Civic Hatch

[xplosiv]

Hey guys I'm currently in year 12 and have saved enough money from my casual job to buy a car & afford other needs like fuel and going out. I will probably end up purchasing a car after school so that I am not distracted. I'm looking at spending maybe 6-7 grand on the car. I'm interested in a small car that is fuel efficient and I quite like the late 90's (EK) Honda Civic hatchbacks. Do you think this is a wise choice for a first car? I'd be getting the auto transmission. If, so, do you think I should try my hardest to find a GLi rather than a CXi ? Would tere be much, if any, difference in fuel consumption? I'd greatly appreciate any input.

[tRipitaka]

there will be no difference in fuel consumption..
if there is, it'll be very very little, with the CXI being more economic as it is slightly lighter..

the cxi/gli's are very fuel efficient.. i get on average about 450-500 per 35L tank..

it's a good first car.. but i do recommend you get the manual rather than the auto.. as it's more fun, and you can do more with the manual

btw, moved to noob forum

[Breezy]

In terms of fuel efficiency they will be the same as they both have the same motor. Also choosing manual over auto will save you some fuel while driving as long as you don't thrash it. And as far as cxi or gli, I would go gli as it comes with more accessories standand like power windows, front and rear discs brakes, keyless entry and a few others.

[xplosiv]

I think my dad wants me to drive auto, because we don't have a manual car to practise on and some other reasons. Is the auto transmission that much worse? Roughly how much less fuel would a manual transmission use? I know it's hard to put a figure on.

[Gio]

You are driving it so buy what u like not what he wants. The only way u will learn manual is by driving a manual.

Auto is only good for eating maccas while driving or puting ur left foot up on the chair while driving.

[simonnowis]

ek in auto or manual, there wont be a significant diff in fuel consumption, as both same 1.6L engine. even with manual the style of driving will also make a diff in fuel consumption. in saything that someone who tends to keep their foot planted on the accelerator of a manual ek may consume more fuel then a auto ek driver.

so if ur preferences are just easy to drive, low fuel consumption, reliability a civic EK auto is a good first car choice.
if you plan to go crazy with engine conversion, turbo, etc etc with the car a manual would be easier for later on for the conversion.
so it is really up to you what you want out of the car.

[MWAKU]

cxi = base model, no power windows i believe??

jsut get the GLi

[TheSaint]

GLI would be a better buy, take the time to shop around and be patient, it usually pays off to take a little more time to look around when buying a honda

MWAKU and various other members i have advised recently would agree lol

also, it is much better to get a manual car and liscence for your first car etc, it is alot better experience and you will have the ability to drive other peoples cars etc in tight situations

best way to learn is to jump in a car in a car park (or any wide open space) and just teach yourself to start and stop, practice start stop start stop start stop a few times to get used to the clutch, it will be comfortable to practice at low speed and you wont have to think about other cars or road rules etc

once you have the clutch mastered to an ok level start venturing out around the block etc and when you are confident enough with basic driving start learning the road rules as well

i hate seeing a scared L plater stuck at a busy intersection freeze up only to have a parent yelling at them than not knowing how to drive with a clutch too well bunny hopp across the road =/

[Limbo]

see if you can convince your parents to get you an ek4 :) its more fun and no too bad on fuel if its stock. I use ot get 450 on a 35ltr tank.

It also has more future benefits, all power options, but only comes in manual.

When i brought mine i told my dad it was a good little economical car ;)
Now he knows better, he's too scared to drive it now LOL

[xplosiv]

Lol @ Limbo. Thx for the advice all, I'll take it into consideration. Just got to find a good deal now, ey?

[CER-15E]

hey i had a gli hatch for my first car and loved it.. so cheap to run.. for me it was bout $40 a fortnight.. and they are nice.. small... and cosy... id go for a gli over a cxi.. as cxi dont have power options.. so no power mirror or windows.. they are bout the same price anyway and if ur goin auto ull be able to pick one up easy.. car sales have heaps...

[TheSaint]

better off with a GLI for your first car, the vti-r (ek4) has a dohc vtec motor (b16a) in it and would have alot more mod ability

the GLI is SOHC 1.6ltr, it will be very fuel efficient but you wont be tempted to spend money on performance modifications because the motor aint that special... where if you had a EK4 you would want to jazz it up considering the way a B series motor feels... vtec yo, B series is better for second or third car i think, u have more knowledge etc and are a better driver to handle it =)

good luck with the purchase... id REALLY try and get into a manual for the 1st car though

[zee]

Looks like everyone has pretty much the same advice, but I would like to add that is hard to learn manual in the EK1 because the clutch is so damn soft, from experience I've tried to learn manual the EK1 but just couldn't get the hang of it because you cant really feel the friction point due to soft clutch.

I learnt to drive manual in an excel :( the clutch is alot harder and you can feel the exact friction point alot better but I don't think is impossible to learn manual in the EK1 just going to take abit more practice. BTW go GLI instead of CXI for the power options :)

[xplosiv]

Sweet, cheers for all the advice!