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Can you Honda enthusiasts help me settle a discussion with a friend?

3K views 9 replies 9 participants last post by  Motoguy128 
#1 · (Edited)
So I will try to make this as short as possible but it will still be long long...

I have a friend who really doesn't like the Honda Civic (which is fine by me) I am not a fanboy and I just simply love the car because it's reliable, efficient and looks great and all for a good price.
Although, I really want to be able to hold a proper debate with him so I studied through researching online about certain topics we argued about when it came to Honda VS other vehicles. Like I said, I don't mind if someone says they don't like a car I like but when I hear stuff that is pure hate for NO reason or maybe jealousy, I want to be able to respond but I need the knowledge for it. I owned a Honda Civic for the past 4 Years almost. Got my first one as a gift from my parents in October 2012. It is a 2008 Honda Civic DX-G. I had some repairs done on it due to my driving haha because after all it is not a brand new car and you can't drive a Honda Civic like a Ferrari let alone if it's real cold outside and you're flooring it (I only did that for a short period of time) but anyway the point is that I was inexperienced and this is my first car so like many others, I made some errors of judgement when operating it but I gotta tell you, it drives like a charm. I recently put a deposit and soon a down-payment (once the car arrives) on a brand new Honda Civic - 2017 Honda Civic LX Coupe with the Honda Sensing package (Blue). I added some features from the EX-T and Touring and some cosmetic features. I checked if it makes more financial sense to just buy the higher up model but it didn't so I am happy with my purchase.

My friend LOVES BMWs. I think they are nice cars and I have a lot of police officer friends who tell me what I told my friend... They break... A lot... He on the other hand shows me factual data which states that BMW and Audi are at the top of the list for the most reliable cars on the market. Toyota used to be #1 and now it's somewhere in the Top 10 still but I think BMW is #3. To that... I didn't know how to respond. It is factual data from a reliable source and there are many websites which state the same so the information is not fabricated. It's just that the cars I see stalled or broken on the side of the street or hear about RIDICULOUS repair and maintenance fees are usually the cars he likes and claims they are very cheaper to maintain than what people say. He said he replaced a Clutch on his 520i Touring e39 1999 (Good BMW model actually) and he said the Clutch only cost him $400 and it was purely his fault cause he burned it while doing stupid s**t in the parking lot back home (Latvia).

ONE MORE POINT... I know the suspension on BMWs and on Honda Civic... BMW 5 seiries doesn't have an extremely sporty suspension but it's definitely sportier and more rigid than the one on a Honda Civic... Which means when you drive on the broken streets and terrible roads in Latvia, you're gonna feel EVERY bump and your car will get REKT. He on the other hand claims he never felt a bump and that it was silent.

I am NOT comparing BMWs or Audi to Honda Civic. These are cars from totally different classes. The way I see it... Honda Civic is a commute car which is sportier than other cars in its category and is more reliable and efficient as well as it packs some fun features but it is not a BMW and that is fine with me cause I wasn't looking for a BMW.

I just wanna give him a proper debate so he stops bashing every car he doesn't like without knowing what he is talking about. I don't remember everything he said but one of the reasons he said Honda Civic is not a good car was due to the following reasons:

Feels numb (it really doesn't in my opinion and I drove BMWs and they're fine obviously but a Civic does not feel numb)
Dull looking interior (Totally not true, Civic always had innovative designs)
Loud cabin (He means road noise and engine noise. I asked him if an M4 is quiet and he said it can be unless you drive it in Sports mode and then you hear what you gotta hear)
Not comfortable at all (I drove 600KM one way and then 800km back and I did that a few times and I was very comfortable and that was in my 08 Civic)

And I researched all night and found out a lot of what he said was either plain wrong or not very accurate. I will definitely agree that those expensive German cars have silent cabins and you only hear what you should hear in the car like the performance engine/exhaust etc but they also cost 10-20 grand more so they better be higher quality lol. So I am not on a crusade here to tell on him and try to win an argument cause he doesn't like the car I bought haha cause it doesn't matter, everyone has their own taste but I want him to own up to what he says. He calls himself a car expert and I would like to school him on the Honda Civic topic because he clearly doesn't know what he is talking about. BTW he did say he likes the new Honda CR-V and he rented it to drive to Niagara Falls and it is a fantastic car but he still prefers the German cars.

If you're still wondering what the point of all this, well it's just that I don't like when people say s**t without backing it and it looks like mots of his arguments are biased af and I was wondering if you guys who have more experience than me with Honda and I know a lot of you also work on your cars and have a mechanical background/knowledge and could help me learn more and direct me to reputable sites and give me your two cents on this whole topic.

There is still much more to say but I will cut it here and if I didn't include information you wanna know then just ask. Once again I am not comparing a BMW... a car which is of a higher class and different purpose to a Honda Civic. But some of the stuff he said was so inaccurate and I was wondering if you can help me educate myself cause hey I just got this new car and I wanna learn about it.
 
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#6 ·
Yea I guess I did and thank you haha I wanted to pay tribute to my 8th gen civic as well as welcome my 10th gen. I appreciate the compliment!

I got as far as "I have a friend" and then my attention span starred to fade as a butterfly flew past the window. Sorry.
Hahahaha... Good one.

+1. Let him think what he wants honestly you know you wont be the one stranded on the side of the road :D
Yea I guess you can't make everyone think reasonably

After a while, you come to realize you can never change a persons mind when it comes to what car make/model their enthusiastic about. Then again, comparing a BMW to a Honda isn't really a proper comparison. As for BMW's breaking a lot, that depends on how the car is treated and maintenance is kept up. Majority of the time they break down is because drivers can't afford the maintenance on it, which then bites them in the ass when they have to actually repair the car.
I agree to an extent. I have a few friends who own a BMW (different models, mostly new) and they have problems (almost all of them) and to this day I don't understand why... These are premium cars which were engineered in Germany... (maybe not completely in Germany...) and they maintain them, very well. only 1 of them NEVER had a problem and it's a 2015 3 series I believe.



Anyway I guess I wanted to vent a little. People drive me crazy with their idiotic comparisons and I wanted to see what you guys have to say. Thanks for the feedback. I can't wait to get my new Civic already.
 
#5 ·
After a while, you come to realize you can never change a persons mind when it comes to what car make/model their enthusiastic about. Then again, comparing a BMW to a Honda isn't really a proper comparison. As for BMW's breaking a lot, that depends on how the car is treated and maintenance is kept up. Majority of the time they break down is because drivers can't afford the maintenance on it, which then bites them in the ass when they have to actually repair the car.
 
#7 ·
as a love of both BMWs and Hondas, I can understand where both you and your friend are coming from. Truth is, each manufacturer has its quirks. For example, BMW's cooling systems are made of straw and bubblegum, and Honda has been utterly boring from around 2006 through 2016 (these new Civics have turned that around). Neither manufacturer is better or worse, it depends on what you want from your car. I have a 335d, the engineers did an amazing job with that engine and drivetrain, really did, and with a little bit of tuning (about 2300 dollars worth of parts and labor/tuning), I have over 600 foot pounds of torque and 400 horsepower, from a 3 liter inline 6 with two factory turbos.. I also have an S2000, a Prelude and a 2017 Civic hatch manual, I think each of those cars are the epitome of what Honda engineers can do (efficient, nimble, cheap fun).
 
#9 ·
As others have said, some people will just never be convinced. Same is true of not just cars, but a range of topics. Some people will always be set in their beliefs and neither you nor anyone else will be able to change that.

Also you should remind him what the rest of the world thinks of BMW drivers ;)
 
#10 ·
I traded a 06 325i for my civic touring sedan. It was never IF, rather WHEN the next component would fail. I'd trust a civic similarly equipped with 160 mi over a 3 series with 80. There were st learn $6k worth of repairs virtually guaranteed to fail because they were design flaws or intentional design flaws.

That being said, the steering and chassis was almost telepathic. No car will ever handle like that car did. Even had a real hydraulic pump for the power steering.

But this civic is still really good and rides 10x smoother and just as quick without clumsy downshifts on fixed gear ratios.
 
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