Civic LX 1.8L

• Automatic transmission
• 69,000 miles

1979, I bought a Civic and my uncle swore they were great cars. 3 head rebuilds and 6 years later I gave up... the car barely made it over 100k mi. Gave it away. So various ok cars later (not hondas) I bought a Dodge intrepid, 2003 w/2.8L motor. Read up on it - oil ports too small, timing chain goes, motor goes, really bad design. 3 year old paperweight that I still owed payments on. So, everyone reassures me, buy a honda, they run forever. So I did, and here I am 3 years later with another paperweight? 69k mi? Oh, by the way, if you fix the head gasket, look at other postings. The block cracks near the exhaust port - honda knows about that one. We've started the claim process. If Honda steps up to the plate, I'll give them credit..still doesn't cure my '79 civic fortunes, but who would have guessed that the next honda I owned would have similar major engine problems to the first one.

Seriously, I don't know what to do.. Fix it so the engine can crack and I can go through this again? The head gasket problem already lead to a near overheating problem (or did it, but the sensor didn't have enough fluid around it to register properly). The dealership is starting the claim with Honda. they won't pull the head until the claim is registered which should be in a day or so...Till then, no car..I think I'm really in shock. My neighbor suggested becoming Amish...worth considering.

Update from Aug 7, 2009: The head was cracked in two places. Honda covered 75% of the $2,700 bill because of all the engine problems they have been having with the blocks, but didn't say they've been having problems with the heads. They checked the block and didn't see any signs of the cracking problem that have been reported, but the block could still fail. My dealership was very understanding and worked with me to resolve the issue. I still don't have a lot of faith in this car to make it to or past 100k mi...