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A friend has a 2002 Civic. The car is 8 years old and had 45,000 miles. The car belongs to an older lady and is not abused.
The owner's manual say 110,000 miles or 7 years to change the timing belt.

Since the car is low mileage I was hoping there are some Honda mechanics on here that would know if it is reasonably safe to let the belt go longer and if so how much longer. I have told her she could be in for some big bucks if it breaks while she is driving.

I have changed a lot of timing belts and I know the first sign that the belt is bad is cracking or separation at the base of the driven side of the teeth. But you need to take the belt off and turn it inside out to get a good look at it. If you do this it would be stupid not to put a new belt back on.

Does anyone have some good information on the change interval question?
Thanks.

 
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Well judging from the 110,000 mile mark, I got around 117,000 before mine snapped. So Honda is pretty reliable on the intervals, I would take the age fairly serious as well. Just to be safe, I probably wouldn't go more than 9 years.

 
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How old was the belt when it broke and did it do any damage? Did it break while driving or when you went to start it?