What can you do to increase the life of your civic?
 

What is the average age that a civic lives until? How can you keep it as long as possible?
:confused:

Proper scheduled maintenance
Quality OEM Parts
Smooth accelerating, keep top speed at 80KM/H.
No idling, always drive on highways and run reds.
No neutral drops, revving

Rust proofing goes a long way...

every yr rust proof?

Actually, on the contrary, today's Honda's have, as good as or, better corrosion protection than almost any other manufacturer. In some cases, "rust proofing" can actually hurt you car more than protect it. Some rust proofing if done properly, can still help but in a lot of cases, rust proofing is just spraying some "chemical" that will deteriorate after a year. Even some of the respectable places, actually drill holes in the body to apply the chemical. This is good for the parts that are covered but it isn't good for the parts that was drilled through. Most car bodies, these days, are made by double galvanized steel then are e-coated before painted. This provides a good amount of protection to corrosion. Anything done to remove these coatings will be a source for corrosion to start.

Keeping your car clean during the wiinter will do wonders to improve the longevity of your ride. Also, don't forget to clean INSIDE your wheel wells, especially over the wheel arch opening. This is often a neglected area thus, a place for corrosion to start...

Honda's are designed to last for 12 years under normal use. Of course we know that a lot of them last longer than that. Yes, to increase the life of your car is to do proper maintenance at the proper intervals, use quality materials/parts (i.e. Honda OEM). And, be gentle with your engine....seriously.

Just my $0.02.

Mark

Does wax do harm or is it good ?

wax is good..

Mark, i'm hearing of Gen7's starting to brown up..
whites.. problem's with the finish??

My SiR, what happens when the car was new, dealer took it to get rustproofed (theres a warrenty certificate... for how many years) is this bad, and should we continue?

Si Veloz,

The bodies are still made of steel. I never said they won't corrode. Do you know if these cars ever had body work or not? Regular washing? There are some many variables...

AzimuthX,

If you already got it done, you might as well continue with it. I don't think it will hurt much if your car already has the holes. If there are no holes, the chemical will just deteriorate anyway.

Remember rustproofing is a big profit maker for dealers. You don't have to take my word for it (I used to work at a dealer) but most of what they charge is profit. If they give you say, a 10 year warranty, most of the time it is a perforation warranty. That means, unless there is a hole, you are not covered. I have seen some 10 year old Hondas that have lots of rust but no holes... I doubt all of them had rust proofing. If it is one that require an annual inspection, they will make their money one way or another..."we need to cover up this part again".

Mark

Best thing is to keep it clean, keep the salt off and wax is good.

run reds??? don't get me wrong but isn't that a quick way to get your honda sideswiped thereby resulting in a shortening of it's life?

maybe I'm just confused and the law just got changed....

Dont mind that guy, hes only 15

well ok ...this is a great topic Joker ... I'd also like to know more about how to extend the life of my civic

regualr oil changes
premium gas
no burnouts
no winter driving (salt = rust)
anone have anything else to add ?

Umm I meant yellows... reason for that you don't have to idle 3 minutes for streetlights to change thus saving gas and wear&tear on your engine = longetivity of the vehicle.

Joker: :swords:

Speaking of being gentle wit your engine...

The price of gasoline has forced me to be very gentle....

I change gears under 2000 rpm and only rev above 2000 rpm on the highway (2500 rpm @ 100 km/h).

i've noticed that my gen7 is starting to show rust at the welds. i mean, places like where the door panels are welded, and trunk, etc have nimor rust poping up. i've been washing and waxing as normal and this is starting to drive me crazy. is the white a bad choice of colour?

Have a winter beater like I do, wash and wax your car regularly (wash every 3-5 days w/ car soap, wax every 3 months, 3 step process every year - clean/polish/wax), oil change every 3-5K with synthetic from new, use Honda parts only including battery (OEM Panasonic), give'er every once in a while - stretch her legs to redline maybe a few times after an oil change and after it's warmed up. Momentum is your friend - don't accelerate at WOT if not necessary, rather ease into the gas. Don't use the brakes all the time, rather coast to a stop in a lower gear. Follow mainenance, vaccum the interior often, clean the glass and change the wiper blades every 3 months...lubricate hinges and latches, service your brakes, and all other wear items like belts, and steering components.

NoSpleeny, under 2000 rpm there is a large load on the engine, it's bad for the engine, and fuel efficiency is decreased too since it has to run richer so as not to ping at such high load. Taking it easy, shift around 3000-3200 rpm. Anything under 4500 rpm is very safe and easy on these cars. Don't ride you clutch neither. If auto, always stop the car fully before shifting.

I meant rust proofing as in for older cars (like my CRX), but if you have the optioin of buying new like My SiR said, by all means do it!

I meant a place like Krown, in which you have to do it yearly.

Wash and wax go a long way though too. :)

just dont drive it !

You should let the car stretch it's legs once in a while (to redline)? I presume that's to blow out the carbon deposits in the engine?


I'm only changing gears under 2000 for 1 gas tank because I want to see if it actually improves fuel efficiency.

How is it bad for the engine to change under 2000? I don't get it?