Why did I do the fanboy thing and buy a Honda Civic Si?
The story behind this purchase all goes back to the weeks leading up to my departure for the service. I was still driving a 1993 Pontiac Grand Am SE at that time. I don’t really remember how many miles that pile had on it. It really wasn’t that much, but that car was junk. It had every typical problem that you could think of. The driver side ball joint had separated and smashed the fender, so it had a slightly different white fender. It had problems with misfiring because the coil pack hadn’t been switched to the white low carbon version. The exhaust had even completely fallen off at one point, and I barely drove the thing.
Anyway, I sold that right before leaving for Texas to start basic training, and found out the car had been t-boned a few weeks later. Luckily the girl survived, but that car wasn’t going to bother anyone ever again.
Fast forward about six months, and I’m getting ready to head home for some down time with my family before I start working at the base. It hadn’t really dawned on me that I didn’t have any transportation other than borrowing my sisters Honda Accord, which I promptly smashed into a deer. Don’t worry, the Accord was fine after a new fender and headlight assembly was installed.
I had been thinking a lot about what kinds of reliable vehicles I could buy at that point, and I really wanted something brand-spanking-new. I can remember thinking about a 2006 Java Blue Civic SI that I had seen at a shopping center awhile back, and how much I liked the car. I decided that’s what I would get. I called all over looking for a Java Blue, but to no avail. It was difficult even finding an SI period. I eventually found one a state away and arranged for it to be delivered to a local Honda dealership. It was silver with no extra options.
I remember picking the car up. The dealer told me the recommended break in procedure and the different maintenance requirement codes for the maintenance reminder system, but all I could do was dream about the road trips and fun times I would have. I never really had a vehicle that I trusted to drive very far, and when I did…the vehicle never got good mileage. Now I had a sporty coupe with a 6-speed manual transmission that got great fuel economy. I was in love with it. I knew it wasn’t a race car, but it provided me with some sportiness, and more importantly, economy and reliability.
What about the reliability?
Lets fast forward to the present day. That brand new sporty coupe that I bought is over ten years old, and has over 170,000 miles on the red digital odometer. How do I feel that it has held up over time, abuse, salt, and every other factor in the aging process?
Honestly, I’ve been happy with the reliability over the years. It hasn’t been perfect, but true to reputation, it hasn’t left me on the side of the road stranded. Ever.
One of the first issues to crop up in the car was actually pretty serious, and made me doubt the long-standing notion that Hondas are reliable vehicles.
Within the first 20,000 miles or so, I experienced some issues getting the car to smoothly shift into third gear. I’m not sure when exactly it started because it wasn’t one of those immediate, whoa something is wrong, type of issues. I eventually got it into the Honda service center where the mechanics mentioned a TSB that talked about how some of the synchronizers weren’t within factory specs. They told me they would have to completely dissassemble and rebuild the transmission to correct the problem, but they would try to have my new car back to me quickly. They actually had it back in a couple days. One of their trans guys stayed late for two nights pulling the trans and rebuilding it. I was really happy with the Honda customer service regarding the issue. The transmission has shifted like butter ever since.
After the first couple years had passed with no major issue coming up, my dad ended up taking over ownership of the car. I was back in college at that point, and not driving much. Gas prices were ridiculous and he was driving a ’97 GMC pickup back and forth to work. He didn’t particularly car for the car, but the fuel economy couldn’t be beat. He eventually got tired of how far the car went through a set of tires. We eventually found out that the factory camber specs for the rear were at the bleeding edge of being out. Since the rear control arms weren’t adjustable he purchased a set of aftermarket adjustable rear control arms. It solved the problem pretty easy, and the car has been easy on tires ever since.
The only other “problem” that can really be attributed to Honda is the issue the car had with one of the rear wheel bearings. At some point there was a recall or a TSB out for the bearing seal not properly keeping water and debris out. We didn’t really know it until my dad brought it in for a bearing replacement because it was making noise.
Some other problems with the car, that cannot be blamed on Honda is the air conditioning not working. At some point a large enough meatball got in between the car and the road, which bent the radiator core support, and punctured the ac condenser. We knew the air conditioning had quit working, but it wasn’t a priority repair. The system was basically left open to the elements for an entire winter before it was repaired. After it was repaired it still didn’t work. I honestly figure that it is something to do with a corroded pressure switch that controls the aircon compressor clutch. I’m still not worried about it.
Also, the factory CD player is kind of finicky. It works when it wants to work.
What else has been replaced or worn out?
Typical things like tires and brakes have needed to be replaced over time. It has been pretty minimal honestly. The engine has been great. The original factory clutch still grabs well, and none of the sensors have really had any problems.
One thing that needs addressed currently are the struts/shocks. They have only really started showing signs of age recently as far as I can tell.
How does it look now?
Overall, the car is still in good shape for the amount of miles and abuse that it has taken at the hands of me and my dad. For the most part the body is in good shape. There is some beginnings of rust development on the aft end of the rear quarter panels, and some clear coat flaking on the back bumper where it butts against the rear quarters. Also, whatever meatball collided with the core support cracked the bottom lip of the front bumper.
The interior of the car has also held up well. The cloth/suede seats still provide ample support and show minimal signs of wear. The dash remains in good shape, with all LCD displays operating correctly, and the headliner shows no signs of sagging yet. We did have to replace a window visor at some point because it stopped staying up, but I attribute it to normal wear and tear.
Is it modified?
I never really did anything to the car that would void the factory warranty. At some point, probably the first filter change, I put a stock replacement K&N filter in the box because it was reusable. I had been cleaning and oiling dirt bike filters for years and I figured it was a good way to save money over time. It has paid for itself over and over, because the thing is still in the car.
The only thing I really changed besides that was the awful weighted shift knob that came from the factory. I put in a pistol grip shift handle I had laying around. Many people laugh, because its a Hurst handle, but it is perfect for the car’s ergonomics. Once people have sat in the drivers seat and gripped it, they instantly understand.
It used to have some nice Zeus subwoofers in a ported box hooked to a Kenwood amplifier, but as I got older I cared less about stereos and more about trunk space.
Plans for the Future?
I’m planning on building the car some since its getting older and I’m not depending on it for daily transportation. One of the first things that will be done are the shocks/struts. I’m thinking about ordering some Tein Street Advance Z coilovers. After that I’ll be working on cutting out the little bit of rust that is forming on the rear wheel wells. You cant really see it yet because it is on the backside, but I would like to keep the car looking nice. The split in the front lip will be fixed when I glass the crack and install a lip cover. After that is done I will probably experiment with plasti-dip on the wheels, maybe on the whole body.
I plan on using the car for this website as a way to provide different tech write-ups so I guess plan on hearing more about the car in the future.
Final Thoughts.
I really do recommend this generation of Honda Civics to those who would like a sporty car, but need reliable transportation. If you can find a clean example with low miles snatch it up. You wont be disappointed. Just make sure the car has been brought in for all recalls and research the different TSBs that exist, because they can highlight different areas people experiences problems.