Toyota Altis vs Honda Civic 2019.2021

[dagling]

Help me to decide witch one to buy, it will be a 2 hand one (cash) with a maximum of 30,000 km on the counter.
Plan to keep the car for up to 5 years.
Feel free to tell us a little about operational safety and security when it comes to collisions etc.
What about resale value.
Which one would you have chosen and why?

[Kinnock]

I prefer the design of the Honda, but the Altis has a better ride.

 

The Civic has firm, more 'sporting' suspension, not ideal for Thai roads.  But I wouldn't want to drive a taxi, so would go for the Honda.

 

Would you consider a Nissan Sylphy?  Didn't sell well, therefore lower residuals - so a good used buy.  Better ride and equipment than the Honda or the Toyota.

[Kwasaki]

There very similar in reliability my advice would be drive both and decide which one for yourself.

[petermik]

9 hours ago, Kinnock said:

I prefer the design of the Honda, but the Altis has a better ride.

 

The Civic has firm, more 'sporting' suspension, not ideal for Thai roads.  But I wouldn't want to drive a taxi, so would go for the Honda.

 

Would you consider a Nissan Sylphy?  Didn't sell well, therefore lower residuals - so a good used buy.  Better ride and equipment than the Honda or the Toyota.

I have a 2016 Sylphy...nice car done 90kms in it the past 3 years had a rear wheel bearing go a while back otherwise no problems...19kms/litre on long runs...very economical and comfortable ride.

[DavisH]

You will pay a premium for both cars (possibly in excess of 900K for a newish one). If you are paying that sort of cash, why not buy new and finance part of it? I would go for the new model civic (FE), as it is improved over the FC/FK. The new one is actually using a the detuned accord engine. If you want to roll like a taxi, get the altis. It has good resale and good service centers, but there is nothing wrong in that respect with the honda. 

[ignis]

I have no wish to drive a Taxi, and not comfortable in the Civic 

 

If i was in the market for a saloon, then would go for the top 'RS' model  Suzuki Ciaz

 

2019 Civic/ Altis you would have a lot of change back for a brand new one top spec.... Ok the Suzuki is a bit smaller, but bigger than the Honda City + Suzuki hold there second-hand price well

 

https://www.suzuki.co.th/en/model/ciaz/equipment 

 

Nissan has ended production of Sylphy in Thailand the new model is not here

 

good job we are not all the same, so it is up to you what you feel best in and suits your needs

[JAS21]

MrsJ bought a Civic RS new in 2017 and sold it in 2019 … lost a bit!!

 

Was quick, economical, huge boot and loads of legroom in the rear. Service prices were reasonable.

 

Downside, ride was firm and NVH on some roads I thought quite excessive.

 

The RS has the full set of air bags and was the reason she went for that option. I think the 1.8 would have been a better choice.

 

No idea about the Altis … 

[Jitar]

I have have no allegiance to Toyota or Honda but would choose the basic model Civic over the base Altis.  I prefer the Civic steering and suspension.  The base Civic rides fine and the Altis feels dull by comparison.  There is not a lot else to separate them, neither are particularly fast, and the equipment level is similar on the 2017 - 2020 versions that I know.    

 

YMMV, especially for the up market versions that I am not familiar with. 

[Woof999]

As mentioned above, a 3 year old car here is priced so closely to a new car (and newer spec) that I'd buy from the dealer. More difficult to get credit from them if you need to though of course.

[DavisH]

On 1/22/2022 at 11:21 AM, Jitar said:

I have have no allegiance to Toyota or Honda but would choose the basic model Civic over the base Altis.  I prefer the Civic steering and suspension.  The base Civic rides fine and the Altis feels dull by comparison.  There is not a lot else to separate them, neither are particularly fast, and the equipment level is similar on the 2017 - 2020 versions that I know.    

 

YMMV, especially for the up market versions that I am not familiar with. 

C'mon. The civic turbo smokes the altis in acceleration and pulls to 200km/h+ easily. I don't really see any downsides with the civic (except only the RS version has lanewatch). All versions of the civic now have the 1.5 turbo engine, that now uses the same code as the accord 1.5 (so its a detuned accord engine). 

[Jitar]

23 hours ago, DavisH said:

C'mon. The civic turbo smokes the altis in acceleration and pulls to 200km/h+ easily. I don't really see any downsides with the civic (except only the RS version has lanewatch). All versions of the civic now have the 1.5 turbo engine, that now uses the same code as the accord 1.5 (so its a detuned accord engine). 

It may well do.  I was talking about the base versions with no turbo.

[Yellowtail]

2 hours ago, Jitar said:

It may well do.  I was talking about the base versions with no turbo.

Are not all Civic models equipped with 1.5L DOHC Turbo?

[HauptmannUK]

I believe in the Thai market there is the 1.8L 140bhp non-turbo and the 1.5L 175bhp turbo - or have they pulled the 1.8?  Surprised if they have.  These are L-series engines with chain driven cams. Not bad motors. My preference would be the 1.8 unless you really need the performance of the turbo.

Personally I would avoid any Honda with the 1.0t P-series that runs a cambelt in oil. The jury is still because its still quite a new engine but experience so far with BIO engines is not good.

 

End of the day both Civic and Altis are excellent cars and it will boil down to personal preference. 

Edited January 25, 2022 by HauptmannUK

[PoodThaiMaiDai]

I have never owned a Toyota, but I have owned a Civic and two Acuras (luxury Honda product).

 

I will always be faithful to Honda as I never had any problems with any of them.

 

I only got rid of the Civic as my family was growing.

 

I got rid of the first Acura to get a newer model.

 

Then I got rid of the second Acura to upgrade to a Telsa.

 

 

[Yellowtail]

2 hours ago, HauptmannUK said:

I believe in the Thai market there is the 1.8L 140bhp non-turbo and the 1.5L 175bhp turbo - or have they pulled the 1.8?  Surprised if they have.  These are L-series engines with chain driven cams. Not bad motors. My preference would be the 1.8 unless you really need the performance of the turbo.

Personally I would avoid any Honda with the 1.0t P-series that runs a cambelt in oil. The jury is still because its still quite a new engine but experience so far with BIO engines is not good.

 

End of the day both Civic and Altis are excellent cars and it will boil down to personal preference. 

From what I see on the website the 1.5 is all they offer in the Civic and Accord. 

[Yellowtail]

1 hour ago, PoodThaiMaiDai said:

 

 

Then I got rid of the second Acura to upgrade to a Telsa.

 

 

So much for faithfulness... 

[HauptmannUK]

41 minutes ago, Yellowtail said:

From what I see on the website the 1.5 is all they offer in the Civic and Accord. 

Yes just looked and 1.8E and EL is gone. All models now have 1.5L turbo and Honda Sensing.

[Jitar]

On 1/25/2022 at 12:02 PM, Yellowtail said:

Are not all Civic models equipped with 1.5L DOHC Turbo?

The cheap model Civics a few years old are 1.8L non Turbo.