I’m thinking of getting a honda civic 1.8 vti aerodeck to replace my focus 1.6tdci. I know they are at least 12 years old but i want reliability over the complicated modern diesel engines (yes my car has the DV6 engine and i feel like its a time bomb waiting to go off!). Has anyone had any experience of the civic aerodeck?

Never owned one, but serviced a few in my time as a mechanic. Still servicing one for a friend from work.

It should be more reliable than just about any other car out there, excluding a Toyota. However, it still needs to have been serviced. Apart from checking service history I would listen for sounds like droning from wheel bearings. At 12 years old you would be expecting things like that to be wearing out. Any garage can replace them, but they will cost slightly more (in parts) than your Ford. That said they are generally built better than most cars so you should save money overall. They aren’t a “cool” car so if that isn’t a problem for you then it’s a sensible buy.

Up until earlier this year, I ran a 1998 civic 1.5. Part-exed it for the princely sum of £150. For my purposes it was run into the ground but a competent mech could have had another few years out of it. Not at all exciting to drive, but rewarding to own. In all the time it was in my family, it only had routine maintenance, consumables plus a new fuel tank and brake lines.

Original clutch, alternator, starter.

The 1.8 will be LOT faster. Harder suspension and bigger wheels will probably tighten up the handling a bit. Just make sure it hasn’t be thrashed (most will have been) and as woods said, been maintained.

Oh, and have a sit in one because the driving position is a bit strange and not very adjustable by modern standards.

I actually think old, fast Hondas are quite cool. The Aerodeck is especially niche!

on a related note re your Focus – there ARE preventative actions to ease the time bomb effect. You could find a decent diesel specialist and talk to them about checking for leaky injectors (1 fault), clogged egr valves (2nd fault) and carbonned-up turbo oil feed lines. If nothing is actually broken then it shouldn’t cost a lot to get piece of mind.

cheers for the tips!. My focus has a full dealer history, has just had a full service and engine flush, so i’m just not sure how paranoid i’m being. In my eyes an engine shouldn’t need so much care as the dv6 seems to! Everything is working at the moment, and is one of the reasons why i want rid of it.

I’m with you though about the old hondas being cool.

Don’t expect a 12+ year old car to be trouble free. Even a Honda.

I’ve currently got one and quite like it.
positives are:
-it makes a lovely sound
-vtec is awesome, great to drive
-it’s relatively quick with 0-60 @ approx 8.5secs
-with the rear seats down can just chuck my full-suss in without taking a wheel off.
-there’s minimal gadgets/electrics to go wrong
-exhaust is modular

negs:
-34mpg in summer, 30ish in winter
-drinks oil, about a litre every 1500miles
-feels like it needs an extra gear – cruising at 70mph is at nearly 5000rpm and quite noisy
-difficult to drive economically (see above re:noise/power etc).

The engine will outlast the car my mechanic says if servicing is met, so check oil changes etc every 9k.
Check sunroof condition as if the grease has gone, the rails are prone to going and its too expensive(not worthwhile fixing). The resistor pack for the fan speeds commonly fails meaing you lose fanspeeds 1+2, but theres a kit on ebay for £6 to solder yourself or the honda replacement part is £25. My AC condenser packed in after 10years, so check that. Cambelt should have been done @70k. Check rear bushings as they are prone to wear.

mines currently @ 104k miles and running well, all in all a good car if you’re not busting out max mileage.

seems like we’re not the only fans…

Hot estates

Ha ha ‘Aerodeck’, Honda speak for estate. Mine always started first turn of the key even if I had not used it for a few weeks. Sh1t brakes despite mahusive discs front and rear. Air con as well as a sun-roof was novel, although the later had an intermitent fault on it so I stopped using it for fear of it getting stuck open. You’ll get loads of Tesco clubcards points from fuel purchases because they are thirsty, unless you drive like most aged Honda owners! Oh yes mine had the taste for oil too. Its a 12yo motor, so long as you don’t pay over the odds most of it is to be expected

Had one for 18 months was a great reliable slightly nippy estate. Service tyres and some new rear suspension bushes was all it asked for. The rear sus bushes are a common mot fail for them replace with the purple pollyeurathane ones and youl not need to do them again.
Engines can smoke when in vtec if they’ve not been particularly well looked after.
Check for rust around rear arches.

Quick edit if its got the lsd gear box theyre surprisingly good in the snow.

I owned the saloon version of this car and thought it was great. I had a stainless steel exhaust and induction filter fitted and the noise was incredible when the VTEC was opened. Very reliable and always started in the 4 years that i had it.

As mentioned above, it did drink the oil (especially if you have a heavy foot)and the valve seals started to go just before i sold it. Loved the VTEC engine so much that i bought a Civic Type R straight afterwards.

I also prefer the VTEC in the older cars. The swap over is instant where as the newer Honda’s it is a bit more progressive.