Quote:
Rich C (UK) said:
DC - can you point me a the Civic post, oneof my neighbours works for them and would be interested in finding out waht went wrong.




Herewith cut 'n paste from the Off Topics Board. Summary of our frustrating Civic experience :-

My 18 month old Honda Civic 5 door which with the benefit of hindsight is probably one of the worse cars we've ever bought. Terrible rear vision, no rear wash wipe, the spoiler across the rear window virtually obscures any cars coming up behind, open the hatch back in the rain and water either pours into the load area, or on me (or worse SWMBO) .
The glass area below the spoiler is unheated so is permanently misted up in the winter. We had to fit park-assist as the rear vision is so bad - as has virtually every other Civic owner, apparently. The rear doors are really awkward to open, the concealed handles just don't work - I learned some new language one day when SWMBO broke her nails whilst attempting to open one. The minor controls are virtually unfathomable, especially the heater controls - BMW's I-Drive is a paragon of clarity in comparison. The gear lever is really uncomfortable - I purchased the expensive optional leather one which is no better. But worse even than all this is the quality and reliability. The fuel filler flap refused to open and SWMBO had to drive on vapours to the nearest Honda dealer to fix -a known problem that Honda hadn't bothered to tell their customers about; the handbrake has a tendency to come off when parked - there is a recall for this but the parts aren't available for another month, and now every four days the battery runs flat. Twice I've been stranded at home and had to call Honda Assist out to jump start; it isn't the battery, there appears to be an intermitttent power drain, the car has been at my Honda dealer for four days now whilst they try and find the problem. They now think the fault lies with the engine ECU and are waiting for a CD to reprogram it.

I am about to compose a colourful letter to Honda GB about the whole sorry saga.

Well latest update on the Civic is I collected the car today. Garage now thinks unless you really slam the hatchback shut the bootlight might not go out. Another fault. They've had no battery drain in the 4 days the car has been in the workshop. Honda still want the engine management control unit reprogrammed but the CD to do this isn't available until 4th April. Someone elses' problem, I collect the 123d next Friday.

In a nutshell I feel totally betrayed by the Honda brand. SWMBO and I have had several Hondas, a 1996 Civic 5 door, a 1998 Civic 3 dr VTi a 2000 S2000, and SWMBO currently drives a Jazz. All these cars have been totally reliable, well engineered and designed and we are totally pleased with every one, the Jazz in particular is truly excellent.

We could just about forgive the Civic most of the faults if only the car had been reliable. I'd have to go back as far as a 1982 Alfa Romeo GTV6 to find a car that's been as much trouble as the Civic. And that only actually broke down once in three years!!

The best part of the ownership experience was the excellent service from Balmer Lawn Honda. They tell me a significant number of Civic owners are getting rid after a fairly short timespan and either going to the Accord - or elsewhere.