The engine was replaced about a year ago (cracked engine block at 70,000 miles) and in the last year I'd put a little over 30,000 miles on the new engine. I was sitting in a parking lot with the car running when all of a sudden it sounded like it was choking and wanting to die. It seemed to drive just fine at high speeds but anything under 30 mph (under 1000 rpms) it sounded like it was going to die. It didn't die and it didn't give me any check engine lights so I drove it home. My husband figured it needed new spark plugs because when he looked at them they appeared "burnt". It drove great the next day but on the second day the problem returned only this time it did give me the check engine light. I took it in and the code said it needed the "coil pack" replaced. I had that replaced and it drove great for 2 days that time.
Then I noticed it seemed to "jolt" every once in awhile when I was going at high speeds. This was weird because the previous problem was only when I was going at low speeds. The car gave me no codes but I noticed I went from getting 38 miles per gallon to only 30. Since the new engine the lowest I'd ever gotten was 35 miles per gallon. I took it into my local Honda dealership and told them my problems. They drove it around with it plugged into their computer and they told me nothing was wrong with it. They said it only misfired "4 times" which is completely normal for my car. They said the reason it was probably getting bad gas mileage was because it's winter and everyone gets bad gas mileage during the winter. So I assumed my car was great.
One week later and I'm driving in town and at a stop sign the car once again starts jolting and sounding like it was going to die. We were able to get it on the freeway thinking we could reach the nearest Honda shop. On the freeway going up a steep hill (around 60 miles per hour) the car suddenly wouldn't accelerate anymore and the engine light was FLASHING (That usually means it's something serious). We had no choice but to pull over and we shut off the car. We called a tow truck and while we were waiting my husband restarted the car and the engine light was gone and the car sounded fine. He wanted to drive 2 miles down the road to the Honda shop but I was scared it was something serious so we waited for the tow truck. Honda called me the next day and said they could find NOTHING WRONG WITH MY CAR. They said the codes didn't even save when the check engine light came on!!! They kept my car for another 2 days and drove it off and on all day up hills, down hills, on the freeway, let it run in the parking lot for 3 hours a day and NOTHING HAPPENED!!! They said that my car was perfect!
This had been the 10th or 11th time I'd had a problem with the car so we told them we wanted to trade it in. I didn't want to wait until the next time it had a problem. They tried to give us $7,000 for trade in since "we both knew something was wrong with it" but I told them they couldn't find anything wrong with it and they were the second Honda shop to tell me that so eventually they gave me full trade in value which was a little over $8,000.
If you have this car please just get rid of it! Mine never ran longer then 5 months with out having some mechanical problems. I leased a brand new Civic for 3 years for $180 a month (with $3,000 down). Unless this new Civic is PERFECT I will be giving it back in 3 years and never buying a Honda again.
A D V E R T I S E M E N T S
The engine was replaced about a year ago (cracked engine block at 70,000 miles) and in the last year I'd put a little over 30,000 miles on the new engine. I was sitting in a parking lot with the car running when all of a sudden it sounded like it was choking and wanting to die. It seemed to drive just fine at high speeds but anything under 30 mph (under 1000 rpms) it sounded like it was going to die. It didn't die and it didn't give me any check engine lights so I drove it home. My husband figured it needed new spark plugs because when he looked at them they appeared "burnt". It drove great the next day but on the second day the problem returned only this time it did give me the check engine light. I took it in and the code said it needed the "coil pack" replaced. I had that replaced and it drove great for 2 days that time.
Then I noticed it seemed to "jolt" every once in awhile when I was going at high speeds. This was weird because the previous problem was only when I was going at low speeds. The car gave me no codes but I noticed I went from getting 38 miles per gallon to only 30. Since the new engine the lowest I'd ever gotten was 35 miles per gallon. I took it into my local Honda dealership and told them my problems. They drove it around with it plugged into their computer and they told me nothing was wrong with it. They said it only misfired "4 times" which is completely normal for my car. They said the reason it was probably getting bad gas mileage was because it's winter and everyone gets bad gas mileage during the winter. So I assumed my car was great.
One week later and I'm driving in town and at a stop sign the car once again starts jolting and sounding like it was going to die. We were able to get it on the freeway thinking we could reach the nearest Honda shop. On the freeway going up a steep hill (around 60 miles per hour) the car suddenly wouldn't accelerate anymore and the engine light was FLASHING (That usually means it's something serious). We had no choice but to pull over and we shut off the car. We called a tow truck and while we were waiting my husband restarted the car and the engine light was gone and the car sounded fine. He wanted to drive 2 miles down the road to the Honda shop but I was scared it was something serious so we waited for the tow truck. Honda called me the next day and said they could find NOTHING WRONG WITH MY CAR. They said the codes didn't even save when the check engine light came on!!! They kept my car for another 2 days and drove it off and on all day up hills, down hills, on the freeway, let it run in the parking lot for 3 hours a day and NOTHING HAPPENED!!! They said that my car was perfect!
This had been the 10th or 11th time I'd had a problem with the car so we told them we wanted to trade it in. I didn't want to wait until the next time it had a problem. They tried to give us $7,000 for trade in since "we both knew something was wrong with it" but I told them they couldn't find anything wrong with it and they were the second Honda shop to tell me that so eventually they gave me full trade in value which was a little over $8,000.
If you have this car please just get rid of it! Mine never ran longer then 5 months with out having some mechanical problems. I leased a brand new Civic for 3 years for $180 a month (with $3,000 down). Unless this new Civic is PERFECT I will be giving it back in 3 years and never buying a Honda again.
- Leah J., Olympia, WA, US