1999 Honda Civic EX 1.6L

Summary:

A slow, reliable, rattle box

Faults:

Dash Rattles Terribly

Car Shakes Violently

Another Dash Rattle When AC is On

Rear Deck Lid Rattles

Suspension Squeaks

Poor working AC

Tranny Feels Notchy

3rd Gear Syncro is going bad.

General Comments:

If you want a slow car that will pretty much run forever, this is the car for you. As long as you can stand all of the little quirks and problems it WILL run forever. It just won't run like you want it to.

I regret buying this car and plan on selling it sometime soon. The only thing I have really enjoyed about it is the gas mileage. Thankfully, the car has atleast held its value well so I can sell it for almost what I paid for it.

Would you buy another car from this manufacturer? No

Review Date: 19th August, 2004

4th Dec 2004, 04:36

I have a 99 Honda Civic EX and I don't have any of the problems with any rattles of any kind. Yes the car is a bit slow, but mines an automatic, but it's not too bad.

26th Mar 2005, 19:13

I have an automatic as well, I have not had any of the problems you have, but one thing I do agree with you on is yes the back panel does rattle a lot.

1st Feb 2009, 19:24

I don't know what you guys are talking about. I just bought a 99 Civic EX, and yeah it rattles, especially from where the radio is, but mine hauls ass and it's an automatic, so I don't know what's wrong with yall Civics, but mine's great. I can't wait to see how quick it gets after I do some modding.

1999 Honda Civic EX 1.6L VTEC

Summary:

Best small car out there, worth every penny

Faults:

Tail pipe rusted out at about 50k, not unusual for the rust belt area I suppose.

The left front power window wouldn't go up while visiting family 700 miles away the day I was headed back home. I later found a frayed cable in the regulator and bought a used unit in the salvage yard for $75.

Sometimes when in drive and stopped it seems to idle too slow causing a vibration and something to rattle up front.

General Comments:

OK let me get my gripes out of the way, which may seem nit-picky.

Would be nice to have the window controls illuminated so I can see which button is which at night.

Would be nice if the intermittent wipers had some sort of variable control. You get Off, Intermittent, Low and High,- dumb.

The cup holders are so-so. You get a big one and a smaller one, if you take off too quick you better hold on to your drink or it might be running down your leg!!

Forget about those map lights on the overhead. If you need your partner to read something like a map for instance you the driver will get blinded.

When I'm taking a hard right and consequently leaning on the door the dome light comes on, I need to fix this.

Would it kill Honda to make an ashtray and cigarette lighter standard? Even if I didn't smoke it would be a nice place to put gum wrappers, bits of trash, etc.

And finally just like too many 'imports' they are still using that wimpy 'beep-beep' horn.

OK besides those few things, I really love this car. I have fun putting it to the floor and watching the tachometer go up to 6500 RPM before it shifts into second gear. Once I got rid of those stock tires and put some decent tires on it it handled much better. It sips gas, is very comfortable on long trips (for a small car) and is a lot of fun to drive without beating you to death over bumps.

I like how the radio buttons are real big and easy to find from the corner of the eye, and the heater controls are simple and easy to reach.

I would like to upgrade to a Honda van, due to a growing family. Yes you do pay more for a Honda anything, but right now my Civic is 5 years old and still worth about $9000 on a trade, tell those KIA owners this, they are feeling the pain.

Would you buy another car from this manufacturer? Yes

Review Date: 18th December, 2003

19th Dec 2003, 22:43

You may want to read some of the Honda Odyssey reviews before you make uneducated remarks about KIA or any other up and coming manufacturer.

22nd Apr 2004, 21:20

I found a Technical Survice Bulletion on the hood rattle, and I made some adjustments to the door so all is fixed now.

About the dude who left a comment trying to defend KIA, you got to be kidding me, The only reason anybody buys these is because they are much cheaper. Why? Because they are made of mostly cheap components. After 2 years what is it gonna be worth? Maybe 40% of what you paid for it. Maybe now that Hyundai have taken over they will get better, but don't expect their value to hold.

25th Nov 2004, 17:05

My first car was a civic ex. I honestly had nothing, but problems. I bought it at 70 000 kilometers, and had to replace the oxygen sensor three weeks after buying it. It was slow and would sometimes shake at stop lights. The windows were always slow and struggled to open and close in the cooler weather. After getting in a minor rear ender, the airbags inflated costing a LOT of money. I would buy another civic, but I would consider newer model.