2003 Honda Civic EX review from North America

Nothing, with only 9,000 miles on it.

I've always been impressed with Honda in terms of their product, service, dedication to the customer, and reliability. My experience leasing this new EX has not been anything, but perfect.

Sitting in the car, it just feels so very good, from the way the steering wheel feels in your hand, to the way the shifter locks into gears, to the glove box opening and shutting, to the buttons and knobs on the dashboard. It is little things such as these that tell you the whole story about how much time, craftsmanship and pride is put into a car, and sitting in the Civic I can tell that the utmost craftsmanship was given to this car. Get into a GM car and what do you get? Cheap plastics, loose fasteners, buttons that come off, cheap fabric, etc.

The car rides wonderfully and handles even better. I've always felt that Honda cars practically steer themselves and this is no different. Front and rear sway-bars certainly help, and the manufacturer's suspension is better than some "sports packages" I've ridden on from American-made cars.

I also love how, if you look at the car from a certain angle, it almost looks like a mid-engine car.

The salesman was more than patient and answered all our questions, even if he had to go ask his supervisor, all while being polite and friendly. He never gave us a half-cocked response and was forthright 100%. A misunderstanding regarding my trade-in payoff was entirely my fault. Dealing with the service department has been, so far, a dream come true.

My only complaint is that the car lacks power. Bottom line: if this car needs to haul, it won't. It is fairly zippy in and around town, but accelerating on the highway and getting passing power is too much to demand for this engine. It needs at least another 50-60 more horsepower and like amounts of torque increase. Then again, it's an economy car, and the idea isn't to burn rubber. Speaking of economy, I can go well over 400 miles on a tank of gas.