Anyways, I test drove an 8th gen civic, then crossed the street and test drove the CSX…and yeh, it won. The price is not a sore point for me at all. I *love* my CSX! I couldn’t get the civic with the same features that the CSX had in 2007. The leather seats were a biggie for me!

Needless to say, I would like to get another one. :D The only thing I would have liked different is seat memory! :D

Cheers!

The leather interior Civic EX-L is now available in Canada (2008 models) MSRP C$23480 or C$26500 incl tax but navi still not available(not important).
My CSX premium navi 5 speed purchased new in 2007 discounted cost C$27652 plus 13% tax = C$31246 on the road.

I plan to buy a Civic as a second car to my CSX, the equipment differences are now negligible compared to the cost savings.

Why the CSX?

It was the leather sold it for me, I like all Japanese cars but for years no leather seating in their compacts. As for cost of leather I have previously been mugged for upwards of C$2000 for leather by Volvo and Mercedes, I don’t get it – it is after all a byproduct of the hamburger industry!

The 2 litre DOHC engine is quieter and more driveable that the base Civic but I don’t consider it a deal breaker – bonus, the Civic burns about 15% less fuel, gas just hit $1.40 this weekend. The CSX has electric steering, I don’t know if that is more reliable or what advantage it has.

Acura dealership experience is good, both sales and service. Honda shops are crowded madhouses here, a victim of their success due to their extreme popularity.

Looking like a Civic is fine – I can drive it and park it anywhere anytime and crooks don’t think I’m a rich target. I even refer to my car as a Civic, no shame.

Whether these minor items are worth $4000 is arguable. In Canada a fuel efficient fully loaded car with a great rep for around $30,000 is OK by me especially since I have moved down from Mercedes,Volvos costing over $50,000 and am really enjoying spending the savings on other stuff than car payments/repairs/gas so what I’m saying is sure it’s 30 grand – but it could be a lot worse!

In summary I would (and will) gladly take one of each!

Robert in Toronto

http://forums.motortrend.com/70/7039841/the-general-forum/when-the-japanese-make-it-its-ok-the-acura-cimmaro/index.html

11 pages.

Please tell your filter it’s not malicious link.

top notch quotes ;)

Let’s also not forget that the TSX is to the European Accord as the CSX is to Civic. The Canucks don’t get loaded Civics, so they get CSX. We don’t get Accords that are fun to drive, so we get TSX. The only difference is that few Americans know what a Euro-Accord looks like (unless they live near pedantic Euro-spec tuners). Image-conscious CSX drivers must always live in fear of parking next to a Civic.

Cynicism is only detectable in proper context.

an ex-l navi costs around 23k, but it does not offer automatic climate control.

there is NO american civic that offers the jdm/cdm spec k20 that used to be in the rsx. we get the z3 in the si and the r18 four clyinder. and we don’t have a shiftable auto like the csx, though strangely the fit does.

this car would make sense in the states if it was priced a little higher than the exl. maybe around 26k.

and yes, an exl does cost more than an si in base form.

BEAT: you love the csx but wouldn’t buy an si? its the same car practically! the csx version is the type s.

Still, there’s one thing that’s a deal-breaker in either car for me. Gosh, if you’re gonna give me leather seats, if you’re gonna go so far as to heat and maybe even cool them, would it kill you to make them POWER seats in the bargain?

Power seats are almost infinitely adjustable. It’s probably the most “luxury” you can add to a seat, beyond “leather.” I’m definitely at a point where I want that power adjustability over almost anything else in any given car. I might have actually purchased a Civic EX-L coupe, but the lack of a power seat indeed was a deal-breaker for me.

Isn’t it the same that you guys pay for the Lexus badge to get a fully equipped Camry?

While the Lexus ES350 costs about $10k less than a GS350, the Acura CSX costs $10k less than a TSX. People indeed care about a $10k price difference.

It’s just too bad you guys have to pay for the Acura badge to get a fully equipped Civic.

It offers luxury features that we Canadians do NOT get on the Civic, and that Americans can.

So what? Nobody’s arguing that Canadians shouldn’t be able to get those features on their Civics. Keeping features out of the lower badged car to be able to sell the badge-engineered high-spec variant is exactly the type of cynical strategy that this site has attacked over and over as ultimately self-destructive. Why is it better when Honda does it instead of the Big 2.8?

I’d have a lot more tolerance for this if it (a) looked unique, and (b) had totally wikkid toys on the inside. I’m thinking of the ELS surround sound system, radar cruise control, cooled seats, massaging seats (why not?), full-color LCD for the gauges, and all the phone-link toys of Sync. Throw in a link to your cell phone for uploading your gas mileage to your Xbox Live gamertag, and you’ve got the ultimate overpaid IT nerd’s dream computer commuter car.

It offers luxury features that we Canadians do NOT get on the Civic, and that Americans can.

I’ll keep this excuse in mind the next time we slam Ford for selling the Lincoln MKZ alongside the Ford Fusion.

Yes, it does, but that is with leather, navigation system and automatic climate control. Those options are not offered AT ALL on the Canadian Civic, and that is why the CSX makes sense and is not the huge rip off that everyone seems to think it is.

It offers luxury features that we Canadians do NOT get on the Civic, and that Americans can.

For tooling around it was fine. Gets very good fuel economy, about 45 mpg (Canadian gallons) on the highway and something in the 30s around town – that’s with the automatic, too.

Unfortunately it is not a great car to drive. The suspension was built to a price compared to the earlier Civic generation (and 1.6EL) and is terrible – harsh, crashes over bumps, and has poor grip. Squeals the tires and understeers horribly even at a moderate pace, and has an issue with snap-oversteer that I learned the hard way (spun it around on a country road and came within feet of going ass-first into the ditch – I came to a stop in the opposite lane, trunk over the shoulder, with a nice S carved into the road from the corner to where I stopped). The engine isn’t bad, but it’s a single-cam VTEC that feels harsh at high revs and is a terrible match to the four speed auto, has zero torque which you are reminded of every time the ‘box refuses to downshift. The interior is low-rent, identical to a standard Civic aside from the colour of the guages, and like most Hondas I always found the steering column was poorly placed so I either had to drive with my arms straight out, Italian style, or with my knees jammed under the dash.

On top of that, we had a host of problems with it. Tie rods and front bushings were toast by 40 000 miles, the rear brake rotors were done by 70 000 miles, the alternator broke at 90 000 miles, plus a bunch of other little niggles. Amazingly we had the extended warranty, which saved us a bunch of exorbitant repair bills. My father’s 03 Altima was perfectly reliable next to mom’s EL, which was quite the surprise for anyone who pays attention to the drivel they spout in the Lemon Aid guides.

So I’ve tested both the new Acura TSX and the Civic Si four door. The Acura is a very good car, but a little expensive considering its performance. The Civic Si is a fabulous driver’s car, but too stiff and loud for family road trips. So, if I could get a slightly de-tuned version — something between the Si and an EX — it might be just about perfect. It seems this CSX is along those lines.

Civic can cost up to $25,000 for a fully loaded without BAD CREDIT.

You can only get a fully loaded Civic for $18,000 if you PAY CASH but financing forget it.

$30,000 car is Canadian money. I believe this car would be around $26,000 or $25,000 here in America.

The same with a fully loaded Honda Civic sold in America.

Ladies and Gentleman it is the same price but much better than a regular Civic.

Honda Civic SI? Small, stick shift on the dash and
and again small. I won’t buy that car.

yes it is fast if you want to over take a mini cooper.

Have you priced a Subaru Legacy, Volvo S40 or 350Z? The prices of Canadian and American consumer products are quite often wildly divergent. The point of the CSX’s price is that you have to compare it to the Canadian MSRP of the Civic Si, and then compare the Canadian and American SI’s prices. It’s more sensibly priced if you think of it in that context.

Of course, it’s still gouging, but Honda isn’t alone in that respect.

My company operates web storefronts in both countries and it’s problematic for our sales staff, dealing with irate customers who’ve seen the price difference on both sites. It’s a problem, though, because everyone in Canada gouges and the first make to break ranks is going to suffer margin bloodloss.

The EL/CSX make sense because Honda has not always sold the Si or EX Civics here, likely because Canadians wouldn’t buy them. What with prices being higher and disposable income lower, a loaded Civic is not worth doing; indeed, a lot of Canadian models (Odyssey DX, Matrix Base, Mini Cooper Classic, Caravan CVP, BMW 323i) have a trim line that’s more basic than anything offered in the US.

That said, there’s still a demand for a nice car about the Civics’ level from luxury buyers (again, remember that lower net income level). So what do you do? Take a Civic Si and trim it up slightly. The CSX makes sense if you think about it’s predecessor: the Acura EL, which has always been the best-selling model in Acura’s Canadian line, and has been since the model’s inception in the early/mid 1990s.

The problem with the CSX is twofold: it’s a lot more blatant than the original, Honda Domani-based version (though not so much as the 7G Civic/2G EL), and it’s up against some serious competition (Jetta, 3); it used to have the field more or less to itself. Again, though, prior to the 3 and Jetta moving upmarket, this car sold extremely well for Acura. Badge-engineering may smell bad, but if it’s exploiting a market that clearly exists, it makes some sense.

Keep in mind: this isn’t a Cadillac Cimarron, which was an overpriced version of a very bad car. The CSX is a well-priced version of what is a good car. H onda could have differentiated the car more, but if the past two generations’ sales were any indication, it didn’t need to.

My complaint about the compact luxury cars is they do so poorly on MPG’s for their size. I’m not looking for a fast 0-60 time in a commuter. What I am looking for are some luxury touches that make the ride more comfortable.

The Civic isn’t that cheap in on this side either. A loaded Civic hits $24,000 in the U.S.