2003 Honda Civic HX review from North America

Power door locks, broke due to wear and tear (corroded).

Cargo floor cover comes off easily.

Passenger armrest pops out about 16th of an inch.

Air cleaner box's plastic base needs to be snap on not bolt on, (when replacing the air filter element, I have to unscrew it rather than snap on type, it's annoying because the anchor or base is made up of plastic and is subject to over tightening thus resulting to stripped anchor) not a major problem, I used another bolt to hold the air cleaner element in place in place of OEM bolts.

The (floor) wooden plywood sags over time in the trunk.

Burnt right brake light.

We are the 1st owner of this car and for 6 years of ownership, no significant problems are reported other than usual wear and tear, and routine items (oil, tire rotations, and scheduled maintenance) and recall from Honda (fixed). This car served us very well, driving back and forth from socal to norcal and gas mileage is superb averaging 38 freeway and 34 city. It's a sexy coupe HX, gas sipper, cheaper than the hybrid. The gauges are chrome trimmed on red and white combo (sleek and clean!) Steering is just right and road feedback is precise for a FWD car. The body is built tight and solid, no squeeks and rattles. You can't baby close the door, they're pretty heavy. Road noise is present due to lack of insulation, wind noise is neglible (due to it's sloping hood) Stereo is friendly, controls are right where they need to be, interior is friendly and backseat is optimal for 2, I love the bucket seats Suspension is taut and quite entertaining to toss around. The CVT is weird, I have never driven a CVT before. Basically, I can't feel the gears shift, it goes from 0 to driving speed and I could not feel the gears shift at all, I am so used to driving stick and conventional auto transmission where I would feel the oomph whenever the gears shift. This CVT is just like a straight vrooooooooooooooooooommmmmmmmmmm and there's no pause in between gear shift. Well, it's smooth in other words. At 117 hp, it's so-so on freeway entrance, decent enough to get you going but not enough oompphh. It's basically a gas sipper, cost effective car. I really love this car, it's never been abused and we plan of keeping this until the engine falls apart. Having no car payment is just a huge investment. I'm not sure yet whether it will be sold or kept and buy a brand new 4 dr civic. I just feel like not parting away from it yet!