Faults:

Junk, stay away. Worst Honda Civic ever made.

In the 12 000 miles that I owned the car, the following things broke:

Interior fuse box; the car died.

A/C compressor clutch wouldn't engage when it's hot. The Freon was filled to the max.

Steering rack started leaking fluid.

Random misfires, clogged catalytic convertor. CEL was on, the car went into limp mode sometimes.

Input shaft bearing noise, needed the transmission rebuilt.

Engine mounts; the car jerked badly when in 1st and 2nd gears at low RPM.

Seat belt buckle switch, SRS light stayed on.

Power locks failed.

General Comments:

Horrible handling.

Cheap interior.

Faults:

Transmission popping out of 5th; $800.00.

Front end repairs (ball joints/stab links/align); $650.00.

Battery replaced (maintenance); $100.00.

Timing belt/water pump/drive belts (maintenance); $600.00.

Now needs compliance bushings/rear stab kits; $550.00.

SRS light on. Needs driver's side seat belt latch; $300 (not covered by any kind of goodwill or safety related warranty).

Leaks water (typical apparently).

General Comments:

The car was super clean, cert & emission, and Car faxed when I bought it. I even bought a warranty (wouldn't cover the transmission, so it was wasted money).

Has been a wallet sucking pig ever since (I've only put under 28000km or just over 17000 miles on it in 4 years).

In all fairness, the cars runs great and has only left me stranded once when the battery died. Everything works as it should, even the A/C, knock wood.

The ride is rough, but it handles amazing around the traffic circles and corners. The acceleration is all over the place (again, typical), but decent around the city. Not so good on the highway though. Very noisy and poor mileage at higher speeds, say 120km/hr, but still not terrible.

Generally I like the car, but my wallet hates it. I drove a Lincoln MK VII LSC for ten years that didn't cost me nearly as much overall as this car did in 4 years. I thought I would save money.

And yes, Canada made an Si in 2001.

Faults:

Transmission failed a month after owning car.

This is a good car overall though. Cheap to run and 30 mpg around town.

Replaced door door lock and ABS sensor, but nothing else. Runs good and reliable.

General Comments:

Car is fun and peppy. Good value for your money.

Faults:

I purchased the car with high miles, so it had some minor issues:

- Front bumper has a huge crack in it and needs to be replaced (partially my fault; it was a minor before winter hit). It's epoxied together for now until the weather warms up so I can install a new bumper.

- SRS light was on at purchase, driver's side seat buckle failed and would not buckle after two days - Dealer replaced for free under recall and turned the SRS light off. Dealer replaced SRS module and driver's side airbag for free under recall as well.

- 2 out of 4 speakers blown, stock CD player would stop playing CDs sometimes - replaced with new headunit/speakers myself.

- Some interior/exterior rattles, common with this year/model, probably age/mileage as well.

- Shifter ball cracked (shifter jammed and split it almost in half on a cold day) making shifting imprecise at times. Replaced shifter and bushings with Revo SS unit & aluminum bushings myself in 15-20 minutes.

General Comments:

Pros:

Generally, for the price I paid, I feel this car is a great, reliable, and fun bargain. The car is pretty easy to maintain yourself as well.

The car was well-maintained by its previous owner with a stack of service records, as normally I wouldn't touch a car with over 120k. The appearance of the EX model gives this car a nice, sporty look with many additional features (rear spoiler, 15 inch alloy wheels, decent handling package, ABS, side air bags, close-ratio transmission, vtech engine/better exhaust system, sunroof, etc).

The interior is comfortable and very roomy with good trunk space as well. The D17A2 engine, combined with a close-ratio manual transmission seems to provide a healthy balance of performance and excellent fuel economy. The engine is smooth and responsive, and it starts every time with ease. The handling is good, and the ride quality on the highway is excellent.

Honda dealer service was outstanding, as they honored all the recalls without question. I went to Honda expecting to have to pay $150+ for a seat buckle to install myself, and left there with money in my pocket and a safer car.

Cons:

The ride seems fairly harsh on rough pavement, despite its excellent highway ride, because of the suspension setup on the 7th gens. The harsh ride sometimes causes the ABS to kick in unexpectedly when stopping at higher rates of speed on rough roads.

The D17A2 VTECH motor does not respond to "mods" as well as the previous generations of Honda motors have in the past, it. If you're not looking for a tuner car, then the performance is good/peppy even for a high mileage, 127hp SOHC motor.

The manual transmission sometimes can be difficult to shift into first, which is a common issue.