1987 Honda Civic 25R review from Australia and New Zealand

The car didn't run very well when we bought it, but I thought a tune up would resolve most of the problems. However, the independent dealer we got to do the work was great at oil changes and brake repairs, but hopeless at tuning. I ended up playing with the timing and the fuel settings myself in order to get a bit of power back!

Most other problems are as you would expect for a 15 year old car. There isn't any rust in it, but it has a few minor car park dents, and the front bumper is misaligned slightly, probably from a previous minor incident. The seats are sagging, and the trim is looking a bit fragile, but I can live with that.

The Engine is still smooth and quiet, even more so since I fiddled with the fuel and ignition settings. The Gearbox too is nice now - the previous owner used the wrong oil in the box (it should have 20/50 engine oil in the gearbox surprisingly). Economy is OK.

Now that cars with sharply angled panels (ie, Focus, Mondeo, etc) are coming back, my old Honda is looking fresher than a lot of newer rounded shape cars!

Generally, it's a really good buy for the money. There are a lot around here in New Zealand, but some were New Zealand new, and some are Japanese imports so look out for these as they have odd injection, carburettor and emissions kit.