When it comes to value, it's hard to beat the Honda Civic. This perennially excellent compact car has long delivered quality, smart handling, and useful packaging—combined with their efficiency and reputation for reliability, it's easy to see why that value continues even when they become used cars. The 2023 Civic still has that value, but perhaps slightly less of it at the bottom end of its lineup. In short, getting into your first Honda is going to be more expensive this year.
This isn't purely because Honda boosted prices for the 2023 Civic over the 2022 models. The entry-level Civic LX trim has been dropped from the lineup, leaving behind the Sport trim as the new, least-expensive Civic sedan and hatchback. Even though the Sports' prices rise by only $700 this year, the resultant starting MSRPs of $25,745 for the sedan and $26,545 for the hatch are $2,100 and $1,900 more than last year's LX sedan and hatch.
Beyond the now-base-model Sport, the Civic keeps its EX, Touring, and—for the hatch only—Sport Touring trims. However, the hatchback loses its mid-grade EX-L trim. The average price increase of those remaining trims is roughly the same between both sedan and hatch ($575 increase average for sedan and $580 increase in hatchbacks). Translated, that means the remaining three Civic trims are brimming with the same value they did last year, thanks to their relatively mild price bumps.
Though the sedan lineup is still only available with a continuously variable automatic transmission (outside of the sporty Si, which only comes with a six-speed manual), the stick is available at no cost on the Civic Sport and Sport Touring hatchbacks.
| 2023 Honda Civic Pricing | MSRP |
| Civic Sport sedan | $25,745 |
| Civic EX sedan | $27,145 |
| Civic Touring sedan | $30,745 |
| Civic Si sedan | $29,195 |
| Civic Sport hatchback | $26,545 |
| Civic EX hatchback | $28,845 |
| Civic Sport Touring hatchback | $31,645 |
An Si Without the Summer Tire Option in 2023
Another interesting drop for 2023 is the option of summer tires from the Si sedan. The price of the Si—now shod exclusively with all-season tires—has increased by only $600 to $29,195. In 2022, the Si sedan was $28,595 with its standard tires and cost $200 more with the performance tires.
The only performance-ish option for the Si is the $1,130 HPD Package, which is mostly additions to the "underbody spoilers" on the front bumper, side skirts, and rear bumper along with an HPD badge. You already get a short spoiler on the deck lid of the Si as standard along with a set of 18-inch wheels with 235/40R18 all-season tires.
Is It Still A Great Value for 2023 Compact Sedans?
Overall, the 2023 Honda Civic is a carryover save for a few minor trim revisions and the loss of the price-leader LX. (Oh, and that upcoming 315-hp Civic Type R hatchback... ) Losing the LX hurts the Civic's standing in the price wars with its main rival, the Toyota Corolla, which sees minor updates for 2023 but holds the line on pricing, even as its base models trade their weak engines for the same 169-hp 2.0-liter I-4 previously reserved for higher trims. The least-expensive 2023 Corolla LE comes in at well under the Civic's new base price, at $22,645 to the Civic Sport's $25,745—a $3,100 price difference—and bristles with an 11-hp power advantage. The LE sedan also gets 32 city, 41 highway, 35 combined on its estimated EPA fuel economy whereas the more expensive Civic Sport is 31/40/35 mpg.
Even the pricier-for-2023 Corolla SE hatchback undercuts the Civic Sport hatch by $390. The Honda holds a key advantage here, however, in that it's roomier and still offers a manual transmission—a feature Toyota dropped from the '23 Corolla lineup entirely (save for the 300-hp GR model that goes up against the Civic Type R). Toyota likewise doesn't offer a mid-range performance option equivalent to the Civic Si, meaning if you're looking for cheap performance with a manual transmission, the Honda Civic Si is your only choice between these two.
The Corolla is available as a hybrid model, the cheapest of which also undercuts the entry-level Civic Sport by a staggering $1,850 and delivers up to 50 mpg. Well, for now—it's expected that Honda will soon introduce a Civic Hybrid that would compete directly with the Corolla Hybrid.
So, given all these price shuffles and the Corolla's aggressive price moves, does the 2023 Honda Civic still remain a value leader? We think so, provided you weren't previously in the market for a basement-level Civic; if you were already shopping at the Sport level or above, the Honda is as easy to recommend as ever.