2004 Honda Civic SE Executive review from UK and Ireland

None.

Feels very solid and well built, although the car came to me with many minor marks/scratches on the interior (especially dashboard) from the factory.

(More noticeable as the interior is a very pale brown, rather than black.)

Owned for 4 months now, and no reliability issues yet.

Honda reliability was the only reason I bought this car – I do hope I won’t be disappointed.

Gearbox is very poor:

Because VTEC engine is low on torque, the gearchanges often happen at fairly high revs - anything up to 4000rpm for moderate throttle pressure.

The engine ignition is retarded so much at the change from 1st to 2nd that there’s a pronounced lurch as the engine loses at least half its power.

Below 25mph, if you take the your foot off the throttle, there is very pronounced (and car-sickness inducing) engine braking.

The low torque also means that in Drive the car cannot stay still on an uphill incline if you take your foot off the brake. It starts to roll backwards; the first auto car I have ever driven which does this.

You have to balance the car with the throttle, similar to balancing a manual car on the throttle/clutch.

Also, if you use D4 (all 4 gears utilised) around town, there can be some very uncomfortable and jerky gearchanges when accelerating from a slow road-speed e.g. going round roundabouts or twisting roads.

Much less pronounced if you use D3 (i.e lock out 4th gear), and only select D4 at Motorway speeds.

At idle, there’s a pronounced roughness to the engine note, and very slight vibration through the steering wheel.

Throttle is over-sensitive – which can lead to a lot of passengers heads jerking back when you move off!

Brakes very powerful and effective.

Instruments are very clear and well laid out, but are partly obscured by steering wheel unless you set it as high up as a London Bus!

Acceleration is very brisk, as engine revs freely to over 6000rpm.

Kickdown is smooth and effective at higher speeds – can be very jerky and abrupt below 30mph.

Good fuel economy – 28mpg around town, up to 45mpg on the Motorway.

Steering wheel on my car points slightly off centre when driving along – not enough to warranty return to the dealer.

Turning circle is incredibly bad – on a road that my 15ft long Vectra could turn round in one go, this 13.5ft long Civic needs a 3-point turn.

This also makes backing into tight parking spaces quite tricky.

Very good mirrors – view through rear window is poor.

Thin-rimmed steering wheel is hard to get used to.

My version (auto) really struggles with the electric power steering.

The low idle speed, combined with the fact that on an auto you don’t apply any throttle pressure when manoeuvring, means that sometimes the steering is incredibly heavy – enough to pull your arm muscles. The alternator simply cannot supply enough power to the electric steering pump at such low engine speeds.

Ride is good on smooth surfaces, OK on poor surfaces, although the car always feels a little nervous.

The front suspension is much harder than the rear, which can lead to an unpleasant wave like feel when going over bumps/speed humps.

The front seats offer no lateral support whatsoever, and it’s only the centre console that prevents you from sliding right off the seat when going round fast corners.

The steering feeds back very little information and is overly light at speed.

Car rolls a little going round corners.

Definitely NOT a driver’s car.

I don’t care what the legions of Type-S/Type-R enthusiasts say. I have driven cars that you step out of smiling (my favourite is the Peugeot 205 GTi 1.9) and the Civic ain’t one of ‘em!).

Very easy to use around town, and although very wide it’s a good city car.

Stable, comfortable and reasonably quiet on the Motorway (although badly affected by cross-winds) ; engine turns over at 2700rpm at 70mph.

When it’s raining (or even if there are residual raindrops on the roof) and you open any window whilst driving, water floods into the interior of the car – you can’t even crack open a window half an inch.

SE Executive is very well equipped; but I miss not having power adjustable front seats, trip computer and cruise control.

Extremely roomy front and rear.

I’m 5ft 8 and my car has a headroom-robbing electric sunroof, nevertheless with the driver’s seat on the highest position there’s still inches of headroom for me – impressive!

Masses of leg/shoulder/head room front and rear.

More space inside than an E-class Mercedes.

Very easy to get in and out of – front and rear doors open wide.

Interior itself is a very pleasant environment.

Unfortunately the boot is tiny and very hard to load/unload as the parcel shelf obscures much of the opening.

Climate control is poor:

Firstly, the temperature control is just a knob with unmarked gradations (unlike my old car which had a perfectly clear digital temperature readout) – you have to guess what the temperature setting is by how hot or cold the car becomes!

Secondly, the lowest heat setting (other than OFF, i.e. cold) is very warm, and in fact the air blowing from the facia vent at this setting is uncomfortably warm.

Can’t tell what the A/C is like – have to wait for summer ’05!

Honda dealer was not the best experience – I only found out after ordering that non standard colours were available and that I could have ordered factory fitted sat-nav and 16” alloys - by then it was too late, I couldn’t change the order. Salesman also tried to talk me into fitting ‘Dealer-fit’ accessories that would have been cheaper factory-fitted.

I bought this car with my head, not my heart, so I don’t feel ‘disloyal’ saying the Civic is an ugly car and not very rewarding to drive.

Still would give a cautious recommendation, especially if you buy a manual gearbox version – stay away from the disappointing auto!