96 Civic lxi a/t vs 97 Lancer glxi a/t

**marvs08** · August 21st, 2011 01:06 AM

Mga sir and ma'am(kung meron), tanong ko lang po kung alin ang better choice between the two. Car will be a daily driven car. Reliability in both sa engine and transmission is my main priority, easy maintenance, engine power, form factor, and fuel economy are my next priorities in the exact order. Salamat po! 200k budget.

**GTi** · August 21st, 2011 11:57 PM

Originally Posted by marvs08

Mga sir and ma'am(kung meron), tanong ko lang po kung alin ang better choice between the two. Car will be a daily driven car. Reliability in both sa engine and transmission is my main priority, easy maintenance, engine power, form factor, and fuel economy are my next priorities in the exact order. Salamat po! 200k budget.

On paper, the Lancer GLXi has the advantage in the engine performance department though perhaps only by a small margin and the Civic most definitely has the upper hand in handling and tuning potential. Reliability-wise naman, the pizza Lancer is known to have suspension problems. I'm pretty sure the Lancer's maintenance is cheaper since Honda parts and maintenance has always been more expensive than most. As for form factor and fuel economy, this will have to go to the Civic, especially if you opt to facelift it to the '98-'00 look. Hope this helps.

**marvs08** · August 22nd, 2011 12:13 AM

Thanks sa reply sir. How serious is the suspension problem sir? Would I visit my local talyer every quarter because of this? I have a friend who owns a 2001 gls lancer and from his experience, his visit to the repair shop is quite more often than my friend who owned a Civic 98 vti. Although, this could not be a source of a conclusion, because there are many other factors to consider, I think. Salamat pong muli sir.

**GTi** · August 22nd, 2011 01:01 AM

I'm not sure how bad that problem is but I'm sure if you take good care of the car it should give you, at the very least, less if not no headaches. But I hear that the pizza Lancer's suspension problem is not an isolated case but I can't be very sure because I am not really very familiar with this model. And AFAIK another thing to be watching out for is the tranny since old Mitsu slushboxes are known to be quite crappy. As for the Civic, of course it will be much better if you can get a VTi variant, but the LXi is still OK. Power is down but handling and ride quality is great and so is the fuel mileage.

**jvnj** · August 22nd, 2011 12:02 PM

Hi Chief,

My vote goes to the Civic. Though you better watch out of the rust issue of the Civic, specially at the roof area.

Thanks!

**marvs08** · August 22nd, 2011 02:03 PM

Thanks sir! I've owned an eg sedan before and yes those rust problems are annoying. I was however satisfied with everything else it has to offer except for the A/C and power amenities.

**dr. d** · August 26th, 2011 03:26 PM

we have lancers, civics, sentras in our family. blindfolded, i will know if i am riding the lancer, because i can hear the suspension thudding along on uneven surfaces. but it's been like that for years now. no repairs done. i am told that while mitsu suspension is not as robust as the competition, its replacement parts are also cheaper.
a shame, because i find the ingress and egress best in the smiling (boulay's clowns, i jokingly say) mitsus (ease of getting in and getting out).

**marvs08** · August 27th, 2011 07:27 PM

Thanks sir sa mga reply! I ended up buying a civic vti a/t facelifted to look like a 99-2000 vti.

**GTi** · August 27th, 2011 11:29 PM

Wow you were able to find a VTi! Congrats bro! I really do like the way the facelifted version looks and the performance is very solid. Very timeless indeed. How much did you buy it for?