Honda Civic (2001 - 2005)
1.7 cdti EP4
Great little car, rock solid economical and low running costs
Bought this wee cracker 3 years ago with 63,000 on the clock, my first car, 3 years later and now 125,000. has handled my 100 mile a day commute no major problems.
Good points
53mpg 80% motorway at 70 - 80
Cheap to service
looks sporty as a 3 door
1.7 cdti engine, quite nippy 0 - 60 around 11 seconds
group 6 insurance
£120 a year road tax
reliable
easy to park
comfortable, sports seats, with plenty of room
Bad points
Noisy especially at motorway speeds.
turbo lag, hardly anything before 2000 revs then all the power comes between 2-3000 revs!
Not confident at overtaking on A & B roads due to poor gear ratios and lack of power 50-70
Not a lot of toys or gadgets, would have liked cruise control
small 40 litre fuel tank
lots of stone chips
Dealer experience
Not impressed with the Honda dealership way too overpriced for the service provided, took the car into get the timing belt done and they gave it a free (unwanted) "health check" they flagged up lots of issues in red and tried to insist they needed done very soon. I took it to my local ATS who checked the car over and said it was absolutely fine?!. Went back a year later for something and they tried the same thing again!
Problems
Faulty MAF sensor would throw the car into limp mode fixed by honda at a cost of around £200
Frozen fuel filter, to be fair it was -18 and overdue for a service
only other expenses have been tyres, brakes, timing belt and service costs