29th Jun 2005, 12:02

I had no major problems with my '97 HX until the transmission died at 98,000 miles. Then I found out that replacing it, even with a used transmission, would cost more than $3,000. And I also learned that when I bought the car used with 30,000 miles on it, it had ALREADY had the trannie replaced. After reading some of the discussion boards, this seems like a very common complaint. the CVT automatic transmission appears to have some major reliability issues and they definitely cost a LOT to replace. great ride, but if you're buying new and can afford it, get the extended warranty.

9th Jan 2006, 04:33

The Honda Civic HX transmission problems were related to the CVT transmission only. The person that wrote the review saying he was happy with it describes how fast he could drive the car in 2nd and 3rd gear which means if you read correctly, he was driving with a stick shift. Before you disagree with someones opinion please read the review in its entirety. I have owned 5 Honda's and I love the reliability. I am currently thinking about trading my 1996 Honda Accord EX for a 1999 Honda Civic HX 5 speed, not the CVT (I've read too many problems about the CVT)

9th Aug 2006, 09:36

I have owned a 1999 Civic HX, 5 Speed, since Feb 06. I love this car. I get 32 MPG around town and 49.1 MPG on the highway. I use regular gas and keep the RPMs under 2500. Over 2700 RPM the second intake valve engages and the power increases noticeably. As a result the MPG goes down. The car has two personalities, economy car @ low RPMs and sports car @ higher RPMs. The car fits 4 persons comfortably for trips up to 2 hours.

I spoke to my mechanics (Honda Men, that repair only Honda’s and Acura’s) about the CVT transmission issue. They said that they were good trannys. BUT you need to replace the tranny fluid with Honda Tranny fluid only and change it more often than the manual recommends.

One more note about the Civic HX model. Honda stopped making the HX in 2006 because the fuel economy was too close to the hybrid Civic.

10th Jul 2007, 20:11

The CVT has been somewhat problematic, however if you read the content of the review, you will realize this person has a manual transmission.

13th Jul 2007, 14:53

Just experienced the pain of finding out my transmission went bad... because of the CVT transmission --- $2200 repair job @ 128,000.

You must have a honda part -- but you don't need to use the Honda dealer (but because CVT is unique I'll probably end up going to the dealer anyway : (

Don't buy an HX unless you know when the last transmission job was done OR you have a killer warranty.

2nd Oct 2007, 08:56

I've owned a 2001 Civic HX and had considerable problems with the CVT automatic. Clutches replaced at 22,000 miles. Now has 74,000 miles and tranny problems again. Is this a Honda?

25th Feb 2008, 20:32

Hello people I would say there are a wide range of opinions on the HX civic, but if you are paying that much for repairs your paying to much you can get a used trans for 750.00 tops take it to a good mechanic and you should come out smelling like a rose. By all means avoid the dealer for a repair they are twice as expensive as a regular mechanic.

31st May 2008, 15:06

I am looking on buying a civic HX MT. Which year is build for better MPG? 1996-1998 MT or 1999-2000 MT???

Thanks..

12th Jun 2008, 00:31

While someone else with an AUTOMATIC CVT transmission might have problems (as in comments above), note this review was written on a HX with a MANUAL transmission. There is nothing special about it and other than normal maintenance, there isn't a whole lot to go wrong.

29th Jul 2008, 14:04

I have a 97 Civic HX with a CVT Transmission. I had the transmission replaced just before my extended warranty expired and now I've been having on and off problems for the past year and half. (of course, when I took the car to the dealer they couldn't find the problem until it got really obvious that there was one!!) They told me it would cost about 2800 to fix it, AND they could NOT guarantee me that it would fix the problem.

Does anyone know if you can just switch out the transmission and convert it to a stick?

10th Sep 2008, 13:26

I have owned a 1999 Civic HX 5 speed since 2001. I now have 202398 miles on the car. It usually gets between 37 and 44 mpg. I wish they still made them. I have replaced the Vtec solenoid once. One very strange problem with the car is that the check engine light goes on and off all the time. No mechanic has been able to figure out why. I just believe the car is a bit bi-polar. This has caused a few problems with inspections, but it still passes with some TLC. I can live with the quirks at this performance level. I once got 35 mpg on a 200 mile trip at very, very high speeds. I love this car even with the quirks.

13th Sep 2008, 23:05

I just bought my HX and I love it. The only problems I have is I don't know if any of the aftermarket parts on e-bay will work on my HX, since they specify LX EX etc. If anyone knows if there is a body difference, please let me know.

29th Mar 2009, 00:03

I bought a 1999 HX 5 Speed in 1999 and love this car.

I do have the check engine light problem as well, and now it continues to stay on, but have not been able to get it repaired. I was told it might be the O2 Sensor before the Catalytic Converter, but after changing it, the problem remained.

As far as the intermittent check engine light, I often have to check my spark-plug wires, because the 4th (?) (farthest from the distributor cap) wire comes loose often.

I drive about 80 miles a day, back and forth to work, and the MPG is a $$$ saver every day.

28th Apr 2009, 13:49

In march of 2000 I bought a HX 5 speed.. Back then I heard rumors of the CVT being bad. So I'm cheap so I went with the stick.. I had the car for 5 years till I had my son. I put 120k on the car. I ran Mobil one oil since brand new. Never had any problems..

My MPG; I got around 44 MPG, and this is going from Ca to Ark to see family.. It was my commute car when I worked and it ran good... I would recomend it to anyone if you can find a low mileage car..

Steven.

15th Jun 2009, 11:01

I bought my '99 HX in 2001 with 12K miles on it. It now has 150K miles on it and runs great. My check engine light has been on for the last 50K miles and the only thing I have ever been told is that it's the upstream O2 sensor, and I should cover the light with a photo of my girlfriend since they run about $400. Still runs AWESOME. Routine maintenance only and I still get up to 44 mpg on the freeway with A/C at 85mph. It has a 5 speed and I love it!