sports car.
With these kind of cars, its all about practicality.

I saw a silver Honda Accord coupe the other day at a restaurant. So what? These cars look nice. Not everybody wants to portray a certain image of themselves. Some people just like the look and feel of the car. Who cares what others will think about it.

 

[evident]

Originally posted by: flawlssdistortn
My main thing right now is that I want to compare the riding quality and comfort, since I'll be spending a lot of time commuting in it. I don't want to end up fatigued after a long drive. .

trust me, the accord will not make you fatigued. i drive about 2.5 hours each day and the car really does do a good job of keeping me comfortable. however, i did have a rental civic and it wasn't too bad either, but once i got the accord, i was glad to have it back!

both are great cars. again, the accord is the (small) compromise of fuel economy for some more size, power and comfort. if you can find a discounted 07 EX-L 4cyl i would get that over the civic hands down, as it's probably about the same price

 

[Baked]

Civic Si all the way. The new Accord looks like ass.

 

[OS]

the 08 accord apparently didn't gain much actual acceleration over 07, the car put on a bit more weight unfortunately.

 

[Funyuns101]

Originally posted by: senseamp
Most of my friends who bought these FWD coupes wish they bought the sedan version.
Why? Because you give up 2 rear doors and headroom but don't really gain anything in terms of either sportiness of image. You are still driving an Accord/Civic, noone will confuse it for a sports car.
With these kind of cars, its all about practicality.

Oh ok - the 4door is def. more practical to me. But stupidly (or selfishly for me) you can only get black leather on the coupe EX-L

 

[yelo333]

Originally posted by: BassBomb

If you didn't know the automatics are also 5 speed

Oops, that is correct. Yes, I do have the MT version. (sedan)

Oh, and as an update, I found something that said 3rd was good up till 94mph, not the 75 I stated before. I guess that poor engine just sounds too painful near the top for me to leave it in 3rd.

 

[Blackjack200]

Originally posted by: flawlssdistortn
My main thing right now is that I want to compare the riding quality and comfort, since I'll be spending a lot of time commuting in it. I don't want to end up fatigued after a long drive. The Accord seems like it will ride smoother and accelerate better at speeds of 70-80mph, but if the Civic is not that far behind in those things, then I'd probably get that based on it's fuel economy, lower depreciation, and lower cost. Civic owners, please tell me how it feels to drive for lengthy periods of time.

Smart guy. My humble advice as an idiot who has tolerated a 100 mile round trip commute for over a year (hoping to end that soon):

Go comfortable. Someone above said that the mileage difference between a Civic and Accord would be 34 vs. 31 MPG. If that's true it works out to about $1 per 80 mile round trip, or $20 a month. Considering that your car payment and insurance will probably add up to ~ $600 a month, making a decision based on that small of a difference seems a little odd.

I'm not saying that the accord would definitely be more comfortable - I've never owned a Honda, but being the heavier and more powerful car would, I think, make it a little more livable.

Another thing to consider might be safety ratings. The unpleasant truth is that spending so much time on the road will elevate your risk of being in an accident.

Good luck.

 

[LTC8K6]

Not counting hybrids, highest highway mileage ratings are 36 for the Civic and 31 for the Accord.

 

[evident]

Originally posted by: Blackjack200

Originally posted by: flawlssdistortn
My main thing right now is that I want to compare the riding quality and comfort, since I'll be spending a lot of time commuting in it. I don't want to end up fatigued after a long drive. The Accord seems like it will ride smoother and accelerate better at speeds of 70-80mph, but if the Civic is not that far behind in those things, then I'd probably get that based on it's fuel economy, lower depreciation, and lower cost. Civic owners, please tell me how it feels to drive for lengthy periods of time.

Smart guy. My humble advice as an idiot who has tolerated a 100 mile round trip commute for over a year (hoping to end that soon):

Go comfortable. Someone above said that the mileage difference between a Civic and Accord would be 34 vs. 31 MPG. If that's true it works out to about $1 per 80 mile round trip, or $20 a month. Considering that your car payment and insurance will probably add up to ~ $600 a month, making a decision based on that small of a difference seems a little odd.

I'm not saying that the accord would definitely be more comfortable - I've never owned a Honda, but being the heavier and more powerful car would, I think, make it a little more livable.

Another thing to consider might be safety ratings. The unpleasant truth is that spending so much time on the road will elevate your risk of being in an accident.

Good luck.

physics 101 rule of thumb, bigger car = more weight = safer. the extra gas addition is negligible for a roomier more comfortable car.

as for people who are concerned about 'sporty' image... get over yourselves. i know the accord coupe isn't a sports car but it looks damn good! the coupe for both 07 and 08 years look alot better than sedan. no one is saying it's a sports car, it just looks good and if the OP wants that look then go for it

 

[LTC8K6]

I would say the clear winner is the Civic. It has a lot of standard safety features like the Accord does, has the same crash test ratings, gets far better mileage, and costs less.

 

[OS]

crash ratings are not equivalent across different vehicle size classes.
5 stars in a small car is not as good as 5 stars in a midsize.
there is no such thing as a free lunch.

 

[flawlssdistortn]

Originally posted by: LTC8K6
I would say the clear winner is the Civic. It has a lot of standard safety features like the Accord does, has the same crash test ratings, gets far better mileage, and costs less.

What the Accord has over the Civic in terms of safety is size & stability control. Not sure about the airbags though.

 

[evident]

Originally posted by: LTC8K6
I would say the clear winner is the Civic. It has a lot of standard safety features like the Accord does, has the same crash test ratings, gets far better mileage, and costs less.

you are a little bit mistaken. I would rather be in a pickup truck with a bad safety rating over a subcompact with good crash test ratings.

physics 101 sir

 

[LTC8K6]

Yes, you can't compare the crash test ratings, the best you can say is that both cars do well. They both have front and side airbags and numerous other safety features such as Brake Force Distribution and active head restraints and seatbelt pre-tensioners.

The Accord has Stability Control which is a point in it's favor.

While the Accord is heavier, it's only around 16 inches longer and 3 inches wider so it's not all that much bigger.

 

[flawlssdistortn]

So, today I was able to test drive both cars back to back on a pretty decent route with some highway on it. I was paying as close attention as I could, but did not really notice much of a difference between the riding quality. The seats in the Accord were slightly more comfortable. In terms of speed and acceleration, the Civic was kinda peppy under 40. Shifting on the automatic transmission was smooth, didn't have much jerking. On the highway, it got up to 70 in decent time, and the riding was not choppy or anything. The Accord's +50hp over the Civic was noticeable, but I wouldn't say it was *that* much better. Again, I could not really say for sure that the Accord rode smoother because of it's size.

All that being said, I'm leaning towards the Civic as it's immediately $5k cheaper, and after a year of buying gas it will have been another $1k cheaper the way gas is right now.

 

[Pandaren]

That makes sense.

Accord weighs around 3300 lbs with 161 foot pounds of torque (LX-P 4dr sedan auto).
Civic weighs 2750 lbs with 128 foot pounds of torque (LX 4dr sedan auto).

The Accord is 22.2% heavier, but it has 25.7% more torque at its peak. From the #'s it looks like the Accord should have a bit more oompf to it. My guess is that the Accord's torque curve is a bit smoother than the Civic, but again probably not by a whole lot.

I personally like the Accord slightly better than the Civic because I think the Accord has better visibility through the windshield and because I prefer the Accord's conventional instrumentation (the Civic's digital readout is cool but it does still seem odd to me).

One thing I do like about the Civic is that the rear floor is completely flat. I dunno how Honda managed that in such a small car. Most larger vehicles including the Accord still have the conventional floor wells in the back.

 

[Throckmorton]

If you are concerned with fuel economy, why spend the money for a new car? I mean, is there really any downside to buying a used Honda or Toyota?

 

[rh71]

Originally posted by: Baked
The new Accord looks like ass.

 

[flawlssdistortn]

Originally posted by: Throckmorton
If you are concerned with fuel economy, why spend the money for a new car? I mean, is there really any downside to buying a used Honda or Toyota?

You have a point there... but I have looked at the prices and those brands don't depreciate that much. A one year old Civic is like $3k cheaper, so I'm like what the hell, I might as well get it new.

 

[Funyuns101]

Originally posted by: flawlssdistortn

Originally posted by: Throckmorton
If you are concerned with fuel economy, why spend the money for a new car? I mean, is there really any downside to buying a used Honda or Toyota?

You have a point there... but I have looked at the prices and those brands don't depreciate that much. A one year old Civic is like $3k cheaper, so I'm like what the hell, I might as well get it new.

I'm guessing that he meant something older than 1 yr... like looking at a 2003-5 Accord or a 2004-5 Civic - this'll save you money right off the bat and still get good mileage~

Try looking at autotrader and/or craigslist if you're interested.
Like he said, these two cars are pretty reliable so used isn't a bad option for some... but like you said peace of mind does go a long way for some as well.

 

[evident]

Originally posted by: flawlssdistortn

Originally posted by: Throckmorton
If you are concerned with fuel economy, why spend the money for a new car? I mean, is there really any downside to buying a used Honda or Toyota?

You have a point there... but I have looked at the prices and those brands don't depreciate that much. A one year old Civic is like $3k cheaper, so I'm like what the hell, I might as well get it new.

7th gen fully loaded accord coupe ( used to slightly used 07) will cost you as much a civic probably. give them a shot

let us know what happens, but any of those hondas will give you what you're looking for

 

[Slew Foot]

My Accord ex sedan was about 21K, the accord gives a MUCH cushier ride than the civic, but it does use up more gas. If you need the space go with the accord.