Faults:

Nothing ever went wrong with the car mechanically when I had it, even though I bought it at almost 20 years old.

The rear wheel arches were really rusted.

The 3 speed Civic was dark red wine, so it did match with the rusted metal.

General Comments:

The car's performance was terribly slow; usually people driving behind get tired and pass me. One must not have an ego to drive this car nowadays.

Actually I never locked the car, because I know no one wants to steal that metal cabin on wheels. The car is so easy to work on. Once it was like -30 Celsius, dead cold outside, and the car would not start. Put in some start up spray with Ether in it. Still didn't start. I put a lot of the can in the intake, the car started and stayed at max RPM at the red line. After 30 seconds I found out I could just pull the key out of the starter. No engine damage whatsoever at all. Any German car would have blown up.

Faults:

The engine doesn't run well when the outside temperature goes below zero. (it's a carb thing)

The timing can be rough when the distributor wears out.

General Comments:

This car is amazing, it just keeps on going no matter where I drive it.

My wife bought the Civic new from the dealer with her fathers help (good job). I was on a fishing trip when she bought it.

I did all the maintenance myself.

I changed the oil regularly, and I hardly revved it over 3 thousand rpms.

The car is quite peppy, and it's easy to drive for long distances.

I can shift from 1st up to 5th, and back down again, without using the clutch.

In fact, since I have crawled inside and out of this car since new, I now know this car as well as I know my wife.

I changed the clutch once, 300 000 km.

Replaced 1 diff. bearing, all wheel bearings, carb, distributor once. I still drive it 160 kms a day to work.

Faults:

I bought this car a week ago. It ran great. Now, I have got a chu-chu-chu sound from the joints, and engine makes a huge noise. Once the accelerator is pushed in and left, it keeps going unless the brakes are pushed down. Looks like is running with cruise control mode.

General Comments:

Car is great.

Faults:

Alternator.

Rear defogger - half of the lines don't defog.

Horn stopped working.

Heater fan switch - 2 lower speeds don't work.

Seized brake caliper.

4 way flasher switch stopped working.

Slight pull to the left.

General Comments:

This is an old car.

It doesn't have things that are common in most cars today, like fuel injection or 3 point seat belts in the back.

Bought it for $800 off of someone I knew, because it was cheap and I was planning on getting some sort of wagon anyways (for putting baby strollers in).

The base of the seat also flips up so you can store things under it, and the seat back folds down so you end up with a completely flat cargo area. I carried a fully assembled barbecue and a dishwasher (not at the same time) with plenty of space left.

When the engine is cold, it has NO POWER. Not surprising since it's carburetted. It's not bad when warmed up, but I still won't be winning any races.

The seats aren't very comfortable, and in my opinion, the car looks ugly, both on the inside and outside.

Repairs are quite reasonable, but finding parts isn't that easy in some cases if the part is specific to the wagon/wagovan model.

I'm probably going to keep this car at least until the end of the year (when it's due for an emissions test), but possibly as long as 3-5 years.