2003 Honda Civic EX Coupe 1.7 VTEC

Summary:

I call it

Faults:

Nothing. The car is flawless.

General Comments:

I love this car!

This car is spirited and fun to drive. I have a 5-speed, and the car is strong in every gear up to the red line.

The ride does tend to be a little busy on roads that are less than smooth, but I think this may be due to the sporty-handling nature of the car.

I bought this car because I wanted something more fuel-efficient and with lower payments than my Xterra. I have been pleasantly surprised with just how strong a performer my Civic Coupe is.

There are two quibbles I have with the car:

-gas mileage is a little less than what I expected. I average about 26-28mpg. I expected to get at least 30mpg. This low figure may also be my own fault since I am somewhat of a leadfoot.

-The car is expensive to insure! My six month premium went up by almost $200 dollars compared to my Xterra. My agent claimed it was due to the Civic being a year newer than my Xterra and because the Civic has high theft rates.

Overall, this is a fun little car, with much more performance than you'd expect.

Would you buy another car from this manufacturer? Yes

Review Date: 23rd January, 2004

14th Feb 2004, 15:15

Give you car some time. Some new cars do not get their full gas mileage for 3000-4000 miles as the engine is still breaking in. Good luck.

14th Mar 2004, 12:10

I have a 2003 Honda Civic and I think its one of the best cars I have ever driven. I just recently added a Magna Flow Exhaust systems, with catback. It gave it a huge addition of horse power to the car. I still need to do a lot of things to it. Nobody dis the Civic one of the greatest cars out there.

2003 Honda Civic EX 1.7 VTEC I-4

Summary:

An example of good craftsmanship put to practice

Faults:

Nothing, with only 9,000 miles on it.

General Comments:

I've always been impressed with Honda in terms of their product, service, dedication to the customer, and reliability. My experience leasing this new EX has not been anything, but perfect.

Sitting in the car, it just feels so very good, from the way the steering wheel feels in your hand, to the way the shifter locks into gears, to the glove box opening and shutting, to the buttons and knobs on the dashboard. It is little things such as these that tell you the whole story about how much time, craftsmanship and pride is put into a car, and sitting in the Civic I can tell that the utmost craftsmanship was given to this car. Get into a GM car and what do you get? Cheap plastics, loose fasteners, buttons that come off, cheap fabric, etc.

The car rides wonderfully and handles even better. I've always felt that Honda cars practically steer themselves and this is no different. Front and rear sway-bars certainly help, and the manufacturer's suspension is better than some "sports packages" I've ridden on from American-made cars.

I also love how, if you look at the car from a certain angle, it almost looks like a mid-engine car.

The salesman was more than patient and answered all our questions, even if he had to go ask his supervisor, all while being polite and friendly. He never gave us a half-cocked response and was forthright 100%. A misunderstanding regarding my trade-in payoff was entirely my fault. Dealing with the service department has been, so far, a dream come true.

My only complaint is that the car lacks power. Bottom line: if this car needs to haul, it won't. It is fairly zippy in and around town, but accelerating on the highway and getting passing power is too much to demand for this engine. It needs at least another 50-60 more horsepower and like amounts of torque increase. Then again, it's an economy car, and the idea isn't to burn rubber. Speaking of economy, I can go well over 400 miles on a tank of gas.

Would you buy another car from this manufacturer? Yes

Review Date: 13th January, 2004

5th Apr 2004, 18:51

I have a question for anyone who reads this. I have a Honda Civic (silver) and I was wondering if anyone thought it would look better with a stock spoiler of if I should get some other type of spoiler. The black civic of my model looks better with a stock spoiler, but on my silver I have not decided if it looks good or not. So Stock or not or not stock?

12th May 2004, 20:48

Stick with the stock spoiler, anything else on this car is going to look horrible. I cringe whenever I see someone with those huge F1 spoilers on the back of a Civic, or Neon.

15th May 2004, 15:18

Haha... don't listen to that guy. Check out VIS Racing Sports (www.visracing.com). Get a VIS Pro Xtreme GT Silver Carbon Fiber Spoiler. ;-) Okay... maybe not your style... but if I had your car, I would definitely get that spoiler. I'm going to get the VIS Techno R carbon fiber spoiler for my '03 Civic Si. :-)

16th May 2004, 08:08

I think the car's styling would be greatly enhanced by a low profile spoiler that followed the contour of the deck lid.. anybody know of one? The factory spoiler looks too much like a push handle on a shopping cart. Not EVERYBODY wants to look like a ricer "fast and furious" clone... Some of us would like some style.