Faults:

Since we bought the car until 2005, my Dad was driving the car and he was behaving like s**t to it, constantly over revving, which caused the engine to overheat, which caused the timing cover to melt.

After this in 2009, when my mom was driving it, the head gasket blew, but although the leak was minor, we decided to replace it; after this no problems with the engine appeared, but the rear suspension started knocking at about 150k, so we replaced it recently, which made the car great again.

General Comments:

I drive the car now and it's just mint; you can't really get something a lot better generally for this amount of money.

I wouldn't recommend to do 20k kilometers a year and harass the engine, but if you drive it nicely and you take a good care of it, it will give 300-400k kilometers easily.

Instead of getting a Civic I would recommend you a Mitsubishi Colt of the same year or a Peugeot 106 of the same year as well; if you want speed but lower reliability, go for the Peugeot. If you look for price, go for the Colt, and ultimate reliability, price and performance will give you the Civic.

I got it when it had 190000km on the odometer.

Faults:

EVAP system leak.

Transmission solenoid.

General Comments:

Bought it certified & etested. Previous owner put some add-ons on in addition to what it already came with. Chassis stiffeners, wider anti-roll bars, etc.

Can't say how it handles stock, but with good aftermarket suspension it's awesome. Reacts very well and the steering input is improved.

Do your maintenance, it's a car just like any other. The fact it's a Honda makes no difference. I've owned four other cars that were just as reliable. Spark plugs: Small displacement, high revving engine. Change them once every two years, or every year if you're driving a lot.

The engine bay is well laid out with easy access to everything. Hood opens nicely too. General and annual maintenance are a cinch.

This car is a great lightweight, fuel friendly, easy to own vehicle. Basic and cheap. The fully functional sunroof is the best part. The non telescopic steering is the worst. The interior cancels out road noise easily and reacts to aftermarket speakers well. The trunk is a fair size with a generous compartment for your road side goodies below.

With the CEL on, fix the problem before it worsens. It'll affect gas mileage and long term reliability.

Want a del Sol now.

Faults:

I had a Saab I loved, but it was sending me to the poor house. So I gave it to my son and bought a Civic for cheap. Honda Civics are great, right? Wrong! At least not this one.

After a couple weeks I got in my Civic to find a 3 inch puddle on the driver's side. After much detective work (I almost replaced my windshield), I found a hole where you unlatch the hood... a cheap fix.

But then it started acting crazy; lights would strobe, it wouldn't shift right, speedometer flipping out. Thought it was the computer that got wet. After more detective work, I found a bare wire on the intake manifold (which is common). My ignition wouldn't turn off completely, leaving the radio on (got a battery shut off).

After all that stress, the head gasket was leaking. And to add insult to injury, the gasket job failed. A $1300 headache! It still ran on 3 cylinders and still got great gas mileage (the only good thing I can say about it). AND IT SUCKED IN THE SNOW.