Is Honda Civic Exi Automatic 2000 a good investment in 2021?

[muhammad.irtiza]

Assalam O Alaikum!

Dear Pakwheelers,

I am writing to get your opinion on whether I should buy Honda Civic Exi 2000 Automatic for now.
My problem is lengthy commute in which automatic car is a must. I used to own a cuore automatic, but it gave me 8-10 kmpl only and it kept breaking up on one thing or another and gave me maintenance cost of rs.75,000 in a single year. I need your reviews on the following aspects of the car:

1. Fuel Average
2. Maintainence Cost
3. Durability

[iqbalu140]

It depends on the condition of the car tbh. A clean exi prosmatec will cost you around 9.50-10. Take a friend or an expert mechanic with you to check the car. A to Z. Never buy a used Honda without having a detailed checkup.
My civic gave me a bill of 100k plus within 6 months of ownership.

Regarding the fuel economy, the civic is quite decent imo. Make sure the engine oil viscosity is 5W30, or 10W40 at max, it should have a thermostat valve installed with the fan on Auto settings. If there are any joints in the wiring, swap it with a good condition wiring. Have an engine compression test done, it costs around 500/-. Surface rust is acceptable, but any rust which has eaten away the metal is a BIG NO.
Mention your city so others can guide you as well.

[muhammad.irtiza]

Wow this is super insightful. I live in Karachi and I am just a student. 8 lacs is my maximum budget though, so 100k+ bills are scary for me on student salary. Most of the cars are just some student projects and heavily modified so I should expect big bills within a car of my budget. Other options are not so cheap either. Maybe I should just limit my search to cuore. No decently maintained old automatic car is available under 1 million.

[ali454]

No. Buy a newer car, for example a 2010-12 cultus in the same price range.

Itll be a manual, it sure is a hassle to drive but will give you less headaches than a 20 year old Honda. Most of them have their engines swapped with all sorts of wiring/electrical problems.

If you can get a car with complete service history (very rare) only then consider buying it.

Increase the budget by a little.more and look for 06-07 city.

[mohsin-212]

You can also get City Vario in slightly more budget

[iqbalu140]

Visit Shokat Motors in DHA Phase 2, talk to Asif, give him my reference. He can dig out a good car for you.

[muhammad.irtiza]

You are right. I do not find driving WagonR manual tiring nowadays. It is a very actionable advice. Amongst these 3 models of 2012, which one would you recommend?

1. Cuore CX Manual 2012
2. Alto 2012
3. Mehran VXR Euro 2 2012

I personally would prefer Cuore over the rest, and Alto is my least favorite due to low leg room.

[sleeper]

In ur 8lac budget you can get 2018 mehran (as good as brand new)

You can get 2012 Cultus (around 80k driven).. good for next 5 yrs if found a well maintained one.

I only suggested EFi cars as they are easy to maintain engine wise. So cuore is a no-no.
And Alto? Never.

There is 1 more option that i considered when i was looking for myself an auto small car for my commute to work... I was initially looking for auto cuore... But ended up buying 2 door 06 Mira auto... Tiny little thing was so easy to manuevre in Khi traffic...Cool AC...smooth ride... very comfortable seat posture...slow as heck acceleration though , but khi traffic doesnt require much speeding so i compromised on that.... Now the catch is to find one in its good engine condition be it changed, cause all of em are 15 yrs old and crossed 1lac km easily.... majority of these 2 doors were imported in 2013\2014 yr... I had 2013 import.

[muhammad.irtiza]

@sleeper Damn, 06 Mira is also on my bucket list. How were the maintenance expenses on that thing? How about rains? You are right, not Cultus I might find a good Mehru. My best friend has 2016 model and is pain free.

[iqbalu140]

Same here bro. But there are alot of civics which are 'home used' in real terms. Most of the showrooms will try to sell their manjan to you
"Owner amerrika chala gaya" and so on. Never ever fall for that. Never ever trust the words "Just buy and drive" - this is quite literally, never the case. You could buy 2015 gli which reads "jeniyaan 56000kms" and still have repairs worth 50,000/-.

Here is a list of the expenses I've dealt with. I hope it helps to not make the same mistake I made.
Engine overhaul 45000/-
Radiator 5000/-
Bumpers paint 7000/-
Oil leakage 10000/-
Rear suspension 19000/-
Ball joints 3000/-
Engine transmission mounts 10500/-
Transmission fluid 6600/-
Wiring 16000/-
Alternator 6500/-
AC Compressor 10000/-

That there is 130K alone.

And that's not even the complete list. Now I wish I would've spent 50,000 more on a car which was 'clean' and 'home used' in real terms, to avoid spending upwards of 130,000 on a car which I got for 50,000 less.

By all means, if you end up finding an Eagle Eye or Cat Eye Exi prosmatec which is maintained properly, cared for, don't hesitate to spend 50,000 more. Please don't make the same mistake I made.

[mohsin-212]

How is your car running after engine overhaul as I am facing same scenario . I also spent on almost all of above items now only engine overhaul is remaining. So I want to know is overhaul effective??

[ali454]

Get a well.maintained cultus instead. It lasts longer than a mehran.

People neglect timely maintainance which is why I am against buying very old used Toyotas/Hondas which require a lot of money if not timely maintained.

Old suzukis are cheap to repair because they dont really have anything in them. Even if you get a suzuki in average condition you can get it running good in not much money.

Alto and cuore due to being carby should be avoided. Though I myself have a Automatic Cuore and its a great car to drive in city.

[flyingfeather]

Never go for an ill maintained honda. I had been looking for a low cost car in khi and after a thorough search for about 5-6 months I have come to a conclusion that "karachi mn gariyon ka koi hal nh ha" chances are slim to zero that you would find a neat 20 yr old. So my suggestion is to stick to mehran earlier model for the time being.

[iqbalu140]

Well, its still having issues. The wiring isn't in the best condition, I have to fiddle with the wiring loom to get the engine to stop misfiring and decreasing the RPMs. Because my engine overheated after the overhaul, the idiot mechanic installed a 2mm non-oem headgasket, and switched the fan to direct with no thermostat valve installed (This causes a huge negative impact on the fuel economy). My starter and Ignition coils are nearing the end of their lives.
But ALLAH ka shukar, it hasn't reduced one drop of oil. The blood mechanic poured 20w50 before the first startup after the overhaul🤣 but i changed to 10w30 and it didn't reduce

[nfssaad]

i saw an olx add for a mint civic 96 model. auto . was demanding 8lac plus if i remember. couple of months ago

[nfssaad]

an auto civic will give you about 8-10 km/liter

but its a very comfortable car.

[sleeper]

Maintenance is easy and relatively cheap....i had to replace its spark plugs, transmission oil and water pump.... Its just that this car is old, so finding its spare engine parts may be tricky.... I couldnt get its water pump in saddar but later found it in a parts shop across alladin park...i found its left tail light in saddar though.

If you are seriously looking for this mira then you must do compression test first of any prospect car you find...

But if you want to have peace of mind and compromise on driving manual, then get a latest possible Mehran straight away as per ur budget... Since u are still at student stage so forget about big risky cars for now... You can get them when you have a stable job InshAllah

[nfssaad]

you didnt find parts from nasir motors?

[mohsin-212]

Because my engine overheated after the overhaul, the idiot mechanic installed a 2mm non-oem headgasket, and switched the fan to direct with no thermostat valve installed (This causes a huge negative impact on the fuel economy).

What was the reason behind overheating after overhaul??

[sleeper]

Not sure about specific shops... Maybe i didnt dug enough there cause i was new in jdm stuff and had not joined PW by then ... I could find in abundance the water pump for KF-VE only, while i needed for EF-SE...