Hey guys,

I'm a big lurker over here, but I don't really post much. I have a 2004 Civic Si that I am not really happy with right now. I have numerous rattles in it and it's just not the car I thought it was. I've been wanting to replace it in a year or so with a used TL or TSX if I could find the right price on a nice used one, but just last night my mom called me (I go to school at Cornell) saying that back home there is a CL-S 6-spd at her dealer for 20k. Well, I nearly flipped my shit. I never really thought about a CL-S even as an option.

Here's where I'm at now. I am really unhappy with my car and would like to get rid of it. Trade in would be an abysmal 13k as quoted from the dealer, and assuming the 20k on the CL, would be a 7k differential. I would be fine making that up, but do you guys think it is worth it, given the car I'm in and the economic conditions right now. I'd be going from a 4-cyl with a 28 consistent mpg average to the six with ?? mileage.

I need input from owners about how the car feels, whether they like it... I mean anything here, haha. I feel like I'm losing my mind right now, it all just took me by surprise.

Ahhhhhhhhhhhh! Seriously guys, any help would be fantastic. Thanks!

 

dude....you gotta go with the CL S .. you'll love it compared with a Civic. NO comparison. What year is the CLS> . Better be a 2003 for that price. Depending on how you drive you can get about 24-26 mpg with the CLS....i got 380 on my last tank...cost me $45 to fill up but hey I love my car.

 

Yea, 2003 Cl-s 6-spd. 50k miles on it.

My dream right now is to get into a 2004 and up TL, but realizing that that is sorta unrealistic, I feel like the CL is 9/10 of that TL, so I'm leaning toward it.

 

civic is a crapmobile, trade it. Just push the dealer either to lower the price on the CLS or give you more for the civic. you can probably get a $1000 either way

 

lol - thanks for the crapmobile comment there, haha.

I mean, it's not like I don't like the Civic, it's just I don't love it, ya know?

Any input on the CL itself would be great, rather than knocking my car, which happens quite a lot on pretty much every single forum imaginable - mini-mini-van Si.

 

Drive the CL, you'll be tradin the civic for it pretty quick. Im getting 27.5 MPG in my CLS6 w/ 80% highway/ 20% City...Im known the romp the gas quite a bit too, youll come to find how hard it is to resist. :wink:

 

definitely the CLS6 will be a better (and much much more fun) car to drive. my problem is that i only get 20mpg at best for normal driving (80/20 hwy/city)....but hwy is in traffic and i use the a/c.

 

Listen here, I've had my CL-S for 4 years now, and there have been many new cars that come along and I'll go drive and think about trading her in for , but I always leave loving the CL even more. It goes fast when you want it to, it'll beat about 85-90% of the cars out there off the line, it hasn't (or won't be) outdated due to a new body style, and when you feel like taking it slow it offers a bit of luxury that a lot of those quick cars out there don't offer. Plus your looking at 6 speed so you don't have to worry about all the tranny issues, which is THE only problem with this car.

C'mon, I mean look at it...



Tell me you don't wanna roll up to your buddy's house in this and say "Look at my new ride!"

Do it!

 

i say get it. the CL is seriously one awesome car..very very underrated in my opinion. has everything you could possibly want out of a car (besides the RWD, but that can be somewhat mollified by upgrading the suspension)..not to mention you're getting the rare-as-hell 6spd. civic si won't even compare, in any category. if you can get it, then get it. you won't regret it. with the available mods, you won't be able to complain about lack of power. i can't really see any argument against it.

 

I've thought about trading in my CL-S only a few times and even then it was only to trade for the CL-S6. You'll love this car, trade up! MPG is pretty good for a V6, just take it slow and don't gun it everywhere and you'll get pretty good fuel economy, I'm hittin 400 miles on 15 gallons. It's got plenty of power and it's got an undeniable subtle beauty to it.

 

BTW, those are some sick wheels, what are they? I've been looking for some new wheels since I might have trouble with rubbing on the wheels I've been planning to get.

 

20k is overpriced for a 6 speed with 50k miles. Look in the blackmarket section on this site and on autotrader. Take your time and sell your car privately and find a clean 6 speed for sale privately by an older owner with maintanence records.

And I think you'll be happy with the CL also, especially if you do a couple simple upgrades (susp & tires come to mind).

 

There are only 2 probs with the CLS... the auto sucks and the rotors warp. With the 6MT you have the major problem solved... go for it. The CLS is 10x the driving experience... and much classier.

 

Well, if you're going to get a 6speed, I don't see how you need to even care about the auto-tragic transmission.

My rotors are fine @ 60,000 miles.

 

i don't really think the transmission is that bad...supposedly only 5% of all produced cars have the problem...and yes i wish i had the 6 speed..but at the same time i have no qualms about my auto....it's still a great solid car.

 

Yea, I think I just might go for it. All these f-ing rattles in my car are driving me nuts... it's like driving around in a piece of styrofoam.

I'm gonna test drive it either this weekend or the next (takes 2-3 hours to get home and a fair amount of gas $$). I've got a 100 deposit on it right now that holds it for two weeks and gives me first dibs on it, so... If I like the ride and everything, I'll prolly do it.

Thanks for your help guys, just a few more questions though. How does the interior hold up? I've never had a car with leather, any tips or special things I should watch out for or look specifically for when I test drive??

 

Trade for the CLS 6spd

 

ya, an excellent condition cl-s 6mt isn't very easy to find.

i don't know about the price though, as i have not shopped for a used cl-s before, but other than that, i think i would grab the cl-s...

 

interior is great imo...what color are you getting interior in? id say just look for any cracked leather..but that's all i can think of. oh and keep an ear out for the rattling sunroof..get it fixed if its rattling.

 

Get an EVO

 

for 20k??

 

Roads here in Ithaca are awwwwwwwful, no way would I get an Evo. I might as well just ride a dump truck. Not a fan of Mitsu either. Depreciation...

Black interior. Were there any other ones available for the 6-speed? All the pix I've seen just show the black...

Oh, and another dumb question. Are fog lights even available for 03s?? I see them on 01-02s, but no 03s, and I can't find any accessories online.

Sunroof, cracked leather? Any other notorious problems I should look at?

THANKS again guys!

 

nah fogs arent available for the 03s..if you can even call em fogs...theyre more like daytime driving lights i guess. u can get the installed, but ur gonna have to find a set of em first.