I was originally looking to purchase a 1999-2002 Accord, but found out through this forum and several others that those cars has massive issues with the automatic transmissions. Seeing as how the manual 4 cylinder version is hard to find in our area with low miles, we have decided to broaden our search and include Civics. I didn't realize that the passenger space difference was negligible between the 99-02 Accord and the 01-05 Civic.

Same question.....different car. What should we look for as we go looking at these cars? Are there any specific problems that come up with them? At this time, we are looking at both coupes and 4 doors (we have a teenage daughter that will soon be 6 feet tall and rides in the back seat LOL), trying to stick with a 4 cylinder manual, as this is the best gas mileage. Did Honda get their act together and fix the automatic transmission in this generation of Civic, or are they troublesome like the Accords? Any particular year better than another? We are looking to get a sunroof...are their any leaking issues? Do these Civics typically last like the Hondas you hear about that have 100,000+ miles? We heard about computer issues in the 2000 to current models.....have these cars displayed any inherent computer flaws?

Sorry for all of the questions...I just want to be informed when we go looking....

 

welcome to honda-tech.

The automatic civics from 2001-2005 were also crap, unfortunately, but the manuals seem to do just fine.

The civic is a good choice if you're looking for something that gets damn good gas mileage. It's a pretty slow car, but I can get 42 mpg on road trips in an automatic. I think the newer the better. I would personally go after an 04+. I think they look nicer lol. There really isn't all that much room for passengers in a civic, though. Fitting 4 adults gets a little cozy.

As far as problems go, I have heard of people having issues with head gaskets, although mine is still good after 95,000 miles. I have a sunroof and have never had an issue with it leaking, and I haven't really heard of any leaking roofs on here at least. Just normal wear and tear stuff on these cars for the most part.

Just make sure it was properly maintained, and you should be good to go. Do all the normal used car purchase checks you would do for any car.

Oh, and don't forget about the timing belt if the car has 90,000 miles or so

 

Wow, thanks for all of the information. Sorry to hear that the automatics suck in the Civics, too, but glad I found out before I bought one!

As far as speed....I'm not buying a Honda to go fast....that's what my other car (Mustang GT) is for LOL...

 

I own a 03 civic ex coupe manual trans
130K miles still no problems with timing belt..
i did have a tranny prob/or just clutch bearings at around 80K, cost me $800 p+l for a rebuilt tranny. Sun roof works great not leaks. car runs great, i get 30mpg average city+hwy. i use my car for work as a messenger svc...i got 160k on the stock engine n still running...
when i started as a messenger i switched to premium gas and synthetic oil (bc i put 4k mile/month)
Great car..wanna buy mines? haha i want to get the 8th gen civic si =]

 

I have 2 2001 civics im selling, here is a link to the pics. http://s276.photobucket.com/albums/kk1/exoauto/

 

From my experience and speaking with many other that have the same Gen car the general problems are.

1. Suspension - honda really fell flat on their suspension design from previous years, the front end from 01-03 is complete garbage(donno if the 04-05 is any better), expect to replace pretty well every suspension component in the front end every 75,000 km's (Canadian so i'm giving Km's)

2. Bearings - 2 of the most famous is the Throw out Bearing and the input shaft bearing in the tranny, both are known and almost expected to go bad.

thats the only 2 real bad problems i know of, theres a few minor more anoying stuff like the squeaky clutch pedal and exhaust rattle but other than those thats about it.

those 2 are the biggest pains i've gone through with mine.
your question about lasting past 100,000 km's, the answer is not a problem, i'm closing in on 120,000 km's (75,000) no engine problems to date. I have a friend of mine that works for a delivery company and has a 02 Civic sedan 5 spd with over 500,000 km's on it, thats 310,000 miles, and other than common maintenance he has never once had an issue, except his suspension has been replaced 6-7 times now.

 

Junior not to be a nag or anything, but your will never have a pre-issue with the timing belt, its not one of those things that you know, go bad gradually. It just either works or breaks and when it breaks lots more "stuff" breaks with it, lots more expensive stuff. Shiny metal parts, things that bend easily.

If you car hits 100k its time to change the belt, no second thoughts on this.

Lets say your driving on the freeway 80-90 mph and the belt breaks... any idea what happens to your motor ?

Don't fool yourself, the $200 -$300 service (depending on your area and what shop you are dealing with) is far more cheaper then the damage to your motor in the event the belt fails at speed.

Change that BELT !!!!!

 

as the belt stretches it has a tendency to slightly loose its timing, resulting in a tick in the engine, leave it for long enough it will get worse and you'll surely do damage, but your wrong when you said there no pre-issue, that tick is your warning sign.

but generally i have my belt changed every 100,000 km's (60,000 miles) in every car i've had

 

Umm OK, I am not sure what "Honda" planet you stepped off from, but its not this reality.

When a honda motor "ticks" its not the timing belt, its the valve lash, meaning the valves need to be adjusted, this happens typically every 60k to 80k and 20k after a rebuild. On a high mileage motor, if you are adjusting the valves you do it, then recheck in 20k and if its all good they typically will hold for another 40k to 60k miles on average.

Changing the timing belt on a honda at 60,000 miles is a total waste as the spec is almost twice as long 120,000 miles average, changing at 90,000 or 100,000 is just a safety margin to avoid damage.

Since the belt is toothed and rides on both the crank gear and cam gear held on by tension there is no streching and "slightly" lose timing. The cam gear mechanically "times" the top end. In the event the crank timing and cam timing are not in sync due to say the odd ball event where the belt jumps a tooth, impending mechanical disaster is sure to follow as this means typically the top end is mechanically advanced or retarded a degree or two, and may happen when there is exessive wear in the notches on the belt or a tear in the side of the belt.

Over-rev that motor and you are sure to have problems.

Regardless there is no tale tell signs of a wearing belt other than visual inspection of the belt itself. Or the rare mechanical timing jump, which is usually caused by an adjustable cam gear getting loose vs the belt jumping.

On a side note on a i-Vtec motor such as the newer K- series which I believe have an electronically controlled timing gear a bad belt, stretching as you said and losing time slightly would be totally disasterous, lol.

 

Guess I might as well jump in on this thread.

Dude. Change that ****. Your engine's going to chew itself up and you'll be looking at an entire new engine. You'll bend all the valves and possibly dent the pistons if you're revving high enough. It's an interference motor, you don't **** around with the timing belt.

As a rule, no. There aren't many major issues. The transmissions are no more faulty than any other car. If you ask enough questions, you'll always find someone that's had an issue, but on the whole it's a solid car.


The only difference is some minor body styling changes from 03 to 04. The 01-03s have one type of front end, and the 04-05s have another. Also, the 01-02s have a different style of instrument panel from the 03-05s.

I have a sunroof on my 01, and I've never had any leaking issues. Also, there aren't any major computer issues. Sometimes the 01's idle falters at rest, but it never stalls or anything. At most it's annoying, nothing to worry about, mine's always done it and I don't think it's worth the $200 or so a dealer would charge to fix it since it's not affecting the operation of the car.

Like I said, people will always tell you what's wrong with a car. 01 Civics had a reputation for having terrible transmissions and shocks, and my 01 has over 110K on the original suspension and transmission without any issues whatsoever. As a rule, Civics are great cars.

Not trying to nit-pick, but K-series' have timing chains. If that bad boy's stretching, well, you've got bigger problems to worry about.

 

car is built for one general purpose, efficiency, interms of life, maintenance, cost, fuel, can go wrong! even with may car built for track and DD, still holds the same purpose and no problems at all. only thing is i'm partin my car out and moving on, but Welcome!

 

The OP has purchased the car already. https://honda-tech.com/forums/honda-civic-2001-2005-78/new-used-car-key-wont-unlock-lock-doors-help-2472444/

 

Yep, thanks for all of the information on here. We ended up getting a really good deal on an 03 Civic LX coupe with only 37,700 miles on it. Thanks again!

 

Yeah, just noticed that. Didn't realize that when I posted that long deal. Oh well.

Enjoy the car.

 

that car should last you guys years and years.

Welcome (officially, lol) to Honda-tech.

One piece of advice from me is, if you're going to do work on the car yourself, buy a Helm's repair manual for it. You can get them from helminc.com and it's the same shop manual they use at the Honda dealerships to fix cars. Best repair manual for a civic BY FAR.

I've also found that around here, at least, the dealerships DO NOT do all of the steps / replace all the parts that the manual says you should when you do certain jobs. Either follow the Helm's yourself, or make sure that whoever you take it to will do the job right.

 

No worries and good to know, I never got the chance to work on a K series motor since I was out of the scene before they were even released, lol. But thanks I was not aware the K uses a chain vs belt. Is it true though i-Vtec does have an electrically controlled cam gear ? I thought I read that somewhere briefly the intake system similar to the ii-tec whatever toyota calls it ?

 

I believe so, yes.

 

Thanks! I'm sure we'll be back posting from time to time, as we're new to Hondas...

 

Im planning to buy a 2002 Honca Civic EX with 145k miles on it.
i was wondering how reliable it will be? is it advisable? i know that Honda can go over 200k if properly taken care of..

i want your opinion. feel free to comment. Thank you

 

From a dealership or a private seller? And do they have have receipts from anything they got done to it? Personally I don't like buying cars with that many miles on it, but Hondas do last. I check to make sure it was well kept, and maybe a carfax. But that's me.

Regards,