Faults:

Rear left wheel bearing started failing - making lots of noise.

Burned about 500mL of oil a fortnight.

Crunched into third gear, even with the clutch fully depressed.

General Comments:

Surprisingly fun to drive, and can cop a beating. Flogged it while I owned it, smashing into the 7500rpm limiter on a daily basis, and it never missed a beat. Liked to drink some oil, but that was it. Handling was funny... turn in, it would initially hesitate, then turn and violently swing the tail end out. Made me laugh each time.

Great cheapie beater, which is what I used it for.

Faults:

Replaced transmission at 130,000. Previous owner wrecked it from reckless driving.

Imported new tranny from Japan with 60,000 miles on it for $350. Mechanic swapped it for an additional $300.

A/C broke at 150,000, not worth the $800 estimate to fix.

General Comments:

I absolutely loved this car (was totaled yesterday because a deer ran into me). I am looking for a new one.

This car never once left me going "uh oh, what's that noise".

This car is very fun to drive, but it is not a sports car, so don't drive like you are in a Corvette.

Would get 42 mpg on road trips, and regularly 35 around town.

Easy to maintain, and very reliable as long as you take care of it.

Faults:

I had purchased the car with a go tech management system and with the head redone.. it has a twin performance exhaust, which makes a impressive noise.. the management however messes things up... the hooter does not work; even after it had been rewired, it died again. Been told it's a common fault.

I have encountered many oil leaks, I have spent around 5000 on maintenance so far.. it's a solid car, but it was a mistake buying a car with the mileage so high. It does make me smile a lot when I do drive it, but it could have been much better.. Look around and be safe. Be sure to look at the interior.

General Comments:

Excellent, but must be maintained 100%.

Faults:

Distributor cap had to be changed twice.

Brake lines changed last summer.

Alternator changed twice (last one last week).

Complete front end done within last year.

General Comments:

Wow, it was a great ride! I need a 4 door because of a baby coming, but this car was amazing. Very low cost of ownership. Cheap on gas, and cheap parts to replace on the very rare occasions I had to replace them.

With 457 000 km I can say this car has excellent reliability. Too bad Honda (and Toyota) have not kept their reliability at this level, they keep going down all the time and I would probably not buy another one just because of this.

If you can put your hands on a good used 96-2000 civic do it! They are very reliable and good on gas, I'm about to buy a used 2002 4 door Civic but I'm hesitating, I'm getting a good price though, so I think I will try it and give a review on it later down the road.

I still have the original clutch on it but it needs to be changed at the time of writing this review (Feb 06 2009). Original exhaust, have not touch the engine, original gaskets etc.. Original radiator and transmission.

I sure had a good experience with my 96 Civic coupe!

Faults:

Nothing Honda is a sure shot when looking for reliability!

General Comments:

The car is not very comfortable might be due to seats being worn out! It has never let me down, I think about upgraded a lot but its is so cost efficient that it doesn't make sense to upgrade.