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Happened to see my old Civic (which I had sold to my cousin) after nearly a year. It is 15+ years old and my cousin had renewed at the RTO for another 5 years. Odo is at 1,85,000+ kms.

He was all praise for it!

I presently own a Honda-City (latest-gen), and am in love with it too, as I did with the Civic earlier!

Only wish the brakes were like the Civic at high speeds with all round disc-brakes.

Mine is 14 years old and coming up for renewal next year. Would be glad to know the cost of renewing for another five years.

It is still as good and reliable as new. :loveit

Hello everyone,

Honda Civic definitely was a success in our country, but now it is considered to be a more humble car as it has now gotten a little old and weary. This one might just be a humble Civic, but the person who used to own the humble Honda is a national treasure, Mr. Ratan Naval Tata.

Mr. Tata is considered to be the most humble individuals and yet his work sees no boundaries. This particular car was gifted by Mr. Tata himself to my sister's family for their invaluable support to Mr. Tata and their association with Mr. Tata has been from years. So in the end, whether it be a Honda or a Ferrari, the man who owned and drove these cars is just too valuable.

I am quite sure the Tatas might open a museum someday showcasing some of Mr. Ratan Tata’s memorabilia. This post is shared with a view of not garnering any unnecessary attention, but sharing it with like-minded people in the interest of provenance.

Anyone here changed the serpentine belt in Civic? If so, at what age and kms? The owners manual only says to visually inspect the belt. My Civic is 12 years old with almost 1L km on odo and is still rocking the original serpentine belt. The belt doesn't squeak and doesn't have any crack but appears a little worn. I am not sure whether I should replace it or wait for it to start squeaking or develop any visible crack.

Apart from that, can anyone recommend good aftermarket front rotors and brake pads? Front brakes are due replacement and I am trying to figure out whether I should go with the OEM parts or stick to any decent aftermarket ones and save some money.

I replaced the serpentine belt and all four spark plugs considering car has done almost 1 lakh kms.

Changing spark plugs was a pain as boodmo sent me used spark plugs in damaged packaging and they were missing the protective cover. The grooves had some debris and also some rust. It's pathetic that we end up getting such kind of parts from a trusted website like boodmo. I returned those plugs and will get a refund soon. I bought new plugs from a nearby Honda dealer which were all packed perfectly and had the protective cardboard around them and then installed them myself.

The serpentine belt also had cracked ribs so it also required replacement. So bought new one from boodmo. The belt again was missing the original packaging but looked fine to me so ended up installing it.

Lastly I bled the cooling system to get rid of all the trapped air.

The car is now up to date with all the maintenance.

Serpentine belt - 3000 rs (OEM)
Spark plugs - 4800 rs (set of 4, OEM)

I am waiting for front rotors and brake pads to be delivered as they are also due replacement.

Just a quick photo of bleeding the cooling system with homemade funnel

Well done, pta320!

Are there any notable symptoms when driving with a worn-out serpentine belt? Or, you have to displace it from the loop and then physically examine to assess it's condition?

Also, kindly explain the clause that deem it necessary for the spark plug replacement.

You have any idea about the tensioner assembly and when it needs to be replaced?

My 07 Civic has crossed 56,xxx KMS and the aforementioned points concern me.

The spark plugs and the serpentine belt come under preventive maintenance which means replacing the parts before they actually fail.

The serpentine belt in Civic is made of EPDM which means it will usually not develop cracks initially but it will be worn out. In my case the belt was 12 years old with 1 lakh kms . I could see some very minor cracks through the flashlight. Considering the age of the car and kms i replaced it. Again the belt is relatively cheaper than being stranded at some highway or even worse a snapped belt at high speed means you lose power steering and also the water pump will stop which means potential damage to engine due to overheating and even an accident due to sudden loss of power steering. I would personally replace an EPDM belt every 1 lakh kms/10 years . It's just not worth pushing such parts to their limits. If the belt is made of neoprene then it wil develop cracks and usually these belts require replacement much earlier. Also a worn out belt would often squeal be it neoprene or EPDM.

Belt tensioner should never require a replacement. If you hear the belt squealing even after replacing with new belt only then it is an indication that tensioner is not working as it should.

The spark plugs need to be replaced at 1 lakh kms as per the owners manual. Although even if you don't do it, you will probably not experience any symptoms till 1.5 lakh + kms but worn out plugs can lead to premature failure of the ignition coils which is why it's necessary to replace them at correct intervals no matter how their condition is. The spark plugs are relatively cheap, new coils will be a lot more expensive. If the plugs are worn too much then you may experience misfires, rough idle, loss of power. Misfire would mean you are damaging the catalytic converter which is a very expensive component. So best is to just replace the sparkplugs at right intervals and ALWAYS USE THE OEM PLUGS with modern cars.

This post made me smile. Have to say your sister's family is so so lucky to have Mr. Tata's Civic. That's a keeper for life.

I was dying to meet the man for many many years just to shake his hand or get a picture with him. I got lucky during the Tata Nexon launch when he came as a surprise guest. Knowing it was now or never, i ran to him post launch and requested for a picture, While his assistant denied initially, Mr Tata was sweet enough to oblige.

It was nothing short of a life dream come true that day. I envy your sister for that Civic.

Here's the picture i clicked with the legend

Tensioner assembly (specially on Honda) are very durable. It can go up to the full life of engine. There is an indicator in the tensioner assembly (see below image). The back portion of tensioner (bracket or spindle) is fixed to the engine and front portion (holding the pulley- called arm). As the belt stretches over lifetime the Tensioner spring push the arm to keep the belt tight (maintain tension). The indicator casted in the arm will also move, when this indicator come close to the window (travel range- casted in the bracket), it indicated that belt has come to its stretch and wear limits- thus indicate to change the belt. Tensioner need not to be changed at that time, as the new belt will again sit tight and move the indicator to the middle (approximately) of the travel range.

But SA usually change everything together- to get revenue, to get full work done in one go (labor intensive), peace of mind for customer

Tensioner need to be replaced only when it has some issues- most common is pulley bearing failure. Bearing failure may happen due to water ingress or contamination ingress through seals or grease leaks from bearing.

Pulley used by Honda are usually steel (SPCC) and bearing are also mostly imported (Japanese make- NTN or NSK mostly) and they are much more durable.

My city is running 120K, 10 years and running on stock belt and tensioner. I have no intention to change that. Tensioner Indicators are well inside, visually no damage and no noise. I was suggested by SA to change the belt, tensioner at 80K because he has perceived some cold start noise from bearing. I did not hear that so not changed even now.

Found one Shutterstock picture of Honda tensioner (i don't know if its for civic but looks close to my city's one)

One of the number plates is VA 0111 and the original is YA111?

Recently I replaced the front brake pads and brake rotors with Brembo rotors and pads. Parts were sourced online (motrparts.com). Initially I ordered Brembo pads from Boodmo but they sent me used brake pads in damaged packaging and I had to initiate a return (To be honest, Boodmo is just falling apart these days, this is perhaps my fourth or fifth incident when I got used parts in damaged packaging. I think these guys just sell whatever crap old stock or returned parts they have. One way to save yourself from this is to never order parts that are in stock with them, odds are that you will end up getting trash).

The exact part number that I bought:

Disc rotors - 09A4551X
https://www.bremboparts.com/asiapaci...isc/09-A455-1X
Brake pads - P28034X
https://www.bremboparts.com/asiapaci.../pad/P_28_034X

The X in the end stands for 'Xtra' which means something better than regular solid disc and pads, in this case the disc rotors were drilled and pads had some additional compound to enhance the effectiveness of drilled rotors. Normally for the 8th gen Civic sold in India from 2006-2013, the part number for Brembo disc rotors would be 09A45511 (solid rotors) and for brake pads would be P28034. The X versions of the same work just fine.

Adding some pics














Old rotors and pads for comparison. The rotors were warped but can be resurfaced, have saved it for some later day. Pads were almost done.









Total cost of the new pads was approx 6500 INR and new rotors was approx 12000 INR.

In addition I replaced the brake fluid and bled the whole system.

So far braking performance for sure has improved but that is more attributable to new set of brakes as old set was almost done. Rest I don't think cheaper brakes would perform any worse. At the end of the day, whatever stops your car on time should be sufficient for most of us.

I think the drilled rotors look killer.

You should get a nice accent color on your caliper and that would make for one of the sexiest but subtle mod on a civic.

That sounds like a good idea. I'll see what I can do with regards to this.

Hi Sarathlal,

You were spot on. Changed the engine mount and every problem is gone now. No issues during cold start or while slotting it into reverse. Everything is smooth as butter. Shelled out 5k for the parts. I hope it holds up.

Thanks again !

What brand engine mount did you get?