I own a 1991 Civic Hatchback 2 door. It has a wild tiel metallic color that I've really come to almost love. Otherwise, it's strengths are reliability, fuel economy, longevity, handling and sportiness (a poor man's sports car!).

Almost flawlessly reliable. This car has never left me stranded on the highway. It always starts, even at 30 below. I've driven it in a foot of snow, and through two feet of water during a flood.

Fuel economy is a given with Civics. I get 40mpg on the highway.

As for longevity, the Civic has 167K and counting. I'm giving it to my sister because the body has taken such a beating (one hail storm, one deer that didn't look before crossing the street, one tow truck that I hit in an ice storm, and one dent from a "hit and run" driver).

I used to own a Datsun 280Z. While I wouldn't say that the handling of the Civic is comparable, I would say that the hatchback has very sporty handling and suspension.

On that subject of sportiness, I really came to feel like the Civic was a small sports car, albeit of the poor man's variety. I like the bucket seats, five speed shift, sporty handling and great visibility.

I got a model without air conditioning, and that was my biggest complaint. Needed a valve job at 80K. Fortunately, when I bought the car at 70K, I got the extended warranty. The windows fog badly in extreme cold. Very fragile. Even the smallest collisions left major and costly body damage. Weak CV boots. I replaced mine three times in five years (during which time I put 100K on the car).

I am giving my 91 Hatchback to my sister, and am just glad to be keeping this jewel in the family. I'd like to visit it from time to time. I have purchased a Mazda 626. After all these years with the Civic, I was attracted by the comfort and luxury features on the 626. The Hondas offer great reliability and fuel economy for a steep price. The Mazda has a lot more bells and whistles, and that's something I've been missing. But I think I'll get another Civic someday.

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Mazda 323, Toyota Corolla, Volkswagon Beetle and Super Beetle. All are very dependable like the Civic. The 323 manual transmission has a very tight feel which detracts from the sporty feel. The Corolla also lacks a sporty feel. The Bugs both had a sporty feel, but no heat.

Superior city car; peppy below 40 mph, handles well, easy to park, good mileage, fair rear leg room and suprisingly refined for the price - 5 spd recommended if you don't expect to be in heavy traffic on a regular basis.
Incredible storage capacity with the hatch. Low rpm's on hwy, just under 2500 at 60mph in 5th.

Not a highway car; Serious wind noise at 50 mph+, seats are not long drive friendly, provide zero lateral support during cornering, and don't go back far enough (I'm 6'1). No real hwy passing power (especially with A/C). Car really gets tossed around by highway cross winds - I drove it from Canada to the Florida Keys - passing those big rigs can be scary!
Honda engines sound like diesals in cold weather during intial warm up, but dealer assures me this is normal.

Recommend b/c: Everything you really need for 11 grand, minimal depreciation, high reliability, low operating costs and fun to drive! Unfortunately this car is bad for long hwy drives, lacks passing power and high speed stability.

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89 Toyota Supra turbo - the civic is every bit as good as the supra in the city - better in many respects

- reliable
- low fuel consumption
- rather quick (much quicker than 105 hp would lead you to beleive)
- quiet
- quit roomy (lots of space bearing in mind size of the car)

- expensive servicing (repair, parts)
- very fragile (had an accident mine was destroyed, while the old Volkswagen only had a scratch)
- depreciates fast
- driver's side windows move around(leads to leaking)

working horse - keeps running around like new at little cost - very good value for money, buy it but whatever you do don't get into any accidents - it will cost you a fortune.

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opel astra (94), not as fast, much noisier and harder to drive.

Nice Looks, good gas milage (confirmed at first tank 31mpg city), typical honda feel, nice interiors with quality controls, quiet, almost as much room as an Altima but better millage, Honda reliablilty, great handling, tons of rear leg room( great for kids), crack free dash and rear ledge (hard plastic with textured feel.

Price, alittle more than others in the class, no cd standard, had to pay for mats, dealers not willing to deal, expensive repairs/maint.( when needed), average warranty, if their products are so good, why not back them as such and not rely on reputation. It would make the customers feel more confident about buying a more expensive car.

* Poor rear visibility when backing. Headrests and high inside tray make it difficult to back up even for the experienced.

Bad experiences with dealer, financing ( have good credit but changed the rate 3 days later) dented roof when the optional CD was being installed.

Recommend for anyone who is fuel and environment concious. Good quality feel and reliablity make it a car you could keep for a long time. I have owned many Hondas and love the cars. When i bought the altima the accord was dated and I wanted something faster. Honda is a great car for the family and students.

For those who wish to add assesories, check the web. They are cheaper and are simple to install (most). Try Honda-Accessories.com, good service and supply install instructions to make the car "yours". The dealers charge full price for the parts and then have the nerve to charge $70+/hr for labor.

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85 CRX, 88 Prelude, 93 Altima SE, 93 Escort LX (Civic replaces). Altima still favorite because of power, cost and ride, but for the normal car (now have 3 kids) it's great value. Looked at the sentra (rough ride and tranny did'nt respond quick) protoge (dealer never open and as pricy as honda), focus (cheap quality)

Beautiful, Fun, chick magnet, FAST!

Its was crippled last week, due to a mild engine explosion, resulting in immediate towing to the shop, where it rests until feb, when the replacement motor comes from Japan by boat.
Beware of the Crank & Bearings... Sheesh...$1500 engine....

This was my first car that I bought. If it wasn't such a pain in the ass, i'd recommend it. I would not buy a used car again. "Red Raven" as I have called it, broke down 2 days later after purchase, WHILE I WAS OUT ON A DATE! Embarassing...Now I have a 2000 pound Paperweight until February.
What a waste of a good 6 grand...

Should've bought an Insight...

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1991 and 1988 Honda Civic 4door DX's
Very similar, besides interior components, the car is the same.

Great Looks (mine is black), Great Handling, Exellent Gas Mileage, feels like your driving a big expensive car, great interior layout, big trunk, VTEC engine (one of the best engines in the world today.)

None except for the CD player, it is very weak. The power moon roof buttons are not lit up at night.

I would definately recommend this car. I bought it last year when the 2000's first came out. I have had aboslutely no problems at all. I love this car. Mine is the 2 door coupe EX automatic and is black with gold emblems, Honda's 5 spoke slotted rims, and rear spoiler. Everytime I park this car and get out I get compliments like crazy about how good this car looks. This is no exaggeration. This car is a head turner! Its a beautiful car for the size and money. I would highly reccomend this car to anyone who is looking for something very reliable, good looking, practicle, and fun to drive. This car is great for college kids and for a second family car.

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It dosent compare to any other small car out there.

Great Looks (mine is black), Great Handling, Exellent Gas Mileage, feels like your driving a big expensive car, great interior layout, big trunk, VTEC engine (one of the best engines in the world today.)

None except for the CD player, it is just not powerful enough. The power moon roof buttons are not lit up at night.

I would definately recommend this car. I bought it last year when the 2000's first came out. I have had aboslutely no problems at all. I love this car. Mine is the 2 door coupe EX automatic and is black with gold emblems, Honda's 5 spoke slotted rims, and rear spoiler. Everytime I park this car and get out I get compliments like crazy about how good this car looks. This is no exaggeration. This car is a head turner! Its a beautiful car for the size and money. I would highly reccomend this car to anyone who is looking for something very reliable, good looking, practicle, and fun to drive.

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It dosent compare to any other small car out there.

Excellent value, lots of bang for the buck, superb handling, roomy (or at least roomier than it's competition), terrific fit and finish

Short front end takes some getting used to. I have less than 1600 kms (1000 miles) and the 5 speed transmission has failed. Honda says it's a fluke and I have the only 2001 Si in Canada with transmission problems. Instead of tearing the tranny down to fix it, Honda will replace the entire unit with a new one from the factory. I traded my 92 Toyota Camry for the 2001 Honda (my wife still drives our 98 Camry) and I'm a wee bit disappointed with the Civic. However, everything I have read concerning the 5 speed tranny in the Civic Si indicates it is one of the best shifting manuals on any car at any price. I guess I'll have to trust Honda Canada that my faulty tranny is indeed a fluke. Therefore it would be premature for me to judge this car based upon my experience with it to date (I simply don't have enough time behind the wheel with it yet). The VTEC engine is a thing of beauty, but I sure get nervous twisting this thing to 7000 rpm (I'm past the break-in period now). Apparently the high rpm's won't bother the VTEC engine a bit (I guess we'll see about that in the future).

I would definitely recommend this car (despite the tranny problems - which I believe is an aberation). Honda's reputation precedes itself (as is true with the Toyota) and I have no reason to doubt that I will have many years of trouble-free driving with this vehicle. The VTEC engine will take some getting used to and the same can be said for the short overhang on the front end (the engine bay is so small - I believe Honda engineers are playing a cruel joke on the technicians at the dealership). I did a lot of research when shopping for a compact sports coupe. The domestics (Cavalier/Sunbird, Focus, Neon) did not stand a chance with their poor fit and finish and even worse resale value. As a loyal Toyota owner, my first choice was the Celica; however I have two teenage daughters that would not have been very happy in the back seat of this thing (the performance and styling were very appealing though). Other choices such as the Nissan Sentra, Subaru Impreza, and Mazda Protege simply can't match the overall quality, and value the Civic Si had to offer. Besides, I was looking for a "functional" 2 door/5 speed sport coupe - the other foreign models were each nice in their own way, but if you're in the market for an affordable, useable, sport coupe, the Honda Civic Si (EX in the USA) is definitely the best value for your dollar.

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It's hard to compare the Si with anything else I've owned. The best performance car I owned prior to this was a 91 T-bird Supercoupe (225 hp - incredible torque/incredibly hard on gas!!). I've been spoiled with my Toyota Camry's for so many years, the jury is still out on the Honda.

Protects occupants in an accident (look at the crash test results) Great gas mileage. Looks great. It has a HUGE truck. For such I small car I thought my snow skies would not fit, but they do thank to the 40/60 split back sit that folds down.

Mastercyclinder went out 200 mile over warranty but Honda was great and still fixed it, and then gave me another 10,000 mile warranty on it. Poor stock tires lowered car after stock tires went bad in 4 months put low profile tire on and those lasted long

I was recently in a serious accident with my civic. The whole front end is gone but I am still here. I was told if I was in a different vehicle I probably would have died. I am buying a new 2001 civic because I was so impressed on how the car held up. Look at the civics crash test results. I highly recomend the civic based on the fact that I am still here. I am not kidding the whole front end dropped to the ground so that it would not come close to the dash board and smash the people in it. Also it has great gas mileage as long as you do the maintance on it, and even if you dont It still not bad.

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Eclipse fast car nice looking, but to expensive for me.

I love this 1989 Civic Si! Everything about it is basically new. This is the Si model with a higher engine output than a DX or CX. Engine is a 1.6 litre 16V pushing 108 hp. I love the factory power moonroof. Strong engine. Seems to have a weak clutch. Ratings for this particular model are high, and well recommended.

MUST do valve adjustments every 20,000ks. Some rust (inherant to most early Hondas). Basically I lucked out to find one of the lowest kms Si Civics around, and its MINT inside. Exhaust is somewhat prone to rust, but whos exhaust isn't!

I would recommend any Honda Civic from 1988-1991 if you like this body style. I wasn't a big fan of this style, but once I drove one, it was in love. The Si model is the top of the line Hatchback model, and I love every inch of it. I found the gas mileage to be on the negative side, but once I get a regular tune up, valves adjusted etc I should get better mileage. Highly recommended.

- Darryl Abate,
member SHO (SuperHonda)

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1992 Geo Metro: Doesn't compare to quality
1988 VW GTi: raw power, lots of torque, goofy interior.