It's an isolated incident. I highly doubt that you've had the car the whole 11 years of it's existence, so you do not know how it was driven/treated before it was purchased by your girl. Also, when doing **** yourself, without a basic knowledge of the car and parts, you can overlook things or do somthing wrong, but saying that 'civics are junk' is about as retarded a statement as any I've ever heard.

Check that you have the firing order correct and everything, just double check all connections, and possibly your starter.