2007 Honda Civic LX from North America - Comments

Poor visibility in blind spots on Coupe.

I'm looking at buying a 2007 Honda Civic. I've been internet shopping for about 6 months and have narrowed it down to the Civic. I owned one before and was really happy with it.

I went to the dealer today for a test-drive. Everything was awesome. I love the interior. I'm a bean pole and the seats are nice and comfy. The dash is awesome. The new steering wheel is small and sporty. I love the response of it. The acceleration is very good in the new model. I used to have a '92 and this is a big difference. There is an issue with the blind spots. A quick look over the shoulder and it's hard to see through that tiny back window. Other than that everything was really nice.

I went in to talk over the financing and down payment etc. I asked if there were any other fees besides the tax, title, license and they said there's a $250 dealership fee for processing paperwork. It sounded like a load of crap and I'm wondering if it's standard for all dealers to include some kind of fee like this. This is my first time buying from a dealer and want some input; if anyone else buying a car from a dealer has this?

Thanks!

Yeah, that is something that all dealers charge now. It sucks, but there's no good way to get around paying it. You could sit there and bargain over it, but they'll get the money in some other way. Also, Honda does not like to discount their cars much, because they really don't have to, and they will act like they're doing you a huge favor if they take $500 off the car. My parents recently bought a new '07 Toyota Camry and the dealer acted like it was a huge imposition to discount the car $800. These cars are so good though, my advice is go ahead and do it if you like it. I don't think the dealer has tried to lie to you about anything from what I gathered.

Thanks, I felt comfortable with the salesperson I dealt with. He gave me their lowest price over the phone before I even came in, so it helped in knowing if I could fit a new car in my budget and there were no games to play with the price. They actually discount it a little over a thousand dollars so it's cheaper than some dealers are charging for an '06 with miles!

One thing I noticed was the car I'm looking at has 500 miles on it. Is that high or normal for a car that's on the lot? Also, when I took it on the interstate the 5th gear, the car's an automatic, didn't kick in until about 80mph. Seems kind of high for normal interstate driving. The salesperson told me it kicked in around 70-75. Anyone own the new civic and know if their 5th gear is around 80?

500 miles is not terribly unusual for a new car. It's a bit high, but not enough to worry about. Therein comes the sizable discount. Depending on acceleration, fifth gear will kick in at different speeds. Under normal driving, our Accord will go into fifth as early as 50 MPH, but when accelerating onto the interstate, it may not kick in until 80. Our one gripe with our Camry is that it downshifts from fifth to fourth a lot on the interstate when going up even the slightest incline. The Accord will too, but not as much.

Just got an 07 Civic LX. 1500 down + tax + rustproof + 4 yr additional warranty = 375 $ per month for 4 year leasing.

Looks good, but for me personally too light wheel steering, no free play at all and too light a car. My next one will be a full size sedan.

"Just got an 07 Civic LX. 1500 down + tax + rustproof + 4 yr additional warranty = 375 $ per month for 4 year leasing."

You know that most people lease them 200-250$ a year right?

I bought an '07 Civic EX with a 5 speed in May. There was a $300 "documentation fee," same as a dealer fee. I guess they needed $300 worth of paper to print out all the crap for me to sign.

My car had 14 miles on it, but it had only been on the lot a couple of weeks and had never been test-driven. 500 seems on the high end, but if it's been test-driven a lot, that's probably normal.

This comment is probably too late to be useful to the original poster, but I thought I'd throw my two cents in.

I got an 07 LX manual back in march. lease $1000 down $250/mth 3yrs 36k miles. spent five hours negotiating (no credit 1st time buyer) I love this car... might try the SI next.

"You know that most people lease them 200-250$ a year right?"

Wow, a car lease for only $200 a year? Where do I sign up?

If you're paying cash for the car, haggle the price and don't pay those stupid dealership fees.

If you're financing, there isn't much you can do to get around it.

Purchase the car at the end of the month. Sales managers bonuses are based on "how many" cars they sell per month. They are more apt to "deal" with you at the end of the month.