Aside from my usual oil changes, here are other major maintenance and
repair issues for me:

1) All new belts, water pump (146,800)
2) New ignition wires and other ignition stuff (148,000)
3) Spark plugs regularly (42.5k, 80k, 117k, 148k- with other ignition
issues)
4) New battery (6-1/2 years 130,000 miles)
5) Replaced muffler two times

I saw a posting saying 270,000 miles at the time he posted. How long can
a Honda Civic actually go without rebuilding the engine?

 

I got 220,000 on original engine before it got totalled.
After 200K I vowed to exchange it should
a repair exceed $500. Always seemded to require
about $1000 -$1500 of annual work in its elder
years, but never a major incident that would say "junk it".
(Half of the amount was a 30K major maintenance
and wear-and-tear things each year.)

Incidentally, the car was so old, it lacked air bags
which would have reduced the accident injuries.
Several safety features are routine on newer Hondas.
But the car that crossed the median and front ended
me was a larger Kia mini-van and not everyone in that one
lived. So I cant complain too much.

 

On Thu, 04 May 2006 12:54:02 -0400, "warlock162" <bray@dwsd.org>
wrote:

>Aside from my usual oil changes, here are other major maintenance and
>repair issues for me:
>
>1) All new belts, water pump (146,800)
>2) New ignition wires and other ignition stuff (148,000)
>3) Spark plugs regularly (42.5k, 80k, 117k, 148k- with other ignition
>issues)
>4) New battery (6-1/2 years 130,000 miles)
>5) Replaced muffler two times
>
>I saw a posting saying 270,000 miles at the time he posted. How long can
>a Honda Civic actually go without rebuilding the engine?

i have an 88 dx 9d15b2) with something like 232k miles on it. Still
original engine. about all that needs doing right now is the CV joint
needs replacing, i've a crack in the radiator (from when I pulled the
intake hoses off, having dropped a socket wrench into the resonator
bottle changing the starter) and it burns a bit of oil. Every time
i've driven it, its had lots of get up and go on it. If anything, the
interiors the bit thats letting it down - the steel bar has worn
through the drivers seat door-side support, the rearview mirror is
next to useless as it wbbles everywhere, but other than that, its
still going good. Of course, its barely been driven in the past year.
was parked up for 5 months last summer because of a bad battery, and
no need for it to be used (we had a company vehicle and a minivan to
hand) and now since december because the CV joints clicking and
shuddering so bad, i dare not risk it (until I sell the aforementioned
minivan, i can't really afford to fix it)

battery is one of those things i never worry about, i have jumpers in
the back, and often a spare battery as well (a nice one that'll easily
start a semi) plus they're consumables. You don't worry about oil or
air filters, do you.

>

 

On Thu, 04 May 2006 12:54:02 -0400, "warlock162" <bray@dwsd.org>
wrote:

>Aside from my usual oil changes, here are other major maintenance and
>repair issues for me:
>
>1) All new belts, water pump (146,800)
>2) New ignition wires and other ignition stuff (148,000)
>3) Spark plugs regularly (42.5k, 80k, 117k, 148k- with other ignition
>issues)
>4) New battery (6-1/2 years 130,000 miles)
>5) Replaced muffler two times
>
>I saw a posting saying 270,000 miles at the time he posted. How long can
>a Honda Civic actually go without rebuilding the engine?

i have an 88 dx 9d15b2) with something like 232k miles on it. Still
original engine. about all that needs doing right now is the CV joint
needs replacing, i've a crack in the radiator (from when I pulled the
intake hoses off, having dropped a socket wrench into the resonator
bottle changing the starter) and it burns a bit of oil. Every time
i've driven it, its had lots of get up and go on it. If anything, the
interiors the bit thats letting it down - the steel bar has worn
through the drivers seat door-side support, the rearview mirror is
next to useless as it wbbles everywhere, but other than that, its
still going good. Of course, its barely been driven in the past year.
was parked up for 5 months last summer because of a bad battery, and
no need for it to be used (we had a company vehicle and a minivan to
hand) and now since december because the CV joints clicking and
shuddering so bad, i dare not risk it (until I sell the aforementioned
minivan, i can't really afford to fix it)

battery is one of those things i never worry about, i have jumpers in
the back, and often a spare battery as well (a nice one that'll easily
start a semi) plus they're consumables. You don't worry about oil or
air filters, do you.

>

 

I thought the Kia Minivan earned the best pick from IIHS. Anyway, I am not
falling into that kind of safety crap. I only drive Honda or Toyota.


"rick++" <rick303@hotmail.com> wrote in message
news:1146763903.451300.296100@y43g2000cwc.googlegr oups.com...
>I got 220,000 on original engine before it got totalled.
> After 200K I vowed to exchange it should
> a repair exceed $500. Always seemded to require
> about $1000 -$1500 of annual work in its elder
> years, but never a major incident that would say "junk it".
> (Half of the amount was a 30K major maintenance
> and wear-and-tear things each year.)
>
> Incidentally, the car was so old, it lacked air bags
> which would have reduced the accident injuries.
> Several safety features are routine on newer Hondas.
> But the car that crossed the median and front ended
> me was a larger Kia mini-van and not everyone in that one
> lived. So I cant complain too much.
>

 

I thought the Kia Minivan earned the best pick from IIHS. Anyway, I am not
falling into that kind of safety crap. I only drive Honda or Toyota.


"rick++" <rick303@hotmail.com> wrote in message
news:1146763903.451300.296100@y43g2000cwc.googlegr oups.com...
>I got 220,000 on original engine before it got totalled.
> After 200K I vowed to exchange it should
> a repair exceed $500. Always seemded to require
> about $1000 -$1500 of annual work in its elder
> years, but never a major incident that would say "junk it".
> (Half of the amount was a 30K major maintenance
> and wear-and-tear things each year.)
>
> Incidentally, the car was so old, it lacked air bags
> which would have reduced the accident injuries.
> Several safety features are routine on newer Hondas.
> But the car that crossed the median and front ended
> me was a larger Kia mini-van and not everyone in that one
> lived. So I cant complain too much.
>

 

On 4 May 2006 10:31:43 -0700, "rick++" <rick303@hotmail.com> wrote:

>I got 220,000 on original engine before it got totalled.
>After 200K I vowed to exchange it should
>a repair exceed $500. Always seemded to require
>about $1000 -$1500 of annual work in its elder
>years, but never a major incident that would say "junk it".
>(Half of the amount was a 30K major maintenance
>and wear-and-tear things each year.)
>
>Incidentally, the car was so old, it lacked air bags
>which would have reduced the accident injuries.

MAY have. don't go off all the time, and sometimes do more harm than
good. Reactive measures are just that, reactive. they function based
on what their sensors tell them. Don't forget there's quite a few
people 9mainly front passengers) that have gotten serious injuries off
airbags, including, I seem to recal, at least one ocurance where the
deployment caused the passing in front or similar to drop down onto
the passengers legs, this later caused a blod clot which luckily
stayed in the leg, so it only had to be amputated.

Fun things systems aren't they.


>Several safety features are routine on newer Hondas.
>But the car that crossed the median and front ended
>me was a larger Kia mini-van and not everyone in that one
>lived. So I cant complain too much.

Almost bought one in november - 'eugh' sums it up I guess. after
driving it for 10 minutes we weren't gog to buy it, even without the
hard sell the guy was giving us.

 

On 4 May 2006 10:31:43 -0700, "rick++" <rick303@hotmail.com> wrote:

>I got 220,000 on original engine before it got totalled.
>After 200K I vowed to exchange it should
>a repair exceed $500. Always seemded to require
>about $1000 -$1500 of annual work in its elder
>years, but never a major incident that would say "junk it".
>(Half of the amount was a 30K major maintenance
>and wear-and-tear things each year.)
>
>Incidentally, the car was so old, it lacked air bags
>which would have reduced the accident injuries.

MAY have. don't go off all the time, and sometimes do more harm than
good. Reactive measures are just that, reactive. they function based
on what their sensors tell them. Don't forget there's quite a few
people 9mainly front passengers) that have gotten serious injuries off
airbags, including, I seem to recal, at least one ocurance where the
deployment caused the passing in front or similar to drop down onto
the passengers legs, this later caused a blod clot which luckily
stayed in the leg, so it only had to be amputated.

Fun things systems aren't they.


>Several safety features are routine on newer Hondas.
>But the car that crossed the median and front ended
>me was a larger Kia mini-van and not everyone in that one
>lived. So I cant complain too much.

Almost bought one in november - 'eugh' sums it up I guess. after
driving it for 10 minutes we weren't gog to buy it, even without the
hard sell the guy was giving us.

 

Have you considered the effects of simple age (in years) on
a car? That is, the acids in the exhaust gases doing their
thing over years, for one?

I know a fellow who is a courier in the middle U.S. (plenty
of snow and rain, but not as bad as the northern U.S.). He
has a 2001 Toyota Echo, automatic transmission. It has over
500,000 miles on it, much of this is I think highway miles
but he scoots around in the city and 'burbs, too, quite a
lot. He has independent shops and franchises maintain the
car. The car has had no serious problems.

I think you want to pay attention to driving habits (miles
per year put on the vehicle; city vs. highway driving;
cycling from cold engine to hot engine) and maybe locale
when guesstimating how long an engine will last.

"warlock162" <bray@dwsd.org> wrote
> Aside from my usual oil changes, here are other major
> maintenance and
> repair issues for me:
>
> 1) All new belts, water pump (146,800)
> 2) New ignition wires and other ignition stuff (148,000)
> 3) Spark plugs regularly (42.5k, 80k, 117k, 148k- with
> other ignition
> issues)
> 4) New battery (6-1/2 years 130,000 miles)
> 5) Replaced muffler two times
>
> I saw a posting saying 270,000 miles at the time he
> posted. How long can
> a Honda Civic actually go without rebuilding the engine?

 

Have you considered the effects of simple age (in years) on
a car? That is, the acids in the exhaust gases doing their
thing over years, for one?

I know a fellow who is a courier in the middle U.S. (plenty
of snow and rain, but not as bad as the northern U.S.). He
has a 2001 Toyota Echo, automatic transmission. It has over
500,000 miles on it, much of this is I think highway miles
but he scoots around in the city and 'burbs, too, quite a
lot. He has independent shops and franchises maintain the
car. The car has had no serious problems.

I think you want to pay attention to driving habits (miles
per year put on the vehicle; city vs. highway driving;
cycling from cold engine to hot engine) and maybe locale
when guesstimating how long an engine will last.

"warlock162" <bray@dwsd.org> wrote
> Aside from my usual oil changes, here are other major
> maintenance and
> repair issues for me:
>
> 1) All new belts, water pump (146,800)
> 2) New ignition wires and other ignition stuff (148,000)
> 3) Spark plugs regularly (42.5k, 80k, 117k, 148k- with
> other ignition
> issues)
> 4) New battery (6-1/2 years 130,000 miles)
> 5) Replaced muffler two times
>
> I saw a posting saying 270,000 miles at the time he
> posted. How long can
> a Honda Civic actually go without rebuilding the engine?