Thinking of buying a Civic . . .

Alright, here's the deal: I like my 'Bu, but I've sunk too much money into repairs. The thing has every common Malibu problem out there:

-Disc brake warping, replaced under brake warranty
-Lower intake manifold replaced
-Blower doesn't work below a setting of 3, can't afford to replace
-Gas gauge is inaccurate below 1/4 of a tank
-Cruise control doesn't work right anymore, can't afford to fix
-A/C switches itself off whenever it feels like it

And I'm probably going to trade the thing in, but it'll be at a loss so I can't afford much. Say, around 4500-6500. Here's what I want from my future Civic:

-Reliability. I'm sick of all these high-cost repairs (about 1,200 worth in the past six months for my 'Bu).
-Doesn't have to be too fast. I once drove a '96 Plymouth Neon (back when Plymouth still existed), and it took over 13s to 60. My heavily damage '96 Lumina took around 10.5 to 60; undamaged, it had been under nine seconds. My 'Bu takes eight seconds flat. I don't need to be that fast, but I'd like to not have highway merges as difficult as they were in my Neon, if you know what I mean.
-Fun to drive. I've averaged the number of miles a week I drive over the past three months, and it's around 250 per week, mostly city miles (that is, there's stoplights, but the speed limit's 55). Also, I enjoy driving up to and in the Blue Ridge mountains, just over 200 miles away. I don't need a sportster, but I don't want to cringe at the idea of a road trip in the thing.
-Better gas mileage than my Malibu's 20mpg (city rating, it's what I get, I've checked it). Any Civic should be able to do this.
-Because I like roadtrips, I'd like cruise control, but I don't know if it's available on the Civics I'm looking at ('97-'00).
-My car's anti-lock brakes have saved my ass numerous times, and I'd like them on my Civic, but again I don't know if they're common or even available. I'm guessing not.
-How good are the manual trannys they put in '97-'00 Civics? I'd like an auto, but may not have a choice, and I want to know what I'm getting into as I've never driven a manual trans before.
-Reliability again.
-Did I mention reliability? I'm pretty sure I did somewhere in there, but I'll do it again here.

As for mods . . . not really. Maybe a cheap aftermarked exhaust or something, but no lowering or body kits or nos or turbo or anything fancy like that. Apart from which years and trim levels of Civic would best suit my needs, I'm also asking around what sort of odometer mileage I should be looking for; including road trips, I put around 20k miles a year on whatever car I drive, and this thing has to be reliable for at least a four-year loan. I'd also like to know what the most common Civic problems are for '97-'00 model years, and about how much they cost to fix.

Alright, here's the deal: I like my 'Bu, but I've sunk too much money into repairs. The thing has every common Malibu problem out there:

-Disc brake warping, replaced under brake warranty
-Lower intake manifold replaced
-Blower doesn't work below a setting of 3, can't afford to replace
-Gas gauge is inaccurate below 1/4 of a tank
-Cruise control doesn't work right anymore, can't afford to fix
-A/C switches itself off whenever it feels like it

And I'm probably going to trade the thing in, but it'll be at a loss so I can't afford much. Say, around 4500-6500. Here's what I want from my future Civic:

-Reliability. I'm sick of all these high-cost repairs (about 1,200 worth in the past six months for my 'Bu).
-Doesn't have to be too fast. I once drove a '96 Plymouth Neon (back when Plymouth still existed), and it took over 13s to 60. My heavily damage '96 Lumina took around 10.5 to 60; undamaged, it had been under nine seconds. My 'Bu takes eight seconds flat. I don't need to be that fast, but I'd like to not have highway merges as difficult as they were in my Neon, if you know what I mean.
-Fun to drive. I've averaged the number of miles a week I drive over the past three months, and it's around 250 per week, mostly city miles (that is, there's stoplights, but the speed limit's 55). Also, I enjoy driving up to and in the Blue Ridge mountains, just over 200 miles away. I don't need a sportster, but I don't want to cringe at the idea of a road trip in the thing.
-Better gas mileage than my Malibu's 20mpg (city rating, it's what I get, I've checked it). Any Civic should be able to do this.
-Because I like roadtrips, I'd like cruise control, but I don't know if it's available on the Civics I'm looking at ('97-'00).
-My car's anti-lock brakes have saved my ass numerous times, and I'd like them on my Civic, but again I don't know if they're common or even available. I'm guessing not.
-How good are the manual trannys they put in '97-'00 Civics? I'd like an auto, but may not have a choice, and I want to know what I'm getting into as I've never driven a manual trans before.
-Reliability again.
-Did I mention reliability? I'm pretty sure I did somewhere in there, but I'll do it again here.

As for mods . . . not really. Maybe a cheap aftermarked exhaust or something, but no lowering or body kits or nos or turbo or anything fancy like that. Apart from which years and trim levels of Civic would best suit my needs, I'm also asking around what sort of odometer mileage I should be looking for; including road trips, I put around 20k miles a year on whatever car I drive, and this thing has to be reliable for at least a four-year loan. I'd also like to know what the most common Civic problems are for '97-'00 model years, and about how much they cost to fix.

wut about the 96... its the same as the 97.. and the 98... and i would just work about chaning your timing belt at 100 thousand... other than that... look for rust

Alright, '96 included. Here's another question I'm curious to know about:

Everyone, how many miles did you get on your Civic before it started giving you trouble/bit the dust?

And about how much did it cost to replace the timing belt?

for the mileage, i have heard of a civic runnig over 200,000 with little problems.
i have a 98 civic EX w/ 120,000 miles. the onlt problems I've had is the brakes($100) and the catylatic converter and O2 sensor ($500). the cat and sensor was just replaced earlier this week. the shop said it happens alot with civics.
these are very minor things though.

im selling my civic, check it out:
http://www.automotiveforums.com/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=425420

I'd gladly snatch yours up - if I lived anywhere near you.

Man, a simple search of Autotrader.com is pretty telling. Many Hondas with over 100,000 miles are for sale within 50 miles of me, a number of them over 150,000, and one over 200k! Search of Chevys, though, well . . . I don't think I need to tell you.

But I'd still like to know how much that timing belt costs, and if the catalytic converter and O2 sensor are common problems that crop up at relatively regular/predictable intervals, or just randomly happen throughout the life of the car. Basically, if I can count on a Civic near 100k needing costly repairs, I might choose a Corolla instead.

overall civics are low maintanice even with high miles