I think the best bet would be to test drive the cars and check if you like the drive (test drive in the sense that go and check the buyers car and ask him if they will let you drive it and check for any issues).
Yes Civic isn't an economical car if you compare it to a city or a corolla also if I'm not wrong. However drive wise, back then the civic did have a much better drive than any other PKDM.
Getting yourself a 2005 civic is going to cost you a lot in terms of maintaining the car as you're going to be keeping the car therefore I would suggest don't buy it. Something that old is bound to have issues and Honda parts are usually expensive to repair/replace. I have a 2007 Civic and it's costing me a lot to maintain it due to its age. So keep the age factor as well.
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