1996 Honda Civic LX review from North America

All 4 power windows failed from 250,000 miles until the last one failed at 290,000 miles.

A/C developed some blockage, working only intermittently around 280,000 miles. Not pleasant when you couldn't get the windows down!

Stock radio volume control developed a mind of its own, either refusing to go up or down, or in some cases hurting your ears.

The parking brake button started receding into the handle after replacing rear brakes, requiring the use of a double "A" battery to release the parking brake!

Minor overheating problems around 270k miles.

One hell of a reliable vehicle, and if you can find a used one with low miles (ha!), grab it!

Our Civic was donated by a fellow employee in our non-profit for use as an office car for pickups and deliveries, which I mostly drove. After 320,000 miles, we were not able to get it smogged, and used a California buy back program to get rid of it before any significant mechanical problems happened. This thing drove my friends and I all over the state of California, and it wasn't until it reached 300k that noises in the transmission started to get worry some, although that might be because I never put any fluid in it!

Beyond normal wear and tear (brake pads, 1 alternator, 1 belt and 2 clutches) I can't recall any major problems with the mechanics. The dash kept its look, and the seats kept their firmness. Even with the advanced miles we put on it, the performance never changed at all. This thing ran pretty peppy, which was very crucial when I had to get places in emergencies. Gas mileage was excellent throughout its life.

I just wish the office would have had the money to perform the work on stuff like the windows and the A/C, but that's the breaks in the wild world of non-profits. But considering the other models that the office has used, mostly American models, this has been the most trouble free car and the Honda engineers should be very proud of their accomplishment.