Last car died (transmission) and had to buy a car yesterday afternoon to get the kids to school this morning. Ended up with 2002 Honda Civic Coupe DX (thank you to Dave Ramsey for encouraing an emergency fund, bails us out on a yearly basis, really does turn catastrophes into annoyances).

A couple of things before I've really had a chance to dig into it:
Only has one key, can additional keys be programmed from the car or will I need to find someone with the right equipment to get it working?

I found several links to service manuals, but they are all years old and none of them still worked for me. Anyone have a working link to a service manual for the 7th generation Civics (or this particular one specifically)?

Trunk latch isn't holding well, rattles when driving, with a little bit of effort I can pull the trunk open. Any hope for adjusting this, or replace the latch? I'm fine with tying it down from the inside and ignoring it if this is an expensive fix

Gas cap cover doesn't latch. It stays closed and I can push the offside to pop it open, so low priority. How hard is it to replace the cable and get this working properly?

A couple drops of oil on the ground this morning, rear driver side. Any commons leaks over there? Any suggestions on where to start with for hunting this down?

 

Good luck with your new civic. I've had a few over the years and currently have a CRV as well, so that's to say I'm not a professional but do have some experience. The keys can be cut and then linked by yourself. Although I don't remember the exact procedure, it is a quick combination of button pushes and ignition turns. Google will be your friend there. Very easy. For the rear latch, most can have the bolts loosened slightly to reposition the hook either up or down to provide for a tighter close. Also a very quick job. Lastly, there isn't a whole lot of oil in the rear section of the car, so the strut would be the first place I'd check. Otherwise it could be coming from your brakes. For that reason it would be a good idea to watch your brake fluid level under the hood until it's been sorted.

 

I also agree that the fluid is likely brake fluid, definitely look more into that leak. If it’s in the wheel well you can easily find the leak and Honda even sells some small pre-bent brake lines for that area so installation is easy. If it’s leaking along the undercarriage you’ll probably have to make up a new brake line.