1999 Honda Civic LS 1.5 VTEC from UK and Ireland

Summary:

Subtle and superbly reliable

Faults:

Nothing.

General Comments:

The car is a complete contrast to my previous vehicle - reliable, excellent ride quality and decent fuel economy, also I enjoy driving it even on my dull journey to work.

Good points - economy (45 mpg average), well equipped (air con, electric windows/mirrors/sunroof, ABS, twin airbags, remote central locking etc.)

Honda mechanical build quality and a reliable dealer (so far).

Good amount of space in the rear for passengers.

Performance is pretty good for a 1.5, about the same as a 1.8 Focus, but cheaper on the road fund license and less commonplace.

Negative points - minor quibbles as follows :

Bodywork and paint seems to attract dents and damage, even minor petrol spills have discolored the metallic paintwork very quickly.

The boot is rather small compared to my Brava (one of the only things I liked about the Fiat!)

Headroom is marginal for a six foot tall driver as there is no height adjustment on the seat (unlike Fiat.)

Long travel on clutch pedal makes smooth gear changing in lower gears a bit of an art.

Rattles - bit suprised by rattles which I cannot pinpoint, but seem to be coming from the rear section of the car. MOT and service have not picked up any nasties so will have to live with for the moment.

Would you buy another car from this manufacturer? Yes

Review Date: 25th June, 2003

5th Aug 2003, 05:42

Just to update my review. Car has now passed 50,000 miles and has recently had its major service - £326, expensive maybe, but it has been faultless for the preceeding 9000 miles so I don't mind paying out. Has regained some of its former poke after the service!! Rattles still not traced to anything major so I will just up the volume on the CD player...Apparently brake pads will need changing in about 5000 miles time; fair enough. One point I missed in my review is that the ABS equipped brakes don't have a lot of bite. I recently drove a Honda Jazz which had very powerful brakes, certainly much better than my Civic's.

22nd Sep 2004, 12:37

Car has now done 60,000 miles and still no problems. Some rust on the rear arches was rectified by dealer under warranty at Honda UK's expense. Brake pads replaced at last service, centre section of exhaust is on its way out. Still a happy Honda customer!!

1999 Honda Civic EX 1.6 VTEC from North America

Summary:

Excellent transportation

Faults:

Absolutely nothing... honestly!

General Comments:

At the time I bought this car, I needed an affordable vehicle that I wouldn't have to worry about. I was going to be putting 60 to 70 miles a day on it and I didn't have a lot of money to spend on maintenance and repairs. The Civic was the perfect choice. Not a single thing has gone wrong with it. I've owned it for 4 years now and I love it. I bought the EX model, so it has power everything, including a moon-roof, and it has enough pep to keep me content. I have since bought a second vehicle, but can't bring myself to get rid of my Civic. I'm certain that it will last forever.

Would you buy another car from this manufacturer? Yes

Review Date: 15th May, 2003

1999 Honda Civic DX 1.6 from North America

Summary:

Every Honda has a Honda Engine - Unfortunately!

Faults:

Since new this car has been nothing but problems, even with regimented dealer service.

First problem I noticed was the drivers seat was was moving when I accelerated or braked. It turns out to be the floor board were flexing where the seats bolted down. The car had to have plate metal welded to the floorboards to fix it. Honda refused to cover it as it wasn't under any warranty. Note, I am only 160 lbs.

I also noticed a grinding sound when accelerating and it turned out to be a bad bearing in the transmission. Luckily Honda fixed it under warranty.

The car also has a lot of wind noise through the windows at highway speeds.

General Comments:

Other than fuel economy I really don't have too many good things to say.

Acceleration is pretty weak, I don't understand how other surveys rate it high. They are probably 16 year old kids that don't know better or Europeans that are only use to 4 cylinders.

Body roll is good at low speeds, but on the highway the car tends to roll badly. Not a high speed handling car.

The fit and finish of the body panels are not that great and the interior already has a few squeaks.

I really think these cars are by far highly over rated. After renting a Ford Focus I found it a much better car in all aspects. For any buyers take a good look at the competition.

Would you buy another car from this manufacturer? No

Review Date: 7th May, 2003

9th May 2003, 16:29

You may have had luck with your 3 Honda's, but it might not be enough to call it a superior product. You were lucky, I wasn't. Look at some of the other poor comments on the Civic, look at the comments on the problematic Odyssey. Either quality has slipped or this manufacturer is highly over rated.

I would never buy one again! Like other surveys I find the technicians try to hide problems and blame it on anything, but quality. At least Ford, GM and Chrysler are recently owning up to there mistakes and performing recalls. I prefer a mfr that accepts responsibilty rather then shunning you off.

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