Why did you choose your Corolla over the Civic?

[Black64]

Curious as to why you choose your Corolla over a Civic? I am sure you at least thought of the Civic once before you were going to purchase a Corolla(admit it!), I know I did. Here are my reasons

• In my opinion, I feel the corolla would be slightly (5%ish) more reliable then the Civic, just from hearing friends that have owned both.
• Cheaper to insure
• I sat in and drove both, I prefer the Corolla interior more
• Better rear leg room
• Cheaper parts, a huge factor for a DIYer like myself
• Better A/C, I live in FL
• I like the look of both, but the Corolla now is on the same playing field as the civic, so it's a tie

 

[Matthew]

The two tier dash is terrible. That's what pretty much turned me away. I don't like the cluster and the lane watch cameras are dumb. Corolla is quieter and rides better. Honda quality has gone down a little bit over the recent years. They aren't made like they used to be.

 

[Froylan Palacios]

My girlfriend owned a 2001 Corolla and I loved the little car, very reliable and powerful engine. She abused that car for about 4 years. My cousin has owned 3 Civics in 1.5 years, overheat issue with all of them. Easy choice for me!
The Corolla is just better looking in my opinion, the redesigned interior is beautiful, the dash lights up a blue color and it looks amazing.
Blue is my favorite color so had to get the Blue Crush Rolla. The body of the Rolla is just beautiful, I love the look of the taillights and headlights.
Performance is good, but Rollas are better for their fuel economy than their performance. Doesn't hurt to modify it to give it a little more umph and I'm looking to get an exhaust system to make it sound nice.
That's why I chose the Corolla S over a Civic.

 

[HanSolo]

It was ultimately the use of direct fuel injection in the Civic that turned me away combined with the $25k MSRP price which is $2k more than my LE Premium for the similar level of options. I am not convinced in the use of DI until we see more adoption of duel fuel injection systems like in the Tacoma V6 or the Lexus and Mercedez engines. The Civic has by far a more premium feel and ride, but I would have gotten the Focus at that price as the Focus is probably the most premium feeling compact car I have ever driven(rented a lot of them).

 

[Black64]

It was ultimately the use of direct fuel injection in the Civic that turned me away combined with the $25k MSRP price which is $2k more than my LE Premium for the similar level of options. I am not convinced in the use of DI until we see more adoption of duel fuel injection systems like in the Tacoma V6 or the Lexus and Mercedez engines. The Civic has by far a more premium feel and ride, but I would have gotten the Focus at that price as the Focus is probably the most premium feeling compact car I have ever driven(rented a lot of them).

Have to agree with you on the price, every Civic I looked at was few thousand over better equiped Corollas, it was a no brainer for me.

 

[jolly]

I might have gone Civic, interior felt more premium than Corolla but I really like the design of the latter and, for my size, I felt cramped in the Civic driver seat. Plus two friends have had transmission issues in Civic and, most of all, for same equipment (better, if you include LED headlights) the Corolla was priced far better (difference between Honda having the Civic as sales champion in Canada for 17 years, and Toyota competing to get the spot !). Corolla is a very satisfying economy car.

 

[ToyBoy]

Rolla more roomy . Great back seat leg room , best in class. Good resale . Good reliability. Good looks. Great fuel economy , my mpg avg. on the guage currently with a 3 k mile since last reset is 39.1 mpg avg. .. Got a friend with a not very old Civic and the tranny went out and since then I have read of quite a few other Hondas with pre-mature tranny failures .

 

[koby]

The lane watch things is useless if you, you know, actually look like you are suppose to. I liked the look better of the corolla S and have always been partially judgmental against honda being a nissan guy myself. Dealer first impression played a partial roll in my decision, the Toyota dealer knew I was looking around and wasnt to pushy with things (although the salesman tried to tell me the stability control was so good in the corolla it would balance itself on a pole...I cant make that story up even if i tried). The honda dealership was very pushy though, they tried everything in their power to get me to walk out with a car that day which doesnt sit well with me considering i like to research, research, and then research some more before I make my decision. Between the interior and the feel of the car, the corolla felt better and less sloppy is ultimately how I made my decision and the toyota dealer worker with me a ton on the price in the end. On a side note though this may be the last toyota I can find since I went back a few weeks ago to 2 toyota dealers to help my girlfriend buy a car and they were disrespectful to my whole family. I know thats not toyota's fault but the attitude of the dealer determines a lot about a major purchase like a car.

 

[MaxBlueCrush]

Here are the reasons why I purchased a new Corolla and yes I did considered a Civic but chose the Corolla cuz: 1. I did not like the Civics new digital gauge. 2. Blue Crush Metallic looks very unique & looks way better then the Civics new blue color. 3. Standard LED lights. 4. More roomy interior w/better comfortable seats. 5. Toyota's reputation & reliability. The all new 2016 re-design Honda Civic will be coming out soon and lets see if it does better. I do prefer the older civics over the new ones so I'm not counting them out.

 

[CorollaKid]

I owned a 2001 Civic EX when it was new. I drove it over 100,000 trouble-free miles. It was one of the best cars I ever owned. I went with the Corolla this time as it has more rear legroom, which I need with 2 growing kids in the house, as well as the 42mpg from the Eco model that I got.

I also got a great deal on the Toyota, leasing it for $138/ month. Hard to beat since I am saving about $130/ month in fuel compared to the the car I just came out of.

 

[DTG]

It was time to leave Honda. I was one of the suckers who bought an early 2000's Odyssey and burned through 2 transmissions (one on my dime). My 2000 Accord developed a windshield leak in the first 3 years that they would not acknowledge until I went to HQ with it, and then a year later the computer had to be replaced because it had gotten wet during that time (again on my dime). The Accord's transmission died at 150,000 miles, and the Odyssey's engine threw a rod at 160,000. I maintained them religiously. I realized that Honda's are good but are no longer the bulletproof 200k+ mile cars they were when I had a 1990 Accord that went to 240,000 miles until I totaled it in an accident. I figured I might as well try another well-regarded brand. Honda had become arrogant and I hated dealing with them.

Maybe the Toyota's won't be better than average either (average to me is at least 10 years / 150,000 miles with minimal repairs), but I figured I had nothing to lose by trying them, and they have a good reputation. I did test drive a Civic for kicks, but didn't like the split dash and I liked the "cockpit" feel of the Corolla more.

 

[HanSolo]

You are correct in that vehicles these days are engineered to have a lifespan of about 150k miles. It is very likely that your Toyota is not really going to fare much better than your Honda's which generally do not fare any better than Fords and Nissans. Of course these vehicles on average fare much better than VW's and Fiats and Chryslers. Because the cost of everything is going up, there is much less mechanical and far more electrical components due to the need to adhere to strict cost control measures.

 

[dlayman]

It was ultimately the use of direct fuel injection in the Civic that turned me away combined with the $25k MSRP price which is $2k more than my LE Premium for the similar level of options. I am not convinced in the use of DI until we see more adoption of duel fuel injection systems like in the Tacoma V6 or the Lexus and Mercedez engines. The Civic has by far a more premium feel and ride, but I would have gotten the Focus at that price as the Focus is probably the most premium feeling compact car I have ever driven(rented a lot of them).

2015 Civic does not have DI. (I don't believe the Si model even has it). Will have it starting with next design. What model were you looking at that was $25K sticker. I bought an LX for 15600, discount of about $3600.

 

[HanSolo]

The only Civic I considered was an EX-L with navigation. The other top contender was a Ford Focus which also ran way above $25k for the ones that had the equipment I wanted. I absolutely wanted heated seats along with factory navigation, but did not want to pay too much as this is mostly a stop gap until I am done with school again for my career change. Recently, I had a Fusion Titanium and a King Ranch F150.

 

[Drigue817]

I've loved the Corolla S since I was younger and to me civics seemed like a dime a dozen. I've been a driver/passenger of civics more times than I can count. The redesign of my 15 Corolla was something I fell in love with as soon as I saw it so it was no question what I wanted as soon as I walked onto the dealership lot. It's a very affordable car and great on MPG. Once I saw the interior, that took it over the top for me.

 

[HanSolo]

The Civic used to be something special back in the 90's. Ford had the Escort, Toyota had the Corolla, Chebby had the Cavalier, but these were mostly appliances. The Civic EX back in that era was probably one of the most desired cars among the younger crowd because of the driving experience and value the EX had with its little 1.6 litre VTEC(a real VTEC engine) that made around 130hp. The Civic DX and LX had only a 106 or 116hp engine(forgot which). There was no variable valve timing and the old school VTEC engines actually had 2 separate cam profiles on the camshaft that the engine would switch to and from depending on rpm and oil pressure. Somewhere along the line, Honda lost its way and forgot how to be Honda.

 

[dlayman]

The Civic turned into more of a conservative small family sedan with the Si retaining the sporty heritage. The Mazda 3 and to a lesser extent the Corolla are now more like what the Civic used to be. The 2016 civic is said to return to its more sporty heritage. I have an '05 and a '15 Civic. The 05 is the sportier and lighter car, but much noisier and less refined, with a super slick manual trans. The 15 is quieter, better ride and more comfortable but not nearly as nimble, and its 5-speed isn't as slick.

 

[Dave Bradley]

You will lose more money in depreciation with anything else. I bought a Tacoma to protect my money. For the same primary reason; I bought my Corolla LE ECO Plus.