What to Hate or Love about the 2016+ Civic?

fit and finish

Fender just under headlight driver side is raised up. 1/8" Also depresses when pressed
Other side is flushed and in-mobile as it should be.

Dealer doesn't want to remove to fix, unsure of repair if he does this.

4 day EX-L Owner. Here are my gripes:

1. Center console/armrest insanity. Does anyone really have a 2 foot tall drink? Even the SBUX Trenta cup fits in the top holder. There's no need for so many sliding parts. This could have been dramatically simplified. (The easter egg was neat though.)

2. Since the speedometer is a screen, they should offer an analog view - instead of only a digital one.

3. No memory buttons for the power seats?

4. Homelink Garage Door opener would have been nice.

5. Sunglass space would have been nice.

6. Wish the back seat didn't use hard plastic on the sides - that it would be more "seat-like" instead

7. Waze is perpetually screwed up when it tries to announce the directions. Sometimes it comes out of the phone's speaker. Sometimes it comes out of the car. Sometimes it is just silent. I have no clue what the right settings are. This is driving me nuts. (Help anyone?)

8. The UI / menu tree is overly complicated and slow. Reminds me of so many other Japanese products that I've used (Sony RX100, JAL 787 inflight). [I'm really picking as I work on product user interfaces.]

9. Some more USB ports and at higher amps in the dash would've been nice.

10. The steering wheel volume up/down requires a real stretch of my thumb. It's also weird that sliding it is the same as pressing it.

11. I wish I had spotted these scratches BEFORE I left the dealer's lot.

I've had my Civic Touring for just under a week, and I thought I'd share some of my impressions:


Several of my dislikes have been cited by others... lack of sunglass holder, Homelink, power seat memory, and not enough USB ports.


A few additional ones of my own:

1. OMG, the freaking horn! You blow the horn and you're immediately considered to be driving a toy car. If I wanted a car that sounded like a Mitsubishi Mirage, I would have bought one and saved $10000+.
2. On top trim models such as the Touring and EX-L, the driver's seat should have adjustable lumbar support. (However, the built-in lumbar support feels pretty good, at least so far).
3. Lack of damping on the glove compartment door.
4. Too thin padding on the armrests on the doors.
5. Compass reading should be a permanent fixture of the IP, rather than being tucked away in a DII screen.
6. The Honda Sensing components fall short of the hype to some degree. The Adaptive Cruise Control tends to brake too hard regardless of the distance setting. And the Lane Keeping Assist jerks the steering wheel too much.

Things I like:

1. Powertrain in general. Noticeably faster than the 9G Accord I4. CVT is smoother, perhaps helped by the 1.5t reaching max torque at a lower rpm.
2. Gas mileage looks promising. A 25 mile drive on suburban roads (45 - 55 mph, several stoplights) yielded 41 mpg per the trip computer. Too early to draw any conclusions, but it's a good start.
3. I've been fortunate enough (knock on wood) not to have encountered the sound system problems that others have reported. Given that I'm on my 7th Honda with "premium audio" since 2000 (all of the prior ones were Accords), from my previous experience, to my ear the Civic's "premium" audio system is the only one of these that deserves to be called "premium".
4. I also seem to have dodged the fit and finish issues others have reported (again, knock on wood). On mine, exterior panels and interior components fit well, with no excessive gaps or misalignments.
5. Ride and handling are pluses, improving on that of the 9G Accords. The Civic is much more controlled over rough roads. And it corners more enthusiastically as well... where the Accord starts to run a bit wide on a curve, the Civic still follows it with precision.
6. I love the fact that the Civic's turning radius is 3 feet smaller than that of the 9G Accord, resulting in a much better car in tight spots.

So far, my impression is that the pros outweigh the cons. Overall, it's a very impressive car, particularly for a mainstream compact sedan.

Comments welcomed. :nerd: