Narrowed it down to these two cars, 1-2yrs old, in diesel.

What would you choose?

Civic handles really well, takes loads of kit in the back (two bikes will easily fit in upside down with just the seatpost out, front wheel off). Good fuel comsumption. Lovely interior.

Lots of reliability problems though.

I've got a Civic, it's very good. Mine's a 2.2 diesel and I've had it remapped to 190bhp so it goes well and still gives 60+mpg on a long run. Very well equipped with loads of room – the rear seats fold up giving a floor to roof space big enough for a couple of bikes (wheels removed).

I've the new shape civic and after 110,000miles and nearly 3 years I wouldn't buy another, great for gearand bikes (as long as they arn't large framed bikes), not as economical as it statesand the ride is crap.

DON'T go for big rims/wheels, if you do get one with bigger rubber as the suspension is as bad as my rigid bike over rocks (nearly)

But doesn't the Jetta have a boot, go for the golf instead

I have a 2.2 Civic as well. Lots of room, can fit 3 bikes and people at a push but have had a load of problems with it includung a new ECU. It was however one of the the first ones off the line so might just be teething problems

I test drove a Civic and a Jetta.

Civic went well, got 52mpg on the short test drive with me booting it about a few times. It handled really well I thought, and I deliberately took it back on the bumpy roads to test the ride, and it was good. Engine was nice and free revving for a diesel – change the numbers from 1-5 on the tach to 1-7 and you wouldn't have known it from a good turbo petrol. Gearbox was a bit clunky though although positive. I think it had normal wheels, as it wasn't a sporty edition.

The Jetta was a 2.0 sport, with the stiffer suspension. Ride was very rough and handling not as good – probably cos it felt higher up. Much more boring but also kind of nice and refined. Interior was nice but dull. I'd go for Jetta rather than Golf as second hand they are many thousands cheaper and apart from the boot exactly the same. The 140bhp Jetta has the same hp as the Civic but is significantly slower, and is also much less economical. Got 42mpg on the same test run.

However – there's a Jetta I like for £9.5k, the Civics I want are all £12 ish.

the civic I drove had a crazy spoiler on the back, not sure if they all have that but it meant you couldn't see a thing out the back window.

Nowt wrong with the spoiler on the Civic. Great for keeping the lights of passed cars out of your mirror at night too.

maybe, I never drove it at night. We just got an audi instead, the mirror dims automatically on that.

The crazy spoiler is on the sporty versions I think.

I didn't look at Audi. I wonder if they have something I can afford…

Or how about an A3?

If you are considering the Jetta have a look at the Skoda Octavia. Basically same car with the praticality of a hatch and a huge boot.

I don't really like the interiors of the Octavias I've seen, which is a bit of a downer.

Audi A3s are possibly within my price range.. any other suggestions? Might check out the Skodas anyway, and then there's stuff like Citroen or Renault to consider. Thought about Ford but the dealer was a bit of a git which put me off, and the insides were kind of naff too.

If you are considering the Jetta have a look at the Skoda Octavia. Basically same car with the praticality of a hatch and a huge boot.

I wondered how long it would be before the Octavia reared its ugly head.

🙂

I've got a Civic.

Good points – great engine, well built, reliable, nice interior, massive load area when rear seats are folded, reasonable servicing costs.

Not so good points – all round visibility is poor because of weird shape, front seats don're return to previous position when folded forward to let people in and out of the back, other than that I'm very happy with it.

Nice, Mike. We were looking at 5 door so no problem there, and visibility is pants on al new cars isn't it? 🙂

molgrips – If you want a cheap one and can wait until late December I hand my leased one back then.

I leased 3/4 of it and can buy it from the lease company for a 1/4 of it's value, the value won't be much because of it's 110,000 fully serviced mainly motorway mileage and it's only had me as it's one owner.

As for the fuel economy I mentioned above, it could be down to my heavy right foot though and the course ride because I ordered the bling low profile wheels 😳

samuri – Member
the civic I drove had a crazy spoiler on the back, not sure if they all have that but it meant you couldn't see a thing out the back window.

They are strange but I found it was in a perfect place to cover the following cars headlights as night time, reducuing the glare in the rear view mirror.

Company Mondeo for me from Xmas

All Civics have that funny 2 part rear window, so even the ones without the spoiler look like they have one. My model has the spoiler (not by choice, it just came as standard) and I've got used to it now. The most annoying thing is that you can see cars behind, but not who is driving them. As John says above, it is handy though for stopping headlight glare.

Maybe, John.. I was kind of looking for one sooner though because I'm working away from home now which means plenty of time spent on the M4 which to be honest is quite mental at rush hour. I don't feel particularly secure in my 15 year old Passat..!

I know what you mean.

BTW mines a 2.2 diesel 135bph, metalic light blue (which it looks like they don't do now), EX model with electric everything, cruise control etc, etc (no sat nav)

http://www.honda.co.uk/cars/civic5door/

There are a couple of scuffs from bike forks on the rear plastic part of the back passenger door, and a little scratch on the front bumper when I clipped a car in the B&Q carpark, plus a scratch on the wind mirrow from a bin truck on a narrow lane. After a full valet (to get rid of dog hairs)it would be perfect as long as your right foot isn't as heavy as mine.

If you are interested then let me know and I'll phone the leasing company for a quote for you.

I'm based near to the the M6 and M62 junction.

How about a Seat Leon, they're pretty spacious and very economical, even the quick ones.

I tested a Seat Altea. The guy claimed it was almost the same as a Leon, not sure if that's right. It felt somehow cramped around the shoulders and there was loads of wind noise from the door pillar, which was really annoying.

With the VAG cars, there's a trade-off between power and economy. The 105hp one is not bad economy but the 140hp one is not brilliant at all – 48mpg claimed isn't good for a diesel these days. With the Honda you get the economy of the slow VWs with the power of the fast ones.

The new VAGs have a 1.6l TDI which is very nice and more economical than the Honda (on paper) but that's only on brand new cars, which are out of my price range.

I'd not have another Leon. I really didn't like it. Struggled to get above 45 mpg on a 140 diesel. Visibility is crap. Never ever worked out where the actual back end was (without a parking light and dark to tell me. Could have been a mm or a m never could tell. Wished I'd gone for the Civic at the time (even though I found the steering a bit vague).

Also I like Octavias. Most practical VAG car in my book…

🙂

I can give a big vote for the Civic: had mine for 3 1/2 years, done over 110k miles in it, reliability is really good (only issues have been some trim rattles, a faulty brake fluid level sensor and a small area of paint bubling on the roof, all fixed under warranty: the local Honda garage is excellent). MPG is really down to how you drive, I usually get 53-54mpg, worst has been about 45mpg, best has been 58mpg using a very light touch on the accelerator and religiously obeying the speed limit 🙂
Good for carrying 2 bikes in the back with the seats flipped up though the rear door trim can get damaged by metal handlebar end-caps…

Oh, and it looks ace too 8)

Other good cars to look at area probably Octavia TDis (v underated and basically a Golf underneath), Alfa 147 JTD 16v or poss an old shape Accord.

Hired a Jetta on holiday in Spain recently for 2 weeks. It was a 2.0 Diesel and to be honest I wasnt impressed.
It was sluggish and noisy and even the during the short period I drove it for the build quality didnt seem much better than anything else. Isnt that what people buy German cars for?

A suprisingly spacious boot however.

I drive a Peugeot 307 SW 1.6 Diesel and I prefer the Peugeot which has done 4 x the mileage and has the smaller engine.

IMO of course.

I just had to pick a new car and test drove the Civic. I'm 6'5" and couldn't get comfortable. However the rear seats are great and 2.2 engine brilliant (but thirsty). In the end I've gone for a Octavia.

db

I have an 04 Civic 1.6 – 5 dr SE trim, besides normal wear and tear – in 64k miles I have had absolutely nothing go wrong, there are no rattles, MPG is good enough for me and as already stated the rear with seats down will take 2 bikes with wheels removed off the frames.

All Civics have that funny 2 part rear window

The Prius has this too – I got used to it pretty quickly.

I dunno how you can call the 2.0 Jetta sluggish – unless you're one of those people who don't know how to drive diesels 🙂 The one I test drove had a massive wallop of torque at first but more than about 3.5k it lessened, so you had to change up at that point to get the next wallop. It also seemed very well made and the reliability of VW and all German cars is about a billion times better than those crappo fall-to-bits merchants Peugot. And you may have been lucky, but about 8/10 people I've spoken to who had Peugots have had major problems with them.

The one I test drove had a massive wallop of torque at first but more than about 3.5k it lessened, so you had to change up at that point to get the next wallop.

That's my fuel economy problems with my 2.2 Civic (above) heavy right foot all the time 😳

Stafford and back today only 45mpg, but I might have broken the speed limit once or twice 😈

Just picked up my new civic, 2.2 deisel. Drove to dublin and back, about a 260 mile round trip, at 70+ on the motorway and less on very twisty back roads. Got about 54mpg, and not trying to be economical. Round town, low 40's is achievable.

Engine is punchy, and pulls well (coming from a 2.0t petrol megane) which means fewer gear changes on a b road if you want. Gearing is quite long, so 6th is really a fast A road/motorway cruising gear, but great in gear flexibility with little lag. Surprisingly smooth and quiet for an oil burner.

Seats are a little narrow (i'm a big fella though) but the trade off is nice grip on the thighs. I'm 6ft 5 and got a good driving position.

C pillar is huge, vision is crap when reversing. Split rear window takes getting used to. Bonnet falls away, so doesn't give any clues where the front may be.

Much better handling than the megane, firmer ride, but more communicative and a much better drive. Got the standard 16" alloys.

Nice one Andy – is yours new? 54mpg should improve after a few thousand miles. The Prius took 3 summers and 50k miles to reach its best.

I wasn't sure at first but listening to you lot I really am getting more and more keen on the Civic. That engine is an amazing engineering feat.

been getting well over 50 mpg average in my Octavia 2.0TDI. Infact I can do my London Cardiff commute twice on one tank.

Well over 50 isn't anything special these days. I wanna know if you are getting over 55 with 70mph driving 🙂

Civic looks good. Jetta doesn't.

Hired a car from Hertz at Girona airport this year, Imagine how chuffed I was when I walked into the lot to see a Golf GTTDi – **** awesome car, So good, I'd drop down a few years to maybe a 56-57 model.

I've had a 2.2 diesel Civic for 18 months now and I am counting the day until I get rid in another 18 months.

Fuel consumption is the main issue – no matter how I drive, it barely gets above 40 mpg. People have told me it will get better with age. I have now done about 40k and have seen no improvement – if I drive like an OAP I can sometimes get up as high as 45 mpg. The Octavia I had prior to this driven in a similar manner would give about 70 mpg.

And the Skoda is probably the biggest issue I have with the Civic – in comparison to the Octavia everything about the Civic is slightly wrong – the turning circle is akin to that of a bus, the 4th 5th and 6th gears are too close in ratio, the sat-nav was 2 years out of date when I got it and they want £195 to update it, the computer gives less useful information, the cheapo plastic petrol filler cover, folding mirrors which don't fold when you lock the car only when you press the button inside. I could go on. Most of the issues are minor niggles but when you have to live with it everyday they build up to a major annoyance.

The only reason I didn't get another Octavia was because of the less than helpful main dealers close to me. I probably won't let this stop me next time.

Get the Jetta if it suits but definitely look at the Skoda and avoid the Civic.

Molgrips, its 4 days old.

54 mpg wasn't even trying. I reset the clock and did 40 miles around town with only a short run where i could use 5th and 6th briefly, and still got 44mpg. I know how to drive economically though, short shift, light throttle input, leave a good gap to the car in front so you can hold your speed where possible.

I'll give it a 56mph a road economy run on thursday, and I reckon 60mpg should be achievable. These are all from the trip computers figures btw, I haven't even emptied the first near full tank, and its got about 400 miles on it.

I've done 100k in an Octavia 1.9 TDi, 110k in a Mondeo 2.0 TDCi and have recently gone for a Civic 2.2 CDTi. In all areas but one the Mondeo was better than the Octavia – better handling, faster, comfier (the Octavia I had had seats like concrete). Where the Mondeo fell down was after 120k bits started wearing out and it became costly to keep running. Still drove very well but I couldn't afford to keep it (ask Mondeo owners about dual mass flywheels).

It's early days for the Civic, but first impressions are: good practical load space, looks great, very refined for a diesel, ace panoramic roof, very nice seats and a cool dash. The rear spoiler does has the advantage of hiding headlights, but in an ideal world I'd manage without it thanks. I think the suspension is ace. Yes, it's a tad harsh on the potholes, but you forget that when you're tanking around a corner and it seems very well damped. It's fast in a "don't realise how fast you're going" kind of way, but so far I'd say the Mondeo was more fun and involving.

Civic looks good. Jetta doesn't.

I beg to differ 🙂 I like them both – the Jetta might edge it but they are different.

I dunno wtf is going on with Mr_C's car. Something wrong with it, I feel. How come andyl56 gets such a different result?

As for Octavias – my mate had the 4×4 1.9 TDi and couldn't get more than 49mpg despite the advertised figure being 57mpg..