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I know people tend to get mad about new car threads, but I used teh search function and did do some research on my own. Unfortunately, most sources out there are geared towards people like you, who know what they're talking about. I, however, do not. Nothing on the forum's search function either... so here goes.

I'm looking into getting my first civic here in a few months. My questions is that of teh older models (pre-2000 models) are there certain years I should avoid? I would like to think not, because I've heard nothing but praise for Honda's consistency and reliability, but you can never be too sure.

 
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All hondas are good. Usually the first year of a generation has a few issues- say like in the 01 the headlight harness needed to be replaced free of charge by Honda. As the generation progresses the panels fit better, and everything is worked out. When you jump to a new generation you get more features, more power, ect, but then again its a new platform and it has some things that still need to be worked out a little as the generation progresses. These are small things and arent really anything to worry about steering clear of a generation.

If you can, dig through some Consumer Reports archives. Every year they make an edition about what cars are most reliable and have the fewest problems, ect. Just look for the year your thinking about buying and compare it to the same model the few years before and after. I think for the 7th gens, 01-05's, the 03 was rated the best, but only slightly higher then the other models. They also provide some short comentary as to why the car got the ratings it did, and they are also good about comparing the current year to previous years.