Faults:

Several minor niggles.

Drivers door window doesn't shut properly.

Door seals split and loose.

Excessive wind noise.

Lumpy engine.

Interior trim rattles.

General Comments:

I don't like this car at all, the economy is good as long you don't mind the utterly gutless engine.

The VTEC-E is supposed to be tuned for economy, but I found it incredibly frustrating and tiresome to drive.

Around town its lumpy and jerky and on the motorway the engine is very uneven between VTEC and non VTEC mode and lurches and splutters between the two. You either pootle along with absolutely no torque at all or you have to thrash it to death to get any response out of the engine. Truly dreadful to drive in my opinion, the equivalent Toyota engines are far gutsier, quieter and torquey.

One plus point is the handling, its quite compliant and grips well, but overall its Rover associations and zero image plus the whining, wearisome engine make it a truly unpleasant car to drive.

Faults:

Nothing other than the odd rattle and squeak.

General Comments:

This has been a fabulous car. Coming up to 6 years old, nearly 120,000 miles on the clock and I will be really sorry to see it go.

Even now I still get 50 mpg out of it (I once got over 60 to the gallon after spending a week driving really economically).

It's a really comfortable car, SO easy to drive - I can see why so many old folks like them.

Services every 6,000 miles makes it a bit expensive to run (although I've only done mine each 10,000).

Just about to invest in a nearly new 1.4 or 1.6 new-style Civic - just hope that whatever I choose it comes close to the value I've had from this car.

Superb.

Faults:

Nothing has gone wrong with this car.

I have to change the cam-belt, but that's part of the service when it became 5 years old and the cam-belt was really cheap for a Japanese car.

General Comments:

This car is very fast and have had not much competition as of yet.

I took the car on a test track and got just short of 147mph which is not even on the clock.

The seats are very comfortable and very stylish.

Faults:

Heater fan stopped working on speeds 1 & 2 (out of 4) - i.e. loads of air or no air.

Many false alarm activations - adjusted and now seems fixed.

Handbrake not strong enough to hold car on hills (now adjusted) - also sticks and makes a noise when reversing (this is apparently common and nothing to worry about)

General Comments:

Previously had a Sierra (that went up in flames) and wanted something with a bit more poke...

...and this is the car's main feature - it's speed & acceleration. The DOHC (Dual Overhead Cam) V-TEC engine is lively under 5500rpm, but push the revs over 5500rpm (red line at 8000rpm!) and the engine roars and the car takes off :) The engine is only 1.8 but is also 169bhp!

As for the problems above, they have been niggles since I bought the car and gradually I am getting them sorted out by the dealer (not at my expense either which is good) - so they have been good with that. However, they also promised me a handbook, and it still hasn't materialised after 3 months : (

The car on the whole is really good fun to drive and handles like it is glued to the road. The build quality is good, all electric inside, air con, half leather seats etc.

Fuel economy isn't bad considering that it's a sporty model (about 33mpg) but if you drive enthusiastically it goes down...

The only minus point I would say is the road noise. It really is quite a roar on some rough surfaces, even at lower speeds and is certainly not a refined ride. But at the end of the day, this is a quick car and obviously has a lot harder suspension than a more 'regular' model. So it is to be expected really, the fun of driving it more than makes up for it.