30th Jan 2002, 21:33
I love my Civic, I'm 17 now and it is my 89 Civic DX, I really like everything about the car.
The only problem I have had is that at 125,000 I also had my head gasket break, that's how I came to this site looking to find an engine layout, and I noticed someone else had the same problem, although they say mine will be 1500 to fix.
Other than that though, as a car I love it, it fits me and does everything I have wanted.
I started driving a 95 Lumina - a deer ended that car and I will say backing up to an 89 Civic was the best thing that could have happened. I love my car.
25th Jul 2002, 11:44
I recently acquired a 5 speed 89 civic dx with a 140K miles. It now has 153K and runs great. I'll keep it until it quits!
11th Aug 2002, 11:26
I have had my 89 Civic DX for years. It has nearly 300,000 miles on it. It still runs like a champ. However, it burns about 2 quarts of oil a week. I'm pretty sure that there is a little rubber o-ring located above the secondary cylinder, beneath the head. Any suggestions would be appreciated.
2nd Oct 2002, 21:21
I bought my 89 Honda Civic DX 5-speed 1.5L engine in November 2001 and it has survived to wrecks one with me running over boulders and then I slid off the road in January and hit a car... It keeps on going no matter what I do to it.
22nd Oct 2002, 15:16
I have had my 1989 1.6 Civic DX hatchback (automatic) since August 2002 and it is great! I got it with 88,500 miles on it, and I think that it will easily pass 150,000 without too much trouble. I wish that I had the manual, but the auto is still crisp. I have noticed that my car does seem to need coolant quite a bit in hot weather, I filled it up every 3-4 weeks in the summer. Sometimes if I leave the car for 5 days un-driven, it doesn't start so well, but if I drive it every other day, it runs like a charm, and it gets great gas mileage too. What a great car, I don't think that you can do better than a Honda for a used car.
18th Apr 2003, 11:17
I bought a salvaged 89 Honda Civic Hatchback (manual) that didn't run for 250 dollars. It has 175,000 miles (a car-fax report actually stated the true miles were at least 185,000). I know my friend replaced the head gasket and after that it didn't run anymore! I need to replace the timing belt because it snapped when we timed it and tried to start it. Everything else about the car is terrible too. There are no side view mirrors, no rear view mirror, it had no interior (but I fixed that), the springs were heated by previous owner so the suspension was destroyed, and it has no emergency brake. I don't know what the former owner did to that poor thing, but I'm doing my best to get it to run again. Wish me luck.
6th May 2003, 11:33
I'm 17 and live in Toronto.
I drive a 89 civic dx sedan... its at 290+K and it runs smooth... this car runs well for city.. obviously slow pick up for the freeway at the beginning, but its overall a great sedan.
4th Jun 2003, 19:07
I have an 89 civic LX with 123,000 miles on it- I haven't had any problems with it until just recently.. when the car warms up it tends to want to stall out and then sometimes it does-any ideas I know its coming cause the car starts pouncing then it just quits-anybody else have this problem before-please help I don't know what to look for. thanks email me at ptcruiser98@aol.com if you can..
15th Sep 2003, 13:27
I have a 1989 Honda Civic LX Sedan I bought at an auto auction over a year ago. It has over 278K miles on it. I beleive it is the original engine etc. Runs great, no oil usage or leaks. Just lately it's been getting hot and losing coolant. I beleive the water pump is bad as there is a spot where there is a puddle underneath. Otherwise this is avery dependable little car for the mileage. Great gas mileage too.
18th Mar 2004, 12:33
I LOVE my '89 Honda Civic hatchback. At 240,000 miles, I couldn't be happier. Fixes are easy and cheap. Quiet & efficient-- On a bad day I get 38 mpg. I've moved twice with it, slept in it, fits a bike and other large items with ease. Heat, defrost, all electrical still work with no problems ever.
I'm convinced this is the best car Honda ever made. It'll be a sad day this car dies. Biggest complaints are CV's and body rust in New England-- hardly something to cry about!!! I love my car!!!
28th Mar 2004, 22:36
I've just bought a 1989 Honda civic and there is knocking noise when I turn a corner, but not when I go straight forward. also if I stop for a light & left the transmission on drive the car start to vibrate, but the vibration will disappear when I shift the transmission to neutral.
Any ideas and help on my problem will be greatly appreciated. my email is cdndollars@yahoo.com thanks.
29th Mar 2004, 06:08
The knock when cornering is probably a ball joint, the vibration could be a timing problem. Does it just vibrate, or does it vibrate and run roughly when stopped in drive?
31st Mar 2004, 19:43
Thank you for your advice, i'll have the ball joints check out. as for the vibrations, the car drives fine, lots of pep. it only vibrates when I am in Drive while stopped. the vibration disapear/minimize when I shift from Drive to Neutral. thanks.
23rd Sep 2004, 20:28
To the person with 1990 Civic with the knocking noise around turns. It's the axle/cv boot. I suggest you get it fixed.
14th Nov 2004, 15:25
Hi I have a 91 Civic DX. I love the car, but at 180 thousand km it is burning 1 liter of oil per tank of gas. It really smokes a lot and just recently my Km's per tank have become severely reduced. A friend thinks it is a burnt or bad valve. Has any one had a similar problem that they were given a solution for? We will have a look at with a optic scope hopefully this week. Has any one ever changed the head on one of these?
Gr8_2_av8@hotmail.com.
14th Jun 2001, 15:06
I love my 1990 Honda Civic DX esp after driving several American made vehicles made from the early to late 80's. This car is the exact opposite. I got the car in August 1993 with 45,000 miles and it now has 144,567 (6-14-2001). The only problem I had with it is the timing belt broke at 101,000. My fault. I never had a car that lasted this long so I never thought about replacing it. This car was like culture shock for me. I'm surprised the American Auto manufacturers did not go bust in the 80's. They sure did churn out the crap.