I'm too lazy to read the entire thread, so here goes...

I, myself used to ask the question "Why a Civic?" I then found myself in a situation where I was driving a car that was literally falling apart around me due to previous damage (that was witheld from all parties involved...) and was desperately needing to get out of it for little to no money. I wound up finding my '95 Civic CX and just fell into it... $2246.83 + my P.O.S. Nissan Sentra that I still owed money on... the dealer payed off the car & I basically broke even...

I was looking for a car, but a Civic was not my first choice, not because it is a bad car, but because of the bad "ricer" reputation the majority of Honda (Civic) owners have. I have since seen that there are TONS of performance options available for Honda Civics, and I know there is more to life than driving fast in a straight line. That said, I also know that my Civic will never be a "fast" car, but it is "fast" in it's class (Toyota Corolla, Nissan Sentra, etc.), is lightweight, and with relatively little money spent can be a contender in Auto-X competition.

All that & getting 35-45MPG & having insurance 1/2 that of a 240SX or a Mustang (what I want) is well worth it to me.