[jayanttalwar]

Love the Audio setup and the neatness of the install. How does the subwoofer placement do, I plan to do something similar but worried that it will cause a dip in sound quality. Music systems for me are the first Mod in a car!

[RunSam]

Hi Ajay,
I have been following your thread since you bought the Civic and it has been super informative! so I just want to say thanks a ton, your thread motivated to buy a well maintained Civic myself.

I picked up my first car, a 2010 white VMT from a family friend a month ago, and I've been enjoying the ownership experience so far. I've driven a ton of Civics my friends owned over the last decade and I've always wanted to own one myself. I've done a coupe of small drives, ECR multiple times, Pondy once and I have an upcoming trip to Kodai.

The car has been immaculately maintained (mechanically) over the past 12 years, with everything up to date (fully serviced at Ignite with Mr. Raghav), even the steering rack and box was changed in September 2021, however there is still a sound that comes on full lock, and while going above 4000RPM. I took it back to Ignite but unfortunately Raghav said he has done everything possible with the car, and post this, I only have to go to Honda as only they can properly assess and diagnose the sound.

I contacted Jai Prakash after reading your thread but then realized that his workshop is on the other end of town. The steering sound doesn't concern me that much as it is very minimal as of now, but the other sound while going above 3-4K RPM sounds like an unpleasant whine, sort of like a supercharger, but unpleasant.

Attaching a few pictures of my car below.










Here is the invoice of the last service in September 2021 done by the previous owner

[Frenchman india]

Hello, on Honda VTEC engines, the sound can come from a lot of things. If it occurs high in the rpm, it can be a clogged VTEC actuator. But it can come from many other things like the air conditioning compressor. The best is to record this noise.

[samee_arian]

Wow. What a lovely car. Doesn't look it is a 12 year old vehicle.

I also ended up buying a 10 year old Honda City in February in white color and have already done a trip to Mumbai from Bangalore and another one to Hyderabad in past couple of months. I was wondering if a decade old car performs so well, how would the new ones be. A few days after buying the car I came to know that one of my society residents sold his 14 year Honda Civic, wish I had known it earlier, would have surely opted for it. His wife still misses the feel and comfort of Civic although they have moved to a top end KIA Carens. Such is the comfort and feel of Civic.

Congratulations on your purchase and I hope you have lovely ownership experience.

[josephilip]

The car looks very clean. I myself own a 2008 honda civic V manual. And it's my first car. I am 19 now. The only thing i am struggling with is the petrol consumption. It's not very efficient especially in my traffic filled roads.
The civic is not a very cheap car to maintain. Our 2017 City petrol manual is way cheaper to maintain. Parts are also hard to come by.
The supercharger whine noise is most probably from the steering pump. It is a very common problem. The steering system is the weakest part of the whole car. There is a steering fluid reservoir under the hood. Topping it up reduced the sound by a very huge margin in my car. It should reduce yours too.
It's a wonderful car to drive. The chassis is very stable and the suspension is really plush. Doing long miles on this is pure bliss. My family loves the comfort of this car.
Occassion I struggle with the low ground clearance as my parents are in the hilly regions. But I've learnt to choose lines properly now.
Have a good one RunSam. Best of the luck with it. Wishing you happy miles.

[NTO]

Originally Posted by RunSam

Hi Ajay,
I have been following your thread since you bought the Civic and it has been super informative! so I just want to say thanks a ton, your thread motivated to buy a well maintained Civic myself.

The steering sound doesn't concern me that much as it is very minimal as of now, but the other sound while going above 3-4K RPM sounds like an unpleasant whine, sort of like a supercharger, but unpleasant.

Thank you for your kind words. Civic has become an integral part of our family and we are planning for a permanent parking spot for the car if there comes a day when we are not allowed to drive it anymore legally.

Originally Posted by josephilip

The supercharger whine noise is most probably from the steering pump. It is a very common problem.

Very true, the supercharger like whine is from the steering pump. Ask Raghav or Jai Prakash to flush the power steering oil and refill it with new. This should solve the issue and keep a litre of the steering oil in the trunk. Top it up whenever you hear the sound again. As long as there is no significant leak in the lines, the fluid levels will dip once in 3 - 4 months.

Another quick knack to avoid over consumption of the steering fluid is to avoid turning the steering to the full extremes. Try to give sufficient space and make U-turns with 3/4th of the steering turn.

The steering, though one of the most communicative units, is one of the weakest links of the car. Many Civic owners learned to live with the issues that show up a couple of days a year and enjoy the car for the rest of the days!

Wishing you many more happy miles in your white beauty. PM me if you would like to catch up with our Civics.

[RunSam]

Thanks Ajay, I will try this. I'm trying my best to avoid full lock on the steering, even if it means going forward and backward an extra time while parking.

What power steering oil are you using? I can't find the OEM Honda oil anywhere? can you please recommend something?

After experiencing the hydraulic unit on the Civic, every other car I drive now feels very disconnected and slightly weird

Catching up with our Civics seems like a fun idea! we should do that sometime. I will PM you my phone number and we can connect.

[creative420]

The following questions are directed to all the Civic owners on this thread:

1. Would you guys recommend 2008-2011 models to be picked up from used market?
2. Have y'all contemplated putting a CNG tank in it? If done already, share experience. If no, share your opinion nonetheless.
3. Parts sourcing, is this a big biggie or a no biggie or a somewhat biggie?

Asking this for my cousin who's looking for a lateral jump from his ageing 2007 Alto. He doesn't want to part way with too much money due to few expenses on the horizon. He's looking to experiment with 2-3L for the next 2-3 years with 1 odd lakh as servicing/repair/maintenance amount.

His other choice is Corolla. Again around 2008-2011 models. CNG tank will be fitted as his weekly travel is around 400kms.

[Mustafa852]

Originally Posted by creative420

The following questions are directed to all the Civic owners on this thread:

1. Would you guys recommend 2008-2011 models to be picked up from used market?
2. Have y'all contemplated putting a CNG tank in it? If done already, share experience. If no, share your opinion nonetheless.
3. Parts sourcing, is this a big biggie or a no biggie or a somewhat biggie?

Hi, i own a 2007 Civic VMT. I suggest you to go for a 2011 or above model with less KMS on the odo.

2) Never install a CNG kit on this beauty! it will end up destroying your engine. Honda's R18 engine was designed to deliver good FE. Maintain it properly and it'll return good numbers.

3) You can directly place order for parts at the dealership and they are obliged to give you all the spares. There's a government order regarding this. But you need to have some patience as they take 1-2 weeks to deliver.

[OctyBoy]

I was looking to pick up a replacement car for my father’s Palio (since its older than 15 years and not pliable in Delhi). I’ve set up a budget of about 15 lakhs and was looking at the City as a pretty reliable and safe fill it, shut it, forget it kind of car (we’ve a trust factor in Honda and don’t want to try other brands or even for the matter of fact Elevate, so please don’t suggest any other cars). However, a few days ago while in conversation with one of my friends he told me to have a look at 2019-20 Civics which seemed in pretty good condition. Although it would lose out on features compared to City like ADAS but the highway stability as well as structural stability of Civic would be much better IMHO. So I just wanted to ask fellow bhpians would it be a wise decision to go ahead with a discontinued and used car such as Civic or go for a new City (I am looking for longterm ownership of about 10 years until we’d be getting some good mainstream EV choices)

The few pieces I saw are as detailed below:

1) 2020 ZX CVT, 32000 km, 3rd owner asking 16 lakhs
2) 2019 ZX CVT, 63000 km, 1st owner asking 15 lakhs
3) 2020 ZX CVT, 48000 km, 2nd owner asking 15.5 lakhs

How much should I be looking for shelling out for these models provided I do decide to go for the Civic?

[Old Dude]

As an owner of a 2009 ( pre-facelift) Civic since 2012, here are my few observations after using the Civic for past 11+ years.

1) I bought this 2009 Feb registered Civic VMT in 2012, when it had 23000 KM on board, with full service records at the dealership.

2) Now completing 15 years ( and getting ready for registration renewal next week), it’s done 135000 KM, Zero breakdown and still puts a smile on my face every time I drive this one. ( I also have a 2023 Skoda Kodiaq, and still love the driving pleasure the Civic offers)

3) I have always serviced at the Honda dealership at the prescribed 6 month intervals, every single part replaced ever are genuine Honda parts EXCEPT for the AC Clutch Magnet ( Used to disengage after 15-20 mins of cooling, dealership said they haven’t change the entire compressor assembly, got the magnet alone replaced for Rs.3500) about two years back.

4) The car is super reliable, if maintained well. I don’t think twice before taking it on a 1500KM road trip ( I do Bangalore - Trivandrum drives twice a year)

5) Ground clearance is an issue with 4/5 people on board and boot full of luggage. Post face lift (2009 Oct) Civics have this addressed to some extent.

6) Low end torque is not very good, however adding Armorol Ultra Nano Lube and their compression booster to engine oil has improved this considerably and made the engine smoother.

5) Engine mounts do tend to give up ( replaced twice already - with Genuine Honda parts only)

6) Power steering pump tends to develop leaks at around the 1L KM mark - Replaced full set including rack assembly for about Rs. 1.8L from Honda.

7) Replaced front shock absorbers at around 90K kms.

8) Replaced clutch assembly twice - at around 40K and 85 K Kms.

9) Parts availability with Honda is not an issue so far - if not regular wear and tear item, takes about 2 weeks for the dealer to arrange.

In conclusion, the Civic is a beautiful car that will last a very long time if taken care of with periodic service, oil change and changing wear and tear parts. I’m going to keep this for as long as the Government allows me to.

[rosh_aveo1.4]

Damn...you might be the only one who changed the entire steering rack assembly at that price considering the current value of the car. But if you want peace of mind and plan to hold on to this beauty, then nothing like it. This power steering rack was an issue for all Honda cars in that generation (had the same issue for both my Civic and CR-V)

For the ground clearance, I recall my Tyre guy asking to increase the width without changing the profile (just 10 mm if I recall) and never scrapped any of the big humps unlike earlier days. How much did the shock absorbers cost?

Originally Posted by Old Dude

As an owner of a 2009 ( pre-facelift) Civic since 2012, here are my few observations after using the Civic for past 11+ years.

5) Ground clearance is an issue with 4/5 people on board and boot full of luggage. Post face lift (2009 Oct) Civics have this addressed to some extent.

6) Power steering pump tends to develop leaks at around the 1L KM mark - Replaced full set including rack assembly for about Rs. 1.8L from Honda.

7) Replaced front shock absorbers at around 90K kms.

8) Replaced clutch assembly twice - at around 40K and 85 K Kms.

[Old Dude]

Originally Posted by rosh_aveo1.4

Damn...you might be the only one who changed the entire steering rack assembly at that price considering the current value of the car. But if you want peace of mind and plan to hold on to this beauty, then nothing like it. This power steering rack was an issue for all Honda cars in that generation (had the same issue for both my Civic and CR-V)

For the ground clearance, I recall my Tyre guy asking to increase the width without changing the profile (just 10 mm if I recall) and never scrapped any of the big humps unlike earlier days. How much did the shock absorbers cost?

To be honest, I do regret my decision to spend that much and change the entire steering rack assembly and pump - not for the money part, but the ordeal at the ASS and end result that is less than perfect - the issue I was facing was small leak ( having to top up power steering fluid every 3 to 4 weeks or so) and some grinding noise while turning the steering - audible only at near stopped and full turn condition like pulling into / out of a parking slot.

After Honda ASS changed the steering rack assembly and Pump, I noticed there was a severe left pull while doing the test drive. The ASS checked alignment and found nothing wrong there. Since the car was tracking perfect straight before replacing the rack, they came to the conclusion it’s a faulty rack - which they ordered for another new set. Two weeks later, the new rack assembly was installed and same problem again. They then blamed the tyres I had ( which were a new set of Continental UC6, changed just a month before and had hardly done 2000 km ) - to prove they swapped the wheels (tyres included) with another Civic that came for service where in the left pull was still there, but to much lesser extent. I refused to buy this argument as the car was tracking dead straight prior to the rack change. After much R&D, finally found one of the tyres was assembled wrong ( side wall that is supposed to face outward was facing inwards) - corrected this and 80-85% of the left pull went away, but 15% still remains. No amount of wheel alignment was able to fix this. It was already 3 + weeks, that I finally took delivery of the car and started using it.

Now 18 months and 8000 km later, the slight left pull still persist, and the grinding noise from the rack while turning at standstill / very slow speeds is now back, though not as severe. No leakage so far.

[KPenthu]

Originally Posted by rosh_aveo1.4

Damn...you might be the only one who changed the entire steering rack assembly at that price considering the current value of the car. But if you want peace of mind and plan to hold on to this beauty, then nothing like it. This power steering rack was an issue for all Honda cars in that generation (had the same issue for both my Civic and CR-V)

I own 2009 Civic Automatic bought new. Never had any issue with power steering in my almost 15 years of owning it. I might be just lucky as you mentioned all Honda in that generation had issue

[KPenthu]

Originally Posted by Old Dude

6) Low end torque is not very good, however adding Armorol Ultra Nano Lube and their compression booster to engine oil has improved this considerably and made the engine smoother.
.

Is it really noticeable difference? Do you add it after every oil change?