2006 Honda Civic with 100k miles-Worth it?

drums32

Hey guys looking for my first car and came across a 2006 honda civic EX for 8,000 wondering if its worth it even if it has 100,000 miles on it. My brother has a 2002 mitsubishi and he just hit 100k miles and had to do $1500 dollars woth of service into it and im wondering if thats too much many miles and too much of a risk? I dont want to spend almost all of my money on a car that im going to have to put more money into to fix it soon. But its a beautiful car and its in mint condition. I know hondas are known for lasting long but this is a 2006 so the previous owner put almost 18,000 miles a year im hoping they are highway miles. What do you guys think? Thanks a lot i appreciate all comments.

bernardmarx

www.carcomplaints.com gives the 2006 Civic an "Avoid like the plague" rating. A lot of these have had cracked engine blocks and various other problems.

isellhondas

Totally overblown!

These were great cars in all respects and 100,000 miles is NOTHING for a well maintained Honda.

Engine block problems were VERY isolated and Honda stepped up as usual and fixed the affected ones even if they were out of warranty.

I've been retired for a year now so I really don't have nay skin in the game. My shop hadn't seen any of these come in the last time I asked.

8000.00 is a great price if it's nice.

targettuning

Ha.....Honda stepped in because their "stellar" name was being dragged through the mud and for no other reason. It sounds great, this extended warranty they were forced to issue and frankly it is a good thing but this issue was first made known to Honda service personnel via a TSB in the summer of 2006. I saw it and yet the issue continued through the 2006-2007 and some of the 2008 model years. At least if you look at various complaint sites you will find owners of 2008's still complaining of having cracked blocks yet I received my extended warranty early this year. So, why did Honda take from 2006 to 2011 to finally address this "isolated issue"? Anyhow, early problems were being foisted off as everything from a lack of routine maintainance, not having that maintainance done at an authorized Honda dealer, lack of regular oil changes etc, etc. (anything to get off the hook to avoid paying the cost of a short block). Owners were being asked to foot the entire bill (upwards of $5000), a variable or sliding percentage of the bill (if one bitched but not hard enough)or if one really bitched to Honda, got an new engine installed for next to nothing. In reality this is either a metalurgical issue, a casting issue or an engineering problem and had nothing at all to do with owners changing the oil or where they did it. So, for you to say Honda "stepped up" is a joke, they had little choice in the matter because owners were complaining loudly to anyone who would listen. To this perspective buyer I say...buyer beware!!! You may be retired but.......

isellhondas

Problems will always get over amplified in the complaint sites no matter what the product.

So, it sounds like you think it's a bad thing when a company like Honda takes care of customers with cars well beyond the warranty period?

I find that amazing.

So much for appreciating a company that tries to do the right thing.

And, sorry to spoil your fun but I did check in and actually very few cars were affected.

And, Honda didn't have "little choice" they could have chosen to do nothing as othere car manufacuters may have done.

targettuning

Yeah sure, and I believe that Honda "tried to do the RIGHT thing" out of the goodness of their tight fisted little corporate hearts especially after they instructed their dealers not to replace these "few" cracked blocks for customers under any kind uniform guidelines unless (and maybe not then) a strict paper trail could be established that the customer jumped through all the hoops Honda Corporate placed in the way. Hoops you say? yeah, that ALL services were performed at a dealership including oil changes done by the book ( when you and I know that oil changes had absolutely nothing to do with the problem), these demands and others had irrate customers screaming at Honda and, as I said, how loudly and strongly one screamed decided, if and how much Honda shelled out to supplement the hefty engine replacement bill. So, after nearly 5 years of this random "help on a sliding scale" Honda finally saw the negative publicity and decided that extending the warranty was the most cost effective thing to do as opposed to the smear on the lofty Honda reputation so guess what they did? Further if you would re-read my post I said it was a good thing in the end even though it was 5 years in the making. Especially since I have a 2006 Civic but don't get up on your corporate high horse and start telling me and others that Honda cares like no other in the car manufacturing world, that is crap of the highest order. What I find amazing is that you say you are retired but once a Honda'ite always a Honda'ite... yes? Finally, it isn't fun for me to drive a car that has the potential to destroy its much applauded Honda engineered engine nor was it much fun most likely for those who had this issue appear out of nowhere, nor was it much fun for those who fought with Honda for 5 years and at least 3 model years of Civics and ended up paying anywhere from 100% of the $5000 or so bill downward but still paying something for Honda's mistakes. All bow down to Honda right. I'm glad it is finally being recognized Honda isn't God's own ride. Finally...finally, tell us how you were able to find that very few cars were affected when I was never able to put a percentage on it, but I guess 10,000 out a million is very little. Notice folks these aren't the actual numbers but a ratio for the sake illustrating of what "very few" constitutes.
In closing to the perspective buyer and all perspective buyers of 2006-07-08 Civics, buyer beware in spite of Mr. isellhondas reassurances.

isellhondas

You are obviously hostile and you seem to know everything about this. You don't so let's just leave it at that.

Honda has never required that oil changes be done at a dealer for the warranty to apply.

If they tear open an engine and it's full of sludge and shows signs of being neglected, that is a different story and a story that woulde apply to any make.

If you are that unhappy with Honda you should probably buy something different. Just try to find a car next time that will never ever have any kind of a problem and try to find a ca company that takes better care of their of their customers.

The sky really isn't falling.

targettuning

Nope, not hostile just accurate as opposed to the "Honda is best" posts and yes, I do know everything about this because my car (actually my previous car) was affected and knowledge is power. Clearly they are not infallable. Normally, oil changes are not dealer only for warranty claims but for this particular problem it was one of those "hoops" to jump through Honda placed in owners way, easier to deny someone that way. As of Thursday I now own "something else" and hopefully they will "take care of me" as well as you would like others to believe Honda will. Whether they actually do is up for debate. Bye now..enjoy Honda.

isellhondas

Well, I sure hope your "something else" never, ever gives you a problem!

Sandman6472

I've owned my Civic since June of 2006 and it's been the best car I've ever owned! I did have some warranty issues, 2 TSB's were performed, and the car has been flawless ever since. I've been reading this guys complaints for years and sure, some cars will have problems, but to stay away from every Civic is ludacris to say the least! And I'd bet there are more positive stories like mine than negative ones. People who've had bad experiences will naturally say the whole company stinks...whatever! As long as it checks out with your mechanic and you really want to buy it, go ahead then. And I'd believe Isell, as he's been a straight shooter since I've been in here and if he says something...you can believe it 100%.
Good luck with whatever you do. An extremely happy Civic owner...I am,

The Sandman :sick: :shades:

targettuning

Well, aside from some other relatively minor issues mine was reliable as well. However, since the "cracked block" problem can occur at any time without warning I would say...yeah, by all means check out the specific car before purchase BUT everything may be perfectly fine now and maybe for thousands of miles but if/when the cracks appear you are screwed right now. Once these crack they quickly overheat and then things go from bad to much worse !!! Further, I remain, not anti-Honda, but lets say the other side of the "I love Honda" coin and think it is only fair to point out that multiple model years (2006-07-08) have the very real potential to self destruct extended warranty or not. Isell does not disclose everything nor it seems will he give the bad as well as the good. Simply stated these model year Civics are rolling time bombs with regard to engine failure. Why else do you think Honda corporate issued this extended warranty? The are aware of this flaw and have been for years ( a service bulletin was issued in the summer of 2006 regarding this, look it up). I continue to say, "buyer beware" on these, but suit yourself.

isellhondas

When you use a term like "rolling time bomb" you just make yourself look silly.

Honda extended the warranty because they bacame aware that there were some isolated problems and they wanted to step up to the place and take care of the affected cars.

It's funny. when they do this, it isn't appreciated by some people. Kinda makes me wonder why they bother.

I have zero problems with people who don't like Hondas. They should simply buy something else if they are that unhappy.

No sense sitting aroud wringing your hands waiting for the sky to fall when there are so many other choices out there!

Sandman6472

This is getting silly now...really! I'd still bet the number of cases with this issue are minimal and Honda has a procedure in place to deal with it. If the car checks out, buy it. And if not, move on to the next choice. Every car could have problems, them being machines and all, but eventually one must buy a car. Good luck. Also, my "rolling time bomb" made it through another day today and got me back and forth safely to my medical appointment...the "sky is not falling"!

The Sandman :sick: :shades:

targettuning

Indeed! Look silly? do I now? As I said before, and I am done trying to point out the real reason Honda did this, and if you or anyone else believes otherwise GREAT!!!! Honda, "became aware" after 5 long years where affected owners were on their own as far as replacement costs for another engine to one financial degree or another. Finally Honda "stepped up to the plate" as you say in order to make current Civic owners feel comfortable about keeping the damn thing a day longer. Actually up to three years longer which is the duration of the warranty. Actually when you say you wonder why they (Honda) bothered, well, they practically didn't after being aware of the problem in 2006 and allowing it go on through at least 3 model years and 5 actual years before finally taking some sort of action. What responsible company would allow the same potentially faulty engine blocks to be cranked out for 3 model years without change in materials or design or engineering??? If you allow yourself to be emotionally detached from your former employer for a minute then apply the randomness to which these blocks fail then inject the numbers of 2006-07-08 Civics still out there on the road then the term "rolling time bomb" does indeed apply for those hundreds?...tens? or even one left with the flaw waiting to occur. That applies to you too Mr. sandman. Enjoy!

isellhondas

You are looking at this situation from a very narrow position - YOURS!

You seem to have all of the answers.

Te VAST MAJORITY of cars were never affected.

I realize that forums like this one attract the people that do have troubles and I also know that misery loves company and people that are unhappy with a product or a business love to shout their unhappiness from the mountaintops.

But, I'll concede that every Civic ever made is indeed, a "rolling time bomb"

That term really applies to each and every car on the road. Driven long enough, every engine in every car will eventually fail in one way or another.

For some cars, that number may be 100,000 miles. For others it could easily be 300,000 miles or more.

I'll take my chance on a Honda reaching the higher numbers.

I do hope you have better luck with whatever you buy. Just know it won't be perfect either and realize that it too, is a "rolling time bomb"

Cheers.

targettuning

One just can't present a resonable dissenting opinion without objection from you or your pal Mr sandman. The simple fact is this....no matter how you might spin it 2006 through 2008 Civics have a far greater chance (as opposed to 2006-2008 Toyota Corollas or 2006-2008 Nissan Sentras or 2006-2008 whatever's) to develop an engine block crack. This is a factual issue otherwise we would NOT be having this little debate. Fact, Honda issued the extended warranty that is specifically worded to cover engine block cracks, not because of one or two isolated problems but because of enough problems that it became a large enough issue to come to their attention in a negative way. I do not know how large that issue became and neither do you so please stop trying to minimize it. Fact, it is not MY narrow position it is the position of uncounted owners of this particular model and year vehicle who sadly experienced having a car broken in a major way, one that was probably still being financed and yet they were being asked to shell out an additional $1000-2000-3000 or more just to have transportation again . I never had the problem on my Civic I just objected to the way Honda handled it until lo and behold 5 years later they finally did do something. I see it as better late than never and you, well, thats Honda "stepping up to the plate". In driving my car I might have encountered it the next time I started it up (are you paying attention Mr sandman) because it occurred without prior warning. Fact, when one runs out of aguments blame the messenger. I clearly know more about the issue through research than you do. Maybe that was because I actually bought the car and sent my wife off in it every day. Once again for the benefit of those who do not fully read my posts, I am simply the other side of the shiny "I love Honda" coin. A person asked about the Civic as a viable option for purchase and I simply pointed out a major pitfall...that's it. So with a final fact in mind, and that one being the 2006-08 Civic is far more likely to develop fatal block cracks than about any other 2006-08 car you might mention I will continue to call it a rolling time bomb that may go off tomorrow...that fact is for you Mr sandman.

isellhondas

Well, your so called "major pitfall" that affected a very small percentage of cars is a tempest in a teapot. Our Service Department hadn't seen any as of when you first posted that.

Still not typical for a Honda and I'm happy they took care of the affected customers.

If 2% of the Civics were affected, that's too many in my book.

It looks like you bought a Hyundai. I'm no fan of Korean cars but they have made HUGE strides. Still if you search the forums you will find that they too have unhappy owners with oddball isolated problems.

It seems to bother you that Mr. Sandman has had no problems with his Civic.

He is the rule and not the exception.

I do wish you well with your Hyundai. Should you have a problem I hope they do the right thing for you like I have watched Honda so many times.

andres3

Parents had an '82 Accord 5 speed manual
I had (for my GF at the time) a '92 Civic DX Hatchback.
Same girl, Fiance had '05 Civic EX 4 door Sedan.
Wife, same girl, has '07 Civic EX 4-door sedan (previous one got totalled at 2 years old from wreckless driver).
I had an '03 Honda Accord LX V6 Coupe (2-door) for 50 months and 65,000 miles.

Honda without a doubt is right up there with Toyota on reliability and dependability. No one else even comes close!

budmantom

I had a 2000 Honda Accord EX V6 with leather, it was a great driving car but it developed a leak from the engine block(a somewhat common problem). The fix for this problem was rather interesting, they would pull the engine and apply JB-Weld to the outside of the block(I'm not joking this was the fix by the dealership).

The interesting thing is that since my car was out of warranty and all my maintenance (like oil changes) weren't done by the dealership they didn't think they could help me with contacting Honda. If anything me NOT changing the oil would have helped that problem

Sandman6472

Same issue I had last month with my a/c...my dealer said they'd do nothing about contacting Honda Corp., zilch. Luckily I had complained at least twice before and had a case number on file so I did all the contacting...and I got 1/2 reimbursed to me from Honda...something is always better than nothing!

The Sandman :sick: :shades:

isellhondas

Your "somewhat common" problem is something I've never heard of before.

JB Weld actually works quite well. I've seen this in person many times.

I think I would rather try JB Weld than replacing by engine block!

budmantom

If you've never heard of it feel free to google "1998-2001 Honda engine oil leak" you will find plenty of info on it, here is one of many links: http://consumerguideauto.howstuffworks.com/1998-to-2002-honda-accord-6.htm

The 1st two mechanics(before I went to the dealership)that I had look at the car knew of this issue within 5 minutes.

JB weld may work well but this was a $700+ fix and I was okay with paying but they would not guarantee the work. This issue had nothing to do with the lack of maintenance but everything to do with poor engineering, poor material or poor craftsmanship and how well or how bad a company would deal with this type of problem.

isellhondas

I would think these oil leaks are pretty isolated but if you are one of the people affected then it hits home.

Did they blame this on lack of maintenance? If so, I don't see how not maintaining your car could cause an oil leak?

Of course, no shop is going to guarantee a JB Weld repair. I'm surprised it was only 700.00. That's a lot of labor!

When I first heard about JB Weld, I didn't believe the claims but I have seen this stuff used in several applications and it's incredible!

The only critical thing is the surfaces have to be peerfectly clean.

johnpa2006

I have a 2006 Honda Civic LX that was affected, I drove to work one day and notice steam coming out from under the hood. noticed coolant leaking.
I shut it down and had it towed to Firestone, they looked at it and called me later that day to tell me my engine block had 4 cracks in it. I was stunned.

At the time this happened I had 98000 miles on it.
I called a Honda dealer, they asked for my VIN , then told me to tow it into them and they will check it out.
They ended up replacing the engine block with a factory NEW block, I was there and saw the new block in the wood crate. I had a rental car for about 5 days, The Honda dealer gave me a loaner for a few days as well.
Now I have 157000 miles on the car and its been running fine ever since.

Point being, I bought the car used from Dodge dealer with 11k miles, at 98k miles Honda honored an out of warranty repair because they had a known defect. Either way they stood behind their product and fixed it.
Honda is good in that way.

I plan on keeping this car a long time since this economy is so bad.
The Civic is a great car in so many ways, take care of it and it will last easily up to 300000 miles. I drive 120 miles a day, round trip PA to Newark NJ
trust me when I say the car holds up well.

I need to install a new Oxygen sensor and then my mileage will improve.
Otherwise the Civic (as its always been) remains a solid investment.

Sandman6472

My car has been perfect since the a/c problem was fixed...don't drive her much due to an early retirement but she's doing great! Got a free coupon in the computer for a battery check-up so went there last Monday morning at 7 and the machine said the battery is "good" so I was relieved. Bought my current Interstate battery back in 4/10and was worried since they don't last that long down here with our South Florida heat. Since it's pro-rated when it fails prematurely, just wanted to keep an eye on it. Most places charge a fee to just check the battery so this freebie was very welcomed. If it was going bad, I would've been at the place I bought it and just swapped it out since I plan on keeping this car because it makes no sense to trade it in. The miles I put on a car are low so I figure it'll last at least another 5 to 6 years easy. It's garage kept so it always looks pristine!

The Sandman :sick: :shades:

Sandman6472

Have a job now so I'm using the car a lot more and the miles are racking up nicely. No problems to deal with so I'm thrilled. At this point, I doubt I'd purchase another Civic or Honda product because they have nothing that makes me want to purchase right now. If I had to purchase tomorrow, I'd go with either a Buick Verano or an Hyundai Elantra/Kia Forte as I like the compact size class. Luckily I'm not in the market so all is good. Most likely, my son will take this vehicle as his own within a couple of years as he lives in a city right now which has public transport which is extremely affordable. Maintenance, parking, insurance, petrol...all these things cost and it adds up as a vehicle gets older and I'm in a better financial position to absorb these costs being almost retired and he's just starting his career. But if he really wants/needs it, we'll work something out!

The Sandman :sick: :shades: