2008 Honda Civic EX-L 1.8 from North America

Summary:

Attractive car -- horrible ride

Faults:

Tires - Goodyear RSA's wore out quickly. Replaced tires with new ones.

4 wheel alignment.

New rear tires feathered.

Replaced rear shocks.

Another 4 wheel alignment.

General Comments:

Car is quite nice looking; gets lots of compliments.

Not often do you see one with leather and a sunroof.

Interior fit and finish is very good.

Gas mileage is excellent.

The only real problem I have is that ride is very harsh. I mean bone jarring harsh on some surfaces.

It is not overly powerful, but typical for a car in this class.

It makes me smile every time I have to fill the tank; it really is economical to drive.

Would you buy another car from this manufacturer? No

Review Date: 27th May, 2010

20th Sep 2011, 12:38

I am the original poster.

The car now has 163000 klm on it. Still looks good inside and out. Have gotten used to the ride, although it is not really impressive.

In one year and 84,000 klm, I am on my 3rd set of rear tires. This is not counting the 6 months I drive with winter tires.

Have done 4 wheel alignments in one year, plus replaced the shocks. Last winter on icy roads, the rear end 'wandered" around, it felt very squirmy, and that is with Michelin X ice radials. There is a feeling that it is about to spin out of control. 4th wheel alignment revealed toe in was not proper. We'll see how it goes this winter.

Basically, I get the feeling that Honda didn't take into account that people would actually drive these cars when they were built.

I haven't had these kinds of tire issues, alignment issues and handling issues since my 1984 Mercury Lynx, which I traded off at 10 months old.

Gas mileage though is great. I do up to 44 mpg usually at 100 -110 kph.

The interior finish is WAY nicer than the 2012. They have really cheapened the new ones. Was thinking of trading up, but not since seeing them.

2008 Honda Civic LX from North America

Summary:

It is OK, but nothing special

Faults:

In general the only things that have gone wrong are 3 power windows that have failed, the driver's twice. Once it was down and would not come back up, and the second time it just would not go down anymore.

Now the passenger rear window is not working.

General Comments:

It is a OK car; I just do not get why people are so gung-ho about this car. It handles OK, brakes OK, and gets good gas mileage.

My major complaint with driving it is I have to rev the engine into very high ranges to get the thing to get up and go. It is a real pain on the highway. I have to emergency pull away and wait for the damn thing to downshift and get above 5000rpm to get going.

I bounce between the snow belt and Florida, and in the snow, having to rev to higher rpm to get going is very dangerous; the wheels spin out all the time. In the winter I leave that car in the garage and drive one of my other cars.

I guess I used to have a car that has low end torque and this has none. I own Audi allroad, Chevy Cavalier, and a Volkswagen Jetta. This would be second time I have owned a Civic; first one was a Si, and I knew with that one (VTEC) I needed to rev to get going; but in a basic LX model?

Would you buy another car from this manufacturer? Don't Know

Review Date: 21st May, 2010

2008 Honda Civic DX-G 1.6 from North America

Summary:

Dependable engine, transmission, but poorly put together

Faults:

- Driver's seat cover pulls away from seat frame. Honda dealer has installed new clips, but they don't seem to hold. Think it may be a defective seat, and if they delay me long enough, I'll forget about it or become tired with having to sit in their waiting room for my car to be serviced. VERY ANNOYING!!!

- Driver's lock; my wife bought the car new, and did not buy the vehicle with remote keyless entry, and now the driver's side door lock and trunk lid lock are seizing. The dealer indicates that new cylinders are required, but they are expensive as they have to be "CODED" with the new key technology. So the vehicle is left unlocked, or if in a high crime area... she clambers in through the passenger side (THIS IN A 2008!!!)

Would you buy another car from this manufacturer? Don't Know

Review Date: 26th February, 2010

26th Feb 2010, 14:54

Both problems you have stated are definitely annoying, but they aren't anything really major. I used to own a 2008 Civic myself (had to up size to a CR-V. Loved the Civic, it just became way too small.) I never had any issues with my Civic. Not to say you shouldn't complain about these problems, just saying that worse things could happen.

In reply to 26th Feb 2010, 14:54

27th Nov 2011, 19:05

Especially after 45000 miles, and this is all that's gone wrong!

I had the same problem with the door locks on my '91 Ford Taurus. Really annoying, and it only had 20000 miles when that started.