Faults:

Replaced timing belt / water pump at 150,000km.

Replaced brake pads every 50,000km.

Replaced rotors twice; once at 100,000 and 200,000km.

Machined rear brake drums at 200,000km.

Replaced right side upper table at 200,000km.

Replaced ball joints two times.

Replaced clutch at 190,000km.

Replaced rear upper table passenger side at 190,000km.

Changed oil every 5,000km regularly.

General Comments:

This car has been extremely reliable for me, and the fuel economy is terrific.

I am the original owner of this car, and am very satisfied with overall quality.

Things that have gone wrong with this car I would consider normal wear and tear on any vehicle.

Faults:

69K - Is when I got the car from the first owner :-)

70K - Exhaust pipe and muffler needed replacement - took it to a muffler shop ~$200.

75K - Right rear wheel bearing went bad, took it to the shop ~$150.

101K - The car had problems starting in very cold conditions (<0F/-17C), distributor contacts needed good cleaning - fixed myself ~$0.

117K - Original radiator had a small leak, new radiator installed.

125K - Power locks suddenly stop working, nor the driver's button or remote worked. I turned out that the power lock module was missing ground, I fixed myself (cost at the shop would be $250-$500 to fix).

127K - All belts, including timing and water pump, will be replaced at the shop, cost $500 (not actually a problem, but regular maintenance).

General Comments:

Pros:

- Never had a single problem with the engine or transmission.

- Great on gas, I drive 40/60 city/highway and get an average of 29-31MPG.

- Reliable, I have owned this car for 4 years now and put abound 55K miles on it and it never let me down, it always starts.

- All models with power lock come with a keyless entry capability (stock radio required), just need a remote ($25 @ eBay) :-)

- Acceleration is good from 0-60MPH for a 1.6L engine, poor above 60MPH.

Cons:

- Seats are uncomfortable if you spend more than 2-3 hours in the car.

- I'm 6'1" and could use some more legroom.

Faults:

Don't have much history on this car because it did NOT make it home from the initial purchase!

From the test drive.

- Radio dead.

- Driver's side window seals are toast, lots of wind noise.

Oh - The engine threw a rod on the way home!

General Comments:

I had never really believed the hype about Honda's, but decided to give this one a try.

It had 188K, which is higher than I like, but "Hondas go forever" made it seem like this was not too far up the mileage scale.

The price was $1850, so it did not seem like a bad deal.

There appeared to be NO mechanical issues during the test drive. No knocking, no ticking, nothing but normal engine sounds. Then the car was driven home, mistakenly in 3rd. Knew something was wrong when the car would not make highway speeds without excessive RPMs, so the car was driven SLOWLY home. It only lasted about 20 minutes at 5K RPMs. This may sound harsh (the 5K rpms), but this little 4 is supposed to red-line near 7K. It should have been able to run at 5K all day long. Not so much on this one. And trying to find a replacement engine at a decent price is a major hassle and expensive. The junk yards want $800 - $1500 for a USED engine.

It seems most of the good reviews on these cars are at low miles. I would not trust one of these to go 200,000.