UK-built Honda Civic named tops in small car reliability by British study
A new UK reliability study conducted by research firm Warranty Direct has crowned the home-built Honda Civic as the nation's most trustworthy car. The award covers Civics built from 2001-onward.
The criteria? The study compared the average cost of repairs against the number of service on top. The Warranty Direct's top picks also included the Rover 45, Citroen Xsara and Ford Focus. The sample pool? Some 48,000 units eight years old or younger.
More details available by clicking on the link.
[Source: Motortorque at AskaPrice.com; Southern-counties.co.uk]
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
Bill 2:51PM (4/28/2006)
It's a shame we don't get the 5-door Civic, because it's a very tight and clever package, with a diesel engine and hybrid-like mileage, but with real torque.
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Kowell 2:52PM (4/28/2006)
Why can't we get THAT civic in north america.... the look is much better than the 2 door coupe we have
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Micah 3:58PM (4/28/2006)
I know it's probably photoshoped, but that paint job ROCKS!
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Dean 4:07PM (4/28/2006)
European version's of Honda have almost always had a better look to them than their American counterparts =(
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Cody Peterson 4:54PM (4/28/2006)
The new diesel powered 5 door civic looks kick ass.. honda should definately bring it over to the States. That new diesel engine of theirs is truly amazing plus when attached to the UK Civic's 6 speed, Wow. (Enough Said)
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Mal Fuller 5:23PM (4/28/2006)
"The study compared the average cost of repairs against the number of service on top." Huh?
Also, if the study's "sample pool" included vehicles up to 8 years old, how come there were no Hondas older than the 2001 model year included in the "sample pool."
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John B 5:24PM (4/28/2006)
Bill and Cody:
Right on. If you haven't seen it, try to track down the video of a Fifth Gear test of the 4 door Civic hatch - diesel version. Amazing car - quick and economical on fuel. It gets about 55 mpg. highway (imperial gallons). 0-100 kph in something like 8.2 or 8.6 seconds.
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Michael Karesh 5:27PM (4/28/2006)
This extended warranty company has an advantage in that they have very good data on the frequency and cost of repairs, because they pay them.
They have two weaknesses, though:
1. No data on repairs under factory warranty, so they don't have data on the first 3-4 years of a car's life.
2. Extended warranties don't cover all possible repairs.
Even so, I'd love to see this data for the U.S. They probably have many more policies here, and thus more reliable results from a larger sample.
I recently started conducting my own reliability research. Information:
http://www.truedelta.com/reliability.php
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Joey (Kev) 6:35PM (4/28/2006)
Well the VW New-Beetle and the Mercedes A-Class do slightly better in the ADAC report for 2005. Even Renault Megane, Kangoo, Seat Toledo & Citroen Xsara beat the Civic. The golf is just the same as the Civic.
But the differences are not THAT big, so I guess it's ok.
http://www.adac.de/Auto_Motorrad/pannenstatistik_maengelforum/pannenstatistik_2005/Untere_Mittelklasse/default.asp?ComponentID=143921&SourcePageID=144103
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Christian J 11:19PM (4/28/2006)
Wow. Real data for once, instead of the speculation like Consumer Reports on long term relaibility.
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cxvargas 4:20AM (4/29/2006)
I'm stationed in the UK and some of my British co-workers prefer the looks of the US spec civic than the UK spec. I guess is only human to wish for things we can't have. But I do like the UK spec civic better than the US version. Maybe Honda could sell the UK spec in the US as the CRX. Wishfull thinking. :-)
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