Faults:

When cold engine mounts squeak, and crackle to the point it feel like its about to fall out, Honda is unable to fix. Struts have gone from bad to worse. Rust is appearing on the trunk. Dust deflectors had to be adjusted as they were releasing back into the brakes.

General Comments:

I was excited to buy this vehicle new. My Jeep was just getting to the point I couldn't afford the cost of fuel. The Civic ran well until the first few cold days. I live in Canada. On cold days, it sounds as though the engine mounts is rubbing metal on metal. I had it in for service 5X to the dealer, and each time they "fixed" something else. I always had to wait until a very cold day -10 celsius or more so I could show then. The mechanics were so inept one evening when I picked it up it made the noise immediately... they told me the part they replaced needed a few days to work itself in. This has never happened 2yrs later, and I gave up arguing with them and just live with it.

Now today I've noticed a hole in the trunk, and a good deal of rust appearing. Time for another trip to the dealer, which becomes frustrating and difficult as it's about a 1hr drive.

Beyond these problems it does have great fuel consumption. It's peppy for a little 1.8L, but only until about 20-30mph, after that its pretty poor performance. The car rides like a German Army Tank... the seats are uncomfortable, the ride is rough, and the interior materials are cheap. Not GM cheap... but not far off. It's very very loud on the highway, so be prepared to turn the stereo up higher than normal. I'll keep it until it dies, or rusts out at this rate, but can't say I'm very happy with the car, nor would I ever buy another Honda.

Faults:

Nothing has gone wrong with this car. This car is everything I ever wanted it to be.

General Comments:

The ride in this car is fantastic, both city and highway. The gas mileage is unbelievable for a 4-door sedan; in the city I average about 400km per tank, and about 600 on the highway, and that's with the A/C on! With the price of gas being so high in Canada, good fuel economy is essential when buying a new car, and the Civic doesn't disappoint. Lots of room in the interior as well as in the trunk, however there are no cup holders in the back, and power windows and heated outside mirrors (very important with Canada's cold winters) are only available in the much more expensive LX-G model. In addition, this "Special Edition" Civic doesn't have adjustable intermittent wipers, something I had on my base model 1984 Mercury Capri. In fact, the only things the "Special Edition" Civic have that the base model doesn't have is the A/C and the CD player. Still, I absolutely love this car and in all my years of driving it is the best car for the money that I have ever driven.

Faults:

Nothing.

General Comments:

Great use of internal space, has an MPV - like feel.

Some clever little innovations like the gear-stick on the dash which sounds mad, but is actually v comfortable and the flat floor along the back which makes transporting buggies etc easy.

Light steering, possibly a bit too light, but OK to drive on urban runs.

Sad to say I am getting shot of her after just 9 months as it is simply the slowest car I have ever driven in the mid-range. I'm sure I was spoilt by the Puma, but I have had too much of overtaking / merging into traffic and not having the power to do so safely. The car is absolutely fine from a standing start, the problem is moving from 30-60 or 50-70 quickly, it just won't do it.