We had a 3 door version, great car, went on to do mega miles, no issues at all!

Ours was the basic version, never had A/C, which looking back was a big mistake as it used to cook in the back with kids in tow in the summer.

The 5 door had a recall, something to do with the bolts to the suspension, so worth checking to see if that has been done, if you are going for the 5 door.

Think the 5 door was uk built and the 3 door was Jap. but could be wrong.

The EK shape? Was looking at one as a runaround for the missus and baby until someone mentioned their ncap or whatever it is ratings compared to most other things.

Had a 96, great engine, but rust was bad around rear wheels arches and sills which caused its demise last year.
Seen a good few others like that too, maybe they cured it by 98 though

I had a 96 for 13 years. Spent bugger all on it other than the usual stuff. HTH 🙂

http://www.honestjohn.co.uk/carbycar/honda/civic-uk-1995?section=bad

I have a 1997 1.4i which we've owned since 1999.

The engine is still faultless, the interior is much better than most cars of its ilk from the period, it's comfortable, fun to drive, happy at high speeds (no speed wobble past 80 etc.).

In the last year it's had new CVJs, a new exhaust and new brake pads. That's on a total of 8,000 miles this year. The MOT cost £250 including all the work mentioned. There is the start of some rust on the rear wheel arches however, although mine is the 5 door "built by rover" model. The Japanese ones I suspect are more reliable, and to be fair I've only seen 1 or 2 others suffer from rust like this.

It's surprisingly voluminous too- I can get my 57cm road bike in there without removing the wheels.

It's a superb car. I call it Doris.