Gutmann pug

Friend has a choice of company cars. Budget is around £19K

She is torn between the new civic and a golf. Both would be diesels, civic has more gismo's as standard, golf is a golf.

Personally I would go for the golf, for no reason other the only civic which isnt an old person's car is a type R IMHO.

She knows there are other choices by the way but she is only interested in the two mentioned.

Any thoughts?

Gary

MattW

The missus has the Golf (2.0GTTDi), my mates build the Civic. I wouldn't have a Civic because they are everywhere in Swindon (Honda employee cars) however the lads reckon it's a cracking car. The design of both interior and exterior would IMO be more suited to a younger person.

Senior_AP

baaaarp.

neesha

Have sold the scoob after 4 years and got a new civic diesel - fantastic car performance cracking for a diesel Handlig pretty good and saving about 3 a month on fuel - well worth a test drive imho

RAJ27

Saw a load of oldies at the Honda garage picking up their Civics.....asked the sales guy and he said it was on the Motability scheme. Wonder what that would do for the new Civic's image?

2.2 Civic

Quick comparison

Golf 2.0 GT TDi

138bhp@4000rpm/236lb ft@3200rpm
0-62: 9.3secs
CO2: 154g/km
Combined mpg: 49.6
Ins group: 13
Retained value: 43%
Sounds like: tractor
Boot space: 350 litres
Reliability: Average

Civic 2.2 i-CTDi

138bhp@4000rpm/251lb ft@2000rpm
0-62: 8.6secs
CO2: 135g/km
Combined mpg: 55.4
Ins group: 10
Retained value: 43% (estimated)
Sounds like: a faint breeze
Boot space: 485 litres
Reliability: Excellent

From an engineering/performance perspective the Honda's lump is superior to the Golf in every area. Interior space is also superior which is odd as they share the same footprint and the Golf is a more boxy shape. In terms of real world attributes the Civic is difficult to beat as it has superior engineering and practicality. It drives well too which makes it a great package. I've not driven the Golf but can imagine there isn't much in it.

I had a good look at the Golf before I bought the Civic and its a very nice car. The seats are excellent as is the interior ambience but the quality of the materials has gone downhill compared to the previous model. By comparison the Civic does not feel as distant as it once was although there's still some naff plastic present.

My conclusion on viewing the two was that the Golf, although nice, still costs a packet (if not more) but has not evolved or improved a great deal since the last model. VW rode on the back of reputation with the last Golf and have not done a great deal to make up for it as it's essentially the same car but with a poorer quality interior and slightly better engine. By comparison the Civic has improved massively and is full of innovative engineering. If you compare it with the rest of the hatches out there it is clear that Honda have actually given the car some thought which makes all the difference.

Darren

cookstar

iTrader: (6)

Is there a big price difference

Diablo

Golf will have better residuals (probably) but if its a company car what does she care?

Civic should be cheaper on the tax front, more economical and more practical - it has a very clever rear seating arrangement.

The civic will also come with better dealer service and nothing will go wrong.

It will also be much less common than a Golf (except in Swindon ) and have more toys as standard.

And there's no way the new Civic will be bought by the blue rince brigade..LOL...


If she can get past the looks, its a no brainer IMO.

sgcooby

I owned the previous generation tdi golf and it was a fantastic car but as others have the said the dealers are dire. Once you buy the car they dont want to see you again and make no attempt to hide these feelings either every time the car is back in for some minor fault or another. I am a big fan of VAG cars but really think the civic diesel looks a class car. When it comes down to actually parting with my own money though I feel i would be driving into the VW showroom again irresepective of the ***** in the service dept. Pound for pound I think the civic looks the better car but the VW is still a great car and I dont think you could ever be dissapointed if you bought one.

Dream Weaver

Civic, all the boy banders drive Golf's round here, all driven like they stole them as well

Annoys them when the 205 anhialates them

2.2 Civic

Sorry to hijack the thread but I'm really interested in why people would still buy a Golf knowing that the Civic is the better (engineered) car and that Honda service is superior

Is it that the Golf is a safe car to buy and blends in with the surroundings better ? Or is it that other people's opinions of what you drive i.e. fitting in/image, is an important factor ? Maybe tuning overrides all esle ?

Just curious

richs2891

Well out of the two I would go for the Honda as I prefer Honda to VW's !

I think that the recent Honda's are aimed at a younger market - possible less conservative than the Golf and the service offered by Honda is a lot better than Golf (ex CTR owner). We had a Golf GTI as a pool car - average is the best word I would use to the car and average dealer quality - but higher priced

To answer 2.2 Civic's question, I imagine a lot of Golfs are sold purely on reputation as been good reliable car (yeah like Honda are unreliable !!)
Because of the perceived reputation I would imagine the Golf would have the better calculated resale after three years - but it would not suprise me at all in three years if the Honda was worth more

Richard

Scoobedoo

Recently undergone the same decision myself since I've sold the scooby. Had a Fabia VRS but got a refund because it had LOADS of problems!

After driving both the new Civic and Golf I felt the Golf drove better and felt quicker despite the Civic being more advantaged in the power to weight areas.

I'm awaiting delivery of my new Golf GT TDi at the moment :-)

Christ

The newer Golf has a fair bit more poke than the Civic.

Golf 2.0 GT TDi

170bhp/258lb@1750rpm
0-62: 8.2secs
Top Speed 137mph

Civic 2.2 i-CTDi

138bhp@4000rpm/251lb ft@2000rpm
0-62: 8.6secs
Top Speed 127mph

Scoobedoo

I've heard about the 170bhp model but i meant the 140 one...

Christ

Sorry, was responding to "2.2 Civic" he was comparing them before...

No doubt the 140's and 170's will remap to similar figures, and there are plenty
of tuners to choose from unlike the Honda..

Did you get any extras?

Chris

Scoobedoo

Managed to pickup a new UK one for 17300 including Diamond Black Paint and the Permium protection pack. Some dealers are selling 06's for 16k still, might as well buy new!

Took the price from one of these internet sites (16380) and added the extras. Ended up paying a little extra (£400) for the privilage of buying from a dealer.

Rob D

Just have taken delivery of a new Golf GT TDi 140 and have been very impressed with it. Girlfriend had a Polo before this but fell in love with the DSG gearbox on the Golf (as we do a lot of town driving) which is superb.
Bought it through an internet broker and saved ourselves £2500, although still pricey for a medium family car the secondhand vaules were too high so thats why we decided to buy new.

Did look at a civic as well but the gf thought it looked like a Cylon! and of course no DSG gearbox.

andys

For 19K you would be looking at Civic 2.2 ex which comes with all the toys inculding the excellent sat nav

gingerboy

The Honda 2.2 D endine is superb, can't comment on the civic although have driven an Accord with the same power plant and was well impressed. Compared to my 2.0tdi Passat it was whisper quiet and I would imagine it does not have the same propensity to drink oil which can be a pain!!

I know it's not a Civic / Golf comaprisson but having experienced both engines I would go honda every time.

At the end of the day I suppose it's personal choice regarding styling, build quality etc from there on in.

GB