Faults:

Seats are rock-hard. Seats have been changed immediately after I bought this Civic.

4-speed auto gearbox has shift shocks on uphill climbs.

20,000kms- Brake feel suddenly becomes vague and braking distance travel is long. Problem: Front disc and rear disc becomes unbalanced. The problem took 2 days to fix. They changed both discs.

General Comments:

I like this car because it's sporty, easy to drive, and has fruity engine noises.

What I DON'T like is the engine-

Output: 130hp/6,500rpm

Input: 149Nm/5,000rpm.

It's thrashy, very thrashy. I always have to rev it past the 3,000rpm mark just to gain around 20km/h.

It also took forever to reach 90km/h on the highway.

Auto gearbox has shift shocks when going uphill, but it's good on straight roads.

The chassis absorbs humps, bumps and potholes well. I only feel a thud in the car. But as the potholes and humps are the worst of its kind, the car subjects the cabin up to the point when the it quivers violently.

The steering of this car is great!

It has excellent feedback and shows almost no understeer. It's easy to maneuver too.

It also has almost no body roll in slaloms or in gently leaning curves.

Seats are rock-hard, so I changed them immediately after I bought it.

Driving position is very good and comfy. The controls are logically placed and easy to operate. There's lots of space in the front, and a much bigger and wider space at the back, because of the flat rear floor, instead of the other cars' center bulge, but this sacrifices luggage space.

The car is also too expensive- priced at 825,000 Philippine pesos.

If you want a car that's spacious, comfortable and exciting, then go for this, if you can afford it.

Faults:

Well, other than poor quality trim and the usual cheap plastic breaking in the night the car has been fine.

I complained to Honda about the EPS (Electronic Power Steering) not functioning properly. They in return told me that I was talking rubbish and left it at that. I further complained about the fact that you literally had to fight with the wheel to get the thing to turn, which almost caused me to crash on an emergency avoidance situation when a pedestrian walked out in front of me.

They eventually admitted that there had been a recall several months before. this happened at about 15k miles.

The alternator has also been replaced. That was only a few months ago now, so around 24k miles. When I was driving down the road, the dash board lights and exterior lamps would be flashing like a strobe in a nightclub. Fortunately this was covered on warranty, which I can thankfully say is covered for 3 years.

When you turn the ignition on now, there is a strange noise which sounds like the pumps on a Volvo headlight wash/wipe system. I have no idea what it is and it does sound like its coming from the ABS system. But with all the problems I have had with the dealers, I just don't care anymore.

General Comments:

Generally, I'm happy with Honda's first diesel. My only comment is, having previously owned an '89 Civic Auto, is that they're not built like they used to be.

My new 2003 Civic looks nice with the 16" Axe alloys that I put on it, but the looks really do not match the performance!

The performance is OK, but essentially, it only has 99bhp, and could do with another 51bhp or so. It falls by the way-side with the Audi and VW diesel equivalents.

Fuel economy is great. It usually costs me £47.00 to fill up a tank from virtually empty and I can usually get 595 miles out of a tank. I do a lot of long distance stuff, hence the high mileage and on long distances this car really comes into its own, although to be honest its not all that comfortable.

The dashboard layout is the best part of the car. It is fantastically ergonomic however there is not enough storage space without the optional centre consol which runs between the 2 front seats.