What’s the most important factor when you’re looking for a commuter car: fuel economy, reliability, price, or whether it’s fun to drive? And I don’t mean contractors or other specialists who buy specific vehicles for businesses, like full-sized pickups or vans for hauling equipment or making deliveries. I mean, a car, or more specifically, a commuter car. Did I break that down enough? Are you still there? This 1994 Honda Civic VX may be the ultimate commuter car.
My point was, of course, that a person could have done much worse in 1994 in selecting a fuel-efficient, reliable, inexpensive, fun-to-drive car for general transportation duties than this Honda Civic VX. Or, you could buy it now, used, and it would most likely provide just as much bang for the buck in all of those categories for not much money in 2024 dollars.
The fifth-generation Civic was made for model years 1992 through 1995 and the VX was the Honda mileage leader in this era. The VX was lighter and some would say cheaper, as in, well, cheaper. Honda didn’t make a chintzy car but the VX wasn’t exactly bank-vault quiet nor was it meant to be. The VX was positioned below the CX, their base model, but was more for folks who were concerned with MPG than almost anything else.
This example looks fantastic and the seller has included 60 photos (!) so they get a major gold star for that. They show all of the dings, dents, and scratches, along with a small area of bubbling paint. Being from the Pacific Northwest, I’m surprised to see anything resembling rust and maybe that’s something else? Hey, I’m trying to stay positive. The interior looks outstanding, from the front seats to the back seats, and the rear cargo area, which is actually bigger on the inside than you’d expect.
The engine in the VX is Honda’s D15Z1, a 1.5-liter VTEC-E SOHC inline-four with 92 horsepower and 97 lb-ft of torque. It sends power through a five-speed manual transmission to the front wheels, and the seller says this one runs a bit rough at times – they suspect it may need a tune-up. They have it listed here on eBay in Tacoma, Washington with a $9,000 buy-it-now price and bidders have brought the bid price up to $5,100 so far, but the reserve isn’t met. What’s your most important consideration for your basic commuter car? MPG? That it’s fun to drive? Relibility? Let us know in the comments!
Looks like there’s some title concerns here, as in it was totaled back in ’18.
Thanks for that info, TinIndy! I couldn’t get the info to come up when I clicked on that, but I see it now.
This color needs to make more of a comeback who else agrees?
& the 3 or 4 other shades of blue, etc. available on 1967 fords & probably all other american cars that year. Not to mention all blue inside.
This color was called Aztec Green Pearl. It was sharp on the Civic EX 2-door and Si 3-door, as well as VX. I’d love to see it make a comeback!
BTW, in the description above, it says the VX was positioned below the CX, but that’s incorrect. The CX was priced at $9,400 and VX at 11,500, so it was $2100 more. The VX replaced the 70hp 1.5L from the CX with a 1.5L VTEC-E good for 92hp. The only features added were tachometer and light weight alloy wheels. Fuel economy was rated at 47/56 for the VX vs. 42/46 for the CX. The
I was a Honda tech back then. I PDI’s a zillion of those. The wheels on those were so light you could throw a tire like a frisbee!
Had a friend with a base 1990. He averaged in the mid 40s for MPG, and once got a touch over 50 on a trip. Amazing cars. Really fun to drive to, the shifter had great feel.
I can hear this car start up just by looking at it, door chime too lol.
I’ve mentioned before for the old-iron guys that finding a clean stock one of these now is like finding a clean stock ’49 Mercury coupe in the ’70s.
Well, if your idea of a car like this is an ideal commuter car, which it is, are from a different universe than me. I wouldn’t want to be subjected to a lifestyle that would encourage a vehicle like this. The author knows full well my stance on these, I had a very poor experience with a Civic, a 2005, I think, that doesn’t need to be gone into. It was so out of character that I even bought one in the 1st place( and lost money on the deal to boot)and still has me bitter. They have, what seems to me, a preprogrammed demise schedule, and you’ll be lucky to get 100grand out of these motors. I know, “my so and so has one with 328grand”, I know it can happen with proper maintenance, however, I bet most, like mine, were driven until they puke. Mine had 195K, the 1st motor puked at 100K, and the 2nd, now in my possession, was about to puke again, funny, right around 100K again. I’m not alone, if the head gasket didn’t fail, the transmission did. 90% of the time, it’s a bad head gasket, and was told, it was better to find a used motor, than try and fix the old one. Classic modern engineering, foreign or domestic, like it or not. Can’t have them last forever, like the old Packard, be out of business in no time,,,,like Packard.
Sorry to hear your misfortune. I guess I am that guy who gets +300k miles out of Honda Civics. Actually I am well on my way to doing it for the 4th time. Gen-4, Gen-6, Gen-8, and crossing 200k on another Gen-8. My three boys all learned on Civics, drove them through high-school and college. They also taught many others kids how to drive a stick shift with them. My wife even had her turn on them. We have owned several Jeeps, Toyotas, Chevrolets, Fords, VW, Mazda, and a Nissan. They all had there positive attributes, but Honda wins… hands down.
As a practical matter, if it’s a commuter car, that means traffic, it means getting a cup of coffee or a bite in the car, and as much as I love manual transmissions, that’s a problem…
I had a1991 DX Hatchback, Same color that I used for work. Outstanding work rig. Sold it to a young guy after I retired. He had blown it up within 2 weeks!
I still want to see a car “Blow Up”.I thought that only
happened when it was on fire,& it reached to the
gas tank.
I had a gray ’91 DX Hatchback, loved that car! It was a tank!
I have one, same color but about 210-220K miles and repaired rust in a number of places. Needs a gas tank for inspection. (Not really — I think it really just needs a small hose off the tank replaced. That rubber was never intended to see ethanol.) My mom bought it new and I have driven it for the 21 years since she passed away. Never saw more than 45-46mpg, and that dropped nearly 10% when they started putting ethanol in the gas. Still, it’s been a useful member of the fleet.
But when I get it back on the road, it will have a for sale sign on it. Turns out they made some Fits in the same color, and if I can find a Teal green 5 speed Sport Fit with modest miles, that will be the replacement
I comment on a lot of traditional American iron but also have a soft spot for this type of car. Whether it’s this Honda, a VL Cavalier or Horizon Miser they were all about price and economy. Two things near and dear to me.
I bought these Honda’s for service vehicles in my company we generally had around 15 of them at any given time being that they were driven by many different people I guarantee they were not used easily they were driven hard all the time. The thing with these cars I would buy them all new and besides general maintenance you wouldn’t touch them again till 250k miles! They were extremely durable and reliable vehicles!
That paint looks a little too good. I suspect that it is a repaint (was that mentioned somewhere). The 3-door is the perfect balance for fun, mileage, and practical commuting. I have hauled a few 8′ long 4″ PVC pipes with the hatch closed in my ’89 3-door. Diagonal from passenger footwell with passenger seat fully reclined. We also had a ’96 4-door. Also had a 2007, and currently driving a 2006. I cover the spectrum with driving hard to hypermiling. All had around 300k miles when I sold them in good running condition. If you cannot run a manual transmission Civic well beyond 200k miles, you are clearly doing something wrong. The 4th gen was my favorite, but did wear out tie rods and half shafts occasionally. My 8th gens are about as maintenance free as anything I have owned. My opinion, Honda lets their engineers do things right.
I just saw a old lady here in the retirement community driving a commuter car that I’m sure she bought new.A 4-door Toyota Echo.
My nephew just sold his ‘92 VX for about a third of the ask on this one. His was well sorted out, but in need of paint. Here in Central Washington (AKA the dry side) there are swarms of old Hondas buzzing about with multiple hundreds of thousands of miles on the meter. Tacoma, on the other hand, is on the West side of the Cascades (AKA the wet side). It’s not surprising that there would be some rust issues after the subject car has been constantly marinating in acid rain for 3 decades. Not like sloshing through salt in the East and Midwest, but not ideal. BTW: my nephew regularly achieved 50-55 mpg on a highway commute- but sold the car because, for him, the cramped interior and uncomfortable ride were worse than the benefit of the fuel economy.
110K, it’s barely broken in.
If it was ever used for commuting, it must have been for a very short time and a very short commute. Other than that, I see no reason to have bought the stripped version.
I am not a green car type of guy but certain shades do appeal to me and I really do like this color. I believe the first time I saw this color was on a 1992 or 1993 Acura Integra GSR. I worked at Acura of Boston and I think I still have the green bumper plugs that were removed to install the front license plate.
The little tailgate is pretty nifty!
Speaking of “the little tailgate”. I saw one of these last week with the back roof cut off. Someone created a mini El Camino/Ranchero. The cab back window and roof line was very well blended. Nothing fancy, but presentable. Whoever did it had above average skills, but did not put a whole lot of time into it. It did not occur to me at the time, that the mini tailgate made the conversion much easier.
Honda is amazing. This car is thirty years old and not even dated.
US $6,500.00
5 bids. Sold.
Thanks, Mike! I hope all is well with you.