10 thoughts on “The New Civic”

  1. Do you think there will ever be a used market in electric cars?

    There are things you can check on a gasoline vehicle before purchasing. Scotty Kilmer mainly does this by plugging in a professional-level scan tool to see what the computer has flagged, but he also looks underneath to check for obvious leaks.

    Will there be some kind of test to get an idea how much life is left in a battery pack? Or will an EV be a one-owner throw-away car?

    Yeah, yeah, there are the Tesla fanbois who tell you how great they are and on the opposite pole, the boat-towing contingent who will give up their F-150 when someone pries the steering wheel away from their cold, dead fingers. But has anyone though about this objectively by looking at the data and trends?

      1. That last remark is racist against East Asians, South Asians, Central Asians, persons of Near Eastern heritage like myself, North Africans or anyone else for whom rice is an important part of what we eat.

        It’s your party and you get to criticize whom you want to for being off topic to the discussion here. The topic was brought up of waiting for the 2022 Civic with manual transmission to appear on the used market.

        I “get” that Honda Motors has a reputation for products of excellent reliability and lifetime. Implied in your post is that this car might be the last, best chance to purchase a gasoline powered car with a 6-speed manual, given government mandates and manufacturers seeing the direction of the regulatory climate and changing over to EVs.

        I thought to broaden the discussion into what one’s next car purchase could be to include EVs. I think it is a good question if one should be thinking about purchasing a new gasoline auto now or a used model a few years in the future because such a vehicle might become and “orphan” with regard to parts and service and dark stars from your neighbors for “CO2 pollution.”

        On the other hand, gasoline Hondas are a known quantity that a Honda purchase today may likely be running strong 25 years and 250,000 miles later. Maybe the transition to EVs will hit a “road bump” because they won’t sustain the used-car market that makes cars affordable to most Americans?

        I apologize for diverting the discussion on your fine Web site into EVs and the coming EV transition, but the remark about world cultures for whom rice is a staple was uncalled for.

    1. We bought a (very) used Nissan Leaf, and we love it. The battery is pretty bad, but we knew that going in. The great thing about electric cars is that they have less go wrong with them than gas cars – gas is a terrible fuel, that is constantly trying to eat it’s way out of the car.

      Anyway, it depends on what you are using it for. I live on an island, so having an 80 mile max range just isn’t much of an issue.

      I hear that they can’t keep those used cars in stock, either. They sell out instantly here.

  2. We bought a used e-golf and we love it for local trips. We call it the golf car(t). It was very cheap coming off of a 2 year lease. There were 4 on the lot the fall before the pandemic. I chose the one with the most pep at full power up a steep on ramp. There was a noticeable difference among the 4. Used batteries ate available from wrecks and the newer models have a higher capacity pack that fits in the same space if we need more range.

  3. The news is hardly surprising considering the previous Civic offered both the Type R and Si versions with manual transmission. I do miss my Honda S2000 and it’s six-speed. I sometimes consider getting a new Civic as a replacement. However, I’m mostly over cars in Texas. Too many pick-up trucks blocking views and driving dangerously to make driving a small car any fun.

    1. Every time I get passed by someone going 90 mph in a diesel dually, I say, “There goes a generous Keynesian, literally priming the pump for the rest of us.”

  4. An interesting car that you should check out is the Hyundai Veloster with the 201 hp turbo and 6-speed manual. It’s a little quirky in that it has 3 doors and not 4 and it has a bit less storage space than a Mazda 3 or Honda Civic, but you can get a lot into the hatch with both rear seats down. I had a 2015 and it was a blast to drive. No mechanical issues. The Veloster is highly rated by Edmunds and it is very competitive in the sports car racing circuits. The 3-door arrangement is not a real limitation (rear passengers enter on the right side).

      1. Well, if you call that a “3-door” then the Civic is a 5-door and the Veloster a 4-door. The Veloster has a hatch plus 3 passenger doors, one on the driver side and 2 on the passenger side. I know they used to call things like that 3-doors, but they were really 2-door coupes with a hatch, sort of like the old VW Fox station wagon..

Comments are closed.