Do any of you guys have a Civic?
Just wondering what there like to drive?
I have just got rid of my 11 plate Seat Leon 170 FR. Now I know the Civic will be nowhere near as much fun as the Leon.
No much choice on this as it will be an auction buy. 1.6 iDTEC EX. 13 plate with 33k on the clock.
Or I might just go for the 14 plate Leon FR Estate with 12k on the clock and keep the smile going for a bit longer.

11 plate owner, have tested the diesel 2016 and will be a serious contender when I replace.

Good uk civic resource

Cheers Rocky.

Great for lugging bikes and other stuff around for their size.
Certainly not the most inspiring drive, even the 2.2td.
Damn reliable.

Had a 56 plate Civic 2.2tdi and an 09 plate leon FR 170 so i can do a pretty good comparison.

As you know, the Leon is amazing to drive, so much fun and grip that just keeps on going.

The Civic was not really in the same league, but it was still a nice drive. Strong point was the engine, only 140bhp, still had a good kick to it when the turbo kicked in. Round the corners, grip and feedback to driver both good – it was still a car you could have fun with. Economy was fairly good too. Inside, the interior is a little nicer than the leon, overall better materials and dash layout. Very flexible load carrying space.

On the not so good side, ride is a little harsh, and can get unsettled when hitting stuff like manhole covers when cornering. The nice interior is a little fragile and gets marked and scuffed easily. 2.2 was heavy (along with my right foot), so chewed through front tyres at an alarming rate. 2.2tdi also had/has a known issue with clutch wearing out around 25k miles, and as its a dual mass flywheel job its a very expensive repair if it goes – not sure if this applies to the baby diesel engine. Last thing is that mine had the turning circle of a double decker bus – not sure if that is a feature of the car of the sport pack with larger alloys etc.

If i were you i’d do some digging into the clutch thing, but other than that i thought it was a great car and i’d have another.

The new civic rear seats do some funky stuff

The current and previous Civic’s have those cinema seats, it’s their party piece.

Mrs Boblo has the 1.8 vtec petrol wotsit. It’s supposed to have 150bhp but doesn’t feel like it. The vtec in this case is about economy not performance which, sadly, I found out after she’d got it. The diesel is supposed to be good apart from eating clutches and tyres. The petrol does around 42mpg on a run and as above, is a little firm/crashy on potholed roads.

It’s nice and funky but the rear vis is dire, reversing cameras are a popular option.

She’s had it six years and apart from consumables, it’s had an aircon compressor clutch under warranty. The only other mechanical gremlin is creaky rear suspension from cold. They all do it apparently and it gets a squirt of something slippery to fix each service.

I’d have another but not the current ugly duckling model.

I had the 7th gen and it too had a massive turning circle, bigger than my present Mondeo. That’s the tradeoff from squeezing as much kit into the engine compartment as possible to make more room inside.

Mine was great, obviously not the same car but a tourer would have been on my list if I could tow with it.

Mk 8 1.8 ex owner here

Check for rust on the roof along the windscreen seal meets

Suspension can be harsh for some, also the suspension stoppers stick which are noisy easy fix.

Recent airbag recall, check before you buy to see if it’s affected.

Apart from the above its all good, the engines seem bombproof, I have only replaced the battery in ten years of ownership, get 45mpg on the motorway, boot is huge for its size, if you have little ones you will love how the back doors open square for access.

Sat nav is one of the best I have ever used, love the simple zoom in and out option.

also the suspension stoppers stick which are noisy easy fix.

Noisy = a bit clunky ? Mines quite a clunky car, but my mechanic couldn’t find any issues, although he’s just a generic back-street spanner bloke not a Honda/Civic expert.

Mine is a 2007, it’s a nice enough car, tows motorbikes/trailers quite a bit. the I-shift is sometimes a weird gearbox, especially reverse which is an on-off switch, but like everything in life, you get used to things.

I can’t say I love the car, but it’s a fine car… but I don’t really do cars at the best of times. It does the job, goes well enough…

I have a ’10 Type R and can vouch for the space with the seats folded down, you can pack all sorts of shit into it. I reckon 3 bikes plus gear would be realistic.

The new civic rear seats do some funky stuff

‘New’ compared to what? Civic’s have had that function for at least a decade! 😆

Civic is a great lttle car. Very practical. Downsides are that it is a little unrefined in terms of cabin noise (not unusual for a Japanese manufacturer, even when designed and made in England). Some people don’t like the ‘spoiler’ across the rear window.

2008 1.8 EX Petrol vtec – awesome car. Love it. Not a performance car, but spacious for carrying stuff, got enough grunt and still gives me a grin when the vtec kicks in. Full of gadgets at the time for a reasonable price.

Super reliable Honda. Only thing I’ve had repaired is rear suspension and that is mainly due to me being reckless when driving down pot hole strewn back lanes or unmade roads to the hills.

And yeah, has the funky seats, though not so practical for bike carrying. I find it better to put the rear seats down and lay bike plus tonnes of tools, spares, wheels.

I use a boot liner also, from Hatchbag. Contains the forest dirt.

I keep looking at upgrading it, but I prefer my 2008 model’s dash which is more space shuttle looking than the newer chrome trimmed dial tubes.

p.s. don’t know if it’s still an option, but my model has an optional fork clamp mount for bike which you can get for the spare wheel bay (usually they don’t come with the spare, just the jizz to repair tyres, the bay becomes storage space though).

Those magic seats are in most Honda, our 07 Jazz does the same. Great for clearing out all the detritus from the kids 🙂

I reckon 3 bikes plus gear would be realistic.

Yeah, it is. I did 3 bikes + 3 people all inside for a (slightly cramped) MTB trip in my 58 plate type-R. Mind you, this was in the days of 26″ wheels and top tubes that aren’t a mile long – I genuinely think I might struggle to do this now. But it’s a very practical platform. The ‘magic’ seats are a good idea but pointless on 3 door versions – I never used them.

The only real complaints are the usual Type-R specific things that you always hear – extremely harsh suspension (completely unnecessary), poor grip in snow, the fact that you feel a like a bit of a chav. Oh, and the split rear window thing is stupid and rear visibility is truly abysmal (even with the non type-R spoiler). I imagine the 1.4 petrol feels totally gutless.

I had it for 4 years/25,000 miles and it was very reliable in that time. Routine maintenance, a couple of tyres and one front suspension strut failure were the only costs.

I kind of miss that car.

We have a 2006 1.8 petrol civic that’s mostly used by my wife. Only had it for 8,000 miles but so far it’s been reliable except for needing a new car battery. I opted for petrol over diesel as for under 10k a year, I felt the premium for the diesel wasn’t worth it and the petrol cars were far better condition than any diesel for sale. Economy is good, it’s mostly used in town and still returns high 30’s which compares well to older diesels we’ve run for the same usage. I think the driving experience, handling and performance is really good. Much nicer to drive than an underpowered 1 series which was our other option.

The quality feel is very high for a car that can be had for a modest price second hand. It feels much nicer inside than any VAG group car for the same budget.

Lots of space inside and the sat nav is by far the best I’ve ever used in a car. I echo the comments about parking/rear visibility being poor. I had parking sensors fitted, which was only £250 for the front/rear.

2008 Civic owner.

Not a big fan of cars so can’t really rave about all sorts of mechanical attributes but it starts every time, has had nothing more than new tyres and routine servicing and i can get a bike in sideways with the back seats up (and the front bike wheel off). Comfortable for 4-5 hour trips too. I’d not be averse with owning another when this one gives up.

I used to get 3 people and bikes (or 3 people and all their stuff for a diving weekend) in my gen8 hatch. Very flexible space.

Suspension was unduly harsh even in the non-Type-R, apparently corrected in the gen9.

My dad has a current estate and loves it. But then he likes a conventional NA petrol engine and a regular torque-converter auto and no-one else is really doing that these days.

@Superfifical I expect poor grip in snow on the type-R is due to tyres. I asked a swiss friend about the sports a3 quattros and he said with performance tyres they where so so but with a set of cheap steel wheels and snow tyres they where great.

I too think the fold up seats are a bit of a gimmic, bike carrying ability is driven by how rear seats fold flat and roof height. Civic is good for that.

02 Type-R here from new – not missed a beat in 150k miles..

With bikes on the roof i’ve had 2 adults and 2 kids, bikes etc. for a week’s camping in there without too much problem.

I should get a new car sometime but I enjoy this one and can’t see any reason to swap. Every couple of years I do wash it and then it looks like a new car for a few days :).

Echoing above – snow tyres on it and no problem in Aberdeenshire snow over the last 8 winters.

Yeah I’m a total convert to winter tyres these days. The tyres on the Type-R are very wide and poor in snow. I’m sure some narrower winter tyres would have been much better. However, some FWD cars can get away without special winter tyres.

Not really had a cold enough winter this year to justify them. Been +10C most of the time down south.

The tyres on the Type-R are very wide and poor in snow. I’m sure some narrower winter tyres would have been much better

Surely wide tyres better in snow… like fat bikes? 😉

Ive had the EP2 ,ep3 (type R ) the 2.2cdti and now run the 1.8 I v tech , and all have been ultra reliable , no warning lights ,and just general service costs , the 1.8 petrol I have now ive seen returns of 40+ mpg with 3 bikes on the roof and closer to 52 at 75 mph without , the folding back seats as above do some funky folding magic making them massive inside, Stock 140 bhp and the eco v tech don’t set the world alight like the Type R or to be fair if I want it will move .

06 2.2CDti here. 207k miles on the clock and still runs fine. Very economical and loads of room given it doesn’t feel like a large car. Ride can be a bit harsh but overall I’d have another.

jambalaya – Member

I too think the fold up seats are a bit of a gimmic, bike carrying ability is driven by how rear seats fold flat and roof height. Civic is good for that.

Bloke I used to work with would stick the seats up, chuck a tarpaulin in, & put his bike across the void where the back seats were; seemed to work quite well & kept the boot space free.
I seem to remember he only had to take the front wheel off to do this.

Seemed quite a neat solution to me.

I think when the time comes to get a new car, it’ll probably be a Civic Tourer for me.
Even folding the rear seats is child’s play compared to a lot of other cars; just pull a lever & the seat back drops. There are other cars that do this (Leon estate & Octavia estate) but I am pretty sure they don’t move the seat bases downwards at the same time, which is what happens in the Civic to make a nice, flat floor.
I think the Mazda 6 does the same thing, but that’s a bit too big for my requirements.

Our C3 Picasso also does the seat folding/base lowering thing, which is very handy.

I’ve had a 2.2 Diesel, 1.8 petrol and currently drive a 1.6 diesel tourer.

I miss the 2.2.

Tourer has loads of room – properly massive, I can get my 56cm road bike in without removing wheels – it’ll even go in the boot (wheels off) without putting the seats down which is great for weekends away etc.

Interior is better on the new ones, mine has all the toys, DAB is a god send on long drives. It’s not the comfiest car I’ve ever driven but it’s not the worst either – YMMV. Very economical at the expense of real poke. done 50k miles and only had to have four new tyres. No real niggles or bugs. Don’t see very many of them on the road if that’s a good thing I don’t know.

Well thanks for all the replies Gents.
After lots of umming and arring i’ve decided to splash the cash on the Leon 1st, but if it starts going for crazy money then the Civic is my backup car.
Like I said its Auction prices so I will see what tomorrow brings.
Many thanks
steve.

Interesting thread – 4 weeks away from receipt of a 1.6 diesel se plus – chosen based on a test drive from a list of potential company cars.

Can’t wait.