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I am looking at getting a 2003 civic ex sedan for going back and forth to work. The car has just under 42,000 miles on it and has an automatic transmission. What I am wanting to know is how reliable this car will be in general ex: (motor, transmission). I will be putting over 100 miles on the car daily and don't want something I am going to have to worry about leaving me on the side of the road. Thanks.

 
Rep Power: 811

not very reliable considering the terrible rep the 01-05 autos have for breaking anywhere between 15k to 100k miles. its a big gamble.

 
Rep Power: 208

150,000 miles on mine, still shifts just like it did brand new

 
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So is it just a kind of hit and miss then since one says theirs is fine and another says they can fail after 15,000 miles? Are the transmissions the exact same in the cars or are there different transmissions and just the certain model is bad?

 
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i have a 02 civic lx which is relatively the same model and the reliability is AMAZING you have to try really hard to hurt these little hondas.

 
Rep Power: 208

generally speaking i would say the trannies are very reliable, however its impossible for me to tell you that the trannie in the car YOU are buying will be reliable, nobody here can tell you that, we have no idea how that car was driven or maintained

 
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I completely understand that. I was just asking in general for these year model cars because I have always thought that hondas were very reliable and some of the best out there but I have read several places that the 01 to 05 automatics were bad and it's just hard to believe that they made a faulty transmission for five straight years.

 
Rep Power: 811

wasnt just civics. look at the thousands of accords, crv, odyssey, acura that were recalled for trans problems. why the civic was left out i have no idea. the simple answer is, they dont make em like they used to. if you want a reliable honda buy an 80s or early 90s model. it will be more reliable than a brand new one.

 
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Are there people who have had problems with 2003 civics? Yes.
Does that include transmission problems? Yes.
Does every 2003 civic have a transmission problem? No.
Does every 7th gen civic have transmission problems? No.

gearbox is coming from the camp of having transmission problems with 7th gen civics and so do I. What can you do about it? Not sure.

Only thing I would recommend is test drive the car bone cold. If the tranny flares or slips AT ALLl with a cold engine/trans it's a huge warning sign. I have no suggestions on how to determine if the tranny is "good". It *can* be a crap shoot, but isn't an absolute.

I own a 2003 ex AT and would likely not buy one again. HTH.

 
Rep Power: 199

Not the norm. Mine had 142900 when I rebuilt it. It wasn't either, most had less than 100k and some less than 15 or 20. Even now that its right it is no wonder they aren't. The shift logic of this thing makes no sense....