Honda Civic Forum - My 7th Gen 1 year anniversary

As I approach my first anniversary with my 2001 (LX 5sp 4D) its a good time to update my experience. I think my experience is typical of what others can expect for Civics of similar condition and in similar climates. I am not a genius or a mechanic. Just a regular guy with a mostly basic set of tools.
Civic from the original owner with 156k miles. Dealer performed a timing belt at 125k miles. I verified the service history at the dealership.

Attachment 90830

Here is my list of parts so far:
Lower ball joints
Wheel bearings
Struts - front
Window regulator - 2, left side
Camshaft position sensor (repair)
Thermostat
Fan switch
Brake rotors
Brake pads
Brake shoes
Tires 4
Clutch master cylinder
Clutch slave cylinder
Spark plugs
AC belt
Cylinder cover gasket
Headliner
Headlight bulbs
Oxygen sensor
Motor mounts - 2

Most of this was maintenance but the cam position sensor, front wheel bearings and window regulators are the parts I consider repairs.

DIY: I did all the work myself. I am not an island, I had the help of this forum and youtube videos. I borrowed tools from friends, too! But if you prepare by reading the Honda repair manual, SEARCH this forum and watch how others do it on youtube, you can gather the tools and supplies you need to do everything I have done this past year. ALWAYS use jackstands!
I paid for a 4 wheel alignment ($79), shop fees for pressing in new bearings and wheel lug studs ($40 each knuckle).

GAS Mileage: I've been getting 32-33 mpg on winter blend regular gas. I was getting 34-35 last summer, hopefully the same or better this summer. I took one 2 hour road trip up the eastern shore of Virginia and saw 38mpg!

FLUIDS: Use Honda coolant, power steering and transmission fluid. I drained and filled the cooling system, transmission, power steering and bled all new brake fluid.
Clutch fluid: If you replace the master or slave cylinder I needed a vacuum bleeder to successfully bleed my clutch.

Front brake rotors. I initially used some very low cost rotors from Rockauto. They warped over a 10k mile period. I recently replaced them with ProStops from Pepboys. So far so good. LESSON: Buy quality parts!

Engine/ tranny mounts and fresh bushings in the front suspension have made a big difference. (lower control arms, sway bar end links). It seemed to me that the motor was moving a little bit, but I couldn't really test the mounts by myself. When I removed the old ones and compared to the new ones, I couldn't tell much difference. As soon as I drove it I could tell though!

The clutch worked fine but the pedal felt really soft, replacing the master & slave cylinders made a big difference in clutch feel.

Primary O2 sensor and spark plugs. Use the OEM parts, even if you buy them directly from Denso or NGK. These make a big difference in how your engine runs and the gas mileage you will get.

Headliner was easy and only cost me a Saturday afternoon and $42. But the interior looks so much better without that sagging headliner!

Feel free to PM me if you have a question. Thanks for all the posts and info you've provided, they really helped me a lot!

I bought my tires from Costco.com and had them shipped and installed at my local warehouse. Michelin brand. I know Costco & Sam's have closeouts, but I don't care. They are quality tires and the ride is great, grip in wet is good and the price was great.

I'd buy all my parts from Honda if I could afford to... can't beat the quality.

Summary: when looking at the list of parts some may wonder why I'd put that much into a 2001 car? I was driving a later model car with a V6. I paid quite a bit more for insurance, property taxes and have increased my mpg by about 33% with the Civic. Odds are very high I won't have to replace anything already in the list above for 5 years. I'll be pretty far ahead of the game by September (knock on wood)!

-Brian