If you’ve casually perused Facebook marketplace or your local used car dealership listing you’ve probably noticed an abundance of older Honda Civics. Not only for sale, we see them out on the road almost as often as we see much newer cars. Honda Civics are surprisingly popular cars, and that’s probably because they interest many different types of people and drivers. But why do old Civics seem to be so popular still?

Honda Civics are undeniably reliable

One reason that we see Honda Civics on the road so often is that they are truly reliable. With very little maintenance Civics are known to go well over 200,000 miles. It makes sense that we see older Civics on the road as both enthusiast cars and first-time driver cars. They are inexpensive to buy, and inexpensive to maintain, and chances are you won’t ever need expensive repairs regardless of how many miles you put on the car.

Honda Civics have a lot of variety, from hatchbacks to normal sedans, and that versatility opens them up to a lot of buyers. There are sportier trim packages or trim packages that make the car a little bit more luxurious, but chances are whatever you are looking for you will find a year and trim of Civic — unless you’re looking for an expensive luxury car or SUV, which obviously you can’t get with these.

You can find used Civics on the market for a few thousand dollars typically, and that makes it a great time for a first-time auto enthusiast who is looking to learn more about working on their own car, or a first time driver who doesn’t want to binge on the latest and more expensive cars.

They’re also very customizable

Honda Civics aren’t just inexpensive to buy and maintain, you can modify them and customize them even on a budget. Honda Civics are the go to for low-budget builds because you can build the motor without breaking your bank account. They are also common enough that there are a lot of aftermarket parts for the car, so you can customize them from front to back inside and out in any fashion you could chose.

They are also an unfortunately good candidate for engine swaps, as their engine bays are spacious enough to put an LS motor out of a Corvette with just a little bit of modification. The stock engine itself is sturdy enough to support aftermarket boost from a turbocharger, and if worst-case scenario you do blow the motor, a complete replacement isn’t that expensive either.

Buying an older Honda Civic isn’t what most people dream of, but they can be a good car for the right person, and because they are so reliable you can continue to own and drive them long past what you could expect from other cars.