I generally consider Honda to be of exceptional quality and reliability, and don't hesitate to recommend them to anyone. I will probably purchase an Accord within the next couple years (I think the Accord is the best vehicle in its class in North America). When I married my wife she came with a free 2002 Civic EX coupe. Here are the repairs it's required:
-Leaking sunroof seal
-Failed alternator, which took out the battery
-Failed gas tank vapor solenoid
-Failed A/C compressor
Of those problems, I think the alternator *might* have been my fault, since it failed immediately after I washed the engine down (never again
). My biggest complaint with the vehicle is that it's not able to detect an overvoltage condition from the charging system. That specifically caused the battery to burn out prematurely before I could properly diagnose the failed voltage regulator in the alternator. It also *nearly* caused burned out SRS and ABS modules ($$$). I consider this a serious flaw in the Civic's design. Not to mention the price on a Honda rebuilt alternator - $365. REBUILT, NOT NEW! Highway robbery. #@$%!
Oh, I almost forgot; the alternator doesn't develop enough current to run all the vehicle electrical components simultaneously. I know because I tested it thoroughly when I replaced it. At idle with the A/C, wipers, headlamps, rear defrost, and radio on the alternator is not keeping up and you're draining your battery. It's easy to be in that situation around here in the winter (defrost automatically activates A/C). At highway RPM (3k) with all those accessories, I figure the alternator is just keeping up with the electrical demand. Bottom line: I think the vehicle's charging system is seriously flawed. I believe the alternator is a 60 amp unit (ironically, a brand new 136 amp unit for my truck runs <$150
). The issue could be solved with a 75 or 90 amp alternator, but the vehicle is built to the "just enough, and no more" principle. Knowing what I know now, I hesitate to install the heated seats my wife's been asking for (why she needs heated seats is beyond me... the engine's up to temperature in less than 1 mile... I've measured it).
I don't like the automatic transmission on the car. I've never had any problems with it, but it doesn't have a traditional pan (so I don't know how the heck I'm going to change the fluid) and hills seem to confuse it. It occassionally "hunts" for the right gear in hilly areas, and I think it lugs the engine too much before upshifting on a hill. It does have a neat engine braking algorithm in it that seems to kick in as a function of speed, gear, brake pressure, and deceleration rate. Neat feature!
I hate the fact that you can't change transmission gears without putting the key in and turning it to "RUN". What's worse is you can't remove the key unless the transmission is in "PARK" (c'mon, what about neutral?). Maybe all modern automatics are like this.
I hate the fact that there's no "ACCESSORY" detent on the ignition switch. If you want to roll down the windows with the engine off, you have to turn the key to "RUN", which also turns on everything in the vehicle (radiator fan and fuel pump, for instance). Very annoying.
The Civic is very noisy on the road at highway speeds. Traveling over bridges and concrete road sections quickly becomes infuriating. Over joints in the road it sounds like you're riding on 4 basketballs. I don't fault the car for this though, as it's an economy car so it's not meant to have a quiet highway ride. The Accord is much quieter. The corolla suffers from the same problems (as do all economy cars, in my opinion).
Having said that, I still consider the Civic a great car. The A/C compressor and the sunroof were repaired under warranty. Honda service is outstanding (at least it is at the dealers around here)... makes Dodge service seem worse than a root canal.
Unfortunately, I think the new generation civic (2006-up) are really ugly (at least in pictures), but that's a personal issue! I recommend it over the Corolla, because I think it has better value.
My father in law has an Accord with >120k on it, and a co-worker had an Accord with >165K on it when he traded it. Both vehicles were remarkably problem free over their lifetime. They were (are) both pre-2001 Accords. One with an automatic, the other with a 5-speed.
I do think that the 4th generation (pre-2001) Civics and Accords (2001 is when they underwent redesign) are of superior build quality and reliability than 5th generation (2001-up) Civics and Accords. A friend is an engineer for them and he agrees with this assessment. I don't know about the 6th generation (2006-up) Civics.
Now, if you asked my wife what she thinks of the car, she'd say "I LOVE IT! BEST CAR EVER!". But she's not a car nut like I am.
Gets good fuel mileage, but I can't quote any actual numbers as I don't bother keeping a log on her car.
That's my story!
-Ryan
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