Time to jump on the bandwagon and buy me a Honda!

I heart my Civic - the only car to ever consistently give me BETTER mileage than advertised. (And no, it ain't even the hybrid kind.)

I've been driving a Civic since '02! 35mpg (highway), baby!

My wife drives one and we estimate she gets over 30mpg in her 2004 4 cylinder Accord. We plan on getting her a newer one next year so she can give this one to her little sis. We're torn between the Accord Hybrid and the Civic Hybrid, but we'll see what the 2010 models have to offer.

I think all automakers are feeling the pinch of rising gas prices. I think I read somewhere that even Toyota is scaling back on their truck and SUV production.

Also, this could be the after effect of the sub-prime disaster and a general slump in new housing construction. Construction workers, contractors, and anyone that needs a full size truck for work probably don't need a big truck and the huge gas bill that comes along with it, particularly if they're not working steady gigs.

@LatherRinseRepeat: I visualized all the construction workers showing up to build a house in their honda civic and almost shot coffee through my nose.

@pmathews:

Rumor is that Honda will release a Fit Hybrid. And it's supposed to be cheaper and more fuel efficient than the Civic Hybrid. So definitely wait and see what comes out in a couple years.

civics are great, but my i heart my prius. it gets about 40 mpg, sometimes 50+ mpg on long trips. plus it is super comfy and surprisingly roomy.

I miss my old 98 Civic (lost in a flood). Wanted to buy another one, but hated the way it looked, both inside and out. Ended up with a 4 cyl Camry. Still cost $60 to fill up a nearly bone dry tank yesterday morning.

I@LatherRinseRepeat:

That would be nice. I like the idea of the fit but according to fueleconomy.gov it wasn't that impressive in terms of mpg when compared to the civic. Then again, as we've all seen those numbers can be misleading.

@Bladefist:
It's funny you say that. A friend of mine works in construction. But he's more of a foreman type. He's got a long commute, so he drives his wife's Civic to the job site. And his wife gets to drive his Chevy Silverado to her office job.

@ pmathews: Accord hybrids are discontinued.

The upcoming hybrid car from Honda (early 2009) will NOT be a Fit, it's going to be an all new U.S. model, priced BELOW the Civic hybrid. It's #1 on my list when my 2006 Accord VP comes off lease next year!

Averaging 64mpg's this tank on the wife's Prius, normally I get 33-35 mpg's in my matrix (which toyota counts in their corolla numbers).

Just don't accelerate hard and coast and you can stretch it.

Perhaps now I will have a better chance of actually being able to see when I back my hatch-back from a parking space.

@boomerang86:

I just looked on Honda's website. Are you referring to that CR-Z concept car? Other than that they only mention a new hybrid in 2009 but no other info.

@LatherRinseRepeat: Actually, that appears to be the only sector still buying trucks in significant numbers.

I almost fell out of my chair laughing when Wagoner (GMs CEO) said the core of their rebuilding plan 2.5 years ago would be led by trucks and SUVs, despite there being no sign of fuel prices easing then either. Perhaps we're seeing the end of SUV mania and people will go back to buying trucks purely as work vehicles and driving small and mid-sized cars for the commute.

Hondas are pretty sweet. Still, I'm eyeing the Toyota Prius.

@Bladefist:

My brother is a commercial electrician & uses a 94' Accord sedan as a work vehicle. It's basically a toolbox on wheels.

My Texas city is dominated by SUVS and pickups with bumpers at door handle height on Honda Civics. I'll downsize when my neighbors downsize - otherwise is suicidal.

"Ford says it plans to sell F-Series trucks "at employee-discount prices this month,"

I've wondered about these "employee discount" sales - it must do wonders for your morale when any schmuck off the street can take advantage of a perk you've had to work for, just because your bosses aren't very good at marketing cars.

And when is it ever a good idea to depend on discounts for the sake of market share?

Uh, the article is misleading. The price reductions on the F-150 are to run through existing inventory. There's a new model coming out later this summer that I can't imagine will be discounted.

Why are they coming out with a new model now of all times, you ask? Heck, these thinks take time. It's not like they're going to ditch three years of planning.

if it has four-wheel drive & can do as well as my jeep in winter (ice/snow storms).... then I'd possibly consider getting one. However I doubt it does/can. Maybe if I lived in californy...

There are numerous articles in business week, etc., indicating that there is indeed a Fit hybrid coming out...I have an older Honda Odyssey that's a wonderful vehicle, albeit maybe not the best on gas. I think the Fit is a great little car and this would a great buy-the hybrid I mean...

@Bladefist: There used to be such a thing as a compact pickup. I had one once. They typically got mileage in the high 20s, and could handle most people's trucking needs. The difference between a Ford F-150 and a Mitsubishi Mighty Max (my old red truck - discontinued since the mid-90s when gas got really, really cheap) was mainly testosterone.

Pedantotron: The following passage:

"The new king is the Honda Civic, followed by four other economy models. That's right-the F-Series plummeted to fifth place in sales last month."

... doesn't add up.

I just dumped my full-sized truck for an 08 Accord sedan. I miss my truck but miss filling it up less. This is just the tip of the iceberg. Note to fellow v8'ers, prepare to get bent over for your trade, if they will even take it.

@Mayor McRib:

There are days I'm tempted to dump my V-6 sports car for something more practical. But it's a hard choice. I might just go for an affordable motorcycle instead.

Boy, there are going to be a glut of cheap used SUVs on the market over the next 12 months.

I am planning on driving my 30 MPG Protege until it dies or I do, but I would definitely take a long look at the Fit hybrid. I hope they restyle it a little, though, I don't really love the way it looks. My wife has a Civic (and it seems that the Fit is just a Civic hatchback) and I hate to drive it. The hood slopes very dramatically and there are pillars in the way. But it's very fuel-efficient.

Very happy with my '07 Civic Hybrid. Currently 47mpg and rising as the summer temps increase. Until June 30th, there's still a $1,050 tax credit (which drops to $525 after July 1st.) I was able to take advantage of the $2100 tax credit for 2007 tax filing.

@Bladefist: @LatherRinseRepeat: Funny, when my brother and I worked construction for a couple of summers we'd always take his '83 honda accord. Surprisingly we never got any crap for it.

I hate to place people in stereotypes even though I know a lot of people really love to do so (oh that person has an SUV so they are teh eVil rich white Ummerican!!!!) but I do feel that part of the reason Americans went with pickups and SUVs was just the fact that some things are next to impossible to take in a Civic.

Towards the end of her life my grandmother was living with my parents and they had to bring her wheelchair everywhere they took her. She could ride in the car so we didn't need a handicap vehicle but there was no way her chair could fit in a Civic. At the time an SUV made sense.

Now my dad has a Tacoma and while it gets decent for its size (22mpg) it's still light years behind my Elantra (34mpg) but they have different purposes. If I need to buy lumber or get a washing machine or whatever, I gotta call my dad for help.

The people using trucks and SUVs as penis replacements are the ones I get ticked at.

Of course most contractors I know either have panel vans or well used trucks as their company expense far exceeds showing off the new vehicle.

@ekthesy: My wife has a Civic (and it seems that the Fit is just a Civic hatchback) and I hate to drive it. The hood slopes very dramatically and there are pillars in the way. But it's very fuel-efficient.

Guess I'm not the only one who hates driving Civics. Honestly, I found them to be the most cramped and uncomfortable of all cars I test drove.

I just did a 300 mile trip in my matrix and averages 40mpg!... No hard breaking, no quick acceleration, and I tried to keep it around or below 60 with cruise control. Took about 10 or 15 minutes longer to get to my destination but that's about a 10mpg increase in fuel economy.

I drive a v6 toyota solara, and even their v6's get great mileage. Averaged out since I have got it is about 27 mpg. Though I do miss the 4 banger 2001 solara I traded in. At least 32 in that thing.

Chrysler is hoping its $2.99/gallon gas incentive (on selected new cars & trucks) will help sales. Fill up with their credit card and they will prorate to $2.99 - up to 15,000 miles/year for 3 years. At $3.99/gallon a 20mpg car would generate up to $750 annual savings... ($1,500 @ $4.99/gallon).

Now they just need to make a Toyota Matrix Hybrid...

Most of the Honda Civics I see driving around are retarded teenagers and early-twenties with aftermarket rims, a fart can muffler so big it looks like it used to be a Foldgers can, and a bolt-on wing on the trunk so big it's actually taller than the roof of the car. Euro-style taillights are also popular. Of course, most of them have been debadged, too, but they're still obviously Civics. I think most of these people never quite got the fact that their car is a 4-cylinder econobox.

The Fast and the Furious was apparently a very successful 2-hour long Honda Civic commercial. Impressionable kids who know nothing about real cars bought into the hype, and now every punk with a jersy, sideways hat and an attitude thinks their "pimped out" Civic is the baddest thing on the road.

Can you believe I actually saw one of these Civics with a Fast and the Furious decal on the quarterpanels? *rolls eyes*

@WraithSama: Dad?

@theblackdog: Unlikely.. Toyota/GMC missed the mark with the new matrix/vibe... while the design looks nicer, and has a faster engine, the thing suffers from 5 to 8 mpg less then the last model. Even with a hybrid they would need to fix the mess up

@battra92: If I need to buy lumber or get a washing machine or whatever, I gotta call my dad for help.

Unless your doing that sort of thing all the time, that's what U-Haul is for.

@spinachdip:
Har. Don't get me wrong, I'm only 25 myself, but I can't help but chuckle and shake my head every time I see some kid with a done-up Honda Civic and acting like it's the coolest thing around. I mean, seriously, is there actually some kind of inside competition about who can bolt on the most ridiculously huge wing? I'm gonna' be laughing my ass off one day when one of these stooges clip that St. Louis Arch on their trunk they call a wing on some fast food drive-thru awning, or maybe a low bridge.

@skahead: Now that sucks that they've screwed up the redesign because my boyfriend has an '07 Matrix and absolutely loves it.

I'll continue to keep my options open.

What amazes me is American unwillingness to drive cars, popular in other countries, that are more fuel efficient than the Civic, like the Smart Car, the Peugeot 206, the Honda Fit, etc. The myth of "car = freedom" will come to a crashing halt with the reality of the dumb being free of cars because there's no affordable gas, or no gas period.

By the time the new Ford Fiesta hits the market in 2010, gas will be at least $6-8 per gallon and even a 50mpg car may be too expensive to drive. It's $8 per gallon in Europe now and some transportation companies (including fuel transport trucks) are on the verge of going belly up.

That's what the riots in France are all about. "Coming soon, to a city near you!"

@WraithSama: I'm just messing around. I personally don't care about cars as long as they get me from point A to point B in safe and efficient way and it seems stupid to invest so much in something that inevitably and constantly loses value. But I get that for a lot of people (and not just tuners), their car is an extension of their identity, and it's hard to resist an opportunity to needle someone for a "Kids these days!" rant.

FWIW, Civics were the ricer/gearhead choice of car for customizations before the Fast and the Furious franchise came out. Something about how the engine's pretty decent and it's structurally easy to mess around. That's what I hear anyway, but I wouldn't know.

While we're talking about the Civic, do people still call UC Irvine the "University of Civics and Integras"?

@WraithSama: Har. Don't get me wrong, I'm only 25 myself, but I can't help but chuckle and shake my head every time I see some kid with a done-up Honda Civic and acting like it's the coolest thing around.

If the World Rally Championship were widely popular in the US, you'd probably see the same thing with Ford Focus hatchbacks and Suzuki SX-4s. The engines in the street models have a third of the power of the rally cars but look the same and some people act as if they are the same car. The only rally racing car that's close to the street legal version is the Subaru Impreza.

I edit the blog KickingTires for Cars.com. Here's the info on Honda's official hybrid plans:
[blogs.cars.com]

There will be 3 new hybrid models joining the Civic Hybrid over the next few years.
The new, redesigned Fit will get a hybrid version.

There will be an all-new gasoline hybrid model that will resemble the FCX Hydrogen car. This will be the Prius fighter at a price supposedly below Prius.

There will be a sport hatchback hybrid based on the very cool CR-Z concept.

They should all get better mileage than the current civic hybrid.

A few comments:

- Once you correct for driver age, smaller cars (in general) do not have appreciably higher fatality rates than big SUVs, so "I need a big car because my neighbors are driving them" is a sham. It turns out the decrease in crash safety is made up for by the fact that it's easier to avoid getting in an accident to begin with. It turns out that the best way to avoid dying in an accident is not to get in one.

- The Accord and the Camry are economy cars? They may be relatively fuel-efficient, but when you can still purchase a brand new car for less than $10,000, I think calling either of these models "economy" is a bit of a stretch. I'm hard-pressed to even include the Corolla or the Civic - they may be small(ish) cars, but their base prices seem to be about 50% higher than the models I think of as "economy". In the past month, I've seen the Focus and the Accent for $9995 and the Aveo for $8995. Like them or not, these are economy cars.

@battra92: The Fit absolutely is not a Civic Hatchback. They are completely different cars that share no components at all that I'm aware of.

I have a 2002 Civic LX coupe, and my mom is going to be selling her 97 coupe to upgrade to a new Civic. The Civic was my very first new car (having driven used cars in the past) and I'll continue to stick with them as long as they keep making Civics.