6th generation civics reliable?

[Spoolin18]

K, I was looking at a 2000 honda civic 1.6 with 121k on it. I can get a real good deal on it and its really good shape but are these cars reliable for a dd? Thanks.

I'm also looking at a 04 srt4 with 52k on it, are they reliable. I heard they are noisy and about like a dsm..not good dd? Thoughts please?

 

[L0ckett]

To the best of my knowledge, the civics are very reliable. As far as the srt4 goes I've hears they have issues with water pumps and head gaskets.

 

[SupremeDsm]

I have had both of these cars and never had any problems out of them! They both make great dailies!

 

[PIMking]

we have an 02 that had to get a new motor. went through 2 head gaskets and just a major PITA.

It wasn't a norm I can tell you that much.

 

[Spoolin18]

we have an 02 that had to get a new motor. went through 2 head gaskets and just a major PITA.

It wasn't a norm I can tell you that much.

a civic? Damn.

I have had both of these cars and never had any problems out of them! They both make great dailies!

Big ups to INDY, love that place. I was just up there like 3 weeks or so back. I got an uncle who lives in Muncie. I didn't know know Enkei wheels had a plant in IN either. Thinking bout moving up there.

On a sidenote, I'll never buy a gm product again. We bought a 07 g6 3.5 with 47k on it, went 9k in debt, now at 50k its loosing coolant for some reason...can't figure out where. We bought it as a daily. It does however have a "limited" 5 year/100,00 powertrain warranty. I heard the 3.5 was pretty much bullit proof for a daily. I've burped the system and everything...still no improvments. I know the 3.1 and 3.4 had intake gasket problems but the 3.5 don't have coolant routed through the intake anymore. I also found where GM makes coolant seal tabs, why the hell do they make these? Its like they know they can't make an auto that don't leak coolant somewhere. F$$k GM. What about a vibe? Its the same thing as a toyota matrix. 12 k miles on it, AWD. I need to find a good daily bad.

 

[ktgurl87]

vibes are good little cars. we've got 2 for commercial vehicles at work... both of them have roughly 35k miles each and they're still running like champs. which is impressive all by itself because the company who pays for all maintenance on these cars doesn't do much with them. oil changes and tire rotations.

 

[GsXdSmKingGsX]

If you dont beat the piss out the skittle its reliable. Just watch the water pump.

 

[ktgurl87]

that's with any car... you can't buy a car and do nothing but stomp your foot into it and expect it to last :\

 

[RBehne2]

a civic? Damn.

Yeah. These 96-00 models have a hard time keeping the head gasket together once they get up there in mileage. Say around 130-160k, and that's without beating the hell out of it.

On a side note, I'll never buy a gm product again. We bought a 07 g6 3.5 with 47k on it, went 9k in debt, now at 50k its loosing coolant for some reason...

I have a buddy that picked up a G5 for a dd, brand new 1 year ago. Now, none of his interior lights work, alarm doesn't flash his exterior lights, so it's one big wiring mess from a brand new car. His also started pushing coolant for some reason, and he hasn't hit 60k yet.

To the op, a good daily might be a 00's Honda Accord, or Toyota Camery or 90's Corolla.

 

[bNasty]

go here -------> hondatech.com

 

[kp116]

Can't go wrong with a honda for a DD. I was looking at getting rid of my 05 sti and just getting a cheap civic or something for a daily.

 

[8urwrx]

Before my dsm I owned an 04 srt4. I loved it. Easily modded and reliable.I've never heard about the water pump issues. The only issues I've heard about are the wiring to the isc controller fray and cause a check engine light. Covered by Chrysler when I had mine done. Another issue is the shift selector will sometime break if shifted too hard

 

[Spoolin18]

vibes are good little cars. we've got 2 for commercial vehicles at work... both of them have roughly 35k miles each and they're still running like champs. which is impressive all by itself because the company who pays for all maintenance on these cars doesn't do much with them. oil changes and tire rotations.

is the engine noisey? I heard this...don't matter if its a good reliable car though.

Yeah. These 96-00 models have a hard time keeping the head gasket together once they get up there in mileage. Say around 130-160k, and that's without beating the hell out of it.





I have a buddy that picked up a G5 for a dd, brand new 1 year ago. Now, none of his interior lights work, alarm doesn't flash his exterior lights, so it's one big wiring mess from a brand new car. His also started pushing coolant for some reason, and he hasn't hit 60k yet.

To the op, a good daily might be a 00's Honda Accord, or Toyota Camery or 90's Corolla.

I thought it was the 88-95 model that had that problem and honda redesigned them, not disputing your word...just confused.

Before my dsm I owned an 04 srt4. I loved it. Easily modded and reliable.I've never heard about the water pump issues. The only issues I've heard about are the wiring to the isc controller fray and cause a check engine light. Covered by Chrysler when I had mine done. Another issue is the shift selector will sometime break if shifted too hard

I really like the srt4, they got two in particular..a silver one and a coper burnt orange one. Someone said these engines are noisy aswell, true?

What about an F-body?

what would you say this car is worth max? http://lexington.craigslist.org/cto/2094041836.html

He is jewable..so.....I thought if I got him low enuff maybe I could make a few hundred extra bucks.

 

[adamc95tsi]

I owned a 02 civic si hatch.. by far the most reliable car I ever owned.. the only thing I had to replace was the motor mounts... I loved my civic.. and that has a k20 non vtech, with 9:1 compression.. perfect for a turbo platform.. and they look sweet to... the shifter on the dash is nice

 

[PIMking]

I owned a 02 civic si hatch.. by far the most reliable car I ever owned.. the only thing I had to replace was the motor mounts... I loved my civic.. and that has a k20 non vtech, with 9:1 compression.. perfect for a turbo platform.. and they look sweet to... the shifter on the dash is nice

THe ole ladies dad bought it for her a couple of years ago. Ours had like 80k when we got it from the used car dealership. I never got a chance to look it over before he signed the papers. (used car dealer was her dads good friend) When she met me at the car show I instantly smell a light smell of coolant.

So I said something to the dealer and he didn't think it was that big of an issue at all. We ended up driving it home, that was 60 miles and I'm glad I'm use to scanning the gauges and noticed the temp was rising. Well basically it created so much pressure it blew a quarter sized hole in the plastic endtank of the radiator.

The dealer got us a new radiator and I installed it and burped the system. the car idled for probably 45 minuets. She went on a trip and it overheated again. So the dealer had it towed to a shop and they found the head gasket was bad. Let me remind you that it didn't smoke one bit, there was no oil in coolant or vise versa.

Then we moved to Alabama! we started having radiator issues again, kept getting warm and the hoses were just rock hard. they kept replacing the radiator (a shop not me, I don't have a garage or tools) I think they put in 4 separate radiators in the car. They swear the thermostat wasn't stuck shut, Which it was, they swore they did a leak down test and it wasn't the head gasket.

So, basically they replaced the motor.

Now, we have a used motor in the it and it keeps tripping the CEL. That has something to do with the VTEC deal and puts a rev limiter on around 2500. SRS light came on when they replaced the motor and the heater doesn't work worth a shit now. It only blows warm air when the car is moving. If you're sitting at a light it will blow out cold air.

Our car was owned by older people that beat the piss out of it.

New brakes
struts
tires
thing needs to be cut and buffed in the worse way (tons of scratches I think they used a shovel to wipe snow off of it)

the thing is a TURD. to top it off? she is was upside down in it too. So much for older people working with "friends"

 

[Spoolin18]

advice for a new dd is needed..

 

[AK Maniak]

advice for a new dd is needed..

Another DSM!

 

[Jeff99GS]

My GF has a 2002 Civic EX that she bought brand new and it's and absolute pile of JUNK. The Airbag light came on for NO reason...we have been through 4 OEM alternators, the power door locks dont work anymore?!?! and sometimes they actually jamm so you can't even lock them by hand. Sunroof wont open more than halfway. Needed the auto trans rebuilt...and SO much more that I'm forgetting...Its WORSE than my Talon or Eclipse ever was. I also have an Audi A4 and that thing breaks more than my Talon too haha...I can't figure out how DSM's got such a bad rap?!?!

As far as the engine...she has 152,000 miles and seems to run good still...but everything else breaks.
All cars have their problems.

 

[travs_dsm]

Hondas are great cars for what they are. My 1990 CRX Si has 225,000 miles on it and I am dead serious, the service engine light has never come on...not in the 18 years that I have owned it. The head has never been off of the car (original head gasket). Heck, even the A/C never was recharged until 2008 when I conveted it over to R134A, after an o-ring final let go and all the R-12 went bye-bye

I just change the timing belt/water pump and ignitor and it just runs and runs. I'm on my second clutch, but I guess 108hp doesn't stress them too much If you can get a clean, non-modified Civic, I bet it will last you as long as you need it to!

 

[slow4g6392tsi]

What kind of question is this? I think we all know Civics are reliable. Just don't get on that has been hacked apart by kids trying to make it "JDM." They may not be fun to drive or do great in wrecks but they are very reliable and get great gas mileage.

 

[ncampos92562]

Buy a cheap 240sx. Keep it cop friendly and you won't be bothered. Engines are fine and most of those guys have high miles and run them hard and they work fine.

I've read that skittles have a bad third gear(i think it's third, but one goes bad like a DSM 2nd gear) but not sure on how frequent it is. And srt's are loud stock so if you want a quiet dd that's something to think about.

 

[hurricanecris24]

I dd a 2000 v6 mustang it has never broke down as long as I can remember(over 5 years) just have been doing the basic tune up.

 

[DSM Boosted]

My brother had an 04 SRT-4, just don't slam second gear, the gear shifter will come off and you will look stupid haha, other than that his was a great car, quick cars too...I owned a 02 Civic Si EP3, looked like an egg and the whole gear shifter on the dash was kinda wierd but you got used to it, it was a great car

 

[CrackedDSM]

Buy a cheap 240sx. Keep it cop friendly and you won't be bothered. Engines are fine and most of those guys have high miles and run them hard and they work fine.

I've read that skittles have a bad third gear(i think it's third, but one goes bad like a DSM 2nd gear) but not sure on how frequent it is. And srt's are loud stock so if you want a quiet dd that's something to think about.

This. I know more than a few locals that drive their SRT4's like grandma's, and I think the one that's the luckiest out of the few has only replaced his transmission twice. The others are on the 4th, 5th and some of them are on their 6th. This isn't just one either, it's almost every single SRT4 in town.


Needless to say that turned me off of them completely.

 

[thach]

I had a 97 Civic EX with 150k that I daily'd and had absolutely no problems with. But it all really depends on the specific car you buy - i.e. you can buy a beat on turd or something in immaculate condition. Generally hondas are very reliable and make great DDs. All it needs is maintenance. Not sure on the SRT4 but neons usually fit in the same category.