I've had it!!

[xmx250]

The interior of the Si is straight pissing me off. Its to CHEAP, yup thats right it is straight up LOW QUALITY end of story. I've never come across an interior so damn delicate. The Si seats are wrinkling, the fabric on the side bolsters is not nice and tight anymore its getting loose and overall its fading and wearing alot at 3000 miles.


The plastic is disgusting! today my nike air jordan sneakers ever so slightly grazed the side of plastic and bam! a big white scuff mark. After it hit i licked my thumb and gave the scuff a rub and guees what.........my thumb left a dull white scuff above the original scuff .How is this possible! how could Honda possibily put that junk in the car.The least they could have done is give tougher plastic down by the lower part of the doors. I swear every time a family member moves my car i am basically Guaranteed a new scuff mark. Everytime a passenger gets in and out i cringe and listen for their foot to hit the door.

Whenever i have the time i'm gonna call Honda and complain, just to add to the list cause i know i cant be the only pissed about the quality of the interior. Maybe my car has a bad batch of plastic? compared to some others?

I know everyone is gonna say to be careful when entering and exiting the car. I am. However from to time your foot does sligthly graze the plastic. All it takes is a slight graze to scuff it, not even a real kick to the door.

I've got to find something to cover the lower door panel, right in the area that feet tend to hit. I was imagining something like the clear bra that goes on the hood. Maybe if i can get a square foot if it i can cut out an oval and apply it to the mostly commonly hit part of the doors. Either that or after another two years i'm gonna have to replace the door panel. These scuffs actually bother me as much as scratches in the paint, only thing these cant be buffed out.........

Anyway i'm just venting right now

[Special Ringpop]

Could not agree more.

Honda really disappointed me, and as a result, I'm questioning whether I'll be buying another one for my next vehicle if this is the "Honda quality" everyone speaks about.

My 2000 Grand Am GT's interior could take more of a beating.

[Si 07]

if there was only a way to address the scuff marks as "manufacturer defect" and be noted in a TSB (technical service bulletin). i most likely would not be able to express my joy with a passion, in a few words.

[Special Ringpop]

In addition to that, the paint would be even more of a joy.

[Tastycakes]

I know what you mean about the sides of the seats, i'v got 1k miles i can kinda see it (seen it bad in one of ringpops threads) I'm kinda a big guy, 240 lbs and i try not to rub against it but i look like a retard gettin out tryin not to rub the seat.

[subee13]

What about the clear stick on plastic that detailers and body shops use? I bet that would protect our plastic and not look uber ghetto. I am going to try to get some. My .02 but it will kick ass.

[xmx250]

I gotta do something about this plastic, its nuts. My thumb rubbing while moist left a dull scuff...

Anyway i highly doubt they'll do jack about the fabric but i'd be extrmely happy if i could get my doors replaced, or at least some clear stuff applied to them. I cannot imagine what my interior is gonna look like after 50,000 miles...............

as ringpop always says "it will scratch if you look at it the wrong way"

[xlur8ed]

If you are very careful and know what you are doing, a heat gun can take out most of the light scuffs. I work for a tint shop, and there are some cases when we have scuffed a door panel of a car or a deck tray, and 99% of the time you can use a heat gun and get the scuffs to disappear. HOWEVER, if you have the heat gun too hot, or too close for too long, you will melt the plastic, in-turn making it look 10 times worse.

Best advice:

1) start with lowest heat setting (you may need to go to a med or high setting, but don't start on one of those settings)
2) start with a good distance away from the scuffs/heat gun...slowly wave back and forth and move closer until you see the scuff basically disappear.
3) PATIENCE!!!!!!!!! If you rush this with using a higher heat, or too close of distance, YOU WILL REGRET IT!

P.S. - Blow dryers typically don't get hot enough

[xmx250]

thanks for the tip, i might try this in a hidden area.


i toyed with the idea of replacing the door panels but it looks like its close to 200 per side............

[strCIVIC]

they are junk they are mostly built in NORTH AMERICA... if were made in Japan..garauntee the quality would be so much better... same here... my seats are fading and i have about 5,000k on mine.. but the car runs really smooth though...

[Razor4ever]

RED Recaro's/Bride FTW. Anyway, as long as the engin runs decent and there's no mechanical/electrical problems, the car is ok.

[Special Ringpop]

Yes, many people resent me for being so negative towards the quality of the Civic, and being too nitpicky. True, I will give you that I am highly OCD about my car (I have been for all my vehicles).

But in my defense, I bought this car in July. Within two weeks, there were heavy wear marks on the carpet mats where my heel and foot rest. In four years of having my old car, which was used, at that, I never once had that problem. That may be great Geo quality, but I thought this was a Honda. Look how much those replacement mats are. For those prices, the carpets should be stain repellent and self-cleaning, but yet they wear within two weeks.

Some of you may say "You're too hard on the car". You're wrong. I drive the car like a grandma (usually). I am not a large guy, my torso fits flawlessly between the sides of the seat, yet I have a good amount of wear on them.

My seats on all my older cars were several years old and had no wear marks, and they were all American.

My seats on my brand new HONDA are just over seven MONTHS old and they already look five years old.

Some people may have problems with their seats or carpets wearing. You're very lucky. I've been pretty lucky as I am really careful with the plastics in my car, so I don't have any noticeable scratches yet (except for a few stupid dealership marks by the keyhole), but its probably a matter of time.

The simple fact of the matter is you shuoldn't have to be doing these "fix-its" solutions for this, as it shouldn't be happening period. Your plastic shouldn't be scratching heavily and your seats most CERTAINLY should not be wearing.

All these reviews of our car say its a ridiculously solidly build car. I'd have to agree, but upon owning the vehicle for more than a week for a test drive, you'd quickly find out that the paint may as well be Crayola'ed on (even with regular waxing and care, I give the shelf life of our paint 5-7 years, tops, providing you have minimal rock chips that lead to rusting). I don't want to think about what the interior is going to look like in 5-7 years.

Yes, I love this forum. Yes, I love my Civic, but I have to ask, and this is not a rhetorical question: is this really the legendary Honda qualtiy that I sacrificed my American car roots for? My Intrepid, Firebird, and Grand Freaking Am had more solid seats, paint, and material quality than my Civic. Is it just the Civic?

Has any dealership admit that the new Civics have shitty quality to a customer that has purchased one?

I'm just a bit irritated is all. I love my Si and its power, but I wonder if the Scion or the Cobalt (sans the icky interior, albeit higher quality, I think) would have been a better choice...

[Special Ringpop]

Originally Posted by strCIVIC

they are junk they are mostly built in NORTH AMERICA... if were made in Japan..garauntee the quality would be so much better... same here... my seats are fading and i have about 5,000k on mine.. but the car runs really smooth though...

I disagree with your first statement. My Grand Am, Firebird, and Intrepid were all either built in America or Canada (as are the Civics) and all three of them had MUCH more solid materials on their interior, and infinately stronger paint.

The interior may not have looked nearly as nice in them, or assembled nearly as "tightly" but I never worried about scratching plastic. That was a foreign concept before I came to Honda. In fact, I was hoping to have to "maintain" my interior a little less with the Honda.

How wrong I was.

[xmx250]

Ringpop, i am on the exact same page as you. My dad has owned nothing but American. His ford van witch has 40,000 miles has less scuffs down by the doors than my civic with 3000 miles. He wears boots in and out basically every day of the week. His seats also look perfectly fine, they are gray so i give them that advantage.

Honda has taken a turn for the worse with the interior quality of the 8thgens. Ive had older hondas in my family 90s models and none of this happened. Its BS. Im thorougly angry with the interior of my car. Its wearing so fast and im doing my best to keep it new.

BTW i still absolutely LOVE the way my car looks and drives. But the interior quality is straight up garbage.

Sometimes i say i'll trade my car in after two years just out of anger.. I dont know how this interior is gonna look after 40,000 miles on it. It hurts me to say it,. It probably wont happen cause i dont have money to throw away like that....... Maybe i should have bought a V dub with an extended warranty, LOL. their interiors are solid and QUALITY. The extended warranty would take care of any potential drivetrain problems, lol.

[Special Ringpop]

The problem is, I don't know what other cars in this price range have stronger interior materials.

I hear people complaining about the "chinsy-ness" of the Scion tC over at Scion board's all the time.

Even though the Cobalt's interior looks awful, when I test drove it, the quality was there. The Civic's interior looks and feels like quality, but after having owned it, it's showing otherwise.

I really hope people don't think I'm nitpicking, because I'm not. You should be happy if your Civic isnt' doing this, but I refuse to believe it's just a "cheap batch of plastics" because it's common on way too man cars.

Honda may have lost a customer in me depending on how the car looks in a year.

EDIT: I'm not dissing the Civic. I love my car. I have to keep saying that as a disclaimer so people don't think I'm flaming the Civic. I just want potential owners to keep this in mind before they buy it.

[bluetroll]

OMG... you know u bought an ECONOMY car right?

[xmx250]

When i test drove the VDub i clearly gave the interior a good check out. Its way better built, its what they are known for anyway..............

Right now i'm like a father ragging on his son. I just expected better out of Honda from the interior. I love the looks of the interior, i love the feel , and functionality. But the materials are very, very cheap.

Its just hard to spend 21,000 dollars and see the interior look so crappy so soon. Hopefully the fabrics and other misc. materials hit a platuoe. Maybe when they get to a certain wear pint they will just stop there instead of getting worse... Maybe like a leather jacket or something.

[xmx250]

Originally Posted by bluetroll

OMG... you know u bought an ECONOMY car right?

I hate that statement. Just because its an econmoy car doesnt mean the interior should be cheap. We lose out on cool features and leather because its an econmoy car. I've ridden in 90's civics and the intoerior is farrrrrrr better than the 8th gens.

[bluetroll]

sorry, if you ever been in a 7th gen civic... then you'd know bad quality.

[BubzSI]

^^ yup 8th>7th when it comes to interior..


I hate Leather..it cracks. just keep your interior clean..use swiffer wipes on the dash..buy some all weather floor mats and vaccumm it every weekend. shit give ur car some TLC bro.