1991 Honda Civic LX 1.6 Liter from North America

Summary:

Ignore the brand name. This car is not worth it

Faults:

Everything imaginable. Struts went out twice in 40k miles, radiator shattered like glass, alternator, 2 sets of batteries, CV joints, air conditioning compressor, stereo, back speakers, distributor cap.

General Comments:

Honda is known for reliability. Mine was purchased late in its life with the expectation it would make it to 200k miles.

Mine has thousands in repair costs almost instantly at 119k that costs more than the worth of the vehicle. THe dealership lied to me and was dishonest about terms of the agreement when purchasing the vehicle.

I blew almost $4000 in repairs and after the distributor blew into a million pieces I sold it for $100 at 170k miles and never want to see it again.

I have seen American cars last longer than 170k miles with less maintance fees.

The car has trouble shifting gears when its cold out and has a terrible cheap plastic looking dashboard. Its not nearly as nice as the newer civics.

Would you buy another car from this manufacturer? No

Review Date: 7th January, 2006

10th Jan 2006, 12:58

I am sorry to hear such a story about a '91, but I think you got a bad deal, that is all.

I had mine for 9 years. I was the 2nd owner that bought it from a dealer with 62,000 on it and drove it for 110,000 before doing a full swap with a jdm Si engine. The old engine went to a friend for his CRX and that is where the old engine remains with ~230,000 miles and still going strong. My entire interior was always in new condition and when I sold it this last fall, it had 260,000 miles on the body. Batteries, alternators, everything goes with time, but what happened to you does not sound normal.

Good luck with your next car. I bought an '03 Civic new and it has been just as reliable as the '91 was. I miss that car a lot!

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1991 Honda Civic DX 1.5Lt from North America

Summary:

Great car if you keep up the maintenance

Faults:

The engine seized at about 240,000 miles. The seats are in poor condition.

The seat belts don't retract anymore.

At about 250,000 got a big crack in the windshield and had to replace.

At 268,000, car wouldn't start on and off. We could not figure out what was wrong. Had it towed. The moment it rolled off the tow truck it started fine. We finally had it taken apart and tested. It was the ignition switch;we had it replaced.

Most recently, major tune up needed.

Car fuel efficiency going down slightly, now only at 30 mpg in the city.

Driver side window mechanism broke last week, we have to guide the window back up by hand.

Struts on the back trunk stopped working at around 250,000.

AC hasn't worked since about 150,000 miles.

New clutch put in at 269,000.

General Comments:

Even though once you get into the 200,000 mile range, the civics tend to have a lot of random and hard to diagnose electrical problems, and this is quite frustrating, the civic is a great car. My dad has a 94 Toyota corolla with 102,000 and my 269,000 civic not only runs better, but is more dependable. Other than the fact that the car is very hard, interior wise, and maybe not the most comfortable car, it's a great buy. The seats on those civics do seem to get destroyed very quickly, even if under seat covers. Car drives smoothly and quickly. Right now, honestly, my greatest problem with the car is trying to keep people from stealing it.

Would you buy another car from this manufacturer? Yes

Review Date: 20th December, 2005

20th Dec 2005, 15:27

So uh, your seats are worn out at 669,000 miles eh? I guess it doesn't matter that your arse was in that seat for 14 years.

Another cool story on honda realiablity. Not found nowadays. But those early 90s cars were awesome, but bland.