Civic CDTI 2.2 - any good?
Civic CDTI 2.2 - any good?
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Discussion

ben_h100

Original Poster:

1,550 posts

208 months

Monday 19th September 2016
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Hi all,

I need a reliable and economical car to get me around 200 miles from home and back again every week. I like the look of the Civic with the 2.2 engine and am wondering how they are and if I should be considering anything else. During the week the car will spend most of the time parked up so I reckon that I'll be doing s maximum of 450 a week. In around a years time the car will be used for a daily commute of around 15 miles so I'm after a good all-rounder rather than a pure motorway muncher.

This is the sort of thing that I have been looking at:

http://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/2016...

My budget is up to 7000 but if I can get one at less than that then I'll be very happy.

I see that there is the odd BMW but mileage wise I'll be looking at 90k plus.

DoubleD

22,154 posts

137 months

Tuesday 20th September 2016
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They don't have a dpf which is good, but apparently the clutches are very weak and need replacing fairly often.

rolo0151

276 posts

192 months

Tuesday 20th September 2016
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My sister had one from new (2008/58). Traded it in las year with 140k on it. She abuses her cars. Lucky if they get a yearly service! Never had anything major done to it.

Löyly

18,280 posts

188 months

Wednesday 21st September 2016
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The clutch and DMF is a known weak point, but by any standard they are strong and reliable cars. You may have to fork out for those parts say, once in the lifetime of an older car bht they have reliable and strong engines.

Interestingly, the newer Honda diesels don't seem to suffer much from DPF problems like some cars do (specifically the 1.6 i-Dtec that replaced the 2.2). They've taken the intersting step of putting the DPF and cat very close to the exhaust manifold. Their proximity to the engine means it all heats up quickly and it'll regenerate passively over speeds of 30mph!

SAS Tom

3,754 posts

203 months

Wednesday 21st September 2016
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My dad had 2 of them. The last one he ran for 6 years and 130k with no major faults. I think the outside temperature sensor went on one of them once and that was about it. The clutch was on its way out by 130k. A trader friend likes them, only negative thing he said about them was the clutches wear out between 120 to 140k.

DoubleD

22,154 posts

137 months

Wednesday 21st September 2016
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So can you upgrade the clutch when you replace it?

Spitfire2

1,968 posts

215 months

Wednesday 21st September 2016
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Had a 2007.

Was a good car other than the clutch. Honda denied the problem even existed but eventually started chipping in for replacement costs. I believe replacements were eventually stronger.

ben_h100

Original Poster:

1,550 posts

208 months

Wednesday 21st September 2016
quotequote all
Looking at one this weekend. Less than 7k, decent mileage and spec (gt) so will take for a test drive and buy if the condition is right.

Loads of horror stories about the clutch on these cars but as others have said it can be replaced. From looking around at my budget these cars seem to offer the most bang for the buck so fingers crossed.

davamer23

1,158 posts

183 months

Wednesday 21st September 2016
quotequote all
ben_h100 said:
Looking at one this weekend. Less than 7k, decent mileage and spec (gt) so will take for a test drive and buy if the condition is right.

Loads of horror stories about the clutch on these cars but as others have said it can be replaced. From looking around at my budget these cars seem to offer the most bang for the buck so fingers crossed.
Perhaps bang for your buck isn't the phrase you want. wink

Register1

2,279 posts

123 months

Wednesday 21st September 2016
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Forget the 2.2 diesel.
Get the 1.8 petrol.
Very economical.
Wife has a 2008 with 138,000 miles.
Fantastic car.
Just a yearly service and not.
Bomb proof engines.
The petrol is more than economical enough, with returning 45 to 47 all day long.

DoubleD

22,154 posts

137 months

Wednesday 21st September 2016
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She must drive it very gently to get that? It's more than the lab test figures.

Register1

2,279 posts

123 months

Thursday 22nd September 2016
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DoubleD said:
She must drive it very gently to get that? It's more than the lab test figures.
In town, 37 mpg
On motorway 52 mpg

Generally averaging top 40's mpg

She has about a 42 mile round trip each day.
Of that I would say no more than 8 miles in on A roads, leaving an easy 32 - 34 miles on M6 upwards of M62 towards Preston direction.




se9boy

92 posts

267 months

Thursday 22nd September 2016
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I had an '06 2.2 ES spec Civic as a company car. Great drive / torque, always achieved high 40's MPG and a well designed interior for storage etc.

Not so good bits;

Seemed to use a reasonable amount of oil up to 12k, then settled down, then used oil again after 90k.
Mine had a new clutch and dual mass flywheel at 60k miles.
Electronic steering rack failed at 106k miles.
My wife always complained the suspension was too hard (I thought it was fine).
No spare wheel left me stranded for hours on a Sunday whilst I sorted a replacement tyre (the repair gunk couldn't fix the puncture) - although I acknowledge loads of cars no longer carry spare wheels as standard and it's easy to source one cheaply.

Having said that, it felt well built, was nice to drive and I'd still recommend one to others.

C70R

17,596 posts

133 months

Thursday 22nd September 2016
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se9boy said:
I had an '06 2.2 ES spec Civic as a company car. Great drive / torque, always achieved high 40's MPG and a well designed interior for storage etc.

Not so good bits;

Seemed to use a reasonable amount of oil up to 12k, then settled down, then used oil again after 90k.
Mine had a new clutch and dual mass flywheel at 60k miles.
Electronic steering rack failed at 106k miles.
My wife always complained the suspension was too hard (I thought it was fine).
No spare wheel left me stranded for hours on a Sunday whilst I sorted a replacement tyre (the repair gunk couldn't fix the puncture) - although I acknowledge loads of cars no longer carry spare wheels as standard and it's easy to source one cheaply.

Having said that, it felt well built, was nice to drive and I'd still recommend one to others.
It must be said, for >100k of use that is a pretty painless ownership experience - living up to Honda's reputation.

ben_h100

Original Poster:

1,550 posts

208 months

Monday 26th September 2016
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Have put a deposit down on one - Type S GT in Deep Bronze. Relatively low miles (57k) and a price I was happy paying. Picking it up this week.

It is however on a private plate - are there any negatives to simply taking the car from the dealer with the private plates on and changing over to the originals (09) at a later date?

ecsrobin

18,642 posts

194 months

Monday 26th September 2016
quotequote all
DoubleD said:
She must drive it very gently to get that? It's more than the lab test figures.
The figures are 51mpg IIRC certainly I've had 51mpg from my 1.8 petrol although generally I'm between 39mpg and 46mpg with a heavy right foot.

DoubleD

22,154 posts

137 months

Monday 26th September 2016
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Did you go for the 1.8 or the 2.2?

ben_h100

Original Poster:

1,550 posts

208 months

Tuesday 27th September 2016
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DoubleD said:
Did you go for the 1.8 or the 2.2?
Went for the 2.2.

ben_h100

Original Poster:

1,550 posts

208 months

Wednesday 5th October 2016
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Just to follow up on this, I'm happy with the car. Fairly torquey and very easy to overtake on the motorway. Seating position takes a bit of getting used to (our other car is a 320d - great seats) so I might try and look into ways of lowering the base or allowing the adjustment to increase.

Drove from the NW to London and averaged 55mpg (granted on the computer) at 70mph with cruise control. Keeping a record of fill ups and miles to get a more accurate answer.

All it will need is a decent polish/wax and possibly some better headlight bulbs. Perhaps a parrott hands free later down the line.

Very happy overall.

glazbagun

15,339 posts

226 months

Sunday 5th January 2020
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ben_h100 said:
Just to follow up on this, I'm happy with the car. Fairly torquey and very easy to overtake on the motorway. Seating position takes a bit of getting used to (our other car is a 320d - great seats) so I might try and look into ways of lowering the base or allowing the adjustment to increase.

Drove from the NW to London and averaged 55mpg (granted on the computer) at 70mph with cruise control. Keeping a record of fill ups and miles to get a more accurate answer.

All it will need is a decent polish/wax and possibly some better headlight bulbs. Perhaps a parrott hands free later down the line.

Very happy overall.
Thought I'd bump this to see how you got on with it?

Some are getting close to the old breadvan in terms of price now, so was pondering on wether to look for one with motorway miles and a recent clutch for a couple of years of painless affordable motoring. In a space ship.