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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  Great Car - 2003 Honda Civic
  By Maid Service Car - April 6 - 2:00 am

  After six months I can say I made no mistake buying this car. Lots of fun, not too childish, reliable, and a looker.

• 

  Will never buy another Honda!!! - 2001 Honda Civic
  By David Gray - April 6 - 2:00 am

  I have had several problems with this car. There are several rattles all thoughout the interior. When I told my dealer about this, he was suprised I only had five or six rattles. The dealer has yet to fix any of the rattles. The car comes equiped with Firestone tires. They are the worst tires ever made. Honda knows about this problem but refuses to change their OEM tire. If you do buy this car, make the dealer install different tires. The sticker says the car should get 32/37 MPG. I am lucky if I get 32MPG in mixed driving. The MPG number are overly optumistic. This is the third Honda I have. This will be the last one.

• 

  Best in class - 2005 Honda Civic
  By amelny - April 5 - 1:06 am

  This is the sixth Honda (3rd Civic) weve owned, and they just keep getting better, cheaper to maintain and more reliable as time goes on. This one is fun to drive, handles very well and has fit/finish of a car twice as expensive.

• 

  Rally/Sport yet economical hatchback - 2002 Honda Civic
  By Richa - April 4 - 10:00 am

  Want a car thats fun to drive, but need a functional back seat? Youve found it! The new iVtec teamed with the close ratio 5 speed gearbox and the short throw shifter make an awsome combination. The tight European tuned suspension make the car highly responsive and agressive in the turns. Yet, besides myself, I can put 3 Lacrosse players and gear in this thing. The SI handles as well as the RSX Type S. If you must have the 200hp w/6 speed, buy the RSX, or keep the 3K or so and get the SI and get the added economy, Im getting around 29 mpg and Im certainly not light on the gas pedal.

• 

  9000 mile summary - 2006 Honda Civic
  By John Marrs - April 3 - 9:30 pm

  The car averaged exactly 34.124 mpg in everyday driving for the first 5,000 miles, one trip of 640 miles revealed 36.47 mpg during the trip. It now has 9,000+ miles and seems to be getting better milage as it will now go 400 miles prior to fillups, approx 11 gallons. Lot of looks, lot of fun to drive, huge trunk, easy to clean, rides & handles better than expected, Quiet and comfortable. I rate it better than expected prior to purchase. Tried Prius, Corolla and found them lacking in some areas compared to Civic.

• 

  Simply great - 2008 Honda Civic
  By John - April 3 - 4:13 pm

  This is my 8th Honda since 88 and have to say the "best" With gas prices going nowhere but up, mileage is great. 30 mpg average city wise, and 40 for highway, cant beat that. Looks inside and out a A+++. Quiet on the highway, just cant beat this car.

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  Fun and practical - 2017 Honda Civic
  By Tim - April 3 - 2:54 am

  This car has been my daily driver during the hot Miami summer. Weve been a Honda family with an earlier Civic, Accords, CRV and an Acura RSX over the years. This is my first CVT and that took some getting used to, and it has a few times downshifted very roughly and felt jarring when in the worst stop-and-go traffic. Otherwise the ride is smooth. I mostly drive in ECO mode unless going on the highway or if I need full A/C. The A/C has done the job, though barely at times, and the climate control UI is one of the worst things about this vehicle, requiring a physical button to access a special touchscreen interface. Tinting this hatchback added some extra cost due to the spoiler placement. At this trim level, the electronics package, voice recognition and integration into the dash are excellent. I use Android Auto with Waze and Google Play Music. Android Auto is easy to control with voice commands and the touchscreen UI replaces the mediocre Honda UI. Integration is seamless as Waze adds dash directions under the speedometer and dims your audio to give alerts. The built-in Navi works fine but isnt nearly as practical, it lacks the real-time updates from a social app like Waze and can lead you right into a traffic jam. As for audio, the low end felt weak and I added a 10 subwoofer in the trunk, an amp and a sub volume control knob using an unoccupied panel to the left of the steering wheel. The rest of the sound system holds up fine and the interior doesnt rattle from bass. I also swapped the headlights and interior bulbs with LEDs, which I highly recommend for night visibility. The back seat fits my two child seats just fine, though youll have to duck a bit to actually strap kids in, and youll want a cover for the back of your front seats from those little feet. Overall this is a great car that I plan to keep for a long time.

• 

  Fun and practical - 2017 Honda Civic
  By Tim - April 3 - 2:54 am

  This car has been my daily driver during the hot Miami summer. Weve been a Honda family with an earlier Civic, Accords, CRV and an Acura RSX over the years. This is my first CVT and that took some getting used to, and it has a few times downshifted very roughly and felt jarring when in the worst stop-and-go traffic. Otherwise the ride is smooth. I mostly drive in ECO mode unless going on the highway or if I need full A/C. The A/C has done the job, though barely at times, and the climate control UI is one of the worst things about this vehicle, requiring a physical button to access a special touchscreen interface. Tinting this hatchback added some extra cost due to the spoiler placement. At this trim level, the electronics package, voice recognition and integration into the dash are excellent. I use Android Auto with Waze and Google Play Music. Android Auto is easy to control with voice commands and the touchscreen UI replaces the mediocre Honda UI. Integration is seamless as Waze adds dash directions under the speedometer and dims your audio to give alerts. The built-in Navi works fine but isnt nearly as practical, it lacks the real-time updates from a social app like Waze and can lead you right into a traffic jam. As for audio, the low end felt weak and I added a 10 subwoofer in the trunk, an amp and a sub volume control knob using an unoccupied panel to the left of the steering wheel. The rest of the sound system holds up fine and the interior doesnt rattle from bass. I also swapped the headlights and interior bulbs with LEDs, which I highly recommend for night visibility. The back seat fits my two child seats just fine, though youll have to duck a bit to actually strap kids in, and youll want a cover for the back of your front seats from those little feet. Overall this is a great car that I plan to keep for a long time.

• 

  Fun and practical - 2017 Honda Civic
  By Tim - April 3 - 2:54 am

  This car has been my daily driver during the hot Miami summer. Weve been a Honda family with an earlier Civic, Accords, CRV and an Acura RSX over the years. This is my first CVT and that took some getting used to, and it has a few times downshifted very roughly and felt jarring when in the worst stop-and-go traffic. Otherwise the ride is smooth. I mostly drive in ECO mode unless going on the highway or if I need full A/C. The A/C has done the job, though barely at times, and the climate control UI is one of the worst things about this vehicle, requiring a physical button to access a special touchscreen interface. Tinting this hatchback added some extra cost due to the spoiler placement. At this trim level, the electronics package, voice recognition and integration into the dash are excellent. I use Android Auto with Waze and Google Play Music. Android Auto is easy to control with voice commands and the touchscreen UI replaces the mediocre Honda UI. Integration is seamless as Waze adds dash directions under the speedometer and dims your audio to give alerts. The built-in Navi works fine but isnt nearly as practical, it lacks the real-time updates from a social app like Waze and can lead you right into a traffic jam. As for audio, the low end felt weak and I added a 10 subwoofer in the trunk, an amp and a sub volume control knob using an unoccupied panel to the left of the steering wheel. The rest of the sound system holds up fine and the interior doesnt rattle from bass. I also swapped the headlights and interior bulbs with LEDs, which I highly recommend for night visibility. The back seat fits my two child seats just fine, though youll have to duck a bit to actually strap kids in, and youll want a cover for the back of your front seats from those little feet. Overall this is a great car that I plan to keep for a long time.

• 

  This car is AWESOME - 1991 Honda Civic
  By jenny - April 3 - 2:00 am

  For a single person with no children, and someone living in a city where parking is an issue, and for someone who moves a lot, this car is the best. Its fast, its small, it gets great mileage, and its totally fun to drive! I drove it up and down from San Francisco to Los Angeles dozens of times in the last 10 years, and I just feel there is no better car. As small as this car is, I can fit 4 large adults very comfortably, and 5 medium-sized adults without too much of a problem. Ive lugged tons of stuff, because the hatchback gives you a lot of space to store stuff. Also, the cloth interior after 11 years still looks like new. Finally, I can get up to 30-32 mpg.