1999 Honda Civic LS from UK and Ireland - Comments

Nothing.

The car is a complete contrast to my previous vehicle - reliable, excellent ride quality and decent fuel economy, also I enjoy driving it even on my dull journey to work.

Good points - economy (45 mpg average), well equipped (air con, electric windows/mirrors/sunroof, ABS, twin airbags, remote central locking etc.)

Honda mechanical build quality and a reliable dealer (so far).

Good amount of space in the rear for passengers.

Performance is pretty good for a 1.5, about the same as a 1.8 Focus, but cheaper on the road fund license and less commonplace.

Negative points - minor quibbles as follows :

Bodywork and paint seems to attract dents and damage, even minor petrol spills have discolored the metallic paintwork very quickly.

The boot is rather small compared to my Brava (one of the only things I liked about the Fiat!)

Headroom is marginal for a six foot tall driver as there is no height adjustment on the seat (unlike Fiat.)

Long travel on clutch pedal makes smooth gear changing in lower gears a bit of an art.

Rattles - bit suprised by rattles which I cannot pinpoint, but seem to be coming from the rear section of the car. MOT and service have not picked up any nasties so will have to live with for the moment.

Just to update my review. Car has now passed 50,000 miles and has recently had its major service - £326, expensive maybe, but it has been faultless for the preceeding 9000 miles so I don't mind paying out. Has regained some of its former poke after the service!! Rattles still not traced to anything major so I will just up the volume on the CD player...Apparently brake pads will need changing in about 5000 miles time; fair enough. One point I missed in my review is that the ABS equipped brakes don't have a lot of bite. I recently drove a Honda Jazz which had very powerful brakes, certainly much better than my Civic's.

Car has now done 60,000 miles and still no problems. Some rust on the rear arches was rectified by dealer under warranty at Honda UK's expense. Brake pads replaced at last service, centre section of exhaust is on its way out. Still a happy Honda customer!!