Faults:

CV joint broke twice, each time on a different side of the front axle, in 2002, after 75,000 miles or so.

Muffler fell off in 2001, after about 65,000 miles.

Drivers side sags slightly.

Over time, the shock absorbers have become less effective and the ride is a little bumpy.

Thermostat broke in 2004, engine would overheat.

General Comments:

Despite the problems, I love the car, it has been great value for money.

This version of the civic handles well and because it is so light, it has great pick-up.

My 96 Civic is very fuel efficient. Filling the tank has generally cost from $16 to $26 or so (depending on oil prices between 2001 and 2007, and I would drive the car a good 240-300 miles on that

I wonder if this car does best with a lot of highway driving - this is how I have run it, for my daily commute.

Faults:

The radiator developed a needle-punch hole and started to show a wet spot, so I decided to replace the radiator altogether.

The rear right-hand window motor died recently, but I don't need it much, so I don't worry about it for now.

Otherwise, nothing wrong - just regular maintenance, which is very low-cost.

And a lot of care on my part, for she deserves every bit of it.

General Comments:

I love my Civic unconditionally. So far, she's been like a good wife to me - very beautiful, very sexy, very devoted, very economical, very reliable, very easygoing, and overall very comfortable to live with.

Will not trade it for anything. Hope she feels the same way about me.

Faults:

Interior rattles, Paint chips very easily.

General Comments:

This is a very good, reliable car. Even though it has the VTEC engine it is by no means fast. Pretty good gas mileage 25-35. Reliable. Safe? The car makes me nervous, it is very light and couple that with no anti-lock brakes and it's safe to say driving in the rain is interesting. The brakes are pretty easy to lock up. The car also hydroplanes very easily.

Faults:

Noisy belts.

Exhaust manifold cracked.

These problems have not been fixed, and it still runs great. I plan on getting these problems fixed soon. Cup-holder latch broke too, but that's not a big deal.

General Comments:

Good preformance for 38MPG. Hatchback is lighter and faster, the sedan is bulkier, but still great. Put in an after-market stereo, the Honda stereo is terrible. I bought a Pioneer CD deck with Polk speakers, and the sound is great. The car runs very well, especially being in the Northeast winters and springs. The ride is good. I really like the crazy 13" tires, the silver steel wheels. Funny. Great car 89% awesome, just a bit to feminine. But seriously, very reliable and durable. It is hard to find this car in a manual transmission though, in the US. It took me three months to find a stick-shift Civic DX.

Faults:

When I bought the car, the muffler (tailpipe and all) had rusted and fallen off. From what I understand now, this is only because someone had tried to put an after-market muffler from a late eighties Suburban on it.

Also, the driver's window would not roll down because of the regulator breaking. From what I hear, this is a fairly common, yet expensive, fault with this car.

General Comments:

I loved my Civic dearly until the day that an old woman pulled out in front of me and totalled my car. I still love it. Even though it was somewhat lacking in trunk space, it had a great sporty feel about it.

Having no tachometer was a drag, and the shifter would move when I would accelerate and decelerate.

My stereo also kinda went on the fritz and stopped being compliant with my volume needs. If I would turn it up, it would stay the same or go down, and if I turned it down, it would skyrocket in an unholy cacophony.