Is this a fair price for a 2026 Civic Sport Touring Hybrid Hatchback?
My 2023 Honda Accord EX lease is up at the end of the week and I'm going to turn it in to the dealership tomorrow. I've been going back and forth trying to decide if I should purchase the Accord, turn it in and walk away and not have a car for about 4-6 months or so or turn it in and buy (not lease) a 2026 Civic Sport Touring Hatchback. I don't 100% "need" a car where I live but it's convenient to have one and I park my car in the yard for free.
For context, the dealership is located in Queens, NYC and the guy just quoted a $31,169 out the door price for the Civic in the exact color I want (Meteorite Gray Metallic). The reason the price is a bit less than others I've seen online is because there's equity in the leased Accord I'm returning because the mileage is very low. The only issue with the car is three long scratches on the driver's side bumper because someone scratched my car in a parking lot a few months ago, but it doesn't seem to be an issue when they looked at my car.
The dealer said they have to take one more look at my car to confirm the $31,169 out the door price (yes, I know how that could go 😛) but this seems like a good deal based on what I've seen on Reddit and other places online.
My Accord is nice and basically looks the same as the Civic except bigger and no hatchback and has good bells and whistles, but I prefer the smaller size of the Civic and should have kept the Civic I drove several years ago. At least this way I'm starting fresh with the car warranty but I don't know if I'm being crazy for not buying out the Accord but I really want the smaller sized Civic.
I can always drop off my leased Accord tomorrow and walk away and shop around, but this way I'm getting some of the equity applied to the Civic when I never realized you could actually have equity with a leased car.
Thanks for any opinions you could give.