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My son is looking at purchasing one of these, but I note that there is a lot of information about CVT issues especially in the Honda Jazz.

Is much known about this issue in the Civic ?. I will be getting an AA inspection but is there anything I should know and ask before purchase - i.e. maintenance records, any recall signs (paint spot on some part),that it has no tow-bar etc.

Thanks and regards

The CVT transmissions on the Civic's were known to fail, one of the common problems was a shudder on pull off. The biggest problem is when the transmission fails, the costs of repairing a CVT are in most cases extremely high, if new replacement parts are not available then the transmission will need replacing. The CVT transmission carries a higher risk than a manual or conventional automatic transmission. No towbar, low mileage and an excellent service history with genuine CVT transmission oil replacement, will go a long way in having some confidence in the vehicles transmission.

Thanks for the information. We decided given that information to buy (subject to AA inspection) a similar model with conventional 4 speed automatic transmission. From what I can find these look to be very reliable.