Faults:

Don't have much history on this car because it did NOT make it home from the initial purchase!

From the test drive.

- Radio dead.

- Driver's side window seals are toast, lots of wind noise.

Oh - The engine threw a rod on the way home!

General Comments:

I had never really believed the hype about Honda's, but decided to give this one a try.

It had 188K, which is higher than I like, but "Hondas go forever" made it seem like this was not too far up the mileage scale.

The price was $1850, so it did not seem like a bad deal.

There appeared to be NO mechanical issues during the test drive. No knocking, no ticking, nothing but normal engine sounds. Then the car was driven home, mistakenly in 3rd. Knew something was wrong when the car would not make highway speeds without excessive RPMs, so the car was driven SLOWLY home. It only lasted about 20 minutes at 5K RPMs. This may sound harsh (the 5K rpms), but this little 4 is supposed to red-line near 7K. It should have been able to run at 5K all day long. Not so much on this one. And trying to find a replacement engine at a decent price is a major hassle and expensive. The junk yards want $800 - $1500 for a USED engine.

It seems most of the good reviews on these cars are at low miles. I would not trust one of these to go 200,000.

Faults:

Alternator belt started to go out a little while after I purchased it (not surprising, as it turned out to be factory original belt).

Transmission began to shift very slowly and would slip between gears (common issue on 98s, has to do with solenoids that control shifts).

Interior rotted fairly extensively due to sun and cheap materials in the headliner.

General Comments:

This was my first car, and I honestly loved it. I beat this car for all it was worth, and it never let me down or left me sitting on the side of the road. This car literally saw every kind of abuse you can think off; it saw jumping, sliding, spinning, racing, offroading, dirt roading, deer, -30s, high 90s, 115mph, and road trips as long as almost a thousand miles, and other than tires and a new battery, there wasn't anything that ever stopped it.

It was slow... made the 0-60 run in about 9.6 seconds, and got stomped on consistently by Cavaliers and big heavy mutts alike, but what can you expect out of an automatic four-cylinder of this size?

Small exhaust leak, and v-tech cam system made for a nice sound at high rpms, but stock exhaust was definitely a good choice.

It got great gas mileage, in fact I never saw worse than 29 on a tank, even if I was thrashing it constantly.

Looked pretty decent with the ex package and black paint, and had all the bells and whistles available (PW, PL, CD/tape, power moon roof, map lights, cruise control, AC, cabin recycle, etc etc). It was no Aston Martin, but you didn't feel bad driving it either.

Plenty, of space and comfort for an eco-box. I'm six three and fairly broad shouldered, and there was plenty of driver space for me. On long trips the seats were a tad stiff, but they show little wear because of this lack of comfort.

Bought it, beat it, and it still breathes today. I traded up for a Camaro, but I wouldn't hesitate to grab another 96-00 Civic for a commuter any day.