Learn me - 8th gen Civic Si

8th gen Civic Si's are just about coming into the upper end of my price range down here in Peru, unfortunately most are coupes.   How daft would I be to look at a coupe when I do the school run every day (a 3 and 6 yr old).  They get in and out of their car seats no problem, it's just buckling them up that I need to do.  My eldest will soon be out of her high back booster due to her height, and just with a lower booster.   The only sedans are around $2k more, which is a bit over budget.  They all have 90k -100k kms on them (whether that's real or not..)

Aside from that, from what I can glean, I need to be looking at the clutch master cylinder, the syncros on 2nd and 3rd, and the AC as common problem areas.   Any thing else?

This is for DDing, the school run, and my 'commute' which is a mix of stop/start town driving, some highway, lots of potholes, and a few miles of unsurfaced gravel/mud tracks, plus the occasional 9hr trip through the mountains for work.

I'm also considering the 4th gen Legacy 3.0r (mostly from a safety viewpoint for the kids), but the only ones around currently are autos, and I'm not sure if I can cope with only autos.  The other option is just keeping my poor '08 Mazda 3 of course - I'm just thinking I'd like something with side airbags for the kids, especially as my eldest soon won't have the added protection of a high-back booster.

A lot of them had really bad paint issues if that is a concern for you.

The problem with 3 and 6 year olds is that they turn into 7 and 10 year olds, like really quickly.

My 4 door Integra, being used for school run, similar age to your kids, is doing very well. I am pleasantly surprised at the rear leg room. Feels roomier than our 11 Mazdaspeed3. Then again, it could be the low belt line and nice glass area.  It is my first ever sedan (we always do hatchbacks, and wagons), but the kids have more room there than the TSX Wagon we have in the fleet, it seems.

Good luck with the decision.

Having now been daily driving a 8th gen Si coupe for nearly 4 months. You can do it. But the driver seat does not have the fancy slider like the passenger one. My recommendation is spend the extra bucks on a sedan. 

You can make the coupe work. But it's going to be a pain. 

Thats my advice. Great cars though. Mine has 2.5 times the miles of the ones you're looking at being as it has 170k miles. Great cars, here in the states parts a plentiful and easy to get aftermarket or from Honda. IDK how it will be for you down in Peru. 

Thanks folks, I appreciate the opinions.  I shall keep on pondering, and if I ever make a decision there'll be a new build thread...

Found a super clean 1 owner 70K mile red one. $11K. 

I read about the thrid gear grind issue.

What are we looking at on the CMC?

Other things to watch out for?I am tempted to get it, as it might be a great replacement for my 01 4 door GSR

Tyler H said:

The problem with 3 and 6 year olds is that they turn into 7 and 10 year olds, like really quickly.

7 and 10 year olds are probably easier to get into the back of a 2-door than 3 and 6 -- no car seats, they can buckle themselves in, and they still fit.  It's 14 and 17 year olds where it's a problem...

codrus (Forum Supporter) said:

Tyler H said:

The problem with 3 and 6 year olds is that they turn into 7 and 10 year olds, like really quickly.

7 and 10 year olds are probably easier to get into the back of a 2-door than 3 and 6 -- no car seats, they can buckle themselves in, and they still fit.  It's 14 and 17 year olds where it's a problem...

 

That's when you give them the keys to the Civic and get a new car.  

An ex-GF of mine from a few years back bought a used 2007 2-door Si while we were dating. From what I remember:

-At around 5 years old and 50-55k miles, 3rd gear was already starting to act up. It didn't grind at all, it just popped out of gear every once in a blue moon and a lot of times it felt like it was "helping" you get out of 3rd gear if you went to shift or put the car in neutral at speed.

-The car noticeably pulled to the right on two different sets of tires and after at least one alignment. I remember doing some homework on some forums back then and it seemed to be a common issue that owners just lived with.

-The windshield wipers had some weird deal where you just replaced the rubber blade with a new "insert". Ex went nuts when even auto parts stores couldn't help her. I figured it out and ordered her maybe half a dozen sets of OEM "inserts" from Honda. When it came time to replace them again, she lost the stash . IIRC, this was only for 2006 and 2007 and Honda went back to just a standard "J-hook" replaceable wiper for 2008.

-The car was black and the paint started to get real bad maybe around 2014 IIRC

-I can't remember what tires were on the stock wheels, but they weren't great in SE MI winters. We ended up putting on a set of steelies with snow tires and it was night and day.

-FWIW, I kind of remember the insurance cost being A LOT higher than the Ion Redline and WRX Wagon I owned at the time.

Otherwise, the car was solid. Surprisingly comfortable and a riot to drive. I installed an AEM short ram intake and it sounded great getting wound past 8k RPM's on a daily basis. I also remember the sound system being remarkably good. I don't have any kids (that I know of), but if I did, I'd probably only consider the 4-door, especially if they'll be regular passengers. I'd love to get one to daily if/when I ever need to replace my Honda Fit.

Tyler H (Forum Supporter) said:

 

That's when you give them the keys to the Civic and get a new car.  

Funny you mentioned that. I am test driving two SI Sedans today. My youngest said, "can I use the Si when I grow up to learn how to drift?"

oldest said "dad doesn't even keep a car long enough for you to go the next grade"

How do they ride?  He mentions lots of potholes and some off-road driving.

I know the Speed3 we had would NOT be ideal for that.  It would be a bit of torture and likely have a lot of clearance issues.

Bought one 

part of the club now 

68k miles 

1 owner 

$11,300 with tax and license 

pick it up Friday (I have nobody to help me drive it now) 

As previous owner of 11 MS3, car rides way better 

Congrats, I shall follow your experiences with interest.  I still haven't changed from the ´08 3, COVID kinda put a hold on everything down here, we're still in a state of emergency until the end of July

Interested to hear it rides better than the MS3.  There is still an '08 Si sedan for sale here which tempts me, 90k kms, standard bar an intake and looks fairly tidy, I thought $11.5k was far too much, but if you're paying nearly that in the States, maybe it's not so bad!

paul_s0 said:

Congrats, I shall follow your experiences with interest.  I still haven't changed from the ´08 3, COVID kinda put a hold on everything down here, we're still in a state of emergency until the end of July

 

Interested to hear it rides better than the MS3.  There is still an '08 Si sedan for sale here which tempts me, 90k kms, standard bar an intake and looks fairly tidy, I thought $11.5k was far too much, but if you're paying nearly that in the States, maybe it's not so bad!

I negotiated mine down to 10K then with tax and registration came to 11,300$ total. My issue was I only wanted 09-11. I also wanted 1 owner, no modifications, as lower miles as I could find. 68K miles one, with honda dealer service records is what I found. Is it too much to pay? Probably. But I can't find one, and I didn't want a Honda Fit for $11,000. 

Nice, that is tidy.   Here there are only '07 & '08, then the '15 onwards

paul_s0 said:

Nice, that is tidy.   Here there are only '07 & '08, then the '15 onwards

Thanks! Ah ok, didn't know that. 

Looks really nice! Congrats. Let us know how it treats you.

What is it about those years that you wanted?

CyberEric said:

Looks really nice! Congrats. Let us know how it treats you.

What is it about those years that you wanted?

To me I didn't want to deal with the tranny problems of the earlier years. Yes there are earlier cars with NO trans problems, and there are later cars WITH trans problems. Statiscally speaking, the 09-11 cars are supposedly better and doesnt have as high rate of a trans problem.

I love  the updated front bumper, more aggresive front grills,  with standard fog lights, better tail lights, USB, and bluetooth if you get one with the navigation package, as mine is. I hate the wheels though.