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Comments
I'm not worried about reliablility; I'm sure this car has most of the same parts as they have been using for the past 15 years and they are reliable.
It's great fun to drive, and I can't wait to buy new speakers and stuff so I can enjoy music more.
Another thing on reliablilty: Honda sold, what, 350,000 of these things this year? This forum only represents MAYBE a couple hundred buyers.
A while back I posted on this site to get some advice on the newest generation Civics. Thanks to those who posted.
A couple of weeks ago, I took the plunge and bought a new 2001 LX sedan with a 5-speed transmission for $100 over invoice. As a tall person (6'6"), my chief concern was the interior room (or lack of sufficient headroom) but after testing it out, there's plenty of room for me. So far, it drives wonderfully, an improvement over my old car (a decaying '91 Civic) and I'm quite pleased with my purchase. No problems to report so far.
I have the civic01 LX 28,000 miles now
I Put 15" rims and Mechilin Tire (very quiet and smooth)
Got Arm Rest (installed at home)
White Face Gauge (after market)
Rear Cup holder (www.honda-accessories.com)
Infinity Kappa speakers (www.ikesound.com). Note: Front 6"1/2 (need to cut the door a little)
Rear 6"3/4 (fit perfect)
Regarding your post #1314 on slow driver's window...I can't say I've taken the chance to "race" power windows (:-) but I'll give it a shot on the way home from work tonight and let you know which one wins tomorrow morning.
May I ask how your trunk floor looks? When I picked up my LX from the dealer, the whole trunk area looked "messed up." Nothing that wasn't "fixed" by simply repositioning the thin fabric to line up correctly in the trunk but the floor itself was cockeyed and it appeared to me they assembled it with the "pads" on the wrong side of the floor. One side is a smooth finish side of hardboard and the other is the rougher side of the hardboard. They put the rubber pads on the smooth side and put the smooth side down facing the spare tire. My first impression was the smooth finished side should be facing up until I speculated that maybe the designers figure you'll only see the bottom side of the floor when retrieving the spare tire and figure the smooth side should be seen there. Very small detail but the over "flimsey" look/feel of the trunk area made me think there is a "smoke and mirrors" approach to the car's design. In other words, not that other car makers don't also look for places where they can cut corners but I must admit that I think about that flimsey trunk area back there when I hit a big bump and occasionally hear a slight bang in the trunk which I imagine is that ill-fitting trunk floor banging up and down.
Still, overall I really do like the car so far.
However, I noticed that my mileage during the normal commute has been gradually but constantly slipping. I got the best commute mileage during the first tank (36mpg). It's now 32-32.5mpg. I maintain the car per manual and my tire pressure is also normal. But that could be because the traffic in the silicon valley keeps deteriorating.
I always use 87 gas.
Isellhondas, what will happen if I bring it back to my dealer and tell them this? I'm sure its something covered under warranty...
Please Help!
Honda should put back the double-wishbone, stiffer suspension and a rev-happy 4 cyl. engine, with a 4% max financing and I would strongly consider it next time (probably 6yrs or so from now).
That's all. Dinu
1. Since the car came with ABS and "smart shifting", why when I use the brake gently to moderately when going down a hill does it seem to "jerk" and the car tends to jump or buckle for a second kinda throwing you forward. It's like you are braking normally and suddenly for a quarter of a second you hit the breaks really hard, and then resume back to your gently braking. It seems quite the opposite of "smart shifting". Anyone else have this problem?
2. Driver seat doesn't slide far back enough for taller people.
3. ONE power door lock feature ONLY on the driver side?!?! Never seen that in any other car before!
Furthermore, most complaints about the Civic's suspension are with the rear end being too bouncy. The rear end retains a double wishbone suspension.
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Recently I noticed a small, round dent on my hood... almost looks like a hail dent, though we haven't had any hail since I bought the car. Anyway, has anyone repaired this sort of thing through paintless dent removal? Will it void the warranty on the clearcoat / paint?
Shortly after we bought our 98 Civic a golf ball hit the roof. The golf course recommended a paintless dent removal place. They did an incredible job. I'm very fussy about cars and it was completely undetectable to the eye. I suggest you talk to a few shops that do this and ask about the experience of the individual technician - it makes a difference. I came to find out the guy who worked on mine had been doing it for 8 years and trained others on how to do it.
I don't think you need to worry about the paint warranty. As long as the dent isn't deep or a sharp crease the paint should suffer no ill effects. The paint should be flexible enough especially if you car is fairly new and well maintained.
Live Happy,
Chris
Any thoughts on maybe being able to disable this feature? Thanks again!
And that`s why I have a Protege now. ZOOM-ZOOM!
Dinu
Thanks.
Laura
(Besides what fun is a Civic without a manual tranny?) With all the improvements and bugs worked out over the 01 model, it makes more sense to go for an 02. If you don't care about the changes and want to save some money, there are quite a few low mileage used 01 civics out on the market. I saw an ad for a 01 EX for $15k with a mileage of only 3900. People seem to be ditching the problem-ridden 01s for something else.
The owner's manual says that the power steering, brake and radiator fluids should only be Honda brand. Is this true, or is Honda just trying to get some additional revenue? I'd hate to screw thingss up when I replace the radiator coolant in a couple of years with generic coolant.
6 available
2002 Civic 4 DR LX AUTOMATIC
$14,388
I've been reading about the suspension on the new Civic ever since I got my 01 EX this past February. I think 90% of these comments are off base: they're either too generous ("the new Civic handles as well as a BMW Z3, you dolt!") or too critical ("the new Civic handles like a Buick.")
Nobody asked for it, but here's my assessment of my 01 Civic's suspension performance:
- Yes, the rear end feels "bouncier" than the front end. I notice it most when travelling at a moderate speed (25-45MPH) in a straight line and then going over a "dip" in the road. The front end seems to just absorb it and instantly stabilize, whereas the rear end seems like it takes one "bounce" to stabilize.
- The rear end "jitters" or "skips" when going over hard bumps when executing a turn. For example, when driving over railroad tracks in the middle of a turn, you can feel the rear end "hop" a bit to the outside of the turn. The front end doesn't seem to have this problem.
- Both of these conditions seem to be affected by the amount of gas in the car. More fuel and thus a heaver rear end seems to mitigate the two issues I just pointed out.
- On smooth roads with no hard cracks, the Civic performs wonderfully (for an economy car with a 127HP motor) in straight-line driving or through twisties. Steering is tight and very responsive, and my "connection to the road" seems solid.
Concerning the replacement of the front double-wishbone suspension with struts, consider that the two "stability" issues I've talked about concern the rear double-wishbone suspension. The new front end strut setup handles everything just fine, in this driver's opinion, at least. YYMV.
Agree that the shifter rawks.
I would appreciate any advice or comments.
Secondly, I'm not sure how the auto manufacturers come up with their gas mileage predictions posted in big numbers on the Mulroney (window) sticker. Maybe someone out their can answer this for me. I certainly hope they don't get the HWY figure by driving 55 mph. If you drive at that speed on a California highway, even in the slow lane, you'll get run off the road. The figures have to be realistic for real world type driving. Ever since the highway speed limits have increased to 65 or 70 mph, everyone is generally driving faster than that, usually around 75-90 mph. The worst thing they could have ever done was raise the speed limits, because everyone always goes 10-15 mph over the limit anyway. Obviously, you're not going to achieve the posted gas mileage figures on the window sticker by driving 70 miles per hour or more.
But there are people getting gas mileage which is significantly different from EPA's numbers. Just like different cars from the same model have different quality, I think they may also have different gas mileage.
The EPA does not perform real world driving tests to determine gas mileage. They use a machine like the one used for an emissions test, and measure it's fuel usage at something like 25 mph for city and 50mph for highway. I think they turn on the air conditioning and the radio, and make an adjustment for the stop-and-go driving in the city. The EPA numbers are reasonable enough, but there are too many other factors involved for them to be perfectly accurate.