Soft rear end on my Civic. You too?

[Canucker]

Hey guys. I have an 06 Civic EX, have been disappointed with the rear suspension. With 2 kids in the back seat and as little as a single suitcase in the trunk, it regularly bottoms out the rear suspension when going over sharp dips in the road when at less than the speed limit. In the last month, I have had to rent a couple cars, one a new Altima and the other an Elantra. Both went over the same bumps with no rear end bouncing or bottoming out. The dips I am talking about are on the way to my house and I have to drive over them every day. I have to slow down well below the speed limit and no one else has to. It is kindof annoying.

I also get flashed the brights regularly when I have any weight in the trunk because the rear is sagging. I am not talking about trunk stuffed to the top, but just a couple of suitcases and 2 small kids in the backseat.

Has anyone else had this problem, has Honda done anything about it, will they install stiffer or just new springs on warranty, or is it just up to me to get some stiffer aftermarket springs because of the way-too-soft factory ones? And if so, what would you recommend and what would they cost?

And I don't want to lower it either. This is our main year round family vehicle and we have lotsa snow around here.

[chylld]

i agree, have similar problems with mine. whenever i take my family out for shopping/dinner, the rear of the car always grounds as i leave the driveway... never had that problem with any other car.

i'm thinking the hfp suspension kit will help the problem a little, but it also lowers the car which i don't want. at some point i'll consult with an aftermarket suspension company to see how i can increase the stiffness without compromising nvh too much :)

[targettuning]

I also own an 06 Civic EX sedan and at only 4K miles found the rear shocks needed replaced. The right side was dry (fluid leaked out) and the left side was on its way (leaking). This is apparently not uncommon on at least 2006 Civics. You too may have bad/leaking rear shocks.

[06blaksi]

Damn....must only be non-si models. I've never heard of this. I'm lowered and have had 6 people in the car and no bottoming out

[Cybergypsy]

Ex here and no issues

[Canucker]

Originally Posted by targettuning

I also own an 06 Civic EX sedan and at only 4K miles found the rear shocks needed replaced. The right side was dry (fluid leaked out) and the left side was on its way (leaking). This is apparently not uncommon on at least 2006 Civics. You too may have bad/leaking rear shocks.

I guess I could check that. Thanks for the info. I'll have a look and see if anything is visible. Either way, I'm going to have Honda look at it. I just wanted to see if this was a common thing so that I could mention it to them.

I was just going to ignore it, but after I drove a rented Elantra last week(Civic was in the body shop after getting rear ended), it was really smooth going over the same bumps, even with the trunk fully loaded with stuff.

[Canucker]

Well, suprise suprise. I took it in and they said there was nothing wrong with it. I talked to my salesman when I was there, told him why I was there and the service guy came up to us and said there is no problem. My salesman called me at home half an hour later and said to come back, we will go for a drive with a brand new one and see if it has the same problem on the same road by my house. I suspect it will. I'll go buy a couple bags of salt and throw them in the back to show him what I mean. Just a really weak rear suspension on these things, I guess. Only aftermarket parts will fix it, if there is anything available. Or just live with it, I guess. Hard to live with the fact that a crappy Elantra has a better suspension than my civic though.


I guess they just weren't meant to have anything in the trunk. Or even a couple adults in the back seat.

[targettuning]

Maybe you should reconsider your "crappy Elantra" statement if it has a better suspension than your Civic. Maybe it should be...crappy Civic? You seem fairly upset the Civic bottoms out with passengers/luggage/both in the car as well you should be. You should NOT be forced to spend extra $$$$ on an aftermarket suspension after shelling out $20K for a "small" fuel efficient car when apparently the Elantra is better at this "daily use" issue (and better equipped too) for thousands less. Why defend the Civic or at the very least why call the Hyundai crappy? So again which car is crappy??
I can hear it now... the balls of this guy, on a Honda site yet!

[audiophile]

Originally Posted by targettuning

Maybe you should reconsider your "crappy Elantra" statement if it has a better suspension than your Civic. Maybe it should be...crappy Civic? You seem fairly upset the Civic bottoms out with passengers/luggage/both in the car as well you should be. You should NOT be forced to spend extra $$$$ on an aftermarket suspension after shelling out $20K for a "small" fuel efficient car when apparently the Elantra is better at this "daily use" issue (and better equipped too) for thousands less. Why defend the Civic or at the very least why call the Hyundai crappy? So again which car is crappy??
I can hear it now... the balls of this guy, on a Honda site too yet!

hyundai elantra = crappy

[Canucker]

Originally Posted by targettuning

Maybe you should reconsider your "crappy Elantra" statement if it has a better suspension than your Civic. Maybe it should be...crappy Civic? You seem fairly upset the Civic bottoms out with passengers/luggage/both in the car as well you should be. You should NOT be forced to spend extra $$$$ on an aftermarket suspension after shelling out $20K for a "small" fuel efficient car when apparently the Elantra is better at this "daily use" issue (and better equipped too) for thousands less. Why defend the Civic or at the very least why call the Hyundai crappy? So again which car is crappy??
I can hear it now... the balls of this guy, on a Honda site too yet!

I could have maybe used "cheaper" instead of crappy, I guess. I just priced out an equally optioned Elantra on their website, it was a full $5,000 less than what I paid for my Civic. That is part of what bothers me the most, the lesser quality(IMO) car handles bumps or dips with a moderate load better than the Civic. No, I don't think it should have a better suspension than mine. Does it? Yeah, it looks like it. I don't want have to fork out my money to "upgrade" the Civic to where it should be to start with. I shouldn't have to upgrade my car to make it as good as a Elantra that costs $5G less. I'm not trying to tune my suspension for racing, just want to be able to carry a couple suitcases. Shouldn't be too much to ask.

[targettuning]

Originally Posted by audiophile

hyundai elantra = crappy

That is a matter of opinion..I have no glowing impression of my 2006 Civic being superior to any of the Hyundai products in our family. We own two. A knee jerk reaction if I ever saw one...ha ha ha.

[Canucker]

Well, I went back to Honda and went for a drive with a new Civic and 3 bags of softener salt in the trunk. My salesman came with me and we went over the same bumps by my house that bottom out my car at 50kph. I went 68 and it was smooth.

Went back to the dealer and he told the service manager to order new struts for me. Great salesman. He'll be getting my business again.

[audiophile]

Originally Posted by targettuning

That is a matter of opinion..I have no glowing impression of my 2006 Civic being superior to any of the Hyundai products in our family. We own two. A knee jerk reaction if I ever saw one...ha ha ha.

Yea, it was meant as a joke mainly. A friend of mine has one and she's had a LOT of problems with it.

[benmunger]

My rear end got soft when I got married!!!

[chylld]

Originally Posted by Canucker

Well, I went back to Honda and went for a drive with a new Civic and 3 bags of softener salt in the trunk. My salesman came with me and we went over the same bumps by my house that bottom out my car at 50kph. I went 68 and it was smooth.

Went back to the dealer and he told the service manager to order new struts for me. Great salesman. He'll be getting my business again.

that's great news! i wonder if i'll be able to do the same for mine, although 1) i feel aftermarket suspension will still be a million times better, and 2) my service manager is still working through the 18-long list of problems with my car.

tbh, buying this honda has given me a similar feeling to getting ripped off at a get-rich-quick seminar (none of which i personally have gotten sucked into thankfully)

[Canucker]

Originally Posted by chylld

that's great news! i wonder if i'll be able to do the same for mine, although 1) i feel aftermarket suspension will still be a million times better, and 2) my service manager is still working through the 18-long list of problems with my car.

tbh, buying this honda has given me a similar feeling to getting ripped off at a get-rich-quick seminar (none of which i personally have gotten sucked into thankfully)

Both the salesman and service manager said, Lets just order him new struts, it's on warranty, it isn't like it's costing us anything.

Some dealers act as if it's their own money. I got lucky and have a really good salesman. Maybe talk to your salesman if the service guys are giving you the run around. My salesman went the extra mile and earned a repeat customer, that is if I decide to buy a Honda again.

And yeah, an aftermarket suspension would be better, but I don't want to lower mine, and most are for that. And I told them I shouldn't have to pay out of my pocket to make my car as good as an Elantra. That made them smile.

[Relentless00]

I have an Si and pretty much have to TRY to scrape to do so... my springs are great

[chylld]

Originally Posted by Canucker

Both the salesman and service manager said, Lets just order him new struts, it's on warranty, it isn't like it's costing us anything.

Some dealers act as if it's their own money. I got lucky and have a really good salesman. Maybe talk to your salesman if the service guys are giving you the run around. My salesman went the extra mile and earned a repeat customer, that is if I decide to buy a Honda again.

And yeah, an aftermarket suspension would be better, but I don't want to lower mine, and most are for that. And I told them I shouldn't have to pay out of my pocket to make my car as good as an Elantra. That made them smile.

what you say about different dealers acting differently is very true. thankfully i seem to have found a good one with a very understanding service manager, and i'm working with him directly so things are looking up.

nice line with the elantra... i used a similar hyundai line when i last talked with my service manager: "my previous car was a hyundai getz. in 18 months of ownership it had 1 problem. going from a hyundai to a honda, i expected that to go from 1 to 0, not from 1 to 18."

i don't particularly want to lower my car either, so when i go shopping around i'll try to find the one with the least drop.

[targettuning]

The rear suspension of any 2006-2007 Civic sedan (don't know about coupes) utilizes shocks rather than struts but I know what you mean. Looks like you may have had those "bad" shocks after all unless they are also replacing the original springs too. Good luck in correcting your problem.