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Honda Civic (coupe/hatchback)
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150K is really not much for a Civic. My friend's '91 Civic LX (Civics are all the same with the same drive train, exhaust & suspension, except that has a bigger motor) blew the head gastket at 210K mi. and my friend drove that car like a race car driver, really abused it and redlined it every day. He gave the car to his neighbor's son who paid $550 to have it fixed and he is still driving the car a year later.
If you can get a Civic with 150K mi. for about $2K it's worth it if you figure you can get another 50K mi. out of it before a major repair.
Or figure if the car lasts 2 more years then it only cost you $1K/yr. That's only $82/mo! That's how I look at it.
'06 Civic LX coupe
'11 BMW 335i coupe xDrive
'13 Honda Accord sedan (wife's car)
I have a friend with a 1983 Honda and it has 230,000 miles on it.
Honda is very reliable. I don't think you can go wrong with one.
You should NOT pay more than $1000 for A/C. It costs the dealership $800, and you will not get out of paying them $200 to install it.
Best of luck.
DX - you get a rear wiper (whoopee) and an FM/AM radio [no cassette, no CD], and a 'cover' for the back cargo area.
Didn't seem like alot.
More important things to me were AC and Automatic. Add those "options" to a new DX and you're paying way too much.
Map pouch in the back of the passenger seat
Wheel covers
Body colored spoiler
Power steering
Rear wiper
Radio & Speakers
Rear cargo cover
Option of black paint
While the additional items aren't major to some I found them quite appealing. (Especially if you want the fuel economy and performance of a manual and power steering.) While I don't really think the car needs power steering, it's nice for my wife. I also liked the way the car looked with the body colored roof spoiler.
Wheel covers aren't exactly the most beautiful option but, I think they're the lesser of two ugly options.
Believe it or not, the cargo cover cuts down on interior noise ALOT! Plus, it gives me some protection from would be thieves.
The wiper is nice to have when it's really cold and snowing.
Sometimes if the radiator is low in coolant (slow leak from a loose hose clamp) or if your thermostat doesn't work well and the car overheats regularly the head gasket will certainly go. I would tell the dealer to check out the cause of the head gasket failure. I believe something else caused it to break. This may happen again in another 50K mi. Look for temp. fluctuations on your temp. gauge or for small spots on your driveway or garage and check the coolant fluid often.
The failure could have been due to a slightly warped head from mis-alligned valves. Have a valve clearance adjustment done. This should be done every 30K mi. or so.
'06 Civic LX coupe
'11 BMW 335i coupe xDrive
'13 Honda Accord sedan (wife's car)
O1H is right on, check your cooling system. Did you replace all of your upper end gaskets or just the head? (Just my curiosity.)
59,000 miles is soooo low (especially on a car 7 years old)! Your Civic should run forever with light use like that!
Going for a valve clearance adjustment Tuesday.
Only $64 at a local Honda/Acura specialist and it includes a valve cover gasket. The dealer (thief) wanted $107 + tax. BTW, a valve adjustment should be done every 30K miles. If you drive like an old lady and do mostly highway driving you can do it every 40-50K mi. Small price to pay to keep your valves healthy with proper clearance. You will also notice the engine will sound a little smoother and a small power increase when you get it done (especially going up those hills!)
'06 Civic LX coupe
'11 BMW 335i coupe xDrive
'13 Honda Accord sedan (wife's car)
The blown head gasket I described earlier was just that. My wife called me on her cell phone while driving it. She said that the heater had "stopped heating" while driving to work. It was working then the air just got cooler and cooler. I asked her to look at the temp guage and she noted it was higher near the top of the guage. I had her pull over and shut off the car. I drove out with a couple of towels and opened the radiator cap. No water in the reserve jug and it took almost 3/4 a gallon of water to top it off. I then drove it to a shop to have the coolant system preasure tested. I wasn't the thermostat I was sure, (I had replaced it only 10,000 miles ago.) and there where never any tell tale leaks in the garage. The mechanic thought a leaking head gasket and he was right. It was a leak in the gasket to the exhaust. The coolant was disappearing out the tail pipe.
The tech then printed me off a Technical Service Bulletin from ALLDATA #97-047. HEAD GASKET LEAKS 1988-95 Civics, all except VTEC. Noting the problem and how the are to install a new type of head gasket and new design of head bolts. He took an oil sample and sent it out to a lab to look for any extrodinary bearing wear(Luckily none.) My question is has any one else had such a problem?
a body colored spoiler is certainly not something that would change most people's minds either way -as well as the wheel covers. how many DX's have I seen with cracked or warped wheel covers from the driver rubbing them against the curb while trying to parallel park in the city? option of black paint? why would I pay that much more just to by a black car?
radio and speakers? the DX comes with a standard FM/AM radio - no tape deck, no single disc player. that would be fine if this was 1970, but not now!! jeez- at least throw a tape deck in there for that cash - especially if it's only a factory radio!!!!
Power Steering? My CX came with Power Steering because I bought the automatic. The last CX I had was a manual, and I didn't long for the power steering; I was driving a sportier car with the manual tranny, and preferred the tightness of handling without power steering.
a map pouch in the back of the passenger seat. those tend to tear at the edges after a few years, even when not over-stuffed. happened on my last base-model civic, before they came up with the CX title. they were standard before, now you have to pay for them. sorry honda, you can have your map pouches. i'll stick my map under the seat or in the back hatch!
sorry rex12 - i just couldn't see the light - the CX was fine to me, and the extra bells and whistles for the DX didn't seem worth what they were charging.
Just goes to show ya why they make different models!
Personally, I think the additional $870 is well spent. (I really like the body colored spoiler, I think it makes the car.)
The only 2 things I wanted and they didn't offer were cruise control & a tach. (I know how you feel about a tach.)
i'm so incredibly disappointed in the folks at Honda. i really think it's a mistake not to offer a hatchback in some format for the 2001 year. really bums me out. it's like the end of an era; i liken it to when volkswagon stopped american production of the beetle in 1975.
Today, I spent hours calling all the wrecking yards and even Volunteers of America for tax deduction. My last resort was calling a school that used cars for their automotive department.
Everyone but one offered to buy it from me for $25 and they come and tow it away. They gave me a reason that there are too many Hondas out there, they couldn't use the parts, or have room to store them.
Does anyone have any ideas what else to do?
If it's to stick it where .... don't want to hear it.
If you can get the $500 and then donate the car to a local charity (They generally give you blue book regardless of the car's condition.) You'll get a nice write off next year and have the $500.
Otherwise, i'd make the punk pay for the car.
We were going to replace it with the equivalent, which would be a CX HB, 5-speed. However, I called every dealer in the Houston area, and there was not one to be found (several automatics, though). Apparently, there was only one in the entire state of Texas. Decided to go with the DX. I don't think myself that the DX is worth the additional cost, but it does have some nice features, and it was available.
Ya gotta wonder if there'd be a 2001 hatch had Honda marketed it a little and made them visible on their dealers lots.
When I was ready for a new car I went to 3 dealers in Nov. '96 to get a '97 htbk. Two dealer had a couple of CX autos and the other had a CX 5sp. I called back a month later and they finally had 1 DX 5-sp. but I think it was red or something and they only came down $100. Finally at the end of January '97 they had 2 black DX's!! So it took almost 3 mos for them to get some black ones that I wanted but it seemed like the dealers were only getting about 2-3 hbks a month! They actually found a black one like in the beginning of Jan. but they wanted to drive it in from 120 mi. away and I said "no, flatbed it or no deal" and they didn't want to do that.. The car also had another 20mi. or so on it and I 'd never buy a new car with 140mi. on it unless they gave it to me at like invoice..
Anyway the dealer kept calling me to see when I can come in to put a deposit down on one of the black DXs. I figured noone was showing interest in them and it was the slowest time for car dealers, so I delayed it another week and didn't go to the dealer until 1st week of February. He was so anxious to sell them that I got it for $12.5K with A/C. That was about $850 below sticker but they still made about $500 which is ok.
One HB for a whole state is pretty messed up though. They definitely don't import enough HBs in the US, that's for sure. I 've only seen maybe 5 or 6 '96-00 hatchbacks in the 3 yrs I 've had mine!
'06 Civic LX coupe
'11 BMW 335i coupe xDrive
'13 Honda Accord sedan (wife's car)
These Honda CX/DX HB's are great basic transportation. I can only figure that Honda doesn't want to be in that business, because the margins are just too low; this way they'll force people to buy more expensive hondas.
The HB is actually for my wife. We had a 90 Civic HB with 230,000 miles and a Maxima with 140,000 miles. Bought an Odyssey several months ago, but kept the others. The 90 Civic was in bad shape, so I figured I'd sell the Maxima, buy my wife a new HB, and I'd use the old HB for commuting. My wife does home health, and drives alot of miles. This week, in the middle of selling the Maxima, the old HB dies, and there goes my ride. I sold the Maxima tonight, so Monday I'll be commuting in the Odyssey. Rather be in the Civic.
I also had a 1990 Civic HB - Red, the base model (back then there was no cute "CX" designation).
You know - I am one of those weirdos out there that LOVED the fact that my 90 Hatch had the 1.5 liter engine, and a 4 speed manual. Gas mileage was phenomenal, and I didn't miss the 5th gear.
Why is that? Heck if I know...It never felt like it needed that 5th gear, the way they were set up.
Now I'm a boring old fart driving a 99 CX Automatic. I still love it .... !
How does the '99 automatic's gas mileage and the git-up-and-go compare to the '90 4 speed?
in most circumstances, the manual has more pep but only marginably better fuel economy....
i found the manual to be 'sportier', so i drove a bit more aggressively with it, and thus, my gas mileage was not always optimum due to my youth and driving habits. if i had driven the manual like a calm normal person, then yes the fuel ecomomy is a bit better - about 3 gallons better.
the automatic is a pleasure for me to drive at this point due to all of the Boston driving I do. with the manual, the clutch is a drag in the city, and i wound up hating the car when i had to be in Boston.
i average 30 to 35 mpg in my automatic. not to shabby. it has enough pep to satisfy the passing lane urge on the highway. that's all i now need. i drive it normally [most of the time]. i just kind of let the car do it's thing now, where before i used to have fun testing limits.
i HATE most american automatic transmissions; they seem to take to much of a hold of the vehicle. the honda automatic is smooth and responsive. i switch from D3 to D4 quite abit, depending on where i am. i'll also pop it into neutral at long stop lights. the automatic is kind of like a nice vacation in a way. you get all of the benefits of the civic, without all of the clutch work. i kind of wish i could afford to have 2 civics - one manual - for when i get the urge.
two doors but less than four to carry me, friends and a bicycle or two.
Mine is a 5 speed DX, if I had a tach and cruse control I'd be in hog heaven !
Rob Fruth - Houston, Tx
http://freeweb.pdq.net/rfruth
1981 Raleigh for commuting, errands & fun ____ __o
1997 Trek 2300 for real fun ! ____ _ \ | _)
2000 Civic hatchback when I have to (_)/ (_)
Just FYI, I had asked my dealer what the highest mileage was that he had ever seen on a Civic and he said 360K mi but he admitted the guy kept up with the maintenance and had some major repairs.
The first major thing that could go any time on a Civic with 270K mi., is the Head Gasket and that's a $400+ job. He may have replaced it already (they usually go around 200k mi), ask.
Then the front main and rear main seals go on Civics around 250-300k mi. ($275-500 depending where you get it done, dealer or your mechanic and where you live..) The seller may have done a lot of these repairs already, ask them!
You 're always taking a gamble when you 're buying a used car especially with very high mileage. There are no guarantees how long the car will last. You may have real good luck with it or have to junk it a month later. That's the way it goes but the important thing is to find out what he has replaced on the car already so that way you have an idea of what to expect..
'06 Civic LX coupe
'11 BMW 335i coupe xDrive
'13 Honda Accord sedan (wife's car)
No one who knows me can believe it, but my next car will be a Focus ZX3. I'm worried about reliability, having been spoiled rotten by Honda, but this Ford is a handler and a steal (hopefully not in the same way Civics are!).
I've seen the spy pics of the new Civics. Now that I have a family, my dream car would be a 5-dr hatchback Si. Anyone listening, Honda?
What do I use to REALLY clean a cloth car seat in a Civic?
A 5-dr is welcome though. I don't think I need a 3dr anymore. A 5dr Civic is a lot better than buying a Golf or a Focus though. I 'll take it!
'06 Civic LX coupe
'11 BMW 335i coupe xDrive
'13 Honda Accord sedan (wife's car)
They have EVERYTHING for Honda's and generally at the best price.
There are several other dealers in the Denver area who do not use high pressure sales tactics. We purchased our CRV from Fisher Honda in Boulder. Ask for Suzi Smith or Craig Sweeney.
'06 Civic LX coupe
'11 BMW 335i coupe xDrive
'13 Honda Accord sedan (wife's car)
'06 Civic LX coupe
'11 BMW 335i coupe xDrive
'13 Honda Accord sedan (wife's car)
If you long for the Cargo Cover [rear shelf] that is standard equipment on the DX but "not available" for the CX, you can order one from www.hparts.com
I checked with a dealership, and the parts department wanted to charge me $130 for it.
I bought it on-line for $97 with shipping.
It comes with the mounting brackets which install in less than 10 minutes.
The CTR (Civic Type-R) has a 1.6L with 185hp and heavy duty suspension & brakes.
The ITR (Integra Type-R) has a 1.8L with 195hp (Japanese version has 200hp) and heavy duty suspension, brakes, etc.
'06 Civic LX coupe
'11 BMW 335i coupe xDrive
'13 Honda Accord sedan (wife's car)
Civic 94 - 95 3DR $72.75 EA + shipping
Civic 96 - 99 3DR,CX $84.52 EA + shipping