11-18-2010 02:21 AM

According to Nikkei News, Honda will stop selling the stalwart Civic in Japan as soon as existing inventories have run out. This comes has quite a surprise to the rest of the world, especially us in the States, where “Honda Civic” is practically synonymous with Japanese compact car. The Civic was introduced to the Japanese [...]

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Owners of '06 to early '09 Civics - BEWARE of the smell of leaking antifreeze!

My '06 has 65k on it, and I thought I smelled antifreeze leaking. Couldn't find a leak, so I attributed it to running the heat for the first time this fall. Long story cut short - it was the engine block that had a crack in it. It overheated, and I towed to dealer and found out that there is a service bulletin on this issue regarding defective block castings. It was a $3k dealer cost fix, over $5k retail. Honda picked up the tab luckily.

I did some internet research, and others were not as lucky with most paying a deductible or some 50%. Now, the previous repairs are being retroactively repaid. I believe Honda has extended the powertrain warranty to 8yrs/unlimited mileage. But after the covered repair, no warranty exists according to my service rep.

Don't get me wrong, I still love the car - handling, quick, nimble and 30-40mpg are great. Hopefully, the engine will be now be as reliable as in years past.

Notwithstanding the cracked block issue, my guess is that we'll see a Classic Coke marketing ploy within 2 years and the Civic will be back on the scene.