i just replaced my '89 civic with an '04 civic, and i love it, EXCEPT...

does anyone else find that the fuel gauge fluctuates wildly when below about a quarter tank? this happened in my old car too, but not nearly as badly. yesterday i had a quarter tank until i sat pointing uphill at a stop light for a couple minutes. when i pulled away the gauge flatlined, the fuel light came on, and it stayed that way for several miles before finally creeping back up to 1/4. later the same thing happened and i decided to fill the tank, just to be safe, and find out how much gas i ACTUALLY had (over 3 gallons, it turned out), despite the "empty" reading. is this typical of civics, or is mine especially bad? is it a fixable problem?

also, it took me a while to notice this, because it's faint, but the dashboard on the passenger side is fading unevenly, getting lighter on the passenger airbag cover and on the dash around it. has anyone else had this issue, does it get worse, and what (if anything) have you done about it?

any input would be appreciated!