just picked up ny Civic last night... - GreenHybrid

joekr · #1 (**permalink**) 04-06-2005, 05:32 PM

Traded in my 04 WRX (broke even, which is good enough for me considering KBB on it). Car had 26 mpg listed on the gauge which was promptly fixed today. It was a fairly warm day in upstate and I got it to 41.2 MPG on the first full day of mixed driving! Car is smooth and refined (I know you guys know that...) but it's taking me a while to get used to the engine shutting off at stop lights...

I am adjusting though and the car seems great!!

Jason · #2 (**permalink**) 04-06-2005, 05:42 PM

Glad to hear you like it. That mileage will go nowhere but up, and after long you'll be thinking traditional cars are the odd ones.

EricGo · #3 (**permalink**) 04-06-2005, 05:48 PM

Congragulations.

If you don't mind my asking your motivation to switch

- You couldn't sleep until you had a HCH ?
- The WRX sucked ?
- It was a year old, and had to go ?

More than one choice is legit :-)

ericbecky · #4 (**permalink**) 04-06-2005, 06:54 PM

joekr,
Congratulations on the purchase and on the 41.2 MPG. Getting that kind of mileage right away is great. I'm sure you'll do even better as time goes on. How is the Civic room-wise compared to the WRX?

fondahonda · #5 (**permalink**) 04-06-2005, 07:39 PM

Congrats on the new car. I did the same thing last week that you did except I traded in a 2003 4 Runner. I didn't get an even trade but I got pretty close. I had kind of a sick feeling as I did it because I really loved the 4 Runner but it sat in the garage most of the time while I drove a neon. I just thought that if gas continues to go up as fast as it has lately then the 4 Runner value will drop rather quickly. So I traded because I thought that I needed to rather than because I wanted to. I've had Hondas before and liked them but I've never had a Civic. A friend of mine had a Civic once and she said she had a lot of trouble with it.

Anyhow I did the trade and I have to say that the more I drive it, the more I like it, and the better I feel about trading. Especially since gas just jumped around here another .15 in the last couple of days. I looked at this web site and saw the range of mileage that people were getting and I was just hoping to get somewhere in the 40s. I thought if it would do that I would be happy. Well I just gassed up after my first full tank today and my mileage was 48.4 MPG! That includes a 200 mile round trip to Colorado Springs and the rest of it was around town or semi-country driving on a 4 lane. My tranny is a CVT by the way. That was also burning super unleaded. I figured I'd put the premium stuff in since the dealership was paying. I filled up with regular today, and in Colorado that means 85 octane. I'll see how it does on this one. Overall I'm very pleased with the Civic and wish you all the best with yours.

joekr · #6 (**permalink**) 04-06-2005, 07:53 PM

The civic is more spacious and refined on the inside. The wrx was an 04, but it was the first 04 on the lot and I got in May of 03. I got a great price, plus a real low rate, plus Subarus hold their value like Honda/Toyota, especially in the upstate NY area...

The WRX is an amazing vehicle, but it rated 20/27 ctiy/highway, and those numbers are not even close to real world. The poor MPG and the fact that it required good premium fuel (it didn't care for Walmart or BJ's gas on cold days) made it not worth keeping. Plus, the car loved to be driven hard, which made the MPG even worse! The thing was a rocket!

Fondahonda, I was doing the same thing! The WRX sat in the driveway and the Protege 5 was getting driven constantly. I'm not wealthy and having a toy car sitting in the drive as eye candy wasn't working for me any longer..

It was a hard choice, but a wise one IMHO...I need to start socking away more money for retirement!

ericbecky · #7 (**permalink**) 04-06-2005, 08:03 PM

joekr,

Quote:

...start socking away more money for retirement!

How about this...take the extra money that you would have spent on gas and invest it instead. That should add up to a decent amount over time.

joekr · #8 (**permalink**) 04-07-2005, 02:48 AM

That's the plan Eric. W/ the new Civic, between insurance, payment and gas bills decreasing, I am easily saving over 200 a month!! Most of that is going in my 401k.

Hot_Georgia_2004 · #9 (**permalink**) 04-07-2005, 10:18 AM

Quote:

but it's taking me a while to get used to the engine shutting off at stop lights

If you think this is wierd now, wait until summer and you have passengers.
Set the A/C button to ON, both the top vent selecton and the fan control to Auto for full Climate Control. Adjust the temperature to a cooler setting so the fan automatically blows really hard and noisy. Turn the ECON button off so you'll get Auto Stop.

Notice the look on your passengers face(s) as you pull up to the light and EVERYTHING goes dead on your car....The fan suddenly cuts itself off and the engine isn't running anymore. Just smile as the car appears to be just dead

Their state of confusion is priceless.

joekr · #10 (**permalink**) 04-07-2005, 01:51 PM

wow hj2004, I didn't know that! Heck, I just thought tonight I was getting better at things, thought the engine was running and it wasn't in a turn ( I was costing through a turn at <20mph). Dropped the car in second and it jerked a little to play catch up.

I'm still learning, but I got up to 42 mpg today in mixed driving...

I told the wife we need to go out someplace and practice a little so she can get the hang of driving something completely different than we are used to...