Can anyone tell me how the honda civic performs? I know it gets a lotta gass milage but I want to know if the car is flimsy or not such as, does it need frequent maintience? does it break down easy? Can any owner please tell me an uncolored version of their driving, owning, and fixing experiences please? I'm thinking of buying one. ehehe I meant the insight sorry about that.

First, you posted in the insite forum so I moved it to the civic forum.

Here is my answer. I have an 03 civic CVT that I have owned for about 2 1/2 years now. I have never in my recollection brought it in for anything other than regular maintenance. The car holds up very well. I'm at about 35K miles.

The longest trip I took with it was round trip from chicago to MA and it had no problems.

Seems to be very reliable.

My hydroponics experiment

You ever notice how hard it is to lip read cartoon characters?
"Crazy is what the sane call Delta Flyer"

Well, it's basically just a Honda Civic, so the 'flimsy' aspect and the reliability of the car in general should be pretty much the same.

The two significant differences are

(1) the IMA, which is the electric motor assist, and
(2) the CVT, if you get an automatic, where CVT is "continuously variable transmission".

I have almost 10,000 on my HCH with no problems. I have never heard of a problem with either the battery or the IMA. I *have* heard of some problems with the CVT, but I have no direct experience, as mine has been fine.

Hi Newguy, here's my two cents worth. I have two Civic hybrids, an 04 CVT we bought last September and an 05 CVT we got three weeks ago. The 04 has 10K miles on it and averages 38 MPG, the 05 has 700 miles on it and averages 38 MPG. I just discovered this site and I am finding out tons of information about how to improve those averages but my last car was a Ford T-Bird with a 4.6L V-8 which got 17 MPG so I'm already as happy as a pig in warm mud! I just took the 04 in today for it's 10K service and there was nothing wrong at all. You can buy cheaper cars, and fancier cars but it's hard to find another car which has as good gas mielage and as low emissions, plus the part I like the best is the CVT tranny (smooooooooooooooooooooooth as silk!)

Hi; Newguy

I thought that I read earlier that you were interested in buying a Prius?

I take it that you have had a change of heart.

I can most likely answer your questions about the Honda Civic, Hybrid or Coupe or Sedan that I now own at present.

Lets see, reliabiilty= excellent

Driving all different models of it myself and I should say owning them. They are in my opinion, solid not flimsy as you ask, and I guess what you want to know, they do everything just the way one expects them to.

According to which engine choice you select will determine the power the vehicle will have. I don't think any of them short of the Civic SI is what you would say "Quick-Or-Fast" but they all will merge to interstate traffic and certainly run at any normal speed on the interstate.

Gas mileage is really good if you don't drive like a "Demon". See my mileage on insight forum under tigerhonaker

BTW, you have really not said which model of the civic so it's kinda hard to be real specific in my comments.

I have also owned the HCH (Honda-Civic-Hybrid) if your interested.

Current model is the Honda Civic EX SE (SE Special-Edition) sedan W/auto trans.

I have friends that have and have had civics with way over 100,000 miles and I have ridden in them and they were just like they had very low miles on them as far as noise level and drive-train noise or wind noise.

Well, if you can think about which model or more questions, I will do my best to be of help to you.

In any case which ever one you decide on I really don't think you will be disappointed as they are all extremely reliable and get great gas mileage.

If your not in a (Big-Rush) I would honestly suggest that you wait and see what "Honda" is up-dating on the "2006 Hybrid Civic" as I have read that there is going to be changes to it for 2006. If that is infact true it would be a great choice for you I think.

Terry

PS If your in a big hurry I would suggest that you take a strong look at the (Civic Coupe EX SE Or Civic EX SE Sedan) I think either one you would be happy with.

Mine is too new to gauge reliability. I've heard of CVT issues on some of the higher mileage Civics. Performance is like 0-60 in 11 seconds or so, which makes it medium slow. It ain't no Vette but it is 1,000,000 times better than my mom's old diesel Rabbit. Basically it drives like a normal car. It is very quiet and the IMA starts are soooo smooth and fast compaired to a regular 12V starter. I love mine as to most folks around here. Some are not getting the MPGs that they wanted to. Keep in mind that you will likely get around 45 mpg unless you drive with special care to improve mileage.

IMO the Prius might be a better choice if you want a CVT style transmission. It uses gears and motors to achieve the variable gear ratios. The Honda uses variable size pulleys and a special steel belt like the Justy had years back.