Can you get over a car's looks?

shoes

shoes

shoes

Soldato
Joined
27 Jul 2011
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3,534
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Staffordshire
Ok, so I want a cheap, fast, fun and reliable hatchback. Answer: 2003 Honda Civic Type R.

I hate the way they look.

Everyone goes on about how great they are to drive, how much fun you can have in them. I've never driven one and I'm trying to secure a test drive in one at the moment. If I love the car, which I suspect I will, I'll probably buy one and try to get over the way it looks, as it's for fun not posing, after all.

Have you ever bought a car because of how it great it was to drive over how it looked? What about vice versa?
 
I bought the Boxster because of how they are to drive, Im not massive on the looks or associated image but by god it feels great to drive.
 
VinceB1 said:
I bought the Boxster because of how they are to drive, Im not massive on the looks or associated image but by god it feels great to drive.
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Yeah I quite fancy one of these tbh but I'm scared of the running costs. The tyres look massive (and expensive) on them for starters!
 
shoes said:
Yeah I quite fancy one of these tbh but I'm scared of the running costs. The tyres look massive (and expensive) on them for starters!
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N rated tyres all round (I went with conti SC2) will set you back 220 a corner at the back (255/45/17 N2) and 165 a corner at the front (205/50/17 N2). So £770 and £15 for nitrogen filling (not required but keeps the pressure good) so yea £800 for tyres. if your on 18's then they are bigger and more expensive.

Rears will last about 7-10k if your lucky and fronts double that.
 
Looks are important, but within context. Context here is that you want a cheap hatchback and lets face it, they all look crap, so you might as well get the one that looks crap and is a good, reliable car.

So buy the Civic.
 
[TW]Fox;19862548 said:
Looks are important, but within context. Context here is that you want a cheap hatchback and lets face it, they all look crap, so you might as well get the one that looks crap and is a good, reliable car.

So buy the Civic.
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This to be honest... What exactly is it you don't like about the civic? Apart from the fact it looks like a big mac box on wheels.
 
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VinceB1 said:
N rated tyres all round (I went with conti SC2) will set you back 220 a corner at the back (255/45/17 N2) and 165 a corner at the front (205/50/17 N2). So £770 and £15 for nitrogen filling (not required but keeps the pressure good) so yea £800 for tyres. if your on 18's then they are bigger and more expensive.

Rears will last about 7-10k if your lucky and fronts double that.
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Holy crap! Glad I went for the Clio in the end. Costs half that for tyres, decent tyres too.

Surely that isn't right?
 
[TW]Fox;19862548 said:
Looks are important, but within context. Context here is that you want a cheap hatchback and lets face it, they all look crap, so you might as well get the one that looks crap and is a good, reliable car.

So buy the Civic.
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I agree with the second point about getting somethng reliable but not all of hatchback look crap. Jesus, that is some sweeping statement. It may be your opinion (hence you keep buying saloons and coupe) but some look great and in fact would look crap when it's a saloon...aka the Focus.

But it's all subjective and IMO, not all hatchback look crap.
 
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I know very little about them tbh, I know a lot of people in the know recommend them though. Very highly recommend them at that.

I think I'm being shallow!

[TW]Fox;19862548 said:
Looks are important, but within context. Context here is that you want a cheap hatchback and lets face it, they all look crap, so you might as well get the one that looks crap and is a good, reliable car.

So buy the Civic.
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Exactly what I was looking for.

VinceB1 said:
This to be honest... What exactly is it you don't like about the civic? Apart from the fact it looks like a big mac box on wheels.
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I think it's dull, uninspiring, generally does nothing for me to look at. Pass them all the time on the road without thinking about it. If an XKR or something like that goes past I struggle to keep my eyes on the road and not turn to watch it pass.

In terms of looks, I love the old focus RS, that really does it for me. Not a scratch on the honda in terms of price and reliability though, the civic is in a different league insurance wise for me too.
 
Begbie said:
Holy crap! Glad I went for the Clio in the end. Costs half that for tyres, decent tyres too.

Surely that isn't right?
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Yep unfortunatly it is... you could probably source them slightly cheaper on the net but thats what I paid for mine fitted.
 
Once your in it and driving it you won't really care too much how it looks.

I dont' think they're that bad looking... In fact you could do far worse than a civic imo. :)
 
[TW]Fox;19862775 said:
I think the fact you paid £15 to get them filled with nitrogen tells us all we need to know about your shopping credentials :eek: :D
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Fair comment... to be honest I thought if I'm paying the best part of 800 on tyres then what's an extra £15 to put some nitrogen in there. Anyway sorry for derailing thread op.
 
Once you've bought something and are living with it I think to some degree you naturally learn to like the looks (or at least get used to them). If you like driving the car the effect is increased. This absolutely must be true as I have had thoughts along the lines of 'this is a cool looking car - I really like it' about a Vauxhall Cavalier, non GTI 5-door Pug 205s, and even a Rover 800!!:eek:
 
No, or i would be looking to buy an E90 335i. Unfortunately, it's front end is an absolute hash - which is something remedied by the LCI E90, but these are all September 2008 car's onwards and are still £20-25k :(

Why couldn't they just have designed a nice front end on the pre-facelift model?! :mad:
 
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