1996 Honda Civic LX review from North America

Check engine light came on all the time (every 10,000 miles or so) in the first 90,000 miles. There was always something weird with emission-related type items, oxygen sensor, and even the exhaust manifold was cracked (making ticking sound). However, none of these things affected the car's performance as far as day to day driving and reliability. The good news is that we kept getting stuff in the mail from Honda saying the coverage for this or that "was extended due to California Emissions... " or some other strange reason. Bottom line is that most of it was covered, including the manifold at 60,000 miles, and other stuff up to 90,000 miles (we never bought an extended warranty). CV joint went bad at 110,000 miles, and the other one at about 130,000 miles. But we had driven a bunch of gravel roads out here in Wyoming which I'm sure contributed along with snow and ice.

I've listed a lot of things that have happened with the car. But I can assure you that I would definitely buy another one in a heartbeat! It has never, ever let us down as far as breaking down, being stranded, etc. Things that went wrong were more of an annoyance than an inconvenience. And, believe it or not, it is a great car in the snow. Cruises right though 6" of snow like a knife through butter.