decision making. I need help!

[jc27]

So I currently have a 2000 civic hatchback do with 184,000 miles. The car is great, runs well and gives me good gas mileage. I always wanted one so I could swap the motor and give it some power. Mainly because the power to weight ratio is amazing. At first I was happy when I got it, I was either going to put a b18 or single cam turbo and had thoughts of k20 in the future. But there's a problem, I can't mod my car without worry about it getting stolen and if anything major goes wrong with the swap I really won't have money to fix it. Yes it one of my dreams to build it but I was thinking about something, I would spend anywhere from 1500-4000 dollars for those projects. Even though I'm a college student I've saved money over the years for my hobby. But why put so much money into it when first off it will get stolen or you know something goes wrong. So I was thinking I still need a reliable car with good gas mileage. So I think I rather sell the hatch and with the money saved buy an 06-09 si. I love the si and I love my hatch. The potential my hatch has is ridiculous but I have to be realistic and realize that school is my first priority. So I rather put the money into a newer car just because it sounds reasonable. Don't be an ass please, I'm actually considering this. I'd just like to know your opinions and btw this whole process of selling my hatch and buying an si wouldn't be till like June July of this year since that's when I'll have enough to buy it.

 

[lethal6]

Thread moved to the lounge because there is no tech question to justify it in the tech section.

 

[LanceEK]

I'll tell you what I'm doing since I'm in the same boat. I have a 2000 Hatch DX with a D16 engine. I want to swap, but am also worried about it getting stolen. Some one has already tried to steal my wheels (praise locking lugs!). I'm in High School still and work about 30 hrs aweek, but I dont live with my parents so I pay bills and such. Keep your hatch. I had an SRT4 I sold and regret that an incredible amount. It was my project car and I dumped almost all of my money into it. Keep the hatch until you can afford an Si and THEN make the hatch your project car. The insurance is cheaper and you'll spend less on gas and mechanical repair. The decision is yours but overall the hatch would be cheaper and better IMO

 

[CO671]

Keep the hatch, get another one for a project.

When I first got my 99 Civic sedan when I was 16 my mom told me that I was not to extensively modify it. I needed a commuter/daily to work/school. After a while I started to appreciate that 'rule' she placed on me and after minor mods on my Civic (lips, fogs, exhaust, seats, etc I saved up and got myself a project 240sx. That piece of s*** required LOTS of down time, I had it for a year and spent hundreds of hours working on it and only drove it for around 50 miles total. Imagine if you get into the modding bug and start modding too much that'll require your car to be down for a while and you won't be rushed to fix it just to get back on the road. When you start getting into suspension, rebuilding your motor, and doing electrical work you will need a bunch of time.

Get a daily, and get a project. If your project is down, you can always use the daily for grabbing parts or getting you where you need to go.

Also know that, you have the possibility to know your own car more than anybody else. Decide whether your hatch will be the project or the daily. Whenever you get a new car you have to relearn it every inch and how it works. It's a pain in the ass to readjust to a new car because it's like readjusting to a new person.

If you have enough to buy a new SI, you should have enough for another project.

 

[jc27]

I'll tell you what I'm doing since I'm in the same boat. I have a 2000 Hatch DX with a D16 engine. I want to swap, but am also worried about it getting stolen. Some one has already tried to steal my wheels (praise locking lugs!). I'm in High School still and work about 30 hrs aweek, but I dont live with my parents so I pay bills and such. Keep your hatch. I had an SRT4 I sold and regret that an incredible amount. It was my project car and I dumped almost all of my money into it. Keep the hatch until you can afford an Si and THEN make the hatch your project car. The insurance is cheaper and you'll spend less on gas and mechanical repair. The decision is yours but overall the hatch would be cheaper and better IMO

Yeah I might just keep the hatch in the garage if I get the si. I noticed that I wouldn't really make any money out of selling it. But I feel like if I get the si I will just want to mod that since I'm going to already start off with a good motor and those 8th gen si don't really get stolen as much where I live. I would actually be able to go out in it haha

Keep the hatch, get another one for a project.

When I first got my 99 Civic sedan when I was 16 my mom told me that I was not to extensively modify it. I needed a commuter/daily to work/school. After a while I started to appreciate that 'rule' she placed on me and after minor mods on my Civic (lips, fogs, exhaust, seats, etc I saved up and got myself a project 240sx. That piece of s*** required LOTS of down time, I had it for a year and spent hundreds of hours working on it and only drove it for around 50 miles total. Imagine if you get into the modding bug and start modding too much that'll require your car to be down for a while and you won't be rushed to fix it just to get back on the road. When you start getting into suspension, rebuilding your motor, and doing electrical work you will need a bunch of time.

Get a daily, and get a project. If your project is down, you can always use the daily for grabbing parts or getting you where you need to go.

Also know that, you have the possibility to know your own car more than anybody else. Decide whether your hatch will be the project or the daily. Whenever you get a new car you have to relearn it every inch and how it works. It's a pain in the ass to readjust to a new car because it's like readjusting to a new person.

If you have enough to buy a new SI, you should have enough for another project.

I have no problem keeping the hatch, it would makes sense to keep it. But like I said in that other reply, I would probably get attached to the si more if I got it since I would already start off with a good motor. But my main concern/problem is that I end up dropping money on the hatch and it gets stolen. That would be a waste of thousands of dollars. I manage my money well so that would be my "enjoyment" money I save that I lose but I feel like if I got the si I could mod that and not really worry about it getting stolen. I'd hate to see all the hard work and money into the hatch be gone. I love my hatch to death don't get me wrong even though it's stock it's still my car and my first car of my choosing. Oh why does the Honda game have to be so ruff. Honestly I had a friend who left honda once they stole his hatch. He became a vw guy and no matter how much security you put on the car isn't always 100 percent safe. What I'm trying to say is that I understand you have to take a risk sometimes but I'd if the risk of molding my hatch and having it get stolen is worth it.

 

[CO671]

I have no problem keeping the hatch, it would makes sense to keep it. But like I said in that other reply, I would probably get attached to the si more if I got it since I would already start off with a good motor. But my main concern/problem is that I end up dropping money on the hatch and it gets stolen. That would be a waste of thousands of dollars. I manage my money well so that would be my "enjoyment" money I save that I lose but I feel like if I got the si I could mod that and not really worry about it getting stolen. I'd hate to see all the hard work and money into the hatch be gone. I love my hatch to death don't get me wrong even though it's stock it's still my car and my first car of my choosing. Oh why does the Honda game have to be so ruff. Honestly I had a friend who left honda once they stole his hatch. He became a vw guy and no matter how much security you put on the car isn't always 100 percent safe. What I'm trying to say is that I understand you have to take a risk sometimes but I'd if the risk of molding my hatch and having it get stolen is worth it.

True, it all depends where you live. Having to worry so much on that level of security as even with the best security somebody will find a way, and even the cases of losing it in your driveway. If the place you live in is that difficult, then yeah you should definitely opt for a newer SI instead.

 

[Charlie5280]

I'll tell you what I'm doing since I'm in the same boat. I have a 2000 Hatch DX with a D16 engine. I want to swap, but am also worried about it getting stolen. Some one has already tried to steal my wheels (praise locking lugs!). I'm in High School still and work about 30 hrs aweek, but I dont live with my parents so I pay bills and such. Keep your hatch. I had an SRT4 I sold and regret that an incredible amount. It was my project car and I dumped almost all of my money into it. Keep the hatch until you can afford an Si and THEN make the hatch your project car. The insurance is cheaper and you'll spend less on gas and mechanical repair. The decision is yours but overall the hatch would be cheaper and better IMO

Have to agree with you there. Never been impressed with the SRT4.

The hatch gets great MPG, handles well, and has a plethora of go fast parts available.

IMO, turbo that little DX. It's pretty cheap and you'll have a lot of fun doing it. Motor swaps are more involved.

 

[jc27]

True, it all depends where you live. Having to worry so much on that level of security as even with the best security somebody will find a way, and even the cases of losing it in your driveway. If the place you live in is that difficult, then yeah you should definitely opt for a newer SI instead.

Where I live is actually a pretty good place. It's just the near by areas and what not. I'd just have to make sure people don't follow me home. But yeah I was just driving my hatch for the hell of it and I realized I don't want to sell it. If anything I'll still prob save for a daily but as of right now to get a bit more power I might just do a d16y8 head swap for vtec. But since I'll have a garage to leave it in if I get a daily I'll just garage her until I finish college. Then when I land a good job I'll really drop money on it. But still, I hate having to worry about it getting stolen.

 

[toneekay]

If you don't have a problem with your car getting stolen now, or don't worry about looking behind your back every time you pass by other tuners, thennn I say just swap the motor! Only because you're in college right now, you want to have fun modding your car, and it's pretty much A LOT cheaper now days to repair your car if anything happens (especially a Honda).

I agree, if you can afford a daily and a project now, then go ahead and do that. But don't wait until you're old and out of your youthful days to mess around with cars or other things you enjoy doing now. So the choice is up to you... Live your youth, mod cars, and enjoy it while you can (even though risking getting the car stolen, but there ARE ways to prevent it)... OR you can be older, in that "grown up" point of your life, and attempt to mod cars like you're still a kid screwing around.


Unless you were just really passionate about it and decide to make something out of this "project" car that you'll spend thousands and thousands of dollars on.