I bought my Honda years ago based on their reputation; I had a lot of friends and family who had owned Hondas and had heard nothing but great things. They were absolutely right. Drove like a dream, and even after 200,000 miles I never had to replace anything major (just normal wear/tear).

First, I was pleasantly surprised with the gas mileage that I got right off; 38 MPG for a car this size is amazing. With conservative speeds (60MPH) on level ground it can get as high as 42MPG; amazing. The performance of this 4 cylinder is completely adequate, esp. For my driving needs. I was a bit concerned about the CV transmission as we had had some unpleasant experiences with earlier funky transmission schemes. This seems to be just fine, however. The overall quality is what one would expect from Honda; tight body (live on a ridiculously bad road) yet no rattles after 10K miles. The design is comfortable, good attention to detail. Feels and looks like a more expensive car.