1997 Honda Civic Reviews, Pricing & Specs

This is the first car that I ever owned and will probably always be somewhat special to me, but not for actual driving. The car was an automatic and had extremely low horsepower and not great handling. But if you want a reliable car to get you from point A to point B that is very inexpensive, then you should get one.

Performance - acceleration quite good, but it is best for slalom. Quality is great, only money car is taking - for tires, oil, filters and none for repairs. "Honda - make it your self" this car is made to be tuned - it's wery easy... Maintaince cost wery low. Mileage - less than 70k And yes. It's fun.

Performance - 1.6 vtec 118kw (STD) Build quality - Solid mac build, few rattles due to sound Apperance - full trim leather interior, 2 door coupe hatch, lowered suspension , 17'' mags Cost of ownership - fuel eco is not bad 700km to a full tank driving norm/ maintenance is abit pricey Fun factor - wait for 5500rpm and watch the acceleration

Great, reliable vehicle. Great fuel economy and very inexpensive maintenance costs. I wouldn't purchase any other vehicle. Perfect for commuting. The car is small so not the best choice for a family. Handles great, however, my 97 does lack power.

This car is very fun to drive, lots of street racing, the stock performance sucks but if you put time and money into it this car hauls ass. It's a sexy car if you add tint and the type R grill.

an exi.. naaaaa.. the other ones better but this aint bad either.. awesome looks.. accelaration and handling - one of the best! nice interior.. spacious.. easy to afford.. and is fun to drive.. manual transmission.. power windows, steering and fully loaded..

Performance - setup for Touge Racing Build - Tein Springs, KYB Shocks and Struts, Rear sway bar, 2.25" inch exhaust, AEM cold air intake, short shifter Appearance - Black, JDM front lip and side mirrors, Black Headlights, Type-R wing, OEM black rims. Cost - TOTAL $9,500 Lots of fun to drive!

I has that nice look, Japanese Honda reliability. Performance is alright, the 1.5 Engine is quite powerful. It has a great Build Quality. Rarely let me down. Great on Fuel. And IT IS REALLY2 FUN to drive. Cheap on maintenance. Great car to have

Loves corners, handles like a dream. All hondas are fun to drive. braking is great. Rarely any rattles. not much for fuel and repairs. The interior is simple..stylish and the exterior is just sublime...HONDA = BEST!!! Honda built for Comfort

This is a nice car for a student or starting off family. It handles pretty well, but not a 'racer' at all... It gets great gas mileage but okay if you are a heavy lead foot driver. Small interior and not for a big family.

This car has had the best cost of ownership experience I can possibly imagine. It performs well in a daily driver mode, but excels in it's efficient gas usage, and handles well, making it a fun car to drive. The only downside is that it doesn't take hills well, and power? None that I could see.

nice handling, good acceleration for 90hp

Okay, so I'm not wowed by this car, but it is easy to drive and reliable, comfortable, roomy in front and back (even if you're tall), good trunk space, fair gas mileage (not as good as I had expected: it gets around 26 mpg freeway, less than my Accord LXI with more power (which tends to affect mpg in the negative, but that car at over 15 years old avg'd 30 mpg.

I loved this little car. We named it Stanley, and he was my first car. As a delivery driver in a hilly area, the maneuverability this car had was very useful, and it still had enough power to handle the incline on the roads going up the ridge.

slow accel (SOHC 1.6L). and so-so handling. nothing mechanically wrong. just put in a new clutch, differential, and trans. minor dents and scratches. nothing too serious. i find it a little ugly some other people think differently amazing mpgs. usually around 300 miles on the 10 gallon tank. little maintenance required. rough to drive- no power steering...

Well, the Honda is a good reliable car. We don't have to take it in very often. Non-American made cars tend to last a lot longer. I love to just drive this car everywhere!

Car is built real solid and well, I was not a huge fan of Honda cars, but came across a deal I could not refuse and bought it, I started being skeptical but all that went away after 3 months then I really started to like it, I can honestly say now I wouldn't mind buying another Honda Civic and probably will have one to replace this one when I am done with it. I really like the simplicity and how well it has held up and the repairs have not been to bad would recomend the same car to anyone thinking of buying.

Performance - What performance?...It's a stock civic. Build Quality - It's a Honda, very little exceeds Honda. Appearance - Considering the mileage, very good shape Cost of Ownership - Just fuel, that's it. Fun Factor - Basically, the car is just like the Energizer Bunny, and you're never worried about breaking down.

It's a starting-driver's car. Car is not fast on any level and the only upgrades available for the car are dominantly body-kits.

nice handling, good acceleration for 90hp

We have almost 200,00 miles on this little commuter car! And we have not had to do anything with it! Can your car measure up

performance- great everything build quailty- it needed little things appreance- both exterior and interior need work but are okay cost of ownership- 245k, when it needs it fun factor- this is a fun car to drive cuz it saves gas

I've owned this Civic from when it was bone stock. I invested about $4000-$5000 into performance and apparel. This little Honda does great on gas aswell as screem at 5800 RPM's when you want it to. The JDM B-series motor I reciently swapped runs beautifully and is fun to drive on a everyday bases.

the car is good on gas its prior salvage so its been modified from whoever had it when i bought it, it has a pretty loud exhaust which is kinda bad on the ppl who i live around part...lol

This car comes with a D16 Engine which is non VTECH, very slow, but really good on gas, does not have electric windows, but is a good car i like it. It could be a really good project to put in a B18 engine it could become really fast becasue the body is really light.

well its a good car if your just into imports and looking to buy parts cheap but the downside is that is lacks power and you need to do lots to gain it. looks good i love the hatchback look but it was fun to drive and cheap on gas.

I've had this car for over 4 years, I can't complain about it really. I've resprayed it Matte black and done a few modifications, Wheels, exhaust and a few engine mods. I've removed pretty much all the comfortable interior and rear seats to save as much weight as possible.

I guess I'm spoiled by my gas-eating Silverado. I guess this really is about the bigger choice-buy a V8, pay the gas, or by the 4-cyl and visit the mechanic frequently. The litany of problems I've encountered with this car will bore you. I bought it old and high-mileage, so I guess there is our answer. But I really expected more, or I should say, less, problems from this car. It is consistently highly-rated, but it is also consistently in the shop. They are not high-dollar (over $500) fixes, but require visits nonetheless. The visits have gone from annual to semi-annual. The most troubling part? You're going to save money, but not headaches, by going this route vs the V8. I'm at the breaking point with headaches. Good chance newer versions of all makes are better, but I've a friend with the same make with pricier problems. But of course, if you don't care about the paint, leaking, radiator, door function, axles, manifold, brake light/brake fluid cap, window washer motor, window function and have a mechanic you love/trust within 10 miles of your home you should buy this car for $3000 or less. The engine will last you 300k or better and the ac probably will also. Unfortunately, in the day/age of $4/g gas, you pretty much are forced to pick your poison, but my bottle this time won't come with a square H. The math on a new V8 pickup is pretty ugly over a decade. Slingblade from Illinois removed this from my garage recently. Hung a left in front of me with a truck behind him. Total loss. So let me comment on the handling. I put this car in the only spot it could be put at 60mph so things didn't get REALLY ugly with him and the trailing truck (so close the trailing truck driver had to get out and make sure he wasn't hit). The car was fun to drive, terrible acceleration, but after that, I can tell you looking back that I now felt COMPLETELY safe and IN UTTER CONTROL driving it. I put that car 2" behind slingblade's back tire and less than a foot from the oncoming truck. I probably owe that car my life because it went EXACTLY where I wanted it to go. RIP 97 Civic, better you than me. Changing recommendation to yes. But be ready for problems, have a good mechanic.

good working has held up well good on fuel cheap on parts body starting to rust in some spots but what do you expect for an eleven year old car much nicer than the tempos and topazs i used to drive ford sucks id definatly buy another civic if the future

107hp is really not enough, but an econobox is supposed to be efficient. brakes are decent, I would have wished for rear discs stock. handles alright, it is the size of a golf cart. the exterior is not very appealing to me, the whole rounded hatch idea never caught on with me. stock wheels are decent, interior is bearable but not attractive. overall fun to drive