I've read a few threads and my god.. Some people make me feel like my car is going to blow up when I go out and drive it next time.

Whats the big problem? Is the D17 a bad motor? Does the manual trans blow? I thought this trans was 10X better than the Mustang T-45 slushbox.

Pretty much.. Whats so bad about the car reliability wise? I mean, the power issue is NO reason why I'm bringing this up. Its a Civic.

the auto trans is garbage, and alternator doesn't last long. check the problems forum and you'll quickly realize everything.

There's nothing "wrong" with the D17... and there's nothing "wrong" with the new model trannies.

Your car will run forever if you want it to... the only reason people hate the D17 platform is because it lacks in the HP department.

EDIT: My 2003 tranny has almost 100k on it and I've never had one single problem. I have yet to change my tranny fluid and I kick the **** out of it daily.
btw I'm changing my tranny fluid this week

Responses like this make me feel a helluva lot better

Nice bike BTW.

Also, I'm surprised by the bad Auto trans.. But most of the members here I doubt have that problem. Alternator wise... I'm running a JL System off it and have yet to have a problem. So I dunno, I guess in due time. Alternator is an easy fix anyways.

Its not really a "bolt and play" engine. Its more like a "leave me the F*ck alone and ill treat you good" engine.

people hate what they don't understand

I've had my car for three years and not a single problem "knock on wood"

Yep, i had an 02 EX that ran just fine. then i traded up to an 04 and things are still going good. it's true what TransformedBG says. that damned d17 won't play if you add mods. just leave it alone, and it'll run 4ever.

nothing is wrong with my ride...engine and transmission are great!!! almost 1 year now of driving and its still like day 1.

The problem is I believe Honda f*cked up with this car. Yeah, it's great on gas, but I've had so many problems with this car from a tranny going at 20,000 then 2 blown headgaskets back to back within 6 months. The automatic trannies are horrible and I don't drive like a stole it. I have since taken off my intake right after the tranny went. I'm at 60,000 now and I've probably put about 8 g's in repairs over the time I've had it, not including the regular maintanence. Let's just say this car won't be around for much longer and it WILL be my last Honda unless they prove their reputation down the line.

auto trannies are bad due to the compact transmission size and poor cooling system. my tranny sometimes kick under 20mph only when the car is warmed up. besides the tranny kicking thats it, nothing is "broken". there are rattles and loose seats the 01-02 deals with and there are poor weather seals panel alignment issues in 04-05. reports also show that all manual trannies grind in 2-3rd gears every once in awhile. all in all... the civic is still ranked pretty high in reliability compared to other cars.

my auto hardly ever kicks now since i added "trans cool" additive into the atf. its suppose to help with cooling.

most trash talk is on the is based on the lack of tunability of the d17 compared to the d16. the d16 with boltons still produced less power to the wheels compared tot he d17. it only shows you that honda has already tuned as much as they could out of the d17. hence the ending of the d series engine. as i see it.

Ouch...

This thread hurts! I LOVE HONDA with a passion! And will for quite some time!

I'v had very little problems with my 02 EX! (other then operator errors)

PS: I'v never driven the auto's but have heard some CRAZY stories...(I bought the 5-speed!)

I think the people that own 5-speeds tend to be happier with their civics more than people with autos. Whether that's b/c the automatic Honda used sucks I can't say. That's just my obeservation from the threads I've read

So let me get this straight.. The negativity is because the motor isn't competing with a B16 for power?

Don't you think they made these cars the way they did so cars like the Acura RSX and Type-S would have a reason to be bought?

Honda fully admits to going towards a more economic trend when the 7th gen was released. Its what was demanded at the time.

I love this little car.. I had a 1997 T-Bird 4.6L (had exhaust, torque converter, shift kit, pulleys, chip, full suspension, wheels/tires, etc.) for my last car that could wax pretty much any Civic and Si, but I still like this car MORE.

Its better looking , handles better, and is a LOT more fun to drive! Even if it has nearly 120 HP less.

John, nicely put. it wasnt built to be a performance car, its an freakin economy car. its a kids first car. its not supposed to be the greatest thing in the world. its a damn car. goes from point a to point b, thats it. deal with it. i bought mine for one reason, TO SAVE ON GAS for not driving my pickup everyday, and it serves that purpose.

i love the car, dont get me wrong and have over 50 mods on it but you also have to realize it has its problems. but then again so does every other car. be glad you dont have a focus.

Word..

Mine is gonna be my daily 4Ever.. I don't EVER plan to get rid of this car, because when I get my REAL car, I'm gonna have this one to truck my *** to and from work everyday.

my 04's tranny had 47k miles on it, in 2 years, and i needed an input shaft bearing. I drove it normally off the track, and autocrossed 7 events.

The problem is that the car is made for "normal" people to drive it, ie. drive it like a grandma and such. That's why in the manuals there are cheap plastic bearing cages, as well as cheap plastic parts in the autos as well. Notice how I italicized cheap, this is because I know that almost every other company uses plastic parts in their trannies, i was just saying that in the 7thgen's they were of a cheaper quality.

Don't get me wrong, they are good cars, probably the best economy cars of their time (01-05), it's just that there are a few problems that can be had with them, and since most of the people on this website are more of the "enthusiast" type (think of how many older people you see everyday driving civics, they probably aren't on here, well besides TINMAN and pon55 ), and we most likely drive our cars harder than the average civic driver, therefore accentuating the fact that there are problems.

Besides, if you have tranny problems, or engine problems, go buy a used one from a junk yard for a few hundred dollars (they usually have like 6 month warranties), and throw that in. problem solved for another 50k miles or so.

i've had no problems for over two years....nothing wrong with the em2!

as a daily driver, the car should last forever.... it's not a sports car, dont race it everyday.... thats it. For normal transporation and if you can live with the slight lack of power, the Civic is a solid investment. I had my car for 3.5 years and never had a problem that I cant fix in 10 minutes.

yeah, in most cases cars are liabilities, meaning you lose money on them. in my case, my tranny had some problems, i started looking around for a new car, and was offered trade in values higher than what i paid for the car when it was new, two years and 47k miles prior.

if that wasn't the case, i would have kept that car and put a new tranny in it (the junkyard has had an 04 lx manual tranny sitting there for $350 with 4k miles on it for about 6 months now.)

Just buy an Acura EL...their made better lol.

ok.. see.. some of u say its ok.. some say,, a cars performance and raeliability really depends on 1 when it was made 2 the way you maintain it and 3 how u freaking drive it.. get it? so lets say after 20k miles head gasket blows up on car A .. and Car b didnt.. my point is.. not all civic ( even same model. same manufacture date) are not the same.. NOTHING IS PERFECT.. And U can Never Do something EXACTLY the same as the others.. Theres Always something diffrent.. u might not see it.. it may look exactly the same> BUT its NOT. . and like what they say.. a civic is not a performance car.. its an economy car.. and it is made the way it is. so if u change somthing.. like mods and stuff.. u have to expect some negative results.. so if ur having problems with your car. dont blame honda.thats why is says on the manual DO NOT DO MODS ON THE CAR LEAVE ALONE YOU F***FACE. and thats what the warranties are for.. coz they know that not all cars they make are 100% reliable. . .

The average Civic buyer is a 37-year-old woman and, with the exception of the Si, Civics are made for their average buyer.

When people drive the cars like they're track-prepared racers, things are bound to go wrong.

If you treat your car well, it will treat you well. If you abuse it, it will break.

And sure, there are exceptions where the company will turn out an absolute lemon, but for the most part, breakage is a result of abuse.

Yeah, you should note these are assembled in this country, and american workers suck. Honda's got some good operations, but a few bad apples could slip through. And, yeah there is a common problem with the auto tranny, when I went to buy mine I saw bad reviews about it everywhere. I was going for a 5 speed anyways so didnt bother me. I really hope mine will end up being a good car, because I went through loads of crap to fix just to keep my last american car running. But, im betting if you have some unusual problems on your car thats just a complete failure, and you wrote honda and complained about it they may cover it. If they know whats good for them theyll cover their failures with good customer service. Overall if you want real japense quality you gotta buy the pricier models still made in japan.

I like that car!

nothings wrong with the car, its the driver and the way they drive the car. if you maintain keep your car in good condition itll last. mine has 100k and is doing just fine.

keep in mind, all you read about is the problems that people have. however, what you dont see is the thousands of posts that aren't made every day by people who start and drive their car with absolutely no problem.

so of course it looks like the car has all these problems, when it really doesn't. people don't post a thread and go "well my car ran fine today, no problems".

Also, from a numbers standpoint, of problems per vehicle, the civic actually is very good as are all of Honda's vehicles. the ppv on the civic is somewhere around 6 or 7 for every 100 vehicles.

ORLY?

http://www.7thgencivic.com/forums/sh....php?p=3839056