An often overlooked, inexpensive, reliable vehicle!
Written: Apr 06 '04 (Updated Apr 06 '04)
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Pros: Overall quality of car, stereo, handling, looks, it's a Honda!
Cons: Almost an unused word when describing this one.
The Bottom Line: If you're looking for cheap, reliable, quality, fuel efficient vehicle, reach for the Civic.
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| jalexandr15's Full Review: 2004 Honda Civic |
The 2004 Honda Civic
Value Package Coupe
We bought the 2004 Honda Civic Coupe in October of 2003. After looking around at comparable vehicles such as Kia, Toyota, and Nissan, our last stop was Honda. We didn't go there first because our budget was limited and Honda tends to be a tad more expensive (and well worth it) on their cars. Just for kicks we decided to drive to the dealership and test drive an '04 Civic VP Coupe. Love at first sight. Despite how plain and scary looking the older Civics looked (pre-1998), this one beats all. A few minutes of driving and we went back to the dealership and purchased. Drove it home that same night as happy campers.
Interior & Style
The Civic has grown considerably in size since it's earlier years. The seats are exceptionally comfortable with room to move around and wiggle and plenty of elbow room. Both front and back shoulder room is a generous 52 inches. Leg room in the front is a mere 43 inches with ample room, back is a smaller 32 inches but big enough for Civic.
The Value Package (MSRP $13,660) is the almost-base model, only equipped with dual front and side airbags, and a CD player. Floor mats do not come with the deal and must be ordered seperately for a pretty penny from the dealer. They bolt to the floor which prevents them from moving around when passengers are entering/exiting the car. Manual roll down windows and manual locks, but you can live with it... the car itself makes up for it. Interior features are top notch quality (including VERY powerful sounding CD player and stereo (4 speakers), air conditioner, heater, and defroster.) Everything is put together firmly with care, no rattling or squeaking things. The dash has a leather-type feel to it. While the lower part and the door panels are plastic, they are assurably made to last.
The seats are very firm but not overly as to make one uncomfortable for long periods of time in them. The fabric is very durable and plush, and would seem to last and retain it's quality for a very long time under normal wear and tear/driving habits. There is no lumbar support in the VP model, but you wouldn't really need it anyway.
On the sides of both front seats, closest to the door, (on VP equipped with side airbags) are the trim-colored airbag covers. For added safety, the car also has a sensor that can tell if one's arm is beside or too close to the airbag. If it senses this, the side airbags will automatically disable themselves and alert you on the instrument panel. This protects you from arm injury if the bag were to inflate during a side impact.
The electronics and instrument cluster all glow orange at night and are very readable.
There is no cigarette lighter in the Civic but one can be ordered from the dealer when being ordered. However, there is a covered power socket to charge up your cell phone or juice up your laptop while you're on the go. This is located just above the center cupholders.
Windows practically glide up and down with basically no effort when cranking the handle. Wind noise is non-existant from the windows.
Rear window defogger is also included and built into the back window, as is the AM/FM antenna (which picks up stations very well.)
The air conditioner takes a few minutes to get completely cold, but I guess that's normal when you first get in and drive off. Once it wakes up, you'll have to turn it down in no time or risk freezing to death. The heater works in the same fashion and roasts you. A knob controlling air temperature is located above the knob for several different air flows, directly at your face, face and feet, feet only, feet and defroster, and just plain defroster. An air recirculation button is equipped with the system also.
Storage
In the Civic Coupe, there are lots of places to store personal belongings, papers, etc. There is the usual center storage compartment between the two front seats. A few setbacks of this is that in our car, it has fabric on the top (since it can be used as an arm rest). Seems like it would become dirty after a while from the oil of your arm. The overall storage capacity of this compartment is relatively small and can barely hold a CD case and an eyewear case. Still useful though, but only for small things.
There is of course the glove department in front of the passenger seat which holds considerably more objects than the center console, but doesn't lock.
There are two cupholders below the radio with a lid to hide them away when not in use. We usually don't drink in the car so we just put other things in there and they fit just fine.
In addition, there is a compartment in the lower corner of each door which can hold a few things too. We have our CD jewel case tucked in there, so it can fit medium-sized objects.
There's also a small compartment underneath the radio (given that you don't have the factory in-dash CD player.) You can fit a few loose CD's, business cards and papers in there. My cell phone even fits in.
A pull-down change drawer is located near the driver door next to the steering wheel to put spare change in, also.
Lastly, the trunk. Exceptionally large. You can have a party back there. A cooler, a few suitcases and sleeping bags can fit back there with even a little more room to spare. Civic is also equipped with the inside trunk release just in case any person(s) you decide to store in the trunk wish to escape. The spare tire is located underneath the trunk's floor. Trunk space is also accessible via back seat. The split seats unlock and fold down one by one so you can reach in and grab whatever without pulling over. There's also a lever on the driver's floorboard near the door that opens the trunk and opens the fuel door (prevents jealous ones from dropping stones in your tank). Push to unlatch the fuel door, pull to unpop the trunk.
Performance
The Civic VP Coupe is equipped with a 115hp inline 4 cylinder engine. Needless to say not a powerhouse, but it does have the pick up and go needed when merging onto the interstate or passing. Engine is very quiet when running, not too loud at all when driving at a normal speed. The sound when you rev up is really nice - it kind of gets you feeling sporty and cool. (Watch out when revving though because the VP package doesn't have a tachometer equipped)
Braking is no problem and stops you safely, without much sound or shudder... without worrying you're going to hit the person ahead of you in a sudden traffic jam.
Road noise is a slightly different story. Once you get above 60mph you can hear the tires whir, especially from the back seat. It's not that bad, but you can tell a difference when you're moving and when you're sitting still, of course. Conversations can still be held at a reasonable level.
Steering is very tight and the car feels very reassuring even at speeds up to 80-85mph.
Civic gets close to 30 miles to the gallon in the city and almost 40 on the expressway. $20.00 worth of regular unleaded will get you a full tank if not over and will last you quite a while provided you drive normally. It isn't picky on what octane you use even though when finances allow, we use 89 octane just in case. This car is so nice it deserves the best care possible.
Exterior
The car is short and rather narrow in terms of size. One hundred and seventy-five inches in length to be exact, quite a bit shorter than Accord, Civic's bigger sister.
The front end is very neat and clean looking and has the clear headlights that are to be found on most cars. It looks to be smiling at you when you walk up to it. :) The back taillights have clear centers to them to give a more sporty, young look and feel to the car.
The paint is very durable and will probably last for a very long time. The clearcoat is flawless (at least on our car) and very glossy. Every foreign object seems to rub off of it (bug guts, tar, dirt, mud, bird droppings) and is very easy and effortless to clean and wash.
Bottom Line
You will enjoy Civic very much. The Value Package is just that, a value. At a good price at that. With the handling charges and destination fees and the title, it came out to be around $14,500. It's a very good deal and very well worth the money. You'll see the quality and the worth in every inch of the car. Honda has finally given the Civic a facelift! If you're looking for cheap, reliable, quality, fuel efficient vehicle, reach for the Civic.
Recommended:
Yes
Amount Paid (US$): 14500
Condition: New
Model Year: 2004
Model and Options: Value Package, 5 speed 4cyl.
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Epinions.com ID:
jalexandr15
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Member: Justin Alexander
Location: Chattanooga, TN USA
Reviews written: 13
Trusted by: 0 members
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