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Hi everybody
Ok the problem (s) isn’t all that complicated…
First of all I want to tell u a bit about me as it is a part of my first problem
I am a college student doing cse b.tech from Chandigarh...I have been driving my bike for almost 5 years now and I have no 4-wheel driving experience (read: I’m useless behind a steering stupid: ) …Now earlier this month I somehow managed to convince my dad to get me a new car ….well that is where it gets bad

Problem 1: well I had always eyed on my dad’s lancer(but he never used to let me touch it) so I have always had a thing for sedans from the start and don’t really like hatchbacks a lot….now when I told my friends and family that I’m planning to buy a sedan(probably a city or a civic) as my first car they started of with U ARE GOING TO RUIN IT and U WONT BE ABLE TO HANDLE IT…and a lot of that now I thought about it , and was considering to buy a hatchback first and move on to sedan later but well I figured that it won’t happen see the thing is I’m getting this hunch that If I get a hatchback first then there will never be a sedan , I’ll be stuck with it …and that I don’t want but I don’t want to ruin the first car I get either…
So here’s the question can I handle and maintain civic as my first car after learning how to drive (from maruti driving school).
Problem 2: well I have another problem earlier I was thinking of going with the new Honda city but after reading the article on new VS old car it kind of changed my mind as I always wanted a civic ,
So should I go for a Honda city 1.5 S A/T(new) or Civic 1.8S M/T(Used car) …city has an ex-showroom price of 8.93L and I found a may 2007 registered civic open for negotiations at 8L..

Please give me your opinions I am planning to buy the car next month

Regards
Arjit Bhargava

Go get that Civic. :)

A long time ago, many of us had Ambis for first cars, I am sure you can handle the Civic, especially since you know riding, and have been on our roads for some time.

Just take some extra training, maybe from a elder in the family on parking etc with a bigger car.

Ha!Ha! Dad wouldn’t let you touch his Lancer, but would get you a Civic! Go for it. If you can learn to handle a Maruti, you can drive the Civic too.

Buy a Civic, gift it to your Dad and use his Lancer. You get a sedan and once you are comfortable, you can always borrow or swap the civic.

Get the civic , its totally worth it.
Forget the city if you get a good civic cheaper

Civic is a tempting car,but not the best one to drive around or to learn driving on.Lack of visibility and sheer size,lack of low end torque might give some hiccup's to a newbie.Never the less your call.Test drive one if you think you can manage good enough.

The switch from a bike to a car can be very frustrating initially. Depending on the depth of your pocket go either for an old car or a new car. You will have to junk it in a few years in any case. While switching over from my bike to a car I had bought a used car, bashed it up mercilessly and then threw it away and ultimately got a new new car. All the best.

Practice is the necessary. I drive both 4 wheelers Baleno and Maruti 800 and bike Suzuki zeus.
Let me tell you its very, very irritating to switch fast, but I have to continue using both.
In your case, go for Honda City and not Civic IMO.
Some negative points about Civic:
1) Very low slung. In night driving the headlights of two wheelers even at low beam will fall on your eyes.
2) Ground clearence issues. Very low. You need experience to deal with these given the size of speed breakers in India.
3) The bottom end torque is not good. Not a great thing for a newbie, IMO.

City will be better in all the three points as compared to Civic.
But if you are going to use this car for long highway trips, then go for Civic. Can keep up with larger cars and engines loves to be worked out.
I suggest you give the regular usage the car is going to have and mainly where will it be driven, highway or city.

But before buying even a second hand Civic or new G3HC, practice a lot in any small Maruti hatch except Swift. Preferably Wagon R. Wagon R has got great bottom end torque, excellent visibility, small size and these are ideal for learning.
Then you will be comfortable with large sedans, not instantly, but wont be a shock and within a fortnight you will be comfortable with using sedans.

A civic is one of the easiest cars to drive. I owe passing California driving test to the civic.
As first cars both the Corolla and Civic make good sense.

I personally feel if you can drive one car, you can drive any car. Well in your case as you don't have any early driving experience. I feel you should go for a second hand hatch first. Drive it at least 1000 km (city + highways). Dump the car in next month or two at nominal loss. Till that time full reviews of New City will be available. Test drive both new City and used Civic and go with whatever your heart says.
Hope this help's you.
VikCho

Dont rush with your decision of buying a car. First Learn driving in the biggest car the driving school can provide you. See if you are good at handling the car in busy streets. If you are exceptionally good, then go ahead and buy a Civic after say a month of learning, if not then go for a second hand small car and Improve your driving first. If possible do try and run in civic for few hours.
Just keep in mind. Since you'll drive a car now you'll feel much safer behind steering wheel then bike so please Dont drive fast, Dont take life for granted.
Cheers and Congrats

thanks guys for all your help....and well i thought over and decided that i'll first continue with learning how to drive after which i'll take a test drive of both the cars and decide then only....

p.s : my heart still beats for civic

OT: by the way i heard a civic face lift coming soon ....wen is it expected....and will there be a price drop after its launch on stocked cars and used cars..?

Civic Hybrid, imported from Japan has seen a massive drop to 13.65L ex showroom, you may want to try that out

wow thats a big drop....it used to retail for like 19L ....but sadly its still out of my budget my max budget under any case is 11L...

Buy the CIVIC for your dad, take the Lancer for yourself. Mod it, ICE it, and have fun. On occassions borrow the CIVIC.

Also, once you get the Lancer, you are at no risk of wrecking the new car. cheers: