2005 Honda Civic Special Edition review from North America

27,000 km's - The check engine light came on. Dealership reset the sensor saying it had malfunctioned.

55,000 km's - Check engine light came on again. Set an appointment with the dealership only to have it turn itself off on its own the night before I was to take it in.

70,000 km's - Check engine light came on again. Took it to the dealership and they diagnosed it with a faulty gas cap. As it turned out this is a common problem with Civics (my friend who has a 1997 Civic hatchback had the same problem). Dealer replaced the gas cap under my extended warranty, but as it was an item on backorder I had to wait 2 weeks.

Other than the above nothing else has gone wrong.

What can I say? This has been one very pleasant experience so far. I had leased this car back in May 2005. I had read the reviews on the Civic and had been impressed by all the positive feedback I had seen.

Along with this car, I had also test driven a Toyota Echo and had looked at a Chevrolet Aveo. I found the Echo to be just too small and not enough pick up for highway driving. For the Aveo the dealership was unwilling to deal with me due to a past credit mistake (with GM's financial problem at the time, I had to admit I could not blame them).

Taking the Civic for a test drive, I was very impressed by the way it handled in both city and highway driving, and quickly decided this was the car I wanted. Upon negotiating the lease, the salesperson attempted to sell me an extended warranty (7 years/160,000 km's) for 600 dollars. I was curious as to why it was so cheap as I had heard of these warranties costing upwards of 2000 to 3000. To this end the dealer responded and I quote "We know our cars!"

The Civic is not what one would call a performance orientated car like a Ford Mustang. There is not much get up and go, and you won't outdrag other cars with the 1.7 Litre 115 HP engine.

As well you will not find too many luxuries either. No heated seats, mirrors or amazing sound system. My car didn't even come with floor mats! What you will find however is that the Civic is in effect a rather basic, extremely reliable form of transportation. This car will rarely, if ever, leave you stranded, and it has excellent gas mileage to boot.

Those of you looking for that quick burst of speed will be disappointed by this car, but then again if you are in the market for a Civic, you probably aren't looking for that anyway.

Overall, I have to say it's an excellent car and highly recommended.