Faults:

The only thing to have gone wrong with this car is an oil leak from the rear main seal. This started at about 39,000 miles. We immediately took it to the dealer for the diagnosis and price to get repaired. They estimated the job to be $800 since the engine had to be removed from the car. They also advised us to call Honda Customer Care to see if they could work out an arrangement with us since the car was just barely out warranty. Dealing with Honda Customer Care was phenomenal. They were very understanding and instructed the dealer to do the repair and only charge us $100.

Kudos to the dealership and Honda Customer Care!

General Comments:

This has been an outstanding little car! The gas mileage is phenomenal! I regularly get 38-41 MPG in mixed highway/city driving, while never exceeding 76 MPH, with or without the air conditioning on.

The seats are comfortable for a little car, but not terribly stiff. We have driven this car across the country four times and were never abnormally sore once we reached our destination. The one oddity with the seats is the driver's seat. It rocks when you push back on it and has done it since the day we bought the car. The interior panels scratch easily!

The exterior appearance is nothing more than I would expect from any other car. The paint holds up well and is relatively scratch resistant.

The hub caps are annoying! They make an annoying clicking sound when you're driving slowly with the windows down. I've re-torqued the lug nuts, rotated the tires, rotated the hub caps but to no avail; it still continues. No big deal.

At approximately 50,000 miles the driver's side rear hub started making a growling noise. I simply replaced it with a brand new one from Advance Auto and have been noise free ever since.

The air conditioning and heat work well. When idling in traffic the A/C isn't as strong, but that's to be expected. The car heats up VERY quickly, so it's a nice perk in the winter time.

My biggest complaint about this car is that it doesn't have ABS. I've come to expect it in every other car I've driven, but to my disappointment, it's lacking in the car. Surprisingly, I'm still on the original set of brake pads!

Overall, I'm very pleased with this car. We will absolutely buy another Honda (despite our previous loyalty to GM and Ford). I'm very confident this car will last a long time to come!

Faults:

Replaced the fuel door cable 3 times. Twice under warranty.

Replaced TPS sensor and Throttle body at 80,000 Kms.

Replaced the O2 sensor at 80,000 Kms.

Paint chips easily.

Body work is extremely thin and dents easily.

General Comments:

We purchased the Civic based on the reputation Honda's have for reliability. The $1400 worth of repairs before 3.5 years old was very disappointing.

Car is good on gas. It got about 40 MPG (US).

The body was made of very thin metal which flexes under very little pressure. My son closed the door with his butt and stoved in half the door area. It had to be pulled out with a plunger. The paint chips very easily. I live on a dirt road and have never experienced the amount of chips on any of the many vehicles I have owned.

The car is very noisy. There doesn't seem to be much insulation in the passenger compartment to keep out the road noise.

Faults:

A couple of small items; such as missing screw cover plate on drivers door, and I had to replace dust caps on alloy wheels because of pitting.

Since the second year of ownership, the automobile has developed a hard starting issue on occasion. It acts like it is flooded and won't start unless the pedal is depressed. A couple of visits to the dealer and speaking to the regional manager have not resolved the problem. I guess I will have to wait and see if it gets worse.

The battery had to be replaced at three years.

General Comments:

The usual Honda traits; bumpy ride and a lot of road noise.

So far, the cost of ownership seems to be higher than other new cars that I have owned in the past.

The rear window design makes it extremely difficult to clean.