Two grand for side air bags and ABS is a good chunk of money if you really don't care about the other features. OTOH, the EX's engine does have about 10% more horsepower (not a bad thing) and the price is fair for the additional features included. I'd go for it unless the budget is already screaming uncle.

Safty features are a tricky call. Hopefully we will never need them.

We did go for the EX. It also has a few nice things like cupholders in the back and variable intermittent wipers. It has fancy wheels(not at all important). The sunroof will be nice, but not a big deal.

My daughter was in a bad accident last October when a drunk drive rearended the car she was riding in. She only had a lapbelt on since she was in the middle of the back. She is okay, but will always have a scar just above her eyes and through her eyebrow and her forehead. She will lack full filling on her forehead and the top of her head. She still faces one or two more surgeries to fix a droopy lid and to fix a split in her eyebrow.

My cousin was also killed in a car accident. I always worry about something happening to her now. So I decided it was worth the extra money. I can afford it and we are getting 1.9% interest.

Posted by Happyladi (My Page) on Tue, May 17, 05 at 19:41

We found a Civic LX for $15,200., but it doesn't have side air bags or ABS brakes. This is under invoice and they have it on their lot.
They found us a Civic EX for invoice which is $17,475. They wanted $400. more for it and we walked out. They called us and came down to invoice. They will have to go get it, it is 300 miles out of town. It have side airbags and ABS brakes. It also has some other things like a sunroof which isn't a big deal to us.

Is this a fair deal? Safety is important to us.

Earthworm :

But your quoted prices make little sense - what exactly are the prices for the two Hondas ??

It is not right that a customer is forced to accept useless junk such as a sunroof in order to have the airbags and ABS. - I would look at other brands..

But what is really needed is to have far more stringent training, licensing, and enforcement. The state must permanently remove the drunks from the highways.. Even now this is still treated as little more than a joke !!

And with these drunken SOBs on the highway, one can drive around in a padded cell-mobile, costing $100,000, weighing in at 10,000 pounds, with 20 airbags, and still not be safe !!

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The price on the LX was $15,200. The price they wanted on the EX was $17,875. I walked out and they came down $400. to $17,475.

The only way the EX comes is with a sunroof. My daughter likes the sunroof, but it isn't a big deal to her. She really wants the Civic. She also looked at the Mazda 3 and the Corolla.

The driver wasn't even tested for alcohol! The police report we got the next day said he had been drinking and the driver of the car my daughter was in also said he smelled strongly of alcohol.

I know you can never be completely safe, but I want to do what I can.

I'm not crazy about manufacturers that make options out of safety equipment. Combining features like ABS and air bags with filigree like sunroofs is ... I mean, if the feature is valuable enough to have in the first place, why not provide it standard? We're not talking a loss-leader vehicle here ...

We ended up with the Ex. It also has factory window tinting, mudflaps, wheellocks, and a trunk tray and we paid $17,500. which is below invoice. My daughter loves it, it is vey cute.

What year is the Honda Civic? I paid $15,600 cash for my brand new 2003 Honda Civic...It has been a great car.