I'm about to buy a 2008 civic, possibly a LX or EX. The EX-L is rare and expensive just for the added leather. I'd like to find one around 80k miles and get it for around $6000-6300. Any input on what I should pay or things to watch out for? It's going to be my winter car and daily driver.

Also debating between the bizzak ws80 tires or a set of General Altimax Arctic tires. I've had the Altimax Arctic tires on my S2000 for 3 winters and it was GREAT! I'm just trying to decide if the Bizzak are worth $140 more. ($340 vs $480)

 

Only thing to look out is some 2006-early 2009 civic's had issue with the block cracking and losing coolant. Only fix is to replace the whole block. It was something with the manufacturing process that made some weak points on block during casting. Honda fixed the issue mid 2009 and extended the warranty to 10 years for the affected models I believe. Other then that they are pretty solid cars...

 

We got my daughter an 08 Civic LX sedan before I purchased my 06 S2000. Now five years later its done four years of college and it continues to just runs like a Honda should. Only done oil and brake jobs on the car. Been a great car and would mind having it for a beater one day. Good luck with the car if you decide to get it. Later BD

 

Alot of the colors had paint issues (black, blue, silver/gray). Fading clearcoat, "crows feet" etc. There was a paint warranty extension out to 7 years from the original sale date on the affected areas (believe its just the roof, hood and fenders).


http://www.8thcivic.com/forums/mecha...nt-issues.html

http://www.consumerreports.org/cro/n...aint/index.htm


As far as mechanical, i've never looked into the lesser models (I have an Si), but to my knowledge the R18 in those is pretty solid.

 

Here's some info on what s2000maniac said

http://www.consumerreports.org/cro/n...vics/index.htm

 

My wife had a 2008 Civic and ran it for 235,000 kms (146,000 miles) before I took it as a winter beater.

Only part failures to date are:

1. HVAC fan (interior) - $60
2. Windshield washer fluid pump (weird, I know) - $45

I find it goes through brakes and tires more quickly than I'd like but they're cheap and easy to replace.

My best trip to date is 4.95 L/100km (47.5 mpg) for over 200 kms of highway driving. I regularly average 40+ mpg on the highway, regardless of conditions or temperature. My wife's daily average was right at 30-31 mpg.

It is a phenomenally reliable car. You can rest assured that it'll last a long time.

The General Altimax Arctic is a great tire, especially if you stud it (a good addition if you deal with ice regularly). Blizzaks are better on ice, if the Arctics aren't studded, but will be worse in snow. The Blizzaks also wear faster and they don't have as much "usable" tread as the soft rubber compound is pretty much gone or useless after they're 50% worn.

 

I have a 2008 civic lx as my daily driver that i got brand new in 08. currently at around 70k miles with no issues mechanically what so ever.

The paint sucks. I had the roof and the trunk painted under warranty but my driver side rear door is peeling clear coat and looks pretty bad and if you live in a hot state the sun visor basically splits in half and it becomes useless. I've probably had it replaced 3 or 4x under warranty but now that it is expired I just let keep it split. Not going to pay $70 for something useless.

Other than that, I have not had any issues granted the miles aren't all that high yet. I have no plans of selling it anytime soon cause for the price I can get for it, it'll be too hard to find another decent reliable car

 

Sound good guys, I handed my dad $6400 before coming to work tonight. Him and my brother are driving 3 hours to go look at this one. He's got them down to $6200 out the door. From the pictures the paint appears to be in great shape. Hopefully it is in person! I'll see if I wake up to a new car tomorrow or my dad handing me back my cash.

I gave him strict orders to:
- Look over the paint for clear coat chipping
- drive it and make sure it shifts into 3rd smoothly
- do a car fax and make sure it's not been wrecked

Here's the craigslist link:

http://columbus.craigslist.org/ctd/5336013290.html