Some of you may recall that I have previously mentioned the Honda Civic Shuttle 1.4 Auto that we bought in 1997 at five years old and 4,000 miles. It has stayed in and around the family since then and I am driving it now whilst the Outback is being repaired (after my snow slide) and the regular driver of the Honda recovers from an operation.
The car has been driven by three women with no mechanical sympathy whatsoever. So although not 'hammered' it has been hard used on its many many short trips whilst cold. It cannot have done more than 5,000 miles on the motorway in its total of 40,000 miles.
This car is so good! Firstly despite being 17 years old and having only last week just done 40,000 miles, it drives very well. Apart from a slight grind from the starter after the engine has caught, and that the overdrive on the gearbox is a little reluctant to engage as often as it should there is no evidence that the car is old. Its general driving demeanour remains as it was when we first bought it.
There is a little rust in hidden areas, but not 'rot' and despite having been scraped and scuffed, still buffs up to a good shine. Internally, it remains almost new and if the seats were cleaned there would be little evidence of the age of the car except for the general layout and design. In fact the dials are a model of clarity compared to many modern cars.
It has not been cleaned in months if not years, so last week it had a mini valet followed by me giving a deep vacuum and brushed all the dust from the nooks and crannies. I have to say, that if I didn't get the Outback back, I would be very happy with this car (at least until summer car and I missed the air-con).
This was a Honda of the old school - remarkably well built, and with faultless reliability (no major repairs at all in 17 years). The only bug bear is the economy, which is fine on the open road, but dives to about 25mpg at best around town, mainly due to the manual choke I reckon.
Are there other cars out there that have suffered so much but seem to have shrugged it off?
Edited by Espada III {P} on 14/12/2008 at 15:01
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Not what you've asked, but....
>>Apart from a slight grind from the starter
If there's a removable grease cup on the end of the starter, you might be able to fix this noise quite easily with a dab of fresh grease.
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Thank you. If I fix that, then the car has basically no faults.
Oh I forgot, the top three wires of the HRW don't work, but it doesn't matter.
I suppose the major thing I do miss is heated door mirrors. That is a safety thing rather than a toy, but I am coping with manual windows and mirrors, no sat nav and rubbish radio.
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In the picture of a Bosch starter linked to below, I'm on about bearing No 40, held under the cover bolted down by the bolts No 50. It might be quite different on the Honda, but, that's the area of the starter which can sometimes make this noise.
tinyurl.com/6krtr2
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My dads Astra estate is still going having been in the family from new. A 1993 1.6 GLS auto, it is starting show its age with rusty bits around the arches but apart from that and with some recent expenditure on various aged moving parts, it is now back to great form and my dad favours it over my mums Hyundai as he is having trouble getting in and out of such a low slung car.
Such is his confidence in it, my parents have gone away for the weekend in it, to deepest Wiltshire many hours away.
It potters around the village most of the time these days. When my dad too it over 4 years ago it had 93k on the clock, its now got 105k and some change.
Its never had the engine or gearbox out or apart and even the elec windows/mirrors still work. Its had a new heavy duty battery to cope with infrequent use but that was a precaution.
The biggest expense when the car was 4 years old was a new PAS rack which cost a whopping £700 back in '97.
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My parents also have an old Astra 1.6GLS auto, though a hatchback not an estate. It's still going and is probably no more nasty to drive now than the day it left the Ellesmere Port factory in 1995. No real problems with it as far as I know and my parents drove it half way round Europe a couple of years ago. On balance though, I would rather have taken Espada's Honda.
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>>Are there other cars out there that have suffered so much but seem to have shrugged it off?
Not a Honda, but our 1997 Rover 214 managed just over 140,000 miles with very little other than normal servicing and the odd exhaust. It had nothing done on suspension, brakes (pads/disks aside), on original clutch/gearbox etc.
It moved us house three times in the years we owned it, used as a tip car when we were renevating our house, driven all over the country and never too kind either! In recent years it had minimal servicing (oil and filter changes) and to be honest barely washed - we were just waiting for it to die!!
Eventually my wife drove to to work and back for almost a week with a winking oil light without checking the oil level or telling me! If she hadnt been so daft I am sure it would still be going strong but the engine was making odd noises and developed a mechanical misfire. Age and lack of safety features means it now sat in my garage awaiting its fate.
Bodywork was still good and showed very little rust - tiny bit around windscreen and that was about it. Interior wise it showed less wear than my Audi A4 with similar miles but half the age!
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I agree RE the Hondas. I used to work (about 5 years ago) in a little rural garage come petrol station type effort. The owner, a nice old chap called Albert had a 1989 Honda Accord auto. That thing was thrashed, never serviced, never washed in the entire 4 years I was there. And yet every time I drove it it was like new- as tight and smooth as the day it came from the factory.
He also had a 1988 Honda Civic Shuttle used as the loan car- thrashed and bashed by all and sundry including myself when I went to the cash-and-carry in it. But it still started 1st time everytime and was sweet as a nut. What killed it was the rear trailing arm snapped.
Must resist temptation to part-ex the BMW for a nice S2000!!
Edited by Cooper-driver on 14/12/2008 at 18:22
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Rover 216 (Honda 16v engine).
I bought it at 2 years old/30,000m and thrashed the beans out of it for 4 years/100,000m. T'was during my young and foolish days so went everywhere at flat-out mph. Never missed a beat.
Sold it to my brother for peanuts and he ran it for another 3 years/50,000m without even so much as an oil change. Only thing that broke was the drivers side door handle.
He then sold it at 180,000 miles for even fewer peanuts to my cousin, who ran it for another 3 years before it finally broke beyond repair due to a scuppered ECU fault.
I still maintain it was the best car I've ever owned... including some relatively exotic/expensive machines!
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Apart from a slight grind from the starter after the engine has caught and that the overdrive on the gearbox is a little reluctant to engage as often as it should there is no evidence that the car is old.
Give the gearbox a birthday and flush the old oil out. The shifts will be totally transformed as most gearboxes AW included still use mineral oil which after 17 years will be extremely tired.
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Espada.....In case you have not been there before, here: www.hondabeat.com/highmiles.php is the link to one of my favourite sites.
I just hope that my '03 Jazz proves to be just as good....no problems so far!
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Now here's a funny thing.
When I took over the Shuttle last week, it was low won fuel and I immediately gave it a full tank of Shell V-Power. I filled up last night on regular Shell and the starting is not as good. It churns that little bit more before firing. Otherwise drives fine. Is it me or is the V-Power really improving the starting?
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