Overview & Reviews

Since its launch in 1973, the Honda Civic has been one of the most popular compact cars sold in America. Its success can be attributed in large part to its consistently high level of quality inside and out and its long-standing reputation for reliability and low running costs. Impressive fuel economy and engaging performance have also played a role in making the Civic a top choice for many Americans.

The competition has largely caught up with Honda, though, and there are now many excellent small cars vying for your attention. Still, we continue to recommend the Civic due to its ergonomic interior layout, wide range of models and high resale value. For small-car shoppers in search of a solid used vehicle, the Honda Civic is certainly a smart choice, as its long production run and many variants make it easy to find what you want.

User Reviews:

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  Just bought a 2008 Civic LX - 2008 Honda Civic
  By BllG - November 2 - 7:58 pm

  Bought a used Civic last week for my daughter. Got a good deal at 113000 miles and wanted to post for others that might be lookng at this car to let you know how it has held up. Body was in great shape - a few minor dings and what not but no paint chipping, fade, or peeling. No rust. Interior, which has been critized, has held up well. No scratches or anything detracting from the interior. Cruise control, A/C, displays, radio, etc., all working with no issues. Also, Im 62" and have zero issues sitting in the front seats...back seats might be an issue but driving it Im very comfortable. Engine still runs strong, no leaks, and the transmission shifts very smoothly even under full acceleration onto the interstate. Plus, these vehicles have a timing chain vice belt, so you dont have to concern yourself with the inevitable 100,000 mile, $1000, timing belt replacement. Power steering works great with no noise from the power steering pump. Car tracks straight and true down the road and handlng is solid. You definitely feel the bumps in the road but this isnt a luxury car with the associated suspension. Engine does vibrate and you can feel it sitting at a stop light esp with the A/C on. But, again, its a 4 cyl and it isnt really distracting. Road noise is definitely there on the highway but I dont sense there are any leaks through the weather stripping...its just an economy car. Couple of issues that are to be expected with this cars history. The passenger side visor had failed...a quick fix through Amazon at $50. Also, the starter, no kidding, quit the same day we bought it. Dont naively send your wife off to the store to get the battery replaced because the car wont start without a jump...youll wind up replacing a perfectly good battery when its really the starter. Ive always done minor maintenance like this on my vehicles but after seeing what was involved (starter placed above the front axle and exhaust) I took it to a shop to get replaced. Getting lazy in my old age. Also, and this is unique to my car Im sure, what I thought might be a simple alignment to fix an off-center steering wheel resulted in the removal and adjustment of the steering column...all told, about $450 to get everything fixed. Drivers side power steering boot is leaking and there is a minor rattling, knocking sound when we turn all the way to the right...will probably have to replace that sometime but not today. Flushed the power steering fluid...helped somewhat but not totally. So, am I pleased with the car? Yes...with a whole week with my daughter driving it. But the engine works well, transmission shifts very well, the A/C and everything else is holding up well (knock on wood). Believe it will be a good car for my daughter as she finishes H.S. and moves onto college. So, if you are wondering about this car with over 7 years on it, I think its held up very well. Definitely one to check out for a new driver.

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  worst civic ever made - 2001 Honda Civic
  By jason - November 1 - 8:22 pm

  I was very excited to buy and own this car brand new from dealer. it wasnt until about 85000 miles the problem started. I started to lose the overdrive over a period of 5 to 10 thousand miles. The transmission would shudder while transfering gears from 4th to overdrive lockup. The check engine light then appeared with 2 codes, 0740 tcc circuit lock up solenoid and a honda specific code related to the ELD unit in the fuse box. I brought to the dealer, after auto shop said they cant repair that trouble code. The dealer plainly says that i need a new transmission even though the car drove fine, outside of the overdrive failure. I waited 2 years trying to decide if i should spend 3000 dollars on something that honda should repair, or take a loss and trade or sell it. Just when i decided to have them replace the transmission because the car was still in great condition and low mileage another problem, which i found is another common problem occured. The instrument panel now fails and find out that it will cost about a 700 to 1000 or more to repair. After researching online about hondas since 2000, that they have become one of the top ten worst cars to own. I will never again buy a honda

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  pos - 2006 Honda Civic
  By jerry wienstein - October 30 - 7:49 pm

  Worst car I have ever owned , nothing but one failure after another and its only got 80,000 mi . Im not sure if Im going to fix anything more since the engine block could crack and render the car junkyard bound .

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  Honda Civic - 2015 Honda Civic
  By Honda Civic - October 29 - 8:58 pm

  Im very impressed with my civic! I give it a 5 star overall!!

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  Total dissapointment - 2005 Honda Civic
  By Nevermore - October 28 - 10:58 am

  I was expecting this car to last for many miles without major problems. It just recently reached 97,000 miles and the transmission is making noise. It turns out the final drive (aka differential) bearings are shot. Since this is deep in the transmission, the transmission essentially will need to be rebuilt at a cost of approximately $2600 if the final drive itself is not damaged. This car was conservatively driven and maintained meticulously and it is really upsetting that it now needs a major repair like this at a relatively moderate mileage. There has been no help from the dealer despite hat there is a little known transmission campaign from Honda offering help to owners with cars that have less than 115000 miles. It appears that the dealer refuses to put in any effort to look into this for me and gives me the impression they dont care. The other issue is the front brakes on this car do not last more than 12K miles. There is nothing apparently wrong with the braking system yet the brake pad wear out prematurely. This would be a great car if it would have lasted longer but it seems I could have done better with a less expensive car. Based on my experience, this model is highly overrated. Ill never buy another Honda again.

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  Perfect Car for High School Student - 2001 Honda Civic
  By Honda=Reliable - October 26 - 5:24 pm

  Im 16 and spent the entire summer looking at cars on TrueCar. When I turned 16, I got this car for my birthday. Honda is one of the car manufacturers that I trust. I havent had any issues with it. Its very practical. The trunk is larger compared to some big sedans. The rear seat can seat three people comfortably. The car gets 30 MPG. I love this car!

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  210,000 miles - 2008 Honda Civic
  By D - October 25 - 7:24 pm

  210,000 miles and still going strong, BUT mileage is down to 39 mpg and I have to keep replacing the rear tires do to a recall of the rear control arms years ago. The Honda tire warranty is horrible. I would not buy another one!!

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  Im Back in a Honda Again - 2015 Honda Civic
  By James - October 23 - 1:02 am

  Ive been through a lot of cars in my life, and Id love to recount them for you all, but theres a character limit here. Instead, let me just say that everything about this car meets or exceeds what I expected, aside from a few small things. The interior is huge, the car is gorgeous, the electronics are beyond what I expected, and the price is very reasonable for a low-end sedan. Im financing my new Civic, and I have it in "Honda commercial silver", but I already love it. Its smooth, comfortable and quiet. The stereo is great, and the velocity-based audio is a treat. Its getting 37mpg right now, but its not even broken in. Acceleration and braking are too smooth to be real, and slamming on the brakes or putting the pedal to the metal feel like youre barely changing speed. The smooth changing transmission is amazing for that. No jerky shifting in this auto. Im dropping about $400 a month on it, and when its paid off, Ill be happy about that. The seats are comfortable, the touch screen works well, and I would give it a "great" if it werent for the fact that only iPhones seem to mesh well. Still, bluetooth and USB work excellently with this car. Overall, a quiet, well-controlled environment inside, a beautiful exterior with the chrome bar in the front and the smooth styling, and for a sedan, its really sexy. There are some "bad" parts though. The trunk is relatively small, compared to say, a Hyundai Sonata, but thats more like a 4-banger Accord. Ultimately, Id much rather drive my Civic than a Sonata. The backup and right-turn cameras are awesome, but Im not sure I trust them yet. Im still really leery of both cameras. The little guide rails given are great, but I just cant hand myself over to the computer and camera and still find myself wrapping my right arm around the passenger seat to look out the back. The pillars in the back are atrociously huge and create giant blind spots, but thats where the right-turn camera comes into play. It really doesnt have the guts that the older Civics did, with its roughly 10 second 0-60, but it does still feel responsive, despite that. The ABS is strong and you never feel the jerky push-pull of older systems, and hitting curves feels just as simple as the 1995 version. All-manual seat adjustment is kinda sad for a car in this range, but its a tiny quibble, with the ability to raise and lower the seat being a new thing for me, even if I do have to do it manually. It also has a slightly wider turn radius than I expected, but still pretty nice. It also seems to attract bugs, maybe theyre turned on by the beauty of the front end, which is far better than model years newer and older. Overall, these minor issues are extremely minor, while the positives are huge. If you want a new car that will save you money on gas for a relatively low price, this is absolutely the way to go. Keep the eco on, drive the speed limit, and ignore the jerks who want to get to work a whole 3 minutes earlier. This is no beastly sports car, but if youre looking for that, youre in the wrong place. If you want something that wont cost you and arm and a leg to use, youve found it. Dont bother leasing this thing will keep its value far more than most cars. Its smooth, simple, efficient and fun to drive. There are so many things I like and so few I dont, give it a test drive at least before the 2016s ruin the look for you.

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  1st Honda, a bit of a disappointment - 2013 Honda Civic
  By Paul H - October 21 - 7:48 pm

  I bought my civic after quite a few Nissans and Toyotas, wanted a Toyota but could not get a stripped down Corolla with a manual transmission. My Civic started out good, but like other reviews the paint chips off quickly, after 2-1/2 years it looks like my Black Corolla did after about 8 years. Im on my third battery, I think there are plenty of reviews on here and the web about issues with batteries that the dealers just deny any issue, they run a load test on a known dead battery at the dealer and replace under warranty so I guess I am stuck buying a new battery every 8-10 months, and I drive 40 miles a day minimum. The car has developed numerous rattles that my Toyotas never had and a nice knocking sound out of the right rear strut, my Nissans had plenty of rattles and knocks but they were cheap. My brakes have developed a heavier pulsation and fade that the dealer says is normal, finding a good Honda dealer for service has been a challenge, I have found one but its a drive but they at least try to fix my problems. My steering wheel has rubbed and made a grinding sound since I got it, things have been replaced but it comes back after a few months so hopefully it doesnt end up being something that gets worse and causes an accident, the dealers dont seem to be to bothered they just tell me it should be fine until the warranty runs out. All in all the car is good out of the dealership but Im not sure it is going to hold up over time, I feel like a bought a VW, my car has been in the dealership more than my 10 year old Corolla in only 2-1/2 years. This may be the first car I get rid of, before it goes out of warranty, but I wanted a Civic and I liked the look of the car, I was planning to get an SI or an accord but I think I will look elsewhere for my next car. The 2012 received some bad reviews and I should have known better than to believe it was all related to the design of the car, I think Honda just doesnt build their cars like they used to and from my viewpoint they dont back them up very well through their dealerships either. One last thing, the fuel economy is all lies, the best I have got on mine is 33 highway, this car needs a 6th gear for a manual transmission, and my 27 mpg is real world driving in Southern California where you accelerate from one light to the next and idle for 45 seconds at each light.

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  honda civic coupe - 2015 Honda Civic
  By elise - October 21 - 6:28 am

  its a great car