Salam.
I have a 7th gen that we have kept since 2006. It's a manual EXi 1.5 L and currently has 270k kms on the oddo. It's a very good car and if you maintain it well then it won't let you down. I have taken it to many northern areas and last year took it to Skardu and Shigar with 4 adults onboard.
The car is better than a Baleno in many respects. The drive and handling is a lot more stable and the brakes are way better since it has 4 wheel disks. The EXi does not have ABS (VTI version came with ABS). I think the Baleno comes with drums at the back? The civic accelerates a lot faster since it has more horsepower and engine displacement. The positioning and size of the pillars is good especially the A pillar which is horrible in many modern cars. It's a lot easier to drive in twisty mountain roads with excellent visibility for the driver. The car has modern looks even by today's standards.
The interior has more space and seats are more comfortable. The rear passengers get a flat floor so that's something you will like since the Baleno doesn't have it. The fuel economy is subjective but if you drive with a light foot and change gears at 2000 rpm then you can get 12 km/L in city with AC. The fuel economy is not so good on highway if you drive it at 120. You will get around 13-14. The rpm at 120 is around 3700 which is quite high and so I usually drive it at 100 where the rpm is around 3000.
Other issues that I have faced include power steering pump which usually leaks and not every Ustad can fix it properly and the engine is belt driven so that needs to be changed every 60-80k kms. The headlights fade up and at times feel inadequate at night so I get them cleaned from time to time. I get the oil changed at 5000 km intervals and use genuine Honda 10w40. I have changed all 4 shocks. The car is on its 5th set of tyres. From my experience...I don't think parts are that expensive...my driver side window broke a year ago and so I got it replaced with a genuine one for 2000 Rs. Good quality brake pads are between 4-6k. The timing belt usually is less than 2k but once you get that opened for replacement then might as well also replace the bearing which costs a bit more. Overall cost of the procedure is around 6-8k (last time I changed mine it was august 2020 and the car was driven 230k)
Browse the ads on Pakwheels and you will find some clean ones but you will have to be patient. Look for cars that have multi year ownership history.
