Would you trade in a used modded Civic for a brand new Si?

Hi y’all!

I’ve been presented the opportunity to drive a ‘24 Si today and I was impressed by the LSD handling on corners compared to my 19’ Civic Sport 6MT. While the dealership can give me a good value for my vehicle after the appraisal, I decided to look at the new ‘26 Si instead.

Here are my stats for my current car:

2019 Civic Sport 6MT, K20C4 ICE Got it 2 years ago at $25k after fees 8.5% APR for 48 Months (potentially refinance soon) 3rd owner that adopted modifications like lowering springs, engine mount, exhaust, air intake, etc. Essentially added new tires and 2Step Performance Upper Control Arm (to control the negative camber).

I love my car. I know what are potential issues and that I can make it last for awhile. The engine if maintained well can be one of the most reliable, ever. The main question I have is the lack of certainty because it has been already modded. The tuning was the biggest challenge because I was essentially forced to retune it to work with the hot air intake (without it, the engine will slowly destroy itself). The car will be paid off in two years and I want to trust that the previous owners took care of the car as much as they could. Given engine mount was a mod was the part that surprised me.

The current dealership is willing to pay off the rest of my balance on my current vehicle and give some money back. I know each dealership is different (may not be so lucky with new vehicles or with other dealerships), but I’m considering this offer in exchange of consumer confidence. With the new car, I can keep it as stock as possible and make proper adjustments over the years. I also know this is subjective to what dealerships’ prices and credit approval, which are big asterisks on trading the current vehicle or not.

Changing cars will always incur a cost, in my case paying for a car to not own it was bad. But hindsight 20/20, I would have gone stock even with some good mods on it. The drive with the Si proved that much today.

TL;DR: I’m thinking of trading in my modded ‘19 Civic 6MT for a new Si. With a 48 month term, I’m half way to paying it off. Subjective to dealership, some dealerships are willing to pay the rest of my balance to get me into the new vehicle. Being a 3rd owner on this current car, that seems to be a good opportunity to start ownership fresh. This would also delay any upcoming services I have on the car including clutch repairs and potential suspension issues.

Given I would have similar payments (maybe different terms) and keep it close to MSRP, would you take this deal, or do you believe that keeping my own car will be better long term? I know it might not be exactly cheaper but I do get more features in the new Si that Civic Sport doesn’t have. Any advice would be welcome, especially those who have gone through this process themselves.

Thanks in advance!

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