Honda Civic Hatchback (2006 - 2011) 1.8 i-VTEC ES (09) 5d Owner Review

Purchased this Civic to replace my aging, but very reliable Vectra C. Having owned a Honda accord previously I quite liked the up to date styling of the Civic so went ahead with the purchase. I had a certain spec I was looking for from the outset with Cruise Control being top of that list. Having discounted a few I came across a 2009 ES locally that fitted the bill. Spec included Panoramic roof, Cruise Control, Power folding mirrors, Climate control, USB/Aux in, 4 electric Windows to name but a few things. Hard to not like the Space Ship dash, but easy to dislike the crashy ride. Maybe im just getting old. MPG is good, although not as good as the much bigger Vectra it replaced. The Magic Seats are clearly a trick most manufacturers are missing. The boot is surprisingly large for this class of vehicle as is the amount of usable storage throughout the cabin. The rear seats fold flat too Let downs? Well the afore mentioned harsh ride a big let down, as is things like No Total Closure from the key fob. The utterly annoying Ting Ting Ting when you have the key in the ignition and the door open, which is compounded by the fact you have to have the key in the ignition to have the Stereo on. The power Mirrors do not fold/unfold from the key fob(yea real first world issues eh?!?!?!!?). Whilst the panoramic roof is nice I thing id much rather have an old school Slide/tilt sunroof tbh. 6 Gears are a waste of time IMO. 70 in 6th is 3000rpm, in the Vec it was 2600 in 5th. The Vtec? Well its really a track thing, and you need to thrash the bits off it to make it work for you, and even in 3rd gear you are way over motorway speeds when it engages, and ive never been into thrashing seven bells out of my cars. And finally no Bulb out warning system. Really? I think that's quite an important thing. Overall its a good solid car, that could have done with a bit more refinement. God only knows why they went with a rear beam axle when they designed this car, Should really have ben fully independent. The Vectra really did handle better and ride better and was many years older than this Civic.