2002 Honda Civic GLi 1.7 (non Vtec)

Summary:

Reliable, well built and does the things a car is meant to do, without fuss

Faults:

Rattle in passenger front door (fixed by dealer on 2nd attempt).

Dealer-fitted door step garnishes would not stay glued, so after a second attempt at regluing dealer supplied new ones and they have been fine ever since.

General Comments:

This is the sedan, not the hatch and overall it is a delight.

Engine is silky smooth and responsive.

Suspension can be a bit bouncy on rougher roads, but is o.k. otherwise.

Handles well.

Finish is superb.

Reliability is even better. Nothing ever stops working.

Switches have a nice simple positive feel (e.g. wipers / headlights / a/c) Layout is simple and effective.

Problem with radio in that the stations can be easily changed to presets by pressing the left knob in error when turning off the radio and presets aren't the stations I want. Not really a problem once you get use to it (but I've got nothing else to complain about).

In Australia, servicing is every 10,000 Kilometres (6000 miles) and 40,000 service is not cheap at just over $A600.00 (about $US340) but first 3 services were fine.

However, if this is what it takes to keep the car running like clockwork then so be it.

Car has dual air-bags, ABS, alloy wheels (albeit 14-inch), glass-mounted antenna and a/c as standard, so is well featured.

This is our first Honda and after having owned many different brands of cars (European, Australian, Japanese) and I can safely say this is one of the better ones.

Would you buy another car from this manufacturer? Yes

Review Date: 13th May, 2003