Faults:

Transmission went out twice, once at 40k under warranty, then at 70k, at which point it was replaced and that worked. I think the first one was just a bad transmission.

The headlights had cracks and were wet inside.

The plastic fuse cover under the dash is SOOO flimsy and broke early on, not a big deal, but badly engineered.

The driver side window stopped working about 80k, replaced the rubber piece that guides the window, and then it worked.

General Comments:

The car is so cheaply made. It worked for getting me around, but I also owned a 1995 Civic EX, which I was much happier with, although it was pretty cheaply made too. That being said, you get what you pay for.

At 12 years old and 130k, the plastic and rubber throughout the car were pretty worn/weathered. It was definitely time to let it go.

The new Civics are definitely nicer, and I would consider getting one, along with many cars in Honda's line.

Faults:

Replaced timing belt, as required, also had water pump replaced at the same time because it's right there, and has a reputation for going bad. Very expensive to have done at $650.00.

Starting system seems to have a problem right now. It is turning slowly, and is going to need attention in the next few days!

The fuel lines all rusted out and had to be replaced.

The driver's door lock is broken, and does not lock, or unlock when the electric doors are initiated. I will not repair on a vehicle of this age.

General Comments:

I picked up this vehicle off an older woman cheap. It had 181,000 miles on it when I picked it up.

We live in Western New York, which is famous for lots of snow, and as a result, they throw lots of salt on the roads in the winter. This car has quite a problem with rust on the painted body panels and under the vehicle. I've had to check and clean the grounds on the vehicle, and there appears to be several.

The gas tank is rusted, and needs replacing. The fuel gauge (called the fuel meter by Honda) does not work, and is either defective, or there's a grounding problem with the associated wiring harness, which is common.

The handling is good.

The transmission is geared fairly well, although I wish there was a gear that made it easier to drive at 30 mph, as the cops in my village are horrible about doing no more than 30, and 3rd gear seems a little low, and 4th gear makes the engine "load" a little. The transmission also can be difficult to find the correct gears, as in sometimes I don't know if I'm in 1st, 3rd, or 5th gear.

The engine is not a "power house", it is suitable for motivating the car in forward motion. It seems quiet enough. This is a cheaper vehicle, and if you're expecting a totally silent car, then get a crow bar in your wallet, and spend the money on a more expensive car. You will need a good space for passing and overtaking slower vehicles in front of you if the need arises.

It runs smoothly considering the amount of miles it has. As mentioned before, the handling is O.K., although I would run good tires on this in the winter. I ran studded snow tires only on the front this past winter. It does quite well in the snow with this configuration, except when going around a snowy curve just a little too quickly. The car will start to slide through the turn in the road. Next winter I will pick up another set of snow tires for the rear axle. This car does quite well in the snow.

The gas mileage isn't all that fantastic. The vehicle that I had before this one was a '97 Buick Park Avenue. Absolutely "packed" with my family's belongings, the Buick got 32 mpg while running the Air Conditioning in the mountains of West Virginia and Tennessee, and would pass/overtake anything in our path. This Honda, while making regular expressway trips, only gets 35 mpg, and that's without the load of extra family weight or running of the Air Conditioning in the mountains. The more I think about it, considering how small this vehicle is, the fuel mileage is not all that good.