2025 Hyundai Sonata vs 2026 Honda Civic

While its standout features are its value and safety ratings, in N Line trim the Sonata also offers some emotional appeal. Affordable sports sedans are increasingly rare, and there’s little else in the 2025 Sonata N Line’s segment that gives you this much horsepower for this kind of price. Of course, there is a penalty to pay at the gas pump, but otherwise the N Line delivers. In general, new rear-seat air conditioning vents and improved crash-test ratings boost the 2025 Sonata’s appeal.

Verdict: Hyundai refreshed the Sonata in 2024 and improved its safety rating in 2025, keeping it competitive against midsize sedan rivals. All versions offer compelling value and are impressively safe, while the N Line model is pleasantly sporty.

It’s been almost half a decade since Honda introduced this latest Civic. That’s hard to believe because this car has aged with remarkable grace. After a mild update for the 2025 model year, the 2026 Civic lineup carries over unchanged. It continues to offer sedans and hatchbacks, with or without hybrid power. Sporty Si and performance-tuned Type R variants are also available, but Honda still doesn’t offer the Civic with all-wheel drive. Does that matter? Seemingly not: the Civic is Honda’s second-best-selling car (behind the CR-V) and is consistently the top-selling compact car in Canada. The Honda Civic is assembled in Canada at Honda of Canada Mfg. in Alliston, Ontario.

Verdict: You’ll pay a premium to buy a Honda Civic. In many ways, it’s worth the extra money. In others, not so much. Still, while there are better deals in the compact car class, few are as satisfying to drive, and that’s true even when the Civic is equipped with its base engine.