1999 Honda Civic VTi review from UK and Ireland
"High performance, but too noisy"
What things have gone wrong with the car?
No faults.
General comments?
Excellent performance and reliability marred by high fuel consumption, high tire wear, horrendous depreciation and excessive noise when travelling at speeds.
I bought the car 1 year with 5000 miles on the clock from a Honda dealer. The performance is superb - the car really flys above 5000 RPM, acceleration from 40mph in second gear is fantastic. The handling is superb, although the strong feedback from the wheel takes a little getting used to. Excellent brakes. On a windy country road there are few mainstream cars that can keep up with the 1.8 VTi.
Down sides are a basic interior, with a lot of wind/tyre noise at high speed, heavy wear of the front tyres and poor fuel consumption, particularly around town. Servicing is about £90 at 9000, 18000 miles and £270 at 27000. The real nightmare cost is however the insurance (UK group 16) and the depreciation which - my car lost 50% value in 18 months due to the new Civic coming out and the release of the Type R which has a lower new price.
Overall a high performance hot-hatch which is well made, but costly to run/maintain and too noisy.
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  | Go and buy one! |
| 1998 - Civic VTI-S (hatchback) 1.6 DOHC VTEC One of the best hot hatches money can buy |
| Would you buy another car from this manufacturer? | No |
| First year of ownership | 2000 |
| Most recent year of ownership | 2001 |
| Engine and transmission | 1.8 Manual |
| Performance marks | 8/10 |
| Reliability marks | 10/10 |
| Comfort marks | 6/10 |
| Dealer Service marks | 8/10 |
| Running Costs (higher is cheaper) | 6/10 |
| Distance when acquired | 5000 miles |
| Most recent distance | 23800 miles |
| Previous car | Vauxhall Vectra |
| Date of Entry | 16th December, 2001 |