I am looking at getting a new Honda Civic. But I am adamant that I do not want power windows or door locks or keyless entry, all of which come standard. Anyone know if I can get Honda to build one without features I do not want? Would a dealer swap them out? Do I have to go to an outside shop? Any idea as to cost? Thanks all. Chris
No, they cannot be ordered that way. The vast majority of buyers want them (yeah, yeah, YOU don’t!) so it is cheaper for Honda to make them standard. There are no manual parts to swap out even IF the Honda dealer would agree to do it. If you want this done, it is po$$ible (anything is po$$ible) It will be expen$ive as it is all custom work.
Lemme guess, you are an old guy who just doesn’t like them new fangled power accessories no matter how NICE they are! What do you have to say about Bluetooth, USB ports and EVERYthing in the car being controlled by computers networked together?
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I guess you are serious but you might as well give up I can’t see Honda building one like that and you would have a vehicle that you would almost have to give away if you wanted to sell.
Maybe you should go to classic vehicle sites and just buy a restored old vehicle to suit you.
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Thanks. Don’t like them either, but those I can avoid using unlike doors and windows.
What is the big deal , a new 2019 will have at least a 3 year or 36000 mile warranty which ever comes first. Do you dislike the remote on your television , refrigerators that don’t have to be defrosted once a month like the old days and what about the technology that allowed you to set at home and post on the web.
There are still some cars available in bare bones form. I believe a Hyundai Accent, Toyota Yaris and some others still come that way. My 2007 Corollas was available that way, although I bought all those “newfangled” things like cruise, power widows, remote locks, etc.
I don’t know of any new car which you can buy today without a whole bunch of undesirable features: power windows, smartphone integration, direct injection engines, drive-by-wire throttle body, electric power steering, CVT transmissions, etc.
Like you, I prefer a basic model. I only want to own cars with hand crank windows, non-powered seats, physical linkages between the accelerator and throttle body, physical linkages between the steering wheel and the drive wheels, hydraulic power steering, and a 3 or 4 speed automatic transmission. NO “direct injection”, NO touchscreens galore, NO “high-tech” features, NO sunroof/moonroof, NO CVT transmission, and of course the engine must be non-interference if it uses a rubber timing belt.
Hence why I am keeping my old cars, and why I would buy an older vehicle and restore it as needed when I need to replace one of my cars.
I doubt it. Whether we like it or not, that’s simply the way that manufacturing is done. You can’t buy a TV without remote control either.
Power windows and door locks are the least of the things to worry about as far as electronics go. You can’t buy a car without ABS, Traction/Stability Control, Electronic Throttle Control, or a complete set of Airbags either.
That might be true, but the OP would have to special-order his vehicle, as no dealership is going to keep an essentially unsaleable vehicle on its lot. If these econoboxes are still available sans modern electronic features, and if the OP is willing to wait many months for his vehicle to be built and then transported across the Pacific, this idea just might work for him.
I owned a 1998 Toyota Camry CE, which was special-ordered with hand crank windows, no power locks, non-powered seats, but automatic transmission. That car was destroyed in an accident in 2004, and I could not find another used 97 or 98 Camry so equipped. I found “stripper models” with no power features, but they were all stick shift, and automatic models which had all the power features. It would have been too costly to change the transmission type of an already built car, or to replace all 4 doors at junkyard prices and pay for painting.
I ended up buying a new 2004 Toyota Corolla, which was special-ordered with the features I want. I still own that car today, and now my wife drives it. I don’t see myself ever buying anything built after 2005-2006. Too many features that I don’t want, and cannot stand.
I doubt you can buy one but then you’d have a hard time selling it again. May want to reconsider your reasoning.
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How much are you willing to spend annually on repairs after that 2004 Corolla gets into really high odometer mileage figures? Essentially any car can be kept running indefinitely, as long as somebody is willing to continue to dump ever-growing amounts of money into its upkeep and repairs as it ages. As to the economics of that strategy…
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How much am I willing to spend to keep an old car on the road? A lot, but nowhere near the cost of new-car payments.
If you finance your car purchases, you are always going to pay more–unless you have a really good FICO score. The joker in the deck is that the person who can’t buy a new car w/o financing is going to pay a MUCH higher interest rate on that financing than somebody who can afford to pay cash, but who opts to “finance” his purchase at 0% interest. The sad part of the equation is that the people with the worst finances always pay more–usually much more–for the privilege of financing their car purchase.
I wonder what the person who started this thread is driving now. Also wonder unless they are not a single person how the other people in the household feel about this want.
Depends on the car. Keeping something like a 20 year old Benz/BMW/Volvo on the road will probably end up being pretty close to the car payment on a modest Civic. With that said, I’ve had power windows on all but two vehicles I’ve owned (1974 F-100 and a 1974 TR6) , everything else has had power windows and locks. I’ve never had power locks go bad, and I’ve only had to repair a single power window once, it took about an hour of my time and $60 for new regulator. Well worth it IMHO.
I find it strange that you shun power windows/lock/other modern features but insist on an automatic transmission. Automatics are generally less reliable than manuals, require more maintenance, and are more expensive to repair/replace when they fail.
I have never had to repair power locks or power windows, or–for that matter–any of those “evil” modern electronic devices on any of my cars. Yes, back in the '50s & '60s, it wasn’t unusual to incur high repair costs on those features, but we have come a VERY long way in automotive reliability since then.
I have also never had to repair/overhaul an automatic transmission in any of my cars–including my POS Volvo. Yes, that Volvo’s trans leaked like a sieve, but I never had to repair/overhaul it before I dumped it on someone who “craved the reliability of a Volvo”.
All I had to do was to add a qt of trans fluid and a qt of oil every 600 miles and, and I was good to go… so to speak… with that POS Volvo.
I am an old geezer–almost 77. In my younger days, I thought the Austin Healey Sprite was a great car. It had a hand choke. There was no troublesome automatic choke. There was no power steering nor power brakes. Of course, there was no automatic transmission. Roll up windows? Certainly not. It had side curtains. There were no hand cranks to break off. There was no troublesome window regulator which required removal of the inner door panel to repair.
One thing that keeps me young is Mrs. Triedaq. She insists that we keep up with technology. I came home from playing a July 4 concert a year ago and she had purchased a new tablet for me. It has been really handy to take notes at meetings. I am going kicking and screaming into old age
As far as vehicles are concerned, I like the automatic temperature control on my 2017 Toyota Sienna. I frequently have several passengers with me, so I appreciate the rear air conditioning. The power sliding doors are great as I have physically challenged friends I often transport.
I have had power windows in the cars I have owned over the last 30 years and I have never had a problem. Our 2003 Toyota 4Runner has automatic temperature control and it has never given us a problem.
I think it is important for seniors to keep up with the times. I am thankful for good physical health. I fitness walk 3 miles a day four or five days a week. My only problems are my teeth and my feet. I am going to have an implant and I have to wear orthodics in my shoes. (My doctor diagnosed my condition as “hoof and mouth disease”). I grew up on three speed, shift on the column manual transmissions. It was a steep learning curve for me to learn to drive an automatic. My first attempt driving an automatic transmission car was a disaster. A hot rodder pulled up beside me at a stoplight and was revving his engine. When the light turned green, I put the selector in “D” for “Drag”. When he started to pull away from me, I shifted to “L” for “Lunge”. When he again was getting ahead, I shifted to “R” for “Race”. I found out very quickly that automatic transmissions aren’t user friendly.
Before I retired 7 years ago, I was giving paper presentations at conferences. I had to figure out the controls in the cars assigned to me. I had to know how to prepare a power point presentation.
I become annoyed with people my age that won’t keep up with technology. I have one musician friend who doesn’t use email. It is a royal pain to arrange transportation to gigs with this person as I email the rest of the group, but have to telephone her.
My advice to the OP is not to fight technology. I have never had s problem with power windows. It is a real convenience for me to press a button on my key fob and unlock the doors and also have the sliding door open on my minivan so my physically challenged friends can enter the vehicle without having to wait for someone to open the door for them. It’s nice to have the Bluetooth so that I can press a button on the steering wheel and answer a call from my granddaughter when she calls to talk to grandpa. The last thing I want is to be left behind by technology.
I too have had power windows for the last few decades with no problems.
One problem with manual windows, a Falcon that had handles breaking off (two of them)
But I did have a major problem with automatic locks, where a Jetta had both power locks fail in 2 days, the last locking me out and requiring a 50 mile tow to a dealer.
So I have no problem with manual locks, if they are available, or at least power locks with a manual override (the Jetta didn’t)
I just looked at the 2019 Civic owner’s manual online
It ONLY mentions how to operate the power windows
No mention whatsoever of manual windows
So I think we have our answer . . .
If Honda even builds Civics with manual windows, they’re probably all destined for non-US locations
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