Toyota Corolla or Honda Civic?

Yes.

I am still (happily) driving my 1997 Honda Civic (!).  They used to be great cars — but I seem to remember that there was a VERY unpopular re-design a year or two ago, and I’m not sure what has been done to change things since then… The Civics tend to be quite low-slung, but despite that, I’ve taken mine on numerous dirt roads, with no ill effects.  Toyotas (also great cars) tend to have a bit higher clearance.

I think before you decide which car, you really need to determine what you will put in the car.

I can’t tell you how many times I’ve heard of people buying a car and then realizing its too voluminous or too small or it can’t tow enough, yadda yadda.

Seems like these people are always clouting up gear swap with all of their once-used cars.

Makes me sick.

I traded in my 1998 Civic in June last year as the original owner. It had almost 150k miles on it. It had serious rust issues, but almost every car does here at that age. The engine and transmission (auto) would’ve lasted another 100k at least. I did all of the repair and maintenance myself except for tires and AC.

I seriously considered another Civic or Corolla (new 2015). I read many comparison and test articles, but never test drove either. My conclusion was that the Civic was more fun to drive and comfortable, but the Corolla was likely more reliable with less smaller issues.

The 2016 Civic Touring looks very promising. There are several recent posts about a journalist test driving it in the CleanMPG Facebook group. I ended up getting a 2015 Accord, but those posts make me want to at least test drive the new Civic Touring. Compared to my 98 Civic, the new Accord is like driving a luxury vehicle. I’m not sure if that comparison holds true when comparing a new Civic with a new Accord though, especially since I’m sure the 98 Civic suspension could’ve used replacement.

Not sure what competition the Corolla is offering for 2016.

I found the pricing info available with an online Consumer Reports subscription very useful.

Very similar market niches, both very reliable.  I went with the Corolla for my first new car decades ago, put 473,000 km on it (over 1.5 light-seconds), and all those miles and over 14 years, it only needed two $100 parts (fuel-tank sender unit and a brake master cylinder).  I’ve had three since and they kept running until an au pair took them out (a moose at 60 mph, but it could be driven away, while the moose took a bullet from the trooper, and some white trash pulled out in front of the next one creating a T-bone accident).

I’ve barreled down a lot of dirt roads at high speed, drove them in snow country all the time, hauled 55-gallon drums and refrigerators on the roof, and overloaded them by at least 1,000 pounds (850 rated PLUS ANOTHER 1000 pounds), so I certainly didn’t baby them.  I’m also not a 5,000-mile-oil-change guy, but rather a really-good-oil&filter every 30,000 or 50,000-miles kind of guy and, with 294,000 miles on one of them, I’d argue it worked.

My sense is, yeah, the Civic is a little quicker through the turns, but the Corolla has slightly higher ground clearance would be better on back roads.  Note that where you can go (and get back from) in a FWD small car is GREATLY increased with a few 2×6’s, a set of tire chains (and knowing how to use them), a tow rope and a come-a-long.  I went to Circle, Alaska and back one winter on a closed state highway that stopped 4WDs and big rigs just by being well equipped, experienced and willing to shovel through some 3-foot snow berms.

+1 on Consumer Reports.  You can go the library to see their reviews of the cars and over the maintenance experiences of thousands of subscribers had with past model years.  Also, pay for their on-line pricing reports for each car.  The $15-ish each is well worth it.  You might have to call 6 dealers to find one who will accept a reasonable profit ($700-900 / car), but the only way to know their true cost (minus incentives, etc) is to get the pricing report.  Also, due to different incentives at different times, the cost of the Corolla versus the Civic could differ by a fair bit.

Which one you fit in better. Our Civic gearshift(auto) when in drive poked me in the knee. It was a ’92.  Replaced the half axles because of ripped boots, and a radiator. But no major repairs in 180,000 miles till it was totaled in the parking lot. Bought Renee a ’05 Toyota Matrix and it is nice and roomy in the front. First non Honda for her in 30 years. She’s happy.  I don’t think you can go wrong with either. So pick the one you like better.

Depending on the trip you take, you might want to “test drive” a certain feature without leaving the dealer’s lot.  I do a lot of stupid-long road trips.  Like 2000 miles in a 3-day weekend.  So how comfortable the drivers seat is to sleep in is important to me in my own car and in rentals for those trips. (Letting a compact car idle for heat or cooling uses only 0.25 gph (and 0.16 gph in a Prius) so sleeping 8 hours in the car at your desired temperature is only 2 gallons of gas = $4 which is FAR less than any hotel or campground fee.

When we bought my wife’s Subaru Outback, she lay in the back with the seats folded down and compared that to the Forester and some other models.  She was a medical resident at the time so all of our wilderness trips involved me grabbing her from the hospital at 6 pm Friday, driving through the night, hiking two days, driving back while she slept, and delivering her to the hospital curb on Monday morning.  Her fellow residents were lucky to have gotten some laundry done, while we’d have gone to Yellowstone, Crater Lake, Banff or the Olympic Peninsula.

Many driver’s seats recline in ways that are comfortable for me to sleep in.  Others, especially the electric 6-way seats, don’t recline enough or have some bar or rod that hits me in the wrong spot.

It’s hard to decide who was the second-greatest scientist ever (but first is easy).  Similarly, it is hard to pick the second-best road-trip advice.  But my most important road-trip advice is: “Bring a nice, full-size pillow from off your bed with a pillow cover on it that you like.”

I miss my van with the portipotty and queen sized bed. Road trip supreme.

.

Notice that older Toyotas and Hondas are being mentioned. Not to say Toyota and Hondas aren’t good now, but they have become more expensive.

I think Kia and Hyundai (which owns Kia) are what Toyotas and Hondas used to be: Inexpensive AND  reliable autos.

We have 141k on our Kia and, with the exception of some electrical work due to mice getting in and chewing wires, it has only been routine maintenance.  We just put in a new timing belt  at 125k miles so we plan on running this car to the ground.

Other people report similar stories.

(FWIW, it is a 2005 Sorento to specific. True 4wd, built on a truck frame and as much ground clearance as Nissan Xterra but for less money. Newer Kia/Hyundai’s have less ground clearance, are AWD and have unibody construction. Fits their market better I suspect in addition to better fuel efficiency)

As an aside, as with David, we wanted to make sure we could sleep in the back, too. I’m only 5’6″ and the wife is 5’3″ so we are able to sleep just fine with the seats folded down. Helps with road trips and when we car camp with lots of snow on the ground. Just easier to make a truck bivy sometimes.

I’ve had four Toyotas in a row now, and have found all of them to be very reliable and enjoyable vehicles (three Priuses and a Rav4). But Paul makes a good point. Of the far too many cars I’ve owned in my life, one was a Hyundai Elantra hatchback. A great, no-trouble car that ran well and was inexpensive. I’d certainly check out both Kias and Hyundais if you’re looking for an inexpensive, reliable vehicle.

it really doesnt matter which one you choose … just drive em and play around and see which fits best

either of the newer versions is reliable and proven

one bonus is that my 2012 civic is made in allison, ontario, canada … not mexico

;)

Hyundais are not so inexpensive anymore.  My wife went car shopping a year and a half ago–she previously had an Elantra for a number of years–liked it, and was looking at new Elantras.  She ended up going with a Prius C, which was a similar price to the new Elantras. I was actually surprised by that.

When she bought the Elantra back in mid 2000’s, it was still at a good price point, but they have steadily gone up in price since–as their reputation and the collective public perception of same became more and more favorable.

Civic = 1244 kg, Corola = 1265 kg

The choice seems obvious…

Check the insurance cost.

Typically, you will find that the Civic is going to be more expensive as it tends to be more popular with younger people.

Since younger people have higher rates of accidents and tickets, the rates on Civics tends to be higher.

The hidden cost in buying a car are the maintenance and insurance cost.

If you like both equally, the insurance cost might be a factor.

Check with your agent as the rates are going to be someone what effected by where you live/zip code.

Tony

Thanks for the thorough and helpful tips.  Part of this was me poking fun (read trolling) some of the non gear posts floating around in Gear today, but I am seriously shopping for a used car for my 15 y/o who I will be dropping off at driver’s ed here in a few.  With that off my chest, Roger, please move to Chaff or whatever forum you think this would be more appropriate in.

I’m not really sure what the market looks like now but historically, SUVs and Trucks seem to sell like crazy when fuel prices are low, and you can’t find a Prius on a car lot when we hit $5 per gallon.  We’re in no rush and she won’t have her license until August, so we have some time but I’m in research mode now and will start seriously shopping in April.

I’m really impressed with the Subaru Impreza but I’ve driven FWD cars enough in the snow to feel confidant in them, especially with studless snow tires.  I always carry chains in each car we own, but will have to Google David’s 2×6 suggestion as I haven’t tried that yet.  (Is this the one where you strap it to the tire to use as a winch?).  I figure her car will see a lot of use for trips to the ski hill and hikes to save money on gas.  I really like the > $1.80 per gallon (really… why isn’t Obama getting blamed for that!) we’re seeing right now but do realize that this won’t last forever.  Plus there’s the whole issue with liquid dinosaurs being a finite resource thing to consider.

Ian, I’d use the 2″x6″s to cross big ruts in dirt roads when I was caving and going far down some backroads in the Sierra foothills.  Roads that had been all muddy driven on by a monster truck before they dried up.  I could straddle the ruts for long stretches, sometimes for miles, but every once in a while needed to cross over them and that’s where the lumber comes in.  It goes pretty fast once you train your passengers to place them and move them ahead to the next tricky spot.  Tales of early Kenai Peninsula residents driving to Anchorage in the 1950’s sounded familiar to me – there were stretches were the wife would ride on the fender to more conveniently hop off and roll the next big rock out of the way.

2″x6″s are also a good way to go backwards through those “Do Not Enter – Severe Tire Damage” spiky barriers.  A classmate went to a lot of drive-in movies for free that way.  Nick will be glad to know that I never did that and that I’ve reduced the number of condiment packets I take from McDonalds.

^^^

Most informative post I’ve read on BPL in some time.  Extra points for the condiments reference. Thanks David.

It’s gear, leave it here.

And to flog that horse one more time about supplies and condiments. They’re there to have, not to take.

Buy used cars.

The obvious choice is a Ford.

Billy

Corolla and Civic were my main choices a few years ago, and I chose the Corolla based on FIT. I preferred its interior and particularly dash layout.

It already has 95k miles on it. I have literally done nothing but change the oil every 10k miles and refill the wiper fluid. I know it’s horrible, but aside from regular oil changes, I’m as neglectful as it gets when it comes to vehicle maintenance. I’ve never even checked the oil, brake fluid, transmission fluid, nothing. Same for my Tundra, >250k miles, >215k mine, and not a single mechanical issue.

I don’t own either but recently drove my dad’s 2014 Honda Civic 4DR LX from VA to TX and I wouldn’t recommend it for highway trips. It felt very light for its size and none too stable when driving through windy conditions at highway speeds (many hours of white knuckled driving). Fine for around town or on the East Coast where highway speeds are generally lower.

My Honda Fit actually handles better in the wind, probably due to less surface area. It also holds a ton more gear due to the magic seats.

Subaru

Nearly every auto manufacturer selling vehicles in the US makes a good product. Settle on the vehicle which provides all the amenities you desire.

I noticed Paul mentioned Hyundai and Kia. Not only are both companies now making good products, many of their models rate higher in the annual JD Power Initial Quality Survey than Honda and Toyota, who used to capture most of these awards. However, Hyundai’s have become so good, they are usually priced near Toyota and Honda for their most popular models, the Sonata and Elantra. Hyundai’s luxury car, the Genesis is, in my opinion, the absolute best buy in a luxury car.

I prefer and own Hyundai and Ford vehicles. I like both companies. I especially like Ford because they were the only US auto maker not to go bankrupt or take bailout money, which created an unfair playing field for Ford. Hyundai has a 10 year, 100K mile power train warranty that they will honor assuming the owner does the required maintenance. It is the best in the industry.