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Old 02-01-2013, 10:25 PM   #27 (permalink)
mechman600
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Join Date: Jul 2008
Location: Langley, BC
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Fusion - '16 Ford Fusion Hybrid SE
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Vman455 View Post
This is why I never buy the first year of a redesigned model; always go for the last year or two when the issues have been worked out.
Yup. I should have known. I was naive in thinking ALL Hondas are amazing.

Quote:
Originally Posted by darcane View Post
Funny... 80% of the complaints for the '01 Civic are the tranny. No significant improvements were made to the tranny for the 7th gen (upgraded clutches in '03 for the auto, but I believe the failures were mostly the torque converter for auto or input shaft bearing for manuals), and yet the '04 Civic is given a "Seal of Awesome" rather than "Avoid like the Plague"

I'm happy with my '01 Civic. Other than the known problem with the tranny, it's been a good car.

And it looks like I may get my first tank over 50mpg if this warm, dry weather sticks around for another week.
My 01 Honda @ 80K miles:
-Front struts shot, upper strut bearings squeaky - Honda TSBs for this
-Cracked exhaust manifold/cat (same piece, big bucks) - common failure
-Horrible horrible bouncy crappy ride compared to previous generation
-Warped front rotors every 10 seconds or so (only slight exaggeration)
-Drivers seat shot (rocked back and forth) - Honda TSBs for this
-Gas gauge extremely erratic below 1/4 tank - Honda TSBs for this

I ended up trading it for a Matrix. 1000X the car, if not more. Ride quality, looks, handling, reliability - all better. The only issues I have had with both my Matrixes is the belt tensioner looses spring tension at about 50K miles and starts making a funny noise at idle. That's a $40 and 10 bloody knuckles fix.

I recommend the Matrix. Decently sporty...ish...and reliable as rain on the west coast.
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