06 and 07 civics: new vs. used

[jwmacleo]

Hello all. My wife and I are looking at the purchasing on of the newest generation of civics, and are having a tough time deciding what to buy. I initially looked into 06 used models, thinking that if I decide to sell it in a few years it will have depreciated less than a new car would. The lowest I could get a dealer to go on a 2006 LX w/ AT and 23000 kms was 19,500 +taxes (no extra fees). This car was a daily rental. I looked at another 06--a DX-g w/ 15000kms. They would only go to 19,250 +taxes (no extra fees). This one was a repo. The payments on these cars over a 5 yr term at 5.9% are something like 385/mth.

The payments on a new 2007 Civic LX Automatic on a 6 yr term are also something like 385/mth (at MSRP $23,105). Let's assume I do plan on keeping the car until it stops working.  I guess that I will get 2 months of driving for every month of payment on the used cars (10yrs lifespan; I think this is probably conservative, but I put lots of kms on, so maybe not). This means that if I am paying a full year of extra payments for the new car, and I will get one more year of driving already from it than I would a used car (07 vs. 06 + no kms; 11 yrs on new, 10 yrs on used), I will be making about 6 payments that won't be getting any months of driving from. This would mean that the cost of buying new (or depreciation when I drive it off the lot, perhaps) would be a little over 2000. Now I may be able to make up that money by making the car last longer (I know that I can take car of it well, but I don't know how the rental or repos were taken care of), but I'm not sure that this will make a big difference.

My question: Is used or new better in this case? It seems they are charging so much for the used cars, and are so unwilling to move on price, that new might not be a bad option. Suggestions?

[CSH]

If your monthly payments are the same then buy new. Its not like one is a 3yr term and another is a 6-7year term. The general suggestions around is to avoid rental cars or any used car without complete maintainance records.

[2latecrew]

Buy the new car. You are also getting an extar year of warranty on the new car since the used one has already used up one.

The used cars aren't "1 owner" prime cars. they could have had 300 different people drive them not a single one of them cared about how they drove the car or cared for it would effect the car in a week let alone 10 years down the road.

[mdxtasy]

New.  I would not waste my time on a 'rental' at that price.  Get the CCC report and see what you can do on a new car.

[prufrock]

Those used prices are ridiculous. That DX-G is almost full retail minus the freight.

Buy new. Barter down the price. Be much happier.

[jwmacleo]

Buy the new car. You are also getting an extar year of warranty on the new car since the used one has already used up one.

I forgot to mention, the used cars come with 6 yr/120K powertrain warranty. However, this isn't a real big incentive on a civic. I might never use it.

[Julie]

Buy the new car. You are also getting an extar year of warranty on the new car since the used one has already used up one.

I forgot to mention, the used cars come with 6 yr/120K powertrain warranty. However, this isn't a real big incentive on a civic. I might never use it.

Okay, that's an additional cost if you buy new (extended warranty). Hmm, kinda interesting they both come with that, as I don't see that often. Poor repo guy then, lost another $1000 bucks.

Still, as someone said, these are not "prime" used cars.

Get CCC (car cost canda) or APA (automobile protection agency) pricing and you should do very well on a new Civic.

[jwmacleo]

[/quote]

Okay, that's an additional cost if you buy new (extended warranty). Hmm, kinda interesting they both come with that, as I don't see that often. Poor repo guy then, lost another $1000 bucks.

Still, as someone said, these are not "prime" used cars.

Get CCC (car cost canda) or APA (automobile protection agency) pricing and you should do very well on a new Civic.
[/quote]

It's interesting...I was under the impression that those warranties were always included with the Honda Certified Used vehicles. At one dealership I was at, they included it with all of theirs.

[mmret]

Financing a 1 year old Honda thats a daily rental at 5.9% vs 2.9% for a new one...I'd go for the new one.

Shiny new car, exact color/specs you want, possibly more room to negotiate, lower interest, much lower risk.

Think about it this way: Freight has been paid. Drop 15% of the value in 1 year. They are trying to get full pop for that DX-G. If the dealer says something like "we had to pay the freight on this car!"... well, its a used car, the word "freight" should never be uttered.

[Julie]

Okay, that's an additional cost if you buy new (extended warranty). Hmm, kinda interesting they both come with that, as I don't see that often. Poor repo guy then, lost another $1000 bucks.

Still, as someone said, these are not "prime" used cars.

Get CCC (car cost canda) or APA (automobile protection agency) pricing and you should do very well on a new Civic.
[/quote]

It's interesting...I was under the impression that those warranties were always included with the Honda Certified Used vehicles. At one dealership I was at, they included it with all of theirs.
[/quote]

Oh, it's certified used. That could explain a little bit the high cost of those used vehicles.

EDIT: Still, I think the new option is better. There isn't enough of a difference between the prices of the new versus used ones to justify buying the used ones in my opinion.

[hondasalesguy]

If you can drive a manual transmission, the new Civics have a $1000 rebate on them direct from Honda.

Finance rate on new 2007 is 2.9% for 60 months, 3.9% for 72 months

2007 Civic has AUX input for iPod, 2006 did not have this feature.

Daily rentals get the living sh#t beat outa them. And yet since there are not a ton of used 2006 or newer Civics on the market, you will not find one at a giveaway price. Go brand new.

[rrocket]

FWIW, you can get a used 2006 Acura CSX for around $24K.  I'd buy that before either...

[jwmacleo]

If you can drive a manual transmission, the new Civics have a $1000 rebate on them direct from Honda.

Finance rate on new 2007 is 2.9% for 60 months, 3.9% for 72 months

2007 Civic has AUX input for iPod, 2006 did not have this feature.

Daily rentals get the living sh#t beat outa them. And yet since there are not a ton of used 2006 or newer Civics on the market, you will not find one at a giveaway price. Go brand new.

The 1000 rebate would be nice, but my wife doesn't want a standard. We ended up skipping the used cars and just buying new. We got 3.9% for 72 mths, and 800 off MSRP (and no admin fees--they initially wanted 299). So with a downpayment, our monthly payment is $372. That payment is less than what I would have made on a used car, but I have 12 more of them to make. We're feeling alot happier about the new one than we were about the used ones.

I didn't use CCC or APA, just threatened to go to one of the other three dealers around for a lower price, and they dropped $800. Is that a typical amount to see the move on new civics?

Thanks for the advice everyone.

[Allen]

Congrats on your purchase  I am sure you will enjoy the car for many years..

and as we all say on this site

 

so post them once you pick it up

[jwmacleo]

I'm planning on tinting the windows sometime in the next week, and adding wire mesh behind the grill to protect the AC condenser from road damage (read what others have done here: http://www.8thcivic.com/forums/showthread.php?t=7932  ).

I'll post some pics in this thread once those things are done.

Thanks again.

[Julie]

Fantastic, congratulations!!!

I think that's a fair price.

[dr_spock]

Congrats on the new car.

[tpl]

I suppose that locking in a cheap loan for 6 years in the current climate of rising interest rates is a good thing but to me it seems too much chance of being "underwater" on the payments if the car does turn out a bad one.  Not that that is likely with a Honda.

[jwmacleo]

Here is a picture of the new car. I had it tinted today, with 35% tint in the front (apparently this is about as dark as one can go in ON) and 20% tint in the back. This is the 2007 LX model. That is not a stock photo, although it looks oddly similar to one.

I also added wire mesh under the front grill. The air conditioner condenser sits directly behind the front grill (and in front of the rad) in this car, and apparently can be damaged from road debris. It's not a cheap (or warrantied) fix, so I used plastic ties to stick this wire mesh on there, just in case I get behind something kicking up some rocks. I've added a picture of the front end with the wire mesh in there. It wasn't too hard to get in there, but wasn't especially easy either. The front end is pretty tight on these things, and I had to remove some plastic protectors to access the front grill. On the bottom it was more work that I wanted to do to remove the plastic protector, so I just loosened it and worked around it. This meant that I had to put the clip part of the plastic ties on the outside, which makes them more noticeable. They aren't too noticeable though, unless you are looking for them.

We certainly like the new car! Thanks again for the advice.

[mdxtasy]

  Nice ride.  Congrats and hope you enjoy the car.  Thanks for taking the time to share.