Faults:

The transmission gasket wasn't right from the factory, and it caused hard shifting into the 1-3-5 gears.

The car leaked a bit of oil at the start.

The windshield cracked easily.

The driver and passenger-side front windows are hard to roll up.

General Comments:

This car goes forever on a tank, until you hit 120 km/h. Then you will be surprised by how quickly the tank drains.

For shorter people, the thin seats don't matter, because of the good contours. I've done a trip of 7200 kilometers, 3600 of it in one straight run, and the seats were good, even on the longest stretches.

The transmission is starting to get a bit ropey as time goes on, and smooth shifts aren't helped by the extremely light and grabby (and original) clutch.

The patterned plastic on the door panels and sill plates scratches easily.

The car handles marvelously, if you ignore the weight.

Even with a 5-speed, this is not a fast car.

Five people can make a trip, but when going more than 200 kilometers, four is better.

The back seat is roomy for such a small car. It is nice to see child seat mounts and 3-point safety belts at all positions.

Our experiences with dealer service have been mixed. We use the same place all the time. Sometimes they are efficient and fast, and sometimes they are slow and generate more excuses than results. The same shop that made a chip in our windshield to prove that it wasn't they who made the crack in the windshield (convoluted logic, to my way of thinking) is also the same shop that takes care of scheduled maintenance within an hour of us showing up with the car.

This car, which will have racked up almost 200,000km in our ownership by year's end, has thus far been very good for my (mostly short) family. It is zippy and fuel efficient, with a cavernous trunk. Other than those minor items up top, and a few dissatisfactions down below, absolutely nothing has failed. No suspension failures, no electrical failures, no body hardware falling off, no cooling system faults, in fact it's just been eerie how little has gone wrong.

Previous car: 1993 Ford Taurus wagon. One transmission, one radiator, one set of exhaust headers, constant electrical problems, one very weak engine, and one car that makes this one look so much better.

Faults:

Absolutely nothing has gone wrong, seeing how I have only owned it for two weeks.

When I got the car from the dealer, they said the timing belt was replaced and it came with brand new Toyos, oh yeah! Dealership was stellar and I got a great price, $9995.

General Comments:

This car is what we all need to be driving; great value, decent performance, stellar gas mileage, great handling, comfort, controls.

And when you're driving it, you feel good, because you know you're going to make it home ;)

I would recommend this car to anyone looking to make a first time buy or even to replace that old or unreliable vehicle. The insurance is cheap and the car resales at an unbelievable amount. I swear these things do not depreciate. In fact I think mine is appreciating in the driveway right now!

Faults:

27,000 km's - The check engine light came on. Dealership reset the sensor saying it had malfunctioned.

55,000 km's - Check engine light came on again. Set an appointment with the dealership only to have it turn itself off on its own the night before I was to take it in.

70,000 km's - Check engine light came on again. Took it to the dealership and they diagnosed it with a faulty gas cap. As it turned out this is a common problem with Civics (my friend who has a 1997 Civic hatchback had the same problem). Dealer replaced the gas cap under my extended warranty, but as it was an item on backorder I had to wait 2 weeks.

Other than the above nothing else has gone wrong.

General Comments:

What can I say? This has been one very pleasant experience so far. I had leased this car back in May 2005. I had read the reviews on the Civic and had been impressed by all the positive feedback I had seen.

Along with this car, I had also test driven a Toyota Echo and had looked at a Chevrolet Aveo. I found the Echo to be just too small and not enough pick up for highway driving. For the Aveo the dealership was unwilling to deal with me due to a past credit mistake (with GM's financial problem at the time, I had to admit I could not blame them).

Taking the Civic for a test drive, I was very impressed by the way it handled in both city and highway driving, and quickly decided this was the car I wanted. Upon negotiating the lease, the salesperson attempted to sell me an extended warranty (7 years/160,000 km's) for 600 dollars. I was curious as to why it was so cheap as I had heard of these warranties costing upwards of 2000 to 3000. To this end the dealer responded and I quote "We know our cars!"

The Civic is not what one would call a performance orientated car like a Ford Mustang. There is not much get up and go, and you won't outdrag other cars with the 1.7 Litre 115 HP engine.

As well you will not find too many luxuries either. No heated seats, mirrors or amazing sound system. My car didn't even come with floor mats! What you will find however is that the Civic is in effect a rather basic, extremely reliable form of transportation. This car will rarely, if ever, leave you stranded, and it has excellent gas mileage to boot.

Those of you looking for that quick burst of speed will be disappointed by this car, but then again if you are in the market for a Civic, you probably aren't looking for that anyway.

Overall, I have to say it's an excellent car and highly recommended.