Golf or Civic..

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Mon 17 Nov 2014 14:59
Golf or Civic.. - Hifty

Hi all, hoping to get some advice on a purchase i'm *hopefully* about to make.

It's time for a new car, and i've been looking for something economical, low(ish) on tax and insurance, reliable as well as having a bit of 'oomph' when i want, all for less than £5k...

I've managed to find 2 potential cars and was hoping i could get some advice as i know very little about cars..

** First contender is a VW Golf TDI GT - 2007, 54k miles. Excellent condition at £5k - being sold by a mate who i know has looked after it.

** The other is a Honda Civic Type-S GT 2.2 Diesel - 82k miles, again, excellent condition @ £4700 - though it's a private sale.

Can anyone offer any advice between the two? I don't do too many miles per year (around 8k) so wasn't really looking at a diesel, but they're both very good deals so looking to hopefully go with one of them.

Thank you in advance for any replies.

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Mon 17 Nov 2014 15:14
Golf or Civic.. - HandCart

Your annual mileage is low, but does it consist of mainly short journeys on roads with a limit of 40 mph or less?

Or journeys lasting longer than 20 minutes at at least 60 mph?

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Mon 17 Nov 2014 15:23
Golf or Civic.. - Hifty

Thanks for the reply.

I'd say primarily short journeys on roads with limit of 40 mph, though i hit the motorways once or twice a week.

Would that be a potential issue running a diesel?

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Mon 17 Nov 2014 15:17
Golf or Civic.. - skidpan

Have you tried the Civic yet? The previous model was a great car, a bit stodgy looking to some eyes but in 3 door form it was fine, very nearly bought one, probably should. So when I changed next time I decided to try the new model, must be better, its newer for starters and far more expensive. Wrong. It was noisy and rode like a brick even on reasonable roads. On bad roads it was biblically bad.

Buy the Golf.

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Mon 17 Nov 2014 15:25
Golf or Civic.. - Hifty

Thanks for the reply.

I haven't yet tried it, no, but the reviews i've seen are good? Both 1.8 petrol and 2.2 diesel seem to be similar, but the diesel seems to have that little more speed and economy.

What was the model you tested?

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Mon 17 Nov 2014 15:32
Golf or Civic.. - skidpan

What was the model you tested?

Had a long drive in a petrol since it was thier demonstrator but since I was only considering the diesel they let me drive a brand new one from stock just to get a feel for the engine.

Both were just as bad, almost 6 years on the wife still remembers those test drives when we occationally go to the village he used on his test drive route.

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Mon 17 Nov 2014 15:39
Golf or Civic.. - HandCart

If you are sure you're definitely on the motorway for at least 10 minutes (after the engine is already fully warm) once a week or more, you should be okay with a diesel.

But yes that era Civic had a reputation for a hard ride, and not really being as reliable as a Honda ought, so I'd steer towards the Golf too.

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Mon 17 Nov 2014 16:21
Golf or Civic.. - RobJP

If you are sure you're definitely on the motorway for at least 10 minutes (after the engine is already fully warm) once a week or more, you should be okay with a diesel.

But yes that era Civic had a reputation for a hard ride, and not really being as reliable as a Honda ought, so I'd steer towards the Golf too.

It's the 2.0 TDi 140 PS lump in the Golf, isn't it ? The one with the 'interesting' oil pump design. Not one of their finest offerings.

I don't think either of them is a particularly fine choice. The VW in particular you are paying for a huge amount of 'preceived' quality which, sadly, just isn't there.

Though as Handcart says, the Civic of that generation is also not their greatest moment.

I think, if I was being forced to buy one of them, I'd go with the Honda. Probably

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Mon 17 Nov 2014 16:54
Golf or Civic.. - Hifty

I was under the impression both would be reliable and fun cars to drive...?

I know it's difficult to say, but what would you recommend for around that price point?

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Mon 17 Nov 2014 17:31
Golf or Civic.. - scot22

I can only offer personal experience on question of diesel or petrol. Knowing little about cars I bought a 2007 diesel Volvo C30. This was totally unsuitable for my mileage and driving. I appreciate that diesels for the right kind of motoring are excellent but for lowish mileage and restrained driving then no. It has been an expensive lesson for me - dpf, dmf etc. Now that I've taken the big expense will keep for a while but when replacing will never get another diesel.

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Mon 17 Nov 2014 17:47
Golf or Civic.. - HandCart

For reliable and fun car to drive, perhaps a petrol Focus, or one of the sportier-trim Fiestas if you are ok with something smaller.

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Mon 17 Nov 2014 18:11
Golf or Civic.. - quizman

We have got a Golf 1.9 TDI 57reg and it has not got an EGR.

It is used for short journeys and hasn't had any problems.

We had a 52reg Focus before the Golf and it wasn't as good or reliable as the Golf.

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Mon 17 Nov 2014 18:57
Golf or Civic.. - Bolt

You need to test drive the Civic ie the one you want, its like marmite the Civic, you either like them or loath them, I have the 2006 diesel sport not that the sport means a lot, but it is quick after turbo lag which you get used to, but can suffer torque steer on hard acceleration though VSA helps prevent it

got mine in feb this year and done 16k miles already and its doing 45+ ish to the gallon but I gather the golf does better, though personaly I`m not a lover of VW good luck in your hunt its a minefield out there

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Mon 17 Nov 2014 19:18
Golf or Civic.. - daveyK_UK

Go with the civic

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Mon 17 Nov 2014 19:44
Golf or Civic.. - Hifty

Cheers for all of the replies, they're much appreciated - although, i'm still confused...

I've now found a 1.8 i-VTEC Type-S GT (petrol) - Would this be a better option to the diesel equivalent?

Thanks,

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Mon 17 Nov 2014 19:52
Golf or Civic.. - Bolt

Cheers for all of the replies, they're much appreciated - although, i'm still confused...

I've now found a 1.8 i-VTEC Type-S GT (petrol) - Would this be a better option to the diesel equivalent?

Thanks,

Depends what your after, acceleration is really good on the 1.8 as is top end,but fuel economy is not great ie booting it around 12mpg, normal driving approx 24-28 I know I had 1.8 vtec SI 2010 but was too juicy for me, so bought the diesel version,not looked back

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Mon 17 Nov 2014 21:30
Golf or Civic.. - scot22

Hifty - my head often goes in to a spin when trying to reconcile so many factors !

I did say mine was purely personal on recent experience. I would go for petrol but perhaps there might be a better diesel buy - how's that for adding confusion !

As has been said, you need to have good test drives and go with what you feel is what you want.

After doing all the checks it can still be a matter of luck.

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Tue 18 Nov 2014 08:52
Golf or Civic.. - APV
Neither.
Go for a Prius instead.
Cheaper to run and less hassle than the other two in the long run
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Tue 18 Nov 2014 09:39
Golf or Civic.. - Bolt
Neither. Go for a Prius instead. Cheaper to run and less hassle than the other two in the long run

Not sure how they are cheaper as mpg wise they can be around the same cost,ie most prius owners I know are not getting any more to the gallon than a diesel,(depends how its driven) also you have limited storage room,(not much room in boot) main reason why I did not buy one, and they can break down like any other car

Either way its try before you buy as there is a lot of bad cars out there pretending to be good ones

ps if you do check Prius out check for past water leaks under bonnet

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Tue 18 Nov 2014 10:14
Golf or Civic.. - HandCart

The OP was after a 'fun' car - good as it is, I wouldn't exactly say the Prius was a 'fun' car.

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Tue 18 Nov 2014 10:55
Golf or Civic.. - Hifty

Correct!

Although, it seems i'm trying to find something that doesn't exist..

The 1.8 Civic is showing mpg to be around 42, I'd have hoped for around 35 from that.. The 12mpg you mentioned above has got me worried!

That said, i'm taking a lot of peoples advice on here and going to test drive one today (the 1.8 petrol). If it feels a bit rubbish, i think i'm just going to bite the bullet and get a Focus. I've drove my dads '14 2.0 TDCI and it's a great drive. I won't expect to get anything like that for £5k, but hopefully it'll be a similar drive.

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Tue 18 Nov 2014 11:06
Golf or Civic.. - Alanovich

Sometimes the obvious answer is the correct one. The Focus is the obvious choice in this category. Go for it.

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Tue 18 Nov 2014 11:12
Golf or Civic.. - Bolt

Correct!

Although, it seems i'm trying to find something that doesn't exist..

The 1.8 Civic is showing mpg to be around 42, I'd have hoped for around 35 from that.. The 12mpg you mentioned above has got me worried!

That said, i'm taking a lot of peoples advice on here and going to test drive one today (the 1.8 petrol). If it feels a bit rubbish, i think i'm just going to bite the bullet and get a Focus. I've drove my dads '14 2.0 TDCI and it's a great drive. I won't expect to get anything like that for £5k, but hopefully it'll be a similar drive.

I really have no idea how anyone can get 42mpg out of that unit, it is a high reving engine,thats what it was designed to do, and when the vtec comes in it flies, the 12mpg was a day of booting it around when not many others were on the road so its not an mpg you get all the time, best I had was 34

I can do the same in the diesel and the economy hardly alters, imo its a really good engine/car.

good luck anyway whatever you choose

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Thu 20 Nov 2014 14:04
Golf or Civic.. - jcnipper

Petrol Civic likely to be far more reliable than a c.2007 2.0TDI Golf with its well documented oil and water pump failure issues. Both could write-off the car (engine) in seconds.

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Thu 20 Nov 2014 07:36
Golf or Civic.. - jcnipper

I've recently bought a 1.8 Civic which has proven to be quite a pleasant surprise all round. I get 41-45mpg on long trips and 35mpg locally.

Only last 18bhp is exploited in the upper rev range and overal the motor is very flexible.

Buy on history, condition and who's selling!

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Tue 18 Nov 2014 12:15
Golf or Civic.. - Avant

Definitely go for a petrol given the type of motoring you do. I'm staying with cousins in Edinburgh who have an eight-year-old 1.6 petrol Focus. It has plenty of 'go' and has never gone wrong. And there are lots of them about. I can't remember how recent 1.8 or 2.0 petrol Focuses are: one of those might appeal to you.

If you like the 1.8 Civic, fine: the awful rear visibility as well as the hard ride would put me off. The Toyota Auris 1.6 is worth a look too: underrated by the road testers.

Edited by Avant on 21/11/2014 at 22:54

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Thu 20 Nov 2014 12:48
Golf or Civic.. - Snakey

Personally I'd go for the Golf - if you know the owner and its got good history then thats money in the bank for me!

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Thu 20 Nov 2014 14:31
Golf or Civic.. - gimmedabeat

I would agree with previous posts that with your motoring schedule I would advise against a diesel. Diesels take a long time to warm up and are most efficient when they're warmed up. If you're looking for fun, diesels can be fun but petrols are more refined. So for short local journeys, a petrol might be more fun if you care about refinement.

Also if the diesels have a diesel particulate filter, those REQUIRE heat in the exhaust to burn off the diesel particles and avoid getting clogged up. With a lot of short journeys you run the risk of this never happening and hence needing to replace the DPF very quickly which can be a little pricey.

But to your original question, I can't comment on reliability (I have a 2009 petrol golf but don't have experience with that civic). But being a Golf owner and having driven multiple Civics (just not that model), my impression is the Golf is a more refined/mature car while the Civic is much lighter, so the way they drive would probably be quite different. Possibly more zippy and responsive in the Civic and more composed and tidy on the backroads in the Golf. I think their characters would be quite different and different people would prefer one over the other.

Bottom line - go try both!

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