Any Honda Civic owners?

[Tarheel Tink]

Granted ours is an older model but we own a 2003 Honda Civic and have owned it since it was brand new. It has been the best car ever. We literally have had to do nothing to it except routine maintenance.

Same here with a 2002! We have a great dealer nearby and get fantastic service. My only complaint is loud road noise but I just crank up the radio.

 

[Skippy918]

I'm still driving my 2000 honda civic. I have around 145K miles and I've only had to do routine maintenance and some other minor fixes.

 

[wishesuponastar]

DH has 2004 Civic with 209,400 and still running great. He racks up so many miles for work 90 miles a day.

 

[RNMOM]

Does no one ever consider the Toyota Rav4? My DH replaced his Miata this past winter. He was getting pain in his hip and neck. Guess a 6'3" guy has his limitations. He looked at the Honda, Subaru, Kia, and so forth. One of the biggest things was cargo room. The Rav has a lot more than Honda. The roominess in the Toyota seating both front and back is better. Take a look just for yourself. We have had both Honda and Toyota as well as Mazda and there is little difference in the long run on quality.

 

[mrodgers]

Does no one ever consider the Toyota Rav4? My DH replaced his Miata this past winter. He was getting pain in his hip and neck. Guess a 6'3" guy has his limitations. He looked at the Honda, Subaru, Kia, and so forth. One of the biggest things was cargo room. The Rav has a lot more than Honda. The roominess in the Toyota seating both front and back is better. Take a look just for yourself. We have had both Honda and Toyota as well as Mazda and there is little difference in the long run on quality.

I would consider a Rav4 significantly different than a Honda Civic. Had the question been about a CRV, a Rav4 would be a viable alternative.

That said, I think I could fit my old Honda Civic in my Rav4. I am amazed at the amount of room in the thing.

 

[bcla]

Wife has an 8th generation Civic and it's been the family car that we can all drive since she doesn't know how to drive a stick.

It's been reliable. Almost too reliable since I get the feeling she wants a new car after driving this thing for over a decade. It looks pretty bad because she's got a habit of running into stuff at low speed and she got taken by someone offering to repair/repaint the bumpers. Mechanically it's been solid even though she's barely had anything done to it besides oil changes before I started doing the maintenance. The oil filter location is horrible and it drips everywhere unless you use a diaper or something to soak all the oil. Recently drained the ATF for the first time and it was a painful process just getting that thing off. It's also messy as heck unless care is taken. I suspect dealers and shops don't take that kind of care and it basically will drip used ATF from the frame for a few weeks.

The new Civic looks OK, although the styling is someone funky. I don't know how much different the maintenance is with this one. The one thing is maintain a lot of things before the manufacturer's recommendations. The 10K/5K mile oil changes are fine, but the transmission fluid should be changed more often than over 100K miles. I'd do it once ever 30K miles rather than the factory recommendation for a 120K mile full flush where it's done four consecutive times. Maybe even more often initially. There are other simple things that can be done, but this isn't a DIY maintenance forum so I won't bore you with those details.

 

[Goofygirl17]

We still have our 1997 Civc with over 250,000 miles on it and use it as the extra car. It still gets over 30 mpg.

But... when we bought a new honda in 2010- we went with the Accord because the new dashboard design in the civic made me car sick. I'm not sure if that happens to anyone else but it's set up strangely. It has 2 separate sections with gauges. My accord was recently in the shop and they gave me a civic for a loaner. It made me carsick on my way to work.

You can't go wrong with a honda though so good luck!

 

[GagesMama]

I absolutely love the Civic (all generations of it, really). I drove my 97 coupe until I found out I was pregnant and decided a sedan was needed. My husband is a Honda mechanic and does all of our maintenance, but even taking it into the shop is inexpensive, comparatively. Parts are generally cheaper. We never had any issues with our Honda "family cars."

If back seat room is a big deal, I'd suggest the Accord. It's much roomier.

 

[bcla]

We still have our 1997 Civc with over 250,000 miles on it and use it as the extra car. It still gets over 30 mpg.

But... when we bought a new honda in 2010- we went with the Accord because the new dashboard design in the civic made me car sick. I'm not sure if that happens to anyone else but it's set up strangely. It has 2 separate sections with gauges. My accord was recently in the shop and they gave me a civic for a loaner. It made me carsick on my way to work.

You can't go wrong with a honda though so good luck!

There were issues with the variable cylinder management system in some of the V6s. Also - some Honda transmissions aren't known to be terribly reliable - especially those designed for their V6s. Civics will continue to drive with regular maintenance. However, stuff can go wrong though - just little things with my wife's 2002. For years my wife would forget to turn off the lights and I had to help her jump it. It's supposed to give a chime if the key is out and the door is open. The door switch is secured to the door jamb and completes a circuit to ground when the push switch is released. But this switch occasionally comes loose and falls into the hole where it's located and breaking the connection. Apparently this is a fairly common issue. I've done this repair about 3 times. Each time I find that it's bent. Eventually I'm going to get a new part.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WHUQx7dhcrE

The other thing is the window molding on her car is worn. It's some sort of coating on top of metal, and the coating has worn away. I notice other Civics of the same vintage with the same issue. Here's a photo of one that's really bad:

 

[maslex]

Thanks for all of your replies. At first I had my heart set on the new Chevy Cruze but everyone I talk to seems to just love their Civic (even the older ones). We went out the other night and test drove one and I did like it. I do want to test drive it again and adjust the seat on it so I'm more comfortable. I had jumped into it right after my husband drove it and the back of the seat needed to be sitting up more. Other than that, I really like how it rode.

Now, we're just waiting for my car to sell so I can have some cash to put down. They didn't want to give us that much for a trade in so we're just going to wait until we have some cash.

 

[maslex]

Well, the Honda Civic is a done deal. I bought a 2013 Civic LX. Just a basic model. I don't need all kinds of bells and whistles. I only drive a total of 12 miles a day back/forth to work and just cruising around town to the store a couple times a week.

We'll be picking it up tomorrow night. Can't wait!!!

 

[Swimnoid]

what color?

 

[Tarheel Tink]

However, stuff can go wrong though - just little things with my wife's 2002. For years my wife would forget to turn off the lights and I had to help her jump it. It's supposed to give a chime if the key is out and the door is open. The door switch is secured to the door jamb and completes a circuit to ground when the push switch is released. But this switch occasionally comes loose and falls into the hole where it's located and breaking the connection. Apparently this is a fairly common issue.]

Thank you!!! My friends and co-workers who have have to jump start my 2002 so many times have asked me why the alarm doesn't tip me off that I left my lights on! I tell them the only sound it makes is a quiet snicker, lol! I am getting it in this week to have this done and showed DH your post so he knows what to have them look at.

 

[maslex]

what color?

Well, I'm not all that crazy on the color but out of the choices I had, it was the best one for me. It's maroon. I don't care for the grays or silvers or blues. That left me with a brown, black and maroon. I didn't like the brown, wanted something different than black so maroon it is.