Honda Civic review

Honda has a history of strong reliability and residuals, so a Civic is usually a safe buy. The company has always said that the vast majority of Civics are sold through retail channels – that is, actual people spending their own money, not big fleet buys or company deals. 

Good residuals mean low-ish PCP rates too, although you’ll find better deals on the likes of the Seat Leon and Toyota Corolla. If you like bargains now is the time to get searching for them – production of the 10th generation of Civic has officially stopped, so dealers are trying to flog the rest of the stock before the new car arrives and might be willing to haggle a bit on price. 

If you’re looking for a monthly leasing contract, then you could get yourself a 1.0 VTEC Turbo SE for around £500 a month, up to £600 a month for a top spec EX Sport Line model and then £650 for a Type R if you fancied going crazy. 

If you’re looking at retail prices, then the entry-level S model starts at £22,590, with trims climbing through SE, SR, and EX, with the top-spec EX Sport Line rounding things off at £28,055. Or £29,465 in CVT automatic guise. Then it’s a £4k jump to the Type R – if there are any left in stock, of course, but a well looked after Type R is a strong prospect for a second-hand buy. 

As compellingly priced as the S might be, a glance at the specs list shows that the SE model is where the range really starts – that car gets a DAB radio with 5in screen, USB jack, front and rear parking sensors and 16in alloys. The SR will raise you a rear parking camera, 7in satnav infotainment set-up with smartphone integration and auto wipers.

The EX model gets you heated seats front and rear, LED headlights and a host of useful safety systems such as cross traffic and blindspot alert. The top spec EX Sport Line really just adds a few bespoke bits of design trim inside and out. 

All Civics are petrol only at the moment, the 1.0-litre turbo unit bulking out the range. If you want the more powerful 1.5 engine that knocks off a couple of seconds from the 0–62mph run it’s only available in Sport spec (from £25,555), while the Type R gets the mighty 2.0-litre turbo unit.

The CO2 levels on the current generation Civic are worth bearing in mind – the rental spec S emits 128g/km, which means a £180 first year rate of VED. From SE through to SR you’ll be looking at £220 a year, while the EX and EX Sport Line models emit 152g/km and will cost £555 in first year VED. The 1.5 engine, despite being more powerful, falls in the middle £220 bracket.