Rep Power: 0

I have over 170,000 miles on my 13 year old Civic.. it was bought new in my family and eventually handed over to me.

We all followed the maintenance schedule religiously.. maintenance costs has averaged maybe $50 a month or less both recently and over its life (and this is using a mechanic instead of DIY.. compare that to the typical $200-$300 a month car payments.)

It's never left me stranded and has never had a major breakdown.

It still drives almost like when it was new.

I'm just wondering if I'm lucky or this is a typical experience for well maintained cars. Or it's also because it's a Honda.

Many of my friends with newer used cars with less miles than mine suffer from regular breakdowns and need to have the car towed to the shop every few months. They ask me why I still choose to drive my current car (which clearly looks like a beater with its numerous minor dents and blemishes but still drives like new.) I tell them it's been very inexpensive to drive, considering I've never had a car payment on it. They have a hard time believing it's so cheap to drive and automatically assume a car that old will require expensive maintenance.

This isn't to say that I could be facing a major breakdown sometime in the near future...

 
Rep Power: 189

Yeah old people or uneducated people often think an older car will start to crap out but it isn't true if the car is awesome like a 5th or 6th gen Civic.
My mother and my aunt keep wondering why I keep the car, I don't get it, it's drives like new. The body is well designed, and there isn't much electronics (compared to new cars) to go wrong and the drivetrain is solid, so there's not much to go wrong. Especially with no AC, manual windows, locks.


The only thing that is starting to wear out for mine is rear trailing arm bushings, but there is an updated part# (52385-S21-003)for those so I should get superior replacements if I ever replace them. Also the ignition switch is starting to wear out but it's only $36 to get a new one and Honda also made an updated part# (35130-S04-305)for that so it should last a long time after replacement.

So basically everything wrong with my car has been identified by Honda as sucky and they've taken care of those weak points. Well except for a few LEDs on the dashboard (climate control) that have burnt out, but I don't care about that. I turned down the brightness of the gauge cluster to help them last.
My one concern are the motors that move the ductwork flaps in the dashboard, if they ever get jammed by a twig or something, that might be a lot of work to get working again.


I question how long all the electronics in new cars will last. New cars with laptop screens for the gauge cluster and for the satnav..etc

 
Rep Power: 519

And certain people keep buying Chrysler products.

 
Rep Power: 0

My 99' EX has been going strong even after 200k miles and a relatively minor collision back around the 100k mile mark. Other than the suspension work I had done after the accident, all I ever had to regular maint.

I pretty much assume it's going to run forever.

 
Rep Power: 205

Yes. all 3

Mine's more like 110k but near as I can tell completely original except for the right CV axle. Doesn't burn/leak nothing but reg maintenance. I bought it just over 2 years ago and I believe it received it's regular maintenance from Honda. right up until I bought it.

It's 14 years old and people quite often comment that they thought it was 'new'. (Should see the look when you say it's 14 years old. )

but yeah, original clutch, head gasket, suspension, pretty impressive.

Saddest thing is the minute they are in an accident that's pretty much it.