2002 Honda Civic Type-R 2.0L iVtec from UK and Ireland

Summary:

A High Performance Car at a reasonable price - Poor Quality standards though

Faults:

Uneven tyre wear - 15kmiles Problem caused by poor suspension design. Problem took Honda 6 months to correct (If it is fixed it takes 10k miles to determine if failure is still there), replacement arms on top of suspension.

Replacement steering rack due to knocking - 18k miles.

Electrical Power Steering failure - Intermittent since first purchase. Assistance lost during parallel park manoeuvres. (Design feature not failing!)

Rear wheel hubs rusted - 6k miles

Honda say effect is purely cosmetic and does not effect performance. As such they have no intention to fix issue.

Paint quality lacking, stones chip paint way too easily for a Black car.

Honda customer services, Poor.

Honda dealer care, Dismal.

General Comments:

This car is a brilliant drivers car, fast responsive engine, and excellent gearbox, beautiful. WOW!

Cabin is very spacious for size of car.

Excellent ergonomics, everything is within easy reach with exception of Stereo, easy to over tune/change volume when driving due to stiff sports suspension. I would recommend they consider remote control stereo in the face lift when it comes next year.

Brilliant handling.

Gorgeous Looks.

Would you buy another car from this manufacturer? No

Review Date: 4th July, 2003

4th Jul 2003, 17:46

Actually, black paint is a very soft paint, so stone chips and scratches are to be expected. Sounds like your car is a piece of crap. Glad I don't own it.

29th Aug 2003, 08:34

I have a 03 Type-r in black. The problem is that Honda have used a thick lacker. Generally the scratching you can see, unless particularly deep, is not to the paint layer, but to the lacker. Being a black car the scratching to the lacker is more obvious as the light shines on it.

I have only had mine for 4 months and have scratched it several times just washing it (and I do wash carefully).

The only plus is that black paint is easier to repair and that most scratches can be polished out. Try Chipsaway they will come out and polish them out (all for £30)

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2002 Honda Civic LX 1.7 from North America

Summary:

Struts problems

Faults:

POWER WINDOW

BOTH STRUTS have been replaced... and just so that everybody knows it's a factory defect on all civics and if you do complain enough they will replace it... Since they know there is a problem and they are JUST avoiding it.

General Comments:

Decent car...seats are so uncomfortable if you sit in them for more than 10 minutes you will need a chiropractor...

Decent engine >>>eccessive fuel consumption... cheap interior overall...

Would you buy another car from this manufacturer? Don't Know

Review Date: 27th May, 2003

15th Sep 2008, 12:01

That is true. The seats are very uncomfortable. When I drive, I have to change positions, very often, so that I can feel comfortable. Even having a pillow behind me does not help. When I drive, it is so uncomfortable that my legs on the drivers' floor are narrow.

2002 Honda Civic GLi 1.7 (non Vtec) from Australia and New Zealand

Summary:

Reliable, well built and does the things a car is meant to do, without fuss

Faults:

Rattle in passenger front door (fixed by dealer on 2nd attempt).

Dealer-fitted door step garnishes would not stay glued, so after a second attempt at regluing dealer supplied new ones and they have been fine ever since.

General Comments:

This is the sedan, not the hatch and overall it is a delight.

Engine is silky smooth and responsive.

Suspension can be a bit bouncy on rougher roads, but is o.k. otherwise.

Handles well.

Finish is superb.

Reliability is even better. Nothing ever stops working.

Switches have a nice simple positive feel (e.g. wipers / headlights / a/c) Layout is simple and effective.

Problem with radio in that the stations can be easily changed to presets by pressing the left knob in error when turning off the radio and presets aren't the stations I want. Not really a problem once you get use to it (but I've got nothing else to complain about).

In Australia, servicing is every 10,000 Kilometres (6000 miles) and 40,000 service is not cheap at just over $A600.00 (about $US340) but first 3 services were fine.

However, if this is what it takes to keep the car running like clockwork then so be it.

Car has dual air-bags, ABS, alloy wheels (albeit 14-inch), glass-mounted antenna and a/c as standard, so is well featured.

This is our first Honda and after having owned many different brands of cars (European, Australian, Japanese) and I can safely say this is one of the better ones.

Would you buy another car from this manufacturer? Yes

Review Date: 13th May, 2003