Most of what everyone is saying is absolutely true.

However, for a 22 year old (or whatever) with his first new (to him) civic, it's going to fall on deaf ears.

The reason why we all tell him not to change exhausts, was probably because we've all done it when we were there.

OP, do whatever the hell you want to your car, as long as it's safe to drive on the road (but please no fucking HIDs)

A few years later down the road, you're going to think back to your first civic that you've ruined by adding things that all of us have told you not to add, and regret it, but you'll have learned...lol

i looked in there and all the wires are intact. anywhere else i should look?

all fixed!! woooh!

that's good! what was the problem ?

This is likely true.

But I'll try anyway.

OP Don't dump any money into it, you will never see that money back, and you will likely regret it when you come to realize that the money pumped into the car could have bought you a nicer ride from the start...

If you follow the path of the majority of others, you will end up ditching this car sooner rather than later. So putting money into it is almost a waste.

Mod something when you have something you want to keep...

@Godzira it was some few broken wires in the door panel. had to remove the quarter panel in the front to find the problem. soldered it back it and all is well!!!

@meme405 yup! thanks for the adive im not putting any real $$$ on the car except for a few that needs. maintenance wise. just finished changing all the oil, brake pads all replaced, and mostly cosmetic stuffs. went to the surrey yard and got me a nice pair of headlights brand new condition. no fogging what so ever!! haha mine was foggy.

Put a NVUS windshield banner in and Rev at all the people at the bus stop. Cuz they envy you.

Also, this generation of civic uses TIMING belts. make sure it has been replaced recently. if you dont know if it has been done, do it.

it is a costly repair if it breaks

Sell it and buy a manual

As someone who actually had an auto Civic as his first car... don't waste your money with any mods. Just do basic maintenance, fix things that are broken (I'm sure something will come up soon), and enjoy the feeling of having a first car. I spent about $1500 on "mods" for the car, I only got about $1000 back in the end. $500 isn't a ton of money now, but when I was in high school it was a boat load of cash.

If you're going for performance, I hate to tell you this but automatic Civics are HELLA slow, doesn't matter what you do it. Trust me when you actually learn/drive a manual Civic you'll see what I mean. Just save up for a manual Civic if you're dead set on a Honda, and then modify that. But as of right now your biggest bottleneck is the autotragic.

New member, late post.

I'd suggest the first upgrade be to the driver. Take a high speed driving course, and learn how to properly corner, brake, deal with spins, evasive manuevers, etc. I'm not sure what's available for advanced training hereabouts but it can be the best automotive, "high performance investment" a driver can make - AND it's serious fun. Then: bring the car up to spec as designed, then upgrade the stuff the bean counters took away from the engineers, finally whatever "turns yor crank" (pun intended).

Personally, i think that there should be some kind of power to weight licencing done - regardless of age. A high ratio requiring advanced training.

Don't be one of those guy who put an exhaust on an auto Civic lol. Change all your fluids, give the car a good cleaning, take the seats out clean under them. Get the wheels balance and a wheel alignment.

Get all that out the way first before you spend money of car parts and don't have enough money to get it fixed if something goes wrong, have fun!

new sports tires, coils, projector retro would be nice and clean new look if I were to do it. Regular maintenance and just keep your car nice and classy!

Manual transmission is more fun.
If you want to trade, I might have a civic on the market, I'm looking for an auto daily driver.
I doubt yours is equal in value so you might need to add cash on top. :D

Manual civic is hella slow too. I recently drove a 2000 civic sir 5 speed with cbe and it was so slow.

My EJ1 with a JDM B16a y1/LSD is a quick car.
SiR/Y8 has such short gears, its really quick off the line.
No trouble with most 3 series (not M3 or 335), or bigger heavier cars with engines twice my size.

As they often say...
"It's not the car...It's the driver..."
;)

Check your struts. The last thing you want is to hit a rough spot in a road and for your spring to shoot down and blow a tire. Happened to me once. Once.

keep it clean, if your shocks are good then a set of 2inch or 2.5 inch lowering springs, a set of 15 inch wheels with 195/50/15 would look hot depending on the design of the wheels you pick. Remember to have the offset of the wheels anywhere from +30 to +40 range so they don't stick out too much.

MAINTENANCE take the valve cover off and inspect timing belt check for obvious leaks, and just do the basics, intake, rims, lowering springs, and a nice CD player. Im iffy on the exhaust because of the auto tragic gearbox. DansGame