2009 Honda Civic Review and Prices
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Price: $16,215 - $25,900
MPG: 26 / 34 / 29
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2009 Honda Civic Buying Advice
The 2009 Honda Civic is roomy and comfortable, economical to own, and enjoyable to drive. It scores top marks for quality, reliability, and resale value. Its styling is slyly futuristic inside and out, and is slightly revised for 2009.
Civic is not likely to be changed in any substantial way for the 2010 model year, so if this compact car is on your shopping list, there’s little reason not to buy a 2009 model. Despite slight alterations to its appearance and features, the 2009 Civic retains the basic 2006-generation engineering and dimensions until the ninth generation arrives for 2011.
The best overall value in the 2009 Honda Civic line is the LX sedan. The LX trim level is one rung up from the entry-level DX, and Civic’s sedan body style is more sensible than its coupe.
Civic’s basic goodness is baked into every model in the lineup, but numerous small-car rivals beat the entry-level $15,000 DX version in terms of basic accessories for the money.
With a manufacturer’s suggested retail price of $18,025 with manual transmission, $18,825 with automatic, a Civic LX sedan includes every key feature and is a formidable entry in this class. (Prices quoted here include destination fees.) Civic’s fundamental goodness is baked into every model in the lineup, but in terms of basic accessories for the money, numerous small-car rivals beat the entry-level DX versions, which start around $16,000.
Above LX level, Civic is priced at $19,000 and up. For that money, you’re better off moving to a larger car, starting with Honda’s own midsize Accord. An exception to this strategy is Civic’s sporty Si-trim models, which start around $22,000 and are great values in precision-performance small cars.
The gas-electric Civic Hybrid delivers on its promise of great fuel economy and low emissions. But its sales are falling as those of other Civics are rising, an indication perhaps that it just doesn’t look distinctly green enough to justify a starting price of around $24,220.
The Honda Civic does not owe its small-car sales leadership to the diversity of its model lineup. But it can’t hurt that America’s most-popular compact is available in a bounty of flavors.
Civic offers some 10 models, ranging from fuel-sipper to racetrack-ripper. It comes in two body styles (four-door sedan, two-door coupe), and is available with four engines, including a gas-electric hybrid and one that runs on compressed natural gas. All Civics have a four-cylinder engine and front-wheel drive.
With annual sales regularly topping 300,000, Civic is the perennial leader among compact cars in the U.S. Roughly 80 percent of Civics sold in America are produced at Honda plants in this country, the rest are built in Japan.
The Civic lineage stretches back to the 1973 model year, when Honda introduced a tiny two-door powered by a 1.2-liter engine. The car grew steadily in size, power, and features. The current model, the eighth design generation of the Civic, was introduced for the 2006 model year.
2009 Honda Civic Changes back to top
The 2009 Honda Civic gets “mid-cycle” updates that include revised styling inside and out, as well as two new trim lines. These changes are timed to refresh the Civic at the midway point between its last full redesign for the 2006 model year and its next full redesign, slated for the 2011 model year.
Changes to the 2009 Honda Civic include introduction of a DX Value Package (DX-VP) sedan, which builds on the entry-level Civic DX sedan’s standard features by adding air conditioning and an audio system. Near the top of the lineup, a Civic LX-S sedan debuts with alloy wheels and sportier interior styling.
All 2009 Civics get a new front bumper cover and grille design and new headlight and taillight color combinations featuring clear turn indicator lenses with amber bulbs. New alloy wheel designs are introduced on the Civic EX, Civic EX-L and Civic Si models, along with the addition of fog lamps for the Civic Si model.
On the technology front, Bluetooth hands free connectivity is added to Civics equipped with the factory navigation system. And a USB audio interface is added to Civic EX, EX-L, Hybrid and Si models. The Civic Hybrid gains the option of leather-trimmed seating surfaces with heated front seats and side mirrors. Additionally, new cloth materials and patterns on seats, door linings and armrests (when equipped) have been updated to further enhance the interior’s look and feel.
Finally, antiskid control is now standard on the Civic EX-L and Civic Hybrid; it had been exclusive to the Civic Si.
2009 Honda Civic Test Drive back to top
Driving the Honda Civic: With a modest 140 horsepower, DX, LX and EX models aren’t rabbit-like off the line, but seldom feel like weaklings once underway. Sport versions of some other compact cars boast more muscle than the 197 horsepower mustered by the Si-based Civics, but few have a more satisfying engine. This Honda 2.0-liter thrives on high-rpm work so you’ll need to get friendly with that six-speed manual, but the reward is smooth thrust from a sophisticated four.
With either of these engines, the marriage between engine and transmission is a sweet one, with the automatic alert to throttle inputs and seldom in the wrong gear, the two manuals examples of well-oiled short-throw shifting.
Honda Civic Hybrid doesn’t have any deal-breaking flaws, but it will compel you to recalibrate your driving style. The Civic Hybrid is lazy away from a stop and requires determined use of the gas pedal to move along with any sense of urgency. As with other continuously variable transmissions, this one works best at midrange and highway speeds, where it transmits power without delay. Getting to those speeds, however, can have the engine revving ahead of actual acceleration, another common CVT trait. We haven’t yet tested the natural-gas-powered Honda Civic GX.
Every Honda Civic works with you to furnish confident control on straight stretches and in curves. Tires and suspension tuning, however, play a huge role in determining where each model lands along the continuum from confidence to athletic handling. DX and Hybrid versions suffer mediocre grip and nose plow in fast turns. LX and EX are nimble and balanced. Si-based models are resolute and inspiring. From the driver’s seat, sedans and coupes don’t feel appreciably different.
Riding in the Honda Civic: Body style does play a role in ride comfort, mostly because coupes ride a 2-inch shorter wheelbase than sedans. This difference in the distance between the front and rear axles makes coupes feel choppy and sedans feel absorbent on the same bumpy surfaces. Best overall are LX and EX models; their 16-inch tires are better at absorbing imperfections than the 15s the DX and Hybird, and their suspensions are don’t react as abruptly as the taut setups on the Si and Mugen models.
Civic’s seats are firm and supportive, with special credit to the front buckets in the Si and Mugen for their pronounced side bolsters. Front or back, Civic sedans provide four adults with good room and comfort. The lowish ceiling can compromise head clearance for those over 6-feet, however. Rear passengers get a flat floor, but there’s not much toe room under the front seats. Coupes give up nothing in front-seat space, but getting into or out of their rear seat, and getting comfortable once there, is a job for pre-teens. The coupe’s long doors don’t do you any favors in confined spaces.
The Si and Mugen generate enough tire noise to compromise what in other versions is a pleasingly quiet cabin for this class. As for the Si and Mugen exhaust note: if it’s too loud, you’re too old.
Civic passenger compartments have lots of bins and boxes for bric-a-brac. Trunk space is good for this size car and the opening is generous, though the lid hinges dip into the cargo area. DX and LX models have a one-piece folding rear seatback. EX, EX-L and Si-based versions have a split folding seatback. The seatback does not fold down in Hybrid and GX models
Honda Civic dashboard and controls: Civic’s windswept front-end styling with its severely raked front roof pillars puts a long, nearly minivan-like dashtop between the driver and the base of the windshield. It’s an odd sensation in such a small car, and things get more unorthodox from there.
Futuristic is one description of the Honda Civic instrument panel, which places gauges and controls at different levels and on various planes. A cove atop the dash houses a digital speedometer readout along with coolant temperature and fuel-level displays. Below that and closer to the driver is a binnacle containing the tachometer. Both are within the driver’s line of sight, but not every driver is likely to agree that different here means better.
Large knobs and buttons for the climate system are close-by. Models that duplicate audio functions on the steering wheel have an edge because it’s a slight stretch to the main sound-system controls on the dashboard. The gearshift and the parking-brake lever are at the base of the dashboard rather than on the floor between the seats, a location that isn’t necessarily better, just different.
Civic’s switchgear is inviting to touch, with slop-free movement worthy of the more-expensive models from Honda’s upscale Acura brand. Cabin materials feel solid and richly grained. Si and Mugen models get in tune with metal-finished pedal surfaces and alloy shift knobs.
Several compact cars offer navigation systems, but voice activation is still a novelty. Civic’s could use a bit more development to make it easier to program, to make the screen easier to read in changing light conditions, and to better segregate audio functions.
2009 Honda Civic Prices back to top
Every 2009 Honda Civic comes with antilock brakes, a steering wheel that tilts and telescopes, a driver’s seat that adjusts for height, power windows, and manual transmission. Honda doesn’t offer options per se. It instead adds equipment with each step up the model line. To the base prices listed below, add about $800 for automatic transmission, unless otherwise noted.
Entry to the 2009 Civic line is via the DX version (around $15,750 for the coupe, $16,075 for the sedan). The 2009 Honda Civic DX is a stripper, however. That’s where the new DX-VP model comes in: It adds air conditioning and a stereo system for about $750 more than the base DX. Those features, plus cruise control, power mirrors and locks, and remote keyless entry, are standard on the Civic LX (around $17,700 coupe, $18,025 sedan). The new LX-S sedan builds on that with 16-inch alloy wheels, leather-wrapped steering wheel, unique interior trim, and other details; it starts at $18,625.
Honda Civic EX versions (around $19,875, coupe or sedan) put auxiliary audio controls on the steering wheel and add rear disc brakes, a power sunroof, variable-speed windshield wipers, and an outside-temperature gauge. The “L” in EX-L versions (around $21,445 coupe or sedan) denotes leather seating surfaces and steering-wheel rim; this is accompanied by heated front seats.
2009 Civic DX, LX, EX, and EX-L models use a 140-horserpower 1.8-liter engine with a five-speed manual transmission or a five-speed automatic. DX versions have 15-inch tires, LXs have 16s; both have steel wheels and plastic wheel covers. EX and EX-L have 16-inch tires on alloy wheels.
Civic turns up the wick with the Si models (around $22,000 coupe, $22,400 for the sedan). They use a 197-horsepower 2.0-liter and mandatory six-speed manual transmission. Accelerating rapidly in lightweight front-wheel-drive cars with this amount of power tends to set the front end pulling to and fro. The Si attempts to mitigate this “torque-steer” effect with traction control and a limited-slip differential; the basic purpose of both is to feed power more evenly to each front wheel.
Helping Si Civics go around corners quickly is the task of the sport suspension and low-profile 17-inch wheels and tires (specific high-grip performance tires are available, too). Corner fast enough for gravitational forces to push you sideways in your seat and extra-firm side bolsters hold you snug. Uprated brakes help call a halt to all this action while a rear spoiler, special alloy wheels, and discrete decals call for attention.
Named for Honda’s top Japanese aftermarket tuner, the Mugen Si (mugen translates to “without limits”) is a limited-edition sedan that takes the Si a step further with a racetrack-tuned suspension, special 18-inch wheels and tires, and custom-look aerodynamic body trim. The Mugen Si retains the 197-horsepower engine and six-speed manual, but adds a performance-tuned exhaust. About 1,000 will be offered in the United States and retail price is around $31,000.
At the other end of the Civic spectrum is the 2009 Honda Civic Hybrid sedan, which starts at $24,220 and goes to $27,420 with leather upholstery and a navigation system. The Civic Hybrid combines a 1.3-liter four-cylinder gas engine with an electric motor to produce 110 horsepower. Sensors determine whether it’s more fuel-efficient for the Hybrid to propel itself via its electric motor, gas engine, or the two in combination. The system self-charges the batteries. The Hybrid uses a continuously variable transmission (CVT). A CVT is essentially an automatic transmission that dispenses with pre-set gears in favor of a rheostat-like span of ratios designed to get the most out of the engine at any given moment.
The 2009 Civic GX sedan (around $25,400) is the only dedicated natural gas-powered passenger car available to retail customers in the United States. Its 113-horsepower four-cylinder engine produces near-zero emissions. The Civic GX is aimed primarily at government fleet and commercial users, but is for sale to individuals in California and New York state. A home refueling appliance manufactured by FuelMaker Corporation of Toronto, Canada, (www.fuelmaker.com) can be mounted to a garage wall, either indoors or outdoors, and allows the GX to refuel overnight directly from a homeowner's existing natural gas supply line.
Note that Civic EX, EX-L, Si, and Hybrid models are available with a voice-activated navigation system and satellite radio option that adds about $1,750 to the retail price. The antiskid system automatically kicks in, applying individual brakes in an effort to keep the car on course.
2009 Honda Civic Fuel Economy back to top
Honda’s weight-conscious engineering pays off in sterling fuel efficiency, even among Civic’s performance models. DX, LX, and EX versions are rated at 26 mpg city/34 highway with manual transmission and 25/36 with automatic. Si-based models rate 21/29, and these are the only Civics to require more-expensive premium-grade gas.
Like virtually every gas-electric hybrid, the Civic Hybrid isn’t likely to match its government-rated 40 mpg city/45 mpg highway estimates, but should easily average 38 mpg or so over the long haul. The natural-gas GX has EPA ratings of 24 city/36 highway.
2009 Honda Civic Safety and Reliability back to top
In government tests, Civic sedans and coupes rate the maximum five stars for driver and front passenger protection in frontal collisions. In side-impact protection, both body styles rate four of five stars for protection of the driver and five of five stars for protection of the rear passenger.
There’s a disconnect between Honda dealers and Honda cars in terms of customer satisfaction. Honda buyers rate their sales experience only average, but give the brand above-average marks for overall quality, according to surveys by J.D. Power and Associates, the leading consumer-ratings firm.
Civics lead the compact-car class in customer satisfaction, scoring the highest possible grades in J.D. Power surveys that rate quality of design, engineering, features, and overall dependability.
2009 Honda Civic Release Date back to top
The 2009 Honda Civic release date is August 2008.
2009 Honda Civic Competition back to top
The 2009 Honda Civic will continue to face its biggest sales-volume challenge from the Toyota Corolla, while the Mazda 3 and Volkswagen Jetta remain among cars most-frequently cross-shopped by Civic buyers.
In general, Corolla takes the sensible-shoes approach to small-car design while Civic, Mazda 3, and Jetta express a little more spirit and style. Civic offers the only Hybrid model in this group, though the Jetta is available with a diesel engine. Customer satisfaction ratings are consistently highest for Corolla and Civic. Along with the Jetta, they enjoy higher resale values than the Mazda 3.
The redesigned 2009 Toyota Corolla went on sale in early 2008. Its looks and driving feel are similar to those of its 2003-2008 generation. Corolla is synonymous with soft-riding, user-friendly transportation. It comes only in a sedan body style, though the Toyota Matrix acts as a companion four-door wagon. The 2009 Corolla design won’t change drastically before model-year 2014 or so.
Today’s Mazda 3 design dates to model-year 2004. It’ll retain that basic engineering for 2009, but model-year 2010 should bring substantive changes to styling, engine power, and cabin décor. Release date for the 2010 Mazda 3 is mid-2009. The Mazda 3 offers four-door sedan and hatchback body styles.
The Volkswagen Jetta was new for the 2005 model year. It comes in sedan and wagon body styles and its base engine is a five-cylinder, though a diesel four-cylinder is newly available for 2009. Jetta arguably has the best all-around road manners in this group, though it tends to be the priciest of the lot with comparable equipment. Jetta has a hatchback counterpart in the VW Rabbit. Their next major change will come with introduction of a new design generation due for the 2010 or 2011 model year.