From: collin@angelo.amd.com (Collin K. Ong)
Newsgroups: rec.autos
Subject: Experiences with 1992 Honda Civic EX
Date: 20 Aug 92 01:50:17 GMT
Organization: Advanced Micro Devices, Santa Clara, CA

I purchased a new 92 Civic EX automatic recently.  The dealers all told me
that this was a high demand car and thus they wouldn't work on the price as
much as I wanted.  This could have been a tactic on their part, though.
However, one dealer had the EX stickered at $18,800!  This included air,
radio (Civic 1000+front speakers only-- really weak), and antenna, plus
various other things like dealer profit.  We managed to get to $15,600
before we walked out. We went to another dealer who had no dealer profit
added on, just the price of the air and the radio (same setup), $1375, I
think.  After general bargaining, we got the price to $14,900 with them
removing the stereo and speakers but not the antenna.  They seemed to be
pretty firm at this price. This is the price we bought at.  I feel it is
a bit expensive for a Civic but it was the car I wanted, and I needed it
right away.

Here's some things I have noticed about the car:

During test drive and the first few days, the engine felt and sounded rather
rough and a bit weak.  After a few hundred miles, however, the engine broke in
and smoothed out and quieted down alot.  You can barely hear it at idle from
inside the car (EAT this LEXUS!) except from a small grinding overtone that
seems to be common to 4 cylinder cars.  The early gas mileage was also bad--
about 22 mpg.  However, after the break in, I have been getting 32-34mpg.
This is with a 100mi freeway trip each way trip each week plus various street
driving, plus a 10mi each way freeway commute each weekday.

The suspension is fundamentally good but the tires don't hold their end of
the bargain; they squeal pretty easily but have never broken loose.  This is
on sharp curves that I took aggressively but not crazy-ly.  Better rubber
would probably help in the handling department.

Acceleration is not that impressive.  I haven't taken it all the way yet,
but it definitely isn't a monster in this category.  I expected more from
the extra 25 horses over the LX/DX.

Honda did a good job isolating the cabin from engine and wind noise but a
lot of noise comes in from the tires.  On a smooth surface the car can be
nearly silent.  On rough, it can be fairly loud.

The interior quality is high, which I wanted in a small car.  Only thing is
the sun visors which seem really cheap but do the job.

One quirk I notice is that when I exit the car and touch a metal surface (IE,
close the door), I get a little static shock.  This happens fairly consist-
ently. I think the seat fabric happens to give off alot of extra electrons or 
something.  Otherwise it is good quality and attractive.

A major quirk is that the rear of the car and alot of the front of the car
is not visible from the inside.  Whether using mirrors or turning around,
you absolutely cannot see the tail of the car because of the way the tail
tapers in past the rear pillar.  The sloping hood also makes it hard to see
where the hood really ends.  This is an impediment to parallel parking, but
I find that I am getting used to it and can adjust.  Plus, I like the way
the car looks.

Also, the arm rests built into the doors isn't as good as the Accord's, 
which has the built in grip.  When you put your arm on it, it kinda rolls
off easily cause it sorta slopes downward.  It's also not much use for 
hanging onto on sharp curves.

The air conditioning is not as ice-cold as our 87 Accord's.  I don't know if
this is a lemon or if it is not charged up with freon or what.  The dealer
claims that the same ac compressor is used in the accord and the civic.

For those of you wanting to install your own stereo systems, here's what I 
went through.  I turned down the $500 dealer system and went looking for
aftermarket stuff.  The rear deck presents problems for speaker installation,
however.  It has a curving slope from a high at the rear windshield down to
a fairly flat surface near the seats.  There are speaker mounting holes in 
the metal frame below the deck, but they are exactly sized for the Honda
6.5" drivers.  What they do when they install factory systems is punch out
the corner of the rear deck, put the driver onto a plastic adapter that 
conforms to the slope/curve of the deck, and drop that into the metal hole,
into which the screws fit perfectly.  An aftermarket installer told me: 
"No problem, we'll cut the deck here on the flat part, and cut a big hole in
the metal frame below to make room for the magnet."  The prewired speaker
cable also has a proprietary plug that you'll have to cut off. I didn't want
this major surgery done in my car, so I ended up getting a Honda system
after they offered me a deal on their leftover 91 Accord systems.

Any questions or comments are welcome.

Collin Ong
collin@brahms.amd.com