Nissan Sentra 1.8GXE vs Honda Civic 1.7 VTEC

evo4g63

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Hi all,

due to i have lost my car 3 weeks ago, i have decide to get my self a used car in order for me to travel around.

whereby i have decide to get either a honda civic 1.7 VTEC (2001/02) or nissan sentra 1.8 GXE (2001/02) < where the price of the car is within my affordability to finance it.

I have check around the used car dealer n manage to find a sentra 1.8GXE which in tip top condition, as for civic i still waiting for a friend of mine to arrange the car to be view n test drive in the short period of time, due to the used car dealer where i visited 2 days ago for the civic wasn't as realiable as the dealer which i met yesterday.

as i new on japanese made vehicle due to both my previous ride was "buatan malaysia" n before i finalized my decision i hope to hear from u guys about these 2 models such as realibility of the specific model, the cost of maintanence, parts availability (oem or aftermarket), fuel consumption... etc.

appreciate any comment given by u all. cheers!
 

Vlad

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go for civic if u're into looks/performance.

go for sentra if u want comfort but dont mind being overtaken by wiras.
 

Kellyvai

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reliability is always with a Honda... spare parts also easier to find.. I'll let go comfort for the VTEC performance...
 

Lopot

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Civic 1.7 is so-so only lar in performance...unles if you want to plonk in K20A in the future than its ok lar....
Sentra...no idea...but for me, the looks is already a letdown (diff people got diff taste)....

Why don't try source out for Civic EK/EJ with 99' facelift and B16a inside.....should be within your range or lesser. You get looks and performance.
 

murcielago

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hehehehe...i sure recommend Civic ES 1.7 la.....cos i'm from www.teames.org these 2 car also dun have performance. fuel saving is definitely there for civic 1.7 but dunno much bout sentra 1.8 though, parts n service is fully supported by wide network of honda service centre
 
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prodigy

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In terms of reliability, i'm kinda inclined towards Sentra due to my previous experience driving Nissan cars. They're a whole lot more durable and prices is reasonable too. Besides, i sat inside the Sentra before and i must say its a bloody comfortable highway cruiser. Plus, its a 1.8 litre car, so i'd say it has pretty good high end power.

However, don't get me wrong, i'm a big Honda fan and i actually drive a Civic too. The 1.7 Civic is a bit of a letdown, looks wise. That is unless you have the 2003 facelift model which actually is quite a handsome looking car, especially with the bodykits. Performance wise, its a pretty revvy engine and will keep you happy when playing against the Waja's. Comfort wise, not too bad but i've heard of some ES owners complaining the car lacks driveability and handling, but that is if you take the car to extreme limits, in which these guys do. But when you smack in a nice set of Koni adjustables or lowered Eibach springs, it'll do wonders.

As for fuel consumption, i think the Civic wins hands down. The Honda guys must have done a superb job tuning the ever revvy 1.7 engine to be powerful and low fuel consumption at the same time. You'd be surprise how little fuel this little monster engine uses and even more when you're cruising in the highway.

You have to make a good judgement in both cars that you're testing. Make sure you make an apple to apple comparison. If you test a good conditioned 1.8 Sentra to a so-so 1.7 Civic, the choice is too obvious. The cheapest car not necessary is always the best.
 

evo4g63

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thanks for all the comment given by u all its really helps me alot...

do agree the looks for the civic 1.7 those 1st batch is let down, performance wise do agree honda did a great job over the engine where this is y i think there is less used car available (pls do correct me if i m wrong)

meanwhile i dun know a sentra can be overtake by a wira... btw vlad are u sure is wira or wiralution? hmm must test drive one n see whether wira really can overtake...

shall make a few more visit to the used car dealers which having these 2 cars

again thanks for the reply given n look forward to more reply
 

jasonchan

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sure or not wira can win sentra

wat bull shit is that

wira 1.5 vs sentra 1.8
 

prodigy

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I think he said that in jest and didn't mean it literally. No way a stock 1.5 Wira be able to overtake a 1.8 Sentra. Even if it can out accelerate the Sentra, by the time it hits 60kmh to 100kmh, the Sentra would start to find some torque from the 1.8's to eat the Wira alive.

But its not that the first batch Civic looks ugly, its just that it failed to live up to expectation from the die hard Civic fans. Besides, Toyota then launched the Altis, which proved to be a hit. But Honda corrected it with the macho face lift update from the 03/04 model onwards.
 

Vlad

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evo4g63 said:
thanks for all the comment given by u all its really helps me alot...

do agree the looks for the civic 1.7 those 1st batch is let down, performance wise do agree honda did a great job over the engine where this is y i think there is less used car available (pls do correct me if i m wrong)

meanwhile i dun know a sentra can be overtake by a wira... btw vlad are u sure is wira or wiralution? hmm must test drive one n see whether wira really can overtake...

shall make a few more visit to the used car dealers which having these 2 cars

again thanks for the reply given n look forward to more reply
i can compare coz my family has both those cars above...
 

zan

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both of these 2 cars are actually equally good cars.

they are outdated , but very well equipped. as u r buying the car 2nd hand, its hard to say on reliability as it depends on the previous owner history of maintenance.

both cars do not qualify for road tax discount unlike cars below 1600cc.
honda mentioned their 1.7 with i-VTEC has power like a normal 1.8 engine with economy of a 1.6.

sentra N16 on the other hand enjoys real 1.8 torque; sumthing that the Civic S5A is missing though the difference is small. but if u can get one with CVTC, then its better off.
*CVTC - Continous Variable Valve Timing Camshaft or Nissan's 'VTEC'

Civic 1.7 if i am not mistaken came with 5 speed automatic (the 2.0 iVTEC surely did) - and that's one advantage over Sentra's 4 speeder.

in terms of safety - both have airbags and ABS.

my choice wud be Civic 1.7... but its sad to say both cars have poor re-sale value. dunno why, but do sum research and ask any owners of these 2 cars....
 

prodigy

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Got to agree with you on the poor re-sale value of the ES Civic. When i was finding for a second hand car, i was looking at brand new Waja at 66K, Corolla SEG at 65K and EK Civic at 65K. The Waja dissapointed me in its quality. The Corolla was way too small while the Civic was the all rounded, therefore i bought it. At the same time, the first batch 2001 ES Civic had a second hand value of RM 73K at that time. Was pretty shocked how cheap it was and was even considering it. However, decided to go against it simply because that car would not be that suitable for doing sales and overall maintenance would be higher than EK's.

On the other hand, the GXE's were never known for their high resale value. Plus, its never known for its performance and most owners of the GXE's are usually late 30's to early 40's family man car thus it would not have been thrashed as bad as 1.7 Civics. So generally you'd easily be able to find good conditioned GXE's most of the time. Personally, i think its a good buy.
 

n_chun21

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impossible can wira 1.5 win the sentara 1.8 ok.. my sentra 1.6 auto pickup with wira 1.5 manual i win so much la u think 1.8 how to win le if wira... for me honda with b16a or any big vtec is a good performance if the car is normal vtec u just can feel a little bit only when vtec come some people said u cannot feel... buy a car got big vtec or high performance engineis ok
 

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