Faults:

The CV boots cracked on a few occasions. The brakes have had some work. And there have been some minor electrical problems. Apart from that, nothing.

General Comments:

This has been a remarkably durable car, especially considering the severe climate I live in. The temperatures here in Saskatchewan, Canada, can exceed plus 40 Celsius in the summer and drop below minus 40 in the winter. Yet, the car lives outdoors (I have no garage) and it keeps on going and going. Performance and economy have exceeded my expectations and, after a nightmarish experience with Chrysler before this car, I'll never buy from the North American Big 3 again.

Faults:

CV Boots replaced at 135000 miles.

Tape Player stopped working a long time ago.

General Comments:

I purchased this Civic 6 years ago. It was a little over a year old at the time. I have had absolutely zero problems with this car. Other than routine maintenance, (brakes, timing belt, CV boots, filters, and oil), I have not put a dime into the car.

The "routine" maintenance I have gone through with the civic was much less frequent than several other comparable cars. In fact I did not change the brakes for the first time until 99,000 miles and I just changed the timing belt and CV boots at 134,000.

As far as performance is concerned, a civic is not a Porsche. It has good pep and has no problem cruising at 95 on the highway. It is not going to win any races, however.

I have read complaints regarding the Civic's loud engine. I have never had this opinion. The car is not silent, but engine noise has never been a concern of mine with this car. The car has a very smooth ride for a car its size.

The Civic is very fun to drive. It has a very tight turning radius. As mentioned above, the Civic is not a race car, but you can have a lot of fun driving it as long as 95MPH is fast enough for you. The fuel economy is good. Using synthetic oil and keeping your filters clean helps, but I regularly get 35 MPG. On some of my cross country jaunts, I have gotten 41 MPG in the car.

This car has a limited amount of space. The front seats are both comfortable (I am a 210 lb guy). The back seats, however would not be suitable for long trips. The trunk is small, but not overly small.

I have taken very good care of this car. I have used only synthetic oil, changed filters and plugs regularly, and made sure all major maintenance is taken care of before it becomes a problem. The car, in turn has taken excellent care of me. It has never broken down, never refused to start, and never cost me a dime in non maintenance repairs. I have driven this car across this great country several times and I would not hesitate to drive it across country again.

It is not hard to find a Civic with 250000 miles on it and running just fine. That is the beauty of the Civic... the car is long paid for, still runs like new, and still has resale value at 135,000 miles. You cannot say that about many other cars, especially in this price range.

Faults:

Check engine light came on all the time (every 10,000 miles or so) in the first 90,000 miles. There was always something weird with emission-related type items, oxygen sensor, and even the exhaust manifold was cracked (making ticking sound). However, none of these things affected the car's performance as far as day to day driving and reliability. The good news is that we kept getting stuff in the mail from Honda saying the coverage for this or that "was extended due to California Emissions... " or some other strange reason. Bottom line is that most of it was covered, including the manifold at 60,000 miles, and other stuff up to 90,000 miles (we never bought an extended warranty). CV joint went bad at 110,000 miles, and the other one at about 130,000 miles. But we had driven a bunch of gravel roads out here in Wyoming which I'm sure contributed along with snow and ice.

General Comments:

I've listed a lot of things that have happened with the car. But I can assure you that I would definitely buy another one in a heartbeat! It has never, ever let us down as far as breaking down, being stranded, etc. Things that went wrong were more of an annoyance than an inconvenience. And, believe it or not, it is a great car in the snow. Cruises right though 6" of snow like a knife through butter.