2008 Honda Civic DX-A from North America - Comments

Nothing, been very good so far.

I have bought the Civic knowing that it would be a good reliable and cheap on gas car, and that's all!! I bought it five weeks ago, and didn't take long to confirm that I knew what I have bought. But I will seriously try to like it, even if I think to sell it almost every day.

My teenage girl loves it, but me, NO WAY!! I feel in this car like I am everyone else, this car has no heart, no soul, So why did I buy it?, darn gas price here in Canada!

I had many new cars in my life, and couldn't wait to have them, but this one took me more than a week before I went to take it at the dealer, they couldn't understand!

Let me tell you that this is my first very small car, and I kept my 2 Buick Roadmaster with LT1 against all my family and friend's advice. In these Buicks I feel I'm on vacation or a king, and no Honda on earth can beat the ultimate supremacy of comfort, style, in a tank feeling, and above all, POWER! At 100 KPH, even downshifting in third, the Civic is way behind my big Buicks when pushing the engine with 4 of my friends and A/C on, it will never match !!.. even knowing that my Buicks are less reliable, and a lot heavier than the Civic, the Buick will sure beat the Honda in durability and forever in better style.

Since I have the Honda, I knew that the seats would be uncomfortable and I still try to like them.. reliable (supposedly!), good on gas, good handling, good for teens and that's all!!..

Who said that these stock Honda could beat a big car V8, I will sure show them the truth!! These Hondas are what you can buy when you're on budget and can't afford better, even if the others are less reliable.. Still have 46 painful payments, but I have learned after two that you should not listen or do like everyone else, drive what you like, not what they try to convince you what is a supposedly a good car.. drive what you feel is good for you, and you won't like me.. regret your purchase.

I hate to throw even MORE rain on your parade, but my one (and thankfully ONLY) experience with the Civic DID NOT indicate that it was even remotely reliable either. It did get decent fuel mileage, but soon made up for fuel savings by consuming a quart of oil every 3 weeks. At just over 40,000 miles the frightfully expensive CV joints were clattering so loud that you could barely hear the tinny little radio. The under-engineered brake pads required replacing every few thousand miles, the hood release cable broke, and at just under 100,000 miles the engine totally self-destructed. It was sold to a scrap dealer.

I later bought a 2001 Ford Focus ZX-3, which got equally good mileage, was much faster and sportier, was far more comfortable and didn't feel like you were driving a refrigerator or a toaster. It was a CAR, not an appliance.

It never required a single repair during the entire time we owned it.

I'm sorry you got taken in by ad hype and obviously biased automotive "experts". It happens to a lot of us. It won't happen to me again.

I must say that I know the feeling. I bought a small Sentra, and I like the gas mileage and handling, but I don't get very excited when I take it for a drive. I spend a lot of effort looking for pot holes, and rough road spots, often swerving hard to avoid the bone jarring ride when I hit one. I do love it when it's time to fill the tank. That's it though.

I can fully understand your feelings, I bought a Honda Civic sedan last year, and I can honestly say that this is the most uncomfortable car that I have ever owned.

Noise and lack of comfort go with the territory with economy cars. My 98 Civic is loud but inexpensive to fill, uncomfortable but cheap to repair. I won't get rid of my Civic but I certainly won't buy a new one. I want comfort and style for my next purchase, and the current Civic doesn't fit my wants. It's unfortunate the original poster bought his Civic due to the price of fuel, given that gas is half the price it was in the summer.

I am the one who posted this Civic, 3 days ago the Civic stalled twice on highway 40 near Quebec city at one o'clock in the morning.. I screamed all alone outside the car at minus 15 celsius in french many words I can't write here.. After many tries I finally succeeded to start it and couldn't go faster than 80 KM\H for next open gas area 30 kilometers away in Trois-Rivières...Filled the gas tank which had 3\8 left, disconnected battery to empty the codes, went home, and never had any problem since.. Hope this was frozen gas lines or water in my gas tank.. But for now I have lost confidence and never go under half a tank.. Called dealer and said with no codes they can't do nothing!!..Gas is now cheaper and I am thinking of getting my Buick back on the road!!

Hi Folks.

I suffer with the same dilemma. Go with a small import with great gas mileage, easy handling and good reliability, or big American cruiser for comfort and safety. Four years ago I test drove a new Civic Coupe, and a used Mercury Grand Marquis with 50k miles. I really liked the "zippiness" of the manual Civic, but went with the big Merc with no regrets.

The Grand Marquis gas mileage averages 22-24mpg (high20's on trips), $200 in repairs (other than tires/batt./shocks), never had brakes put on it.

In terms of trying to save on fuel costs, I'd rather drive a little slower, consolidate errands into one trip and eliminate unnecessary outings, rather than feel trapped in a tiny car in heavy traffic or bad snow storms.

Now with 98,500 on the clock it still runs and looks like new.

Now if I drove 50,000 miles a year, I might feel differently, and be tempted to go with a Civic or Corolla. But maybe not, as used Grand Marquis are plentiful, very reliable and have terrible resale... making them used car bargains! Since they easily go 150k-200k miles, buying one cheap with 50k miles is the way to go, in my situation.

Thanks, Mike.

I like Civics, and ours has never broken down on us. It's always got us home, and to wherever we need to be. I don't care if a car "makes me feel good." That's a specious argument when it hurts to pay for gas. I don't particularly care for new cars either. Everyone else can go buy one. The only things I look for in a car are dependability, economy, cargo space. Nothing else really matters (to me). The Civic fits the bill.

If it fits your bill, good for you, ever thought of buying a horse!! Like you've written, you don't care, and a horse will do almost the same job with a cargo space to tow, dependable and not that hard on gas, and nobody like you, will care, LOL.

Funny, I also owned a car with an LT1, a 1996 Impala SS. Sold it and regret it. Was looking at a small car recently, currently driving a 2005 Impala (wife's car, it's OK). I have yet to find a car that I love to drive as I did the SS. I am wondering why there are so many used 2007-2008 Civics in my area. I speak to people who own them and they seem to accept some small little quirks as if it's normal. I am even more uncertain as what to buy now. Maybe I'll look for a 2004 Marauder or something like the G8. Starting to see just how biased the automobile journalists are.

I love my 98 Civic to death, it was crazy easy to learn to drive stick, I've gotten sideways on the freeway at 65mph and been able to recover (from being cut off by some chick on pills), can't do that with many rear wheel cars, especially with only 2 years driving experience.

I beat my car like a red headed stepchild, and it still seems to cooperate, even though I do need to replace the brakes, the hood release was broken when I bought it at 115K, it has fogged lights, chews tires the way I drive, has low clearance, janky locks, and a loose ebrake.

Otherwise it's in pristine shape, and in frisco it's almost a turn on for the hippy chicks ;D.

Admittedly it's not the most powerful car, and new Civics make me sick, however I love my car, not because I'm used to it, but because it's a good looking car, which represents me pretty well, and even at 106hp I still can scrap any car with an automatic transmission from 0-45 (ie merge).

And how we do out in the East bay, it's perfect, cuz it's worth a 1/5 of your car, has tremendous knock (although there were lots of loose parts vs any American car, and a small trunk; No four 15s), and I be pullin em!

I'm gonna drop in a Si/Type R engine, so look out for me in your left mirror!

It's funny how these American car lovers compare V6's and V8's to four cylinder cars. Have you guys ever tried sitting in a Pontiac Sunfire/Pursuit? Or a Cavalier/Cobalt, which are basically the same, or should we compare it to old reliable Dodge Neon LOL. If you drove or even sat in these cars, you would die to go sit back in a Civic.

I own a Civic 2008. When I first drove it.. I felt like they had put diesel instead of petrol. It just wouldn't go fast. Uncomfortable too. My next car will definitely be a Cadillac or Jaguar. Comfort is what you need on the road.

It's so funny, all these people who went from a Civic to a Cadillac or a Jag, a BMW...and not for a Cavalier, Caliber, Cobalt or even a Focus. (except for the guy on every thread who has this Escort with 400k flawless miles..)

If you didn't like the Civic, why didn't you try one of those cars from the same class?