1984 Honda Civic review from North America

The car was actually very reliable, considering how rough I was on it.

The clutch needed replacement at 100,000.

A bent rim was replaced (does NOT handle well in the snow!)

AM radio stopped working in '88.

My parents bought this car new in 1984. My dad drove the thing to work everyday, with no problems.

Then he gave it to me, when I was 18 in 1994. I had the Civic only four months, but I put 36,000 miles on it during that time. I drove from my home in Portland to Tijuana, twice to Vancouver, B.C., Salt Lake City, all over Oregon and Washington, and every night at least driving around Portland.

The car began looking rather shabby after about a month of my careless ownership. I invited people to kick the fenders and litter all over the cabin. I took it on my own suburban version of rally racing and I did almost no scheduled maintenance. In fact, it was 10,000 miles overdue for an oil change when I totalled it.

It wasn't a pretty end either. I rear-ended a Bronco in stalled traffic on I-84 was rearended by a GTI and thrown into a Cadillac. Ouch.

But it was a nimble little car that handled like a go-cart. It took an incredible amount of abuse, was great on gas, and comfortable enough for a young man.