24th May 2016, 12:10
Same owner,
The car has been my mother's daily driver, as I have had company cars at my disposal for the past 9 years. She preferred the upright seating and the auto transmission, and she has taken it on long trips with no complaints. I'm still in charge of the upkeep, so only a few niggles besides the standard wear and tear (brakes, fluids, spark plugs etc).
The radio stopped working, which is apparently a common problem. The dealer wants 1500 euro for replacement; I can fix it for 10 euro or replace with a used one for 200.
The alarm fitted by dealer has a problem in the rain, and the air filter for the cabin gets clogged up really quickly.
The automatic gear shifter tends to lock up occasionally after parking; needs the key to unlock.
There has been a sharp random whistling noise coming from the car while driving; turned out to be a waste gate for the air-con compressor.
The 15 inch rims are still easily damaged (I had them refinished once, but they get banged up quick) so the 14 inch steel rims for our winter tires seem to be the perfect fit for the car.
Considering the car has 12 years now, it is pretty trouble free motoring, but not up to the reputation Honda has.
24th Nov 2005, 07:01
Just an update,
The car is now at around 8000km and still doing well. I managed to get the fuel consumption down to 4.8l/100km on one trip. The CVT really doesn't let you drive this car hard, you actually seem to get better acceleration by starting in D and then switching to S. The 15in rims might not be a good investment, since they scratch too easy (they stick out from the tire), and the stock Bridgestones are very poor (good on dry roads, but poor in rain and horrible on snow). I'm thinking of getting wider snow tires for the upcoming winter. Nothing has gone wrong yet, but the passenger side power window is seems to stick, will ask the dealer to fix at next regular service visit. The only thing that is wrong with this car is that the 2006 civic is out and it looks much more aggressive and sexy and still has the magic seats. Oh well...