The year was 2013. I just moved from Singapore to the US and landed in Austin, Texas to go to college. I needed a car to get me from point A to point B and I did not know a thing about picking out a car. Bear in mind, I was not into cars growing up and they meant nothing more than a mode of transportation to me. With a budget of under $5000 set in mind, I went on Craigslist and started the search for my first car. I was looking at Toyota Celicas and Chevy Cobalts when I stumbled upon this 1999 Milano Red Honda Civic EX Coupe. I did not think much about it and arranged for a test drive since it fit my budget and had low mileage. The car drove fine but the exterior and interior was in a pretty rough shape. The paint was flaking and clear coat on the roof and trunk was pretty much gone, exposing bare metal. As for the interior of the car, the seats had cigarette burn marks, there were what seemed to be knife marks on the sunroof cover, and it was missing sun visors. I was not sure if I wanted to pull the trigger on getting the car given the rough condition it was in. I told the seller that I had to sleep on it and give it some thought. I left and gave myself a day to think about it.
A day passed and after considering my options, I decided to pull the trigger and contacted the seller. We met up again and after inspecting the car one more time, I bought the car from him. I just got myself my first car! A 1999 Honda Civic Ex Coupe in my name! The car had 88,000 miles on the odometer which was low for the year and I knew that with some love, it would look great. I started doing more research about the car and if there was any aftermarket support for it and was glad to find a bunch online. Bear in mind, I did not know a single thing about cars back then even though Honda Civics had one of the largest aftermarket communities!
I started reading Honda forums, tuner magazines, watching Youtube videos and attended local car meets. I was so fascinated by the car culture and wanted to start modifying my Civic to make it my own. I started off by buying an aftermarket hood, then a front lip and a grill and then from that point on, the mod bug bit! In no time, I was throwing more money at the car, getting an intake and exhaust for it, throwing wheels and tires, suspension and brakes on it, aftermarket headlights and foglights, aftermarket steering wheel and bucket seats and the list just goes on.. The car was at a point that I was happy with taking it out to local car meets like Cars and Coffee and The Renegade meet. I made a bunch of car friends and enjoyed going to the weekly and monthly meets. I was in a happy place with my car until someone hit my car one fine day. I was devastated.
The hood and front bumper was crushed in and the radiator was busted. The car was not in a drivable condition. I received an insurance check for the damages a few weeks later and was in a dilemma whether to cut my losses and scrap the car or build it from the ground up again. I knew I could not just let my car go, so I decided to send it to a paint and body shop. The shop asked me if I wanted to paint the car back to the factory Milano Red but I decided to go for a color change. I had the car painted Black with Midnight Blue pearls. I patiently waited for my car to be painted and after being at the shop for two weeks, it was ready for pick up. I was in love with my Honda Civic all over again when I saw it! It looked like a brand new car!
I was excited to bring it to car meets again and it was after I painted the car that I met a bunch more car friends. The car looked great and I brought it to more car meets as well as took the car on the track a couple of times. I threw more mods at the car to make it the best it could be. Unfortunately, my happiness was short lived. Almost a year after I had my car freshly painted, someone backed into my car and it was back to the body shop. What bad luck! After I got my car back from the shop, this was also around the time that I bought my other car in late 2015 – a 2015 Mitsubishi Lancer GT. I shall leave the story on that car for another time.. I slowed down on mods for the Civic and used it as the daily driver, occasionally switching to different wheel set ups and doing regular maintenance on it. Drove the car around for the next few years and I kept the car till January 2019 when I decided to let it go. I posted up a feeler post on Craigslist one random day just to see if anyone would be interested in it. Most 1999 Honda Civics go for anywhere from $500 to $3000 depending on condition. I posted mine for $5000. I had a few people contact me about the car and the first buyer who came to see it bought it right away for the asking price without negotiation. It all happened so quickly that I was in a state of shock and quite honestly did not expect that. There was nothing wrong with the car, but I was ready for a change and wanted a newer daily. I had it for 6 years and everyone close to me thought that I would never sell the car. I guess money talks.
So that concludes my Honda Civic story! It has been over half a year but I still feel bittersweet about it. I made the new owner promise me to take good care of it and I get photo updates on how the car is doing every few months. They say your first car feels like your first love! My Honda Civic will always have a special place in my heart. Gone but never forgotten.
Thank you so much if you managed to read all the way to the end. I will include a full mod list of what has been done to the Honda Civic in my 6 years of ownership. If you are new to the blog, make sure to check back for frequent blog posts! Also stay up to date on current car stuff by following my Youtube channel, The J Media and Instagram pages @jus_tyn and @thejmedia. Links to social media sites will be below. Thank you for reading!
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List of modifications on my 1999 Honda Civic Coupe:
-Fresh coat of Black with Midnight blue pearl paint
- Type R Front grill
-Mugen front lip
-Black housing headlights
-Foglights
-HID 55w 6000k lightbulbs
-Front strut bar
-Eibach Sportsline springs
-Koni Yellow Struts
-Whiteline Rear Sway bar
-Whiteline Subframe
-Brembo Rotors
-Hawk Performance HPS Pads
-BF Goodrich Sport Comp 2 tires
-Enkei RPF1 wheels
-HIC Rear visor
-Tow hook
-K&N Cold air intake
-NGK Spark plugs with spark plug wires
-DC Sport 4-2-1 Headers
-Yonaka Motorsports catback exhaust
-NRG bucket seats
-NRG quick release steering wheel
-Chrome gas pedals
-Carbon Fiber shift knob
-Kenwood stereo
-Infinity speakers
-Tein Hood dampers