With the way Japanese Marques are pricing their cars these days, why are you even surprised? Toyota did it with their Camry. Honda lost the plot with both the Freed and Jazz. They keep this rubbish up and more people will go Korean or Conti. The market ain't like it was back in 2004, 2006 or 2008. People actually have more compelling choices these days.

That's what I meant - pricing. Honda already did it with both the Freed and the Jazz IMO, I'd be surprised if they didn't shoot themselves in the foot again with the Civic, heh!

I went to the Honda showroom earlier and the salesman actually showed me the new Civics behind their service center.

I have to say, I actually like how the 9th gen look on the exterior, it appeals to me much more than the 8th gen does. The interior looks relatively basic for 1.8L but everything that needs to be there, seems to be there. It still uses key turn ignition and there's no cruise control. Steering wheel looks ergonomic and pleasing to the eyes.

The 1.8Navi version has all the bells and whistles but at the end of the day, is it worth paying so much more? It boils down to how much you like the look of the new Civic to want to pay for it vs the better spec Koreans.

As a personal opinion, I definitely think it looks better than the Elantra and the Forte but would I want to pay the premium for it? That's a different story....

They were washing the hybrid so I didn't get to see it on the inside, but SA did say only the top end 2.0L version gets the navi.

At the back of the showroom, I've seen:

1.8L
2.0L
2.0L+navi

The hybrid sits between the 1.8 and 2.0L range.

Can't say the same for my wife's 07 FL City though, press accelerator hard and the vibration comes in all the way to the steering wheel. It's just the initial feedback but it's still annoying to see the dash and steering rattle every time I push the accelerator hard from stop traffic.

Dashboard doesn't rattle when you're already moving but the damn door handle panels also can fall out and side indicator on the body can come loose. Quality of the City definitely sucks, but the after sales and servicing etc is good. Maybe Civic has better interior quality but still I'd expected a little more from Honda :/

This post has been edited by zweimmk: Jul 12 2012, 01:57 PM

Well we didn't have problem with rust but we did have problem with the interior panel falling off, actually it's the interior door handle frame thing and the right signal indicator on the exterior that gotten loose out of the car body (dangling wire held the lamp). Fortunately, Honda SC fixed all those issues for us FOC but still, it's annoying to even have to deal with it in the first place.

Now the latest issue is with the engine vibrating when I press the accelerator hard from start stop traffic. It vibrates the entire dashboard and steering for about a second or so then disappears. Oh well, 5 years already that car.... guess I can't really complain much. Maybe it's time to sell that off for something else.

My wife may be interested if can really get 2k discount for the 1.8s

C-segments compared, as models are split between all makes, it's kind of hard to make it an entirely fair comparison

Not a comprehensive list but compares the most talked about features used today. I've tried to make it as accurate as possible. Most of the good stuff only come in at the 120k+ price range.



This post has been edited by zweimmk: Jul 14 2012, 10:02 AM

I'll correct it later

Updated the specs

Tried to be as accurate as possible, but some of these manufacturer's website has some very ambiguous details. Particularly horrible are Mazda, Chervolet and Hyundai. Seriously, they need to spend more money on developing a better website that actually gives better details on their car models.

Ford Focus 2012 specs are not entirely accurate at all since details are scarce





This post has been edited by zweimmk: Jul 15 2012, 12:43 PM

I'll just upload the spreadsheet later so you all can make corrections, lol.
I made it so my wife and I can compare the features between the makes. In the end, after test driving the new Civic today, she went ahead to book the 1.8s.

Despite the Forte and Elantra being better specced, she was still more comfortable going Japanese.


This post has been edited by zweimmk: Jul 15 2012, 10:05 PM

Updated the excel file with all the relevant information between the different C segments.

The accuracy should be largely correct right now and if there are still errors, you can now correct it easily.

Download and modify as necessary

http://www.mediafire.com/view/?z3bae69pbhri7gl

Yes, she is still more pro Japanese even right in the beginning. But she was very impressed with the Forte when i convinced her to go take a look and take a test drive. The deal breaker was the distributor though... Even she has heard a lot of bad feedback about the Naza after sales and my wife ain't into cars, LOL!

I think if it was UMW Hyundai or Kah motors KIA, things might have been a bit different

---

Added on July 16, 2012, 1:02 amMake no mistake, the Civic is a lot of hard plastics. It ain't pretty but the utility is there. The overall handling and NVH is still superior on the Civic compared to the Forte. I didn't drive the Elantra but I think the interior was definitely a more upmarket in the Elantra as compared to the Civic. At the end of the day, Honda's long history in Malaysia is still one of the main factor why people turn to them instead of the Koreans. People who aren't car enthusiasts will always take the safe choice as long as the basics are covered.

This post has been edited by zweimmk: Jul 16 2012, 01:05 AM

Yes, its Naza. I've had personal experience with the KIA Spectra and I've also had 3 friends who practically swore off buying a car from Naza because of their bad experience with Peugeot. My wife's end have 2 friends who are Forte owners and 2 Peugeot owners. IMO, I didn't think the feedback about the Forte was too negative but I think she rather just avoid the issue altogether for total peace of mind.

In the end, I think despite her being impressed with the Forte, she personally isn't comfortable with the idea of buying Korean and still prefers the Japanese makes on the whole.

Btw, she's buying the 1.8s so she's not paying 20k more for the high spec. We've gone over the specs of the Civic and we're actually paying for the following with 20k extra:

1. Paddle shifters (not important)
2. HID lights (Nice to have but can live without for her. IMO, this issue can easily be resolved by ordering the 9th gen protector headlamps from Thailand and getting the Phillips Xenon kit, probably won't cost more than 3.5k in total)
3. Push Start Smart Entry (Again appealing but ultimately not important)
4. Leather seats (can wrap outside for 2k)
5. Electric driver seat (the current city also manual so no difference)
6. 2 more airbags (important but what to do? Just deal with it loh)
7. Signal lamp on wing mirrors instead of on the car body (vanity appeal can live without)
8. Cruise Control (not important since never go outstation)
9. Handles chrome instead of body color (not important)
10. 2.0 Engine instead of 1.8 (more power but also pay more road tax)

This post has been edited by zweimmk: Jul 16 2012, 10:09 AM

My friend is and through a by and by Merc man. It's only recently he has switched to a 2nd hand BMW X6 because of the new M class was selling at really obscene prices in Singapore.

His words were, "eh, don't think just coz you buy a Merc or Beemer means the service center service is good hor! The after sales is also kanasai one!"

So, paying for prestige German marque and getting shitty after sales service is pretty much the norm whether if its Singapore or Malaysia, LOL!

My wife's 1.8s - 2 weeks, 2.0 expected between 3 to 5 weeks can get delivery upon bank loan approval.

Yeah it's actually plain. The 2.0s is of course the better choice. 16k for so many additional stuff is definitely worth it.... if you don't compare against the Korean Marque. But my wife's budget don't allow for it and she's not comfortable paying another 300 bucks more for the 2.0s variant... so just live with it

At the end of the day, if want to be comfortable, can always take the Passat out instead. As this is the 2nd car for us, no need to spend so much extra la haha!

As far as critical must have is concerned, the only critical feature for us is the 4 airbags. Aside from the electric seats, everything else including DVD-navi can do aftermarket

Been burnt once and once is too much IMO. But that aside, I and my wife have been actively scouting a 2nd car for the past month and we both agreed that the KIA Forte represented the best bang for buck. My wife was even impressed during the test drive and we even got a good SA that offered us fantastic discount. My research also showed that the after sales is at an acceptable level, though not as good as the T&H marque but still good enough to be deemed as a problem free purchase. Resale value of the Forte is also surprisingly good after talking to a few 2nd hand dealers...but whenever I asked if she placed her deposit with the car, she would always give some excuse like not free or too busy with work or distracted by some other thing and this went on for the past month. Then came last Sunday, we went to view the new Civic and after taking it for a test drive, she immediately paid the deposit and booked the car, LOL!

At the end of the day, it's what she's comfortable buying la bro. Koreans may have improved but they have a huge perception issue to overcome in the hearts of Malaysians

New model introduce next year, 2013 earliest, 2014 if delay. The earliest you see people start selling the car also around 2016, there may be some who will sell the car in 2015 but that number is negligible. If you buy the M6 now, you will also sell earliest by 2015, no issues there but 3 years is a long time and anything can happen. So how sure are you that you will 100% sell the car by then, be it Civic or something else?

Hey last I recall, years ago you bought the Honda city right?