1994 Honda Civic Ex from North America

Summary:

This is a great car

Faults:

The only things that really went wrong with the car was that we had to replace the CV joints at about 65000 miles. There is also a problem with the Master Cylinder. Other than that though it was pretty reliable.

General Comments:

I LOVE this car. It is not really a sports car, but let me tell you, I put some Mustangs to shame in it!

I would recommend Honda to any one. They are decent, safe reliable and very versatile. My personal opinion is that most Hondas look great already, but they are very easy to modify as well.

Most of the people that I know who own Hondas own them for years and years with very little trouble. In fact our neightbors sold their aging Honda and bought a much newer American Luxury SUV and guess what happened, the person that they sold their little Honda to ended up picking them up as they were broke down on the side of the road with their 60000 vehicle! Ha Ha!

Would you buy another car from this manufacturer? Yes

Review Date: 18th September, 2005

14th Nov 2007, 18:28

My 93 civic ex has been the best car I ever owned. It now has 249,000 miles on it and get 32 mpg. I change the oil every 3,000 miles and have kept records on all work done. It does have some minor oil leaks and started around 200,000 miles. One leak was the "O" ring on the distributor. The other leaks are on the valve cover and oil pan. I bought this car new in 93 and everything still works. Plan to drive it until it blows.

18th Mar 2008, 00:55

My '93 Honda Civic EX is at 280,000 miles and still going strong. It has had NO major repairs; just little things to replace as it gets older. I would trade this car for anything.

23rd Apr 2008, 17:44

My Civic EX Manual has 205000 miles. Still drives GREAT. I love it. Very zippy car. I prefer this car over a non-vtec integra any time. I driven Integras, 1993 and 1998, and I did not like them AT ALL.

1994 Honda Civic DX 1.5 from North America

Summary:

Great reliability and performance for the price

Faults:

Problems:

I had both of the front CV joints go out on me after owning it for around 2-3 years. The price you pay for being 20 years old and having a car way too fast for your own good. The car loves to slide around corners, and if you know how to handle it, it does it well. But this is what caused my front axle to go out. (About $350)

Blown head gasket about 6-7 months after that, but thank god the pistons and cylinders didn't warp... didn't have to get them resurfaced. (Around $450)

The clutch doesn't release fast, so unless you get a quick shift kit you'll grind gears when shifting fast. THUS! New transmission. (About $900)

The car *is* shaky on corners if you don't have performance tires at all. Basic $50-$60 tires from Goodyear will skip when you're cornering harder than usual. Also, right now my shocks are going out... but I'm to the point where I don't drive as hard or fast.. so I'll probably just let the car fall apart and buy a new car.

During long drives though, my knees can start to hurt. I'm not terribly tall, just 5'11", for short drives and overall handling the car is great... but when driving for several hours on end I sometimes will switch my legs off and on because my knee will hurt pretty badly. (Maybe it's just my knee though!)

General Comments:

Currently it's 2005, I've had my 94 Civic for the last 6 years... meaning it was 5 years old when I got it. It had about 54k miles on it when I got it, and I've put over 100k on it in the 6 years I've had it.

*My* Civic has no A/C, which is my biggest beef with it. The car is relatively light, but heavier than you'd think given its size. The trunk has a ton of room and then some (again, for its size). I had a huge dual 12" box and amp in there and stuff still behind it.

It's got a small engine, easy to get around and work on, etc.

All in all, this has been a great car... and she just keeps going and going. A few problems with it, but I'm quite sure that if I attributed it to my driving style that it would be appropriately placed.

The car still gets over 30mpg (I had 370 miles in 11.2 gallons last time I filled up), and the regular maintenance costs are pretty cheap.

This car isn't *the* fastest car... but given that I have a manual transmission I can red-line it and beat most cars that try to drag against me. Which is fun... a 10 year old car beating newer Civics and older Accords and Preludes, and the big "jerk" trucks like Dodge Rams.

Would you buy another car from this manufacturer? Yes

Review Date: 10th April, 2005

8th Sep 2008, 15:17

Wowsers... you've really abused that little Honda. Mine averages 35 miles per gallon. 1.5 liter automatic 4 cyl. Never had these problems.