One Year With My Civic

[psyshack]

Yep Ive owned the car for one year. The first 10k miles were a joy. The last 17k miles I think, it thinks its a Chevy with a ubber cool factor nothing on the road has.

2006 Civic EX Sedan, 5MT w/Navi, Silver, 27, 406 miles on it now.

Things I like:
The car has a cool factor. Its real! It has a look, stance and interior like nothing else made. The controls are right there with our Accords in feel and action. As in climate controls, blinkers, head lights and such. Really has a up scale feel to the materials used and the controls action. The small steering wheel in very nice and mine now tracts like its suppose too.

The car handles well. The car does have some roll and will hike the inside rear wheel at its limits when cornering hard. The brakes are spot on! The ABS seems a bit on the sensitive side. But is very controllable. I find it nice to have a linear brake pedal. My car swears it has a LSD. You romp on it or drop the clutch from a standing start it will roast both front tires. Just as even and as long, as you keep the tach at redline and yank gears.

Ive been very impressed with the R-18. Its a work of modern art IMO. It would have been nice if they had made it a lean burn. But that would have gutted the marketing depts. efforts on the hybrid. I have a life time mpg of 43 mpg.

I'm very lucky that my car does not squeak or rattle. Its as solid as our Accord. Worse case is martial rubs in cold weather. Once the car is even near warm the rubs go away.

Ive driven the car in a lot of diff. ways.

We took it on a road trip to PHX. Was a great trip. Drove straight thru from south of Tulsa all the way to PHX only stopping for fuel and food. The car did great on that trip. Average mpg was 39 mpg and we drove most of it in some of the worse winds Ive ever seen.

Its common duty is Okmulgee, Ok. to Tulsa, Ok. and back on a daily basics. Yes this is my daily grind. 84 miles a day for the work grind. IMO its a bit over the top for a daily grind driver. But what the hell.

The car also gets to make trips into western Arkansas on a regular basics. Here on the two lanes it does great even in stock trim. Its able to return stunning mpg or dig in and reward me with some cunning two lane action. After all it is a Honda and loves redline action. It corners spot on now and can even reward one with some controlled drifting coming out of corners hard.

Its very easy to see why this car has won so many awards.

But there is a down side:

Honda's road noise has to go! I wont buy another until they pull there heads out and do something about this. I know its a Honda trate,,, but it has to go. Even our Accord is ate up with it. It very well maybe a negative side affect of the cars handling and otherwise good road manors. But it has to go! Nothing worse than getting into a car with great controls and a positive feeling then have it ruined by making it move and be rewarded with a constant roar or drooooning sound.

My car has been plagued with problems. IMO most stem from bad quality control/production. So let me get the warranty issues and stuff Ive had to fix out of the way.

Dealer repaired:
Power steering pump leak.
Side trunk liners deformed.
Drivers window switch.
Drivers side rear spring sag. Also resulting in two new rear tires. And reviling a alignment issue.
Dash trim.
Windshield plastic part deformed.
Hood adjustment.

Things Ive fixed:
Heater duct fell off. Heating the center console to insane levels.
Passenger side headlight short. ( It would wink at on coming traffic including cops )
Loose grounds resulting in a low battery charge.
The alignment issue Honda would not fix. I had to have my brother make cam bolts so the right rear wheels camber and caster were right.

New Problems:
Popping noise from the front end when turning into my drive way. Or other such sharp turns. Sounds like worn out tierods.
Navi does not count down miles and time distance right. It gets hung and the only way to correct it is to clear the memory.
It now has fits of rough idle. It will idle at times so bad. Holding onto the steering wheel can make your hands go numb.

That IMO is quite a list of Bull Shit coming from a new Honda. So once again. I will be in a dealer service dept. getting stuff fixed that shouldn't of happened.

I'm not in love with the way the car shifts. Its far to notchy and rubbery feeling. The clutch is great in the car. But there seems to be far to much plastic in the orb if you will that connects to the shift lever. Couple that with the light weight cables and you have a shifter attached to a big sponge with a gate.

The interior fit and trim is over all very good. Like I said before. No rattles or squeaks. Every thing fits well and has worn well. No fabric issues and no scuffing problems.

The exterior kinda sucks. Sure it looks good from a distance. And yeah,,, it has a sexy stance and presentation. But it doesn't seem to be put together real well and it's makeup/paint is down right nasty. If the paints not to thin, then its orange peeled so bad it isn't worth waxing. Thank God its Silver and not Black or some other dark color. Also the "H" on the front is way to damed big. Whats up with car manufactures putting HUGE emblems on the front of there cars now days. The "H" on the trunk is fine. But whats up with that giant "H" on the front? Its just down right tacky imo.

One year with the Civic?

IMO its been a let down. Sure it has some very nice quality's and strong point's. But Ive spent far to much time on warranty issues. It has spunk and attitude running out of its exhaust pipe. But does it have what it takes to go 300k miles and retain its paint, fit and form and not leave me stranded somewhere? I didn't buy a Honda to have to trade it in every two years like a GM product. Or am I over reacting and being to harsh on the car? I don't know. What I do know is I like the car! But don't trust it.

The last ten days or so Ive been looking at trading it off. I'm not upside down on it. I purchased it at a very good price. But theres nothing out there like it. Other than the problems Ive had with it. Those I'm sure can be duplicated at any Chevy dealer. Honestly,,, I'm waiting to see what the new Corolla has to offer. as its the only thing I can see that will challenge the Civic.

Just thought i would share my year with Civic.

psy

[dcfife]

That's a good "Year In Review".

My LX sedan (Atomic Blue w/AT) turned 1 on December 10th. It has just over 9,000 miles on it. I primarily use it to drive to work and back (28 miles each way) and it splits time with my '06 RAV4. I've averaged 35mpg and I tend to drive it more on the side of "hard".

I've had no squeaks or rattles. It hasn't been taken to the dealership for anything except I got the first oil change done there. I haven't had to fix anything myself, but I did put on Si sway bars.

I agree with you about the road noise. There are some portions of my drive on I-95 that are fairly freshly paved and it's very quiet, but the older roads...very noisy.

I have no vibrations and it tracks very straight and true. I often drive with my arm resting on the door and a finger or two in contact with the wheel just in case I need to grab it.

My paint is still perfect - no orange peel, no chips, no scratches. I don't doubt that it's thin (and cheap) and I expect it to be ugly when somebody flails a bunch of pebbles at me, but it hasn't happened yet and for that I am thankful.

Having said that, I wouldn't buy another one. Why? Because I think I got one of the few great ones. I'm afraid I would be disappointed if I got another one.

[gbae007]

Your warranty issues sound like an anamoly but that is terrible QC from Honda. Mine with 10K has only the vibrating sound/rumbling at low RPM issue.

[moxom]

Sorry that you've had so many problems with your Civvy.

I have two complaints:
1. The paints abso-freakin'-lutely SUCKS!
2. I don't get to drive it as much as my wife does. I make the payments but only get to drive it on the weekends. It's like childhood custody after a divorce. Only difference is that this "child" actually does something and doesn't answer back.

[tennisfan16]

sorry you have had so many problems.

[EconoboxMan]

I wanted an economical new car for under $18k, so I bought a Civvy. (The xB was my second choice, but it's every bit as limited as a Civic.)

If I wanted a car to worship, I would have bought a G35 and doubled my payments for 5 years.

[psyshack]

Originally Posted by moxom

Sorry that you've had so many problems with your Civvy.

I have two complaints:
1. The paints abso-freakin'-lutely SUCKS!
2. I don't get to drive it as much as my wife does. I make the payments but only get to drive it on the weekends. It's like childhood custody after a divorce. Only difference is that this "child" actually does something and doesn't answer back.

Hahahaha

You should have bought your wife a Accord like I did. The Ovary's arent allowed to drive my car. :)

[Orienteer]

It sounds like your car had quite a few problems compared to most. It might be worth it to keep in mind that a 2006 Civic purchased in December, 2005 would have been purchased within three months or so of the very first eighth generation Civics put on the market. So, not only was the 2006 the first model year for the car, but yours was among the first of that model year to be manufactured. I imagine that Honda would have had little feedback from dealers or consumers about unexpected problems with the new model design by the time you bought the car, and you've put on more mileage than most drivers. If you were to buy a 2007 Civic today, I would expect that you would have fewer problems.

[DumbasSi]

It's sounds like you got a lemon. It seems to me that the Sedans built in the US have had more problems then the Canadian built Coupes.

I've had my EX Coupe since November of 05 and so far it has been a great car. I have had no major problems aside from the driver's seat that creaks and rattles. It went away for a litle while, but it's creaking again. I'll get it checked out next time and it seems to be a complaint from lots of owners.

Now that the weather is getting colder here in Ontario, the car as developed some squeaks and rattles, but nothing that is really driving me nuts. They go away when it warms up. Both of my previous Civics had the same noises, so I expected it from a car that has so much plastic inside.

They only real compalints I have are the very sloppy and vague cable operated shifter. I don't know why Honda switched from rod linkage. I'm planning on oredering a bushing kit to tighten things up.

I also find the seats uncomfortable on long drives and they lack lumbar support.

My Si thaat I got in August has been perfect so far. No problems with the tranny that many people have experienced.

[moxom]

Originally Posted by psyshack

Hahahaha

You should have bought your wife a Accord like I did. The Ovary's arent allowed to drive my car. :)

Yeah I hear ya. If I had an extra parking spot the second car option may have been a bit more tempting. Also, the cost of insurance in some parts of NYC, like Brooklyn, is ridiculously high due to insurance scams. Something like 25% of PIP claims were fraudulent in some way. The scams have driven insurance as high as $3000 (three thousand) for 6 months of comp/collison.

Love my wife's:) 4 door LX.

[Ahab]

Sorry to hear your of your problems. My coupe has been without fault excepting the road noise which is tire related. Otherwise it's much quieter than my old 2002 Civic coupe. After another 20K new threads should eliminate the road noise.

[audiophile]

06 GG EX Sedan - bought on 3/7 - currently 29,401mi

Only 2 main problems:
Both front seat-bottom covers have come up @ the same time(around 20k) and had to be replaced. - expect that to take 6 hours to fix

Both right side struts sound like they're bottoming out intermittently. From about 3k miles on the odo. Only occurs on rough terrain/substandard roads. Dealer says it's because of low tire pressure. Still does it even after I double and triple check that there's 32lbs in each tire...

When my car was brand new (~ week) it was nearly silent... Now @ idle it sounds like a small diesel It's really not that bad, but alot louder than the day I bought it.


Overall I thoroughly enjoy this car and am glad I bought it!

[Cybergypsy]

I have tried 4 times to trade it and in the end..... I am still in love!

[dtexan]

Originally Posted by DumbasSi

It's sounds like you got a lemon. It seems to me that the Sedans built in the US have had more problems then the Canadian built Coupes.

I've had my EX Coupe since November of 05 and so far it has been a great car. I have had no major problems aside from the driver's seat that creaks and rattles. It went away for a litle while, but it's creaking again. I'll get it checked out next time and it seems to be a complaint from lots of owners.

Now that the weather is getting colder here in Ontario, the car as developed some squeaks and rattles, but nothing that is really driving me nuts. They go away when it warms up. Both of my previous Civics had the same noises, so I expected it from a car that has so much plastic inside.

They only real compalints I have are the very sloppy and vague cable operated shifter. I don't know why Honda switched from rod linkage. I'm planning on oredering a bushing kit to tighten things up.

I also find the seats uncomfortable on long drives and they lack lumbar support.

My Si thaat I got in August has been perfect so far. No problems with the tranny that many people have experienced.

the 1st civic sedans were built in japan

[fa1]

Mines was built in Japan. I'm so happy

[2000civic]

Wow, you really think the road noise is that bad? My Si has some engine noise, but road noise is decent. I remember my dad's 05 ex accord coupe, damn that thing was silent inside, or at least what I can remember. Dont think I have ever drove in a car that quiet.

[sbigshot]

Great review .... you should try another Civic if you decide to trade ... I think you got a bad egg. :)

[si_civic]

Little annoying problems that plague my Civic Si at only 1700km
1) Rattle near bottom of windshield
- Rattle in rear pass.seat area.
2) Armrest creaks when elbow is resting on it
3) DBW, need I say more
4) 1st gear hesitation (caused few stalls - embarrassing)
5) Optic Fibre has more density than our paintjobs
6) Interior plastic is scratch-prone (303 Aerospace prevents that)
7) Seat fabric attracts 1,000,000 hairs per day (and I have a white siberian husky - black interior )
8) Tires are 100% CRAP for winter (all seasons)
9) 3rd gear is shit. skips, or grinds

I know this is an Si, a little different from other models, but shouldn't be excluded. We all share the same underpinnings to a certain point.

-D

[psyshack]

When I bought my car I knew I was buying to early. I was willing to take the responsibility concerning a early production car. Ive had family members buy first year production Honda's and they have had little to no trouble with them.

Of note my mother purchased a first year CRX Si. Its a wonderful car. She still owns it today. Its been retired for investment purposes. Its all stock. No dents with just a little road rash from rocks. It only had one warranty issue. There was a squeak in a panel back by the hatch. Thats all thats ever went wrong with the car. Just normal maint. I went to PHX last Easter to do some work on the car. I replaced the belt's, hose's, timing belt, tierods and stuff like that on the car. My brother went out this Christmas to have the road rash touched up, new carpet put in and other cosmetic stuff taken care of. Arrangements have been made for it to be sold at the time of mom's death. Possible the Barret Jackson auction in Snotsdale.

When she retired her CRX she bought a Top of the line Camry. V6, leather, loaded to the gills with a beautiful brown paint job. Very nice car indeed. Then she decided to move to PHX. Found out dark paint and leather is a very big mistake in the valley of the sun. She sold the Camry, for more than she paid for it here in Oklahoma. Flew back and purchased a 7th gen Civic EX Coupe, 5MT and drove it back to PHX. It soon showed it cards. She was spending as much time at hostile dealer ships in PHX as I have. They all seemed pissed because she didn't buy the car there to the tune of about 3k more than she got it for in Oklahoma. What's up with the west and southwest dealer's thinking its ok to bone the hell out of folks on new car purchaser's? Never understood that mentality. Anyway the 7th gen Civic was a can of worms. She sold it. My brother and I found her a Sentra R. Replaced a idler pulley and she hasn't had a problem one with it.

My father is a big time Honda fan. He has a 4th Gen. Accord EX Sedan. He loves the car. Purchased the car new. Its in wonderful shape. Looks just like the day he bought it. But its ate up with the Honda road noise. So here awhile back he and my step mother deiced they want a mini SUV. My father is grumbling and really upset about it. He like me cant stand SUV's. But with the on rush of grandchildren and great grandchildren. Step mom has dad against the ropes. So off they go to get a CRV. Honda fan right. They drive a new one off the lot for a test drive. And theres the Honda road noise. Dad hooks a U-turn takes it back and goes next door to buy a Rav-4. Dad of course still owns his Accord. He live's in western Arkansas and thoughtfully still enjoy's spanking the crap out of ricer boy's with his stock old Accord on hwy 71. Its quite a hoot to see the old man drive circles around the yougins on a horrible twisty two lane road.

Im very lucky that I live in a part of the country where folks talk. People talk in the lines at the super market or wal-mart or on the street downtown. Its small town America at its finest. I was the first to have a 8th Gen. Civic in my county. I was asked alot of questions about the car. Folks either loved it or hated it. I could offer nothing but praise about the car for the first 10k miles. Then everything started happening. The same seems to be happening to the locals here. There seemed to be a glut of Civic's show up. It went from one to only god knows how many Civic's in all trims. From DX Coupes to EX Sedan's and at one point 5 Si Coupes.

One of the Si ended up at the Chevy dealer. The owner had enough of the 3rd gear issue. He was done with it. Traded it on a cobalt SS.

A EX Coupe owner got rid of there's because of a leak around the back glass. After two new back glass and body work it still leaked. They dumped it for a Versa.

There is a couple with a hybrid. They love the 60 mpg they get with the car on the hwy driving back and forth to Tulsa everyday. But they are sick of the constant body panel misalignments that happen. Granted they live on a washboard county road and the car see's two miles of that everyday. But doesn't Honda test for this kind of stuff in there design / engineering phase. Cause the old 6th Gen Civic they had didn't have this problem. OOO and that was a first year 6th Gen. also.

This is just three of the locale's I know. That have had issue with the new Civic's. all three of these folks bought there new Honda's because of how happy I was with mine in the beginning or the good luck they had with Hondas in the past.

Another thing that keeps coming up on this board and on the street is the really low mpg's of the automatics. Some folks around here have gotten rid of there Civic's due to the low mpg's. Folks with the MT's seem to get better. To the point of near EPA or better. Given over all Ive started driving for better mpg in the last two years. I'm appalled at the fuel economy some are getting around here. Most of us work in another town or city. Okmulgee is a den of democrat poverty. So many of us work in Tulsa, McAllister, Mussgokee, or down I-40 tword's OKC. So the cars spend a lot of time on the hwy. Right now my Civic has over 27k miles on it. If the wife and I hadn't started riding into work together and not taking our own little one each mini vacations we would have each put better than 34k miles on our cars each. I know many members here live in or around the LA basin. Hell I lived in Fountian valley and HB when younger. and got out,,, thank god. I spend way to much time in Chicago and DFW for work purposes. So I know comparing gas mileage can be more than a little skewed given the area or metro one might live in. but something just isn't right with the 5AT Civic's.

I just went out to get a pack of cig's out of my car. Its a nice morning here. It rained all night,,, and we need it bad. Its damn near been dust bowl days here the last two years. I stood on the front porch and looked at our two Honda's setting there. Both recently cleaned up, clayed out, polished, and NXT. Water was all beaded up on them and it makes a statement. A positive statement one would think. Then I remember I haven't detailed or waxed either car in 6 months. Has to be the orange peel holding the water droplets. I then find no smokes in either car. Get the Ranger out of the garage and drive to the store wishing my Honda's where the ones Motor Trend picked as car of the year and that the Accord was worthy of Car & Drivers top ten. I really wanted to be a Honda fan boy. :)

There is nothing I can do about the wifes Accord. She's a typical American driver. Stick key in hole and drive. She really doesn't care what it looks like or that crap maybe flapping and falling off or that the engine hood bow's up in heat making for 3/8" wide gaps along the fenders. Or that the automatic transmission just ruins the car. Shes happy with the car and its defects. Which are numerous. And the warranty work that has taken place on it.

I on the other hand am very disappointed in the Civic. I love the way it looks from a far. Once in it. I like the way it drives. Other than the road noise. But yesterday driving home in the rain the windshield wiper motor and gear set started making noise. It now sounds like a spring popping on the up stroke and a snorting sound on the down stroke. Im like wtf! Like twang snort, twang snort. I finally turned them off and let the rain-x and angle of the windshield keep it clean at speed. What next? Pencil that in on the new list of warranty work that needs to be done.

And yes I'm looking at unloading my Civic. But thats not looking good. Theres nothing out there to compete with it. Aint that a shame,,,, looking to trade a award winning car. The only thing that I would drive is a loaded 3 door Yaris. But loaded up it then cross's into Civic money. And a modern Festiva isn't worth that. Yes I did own a Festiva,,, so I have grounds for the comparison. and at 7k brand new with everything you could get on one. I would buy two of them right now if they where still sold and pay up to 10k each for them given inflation. At 7k bucks new, 50 mpg and a car that could only be thorn up by two young girls learning to drive and crashing it. There is a soft spot in my heart for it.

The Fit is no go with its bad mpg IMO and way under powered. Why didn't they at least make it the Civic wagon in the US and put a R-18 in it. Buy it if you don't have a truck or can still have sex in the figure 8 positions.

Versa has a 6MT in it Honda wish's it could build. But there isn't one to be found in this state. It seems to be as comphy has the Accord. But there engine isn't close to the R-18 and yes it has a ubber cheap feel to the dash and controls like all Datsun... lololol products.

Mazda's 3 is a great car if you want it. With interior feel of Datsun. The base 2L 5mt is a crate. Real buzzy and not fun to drive at all.

The current Corolla is a joke. One of the most annoying cars Ive ever driven. And Yaris in a trim worth owning isn't worth the money. Not to mention the lack luster mpg offered up buy its small engine.

So I guess I'm waiting to see what the new Accord turns out to be. I hope and pray it doesn't take Honda three years to work the bugs out of it. Like it did the last Gen. Honda has to come out of the corner with Accord RIGHT and in fighting trim. Or Yota is just going to run off and leave Honda to fight it out with GM and Ford.

I just cant seem to get what the GM said to me at a local Yota dealer down the street from a Honda dealer out of my head. I wanted to get cross with him about the trade in of 0k I was offered on my Civic. His point was two fold. They had 6ea 8th gen Civics on the back lot that had been traded in and he didn't want anymore on his lot. Those where going to Dallas to auction. He was very proud of the fact that he knows they sell as many cars as the Honda dealer down the street, if not more. And also knows his major / warranty service area isn't near as busy has Honda's down the street. And that his quick service area is more busy than Honda's. Mad about this conversation. I checked it out. This week I took the 2 mile detour on my way to work and home to check this out. Sure enough the major service lanes at the Honda lot are full with late model cars and folks clamering to get the attention of a service writer. And the Yota folks where drinking coffee, shaking hands with what few customers they had and big smiles on there faces. My grounds for a better trade in where lost. The GM was right! He has no need to do trade in or pricing battle with me.

I would like to apologize to anybody I may have offend. Ive made some pretty off the cuff Honda fan boy remarks in the past. I guess it hurts cause I really wanted to be one. Imagine wanting to be a fan boy at 45 years of age. Go figure. I think this is the best Civic only board on the net. With a good cross section of Civic owners pro or con on the net. Owners of other cars and of all ages.

Well the wife just handed me the check to keep the tag current on the Civic. So I guess I better scoot down to the tag agent and reup its tag and keep it legal.

be good or bad at it....

psy

[sbigshot]

+1 for the longest post I have ever seen on this site!! Good info