[nishant_kingpin]

I have been planning to change my Tata Indigo Lx and move into the Corolla/Civic segment.

Driving both cars, I have come close to deciding on the corolla some of the things about this car that excite me include:
- Greater structural strength and bonnet height giving a reassuring feel.
- Better ride quality and handling characteristics.
- Better looking interiors (Personal opinion).
- 10000 KM service window with lower maintanence cost with 3 years warranty and 100000 KM upper limit.
- The only con on the vehicle that I feel was its dated looks but then there were many things that parrelled or were ahead of the civic.

Civic on the other hand had:
- More space owing to the falt bet that it has on the rear.
- Was lower in height that means it will just go below the truck/bus bumpers.
- It has great looks as well as good interiors which feel plasticy during the day.
- The Honda dealerships are now high headed and dont seem to treat the customer as well as toyota does and did in the past.

Whats the friends on the forum feeling.

[theEnd]

Very strange list of pros and cons there.. I'm not sure if I can help out if you like your cars to "just go below the truck/bus bumpers".

The Civic is a much newer car, more refined, more powerful, better looking. Its superior to the Corolla in everything except price and low speed drivability.

[drifter]

Between the two...i'd vote for the civic.

Drifter

[Vid6639]

I would suggest you go for the corolla. It seems you are more intent on the corolla and have found it better than the civic.

If youre looking for a car to use as a safe and comfy way to commute the corolla is a good choice.

If youre more into driving and the fun types then the Civic makes more sense.

[normally_crazy]

Nishant,

If you are going to drive its the Honda Civic. But I think this will be the car that your dad will be driven around in (saw your thread - Indigo on sale), if this is the case - its the Corolla hands down

[danlalan]

Civic is a better option of the two..looks,interiors,comfort,performance,ownership ,and i doubt you have to worry about it being lower than the truckers bumper unless you visit that place quite often....??

[faithless_1984]

i would also suggest you go for the civic. it has much better looks ,interiors are way ahead of the corolla or any other car in its class ,the brand value and no they are not high headed but i guess it differs from dealer to dealer.
the corolla looks outdated now plus imho you will get better value for money with the civic.!

[sandeep108]

Bonnet height - yes, structural strength - civic is better. The corolla doors/boot feel very tinny.
Better ride/handling - not at all, except at low speed. Corolla has much more body roll as compared to civic, which will lead to more car sickness in back seat. Corolla handling feels vague, while civic connects the driver to the road very well. I think biggest misconception is handling good=ultra soft suspension. Civic brakes feel very good. I had a chance to take a civic on ghats (and OMG huge amount of power between 4-6k rpm) and was quite surprised at how much I could chuck it about, it held the road better than my Swift.
Additional warranty can be purchased at nominal cost. Personally, I would prefer 6 month service interval, given our indian conditions.

But corolla does seem vfm while civic seems a tad overpriced (but is still selling like hot cakes).

But finally you/your family need to TD both cars several times and decide based on your priorities.

[Equus]

Going forward, I think a lot of folks would have this question. Would requests the experts do a thorough comparision since most folks dont quite like what the magazines dish out..

[nishant_kingpin]

Thanks for the opinions team, the reason that I brought up the height was the safety bit and some of the highways around Delhi are single lane.


I am in agreement that the Civic is a driver’s car and has an eager to run feel that the Corolla seems to lack. Also the Civic is roomier in breadth than the Corolla and on the other hand has little less head and leg room.

Some of the things that are in contrast for the two cars are as under:

- Looks Civic is much better. Corolla does not stand a chance.

- Space its 50-50 as on one hand civic is broader also it has a flat floor. The Toyota has leg and head room to compensate.

- Ride, I felt the Civic was more bumpy than the Corolla. (Was driving a poorly maintained car probably in case of the Civic). Add to that the Civic touched t road on two occasions during the test which had me worried.

- The test drive Civic had clocked 5752 KMs and had rattle all over it. I tried another car at another dealership with 7300 in the dial and it was the same. Corollar absolutely the opposite with more on the dial.

- The interiors, I found the Civics interiors in the day look like the OHC interiors with a fell of 13L car missing. Night obviously was a different league. Corolla interiors looked great with the leather and wood finish during the day and Night was not bad.

- Why should a manufacturer not provide Fog lamps and charge an atrocious sum for it. Also if the central fascia looks better with the silver add on, why is it not a standard feature or part of a top model version and needs to be purchased for a price.

- In terms of resale value, a Civic and Corolla bought today would probably have a Rs 50,000 gap between them. However with the Service frequency of the Civic being short and much more costly, I am taking the below Example:

Average Cost of Service for Corolla considering 3 years/1L KM: 2000 Per Service => 2000 X 6 = 12000
Average Cost of Service for Civic considering 2 years/40K KM: 4500 Per Service => 4500 X 12 = 54000

- The Maintenance cost of the Civic is close to the Octavia as per the Survey on Overdrive November issue. Corolla is closer to the lower end of the segment.

- When the new Corolla arrives sometime in 2008, I expect it to be higher than 15L on price which should only have a positive impact on the resale price of the car bought today.

- Last but not the least, I felt a high that sales team on both Honda dealerships carried and customer did not seem to be the king with them.

Please let me know if you think any of the above is not the right way to evaluate competition. My post may seem edged towards Corolla but that is because, I felt it was better. The decision is still open. Also if someone can guide me on how to get a car from the CSD (Defense Canteen), I would be grateful.

[Minardi]

whatever u decide, do give a fair bit of thought to Cedia Currently there is a thread in 'the Indian Car Scene' sub-forum, have a look.

[jerish666]

Best option is Civic

[fight_club]

whatever u decide, do give a fair bit of thought to Cedia

took words out of my mouth. why not take a test drive with the current deal you can get best out of both world pls also check cost of service and spares as they are considered as costly

[nishant_kingpin]

Originally Posted by fight_club

took words out of my mouth. why not take a test drive with the current deal you can get best out of both world pls also check cost of service and spares as they are considered as costly

Thanks planning to take a test drive today. Lets see what evolves

[sandeep108]

Thanks for the opinions team, the reason that I brought up the height was the safety bit and some of the highways around Delhi are single lane.

I am in agreement that the Civic is a driver’s car and has an eager to run feel that the Corolla seems to lack. Also the Civic is roomier in breadth than the Corolla and on the other hand has little less head and leg room.

- Space its 50-50 as on one hand civic is broader also it has a flat floor. The Toyota has leg and head room to compensate.

I feel that the civic is a more modern and safer car than the corolla. The civic is far roomier on the inside, with more than adequate head/leg room. The problem area is the boot, which is quite small.

- Ride, I felt the Civic was more bumpy than the Corolla. (Was driving a poorly maintained car probably in case of the Civic). Add to that the Civic touched t road on two occasions during the test which had me worried.

As I said earlier, the civic does have a bit of a bumpy low speed ride, since it has a much firmer suspension and much less body roll. Once you cross 40-60kmph, that is when the civic really begins to shine, all the way to 140kmph. Try it for yourself and see. That is why I said, it all depends on your needs. If your driver is driving it mostly in the city, you will find corolla suspension setup better. GC is same on both civic and corolla. Actually, corolla reduced the GC to 170mm (NHC has 160mm) on their newer model.

- The test drive Civic had clocked 5752 KMs and had rattle all over it. I tried another car at another dealership with 7300 in the dial and it was the same. Corollar absolutely the opposite with more on the dial.

I have yet to sit in a car in India that does not have rattles. The newer mercs maybe the exception. That being said, a relatives corolla had several rattles (glove box, rear right, etc.) from day 1 that have not yet been fixed after 2 services. Civic also has some rattles, take your chance whether they will get fixed or not.

- Why should a manufacturer not provide Fog lamps and charge an atrocious sum for it. Also if the central fascia looks better with the silver add on, why is it not a standard feature or part of a top model version and needs to be purchased for a price.

Well, that is part of their pricing strategy. In Mumbai, I have simply no need for fog lamps on my Swift ZXI, the 5-6k I might have spent on a better ICE. After all the corolla is a much older model and well depreciated, lower cost to manufacture, in civic, honda is giving you almost all of their latest global technology and at a price that certainly gave the competition a big fright, absent features notwithstanding.

I think you have unfairly compared cost of service. Why would civic service cost 4,500 and corolla 2,000? Do check and let me know.

The corolla is a very good average car, just that civic seems a generation ahead. I would suggest you wait a bit, if you can. After feedback of 6 - 9 months, honda would rectify most of the issues of a new model and you would get an even better civic.